An Echo of What Once Was

“... And if I find out you are giving my partner any more strife, Goddess above what he will do to you will seem pleasure to what I will do!” Lucy shouted at the Officer who shrunk under the Commander’s rage.

“I… I'm sorry Ma’am, it won't happen again” He said as he looked down.

“See that it doesn't. .. and make sure everyone else knows” She growled as the Marine nodded before quickly leaving the building. Once he was gone, Lucy sighed and rubbed her temples as Moon walked over and embraced the ropable woman. “Today is going to shit” Lucy sighed and leant into Moon.

“Hey at least it's just about over” Moon comforted her as she rubbed her hand up and down Lucy’s back before her horn flared and Lucy yelped in surprise as her bra suddenly materialized in Moon’s hand. “Better?” She asked.

“Yea, just warn me next time. .. I still have to do paperwork on this and then have to figure out how they managed to get this far into Sanctuary. .. and… fuck” She groaned as Mon held her tighter.

“In the morning, right now let's check if Cadance, Glimmer and Tony are alright” Moon said causing Lucy to nod before they broke the embrace and moved up the stairs and into their bedroom.

“Stop Fucking Fidgeting!” The pair heard Tony shout from the bathroom.

“Stop being so rough then! “ Glimmer shouted back as the pair entered the bathroom to discover both Cadance and Glimmer in a bubble filled bath while Tony scrubbed the blood from Glimmer’s wings hard enough to make Nightmare wince.

“Well if you stopped fucking moving I wouldn't have to be rough with you” Tony replied as he finished scrubbing the wing before he moved onto her mane, which he unknotted and removed twigs from, all the while Glimmer flinched in pain from the rough treatment all the while Cadance watched with a beard made of bubbles.

“Help me Cadance!” Glimmer shouted as Tony accidentally ripped out a few hairs when he removed a tangled throwing knife from her mane, which he gave an odd look before he discarded it with a shrug.

“I am not Cadance, I am Starswirl the Bearded!” she exclaimed while shooting her hooves into the air, sending hot water and bubbles all over the room. Glimmer and Tony looked at her as if she was crazy, Lucy deadpanned and Moon facepalmed.

“Want her back Glimmer?” Tony asked.

“No… no I'm good” Glimmer replied as Candy pouted and crossed her forelegs. At the sight of this, Tony smiled softly as he walked around the bath and started to rub the pouting mare’s back causing her to moan and groan softly while she visibly relaxed.

“Sorry Cadance” Tony whispered into the mare’s ear as he gently grasped her wing joints and massaged them gaining cooes of delight from Cadance.

“How come you were so rough with me?” Glimmer asked Tony.

“Simple really, last time I saw you, you intended to ruin my wedding and most likely hurt Cadance again and I don't care what you have done to redeem yourself to the others over the past twenty years but it means nothing to me” He explained without looking up from Candy’s back.

“But I went through counselling and such to make me a better pony” Glimmer said as Tony sighed.

“Look let's change the subject, who does the Collective want you dead?” Tony asked.

“Well I learnt of the large amount of soldiers they have mustering in Windigo Gorge” She said.

“Tony no” Lucy immediately stated.

“Your soldiers won't be ready in time” Tony said as he walked out of the room.

“Tony!” the girls said following him.

“It’ll be a simply operation, move in, collapse the Gorge on them, come home” He said as he entered his armory and put on his combat boots and a dark top.

“You promised you would give up being a soldier” Nightmare said as the man put on his ODST armour.

“I did but also I am technically the King of the Crystal Empire and so it is my duty to protect my nation and subjects where I can.” He said as he put a code into a keypad attached to a locker before it opened to reveal explosives.

“So that is the code?” Nightmare muttered.

“For this locker” Tony said as he grabbed charges and put them into his pack along with grenades before closing the locker.

“I refuse to let you do this… at least let me get ready to go with you” Lucy asked.

“Fine, you have five minutes” He said as Lucy frowned before opening a locker on the far side. “Wait you store your gear in here?” He asked.

“Of course, it is an armory” She said as Tony opened another locker and pulled two suppressed SMGs and teo suppressed pistols along with plenty of ammunition for them.

