Sera, Halvo Bay. Onyx Guard Academy.

Abby's POV

"Celesta damn it, Twilight." I heard Starlight cursed.

"Yea, of all the places on Sera Twilight, could have sent us, she sent us here of all places," I express with an annoyed sigh. Starlight was the next to speak.

"But is it really so bad here? I mean at least you know where we are and this places could have supplies we need and armor for me to wear right?" Starlight said trying to lighten the mood. Which in truth did help a little bit but wasn't shown cus of my masked helmet.

So I let out another sigh before bringing my Lancer up in a ready position. "That's true at least. We could head to the schools' dormitories to see if my old room there, I did have a spare of an older set of armor you can use. Should be about your size..."

Looking at her friends bare naked frame a blush that was hidden by the helmet mask, "Come on, can't have you walking through a new world with nothing but your skin."

We moved forward across the once famed Enfield bridge while keeping an eye out for any signs of hostiles. As I looked around, I couldn't have avoided the dried up remains of Onyx Guard soldiers that once defended the school. Looking behind her, I saw that Starlight was keeping close to me as we made their way across with the chain sword in hand. Corpses of human and Locust littered the bridge. I even saw the remains of a pair of Reavers laid out along the bridge. I didn't remember my classmates taking those two down during the fighting. Must have been the air force that did it.

Taking another glance back at Starlight, I saw the girl was scared out of her wits as she stuck close to me like glue. Couldn't blame her really, Just by coming to this world for not even for three minutes and she sees more signs of death then her entire life.

Turning back to where I was going a few memories were starting to pop up in my mind from days long past. The sounds of gunfire pounding at my ears, screaming echoing off the walls, a few grenades going off here and there. It may have been over a decade from when I was last here, but still could never forget what happened here.

The old remains sure weren't doing anything to help me in any way. A happy thought did come to me that there may be some of Professor Elliot's secret stash of booze still hidden in the R&D labs. 'That may be worth a look.'

Passing by a rusting gun emplacement, we walked around the massive hole that took out it took out three-fourths of the bridge. Everywhere we turned more and more bodies of both Gears and Locust littered the ground. Admit there was more Locust then there was human, which gave me a happy thought of making the grubs work for who they were attacking. Reaching the school steps, I took one last look around before entering the school through its front double doors. Aside from the water going under the bridge and the wind blowing a few storm clouds in, all was quiet. I also looked down at the remains of the corpses noticed a few things about all the bodies.

One that they have all been decomposed to the point of being skeletal. Two, all of them still have armor and weapons on them, rusting away from being exposed to the elements for so long.

There were the Locust Hammer bursts and Mark one and two Lancers scattered with all over the place with their owners.

Then the realization hit me; all these guys had been lying here for over a decade, and no one has come to scavenge this place. I must have been standing still for too long as I felt a hand on the shoulder that snaps me out of her thoughts. "Hey, are you ok?" Starlight asked, her voice laced with concern.

"Y-yeah, yeah I'm all right, just realized a few things is all," I replied assuredly.

"Like what?" She asked.

"Like no one has been here since we lost this place nearly fourteen years ago. No looters or scavengers to scavenge for their weapons. No stranded to take up residence inside. I just don't understand it." I explained to her friend. Looking up at the double doors she put a hand on the door nob and pushed the door. It door's hinges creaked as the door opened, possibly for the first time in a decade.

"With how vital this place was back in the day and the amount of military hardware they had built into this place. One would think about how much they spent here for then COG's best military academy wouldn't have been barely touched in so long. Not even to collect stuff from the tech labs or weapons from the armories something not right about that."

Upon entry, I saw piles of rubble in all the corners. The door leading to the courtyard was also blocked by debris. A quick look around showed the hallway to the security station was still open. Turning to I stopped at the sight of the dozen skeletal remains of my former comrades. A gasp from behind me indicated that Starlight was looking at what was in the hallway as well.

