War, Friendship, and Crisis: The Tale of a Torn World

The Mane Six, plus three, arrived at the supposed demon base. Twilight gathered up the Elements of Harmony from her friends as Morgivon steered the floating island to a secluded cluster of floating islands. Once the island was close enough to the cluster, he deactivated his magic.

"This is your stop," Morgivon stated to Twilight. "All of you might want to board one of the currently inactive ships in the base. If you can reach the dreadnought before the fleet reaches the invasion site, you can save Equestria from certain doom."

"How are we going to steer a demon ship?" asked Rainbow Dash. "Twilight tried to steer a ship before, and she was terrible at it!" Twilight blushed and walked backwards with a sheepish grin.

"Ahem." Hannibal stepped over to Rainbow. "I was a demon pilot for drop ships before. I can pilot that ship with ease."

Pinkie Pie popped up her head next to Morgivon. "Where will you go now? I'm not sure that you can get out of this place without getting caught by the demons."

"I'll pose as their commander until I leave this world," Morgivon answered. "Lord Zedin will not be suspicious of one of his greatest commanders." Morgivon walked back from the edge of the island. "Now, I must go. I wish you all good luck on your mission."

As Morgivon disappeared in a flash of green light, the ponies waved him goodbye. After he was gone, the group examined their surroundings.

There were several floating islands drifting above an endless abyss. Each one had a few unique plants on them. Some were flowers that ended in claws, some were tree stumps or leafless trees, some were orange blades of grass, and others were huge eyeballs dug into a large weed. Beyond the cluster of floating islands was a huge base that was constructed out of stone and neotitanium. It was built on a considerably large floating island with some of its foliage still present. The entire base had a design similar to most medieval castles, but it also incorporated several metal plates and structures for durability. Several demon ships flew around the castle in a patrolling manner. Multiple demons also marched along the base, checking for any potential threats or spies. Several helipads and landing stations hung from one side of the base and over the abyss.

On the other side of the base was a ginormous ring with a blue spiral inside of it. It was bigger than Manehattan, easily dwarfing everything around it. The ring was not tethered, tied down, or attached to an island. It simply floated in the air, constantly facing the base with its spiraling design. Inside the ring was a huge body of water, most likely an ocean, and a grand city that looked exactly like Las Pegasus. Between the ring and the base was an impossibly huge metal sphere that almost took up the space of the ring. It could easily fit through the ring, but it was still far larger than even the dreadnought the ponies stormed that sailed over Manehattan.

"I believe that thing is the dreadnought," Hannibal noted as he pointed at the metal sphere.

The ponies gulped down their clumps of worry. "How are we even supposed to destroy that thing?" Twilight asked with shaking words. "It's the biggest thing I've ever seen!"

"Ships at that size take up a lot of power, and they need excellent cooling systems to keep them from falling apart. If we damage the cooling systems in it enough, it could fall apart and explode."

Twilight listed down the objective. "Okay, find a way into base, find a ship, find an entrance to dreadnought, and destroy its cooling systems. That all sounds easier said than done."

"It is," Hannibal agreed. "This demon base has about half as many soldiers as Lord Zedin's Eternicastle. This will not be easy, especially once the demons know we're here."

With their objectives in their heads, the Twilight and company began their journey to the base. They hopped from island to island, avoiding any moves that could send them into the depths below. Hannibal stopped the group once they reached one of the eyeball plants.

"Don't move an inch," Hannibal warned as he took out his laser rifle. He aimed it at the eyeball and fired three times, splattering its gooey insides all over the place.

Rarity wiped some eye juices and chunks off her suit. "Other than being creepy and, eugh, disgusting, what is so bad about those eyes?"

"The demons use them as alarms. Whenever something comes close, they scream so loud that they can bust eardrums."

"Good to know," Fluttershy lied through her quivering tongue. "Let's just keep going before something very bad happens."

The group continued along the floating islands carefully. Hannibal made sure that any eyeball plants that were too close were destroyed immediately. The group eventually made it to the base's floating island and checked the walls for a way inside the base. There were no gates on their side, so they snuck around the wall until they found one. They eventually found a small gateway inside the base that was locked by a lever above it. Two marksman demons patrolled the top and kept the lever safe.

"I'll handle this," Rainbow Dash whispered to her friends. She flew up to the two demons and slammed both of their heads on the floor. She then smashed both of them into pieces with her hooves, killing both of them. She then flicked the lever and hovered back down to the gate. The group walked into the base with caution.

They found themselves in an area similar to a lobby. There were two floors, the second one being accessible by two curving stairs going upwards. There were three doors on the first floor and two on the top. Strangely, there were no demons in the room.

"Which way do we go?" Twilight glanced from door to door, still unsure about their destination.

Hannibal walked up to the first three doors on the first floor. From left to right, they were labeled 'West Wing', 'Main Hall', and 'East Wing'. The doors on the top were labeled 'West Wing Walls' and 'East Wing Halls' from left to right. Hannibal pointed down to the 'West Wing' door. "We go that way. These top doors lead to the defending points, and the main hall usually involves the owner of the base. The wings usually have barracks, depots, courtyards, armories, docking stations, and landing stations."

"If that's true, why don't we split up?" proposed Solar Flare. "We can get this search done quicker with two groups."

"It's better we stay together," Hannibal ordered. "These bases are straightforward, not long and confusing. Splitting up would kill us all quickly."

No more questions were asked, and the group stayed as one.

Twilight and company traveled through the west wing door. They found a long hallway that eventually turned right. There were three doors on the right side of the hallway and three windows on the left side. Blue torches lit up the vacant and nearly silent hallway. The group ignored the doors and kept walking until they reached the hallway's end. They turned left into another section of the hallway with three more doors on its right side. At the end of the hallway was a set of double doors. The group walked through the double doors and entered one of the courtyards.

The courtyard had a few random plants of various types in it, mainly the same ones on the floating islands. On the right side of the courtyard was another set of double doors. The tops of the walls around the courtyard had several fortifications for ambushes and surprise attacks. This setup already made most of the group paranoid.

"Be very careful," Hannibal warned with a whisper. "One small slip up can make us sitting ducks."

The group kept themselves extremely silent. Sadly, one of the eyeball plants in the courtyard was cleverly hidden behind a few leafless trees. The eyeball rose out of the weeds from a long bundle of nerves. Two tentacles slithered out of the weeds and waved around the eyeball. A huge, black and red fin pulsated from the top to the back of the eyeball. The eyeball stared directly at Twilight and quivered for a split second.

The eyeball suddenly opened into four pieces and revealed its four serpent tongues and eight rows of teeth. The eyeball screamed a high and piercing shrill into the air. All of the ponies covered their ears as much as they could. Hannibal cussed under his breath and fired at the eyeball seven times. The eyeball burst into pieces, but it was already too late. Hannibal could hear the shuffling of feet around the walls.

"Twilight Sparkle is here!" a gruff and irritated voice shouted from above. "Everyone, kill her before she ruins everything!"

Several novice demons hopped down from the wall as the demons on the wall locked the double doors. The novice demons had various weapons of many types. A few had laser weaponry, some had swords and shields, one had a blunderbuss, two had maces, and another had a plasma sword. The demons rushed up to the ponies and readied their weaponry.