“Alright, you have to follow all my orders” Tony said as he pulled a Grenade Launcher, Assault Rifle and Sniper Rifle from another locker. “He stay quiet” He stated as he removed the muzzle break from the Sniper and replaced it with a suppressor and attached one to the assault rifle.

“Why are you grabbing a grenade launcher?” Glimmer asked as Tony reopened the Explosives locker and pulled a small crate out.

“Because I had Inferno make me some high explosive shells, it means we can fire some down and destroy any vehicles they have” Tony said as he loaded a dozen or so into a bag..

“Right do we have everything?” Lucy asked as she loaded the weapons.

“Um home crystals” Tony said as he looked around before Nightmare produced a pair “Thanks and we need....” He said going to a draw, putting in a code to a keypad and opening it.

“What is with you and keypads? Like when I first saw this room a few years back, no pony could use anything in here” Glimmer stated as Tony produced six bracelets before putting on three of them.

“I think making sure everything is secure” He said as he tested each bracelet, one creating a three foot wide green energy shield, another covering his body in a strange silver energy before vanishing and the last turned him invisible before he turned them all off. “Good they still work” he said handing the remaining three to Lucy and grabbing two empty canteens and handing them to Cadance, who grabbed them in her magic before exiting and returning a few minutes with the canteens filled with water. “Thanks sweetie” he said as he took them and kissed the mare on her forehead.

“You know how useful these would be if our men had these?” Lucy said looking at the braclets.

“You know how devastating they would be if our enemies had them” He explained which made Lucy nod before she put them on while Tony pulled on his backpack and slung the Launcher and Sniper over him while he holstered the pistol on a chest holster and grabbed his helmet and a datapad from another draw that he attached to his left wrist. Once attached he fiddled with it for a moment before pulling on his helmet. “Ready?” Tony asked, his voice distorted by his helmet.

“Yea I am” She said putting on a scarf, headset and goggles to replace her lack of a helmet.

“Alright, Nightmare could you please take us to the Crystal Empire? “ He asked as Lucy grabbed her weapons before Nightmare nodded and teleported the trio.

(Crystal Empire)

Molestia was reading through some documents in the throne room about events and other boring things. “Wish I was home with Tony” She muttered annoyed a few moments before a blue flash of light filled the room for a brief moment, leaving behind Nightmare Moon and two armoured individuals, one who she could tell was Lucy by a gold stud in her left ear and the other she guessed was Tony by his armour and amount of weapons.

“Tony how are we going to get to the Gorge from here? It is an hour drive from here and we don't have a jeep”Lucy said as Tony waved at Molestia before turning his attention back to Lucy.

“We won't take a vehicle as they may detect it while two people on foot is considerably more difficult” He said as he walked over to Molly, removed his helmet and gave her a brief kiss, which the Alicorn quickly wrapped her limbs around him and pulled him into her for a much deeper and more intimate kiss.

“Tony that will take hours, we will rock up at like three or four in the morning” Lucy said.

“What time does the sun rise?” Tony asked as he broke away from the kiss, much to Molly’s complaining. “Sorry sweetie” he said to her.

“At like six” Lucy said as Tony nodded.

“Then we better get moving” Tony said slipping on his helmet and began heading towards the exit.

“Be careful! “ Molly called out as Tony gave a thumbs up as Lucy followed him out.

(Several Hours Later)

“How are you not freezing?” Lucy asked as she shivered as the pair climbed down the side of the Gorge before reaching a ledge overlooking the massive Gorge.

“Luna is quite cold and also this suit is quite warm” He said as he produced a large scarf from his bag and tossed it to her.

“You had another one? Why?” she asked him.

“As a just in case” he said to her as he walked along the makeshift passage as Lucy wrapped the scarf around herself and followed.

“You know I always wanted to go on a mission with you and see how you operate” She said to him as he stopped turned and gently grabbed her hand and gave it a squeeze.

“I enjoy the company baby” he said to her making Lucy blush softly before a sudden sound caught their attention and made them drop low.

