"There you go, acting all high and mighty again! You don't honestly believe we're equals do you?"

As Nightfire and Star Paladin Root Beer circle each other inside the large square Nightfire makes quick observations about her. ‘Damn… she’s got more muscle tone than I was anticipating, and she seems to be a combat magic user. However I’m not the defenseless colt I used to be,’ He thinks as he spreads his wings halfway, as if readying himself for flight.

Root Beer stops and then her horn begins to glow as several rocks lift from the ground and then speed toward Nightfire.

He smiles and then quickly calls up a magic shield of his own causing the rocks to bounce off harmlessly. “Is that really all you have?” He asks as he picks up several of the stones that had bounced off of his shield and then sends them rocketing at her like bullets which causes her to begin running to the right to avoid the rocks that would’ve pierced her body.

“I’ve got more than what you think!” She cries out and then starts running at him.

Nightfire smiles and then releases his magic causing the shield that had surrounded him to vanish as he grins and then waits for her to get closer and then jumps over her and throws a punch at her back and causes her front left foreleg to collapse from under her and cause her to roll to catch herself as Nightfire lands back on the ground and turn to face her. “Come on Root Beer… I know that as a Steel Ranger you can do better than this.”

She pants and looks down at the ground as she slowly gets back onto her hooves and then shakes her head. “If you want the best of a Ranger… then here I come!” She says as she stands back on her hooves as tall as she can and stares Nightfire down.

“You Steel Rangers were once a symbol during the war. A symbol that we would endure against the zebra but…” Nightfire closes his eyes and stands tall on his hooves as a tear slides down his cheek. “You failed my family, you failed Equestria.”

“That happened two hundred years ago and you cannot put the blame on us!” Root Beer shouts and her horn begins glowing as she then fires a beam of magic at the Alicorn across the small arena from her.

He reacted almost immediately to the sound of her horn glowing with magic, the gentle hum and then ducks as her magic shoots over his head and he shoots a beam of magic back at her only meaning to stun and not actually cause major damage.

She watches as he magic overshot Nightfire and was struck by a beam of Nightfire’s own causing her to skid back a few inches nearly pushing her out again. “I’m not done with you!”

“Come on Root Beer, I know you have to understand that you’re outclassed. I’m an Alicorn and you’re only a Unicorn. Betting that the Steel Rangers don’t teach many offensive spells other than the bare basics. Those alone won’t make a difference against somepony like me,” Nightfire comments and sighs softly as he looks up at the sky and then back to the ground.

“What do you know about Steel Ranger training methods?! You can’t possibly know what we go through to become Rangers!”

“It’s true I don’t know all of the details… but I am aware of a few things about your… group. First is that you are who you are due to Applejack creating the iconic armor to protect our ponies fighting against the zebra. The first armor was made for the one and only Applesnack. The first Steel Ranger and the only one that Applejack knew she could always trust,” Nightfire says and then spreads his wings wide and settles back into his fighting stance. “That’s the only Steel Ranger I could honestly say is my friend. So far, you and your group here have my thanks only for saving us from the slavers. Other than that I don’t trust or see any reason to affiliate with your kind.”

“You speak with such authority when words are worthless. Here and now this is combat. One of us wins and the other loses, plain and simple,” Root Beer replies and then begins walking to her right cautiously while she eyed Nightfire closely.

He sighs and then starts to approach her, inching closer ready to act in a moment’s notice as his horn hums softly and the air around him grows warmer. Then when he was about five feet from her he unleashed a small ball of fire at her, intending to force her into action more than actually strike out against her.

She steps back at first to give herself a moment more to react before jumping forward and rolling onto her belly as the ball of fire passes over her, nearly catching her short mane on fire. “What are you trying to do!?”

“I don’t want to fight you. I’ve made it… a policy of mine not to take a life unless I absolutely have to. But since all I have to do is just win this little fight of ours I’m just testing all I need.”

“Testing? What are you testing!?” Root Beer shouts at him and then shoots another blast of magic at him which he dodged easily.

“Testing some old magic that I used when I was younger. Old basics if anything to me,” Nightfire replies and then slams a hoof onto the ground as his horn flashes and a small pillar of stone shot up from the ground in front of him. “I’ll defend myself and incapacitate my enemies unless I am forced.”

“You really are a fool!” Root Beer replies and then she runs forward, sliding around the pillar and then rushes at him with anger in her eyes.

Nightfire waits for a moment and then jumps into the air and spreads his wings to slow his decent back down to the ground and flaps them once to keep himself aloft. ‘Shit… she’s showing to be more of a challenge then I anticipated. She’s got more stamina then I would’ve thought for a Unicorn.’ As he looks down at her a gunshot rings out and Nightfire flies a little to the left to avoid a bullet that flew by his head.

