Midnight Rising

"I AM LOYAL. I am the EMBODIMENT of Loyalty! Its exemplar! Its champion! But... Who am I loyal to? The Princesses, or Twilight?"

Princess Flurry Heart.

Empress Twilight hadn't told me much, but apparently the mare leading the Starborn was a Princess; a ghost of Equestria before the Golden Age. She was apparently a newborn around the time of Twilight's Ascension, and she was indeed an Alicorn. What had confused us both was why now, all of a sudden, this Flurry Heart had returned. She had grown up under the Empress's Golden Age, she had no recollection of life under the ruling Princesses. In fact, according to Empress Twilight, Flurry Heart was supposed to be dead. So why now, 900 years later, had she reappeared, and taken up arms against Equestria and Empress Twilight?

In the end, it didn't matter to me(or Twilight, for that matter). All that mattered was that she be stopped. The Starborn, for all their mystique and danger, were an afterthought compared to the threat this rogue Alicorn posed to Equestria. She was responsible for hundreds of deaths on Equus Prime, and I intended to ensure she face judgement for it.

Which was why I was on my way to the Serpent system, a destination which bred a terrible sense of unease within me. A certain black ship had been spotted near the planet Tirek by a scouting vessel, and I knew it was Flurry Heart's. I just had to wonder what brought her to such a forsaken star system. In our home system, the Horsehead Nebula, there were no threats. In the Utopia system, where Equus Prime was, there was the occasional slaver ship that might attack a freighter, but the worst enemy there was the unease that came from living on another world.

In the Serpent system, however, all the scum and lowlifes gathered to form one big orgy of violence and chaos. Griffin mercenary groups(all perpetually at war with one another, save for the rare occurrences where it was more profitable for them to cooperate), Minotaur raiding bands(perpetually at war with Equestria through guerrilla tactics), and even a small colony of ponies who rejected Her brilliance in favor of some fucked-up democratic commune that made sense to absolutely nopony(save for the weirdos living on said colony).

The only star system more dangerous than Serpent was the Siren system, and I dreaded the very distinct possibility that my mission would take me there. The Siren system was the official home of the Starborn, and outside of a scientific research colony on the planet Orthros, the planet furthest from the system's planet star, no species native to Equus inhabited the Siren system. It was dominated by Starborn, and the reports that came in every few months from the scientists on Orthros were disturbing.

And if Flurry Heart is hiding out there, we'll have to go there my little pony mused, making me hate the little buck in my head for reminding me. If the Serpent system was a den of scum and villainy, then the Siren system was Tartarus itself. In space. With robots.

All that mattered right now, however, was investigating the planet that Flurry Heart's ship had been spotted near; Tirek. Tirek was an aptly named volcanic world of fire and brimstone, but was rich in metals as a result, chiefly iron and silver. The backbones of virtually every species and society native to Equestria(precious metals more so for Equestria, given our penchant for using them in magical energy weapons and voidships). Such metals were, as a result, very valuable to the Griffin mercenary band that ran Tirek's largest mining operation; Sons of Gilda.

They would also be very valuable to Starborn.

As it stood, the Sons of Gilda were still operational, but the Starborn had hit them hard. Most surface installations(few they may be, given Tirek's volcanic nature) were destroyed, but most subterranean facilities were still intact and under the control of the Sons of Gilda. Given the circumstances, the Griffin mercenary band might be cooperative with me, even friendly, but I wouldn't make that bet if somepony offered.

My ROE; assume hostility on all fronts.

I had another ten hours to go before I entered the Serpent system, and another hour after that before I reached Tirek. This gave me plenty of time to rest, which I would be appreciative of, if I hadn't already had the last two days off. After I returned from Equus Prime and gave my report to the Empress She had me go on standby until the next Starborn attack, which hadn't been long. We were both willing to bet that Flurry Heart would be after the metals stockpiled on Tirek, most likely to upgrade her Starborn army(or perhaps add to its numbers).

Given that I had plenty of time to do nothing, I opted to do what I usually do when I had time before a mission; study.