Twilight fired a few magical blasts at the demons on the walls. Rainbow Dash mowed down the incoming sword fighters and mace throwers, Hannibal picked off the elite demons strafing on the walls, and Servo blasted the more distant marksman demons with his missiles. Pinkie clobbered the blunderbuss user before he could shoot his gun right into Pinkie's muzzle.

Just as the battlefield cooled down a little, several more novice demons, along with healer demons, shield demons, and greatsword demons, hopped down to fight the group. Twilight switched her attention to the healer demons. She blasted them with fire blasts as soon as they began healing any nearby demons. Rainbow Dash fired a volley of missiles at the greatsword demons while Solar Flare picked off the marksman demons in the back. Pinkie and Applejack kept the shield demons occupied with a few bucks, kicks, and punches. Rarity aimed her gemstones at the demons on the wall. She kept getting headshots with every soaring gem. Hannibal shot or sliced any incoming novice demons.

The next wave of demons involved even more novice demons, some elite demons, and two guardian demons. The demons hopped down onto the courtyard and began their attacks immediately. The ponies were getting a little tired from the abundance of troops, and the constant addition of yet more demons didn't help either. At this point, every dead demon equaled two more incoming.

Rainbow Dash and Solar Flare flew up from the courtyard and noticed the two levers controlling the double doors. Two novice demons held firm grips on them. Both pegasi gunned down the demons and moved the levers back to their original positions. They fired at the other demons that were approaching the levers.

Rainbow turned her head to Twilight. "Go! The door's open!"

Twilight and company, minus two pegasi, rushed through the doors. Rainbow and Solar kept fighting back the demons until a new demon slammed into the courtyard. It was about twenty feet tall and had huge arm, pectoral, and leg muscles. It had an obvious eight-pack that showed through the titanium armor on its body, legs, and arms. It had four horns coming out of its unreasonably small head. Two were in the front, and two were in the back. Its powerful hands held two weapons. One was a metal girder with several buzz saws jammed into its end. The other weapon was a laser not so mini minigun that was built for two hands. Somehow, the demon only needed one for it.

This stronghold demon roared a mighty roar and smashed its buzz saw girder next to Rainbow Dash. Both pegasi yelped in terror as the stronghold demon held up its minigun and fired dozens of lasers. The pegasi flew through the double doors before the demon could rip them apart.

By the time the pegasi reached the group again, they were already fighting a few novice demons. Only one was left, but it died once Pinkie hopped onto its head and twisted it several times with all four of her hooves.

"Twilight!" Rainbow Dash shouted as she shook Twilight's body. "We need to get out of here!"

"What are you talking about?" Twilight asked. "Are there even more demons coming for us?"

"It's worse than that!"

The entire wall behind the group exploded into several chunks of stone and metal. The gargantuan stronghold demon stomped through the hole and into the hallway. "There you are!" The demon's voice was a thunderous bellow. "I've been waiting to tear all of your midget heads off your bodies! Now, come here so that I can chew off your goddamn jaws!"

The demon ran at the group with his buzz saw girder in the air. Twilight and company didn't hesitate to run as fast as they could to the end of the hallway. They zipped through the double doors and entered another courtyard. Several novice demons, greatsword demons, and healer demons hopped from the walls to the courtyard.

Rainbow Dash and Solar Flare gunned down the novice demons while Twilight and Rarity picked off the healer demons with magic and gems. Hannibal, Applejack, Servo, and Pinkie fought off the greatsword demons with a wide variety of attacks. However, Pinkie's rocket launcher was by far the most devastating out of the rest of the attacks.

As more demons hopped down to fill in the void, the stronghold demon leaped right into the middle of the courtyard. He glared down at the ponies and raised his buzz saw girder. "Kneel before me, bitches!"

The entire buzz saw girder slammed right into the courtyard, almost hitting Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie. The stronghold demon then fired his minigun at Twilight wildly with death blinding his eyes. A few demons were caught in his rampage and dissipated into nothingness. Rainbow Dash flicked the two levers again, opening the double doors on the left side of the courtyard. Twilight and company ran and flew faster than ever before to escape the stronghold demon.

The group entered another hallway, except this one was completely straight with a larger, much more grand set of double doors. It had two gilded, circular handles, a metal and stone design, and several etchings in the stone. The unsettling characteristic of the door was its size. It was large enough to allow the stronghold demon access into it.

However, there was no time to stand around and wait for death. Twilight used all her might to pull open one of the double doors. She successfully pulled it open halfway and dashed through it without any care. The rest of the group followed her once the wall behind them exploded from the stronghold demon.

The next room was vast compared to the other areas of the base. It stretched quite a long distance to a giant vertical split door. The door was currently open, allowing a few drop ships to fly out of it. The ceiling was more of a curve than a flat plate. The entire room itself had several demon ships in supposed rows. It was difficult to tell since most of the ships were already gone. The few that were still in the base were either drop ships or assault ships. Several novice demons, elite demons, knightmare demons, and anti-magic demons patrolled along the ships or climbed into them.

Twilight and company quickly dashed to the nearest assault ship. There were already two novice demons inside, so Pinkie snapped both of their necks and bashed their heads together. Hannibal sat in the pilot seat and engaged the power and flight settings.

Hannibal looked over to Twilight for a second. "Do you want to be the co-pilot? I could use some extra help just in case."

Twilight backed away and shook her head. "I'm not really the mare for piloting entire ships, so I'll pass."

"I'll do it!" Pinkie raised her left foreleg and hopped into the air. Hannibal gestured her forward, making her squeal in happiness and dive into the co-pilot's seat. She wrapped her hooves around the wheel and waited for liftoff.

The assault ship slowly ascended and turned to its left. The stronghold demon slammed open the gates and roared like a furious psychopath close to having an aneurysm. "Where are they? Where did the little fucks run off to?"

Before Twilight and company could deal with the demon, the ship zoomed out of the room and into the open sky of the Nightmare World. There were thousands of ships that cruised by the giant sphere. Most of them were drop ships and assault ships, but there were a few battleships and warships. The entire sphere was not too far away from the ring, but it was not moving at a very slow pace. In fact, it was moving fairly fast.

Hannibal steered the assault ship over to the giant sphere. He landed close to the top of it, but not exactly on its top for safety reasons.

The group got out of their ship and examined their surroundings. They were in some sort of trench on the outside of the sphere, and they could see the curvature of its surface. Even though they were at an angle from the abyss, the floor felt like it was not slanted. The group could see the base and the strange sun in the distance. A few demon ships were also visible. Despite the ships seeing the group land, they ignored it and kept cruising in their respective spots.

"So, that big guy back there," Pinkie started as she pointed at the base. "was that what you were warning us about, Dashie?"

Rainbow Dash nodded her head. "Yeah. I hope we never see it again."

"You might see a few more in this dreadnought," Hannibal noted. Rainbow's face snapped into a petrified frown. "Lord Zedin was training demons like that while I was in Manehattan. If he has them finished and ready to fight right now, several more await us."

"Is there any weakness they have?" Twilight asked Hannibal. "I already know that they're weak to fire, but is there anything else?"

"Their head. Their head has nearly all of their essence in it. Destroying their head will kill them very fast, but have fun hitting it. They're very small for that reason."

Rarity lifted up a few gems with her magic. "It does not matter how small their heads are. I can hit them perfectly fine."