"Come on; let's get to the commons. It's just on the other side of the courtyard outside," I pushed onward down the hall and into the security station. Looking around I spotted and walked over to the three wall lockers and opened up the first one. Inside held a pair of Bolo grenades. "Well that's useful," I commented and pocketed the explosives. Opening up the next one revealed nothing but a backpack and a bunch of papers. The bag also was full of documents as well so nothing of use there. The last Locker opened up to reveal a long brown trench coat hanging from the rack.

Grabbing the trench coat, I handed it off to the naked Starlight, "As much as I like seeing you like this, I prefer you wear something while we're out here so this should help cover you."

Putting her chain sword aside and dropping her pack, Starlight put her arms through the sleeves and button the coat up. She then picked up her backpack and gray chain sword. "Thanks, it's a bit drafty out here."

"I don't blame you," I replied.

Before the conversation could continue a thunderclap sounded off outside, singling out the noise of a rainstorm coming. "Let's get to those rooms before that rain storm hits; I don't want to be outside when it gets here." I then moved to the door that was past empty gun rack. Opening the door, I saw a Boomshield on the ground next to the remains of a Mauler. Looking around I saw the remains of at least two more Maulers by the stairs to the right.

"There must have been another firefight because I don't remember those being here when we retreated from the courtyard," I commented as we walked past the dead Locust.

Crossing the courtyard, we looked around and saw the sign for the Sci/Tech Institute that led to the labs below. I made a note to make a sweep of the labs before we leave here. Despite everything here being over a decade old, COG tech was built to last. So something useful must still be down there, right?

Reaching the doors to the school dorms, we pushed opened one door and entered into the lobby. I was a little more at ease at the sight of no more corpses in the area. With no activity as far as I could see, I waved my hand forward to motion Starlight to come. Closing the door behind me, we stood inside for a moment before the sound of rain pouring down could be heard from outside.

"Talk about timing it right," I joked, trying to lighten the mood a bit. It got a small giggle from the pony turned human.

"Yea, he. Still, can't believe your people don't control the weather in this world." Starlight commented as she looked at her friend.

"You kidding me? When Rainbow Dash pushed that one cloud and made it ran in front of me to prove that ponies can control the weather, I had thought my mind was on drugs or something." I said with a laugh. "Come on; the stairs are just over there. We can go to my old room up on the third floor and camp out there till the storm passes. Let's hope my armor is also still there."

"Umm, you think it's still there after all this time?" Starlight questioned.

"Oh yeah, if it's like the rest of this place then it should still be there if looters hadn't touched this place." Making our way up the steps at a steady pace. I was half expecting Wretches or Tickers to pop out any second now from any of the doors or halls.

"You know I bet my personal stuff is still here too, I was a little peeved that I couldn't grab any of it when the academy was under attack," I commented as we reached the third floor.

Passing by another Locust body and a pair of human remains on the staircase, we exited into a hallway disgruntled hallway.

"Well this brings back memories," I commented as we walked down the hall.

"like what?" Starlight asked as she followed behind.

"Like the first time I had to lug my stuff up here. When you get inside the academy, they give you all the supplies and gear you would be using and training with for all the classes we had. And I came on a day where the elevators were shut down for maintenance." I explained. "It took me six trips to get everything that was both my personal stuff and training items up those stairs. It was painful." I sighed at that memory.

We walked a ways down until we stopped at our attended destination. A simple dorm room like all the others, this one with the number '315' at the center. Looking down at the mechanical lock on the door I had to think back at what the combo was. Unlike most entries that had key locks on the doors, the dorm rooms were exclusive mechanical locks, each hosting a five number button system from one to five. They also didn't need power from the building to operate so getting in was a cinch. Putting my hand up to it, I pressed down number two button then pressed the one and four buttons at the same time. Twisting the doorknob, I raised my weapon and searched my old room for any signs of hostilities. Seeing none, I waved Starlight in and closed the door behind her. To make sure nothing just comes in by a kick of the door, I pushed a nearby wardrobe over to block it.

