Emerald Gleaner: Spirit of Dissent

by Legionary

Rating: teen
Tags: Original Character, Prototype, Crossover, Human, Main 6, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Alternate Universe
Length: 139741

The fifth entry into the Viral Unicorn series

[Prototype 2] X MLP:FiM Crossover

Beset by a mountains of work both official and secret, Emerald has barely time left to herself anymore. Can one still become exhausted even if they physically can't? When does paranoia do more harm than good?

When people stop trying to kill you of course!

Published 2017-07-06 14:30:07 UTC
Last updated 2022-07-26 00:35:04 UTC

Chapter 2: Nostalgic Simplicity

Navi laughed gleefully as she twisted in place on the ground as Sweetie Belle tickled her mercilessly.

Like Rarity, Sweetie Belle had taken a shine to Navi the instant she had laid eyes on the younger filly. Whereas Rarity liked to pour affection on the former bug, Sweetie just really liked to play with her, though Sweetie's other friends needed a little prodding to accept the presence of a filly much younger than them. Applebloom and Scootaloo had felt like the presence of what was essentially a toddler to their group would force their usual activities to “dumb down” as a result to accommodate her. When that proved to not be the case and Navi was ready for everything and anything the Cutiemark Crusaders got up to on a daily basis, they readily accepted her.

Navi leapt onto her hooves with a giggle as Sweetie Belle stopped her tickling.

“Follow me, Navi!” Sweetie shouted as she went off on a trot. “I want to show you someone!”

The little viral filly quickly caught up to Sweetie Belle and matched pace, very much eager to meet a potential new friend.

The two fillies started trotting through town - that is, the much expanded town. Many of the new buildings had retained the straw and thatch theme common to so many of Ponyville's homes. But buildings leading towards both the train yard and the weather factories were made of much sturdier brick and mortar. Thanks to the two new and rather immensely important industries in town, Ponyville had been undergoing a population boom that had scarcely slowed down. Indeed, Ponyville's population boom was likely going to pick up again due to the recent opening of the international hospital, if only due to ponies sensing opportunity and opening a lot of hotels and inns. Yes, Ponyville's small town life style was a thing of the past and although many original inhabitants argued this was purely a bad thing, one had to admit it made things livelier on a purely mundane level.

As she followed Sweetie Belle, Navi couldn't help but overhear a number of conversations with her powerful senses.

“... Applied for work in the Enclave Embassy, waiting for a message back if they want me or not.”

“Isn't the embassy the old royal palace? Don't the princesses technically own that?”

“Apparently not...”

“...Thought the newer, bigger weather factory was supposed to make things better?”

“Yeah, tell me about it. Lately the weather has either been late or the wrong thing entirely...”

“... Going to go see your friend again, Tuney?”

“Yup.”

“I just can't possibly imagine how somepony like you could like a dog like him?!”

“I dunno...”

“... Time Turner, what's this about?”

“I know it's not exactly the most romantic of way of doing this, but hearing about the wedding inspired me.”

“OHMIGOSH!”

“I take it that's a yes...”

After walking across town, Navi found herself being led to one home among many in the traditional style. Sweetie Belle knocked on the door and after a few moments, an earth pony mare answered. She had a brown mane and had it done up in a manner much like Applejack's along with a light tan coat and a cutiemark of a heart and a baby bottle.

“Oh, Sweetie Belle!” the mare said with a smile. “Come to visit Button again? Oh, and who is this?”

“Yeah!” Sweetie nodded before pointing at Navi. “And this is Navi! I brought her along to introduce her to Button!”

“Hi~” Navi greeted happily with a wide grin and a hop.

“Oh. Nice to meet you, Navi,” the mare said and stepped aside. “It's so nice to see Button making new friends.”

“Come on, Navi!” Sweetie Belle said excitedly as she quickly walked into the home. “I really want to show you something.”

“Coming!” Navi said and quickly followed after Sweetie Belle.

“Uh, no running in the house, dears!” Button's mom called after them.

“Sorry!” Sweetie and Navi replied and slowed down.

“Over here, this is Button's room,” Sweetie Belle said as she pointed at a door and opened it. They were met with the sight of a colt's bedroom and the colt himself sitting in the center of the room playing on a game system that was a self contained console and TV screen.

“HI BUTTON!” Sweetie shouted happily as she quickly rushed over to his side.

Completely focused on his game, Button Mash jumped in startlement and a moment later a death noise straight out of a retro video game sounded from the gamebox.

“NOOOOOO!” Button Mash cried out melodramatically. “I nearly beat my high score! Sweetie Belle, why!?!”