Solar Flare swiveled his head from one trench hall to the other. "Say, Commander Hannibal, where are we going to destroy this thing?"

"We go to the top," Hannibal answered. "The top of this dreadnought has a huge hole leading into it, so we could use that as a way in."

"I'm going to assume that the hole is not guarded with just sticks and dirt," Servo thought out loud.

Twilight was getting a little impatient. "We should go now. Another minute we spend here is another part of Equestria possibly destroyed by this thing."

The Mane Six plus three continued along the trench to the hole. Even though there were no enemies in the trenches, the way to the hole stretched a far distance. Throughout the break of fighting, Solar Flare decided to talk to Fluttershy again.

"Hello, Fluttershy." Solar steered himself over to her and kept his pace the same as hers.

"Hi," Fluttershy replied. "How was it being with Hannibal?"

"He's a big stress reliever. He has this certain way he fights that usually involves quick thinking. He plans a little right before an attack, but he makes it up as the fight progresses. He'll shout orders to me and the others here and there, but he usually does the real fighting. We just provide the cover fire and the extra guns just in case he gets flanked. How have you been?"

"I've been fine. My friends and I got stranded in a scary forest for a while, and we had to fight some even scarier bandits."

Solar Flare's ears perked up. "What type of bandits?"

Fluttershy put a hoof to her chin and thought to herself for a second. "I'm not too sure. They had leaves and mud on them, though. Oh, and they rode giant scorpions."

"I'm thinking you fought the Venombacks, right?"

Fluttershy shrugged. "Maybe. Have you seen Servo yet? He is just adorable."

Solar looked up ahead and locked his eyes on Servo. "You mean the little robot?"

"Mm-hmm."

Solar leaned his head a little closer to Fluttershy and whispered close to her ear. "Personally, he kind of freaks me out."

"Why? He isn't mean like most robots."

"He has two laser guns, missiles, and lightning hands. I wouldn't want to take him on in a fight. Hay, he even moves very fast!"

"Well, Pinkie scares me whenever she, starts, um–" Fluttershy hesitated for a while before she continued speaking "–eating others, but I don't fear her because of that. She is a nice pony, and I know she would never do that to me or you. Servo is nice too. He may have those big and mean-looking guns, but he would never hurt you."

Solar Flare glanced at Pinkie and Servo before looking back at Fluttershy. "You're right. Pinkie Pie is a party pony, not a bloodthirsty psychopath that wants to devour us all."

Fluttershy looked over at Servo and thought to herself again. "Maybe you should talk to Servo for a little while and get to know him. Maybe you two will become friends."

"Yeah." Solar Flare thought about that for a few seconds. "Maybe I should." Solar walked up to Servo tried his best to talk to him. His voice was a little shaky and cluttered, but he was still intelligible. "Hey, uh, Servo. How's it going?"

"Pretty fine." Servo didn't turn his head at all and kept himself at the same speed. "Why do you ask?"

"I'm just wondering. Say, what exact build are you?"

"I'm not a build per se. I'm more of a hybrid, like a mutt. I know that my version 1.0 chain craw head was made in the Draav Star System located in the Cryvozax Sector, but not much about anything else."

"Okay, have no idea what that means," Solar Flare muttered to himself. "Any hobbies you enjoy?"

"As of right now, blowing crap up!" Servo's voice was booming at those last three words. "If you're looking for anything else, that's it. I was just built today, so I don't really have enough experience to actually have a lot of hobbies. I do have a craving for cupcakes even though I don't have taste buds, or a mouth. Maybe it's from aunt Pinkie Pie."

"Oh yeah, I've heard about something involving aunt or mom or something when Pinkie met Commander Hannibal. What is that exactly?"

"Oh, that? It's just my way of addressing others depending on what they did for me or how close they are. Twilight Sparkle is my mom because she built me, Hannibal is my dad because he added these weapons on me, and Pinkie Pie is my aunt because she loves and cares for me a lot." Servo looked over to Pinkie and back to Solar Flare. He the rolled a little closer to Solar and lowered his volume. "However, I think I might have to change the status for Pinkie in the future."

"Why? Her current relationship with you sounds fine."

Servo stared at Twilight throughout his response. "Well, even though Twilight Sparkle made me, she attempted to kill me too. She also doesn't show any real motherly love or anything similar, and I think I know why. She doesn't see me as an actual creature with feelings, just a dumb pile of scrap metal from random robots." Servo turned his head to Pinkie. "She, on the other hand, actually cares about me. She makes me feel happy, safe, and tingly whenever she talks to me or holds me. It just feels, nice."

Solar nodded at a mid pace. "That makes sense."

Servo continued, still looking at Pinkie. "Because she makes me feel like that, I can classify her as two other loving figures. I could call her my mom, which I feel comfortable with. I don't think Twilight would mind it, but I'm not too sure how Pinkie Pie would handle it."

"What about the other one?"

"Well, um, the other one will make the mom side of her void. I could consider her a, um, love interest."

Solar Flare eyed Servo with two narrow slits. "You're fully aware that you're a robot and she's a pony, right?"

Servo nodded. "Yeah, I know that, but that doesn't change how I see her. You kind of have to be a robot to understand what I mean. I know she's organic, and I know I'm incapable of reproducing, but I still have that feeling. It all has to do with her suit. To you, it possibly looks like a hunk of metal." Servo was figuratively drooling at this point. "To me, it makes her look like a sexy war machine that would giggle and snuggle you to death."

"Heh, I guess you really like her, huh?"

Servo sighed and looked over to Solar Flare. "Maybe, but I think that's just the old personality talking. If I ever get the chance, I'll rewire myself to where I have no sexual desires at all. Who even puts that in a robot's wiring?"

"But you love her like that, right? Why don't you just embrace it?"

"Easy for you to say. You're not a robot with feelings, just an organic creature that was built for love. I don't need lust in my programming."

Solar thought about his next statement to avoid saying something stupid. "You do what you want. If you don't like your programming, you can change it for all I care. I'm not going to force your decision."

"Alright." Servo raised his volume back to normal. "Thank you for helping me on making that decision. It means a lot for someone like you to do that for me."

Solar face contorted into an awkward frown as he tilted his head. "You're welcome?"

"I'm fine with whatever you want to call me!" Pinkie was right next to Servo's right side and in his face.

"Gah!" Servo stumbled forward with a hop and a crash into the ground. "Don't ever do that again!"

"Sorry." Pinkie grinned sheepishly before picking Servo up, setting him upright from the ground, and dusting his metal body. "I just couldn't help it. You almost calling me your mother just warms my heart so so much!"

Servo tilted his head and gave an invisible and baffled frown. "Aren't you a little upset about the Twilight Sparkle part of it though?"

Pinkie looked over at Twilight and shook her head. "Nuh-uh. I knew from the start that she didn't really care about you. I mean, who gives a robot like you a test and decides that you're life is over? That's just cold-hearted right there!" Pinkie frowned a frown of disappointment and anger at Twilight.

Twilight narrowed her eyes and gritted her teeth a little. "Pinkie, I never expected him to have a personality. Can we pretty please leave this in the past and never bring it up?"

Pinkie zipped over to Twilight and prodded her chest. "Not in a million moons! You need to learn that threatening a robot's life is wrong and immoral!"