“Either you get down here or we open fire and we take down one of your guards!” One of the Steel Rangers from outside of the square says as his minigun then focuses on Nightfire’s guard then another shot ring out, as Peaceful Heart screams out in pain.

“You bastards!” Nightfire exclaims and then flies back down to the ground with haste and stares Root Beer down angrily.

“If you want to help her then beat me!”

“You’re going to regret that you stupid bitch!” Nightfire exclaims and spreads his wings wide to intimidate her. “If you think you have the nerve to take me out here and now then bring it!”

The mare smirks and then rushes forward with speed that Nightfire hadn’t anticipated her having before he activated S.A.T.S admiring how the world seemed to be moving in super slow motion and targeted her torso with as many punches as he could. Once it activated he lunged forward in her path and let her tackle him, bracing his rear two hooves Nightfire quickly pushed her back and landed four of the six punches in his targeted spot making her slide back and cough hard into the air. “Come on! I’m not going to waste my time anymore with you!”

As she pants for air she looks at him with a new fire burning in her eyes and then then looks back at the Steel Rangers behind her then turns back to Nightfire. “I’m not going to let you make me look weak in front of my Rangers!”

“Then come on! I want to make sure Peaceful Heart is ok!”

She bares her teeth and then starts running at him again in hopes of getting closer than she had before. As she nears him, his body ready to react to anything, she jumps up and momentarily catches him off guard long enough to wrap her two forelegs around his neck and wrestle him down onto the ground in a tangle of bodies and limbs.

Nightfire flexes his neck to try and prevent himself from being choked out and looks at his guards, seeing them caring for Peaceful Heart. ‘I’m on my own right now and I’m not about to die by being choked out!’

“Just! Die!” Root Beer shouts out as she tightens her grip on Nightfire’s throat hoping to end it faster.

Nightfire closes his eyes and gags a little as he tries to draw in breath and finds that he barely could. In a last ditch effort to free himself his horn glows brightly and then he slammed his right front hoof down onto the ground, creating a small dome of blue electricity, shocking himself and Root Beer with the spell.

The unicorn cries out and struggles hard to keep from shaking as the electricity coursing through her body and then her limbs spasm just enough for Nightfire to slip his head from her grip and kick her away, coughing as the dome vanishes away suddenly.

As Nightfire places a hoof gently against his throat as he takes long and deep gasps of breath as he feels his neck throb a little from the near strangulation he had suffered. “Are you… you done?”

The mare looks up from the ground at Nightfire and bares her teeth at him as a scream of frustration tears free from her muzzle. “Never!”

Nightfire shakes his head slowly and then gets to his hooves as quick as he could before kneeling down and vomiting onto the ground then wipes his muzzle with the back of his right foreleg. “I’m done… bring it on.”

She rolls back onto her hooves and glares at him before lurking slowly in a wide circle around him while her horn glows gently, along with several medium sized rocks before they rush toward him causing him to roll out of the way and then his horn glows brightly as his magic aura surrounds her and lifts her into the air kicking and thrashing. “Give up! I am not keeping this going much longer.”

“No! I’m not going to lose to an Alicorn!” She cries out and turns to face him with rage in her eyes.

Nightfire looks down at the ground and shakes his head before rearing back onto his rear hooves, his front ones poised as if he was posing for a portrait and as he stomped down, he swung his head forward lifting her into the air further and then slamming her down hard into the ground, knocking the wind out of her lungs. “Are you done yet?”

The injured mare looks at Nightfire while struggling to get air back into her lungs in shallow breathes. “N-No… not yet.”

Nightfire bares his teeth and then rears back again, lifting her back into the air and then the same action as before repeats itself. This time Nightfire looks at her with almost pity in his eyes. ‘I don’t understand this mare’s determination, is she really willing to die than admit defeat to me?’ Nightfire slowly stands back up and looks down at her. “Why not just admit defeat and live to fight another day? I’m sure it must be a better alternative than dying.”

“I won’t give up… not until you’re dead at my hooves,” She replies as she looks up into his eyes, eyebrows furrowed.

Nightfire shakes his head slowly and then looks away to his guards, who were still working on Peaceful Heart. “I’m sorry, but that ego of yours will be the death of you if you don’t surrender.”

“So what? You’ll kill me? I thought you won’t kill unless it’s necessary?”

“If I have to kill you to win this challenge then so be it. But I’d rather not because I think just simply killing off my foes-“

“You’re spineless! If you were anything like the Alicorns we’ve seen they’d have maybe taken one of us down before dying!”

Nightfire looks down at her and then shakes his head slowly. “You don’t understand do you? Killing isn’t something I do without cause. Only if I know I have to do it.”