Relaxing slightly I turn around and take a look at her old room that she hasn't been to in ages. As I remembered, it was a pretty decent sized dorm. Two beds on the opposite ends of the room, a nightstand next to each of them. A pair of desks at the foot of each bed and the other wardrobe by the door. The with other one belonging to her.

I saw Starlight over at the bed brushing off the dust that had settled there. Slinging my Lancer on my back, I took off my helmet and walked over to Starlight's side. "Hey, you alright?" I asked.

Starlight just responded by sitting down on the bed and before taking a heavy breath before answering. "I don't know Abby, I was confident before coming here, but seeing all that outside and you telling me what to expect, I thought I could handle it all... Guess not, and I haven't even seen a living Locus yet, and I feel exhausted. Some Gear I am..." She expressed as she looked at the ground.

"Don't count yourself out yet, all you have seen is the aftermath of the battle, not the actual thing. So don't you worry about that right now." I assured before setting my helmet down on the nightstand.

Taking a moment to look around I smiled at the fun times that I had in this room. One particular memory came to mind put a smile on my face before turning to a more sinister one, "You know, my roommate at the time had a thing for smuggling stuff into school. Her father worked at a bar in the naval yard, and she had a thing for alcohol like he did." Standing up, I went to her old roommate's bed, lifting up the blanket and sheets to the old mattress underneath. In the middle of the mattress was a zipper that held the mattress springs and stuffing.

Unzipping it, I plunged my hand inside and felt around to find what I was looking for, "Where are... There you are!" I happily pulled out a brown bottle from the stuffed bedding.

"Here we are, one bottle of fishermen brewed whiskey, aged and ready to drink." I showcased, before twisting the cork off and taking a mouthful of it. With a loud sigh of satisfaction, and enjoying the crimson burning feeling of real alcohol. I tried the Equestrian version of alcohol thanks to Applejack and Rainbow Dash, and I was a bit disappointed at the strength of it, but it had a pleasant aftertaste.

Handing the bottle off to Starlight, "My roommate was saving this for the last day we were here since that never happened I don't think she would mind if we popped the cork on this one and take a swig." Taking hold of the bottle, Starlight sniffed the rim of the bottle before jerking back at the whiskey's strong scent. "Just take a sip, that stuff isn't like what you'll find in Equestria."

Taking my words under advisement, Starlight did just that. But even a sip caused her to recoil and started choking on spit and whiskey.

Taking a seat next to former unicorn, I put a hand on Starlight's back and rubbed small circles along her back. "Told you, it's not what you find in Equestria," I said with a giggle.

Taking the bottle from her, I went over and made my way over to the old wardrobe and pulled out multiple pieces of blue and black crimson armor, along with a black bodysuit and packs. "This is just a standard issue set of COG armor, the old mark one suit," I announced before making several armloads over and setting them down on the other bed of where my friend sat.

I took one the solid black but pack and stuffed the bottle of whiskey inside and sat it behind her under her weapons.

"This armor has all the necessary coverings, and protection one needs when in a firefight. This here is obesely the female variant to help fit you better, so you shouldn't have too much to worry there." I explained. Looking back over at Starlight, I saw her looking over the armor.

"Why is it a different color than the one you're wearing now? Is it because of the unit or is it something else?" Starlight asked'

"Good question and the answer is yes. My armor was from back in my days in the Onyx guard. This armor here has the standard color scheme for standard infantry. So don't feel left out about color combos." I explained as I went to one of the shelves in the wardrobe and picked up out a plain t-shirt, a sports bra, and some underwear.

"I never thought I have to teach a grown woman how to dress properly, but since you don't know how humans dress will start at the top." I began.

Then for the next ten minutes, I had to teach a Starlight how to dress like a human. What the purpose of what a sports bra does and how to put on panties. Another thirty minutes later, I fitted Starlight with her new armor. Going over the parts and their functions, testing the armor's magnetic holsters, and the helmets filtration system.