Pulling up my shipboard computer's lexicon, a trove of every bit of knowledge in Equestrian history, I pulled up the entry on the Sons of Gilda. Dating back to just ten years after Twilight's Ascension the Sons of Gilda were actually formed by the literal sons of Gilda, a renowned Griffin. The three bucks, Kaus, Grimstone, and Grouch formed the group after their mother was killed by Minotaurs during the First Expansion War; a war Twilight's Equestria waged when our exceptionalism first bloomed, and we adopted the ideal of manifest destiny. Gilda had apparently fought for Equestria as a mercenary, and died in a literal blaze of glory when her skyboat was shot down and swarmed by Minotaurs. When her body was recovered, her guns were still in her grip, the actions locked open on empty chambers. After the Sons of Gilda were formed the mercenary group exploded in popularity, and their contributions allowed Equestria to achieve victory over the Minotaurs.

Of course, when Griffonstone and all the rest of the Griffon lands came under attack by Equestria during the Second Expansion War some thirty years later, the Sons of Gilda were our enemy, and they have been ever since. What remains of Griffonstone's former government is a puppet state, dancing to the tune of Empress Twilight(as all nations and species should).

As a result, all Griffins(and most of the other species, come to think of it), treat Equestrians with great animosity. Were I a regular pony, the Sons of Gilda would lend me some derogatory remarks and be on their way. But, I was no regular pony. I was a Royal Ranger. Worse still, a Royal Hunter. I was the living embodiment of Empress Twilight's will. I was Her right and left hooves, gripping in one a gun and in the other my badge; the Empress's blessing to do whatever I wanted, so long as it advanced Equestria's interests.

So, really, even if I did save the Sons of Gilda from the Starborn, they would try to kill me. Violently. And send pictures to Empress Twilight.

For all their power(they were the oldest mercenary group still in existence) the Sons of Gilda were no where near as bad as some of the other mercenary groups operating in the Serpent system. The Sons of Gilda at least had honor; they wouldn't break from the contract, no matter the price, and they wouldn't attack or kill anyone they weren't supposed to(unless it was me). Most of the other groups blurred the line between 'mercenary' and 'raider', killing and stealing indiscriminately in the name of profit. That was the key difference, though; the Griffin mercenary groups all killed for profit; the marauders did it to strike back at Equestria the only way they could.

But, for now, all I had to contend with were the Sons of Gilda, who were allegedly led by an actual descendant of Gilda. I doubt said Griffin would be on Tirek(mercenary leaders tended to live on garden worlds, in fancy towers or palaces), but the rest of the mercs would be plenty dangerous. You didn't become a Son of Gilda just by being a Griffon, after all.

There was nothing else to read about, so I deigned to get some rest. I set the computer to wake me an hour before I arrived in system and trotted back to my bedroom crawling into the large circular bed that dominated a quarter of the spacious room, and quickly dozed off.

Tirek was hot.

Unbearably hot.

I had touched down about half a mile from the location of the largest mine on Tirek, intending to do a little scouting(and maybe try sneaking in) and already I was uncomfortable. My suit protected me from the worst of the heat, but it was still uncomfortably warm. I had to be mindful of where I stepped, too, as the suit wouldn't protect me from magma or lava, of which there was a lot on Tirek. A lot. Pools of magma, spouts, geysers, rivers, and even a few actively erupting volcanoes feeding all of the aforementioned made Tirek a deathtrap of the highest order. If it weren't for all the iron and silver no one would've ever bothered with Tirek(save for eggheaded types interested in studying rocks formed on other worlds).

Ignoring my discomfort I focused on moving cautiously. I didn't expect the Starborn to have anybot out on patrol(in fact, the soldier part of my mind assured itself that they would only post guards around the entrances to the mine) but I knew better than to take any chances. I trotted into a small pass between two cliffs, the winding pass leading me up an incline to a ridge that overlooked the entrance to the massive subterranean mine, nestled into a cliff face. The area below was a roughly circular depression, a ten hoof drop from the ridge I was on. There was a dropship parked in the center of the depression, a few rocks and Starborn around it. As expected, the enemy had guards outside. What I was not expecting was to see her, the Alicorn Star; Flurry Heart. I hunkered down, but without fail the ghost of Equestria's past stopped, turning her head to look at the ridge I was on, her helmeted face locking with mine.

She turned away and headed into the mine.