"Uh, yeah!" Rainbow Dash for no reason chimed in with a head turn. "Pinkie's right! You need to know to never destroy a robot as awesome as Servo just because he finished a test!"

"Don't encourage Pinkie," Twilight growled at Rainbow.

Pinkie lowered her voice a little and dropped her angry face as she stared Twilight directly in her eyes. Pinkie's tone was much less threatening and contained a sliver of pleading. "So, Twilight, are you fine with me being Servo's mom from now on?"

Twilight rolled her eyes and sighed to herself. "Sure, whatever, I don't care anymore. If that's what you want, go ahead."

Pinkie then hopped over to Servo, almost startling and knocking him off balance, again. "Servo, do you want me to be your mom from now on?" Pinkie noticed Servo's uneasiness too easily. She held a hoof to his head and lifted it up to her face. "You can be completely honest with me, Servo. Nothing you can say will hurt my feelings."

Instead of answering with a smart-ass comment about hurting her feelings, Servo nodded his head slowly. "Yeah."

Pinkie squealed with excitement and squeezed Servo with a tight and cozy bear hug. Pinkie nuzzled up against his face with her head and hummed joyously to herself. Her hug got a little tighter as she rubbed her head around Servo's head and neck. "I'll love you forever! Nopony will ever take you away from me!"

Even though Servo definitely felt aroused by this abundance of hugging and affection, he swept it aside and focused solely on Pinkie's embrace and her warm, trustworthy, and gentle smile of pure happiness and love.

In that moment, Servo wrapped his metal arms around Pinkie and hugged her tightly as well.

"Well," Applejack started, "that is something."

"So, Pinkie Pie is now considered his mother, yes?" Rarity guessed. "If that is true, then what is Twilight now?"

"She's just my creator at this point," Servo explained. Pinkie set him down on the ground and faced the rest of the ponies.

Rarity turned to Twilight. "Are you sure you are fine with this, darling?"

Twilight nodded. "Yes, I'm fine with it."

Rainbow Dash switched her view back and forth between Pinkie and Hannibal. "So, Pinkie is with Hannibal now?" Rainbow paused as she glanced at Pinkie for a second. "That actually makes sense."

Pinkie glanced at Hannibal. He was acting a little uneasy through his darting, eyeless sockets. "You're right, Dashie. That actually makes sense now!"

"If you're thinking about marrying me or something, just forget it now," Hannibal noted through his shaky and unstable words. "I mean, you can love me platonically, but that's it."

Pinkie giggled to herself and looked back at Hannibal. "You're silly! I know that you're not into relationships like that! That's why I treat you like a friend, not like you're my special somepony, erm, maybe somebody in this context."

"Hey, big giant hole up ahead!" Servo warned with a holler.

The entire group of nine stopped and checked the area. A huge hole as big as Ponyville dug down deep into the metal sphere. Several more trenches led to it and onto various elevators leading down into the hole. There were no demons in the area at all, just a few demon ships cruising by from above the hole.

Hannibal scanned the area before moving. "This is too easy. Lord Zedin would've put several soldiers here if we were spotted." He turned his head to the ponies behind him. "Stay sharp. Who knows what'll pop out and attack once we use this elevator."

"How do we know it's safe?" Twilight asked with some worry. "Will they expect us to go down there?"

"Maybe, but I think the demons are still checking the base back there. They won't know we're here until we trigger an alarm." Hannibal walked onto the elevator platform and gripped the lever beside him. "Let's get moving."

The rest of the group entered the elevator, constantly shifting their field of view to check for any nearby demons. Hannibal pushed forward the lever with a great deal of might. The elevator clicked, beeped, and rolled down the wires it rode on at a moderate pace.

The group had a grand view of the hole. The hole was divided into three sectors, each one having different setups and positions for its catwalks and platforms. The first sector had a few novice demons patrolling along some catwalks that led to several doors. The demons paid no attention to the elevator and kept patrolling. The next sector had several walkways with plethoras of landing pads connected to them. Some of the landing pads had a few assault ships or drop ships on them. One of the ships was ascending up from the hole until it passed the first sector. The last sector was a thick, ring-shaped walkway that hung on the sides of the hole. In the middle of the sector was a void with a faint, blue light from the bottom. When the group took a closer look, they noticed a distant blue ball of electrifying energy pulsing hundreds of times per second.

"Wow," Twilight mused as the blue light mesmerized her. "Is that the core?"

"I think so," Hannibal answered. "Destroying its core is impossible, though. That ball is nothing but a collection of electricity. You can't just shoot it or use magic to destroy it. You need to destroy what creates the energy, so we're destroying the cooling systems to stop this dreadnought from creating energy."

Rainbow looked up at Hannibal. "How do you know all this egghead stuff?"

"My old commander, Sergeant Deadlocke, was part of the development of this dreadnought. He talks about its structure to himself a lot so that he knows what needs improving."

The elevator struck the floor and stopped moving. The group walked out of the elevator and examined their surroundings once more. There were four large, four way opening doors around the room, only one being unlocked and with green lights. The rest of the doors were red. The group walked over to that door. It slid open by itself to reveal a hallway that ended in another four way door. The group rushed over to it and through the door into the next room.

The room was composed of two floors. The first floor was below the group and had four unlocked doors. The second floor was two walkways with two doors and four straight staircases. Only a few novice demons with various weapons and armor patrolled the room. They noticed the group and either ran up to it or stood back. Pinkie and Applejack pummeled the incoming demons with swords, lances, and maces, and Twilight, Servo, and Rarity killed the ranged demons below. Once the area was cleared, the group walked down to the first floor.

Hannibal twirled his body around as he checked the doors. "We'll get lost if we go through random doors for the cooling systems. We need a digital map of the area." Hannibal checked his comm link. "Also, we need to do it without Travis or GEST Corp. since this world blocks all links."

Pinkie walked over to a fading demon's body and checked its equipment. She picked up a small holographic square with a metal perimeter. She held it up to Hannibal. "Is this the map we need?"

"That's it." Hannibal took the square and slid it into the back slot of his helmet. "I'll be our guide through the dreadnought, starting now." Hannibal pointed to a door on his left.

The group walked through the door and into another hallway with two elite demons. Hannibal, Rainbow Dash, and Servo filled both of them with holes from their lasers. The demons disintegrated as the group continued through the door. The next room was long, had a catwalk running parallel to it, and another one that was perpendicular and above the first one. Three demons with jetpacks and motion tracking laser rifles hovered over the group and fired several lasers. Rainbow Dash and Solar Flare killed all three of them with their own barrage, and Twilight protected the group with a barrier spell.

The group rushed to the end of the catwalk and entered the next room. It was a curvy, L-shaped staircase that led to the higher catwalk in the last room. Several novice demons and four elite demons prepared for battle. Twilight fired several magic blasts into the novice demons as Rainbow and Servo released a storm of missiles at the elite demons. Pinkie pummeled two of the barely alive elite demons, and Rairty and Applejack finished off the remaining novice demons.

The group rushed up the stairs and over the shorter catwalk. The next room they entered was circular with three doors around a dozen cylindrical coolant systems that surrounded a blue pipe. Several panels and seats surrounded the cooling system, and about half of them were filled with novice demons. Around the room was several more novice demons, six elite demons, and five jetpack demons.