“What was that?” Lucy asked as Tony unslung his Sniper Rifle and slowly moved to the edge and looked over.

“Patrol, three Earth Ponies and a Minotaur… no one else” He said as he followed them with his rifle. “They will discover us in a few moments” he muttered before firing four shots in quick succession before reloading his rifle and swapping it for his smg as Lucy crawled over to him and looked over the edge only to see darkness, it took a moment but her eyes adjusted to see the patrol’s bodies had tumbled down the cliff face, two were dangling from ledges while the other two were still tumbling down.

“How could you see them?” Lucy asked as Tony tapped his helmet.

“Nightvision” He said before he continued along the ridgeline with Lucy following him until they reached an overview. “So Glimmer’s Intel was correct” He said before he produced a pair of binoculars from his pack and offered them to Lucy. “These have night vision so have a look” He offered, which she took and checked as Tony loaded the grenade launcher. “From here we can bring this side of the gorge down on them, but we need to do the same with the other side so I'm gonna set up charges here and fire some shells to the other side.”He explained as he placed several shells down next to him.

“What do you need me to do?” Lucy asked him.

“Keep an eye out for any collective” He said laying down his rifle and launcher and removed several magazines from the sniper and handed them to her. “This has night vision also so just cover me” He said as she nodded and took the rifle as Tony quickly vanished leaving Lucy behind.

“Okay now let's have a quick look… oh no, no no this isn't good” Lucy said as Lucy spotted a large group of Collective Mercenaries moving up the ridge in the direction that Tony went. “Shit there are too many… shit this was a bad I… “

A sudden explosion caused Lucy to stop mid sentence, the explosion was shortly followed by several others “Use the crystal!” Tony shouted as he appeared from around the corner and grabbed the grenade launcher before firing at the opposite side, detonating the ridge and bringing down large boulders and ice down on the camp while Lucy opened her pack and pulled out one of the crystals and activated it, unfortunately she forgot to remove the other crystal from her bag before she vanished. “Ahh shit” He groaned as he reloaded the launcher just as a black painted Falcon rose up and pointed at Tony, it's lights blinding the man as the side guns pointed at him. Time seemed to slow down as Tony rose the launcher, it was almost fully up as a frozen horse slammed into the side of the Falcon, bringing it down.

“Shit” Tony said as he started running towards the exit of the gorge while he heard the wolfish howl of the Windigos behind him along with explosions. After a few moments, Tony reached a ledge before he turned around to see one of frozen monsters trotting towards him. “Fuck you!” Tony said as he raised the launcher and fired at it, the shell passed through it but it didn't pass through the boulder behind it, creating a massive fiery shockwave that destroyed the cliff face, Windigo but sent Tony off the edge. The man did his best to grab the rocks as he tumbled down the rocks, his armour dented and cracked, the cloth tore, he lost several weapons and his visor shattered as he landed hard against a burning wreckage of a vehicle.

“Ow” He groaned as he rolled off the bonnet of the burning warthog, blood seeping from his form, pain shit through his arm and leg making him groan and pull himself to his feet just as a small group of Collective soldiers appeared out of the icy haze that filled the air. The first two that appeared were cut down by Tony, who drew the pistol from his chest and shot them before activating his over shield and wrist mounted shield.

“Die!” a Minotaur shouted as he charged wielding a battleaxe, that Tony managed to stop it from ending him by raising his shielded arm, making the attack bounce off but at the same time, forcing Tony’s arm down awkwardly while he shot the attack in the chest with a barrage of rounds, emptying his magazine. As he was reloading his pistol, his arm shield failed just as a Earth Pony slid over the bonnet and smacking his right hand with a mace, sending the pistol away into the haze.

“ahh fuck… you!” Tony shouted as he grabbed the battle axe off the ground and slammed the blade into the attacker's chest. Tony drew a knife from his belt and looked around the haze just as another attacker hit him from behind slammed Tony into the burning jeep then tossed to the ground on his back before straddling his chest and attempting to use his own knife to stab Tony.