“You say that every time I do that, Button!” Sweetie retorted with a grin before waving to Navi. “I wanted to introduce you to a special someone!”

“... I don't play with babies,” Button Mash replied after giving Navi a once over and then folding his forelimbs and turning his head away.

“This reminds me of my games, but... not as good,” Navi said as she peered into the gamebox screen, having not heard what Button said.

“HEY! It's great and challen- you've got games?” Button began in indignation before abruptly changing his tune. “What kind?”

“Oh loads!” Navi answered cheerfully. “Mama got me and Uncle Spike hundreds of games from the other world.”

“Other world... you got alien games!?” Button Mash said with wide, amazed eyes.

“Yeahuh.” Navi nodded her head.

“See? I knew you'd like her!” Sweetie Belle said with a self satisfied tone.

ALPHA

“So it's been like this since you first started experimenting with it?” Emerald asked.

“Yes, ma'am.” Moon Dancer nodded.

Emerald sighed as she waved her hand through the still active mirror portal. Both she and Moon Dancer were in the vault containing said portal. Moon Dancer had inquired about what the activation times for the mirror were and mentioned it was currently on and wanted to make sure she knew when it was next active. Of course, as soon as she heard this Emerald had been shocked and a little alarmed since the portal was supposed to be closed for a month.

“Alright, I'm going to fortify the vault and set up some monitoring equipment,” Emerald said and stepped back from the mirror with another sigh. “We'll monitor the mirror for a month, but I get the feeling it won't turn off the entire time.”

“Do you think you broke something when you forced it open?” Moon Dancer asked curiously. “It's possible the mirror is rather sensitive to such things.”

“I think it's very likely.” Emerald nodded with a frown. “For now, having some Warhounds guard the mirror will work. I'll get to setting up some defenses of my own design very soon, but we shouldn't get any visitors in the meantime.”

“Are... are they all like you?” Moon Dancer asked, looking up at Emerald with wide, wondering eyes.

“What, like someone who could fight gods and win?” Emerald replied lightly, turning to face Moon Dancer. “No... but a couple thousand of them have the potential for it.”

Moon Dancer's eyes filled with awe as she silently mouthed the word 'thousands'.

Emerald in turn got a wondering look to her eyes as she stared down at Moon Dancer before shaking her head. Turning about, she quickly began conjuring up some electronic and runic array parts before rapidly assembling a simple monitoring system for the mirror portal.

“Alright, I've got this set up to contact me the instant something appears,” Emerald said as she placed a camera on a tripod before the mirror. “Could you tell an Alpha to get some guards set up here for me?”

“Yes, ma'am.” Moon Dancer nodded before bringing out a clipboard. “I'll tell someone on the way to my next project.”

“Good. I've got projects of my own to get to work on as well,” Emerald said before giving a short wave and teleporting.

An instant later found Emerald in the caverns she had grown the titans in. There were hundreds of pods taking up the space. They were not all the size of the pods that had housed the titans, but a bit bigger than the ones that held the raptors. This was going to be yet another new race of creatures Emerald was creating.

'Drawing on previous experience with making new life, this should only take a fraction of the time it took to make the others,' Emerald thought as she closed her eyes and drew on her viral senses to take stock on the growth of the new beings. 'I've also decided to go a step further and purposefully designed a race that is truly intelligent.'

The virus was confident in her skills nowadays regarding new lifeforms, but she would be lying if she said some part of her didn't view giving the beings true intelligence as dangerous, as potentially some point in the future they could betray her. But another part of her, one that was flourishing and growing in recent years, viewed this feeling as a product of older, more brutal times and it was ultimately a foolish fear to have.

'It's not like I'm giving my creations reasons to resent me,' Emerald thought with crossed arms. 'I don't treat them like they were just emotionless weapons, tools to be used until broken and tossed aside. They know the purpose for which they live, sure, but there is more to life than “work”.'

Indeed, the raptors and titans didn't just patrol and guard the Enclave and then train in their free time. More than a few Warhounds had bonded with raptors much in the same way human soldiers bonded with their own wardogs, and many a raptor now shared living spaces with Warhounds in their homes. The titans for their part seemed to be profoundly affected by their earth channeling knowledge. A good many seemed to be content with sitting still in their free time, becoming much like a great boulder. Emerald recognized it as a form of meditation in earth channeling meant to grow one's connection to the earth; it also did wonders on calming one's nerves and shoring up mental health or even trying to fall asleep on the spot. That wasn't all they did, of course. A good many titans had taken to wandering into the forest and creating little, odd shapes out of channeled rock. Sovereign seemed to like them as more than one stonehenge looking setup was carefully overgrown with moss and plant life.