Rainbow shot into the air and rained down lasers on the novice demons below. Pinkie, Applejack, Hannibal, and Servo fought off the elite demons and dodged their laser fire. The elites fell down one by one until Pinkie crushed the last one with a ground pound. Rarity kept her aim on the jetpacks of the airborne demons, but the jetpacks were much more durable than she imagined.

Two of the jetpack demons aimed at Rainbow Dash and fired their weapons. The lasers bent in midair and struck her wings multiple times. When she spiraled down into the floor, the newer lasers bent towards her high speed body. Pinkie glanced at Rainbow and locked onto the airborne demons. She took out her rocket launcher and fired a few pink bombs in the shape of missiles. The bombs struck the demons and exploded, destroying parts of their bodies and their jetpacks. One of the airborne demons swung into the cooling system and smashed the coolant systems and the pipe. Right when that happened, red lights flashed around the room, and blaring sirens soon followed.

"Attention demon forces," a scratchy and grating voice like shredding metal boomed from all around the ponies, "we have infiltrators inside our dreadnought. Dispose of them at once!"

Twilight and company had no time to stop. They ran to the door on their left and down a hallway that turned a little to the right. They fought and killed a few more elite demons and novice demons until they reached another big room with several computer stations. Two greatsword demons, a healer demon, and a dozen novice demons charged at the group. Twilight and Rarity killed the two greatsword demons in a flash, Solar Flare hovered over the novice demon swarm and destroyed it with lasers, and Pinkie leaped at the healer demon and pinned it down by stomping on all four of its tentacles. Pinkie bashed her head into the healer demon's supposed face several times until it lost all of its strength.

Once the demons were all slain, Pinkie hopped over to Rainbow Dash and pulled out an orange and yellow cupcake. Rainbow took it from Pinkie's selfless hooves and munched on it until nothing was left. Her wings repaired themselves as a feeling of relief poured all over her body.

The group continued on by going through yet another hallway. More elite demons and novice demons were slain, and another big room was reached. The room was very roomy and in the shape of a T. The main portion of the room was a single, wide hall with doors on its ends. The hall was long and contained yet more computers. On its right wall was a small, short hall that led to a help desk station.

On the other side of the room was seven demons. Six of them were knightmare demons, and one was strikingly familiar to Hannibal. This one demon had a titanium chest plate, leggings, hulking shoulder pads, sleeves, and laced gauntlets that covered his muscular body. His boots were obsidian black with internal blue flames dancing inside them. His helmet had a red visor that covered his eye sockets, a red mane similar to a Roman soldier's helmet, and two small pipes that led to a container on his back. Four horns, two long and two short, protruded from his head out of his helmet. He held a semi-automatic gun with three stacked barrels, a laser sight, and anti-magic bullets in his right hand. His left hand had a dual-bladed plasma sword with electricity cackling from its blades. Pieces of black cloth hung from his belt that had several grenades lined around it. On his chest was an exquisitely crafted emblem in the shape of Twilight's head with a gun to its jaw and blowing its brains out of the head. Below the emblem read 'Kill them all' in well forged and bloodied cursive letters. The demon had a scowl on his face with sharpened and locked teeth in his mouth.

"We meet again." The demon's words slithered through his forked tongue. "We have the heretic, the target, her friends, and a hapless amalgamation of random metal pieces." The demon scanned the group's armor and accessories. "My my, Twilight Sparkle, you have upgraded from our last fight."

"What are you talking about?" Twilight snapped as magic radiated around her ready horn.

Hannibal's voice was not any nicer than Twilight's. "Sergeant Deadlocke, we meet again."

"Actually, it's Command Sergeant Major now," Deadlocke replied. "I got a promotion after my fight with you and a few more from some assasinations of clogan officials. After I kill you, I will become a lieutenant, and I'll do my damndest to be much, much more successful than Drimmin or Vyshnaam."

"Didn't you die?" Pinkie asked with some anger in her voice. "You disintegrated into nothing. How are you here?"

"Demons don't die when they disintegrate. They simply rebuild themselves back here in the Nightmare World. It's what we have been doing for decades now. Fight, kill, die, repeat. That is how our lives work."

"So, all these demons we've fought are still alive?" Applejack assumed. "Our fighting was for nothing."

"No it wasn't," Hannibal denied. "Fighting and displacing demons from the battlefield is always something good. The less demons there are roaming about in your world, the more likely it will make it through the war in one piece."

"Enough!" Deadlocked commanded. "I have had waited long enough for my revenge. Now, I will finally have it." Deadlocke shuffled his body into a fighting stance. "Prepare for death, ponies."

A challenger approaches: Command Sergeant Major Deadlocke, a very pissed off survivor of the Mane Six's onslaught

Deadlocke stood in place as the six knightmare demons made a wall in front of him. They jutted out their electric staffs towards the group and aimed their acidic scatterguns. Twilight used a deflection spell that fired back the bullets from the scatterguns right at the knightmare demons. The demons rushed through the spell and stabbed their staffs at the group. Hannibal grabbed ahold of one of the staffs and yanked it out of the demon's hand. He then jammed it into the demon's head and kicked him backward. Pinkie took out her rocket launcher and fired at three of the knightmare demons. They fell backwards as a barrage of lasers struck them. One died, and two were on the brink of death. They refused to die and got back up with their scatterguns firm in their hands.

Hannibal curb stomped the knightmare demon he pinned on the ground as the other four prepared for another attack. The demons without their staffs ran towards Twilight and fired their scatterguns right at her. She dodged them and fired three precision shots through their heads. Servo blasted both of them apart with a few missiles. The last two aimed for Pinkie. One jabbed their staff into her side, shocking her entire body and convulsing her muscles. Applejack lassoed the two knightmare demons together, hopped over Pinkie, and bucked both of them in their heads. Rarity filled their heads with sharp gemstones, ending both of their lives.

Deadlocke sheathed his blade for a split second and grabbed three grenades. They blinked blue as he tossed them through the air. They all struck Twilight and Rarity, weakening their magic to dangerously low amounts. They collapsed onto the ground in exhaustion while Deadlocke unsheathed his blade. He fired at Pinkie and Applejack with his gun, missing several times due to their agility. He walked closer and side rolled away from Hannibal and Servo's stream of lasers. He then swung his blade thrice at Fluttershy, hitting her only once before Solar Flare slammed right into his side. Part of Fluttershy's left ear was nicked, but she was still healthy and alive.

Deadlocke kicked Solar back as he aimed his gun at him. He fired five times into Solar's body before preparing his blade again. Fluttershy punched him in the face three times in rapid succession and uppercut him with a great amount of force. He stumbled back before elbowing Fluttershy's raging face. He then raced to the other side of the hallway and opened the door.

"He's, escaping?" Pinkie questioned as she tilt her head.

"He's getting help!" Hannibal warned. "Let's go now!"

The group chased Deadlocke through the demon filled halls. The novice demons and elite demons slowed them a little, but the demons were quickly slain and then ignored. Twilight and company eventually chased him into another cooling system room. A few greatsword demons and elite demons helped Deadlocke prepare for battle by being his personal meat shields. The greatsword demons died once a batch of missiles struck them down. The elite demons were defeated as more and more lasers and punches were directed at them.