"And there you go... One complete set of COG standard armor, how does it feel?" I asked while tightening the last strap on Starlights chest piece.

Starlight twist and turned her body getting a feel for her new armor, "Feels a little constricting, like I'm wearing one of Rarity's tight dresses she asked me to wear. Will this actually protect me from weapons, like your Lancer?"

"Yes actually. This armor will give you some protection but will not hold forever, that's why taking cover is important. It's the golden rule in combat," I said. "Another thing is that Locust weapons are more high powered than the Lancer you've seen me use. Their rate of fire is also slower than ours so we can move around better as long as we continue to avoid their fire."

A thunderclap sounded off outside making us jump at the sound. Glancing out the window showed that the storm wasn't going to let up. "Looks like we might get some razor hail," I sighed at the dark storm clouds.

Starlight looked at me with a raised eyebrow like I just spoke in another language, "What?"

"It's a new development in the weather... And before you ask no, I don't know how it happened." I told her. "We just recognized the signs for them." A stream of falling ice sickles soon filled the view outside.

"Razor hail is exactly as it sounds and what it looks. Think of it like raining knives made out of ice."

"... Is this whole planet trying to kill us?"

"Maybe... Whelp, can't go anywhere with this weather. Wanna see the schools R&D labs?" I offered. "Since coming here, I've wanted to check them for anything of use."

That perked up Starlight interest. "Sure, Twilight wouldn't forgive me if I didn't see how different your science is from ours." I then took my chain sword and was about to put it on my back when I noticed something. On the tang at the bottom of the handle, there was a button of some kind. Feeling curious I pressed it with a finger and watched the chain swords blade fold in on itself down to the point where only the handle and guard remained. It was so sudden and fast that it caught me entirely by surprise. Looking up at Starlight for an explanation, she looked at me in wonder before she saw my expression. "The royal guard often use spells on their weapons to make them more compact and readily use at a moments notice. I've never seen it done myself, but now that I've seen it I'm impressed that it works in this world." She demonstrated this by brining up her own sword and watch as it collapsed in on itself.

"If the magic in this thing works in my world, do you think that your magic works here too?" I wonder.

Starlight cupped her hand to her chin and had a thoughtful look on her. "Maybe, my magic is mostly tied to my emotions so if I feel something strongly while I try casting a spell then I guess, but I don't know what I can use as a focal point to center my magic without my horn."

Grabbing on her new helmet, Starlight took a moment to stare at the front before turning it around and sitting it on her head.

I was happy I put on the helmet as well, looking at my friend I felt mixed reactions as I watched Starlight ready herself as she continued taking. "With my horn, I don't know if my magic would be of any use to us."

"Well be sure to let me know if you do, that shield spell could provide a lot of advantages for us if we needed it."

I felt a small measure of pride when I looked at Starlight as she turned into what she is now. On the other hand, I felt guilty at turning the former unicorn student into a Gear. Reaching down I pulled out the snub pistol on my side and offered it to her, "Don't know what may be lurking around, I rather not chance it."

Taking it from her Starlight tested it in her hand, "You think anything might be around?"

"Intel we get you some decent weapons that aren't rusted to all hell from the elements, I rather you not chance it... Come on, the labs aren't far from the dorms, and we can go through the classrooms to get down there." I began moving the wardrobe out the doors way into the hall.

When that was done something in the wardrobe caught her eye making her stop dead in her tracks. The action didn't go unknownst by her peer.
"Abby? Abby, what is it?" Starlight asked, but have I ignored her. I reached up to the door of the wardrobe and grabbed a photo that was stuck to the wall.

On it was a younger version of herself and an older copper red hair women with green eyes and brown freckles. I didn't know how long I stared at it but long enough for Starlight to come around and peek at it, "Who was she?"