'I definitely don't mistreat them,' Emerald thought and found herself smiling. 'If for whatever reason one of these betrays me, then at least I know it's not my fault.'

Emerald oversaw the growth of the new beings for half an hour before feeling satisfied that things were going well, and left. This time she didn't use her usual mode of travel and walked there, feeling like she hadn't walked the streets of the Hub for a while.

The first thing Emerald noticed about the Hub was that her presence was easily “noted” by the dogs on the street. She was given a lot of respect and she expected that, but along with that a number of young dogs seemed to be going a step above that, bowing in her presence and referring to her as “Dea Princeps”. Emerald tried to not be really annoyed with this treatment and in turn tried not to feel angry with Fenrir. She appreciated his unfaltering loyalty, but found his faith in her to be a double edged sword.

'Just smile and wave,' Emerald thought to herself and did just that to another young couple. 'Smile and wave and go on your way.'

Emerald picked up her pace through the newly constructed districts of the Hub, not enjoying the walk nearly as much as she hoped. She was about to simply cut her losses and teleport to her location when she started catching the sound of a loud argument.

“FOOD is NOT a luxury!” boomed an outraged voice.

“Will you just listen to me?!” came a snapped reply. “I'm not talking about your basic meats and stews!!! There is a lot more variety out there than you city folk rabble are used to! Expensive variety!”

“City folk?! RABBLE?!?”

Emerald rounded a corner to see some excitement going on in a plaza. There was a fairly large mixed crowd of dogs, simple vests denoting the original inhabitants and much more complex arrays of clothing signifying the immigrants. With this crowd was a fairly small group of dogs, clearly Alphas. Again the clothes showed the origin, but the Alphas from outside the Enclave were rather noticeably richer in attire. Clearly what was going on was another loud debate on the integration process which, while bumpy, was proceeding well.

“FINE!!!” bellowed the richly dressed Alpha in irritation, throwing up his paws. “I shall show you that certain kinds of foods can be a luxury! I have with me a number of herbs and spices to season my meats. I shall treat you to supper and show you, ONCE AND FOR ALL, the point I am trying to make!”

“Well... go on then!” the Enclave Alpha motioned for the other to lead the way, losing a lot of anger at the prospect of food. “Show away.”

Watching the two Alphas walk away and the crowd start to disperse made Emerald glad things were going smoothly enough with the integration of the independents. If heated debates turned to actual fighting, that would have just been another irritating thing to add to her plate of already irritating things to deal with when it came to politics.

It was thoughts of politics that brought Emerald to a sudden halt in the middle of the street and close her eyes. She had been hard at work practically non-stop ever since she had come back home. The times she had made for friends and family always ended up backing her schedule up further. And frankly, her own importance in wider world politics meant that people only really grumbled about being stood up and just went back in line to see her, so she wasn't making the list any shorter with her breaks either.

It was realizing that last fact that had Emerald abruptly decide she deserved a day off and turned on her heel to walk in the opposite direction.

BETA

'Not here either,' Belvedere thought with a huff as he briefly looked over a vast and somewhat cluttered magical lab, its only current inhabitant one Moon Dancer. 'Where could she be?'

Belvedere wanted to discuss expanding their trade route and the things they got their meat fruit for with Emerald. If an economy was to be implemented without adding a price to basic necessities, they would need plenty of things that were purely luxuries for the dogs to spend coin on. He viewed it as important enough to get her counsel on instead of attempting to handle himself, but she was being difficult to locate. It wasn't exactly rare to have a hard time finding Emerald, but most of the time he could figure out where to find her quickly.

'Emerald had a full schedule today,' Belvedere thought as he strode from the lab. 'She should have been at one of these locations... hmm.'

Belvedere continued on his way. He started radioing dogs to get back to him should anyone see Emerald. Surprisingly, he got a call back really quickly. Surprising, because of where Emerald was. Belvedere quickly made his way to the new districts of the Hub and then headed towards one of the many daycares.

He quickly arrived and entered the front doors of the daycare into the lobby with an old bulldog manning the desk.

“Hello, Belvedere,” said the old bulldog matron, someone he recognized as one of the many old females who had gone out of their way to help raise the pups.

“Hello Old Nan,” Belvedere greeted with curt nod. “She is here, correct?”

“She is, but from the look of things she isn't up to anymore work today, dear,” Old Nan said with a point deeper into the building.

“Hm?” Belvedere raised a brow and stepped forward.