“The Wasteland will eat you alive… you’ll never survive here!” She says then spits at his hooves with distaste on her face.

The Alicorn sighs and then rears back again, this time spreading his wings wide as if he was going to take to the sky but then slams her back down to the hard ground beneath her.

“Do you give up?”

“No!”

Again she is slammed onto the ground, this time she let out more of a sharp cry.

“Give up! I don’t want to kill you!”

“Never…”

“Please just give up!” Nightfire pleads as he lifts her back up into the air one last time before slamming her down hard onto the ground, this time at least breaking a rib or two.

As her two ribs broke, limiting her ability to breathe correctly without pain, she finally looks up into his eyes, tears at the corners of her eyes. “As much… as I hate saying this… I cannot continue to fight…”

Nightfire’s magic immediately fades from around her and then forms around the hilt of his .44 from outside the dirt square, floats it over quickly and points it at her as he pants heavily, ignoring the many guns that turned to point at him. “If any of you try to attack us again… I’ll put an end to you faster than the war with the Zebra ended.”

The other Steel Rangers quickly turn their guns toward Nightfire and stare him down as he slowly steps back toward his guard before finally turning away from them and running toward Peaceful Heart. When he finally sees her, her two children are holding her front two hooves tightly, tears streaming down their cheeks and her breath coming in slowly and shallowly. Nightfire quickly stepped forward, his hoof falling into a large puddle of blood from her injury and he quickly starts trying to use whatever healing magic he had to help her dropping his gun in the process. ‘I’m not going to lose you to… I just won’t let that happen!’ Nightfire thinks with all of his mind before the medic places a hoof on Nightfire’s shoulder.

“Sir… there’s nothing we can do. We’re…” He begins and then Nightfire pushes him away with a single hoof and kneels beside her, feeling her blood soak into his dark blue fur.

“I’m not going to let her die!” Nightfire shouts and turns to face their medic. “Do you hear me!?”

Both Little Love and Warlord look at Nightfire with a small glimmer of hope in their eyes as he turns back and places his horn against her wound and the magic seemed to just flow into it.

“Night-Nightfire…” Peaceful Heart manages to barely breathe out forcing him to lift his head and look into her eyes. “It’s too late for me… I feel it coming; the light, it’s warm and I s-see my husband. I wa-want you to ke-keep my children saf-“ She then winces and coughs, her blood shooting out of her muzzle and sprays his face causing him to shudder slightly. “I kn-know that you’ll ma-make Equestria great again,” She replies and then pulls her right hoof gently out of Little Love’s grip and places it against his cheek. “Promise me… to keep these two sa-safe. Please.”

Nightfire’s horn ceases to glow and then he raises a hoof and holds her hoof against his cheek, feeling blood on her hoof leave a mark behind. “I promise… but you’re going to be ok.”

She smiles and then coughs again, giving him a smile when her coughing was done. “Warlord. Little Love. I love you both… no matter how man-many times I say it it’s always true. Your father and I… we did all we could for you both. I ju-just wish I could see wh-what happens next,” She says softly, tears sliding down her cheeks and down her neck. “Warlord… protect your sister, promise me.”

Warlord leans down and kisses his mother’s hoof firmly as tears drip down from his eyes and then leans down and presses his forehead against her chest. “Moth-Mother… I don’t want to lose you…”

“I’ll never leave you… I’ll always be in your heart…” She replies softly and then looks over at her daughter who looked as if she was the one about to die, seeing her mother dying in front of her.

“Little Love… I know that yo-you’re a gentle soul, but I need you to be br-brave. Be like your father; strong, and assured. Never forget what the tw-two of us taught you both.”

Little Love leans down and openly sobs, her cries echoing across the entire of the Wasteland. Her cries hurting Nightfire’s ears more than any injury that he had ever suffered in his life. “Mother… I don’t wa-want to lose you to!” She cries and hugs her mother tightly. Her muscles shaking from the tightness of her hug as she buries her face into her mother’s chest, mere inches away from the bullet wound that was taking her life away.

“Listen to me… I don’t have a lot of ti-time left. Please… stay smart, and listen to Nightfire. He’s the best ho-hope to help Equestria back on-onto its hooves. I lov-love you, both of you more than anyth-anything in the world. Nightfire… I believe in you. You and al-all of the Guard. Don’t forget your goals, what defines you. Goo-Goodbye,” She says as she looks at her children and Nightfire as the light in her eyes dies slowly and then her body goes limb in the three’s hold.

“Mother… please wake up. You can’t be gone! You just can’t be!” Little Love cries out and hugs her mother closely then screams in despair as Warlord looks down at her mother in disbelief and shock.