Two squadrons of elite soldiers entered the room and directed their attacks on the Mane Six. By this time, the group focused less on them and more on Deadlocke. He dodged some of the lasers aiming for him, but some of the missiles and pink bombs struck and damaged him and his armor. He soon found out that magic blasts were being flung at him from a regenerated Twilight. The mayhem that kept threatening his life was nearly impossible to avoid, and it was eating his way through the elite demons protecting him.

When the last elite demon died, he was left by himself. He dodged the incoming attacks until Rarity stabbed a few gems into his eye sockets. Twilight then built up a powerful explosive blast and struck Deadlocke with it. He took heavy amounts of damage as he flew back into a wall. He coughed to himself as he noticed someone walk up to him and press a foot on his chest. He slowly looked up through his cracked visor and filled eye sockets to partially see Hannibal with his katana like blade in his left hand.

"Twilight, prepare a fire blast," Hannibal ordered. Twilight did so and waited for his command. "Deadlocke, you have no idea how much we've all been through. You may think you're a tough commander with skills, but that doesn't make you impossible to kill. Is there anything you have to say before you die?"

Deadlocked coughed twice and spat his words bitterly. "Go to hell, heretic."

Hannibal decapitated Deadlocke with a single stroke. He then stepped away and turned to Twilight. "Now."

Twilight fired a fire blast right into Deadlocke's body and head. The flames licked around his equipment until he himself disintegrated into nothing. All that was left was his items once again.

Command Sergeant Major Deadlocke has been defeated!

"He's still alive though, right?" Applejack guessed. "I thought that demons don't die when we defeat them."

"They don't," Hannibal agreed, "unless you use fire. Fire kills them permanently. He's dead now for good. He won't ever come back."

The discussion fell apart once the cooling system exploded into pieces, activating another set of sirens and red lights.

Servo noticed the staring eyes and shrugged. "What? We're supposed to destroy them, right?"

"Let's keep going," Twilight decided as she walked with Hannibal over to one of the doors. She then looked up at Hannibal. "How many cooling systems are there?"

"Three," Hannibal answered. "We got one more left before the entire sphere destabilizes."

The comm link for the entire group buzzed with activity until a familiar voice entered the link. "Hello?" Travis asked. "Are any any of you still alive?"

"We're okay," Twilight answered. "Everypony's perfectly fine."

"What happened in New Sacramino? I lost contact with all of you and couldn't find your signal until now. Did something very bad happen?"

"We got pulled into the demons' world by this evil pony demon that's now good!" Pinkie explained with as little words as she could. "Wait, didn't Hannibal say that the demons' world blocks links?"

If Hannibal had actual eyes, they would have widened. "Oh no, the dreadnought is in Equestria! We need to hurry before it destroys everything!"

"What dreadnought?" Travis asked hastily. "And where at?"

The group was now running down a hall and firing at a few novice demons. However, this did not stop Hannibal from answering Travis's questions. "There's going to be an armada coming from Las Pegasus! Warn General Solk and any other major commanders you can before it's too late!"

"I'm on it!"

The group kept running and gunning their way through the halls and rooms, killing several novice demons and elite demons throughout the journey. In some rooms, the group met some greatsword demons, guardian demons, healer demons, hellfire demons, thrasher demons, and jetpack demons. Several injuries were received from the rushing, but Pinkie's cupcakes healed them all in no time.

Twilight and company eventually made it to a large room in the shape of an awkward S. To the front of the group was a huge sliding door, and to the right was the rest of the room leading to the next cooling system room.

Before the group could go right, the sliding door opened up to reveal a stronghold demon and six elite demons ready for battle. Upon seeing the ponies, the stronghold demon slammed four demons out of his way and tumbled towards the group.

"Come over here!" the towering demon screamed as it raised its buzz saw girder. "You're the perfect freaks for me to shove this thing right up your asses!"

The group ran to the right before it could swing its buzz saw girder at them. They soon reached the four way door to the cooling system and sprinted through it. They were confronted by two hellfire demons, two healer demons, and eight elite demons.

The hellfire demons hovered backwards and let the elite demons get a clear shot at the group. Four of the elite demons died from a few missiles and pink bombs in the face or chest. Rarity aimed her gems for the hellfire demons and hit them every single time, killing one and crippling the other. Twilight killed the healer demons before they could heal any wounds, and Applejack lassoed two elite demons together that Rainbow Dash shredded with a hailstorm of lasers. Hannibal got two headshots on the hellfire demon that killed it. Solar Flare wrestled and gunned down the other two elite demons, ending the messy conflict.

It was then that the stronghold demon opened the four way door and crawled through the entrance. It then stood back up, now in the room with the group. He glared down at the ponies, buzz saw girder in hand and minigun primed for death. "You can't hide from me! You can never hide from me!"

The buzz saw girder slammed down into the ground, almost squashing Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie into a mess of gore. Twilight remembered Hannibal's advice and used a few precision shots on the head of the stronghold demon. The head was so small that she couldn't directly hit it, but she did hit one of its four horns. That was enough for the demon to face her and release a stream of lasers right at her. Rainbow Dash and Solar Flare pelted it with missiles and lasers, but it was to no avail. The demon's armor was too strong for any damage to be dealt through it. Rarity had no problem fighting. She kept her gems precise and shot them right into the demon's face. Every shot made it stumble for a split second. This was enough time for the ponies to recover from a girder slam or a field of lasers. Rarity kept doing this until she filled the head with enough gems to split it in half.

One final gem and a lucky precision shot destroyed the entire head of the stronghold demon. The demon screamed a cry of rage and hate as its body fell down and smashed into the cooling system. The cooling system cracked and fell apart, releasing once more a wave of sirens and red lights. Twilight fired one last fire blast to ensure the demon's death.

This time, the entire area shook violently, and the lights around the area dimmed and flickered a little.

"We need to get off this dreadnought, now!" Hannibal warned as he funneled the ponies and robot through the left door. They fought through a few more squadrons of novice demons and elite demons before they reached another huge room. There were four guardian demons in it, but the group didn't care anymore. They sprinted for the next door and through the halls. They killed only the demons that blocked their way and left the rest behind.

The group eventually made it back to the ring. There were several novice demons and elite demons rushing for the elevators around the area. The big, blue ball of energy that was in the hole was now nonexistent at this point.

The group took the closest elevator and gunned down any ready to fight demons that wanted the elevator. Hannibal held onto the lever and pointed a finger upwards. "Get on top of the elevator! We're hijacking a ship!"

The ponies hopped onto the elevator. Servo needed some help from Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash to properly reach the elevator's top. Hannibal pulled the lever and climbed up to the top, shooting some of the demons inside the other elevators. Once the elevator reached the second sector, the group hopped off and reached for the closest assault ship. They all rushed into it as fast as physically possible. Hannibal and Pinkie sat in their seats and took control of the flight mechanisms. The assault ship ascended into the air, making its way through the hole.

Once the ship was out of the hole, a volley of rockets hurled towards the ship. They all crashed into one of its thrusters, spiraling the assault ship out of control. It came back to the falling sphere and aimed for its metal surface.

Twilight panicked and darted her eyes around the sphere's surface. When the ship was about to crash into the sphere, she activated a teleportation spell on everyone but the ship. Everyone was covered in a purple blanket of magic and disappeared from the ship.