“Just give up bastard!” the soldier said as Tony was trying his best to stop the knife from going into his throat. Tony gritted his teeth as he gripped the soldier's wrists, but what they didn't notice was small black flames starting form on Tony’s arms until his entire arms were engulfed in fire. “What the hell?” The collective soldier asked before a large dome of fire exploded outwards and turned the soldier and surrounding corpses turned to ash.

“Jesus” Tony stated as he got to his feet and stared at his burning arms, which had destroyed the armor on his arms bit healed the scratches and cuts on his arms. “This is interesting” He said as a armoured dragon landed next to him and drew a cutlass and attempted to run him through but Tony sidestepped it and slammed his fist into the dragon’s jaw but instead stunning the dragon, it's head detonated in an explosion of gore and black fire. “Oh shit!” Tony said before he removed his broken helmet and smirked “Now I can work with this” He said as a group Windigos came down around Tony and the remaining Collective soldiers, freezing them in rapid succession, but when they got near Tony, he lashed out with his flaming hands, startling them away.

Things were going alright until the flames on Tony’s arms flared and grew, engulfing his upper body and head, the snow around him turned to steam as Tony could feel the heat against his skin, he groaned and dropped to his knees, causing his chest armour to turn to ash as the black flames continued to grow and spread. “Shit I can feel something building up” He groaned just before he felt a soft pop with in him before all of the burning energy was forced outwards, annihilating all in its path. When it subsided a few seconds later, Tony was panting half naked on his knees, everything around him, including the small mountain was ash, several boulders remained but were scorched black.

“O-okay… so… mission complete, I-i think I better head home” Tony groaned as he pushed himself to his shaky legs “Fuck that hurt though… also kind of weird but I feel well like I just got off after not being able to in months” He muttered and stretched, causing several pops to occur from his back. “Oh to the Crystal Emp… oh fuck” He said as he turned and saw the dragon that he impaled a few days back suddenly land in front of him. “Well fuck me” He said as he watched the dragon shift into a tall muscular man that had draconic wings, long sleek dark purple horns that came out of a mat of black hair, a long dark purple tail, purple slitted eyes and was but naked.

“Well this is interesting” He said in a deep voice as he walked over.

“Ah mate could put some pants on please?” Tony asked as he looked upwards while the Dragon looked down at himself then at Tony.

“Trivial but alright” He said as he clicked his fingers and his lower body was covered in a exact copy of what Tony was wearing. “Now that the trivialities are out of the way, you intrigue me” He said as he circled while his tail flicked slightly. “You look exactly like a Ranger except shorter but you are obviously different in behavior and in some physical ways” He said.

“So how am I?” Tony asked.

“You are such a violent warrior and yet you are gentle to your kin and mates, you are an idiot, not scared of change and more, while physically… your body is able to adapt relatively easily if exposed to a large amount of magic” He said as he walked over to Tony and poked his chest. “and you are less squishy” He added with a chuckle.

“Um okay… so you are not gonna kill me?” Tony asked.

“Oh heavens no, as I have taken a liking to you… in a way, you remind me of myself, Strong, protective… able to level a mountain” He added with a chuckle.

“Yea… still don't know how that happened” Tony said as he looked at the remains of the Gorge.

“Magic is connected to emotion and Dark magic, which that was, is connected strongly to hate, pain, rage, fear… and after it was building up for so long within you, all it took was a little nudge from your emotions to set it off.” He said crossing his arms. “You are lucky that you popped your magic cherry here instead of around your kin or mates” He said before placing a hand on Tony’s chest, causing a large spiderweb of purple energy to ripple across his chest and glow for a second before vanishing.

“What the fuck?” Tony asked taking a few steps back.

“Inhibitor spell, it will allow you to control your magic while keeping a lot of it safely contained” He said to Tony.

“Um thanks. .. so what now?” Tony asked.

“I'll drop you off near that city over there and then when you have mastered more of your magic, I shall return to reduce the Inhibitor… it will take a while but soon you will be able to harness that level of magic again” He said before he formed a portal in front of him that showed the entrance to the Crystal Empire. “Until next time” He said.

“Um I didn't catch your name” Tony said as he walked over to the portal.

“Because I didn't tell you” He said as he shoved Tony through using his tail before sealing the portal.