‘Peaceful Heart… why? Why did it have to be you? Out of everypony in the guard, it was you who died…’ Nightfire thinks as tears flow freely down his cheeks as he looks down at her face, shockingly seeing a small smile on her muzzle. Suddenly it felt as if something inside of his snapped, opening something dark inside of him.

Suddenly the group of the Steel Rangers were surrounded with Nightfire’s magic aura and lifted into the air and their weapons creaking and cracking from the pressure that was being pushed from all sides. “What the fuck is this!?”

“What the fuck is going on!?”

“Do you really want to know?” Nightfire asks, his voice sounding distorted and dark enough that Root Beer’s fur actually raised up from fear. “Or would you rather me show you?”

The Steel Ranger’s all turn their attention to Nightfire, who slowly raises onto his hooves, his wings spread wide as his fur begins to slowly turn black, starting from his hooves and slowly slides up his legs and up to his body as he turns to face them with his eyes closed, his horn glowing brightly and even the grooves of his horn glowing solid white.

The members of Nightfire’s guard look at him with uncertainty in their eyes as Little Love and Warlord continue looking down at their passed mother, seeming to ignore everything that was going on around them, even when Little Love’s mane covered her eyes, becoming plastered to her face by her tears.

Meanwhile Nightfire slowly started walking toward the Rangers, his mane starting to float from streams of magic that started weaving through his mane and tail, slowly but surely becoming ethereal while his eyes glow brightly with white hot magic. “Foals like you make me sick! Does any of you understand what it is to live by the Rangers old vow? To protect the ponies of Equestria. That is your vow and thou failed, failed your duty and you failed Applejack’s vision of your kind. For that, you all should die here!”

“You… you have no right to talk about… our vow!” Root Beer cries out and tries to use her magic to break out of the spell only for a wisp of blue magic to wrap around her horn and cut off her magic. “My magic…” She cries out in shock and reaches up for her horn with her hooves.

“I have every right. I saw how the Ranger’s got their start. Now I have seen how far you’ve fallen. It’s now that I realize that I was right in the first place; you ponies are not doing any good for this world. You’re only making it harder and harder for those who can’t defend themselves. Let this demonstration be a warning to all of your Rangers, all the way up to your highest ranking. Get in my way and you will face the wrath of the last natural born Alicorn.”

“We’ll beat you! One pony, even an Alicorn can’t beat all of the Rangers we have!” A stallion that was struggling against Nightfire’s magic exclaims confidently.

“Is that so little pony? If I was in the mood maybe I’d consider your challenge but for now…” Nightfire pauses and then grins as his magic begins pressing on each of the Rangers slowly, causing their armor to crack from the pressure. “I can keep this up till the pressure around you all is like you're at the bottom of the ocean. You won’t be able to move while your armor creaks and strains to keep you from being crushed!” Just as Nightfire finished his sentence, he feels two sets of forelegs wrap around his rear legs causing him to look away from the Rangers and see Warlord and Little Love hugging his rear legs.

“Stop Nightfire! Think about what you’re doing! You spared Root Beer death because of your vow to never take a life unless needed,” Warlord pleads, tears still sliding down his cheeks.

“Please listen to us! You’re not a monster! You’re a pony like us! Don’t let your anger consume you!” Little Love begs, her voice cracking from the crying she had done but her voice hadn’t seemed stronger in that moment than in any other.

“Warlord… Little Love…” Nightfire says softly as his mane slowly returns to normal, his fur returning to his normal blue, his eyes losing the white glow and finally his magic fading from his horn causing the Rangers to drop to the ground in a clatter of armor. Quickly Nightfire pulled the siblings from his rear legs and into a tight hug. “I’m sorry,” Nightfire says softly so only the two of them heard, tears sliding down his own cheek slowly. “Thank you for snapping me out of that… state.”

“Just promise us… we’ll never have to see it again. Please,” Warlord and Little Love both say as they pull back from the hug and look into his eyes.

“I promise…” Nightfire says and then slowly turns to see the Rangers beginning to recover from the magic that Nightfire had used against them. “If any of you want to live to tell your superiors of me, you better leave before I change my mind,” Nightfire says in a dark tone of voice, making even himself shiver from it.

“Let’s go. We have to report this… incident to Elder Cottage Cheese ASAP,” Root Beer says as she gets into her armor once more and then before pulling her helmet back on addresses Nightfire and his guard once more. “If you continue following this Alicorn you will all pay for it in the end. Mark my words.”

“He’s never led us astray before! Maybe he has made some mistakes, but he’s always had our best interests in mind!” Swift Fear shouts at them before collapsing onto the ground in another coughing fit as Iron Sun steps in front of her and pats her back with a hoof.

“They’re not worth it Swift, never have been,” He says solemnly, a few stray tears sliding down his cheeks.