Everyone reappeared on the sphere's surface about a thousand yards away from the crash site. Twilight looked around the area and environment to check what was happening. Las Pegasus was in the distance, shining with light that contrasted the darkness everywhere. Twilight felt a little cold from the breezy air. Several demon ships soared above the ponies and to the shining city in the distance, smashing through a few winter clouds here and there.

Hannibal opened the comm link to Travis again. "Travis, we need a ship to pick us up from the dreadnought. Whenever you can provide one, bring it here as soon as possible."

"An entire fleet is almost at Las Pegasus," Travis informed. "We'll have a ship for all of you soon."

"Do not hide from me, infiltrators." The voice sounded like dozens of pieces of metal scraping each other harshly. Even though the voice was low, it felt piercing and omniscient. "This is where all of you die. A watery grave awaits."

"Who is that?" Rainbow demanded to the darkness. "Show yourself so that we can fight you!"

"Very well. If you wish to fight, I will fight and kill all of you. I would have argued that your desire to fight me is foolish, but, I am desiring of one after you deliberately destroyed my entire dreadnought."

In front of the ponies manifested a large mass of darkness. It was twice as large as a stronghold demon, but the entire body looked much less physical. The arms that developed on its sides were hazy and cloudy, not bulky and opaque. Two large claws opened on their ends and scraped the metal surface of the sphere. Its supposed head had four glowing white lights that represented its eyes and six horns of various lengths protruded from its head. The chest developed more and more until stretched down into a curly and wispy tail end. A pulsating, purple heart glowed from its own darkness and swirling aura. An entire rib cage of concentrated black formed around the heart, and the shoulder blades, humeri, radii, ulnae, carpals, metacarpals, and phalanges of blackness developed under the darkness of the demonic being.

Once the demonic mass pressed its claws against the metal surface, pieces of the metal cracked apart and floated around the mass. They clicked together and formed a bulky chest plate, two huge shoulder pads, jagged elbow platings, and clinking gauntlets sharper than scalpels. The metal glowed with the same purple aura around the heart. The undying essence of the being radiated through the metal like a hardy second skin on top of another. The being's eyes faded from a white to a dark purple, and the purple aura from its heart gathered at its monstrous gauntlets.

A challenger approaches: Major Xarviin, Lord Zedin's strongest wraith

Xarviin's first attack was a claw slamming into the ground. The surface broke apart to reveal several pieces of sharpened metal and rogue wiring. Pieces of the sphere clumped together and formed spikes that jutted out of the surface. Every spike tried its best to hit one of the ponies, Hannibal, or Servo, but they missed by a couple feet. Xarviin then fired clusters of purple energy at the group. He struck Twilight and Fluttershy once each with separate clusters, weakening them from the inside.

Xarviin hovered to the other side of the group and released two waves of energy. The group dodged them successfully and fired a barrage of lasers at him. His armor and body took zero damage from the lasers. Xarviin then grabbed Pinkie with his right claw. She squirmed and struggled to escape his grasp, but it was useless. He manifested a ball of purple energy over her with his left claw. Pinkie fiddled with his gauntlet until she could squeeze her body inside Xarviin's armor. She crawled her way through the smoky body until she reached the purple heart in his chest. She punched and kicked the heart several times in rapid succession.

Xarviin's body convulsed and shook from the strikes to his heart. He reached his left claw into his chest and grabbed Pinkie once again. Instead of keeping her in place, he threw her back onto the surface of the sphere. He manifested two beams of energy that originated from his claws and swept across the sphere's surface. The ponies kept dodging the beams several times through either hopping, ducking, or simple flying.

Pinkie bounced over to Twilight, the one pony that was hiding behind a spike as she charged her magic. "Twilight, I know how we can defeat this thing!"

"Tell me, then!" Twilight insisted. "What is it?"

"The heart inside of it is its weak point! If we can tear off its armor, we can hit it!"

"And how will we do that?" Twilight and Pinkie dodged the massive cluster of energy hurling towards them. "Everything we tried isn't working!"

"You didn't try everything yet! Use your magic to tear off the pieces of its armor! If I can open up its hand with my bare hooves, you can do it with magic!"

Twilight focused on Xarviin's chest plate. She used a levitation spell on one of the pieces. She ripped it off the body, exposing a small part of a black rib. Xarviin summoned more spikes out of the metal surface as he prepared a new attack. A swirling vortex of darkness grew right next to Solar Flare and Hannibal. It kept growing until it reached the height of a greatsword demon. The vortex sucked in various metal pieces and circuitry from the spikes and surface into it. Solar flew against the force of the vortex, and Hannibal held a firm grip onto a nearby spike. The vortex dissipated only seconds later.

Twilight kept pulling pieces of metal off Xarviin's chest plate until she revealed his purple heart. Rainbow Dash noticed that it was a glowing piece of Xarviin that was easy to shoot, so she did. Rainbow's lasers, along with a few from Hannibal and Servo, penetrated the heart and weakened its glow. Xarviin covered his heart with his left claw and fired rings of energy at Rainbow and Twilight. Rainbow flew through them, and Twilight hopped through them. Twilight then ripped a few metal pieces off Xarviin's left gauntlet, partially exposing the heart again.

Xarviin hovered to the other side and lifted more metal pieces out of the sphere. They collected around his armor and filled the holes in it. The metal then added a second layer to his armor. The entire sphere shook violently as waves crashed along the ocean far below.

"The dreadnought is touching the ocean now!" Hannibal warned. "We need to hurry up!"

Twilight pulled away a few more pieces of the metal on Xarviin's chest. He conjured more clusters of energy and threw them at the ponies. Pinkie and Servo used a few missiles and pink bombs to weaken the hold of the metal. They both dodged the incoming energy waves from Xarviin. He created another vortex next to Fluttershy and Rarity. Fluttershy clung onto a spike, and Rarity tried her best to gallop away from the force. Once the vortex dissipated, another hole leading to Xarviin's purple heart was almost complete. Twilight tore off two more pieces, allowing both Rainbow Dash and Solar Flare to fire dozens of lasers into the heart. Its glow dimmed even more from the attacks, and the aura around the armor was fading away.

Xarviin moved his heart from his chest to his left claw and unleashed a flurry of energy clusters. Twilight hopped around the area and tore away a few pieces of metal from Xarviin's left gauntlet. Pinkie hopped from one of the spikes to Xarviin's right arm. She then climbed around his body until she entered through the hole in his chest plate. She crawled through the rib cage and into his left arm. She then found the purple heart and wrapped herself around it. She slammed her hooves on it over and over, weakening its glow and power. She then noticed the fresh air rush back to her, as Twilight tore open the left gauntlet and fired a few magic blasts at the heart. Pinkie kept bashing it over and over, forcing Xarviin to dig into his left claw and rip Pinkie out of his body. Unfortunately, he ripped out his heart as well.

The purple aura around Xarviin's armor faded away. The heart shriveled a little and lost its undying purple glow. The heart was now charcoal black, brittle like ashes, and rough like sandpaper. Pinkie's firm grasp on it destroyed the entire heart into small pieces that burned up in the air. Pinkie fell down onto the metal surface with a thud. Twilight prepared one final blast, a fire blast, and shot it right into Xarviin's chest. The fire exploded in his chest and raced through his body. The metal armor fell apart piece by piece. His eyes faded from purple to the fiery oranges and yellows of the flames. Once all of his armor fell off, his body disintegrated with the flames. Only a second later, nothing remained.