She's baiting you my little pony warned. I knew he was right; she was an Alicorn, she was telepathic. She could read my thoughts(but thankfully she couldn't read my muscles, otherwise she'd be able to counteract my every move before I even made it). She looked me dead in the eyes and turned away, not bothering to fight me or even alert her soldiers. I didn't know anything secret that she could steal from my mind, but it would make sneaking up on her difficult.

I dispatched the few guards outside and slid down the embankment into the depression, galloping for the entrance to the mine. As I neared, I heard an elevator activate. Peering into the door, I spotted what amounted to a small warehouse, with a large cargo elevator set into a space against the far back wall. Flurry Heart was standing on it, her back to me. I stepped into the building, intending to look around a bit before I followed her down.

The building was set up in a way that the main entrance opened into the warehouse, but there were doors on either side of the room. The left was locked, but the right was open. Cautiously I stepped in, finding a relatively large foremare's office. The air in this building was cool, and I hoped it would be the same down in the mine(though I knew better).

Entering the office proper I gravitated toward the computer terminal, finding it was of Equestrian origin. This was not surprising, given our industry dominated the manufacture of virtually every product. It was likely the Sons purchased them secondhand, so as to not directly feed into our economy. There was mostly logs of shipments and destinations on the computer. None of the destinations looked particularly out of the ordinary, outside of a particularly large shipment of silver to the planet Hydra.

There was, however, a single typed entry at the bottom of the list, seemingly framed as a note the foremare(ForeGriffon?) had written to himself.

This shit is getting out of talon. It was bad enough when Krast had us sending all the iron to Draconequus(and all the silver to him), but now he's got us sending half of both each month to some pony bitch. Don't even know who, or for what purpose, all we know is that she's a mare. Isn't that fucking splendid? A pony, and a bitch. Krast won't even fucking tell us why, but I doubt there'd be a reason good enough to warrant sending iron and silver to a fucking EQUESTRIAN. What'd she do, fuck him? Whatever, she pays, but she's fucking creepy. She wears this fucking cloak and has us deliver the metals to the ass-end of nowhere. The cloak covers her whole body, and she doesn't speak a word. We've been dealing with her for a year and the only thing I know about her is that her coat's tan. I hope she's just using the metals to build trinkets, but something tells me she's cooking up some fucking bad shit.

I ain't going to be caught under whatever bullshit this mare is going to bring, so I'm gonna hoard some of the silver in my little vault down in the mine. Got some guns down there, too. Worse comes to worst I'll cut off all contact with Krast and the rest and hole up here.

A fucking pony. I swear.

A tan mare? Who got the Sons' boss to agree to sell her half of all the metals they mined each month on Tirek? So what did Flurry Heart and the Starborn have to do with all this? Were they involved with the tan mare? Or were they coming to disrupt the operation and steal all the ore the Sons of Gilda had mined?

It was time to get to the bottom of this.

The mine was crawling with Starborn!

I had killed no less than ten within minutes of stepping off the cargo elevator, and had luckily escaped with only minor harm. There were still dozens lurking around, making every corner a hazard and every doorway a potential ambush. There was plenty of lighting, though, so I didn't need to be too mindful of shadows or dark corners, for which I was grateful.

The mine had been separated into several sections, with each section marked by an automated door and a letter. The cargo elevator opened into section A, and down the wide tunnel had been the squad of Starborn. The tunnel ended in a T-junction, with the door to section B on the left and section C on the right. Logically, I chose section B, but it was just a storage cavern. A quick look confirmed no hidden doors or secrets, so I moved down to section C. The door parted as I approached, and immediately I came under fire from Starborn. There were dozens of crates and mine carts littered about the cavernous room, and I dove behind the nearest one, the steel of the crate already growing warm.

A lull in the fighting allowed me to return fire; staying low, I edged around the left side of the crate and took aim, dropping three of the robotic bucks before pulling back, green energy from an earth Star's integral hoof blaster spearing through the air where my head had just been, turning the rock below to magma. The edges of the crate began to sag as the steel melted, and it began to glow a sickly greenish-orange. I prepare myself and galloped around the room to the next crate, Star fire following me the whole way. A few had caught on to the idea of leading a moving target, and had actually hit me, their magical energy scorching my armor, leaving me uncomfortably warm but otherwise unharmed.