“He’s right Swift, those Ranger’s don’t know what we’re going through to lose family,” Nightfire says as the Ranger’s walk away, one of them muttering about his broken weapon.

After they left, Nightfire looks back at Warlord and Little Love who had turned back and were standing over their mother, holding each other and then he walks up to them and drapes a wing across their backs. “I’m sorry… I wish there was something I could’ve done to stop this.”

Little Love and Warlord look back and up into his eyes, more fresh tears staining their cheeks and eyes and then turn and burry their faces in his chest to sob again. Nightfire wraps them up with his wing, his large feathers acting as a shield from the harsh world. “What are we going to do?”

Nightfire looks down at them while thinking of his response. ‘What else is there for me to do? All I can do is be there for them and protect them as I said I would…’

The other members of the Guard walk up to Peaceful Heart’s body and look down at her, each with tears in their eyes before Nightfire speaks up once more.

“Right now we have to set up two pyres. One for Peaceful Heart and the other for Soven Diamond,” Nightfire says before looking back where the town they’d come from a day before and maybe a days walk away. “I’ll return shortly, I’m going to retrieve Soven’s body.”

“Would you want one of us to come along?” Straight Shot asks as he steps up to Nightfire with Candle Light.

“No, I’m going to fly and bring him back myself,” Nightfire says as he spreads his wings wide.

“Alone? You should have one of us go with you Sir,” Another of the Guard says as she steps up to him. “I can go with you and watch your back.”

“You’re a bold mare…” Nightfire says gently before flapping his wings a little. “If you’re coming then keep up with me.”

“I can do Sir,” She says before wiping her eye to clear some tears from her eyes to show her resolve.

“Then come with me,” He says and slowly lifts into the air with her following behind him. “Warlord? Little Love? I want you to lie down and take it easy ok?”

“Y-Yes Sir…” Little Love says softly before hugging her brother firmly and buries her face back into his shoulder to sob more.

“Yes Sir. Understood,” Warlord says while holding his sister gently.

“Good, we’ll be back as soon as we can. The two of you should decide… who gets your mother’s weapon…”

The two look down as Nightfire and the mare start flying to the town they had been ambushed in as they watch over their mother.

***In the air over the Wasteland***

“Sir… can I ask you something?” She asks softly after flying for a few minutes in silence.

“What is it?” He asks gently, his mind seeming to be numb from the loss they had all suffered.

“What was that… power you used against those Rangers?” She asks softly, unable to really identify what it was that he did or how he did it.

“That… is a discussion for another time…” Nightfire says looks back at her sternly.

“Yes Sir… but I want to know one thing.”

“What is it?” Nightfire asks again, starting to get annoyed by her questions already.

“How is it that you remember so many spells from before the war and didn’t use them against the Enclave?”

He looks back at her with a frown and then addresses her question after a moment. “I didn’t because I didn’t remember them. After I was knocked out by overusing that shield spell I was able to remember some of those spells.”

“So, trial and error?”

“Pretty much,” Nightfire replies in a deadpan tone then halts in the air, flapping his wings to keep himself aloft. “Down there.”

“That didn’t take as long as I would’ve thought.”

“We’re in the air, we don’t have to worry about obstacles that are on the ground,” Nightfire says as he slowly starts descending down to the ground, knowing their flight back would be a little slower thanks to carrying one of their fallen. “So what is your name anyway? This is most likely the first we’ve interacted with each other and I am always curious,” He says as the ground approaches them from under them.

“My name is Tattered Feather.”

“Interesting name for a Pegasus who can fly very well don’t you think?” Nightfire asks as he touches down on the ground and watches her land in front of him before he turns and walks up to the body of Soven Diamond. As he approached, three Radroaches scurry from the body and lunge at Nightfire who quickly ducks and rolls to the side and enters S.A.T.S with his .44 and targets the head of the one closest to him and the body of the one closest to Soven’s body and as he releases the spell two shots ring out, the head of the first Radroach exploding and the second shot strikes the hard shell of the roach and penetrate it, causing it to flop as the bullet tears into it.

Tattered Feather quickly enters S.A.T.S. and targets the last Radroach that Nightfire couldn’t target because it was shielded by Soven’s body, targeting its head and then releasing her targeting spell her riffle roaring as the bullet leaves the barrel of her gun and slams into the head of the roach, killing it instantly.

“Great work Tattered, nice shot,” Nightfire replies and smiles at her for a moment as he looks at the body of the roach and then to Soven’s. “I’ll carry his body, you just keep guard over us ok?”

“Yes Sir.”

Nightfire lifts Soven’s body from the ground and looks at his body before letting it drape over his back, his dead weight making him stagger for a second. “Let us be off. I’m sure they have the pyre’s set by now.”