Major Xarviin has been defeated!

As the entire surface calmed, Twilight and Company could hear distant gunfire and explosions both in the sky and at Las Pegasus. Several demon and GEST Corp. ships battled each other with massive numbers, but the winner of the fight was obvious. GEST Corp. was winning, as an entire starship, a dreadnought class ship two-thirds the size of the demon's dreadnought from Manehattan, destroyed the demon fleet. A few drop ships scattered around the surface of the sphere. Some landed, some didn't.

By the time a drop ship landed about a quarter of a mile from the group, nearly all of the sphere was submerged in the cold waters of the South Luna Ocean. The group ran as fast as possible to the drop ship. By the time they were twenty feet from it, water was gathering at their hooves, feet, and wheel. They rushed into the drop ship and took their seats. The ship then ascended into the air and flew towards Ponyville.

"So, do you two know what happened in New Sacramino?" Hannibal asked the pilot and co-pilot.

"General Solk said that the double invasion on New Sacramino City was a total disaster on our part," the pilot answered. "We were doing well until the robot ponies invaded and killed nearly everyone left in the city. The city is in ruins, and General Solk is planning on rebuilding it. However, the attack here on Las Pegasus is definitely going to be a win for us."

"We're all very grateful that you told us about the armada," the co-pilot added. "We're also even more grateful that you all destroyed the dreadnought too. If that thing hit landfall at Las Pegasus, there would've been no Equestrian Dimension afterwards."

Twilight felt a surge of pleasure. "Wow, thank you. I knew that we were saving Equestria, but I didn't expect this one ship to be so crucial to everything."

"We've saved Equestria a bunch of times before this." Rainbow Dash put her forelegs behind her head and crossed one hind leg over the other. "It's pretty much our job now."

"Wait, that entire ship was that powerful?" Servo questioned in astonishment. "I thought it was powerful enough for one city being destroyed, not an entire freaking planet!"

"Expect doomsday weaponry like that from our enemies," the pilot replied to Servo. "I bet that Equestria thinks that we're these very powerful soldiers protecting them, but we're actually weaker than they think."

"How?" Applejack cocked her head at the pilot. "Y'all fought off and beat these demons and aliens so many times! How can GEST Corp. be weak?"

"Before Equestria, General Solk was searching for another world for us to colonize to escape the World Wars. We were losing badly, and we couldn't stop the kavarians from taking one of our moonbases and two space stations. Ever since we incorporated ponies into our army, we got a fighting chance. Other species decided to join us as well and strengthen our armies. Now, it seems that the demons are beginning to find cracks in us."

"You came here to run away from those monsters?" Fluttershy assumed. "So, even you and the rest of the humans were scared of them?"

"You could say that," the co-pilot commented.

"Are we going back to Ponyville," Pinkie asked to the pilot, "or are we going on another mission?"

"You're going home," the pilot answered. "There's nothing left you all need to do for us."

Pinkie squealed happily and held Servo a little closer to her. "You hear that? You get to see your brand new home, Sugarcube Corner! You can meet the Cakes and their babies, try some of the most delicious treats I can bake, and sleep in your very own bed! Wouldn't that be nice?"

"It would be," Servo admitted, "but I don't have taste buds. Or a mouth. At all."

"We can just make you one!" She turned her head to Hannibal. "Is it possible to give a robot taste buds and a mouth?"

"Yeah, it is," Hannibal answered. "Building a robot is like building a metal person. If you have the materials and wiring for certain sensors and mechanisms, then you can make them, especially with the technology we have at our disposal."

Pinkie squirmed around in her seat. "I can't wait to get home! I have so much stuff planned for you, Servo! I could even throw a party for you if there's nothing bad happening tomorrow!"

The rest of the flight was about ten minutes. Once the ship arrived to Ponyville, it landed in the town hall area. As usual, Rainbow Dash flew to her grand home to get her deserved sleep, Rarity walked back to her boutique, Applejack hustled over to her farm, and Fluttershy casually watched the breezes and gently falling snow as she walked back to her home. Pinkie grabbed Servo and dashed to Sugarcube Corner as fast as possible.

Twilight, Hannibal, and Solar Flare were the only ones left to stay near the drop ship. Twilight looked up at Hannibal and tilted her head a little. "So, where are you going?"

"Solar Flare and I need to return to the base nearby," Hannibal answered as he pointed to the base. "We need to regroup after our mission. If Colonel Vincent thinks we earned it, we might be promoted."

"Okay, then." Twilight stretched her body a little and yawned. "I'll go home and rest. Fighting demons can make you really exhausted after all."

"Alright. See you whenever I get the chance." Hannibal and Solar Flare began their small journey to the base.

"You too." Twilight yawned again and walked back to her treehouse.

Once she reached the front door, she opened it with her magic and faced the table nearby. She sorted through her pocket chest and took out several items from her travels. She pulled out a dog tag she found in Jersoven. She felt very frightened by those Ruptured monsters. The fact that hey we're former humans and ponies terrified her.

Twilight then pulled out kavarian helmet. Ah, the kavarians. She hated them deeply for what they did to Pinkie, and she hated it even more that their leader almost took Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. It was nice to see Pinkie have some revenge for their torture experiments, but she was still uneasy about the devouring of kavarian flesh like fresh baked cakes.

The next item she pulled out was a decorative necklace from a Venomback bandit. Even though a bloodthirsty human wore it, it was oddly well crafted and decorated. It had several colorful feathers and a golden pentagon medallion with the letters H, R, and M etched in it in that order. A pair of wings and five stars that encircled the letters decorated the medallion.

The second to last item was the flank piece of a Twili-bot. The entire invasion was hectic, but those robots made it ten times worse for Twilight. It creeped her out that they talked and looked like her, but it creeped her out even more that someone was out there manufacturing these things. Why make an army of robotic ponies?

The last item Twilight levitated out of her pocket chest was one of the claw flowers from the Nightmare World. She took a nearby pot filled with dirt, dug out a hole in the dirt, placed the plant in it, and refilled the hole. She then set the plant next to a window and admired it. The first set of things that raced through her mind was the tests involving how the plant worked or what it did. The second set of things deeper in her mind were the events in the Nightmare World and the battle on the dreadnought. That mission was possibly the most over-the-top journey she ever made. The demons, the encounters, the technology, all of it was nothing like she imagined it to be. However, the one thing that still haunted her was the eyeball plant. Just thinking about its rows of teeth, slippery tongues, and its piercing shrill gave her chills.

Twilight yawned a third time as she walked up the stairs and into her room. She took off her helmet and set it on the ground. She then took off her suit and folded it up as well as she could. She put the helmet on the suit and put both away next to her bed. She climbed into her bed, all warm and snug under the covers and away from the wintry gusts. She then yawned one last time and rested her head on the pillow. She closed her eyes and recalled the day one last time.

Saving Equestria is almost like a daily task for me, Twilight thought to herself. Well, another day, another battle to fight and win.

"You cannot win every conflict, but not every conflict needs to be won to complete your ultimate goal. Even a setback or a loss can help you triumph in the end."

End of Act IV: The Banes of Humanity