Rolling out I dropped two more Starborn and critically disabled a third, a volley of energy forcing me to duck back behind the crate; a grenade was there to greet me, and I dashed out towards the center of the chamber. Most of the Starborn were congregated on the far side of the cavern, with a few on catwalks that ringed the walls near the ceiling. The grenade detonated in a ball of blue fire, the flames licking the air and the heat licking my armor. Shrapnel peppered the cavern, some of it metal from the grenade, some of it rock from the cave. A piece lodged in my left hind leg at the joint, where the armor did not cover, leaving that leg temporarily disabled. I scrambled into the maw of an overturned minecart, a magical beam blasting a corner off.

Being an earth pony, my options for removing the shrapnel were limited, and I cursed genetics for not gifting me a horn. I rolled onto my back, my legs jutting into the air. The sounds of magical energy firing filled my ears as my forehooves gripped the shrapnel stuck in my undersuit, pulling it free. A quick check confirmed I hadn't suffered anything worse than a nasty bruise, and I rolled back over onto my hooves. There was nothing I could do about the puncture, but it was not immediately threatening. At least so long as I didn't go into vacuum.

By the time I had patched myself up my gems had recharged and I was ready to reengage, but I had lost track of the Stars. Risking a look, I saw the three up on the catwalks moving to flank me, while another three poured eldritch fire on the minecart. Thankfully it appeared to be a bit more resistant to heat than the crates did, affording me a little extra time. I leaned out from the maw of the cart, firing on the catwalk snipers. One died, but I missed the other two, my shots instead striking the cables that the catwalks hung from. One of the sniper Stars fell unceremoniously to the rock below, but the other leaped forward, remaining on the catwalk. It fired, forcing me back into the cart. I was about to duck out when another grenade thumped against the top of the cart, rolling off and landing in the dirt in front of me. I reached out with a hoof to kick it away, the explosive sailing across the cavern and exploding in the air, the magical fireball incinerating one of the Stars and buckling the catwalks; dust and rock rained from the ceiling again, making me fear a cave in.

Taking the opportunity the chaos gave me I darted out, firing on the remaining sniper Star, slagging it. I rounded to shoot the remaining three, catching one before the other two recovered and returned fire. I dove back into the cart, an energy shot catching me in the shoulder, the brightness leaving me dazed and my vision blurry. A warning light flashed on my HUD, and I pulled myself into the cart. I blinked to clear my vision(my guns not going off because my reticle wasn't on a target), and I saw that the warning was for critical damage to the servos in my suit's right foreleg. That was a severe problem. I attempted to move my leg, finding I could move it like normal, but the servos in my shoulder were damaged, preventing me from raising my hoof up(to point or scratch my head, for example).

I could live with that until I returned to Canterlot. Failing that, I could probably make the repair myself if necessary.

Getting up I leaned out, catching the two remaining Starborn galloping towards me. My recovery caught them by surprise(if robots could be surprised), as did my energy bolts. One caught a shot to the face, stopping dead in its tracks and falling over, and the other was hit in the breast, the magical energy melting most of its innards. It tumbled forward on momentum, its body thudding hard against the minecart; spools of wire and electronic components hung out of its torso like artificial guts.

I let out a ragged breath, taking a look around the cavern. There was only one other tunnel leading out of the cavern, blocked by a door that was, thankfully, unlocked. I approached, the door marked 'refinery'. I braced myself and opened the door, a wave of heat rushing into the cavern. I peered into the room beyond, finding it was less of a room and more of a canyon, underground, stretching for about a quarter of a mile. The canyon floor was about a hundred yards below where I was currently at, a ramped catwalk leading down. Vats of molten iron and silver ran along rails and tipped into even larger vats which fed into smelters, turning the molten metals into ingots which were then dispensed onto conveyor belts to be stamped. A maze of catwalks were spread throughout the entire refinery, stretching haphazardly over the vats. It was even hotter down here than on the surface, but there were few Starborn(well, relatively).

Looking up from the refinery canyon I saw an office window on the far side of the canyon, roughly level with my current position. Bumping up my magnification I saw Flurry Heart trotting along the catwalks, flanked by what appeared to be two Starborn dressed in cloaks.

Steeling myself, I prepared to venture into the refinery, feeling even more like I was trotting into a trap.