“Of course Sir,” She says as she spreads her wings wide and slowly flaps them and rises into the air as Nightfire does the same, if not a little more slowly because of the added weight that he was forced to carry.

“So tell me Sir… was the Pyre a common practice for the Royal Guard?”

“Fairly common… unfortunate but it was needed for those who wanted to ‘ascend’ to the Herd,” Nightfire replies and then starts flying forward, Tattered keeping pace a few wing beats in front of him. “What do you know about the old ceremonies?”

“Not a whole lot… but I think that Silver Gleam and Little Love know more about it. They were the ones who studied Pre War Equestria more than all of us. Even their brothers didn’t study it as much as they did.”

“So… seems like that they would’ve done very well in Pre War Equestria. You all would’ve loved it.”

“I imagine I would. Things must’ve been so peaceful and magical.”

Nightfire only smiles and then returns his focus to flying, watching the Wasteland flow beneath them, as if the world was moving instead of them.

After a few hours in the air, Tattered Feather halts and points down to the ground with a hoof, showing the guard sill where they’d left them. “We’re back Sir.”

“Thank you Tattered, for accompanying me and watching out for me,” Nightfire says as he starts flying in a large lazy circle down to the ground with her following behind. Once reaching the ground, Nightfire gently sets Soven’s body on the ground and then lies on the ground. “Is everypony… well?”

“Y-Yes Sir… just waiting on you and Tattered Feather to return,” Iron Sun says softly, tears still waiting to free themselves from the corners of his eyes.

Nightfire pulls the knife from the sheath of Soven’s right side and then draws his own .44 out and studies Soven’s Cutie Mark closely. After a short minute, Nightfire begins carving a smaller version of his Cutie Mark into the wood of the hilt. The diamond of his Cutie Mark chipped by a small chisel leaning against it, almost making Nightfire think his name should’ve been Broken Diamond. “Iron Sun? Care to do the honors?”

“Yes Sir,” Iron says as he lifts Soven’s body with his magic and walks him over to the vacant pyre and sets him down before it. “What about… his gear Sir?”

Nightfire sighs softly and then looks at the brown and barren ground under his hooves. “I guess… we split it out amongst ourselves.”

“Of course Sir,” Iron Sun says and then works off Soven’s armor and equipment off his body before lifting him up and sets his body in the pyre.

Nightfire gets up onto his hooves and then pulls a stick from each pyre and then focuses magic to the end of each piece, after a second the wood catches fire. Then walks up to the pyre’s before Warlord places a hoof against flank.

“Sir, my sister and I wa-want to set the pyre for our mother,” Warlord says, his eyes showing his resolve while his sister, who was standing beside him, her eyes still downcast.

Nightfire nods his head and then holds the first stick in front of Warlord and then steps to the side to stand before Soven’s pyre. “At your count my Captain.”

Warlord pulls his sister close with a wing, making her lift her head and then offers her one side of the stick, careful not to light himself with the small blaze at the end of the stick closest to his face. She reaches out with her magic and then gently takes the end of it and nods to her brother before throwing the stick with him onto their mother’s pyre as Nightfire throws his stick onto Soven’s pyre.

Nightfire steps back behind all of his guard and allows them all the chance to mourn the loss of two more of their members, while he himself shed silent tears. “Peaceful Heart, Soven Diamond. I won’t let your sacrifices be in vein… I promise. I will make Equestria great again.”

As each member of the guard step up, one at a time, or if they were a couple, two at a time, Nightfire stays back as tears slide down his cheek as he watches the hot flames lick away at the two ponies in each pyre as their flesh burns, the hair on their bodies burning away first then their flesh began to cook, forcing Nightfire to look away and cover his nose with a piece of cloth, not being able to take the smell of burning pony. Slowly he turns back after Warlord and Little Love taps his shoulder, the other guards looking toward him, all standing between him and the pyres. “My turn?”

Warlord and his sister nod slowly, tears still on their cheeks, the fire behind them covering their faces and all of the ponies standing between him and the two fires. Nightfire slowly nods his head and steps forward, the members of his guard stepping to the side to create a path for him. He stops a little ways from the fires, the heat causing his mane to blow in a small breeze as he kneels down between the two pyres and draws the .357 and ejects the clip of his sniper rifle and draws a bullet from each of the guns before sliding the clip back into the rifle and pushes the cylinder of the .357 back into place before pushing it back into its holster and sets the bullet for the .357 in front of Soven’s and the bullet from the .308 in front of Peaceful Heart’s pyre. As he bows before the two pyres, Nightfire feels the flames drying the tears that were sliding down his cheeks only for new and fresh tears to slide the rest of the way down his cheeks.