"My mother... I hadn't had a picture of her when I escaped the academy. I could only recall her in memory before..." Holding my emotions deep; I didn't want Starlight to see me like this. But it was winning as I was starting to shake in place. An Action that Starlight saw.

I suddenly found herself in a hug with my armored companion. Being hugged by someone in armor while wearing armor was somewhat of a new experience. Sure I have been grabbed before by other Gears to be pulled out of the way of something. But a gentle hug like this was new to me.

"Thanks, Star," I said. Feeling a little better.

"Anytime... If you feel like talking about it, I'm here for you; you know that right?" She assured her.

Putting the photo in her chest pocket, I took off my helmet and looked at her friend. Showing off my possibly reddened eyes, like she was about to cry. Starlight did the same with her helmet and showed off a supportive smile.

I just grabbed Starlight by her collar and brought her in close to and locked lips with her. Starlight gave a squeaked in surprise at my action but quickly relaxed at what was happening and pushed in returning the kiss.

After a minute of kissing, we broke off to come up for air. I looked at Starlight and gave her a warm smile. "Despite what little time we've known each other, I'm thankful that you're here with me Starlight."

Sporting a red blush, Starlight smiled back, "A-as do I since meeting you I felt more confident in myself. Just like in the changeling hive, and at the ceremony."

"If you didn't show up I would have gone to Twilight and stayed her student forever long that may have been. I couldn't be happier for the friendship you've given me... And the opportunity for something more." She answered as they held each other hands.

Breaking contact, I unslung my Lancer, "Come one let's get out of here if we continue this line of thinking we won't move on from this spot."

"Doesn't sound so bad to me," Starlight teased.

"Yes and no, we would be here longer then the storm would be, and I don't want to be caught with both our pants down if anything does happen to walk in," I answered as she before putting her helmet back on. "And I rather we do in a semi-safe place where we won't have to worry enemies coming through the door while we're fucking on my old bed."

Starlight blushed harder before putting her new helmet back on and drawing her pistol and followed her example before she got behind me.

Putting my Lancer out front, I checked both directions of the hallway for any surprises that might have found their way in, "Alright let's go; the labs are down past the classrooms on the first floor and down in the sub-basement."

Making our way back to the stairway we start their descent downwards back to the lobby. Continuing onward we avoided the doors to the courtyard. As long as it was raining razor hail, then I wasn't going anywhere near those doors.

The signs of battle were everywhere we went. Craters covered the floors from grenades or boom shot shells. Lots of damage from long-dead fires could be there in some areas. What's worse was the shell casings of that littered the floor. Some of them might have been hers when she was last here.

"Well this brings me back," I commented as I looked on at the displays of carnage that we passed. Ignoring the bodies of Locust and human along the way.

Seeing a gleam of silver catching her eye, walking over to one of the down Gears, I reached down and grabbed hold of a set of tags that were showing and read them out loud. "Johnson, Rayland .D 770R-909-221P. Ostri."

"Did you know him?" Starlight asked.

"No... But he died after shooting all his ammo at the enemy. Rest well, Johnson." I said before pocketing the tags and moved on.

Rounding around past the last of the destroyed classrooms, I recognized our destination. "We're here."

I said as I pushed open the metal door to a lightly lit hallway.
"Well would you look at that, the lights still work. That means the lab's power grid is still up. That's COG tech at its finest."

Walking in, they made a turn around the first corner, passed by some more skeletal remains of my former comrades and down the flight of stairs. In the end before putting a hand on the door, "Now, let us see what goodies are down here."

Author's Note

There BACK

Re-done. No more editing on this chapter. THATS IT!

I apologize for any spelling and grammar mishaps

From now on, this story is going to be switching POV's from Abby and Starlight for more on how Starlight will feel about human world of Sera.

Also I'll be linking in things and places from the GOW word down in the authors notes. If you have a request on places and events please comment down below.
Halvo Bay
Halvo Bay Military Academy
Onyx Guard
Bolo Grenade