After a long few moments, he stands back up and utters a short phrase in a whisper, sending a shiver down his own spine and then steps back to stand beside Little Love and Warlord. “If you two are ready… we’ll leave on your mark.”

“Not yet…” Little Love replies softly as she feels more tears slide down her cheeks.

“Of course…” Nightfire says softly and then drapes a wing over their backs and pulls them close.

After a few more minutes of watching their mother and fellow guard burn, Little Love looks away, unable to bare the sight anymore as she then quickly buries her face into Nightfire’s chest, his trench coat and barding being soaked with her tears.

“I think it’s time,” Nightfire says softly to the siblings before letting his voice ring out across the land around them. “Everypony move out. We don’t need to stay for all of this.”

Slowly the members of the guard get back onto their hooves. “Yes Sir.”

“Warlord. Little Love. I know right now my words aren’t going to reach you… but things will be ok,” Nightfire says gently to the siblings before giving the two under his wings a gentle nuzzle forward. “Come on, let’s go,” He says and turns them away from the two pyres and then quickly looks at his PipBuck and sees nothing around them within the PipBuck’s E.F.S. “We’re alone and those Ranger’s are out of our range. If I remember there was a building around here that we can go to rest up not to far from here.”

“Think that it’ll be a good idea?” Swift Fear asks as she looks toward were Nightfire was talking about.

“Better than any other idea we might have,” Candle Light says and rubs her belly with a gentle hoof as she looks around at the Wasteland before them.

Nightfire frowns a little and then starts walking forward, pulling Warlord and Little Love with him as the others turn from the pyres to follow him to their next destination.

During their walk, everypony remained silent, feeling the loss of three of their fellow guards and friends in such a short amount of time. Nightfire looks down at Warlord and Little Love who barely lifted their heads as they walked. ‘I know that these two blame me and I won’t blame them for it. I always told Celestia and Luna I never wanted a guard because of situations like this,’ Nightfire thinks to himself and then stops in his tracks as a small red dot appears on his E.F.S. causing him to use his magic to draw his .44 revolver and activating S.A.T.S and looks around the area that it could reach and sees a single Radroach and sighs softly. “Don’t waste your ammo, let’s just keep going,” Nightfire says as he deactivates the spell and holsters his weapon as he then starts walking again, the shadow of the building starting to appear on the horizon.

“Is that it?” Swift Fear asks as she squints her eyes as the shadow of the building stands out on the horizon from the fait light of the setting sun from behind the thick cloud curtain.

“Yes it is, but I don’t know if there is anypony inside it. Nothing so far on my E.F.S. in lines of enemies or animals,” Nightfire says as he starts walking forward again as the Radroach scurries away from them as they pass where it had been and work their way toward the building.

Once the group made it to the building, Nightfire lifts his wings from Warlord and Little Love and draws both of his pistols. “All of you wait here and stay quiet, I’ll go ahead and scope it out,” He says as his magic focuses around the handle of the door and slowly pulls it open, and winces as the hinges squeak a little and then slips inside the door and pulls it closed behind him. He breathes softly and then turns on the light of his PipBuck and then presses his side against the wall and looks at the open but extremely messy room before him. “No guts no glory,” He says and peeks around the corner and sees nothing there, only evidence that ponies had once lived there; trash laid around everywhere and broken furniture scattered around the large living room. As Nightfire walks around the room, he spots two doors at the end of a small hallway similar to the one he had entered the building in. He gently pushes the door on the right of the hallway and sees a simple bathroom that had a broken tub inside and a broken toilet inside, the ceramic scattered across the room. Even a small mirror was resting against the wall opposite of the broken toilet, the surface dusted so heavily that he could barely make himself out on it. He turns back to the hallway and then looks at the last door and holsters his .44 and readies the .357 and pulls the door open slowly the green light of his PipBuck filling the room with strange shadows and an earie light.

“Wonder who used to live here,” Nightfire says to himself softly and he looks around the dusty room and sees a single large bed in the middle of the far wall from the door and a single skeleton resting on it. A message writing in long dried blood above the bed simply read ‘Forgive me for my sins my beloved.’ Nightfire takes a step back and reads the message over again in his head and looks over at an open closet that had a few drawers on the inside. “Did you have anything to end it all with or did you just starve yourself I wonder…”

“Nightfire? Sir?” Straight Shot asks from outside the building. “Everything ok in there?”

Nightfire looks over his shoulder and then wipes his brow with the back of a hoof. “Y-Yeah. Come on in,” He says and then holsters his .357 and uses his magic to wipe away the centuries old message. He then turns away and walks back into the living room and nods to his guard. “We’ll rest here for the night. In the morning we’ll be back on our way to Canterlot,” Nightfire says with a soft tone to his voice.

“Everypony take a spot. I’ll make us some dinner before we hit the hay,” Iron Sun says as he sits on his flank and slides off his saddlebags which he had filled with food that he had gotten from the Slavers and the buildings they had stopped at before they’d been ambushed in.

“Those Slavers didn’t eat it all?” Nightfire asks as the others slowly spread out, taking spots around the room. “Candle Light come with me, there is a spot that’ll be more comfortable for you considering your condition.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, come with me,” Nightfire says as he leads her down the hallway and before she could enter, he says a quick prayer for the deceased pony and then slides the bones off the bed and under it with his magic. “I know it’s nothing special, but I hope it’s enough for you.”

“It may not be like my bed back in the Stable, but I appreciate the gesture Sir. Thank you so much,” Candle Light says with a smile and crawls onto the bed, sinking into the old fabric and springs.

“I’ll bring you your dinner, or your husband will,” Nightfire says with a smile and turns to walk away before she starts to say something and falls silent. “Yes Candle?”

“Do… you think Peaceful is with the Herd?” She asks, sadness ebbing from her voice.

“I know she is,” He says as he stops by the door. He turns back around and then walks up to the bed and sits beside it. “Let me tell you something, something you should know. When we all die, we are tested inside Tartarus, many who I have known go through without so much as being looked at, but I have known of many more that haven’t been so lucky. I know her well enough to know that she won’t be so much as looked at by any of the lords.”

“Lords? Tartarus has lords?” Candle Light asks softly.

“Yes, six lords rule the realm of Tartarus. However the one that I fear more than the others is the sixth lord. From what I was ever told about him; he was something like a creator. But I won’t believe that we’ll have to deal with him… it.”

“It?” She asks and then Straight Shot knocks on the door.

“Am I interrupting anything? Cause I have her food here.”

“You’re not interrupting anything, I was just going. Need to check with Warlord and Little Love anyway,” Nightfire says as he gets off the bed and gives Candle a smile. “Hope you two enjoy the bed and food.”

“Hope they are doing better,” He says and then sits on the bed beside his wife as Nightfire walks out of the room, leaving the two alone as closes the door a little behind him to give them privacy.

“Here you go sir,” Iron says as he holds up a small bowl that looked like it had something that he’d taken the time to prepare something decent out of the little food they had from the Slavers and their own stack of food.

“Thanks,” Nightfire says with a smile and lifts the bowl with his magic while looking over to where Warlord and Little Love had nestled down by a broken window. “Mind if I lie here with you two?”

Warlord looks up at him and nods slowly, not wanting to speak due to his sorrow.

“You know, you may have lost your mother, but like she said, she’ll always be with you both. Even when all seems lost, all you have to do is listen to your heart and your souls.”

Little Love and Warlord both look up at him, their eyes red from crying for so long. “Y-You mean that?” Little Love asks softly, her voice raspy from her sobbing.

“Yes, trust me. I know the pain of losing family. I lost my mother and father a very long time ago,” He begins, feeling his heart jump up in his throat as be started. “Discord’s kind were the reason they died… protecting me and my sisters.”

“I’m… sorry to hear that,” Warlord says softly, looking away to try and keep himself strong.

“It’s alright. But they told us that if we ever wanted to see them all we’d have to do is think of something we did with them when they were alive. It’s helped so many times in my life when I missed them so much it hurt,” Nightfire says and then pauses, letting a silence fall over the three of them. “Honestly, there was a line of a poem my mother read to me when I was little, one I have always remembered to this day. ‘When sorrow fills your mind and heart, look to the light of the moon and the sun. Their light is always there to guide your hooves and heart. Even if your eyes are clouded trust the sun and moon to guide you to something worth living for.’”

“That’s beautiful…” Little Love says as she slowly turns her frown up into a very small smile.

“It’s helped me through some real hard times, and I hope that it can help you both. Help all of us,” Nightfire says as a tear slides down his cheek, remembering the last poem that his mother had taught him.

Warlord sighs softly and then leans his head against Nightfire’s shoulder. “I believe it could…”

Nightfire looks down at him and smiles a little then lifts a foreleg up and wipes away his tears. “Get something to eat and get some sleep. We’ve still got a long way to go toward Canterlot.”

They smile and then get up from their spots to go and get some food that Iron Sun had cooked from their limited supply while Nightfire watches over them. ‘I’ll make this world a better place, however I can. Even if in the end my life is sacrificed I’ll know that it was for a good cause.’

Author's Note

Sweet! Freaking! Luna! This chapter took me so much longer than I wanted it to. Got stuck in a bad case of writers block and it wouldn't go away!
But anyway... So Nightfire awakens his dark power, similar to Luna's transformation into Nightmare Moon. I know that's going to get so much backlash but bear with me, I have plans for it that won't make it so op.