The second in command of the Enclave leaned slightly around the corner and was met with the sight of Emerald in her full formal wear, simply lying against a wall with a small horde of young pups playing around her and even on top of her. For a moment she looked like she was completely at peace and napping, but a second later her voice sounded out.

“Belvedere, you needed something?” Emerald asked with her eyes still closed.

“...” Belvedere considered his next words for a moment before shaking his head. “No, I can handle it.”

“Great...” Emerald said softly.

Belvedere turned on his heel and walked away, already drawing plans to get a few of his fellow Alphas together to go over handling international trade among themselves. Behind him, Emerald sat up straighter and a group of pups gathered around her with a tiny little female pomeranian taking a greatly desired spot on her lap.

“Tell us a story!” they asked Emerald, happily barking and yipping.

“A story?” Emerald said, finally opening her eyes and looking over them all. “Well, what do you say?”

“Pleeeeeease!” they chorused.

“Alright, I'll tell you a story,” Emerald said and got a cheer from her audience. “Now... I'll tell you a story of two holidays in my world called Halloween and Christmas. A story specifically of a man who only ever celebrated one and then found out about the other. A story of the Pumpkin King, Jack Skellington...”

GAMMA

A little under two hours later found Emerald floating along a fast flowing river.

She was wearing a modest black wetsuit that cut off at her thighs and biceps and had her hair tied back in a braid save for her bangs. She was simply floating on her back watching clouds slowly move past as she moved along the river.

'I wonder how this whole controlling the weather thing started?' Emerald thought absently. 'This world had a prehistoric era much like Earth did, so it wasn't always like this. Was it as simple as pegasi discovering they had the ability one day and started experimenting with it? Or was the weather left alone until some group in the forgotten past decided it had to be controlled? In either case, the ponies are much more willing to put up with and allow for bad weather. If humans were controlling the weather, I'm not sure we'd ever allow anything more than shade and light rain in inhabited areas. Well, at least they do stop really bad weather from forming, like tornadoes and hurricanes.'

Emerald folded her arms behind her head as she let her thoughts wander. Alongside the river, cliff walls started to rise and in the distance crashing water resounded.

'Speaking of controlling nature, how did the same thing happen with animals?' Emerald hummed. 'I mean, they aren't near half as stupid as Earth animals and can understand speech and can truly communicate with one another in their own way, so I guess it just happened naturally after the ponies started controlling the weather. After all, a number of animal species do depend on the changing cycles of weather as part of their own life cycle. I can really imagine the birds getting pissed off at the pegasi if winter came around too often.'

Emerald suddenly flipped over and dived down under the surface of the water. She started swimming through the river at incredible speeds, yet left little to no wake in her passage. Ahead of Emerald was the hydroelectric dam constructed by the Diamond Dogs, still running strongly. As she neared the dam she dove deeper before suddenly shooting up and out of the water, soaring over the entirety of the dam itself. Emerald glided for a moment, her arms held out like wings and her eyes closed with an expression of total relaxation, then she pulled her arms to her side and dived down towards the water like a bullet. When Emerald impacted the water she barely made a splash, and a moment later she bobbed up to the surface with her arms folded behind her head again exactly like before.

'What am I thinking, exactly?' Emerald thought as she started cloud gazing again. 'Just letting my thoughts wander? Hmm... I wonder if Twilight has finished her bracelet yet? I got mine done in an hour, but I also have a ton of advantages on my side. Oh! I'm just so impatient and admittedly a tad giddy to see what she's made. I'm just glad we both kept our heads on straight and remembered the engagement “ring” is just a temporary thing meant to look pretty and show your status, otherwise we probably would have gone all out on making them... I hope she likes what I made, even if it's only temporary.'

Emerald continued to float along the river, mind filled with mundane marital concerns. Eventually the ravine cliff walls gave way to trees and overgrown river banks. Emerald paid this little mind, content to let her mind wander to whatever random thought that appeared. That lasted up till something popped out of the water next to her. She turned her head and was met with the sight of the hippocampus she had only ever seen before.

“H-hello?” the hippocampus said with a wave of one of her watery, shell covered forelimbs.

“Hi,” Emerald greeted back. “I don't think we've ever properly met.”

“Yes... I am Tranquility,” the hippocampus said. “The spirit of this river.”

“Emerald Gleaner,” Emerald replied. “I hope the dam hasn't affected you negatively.”

“No it has not,” Tranquility answered and then added with a shy look. “I... I had always wanted to have a waterfall... and I'm glad you made sure any fish caught in it were fine.”

“Glad to know you are happy,” Emerald said. “So you live in the river? How long have you been here?”

“It is hard to say... I do not register the passage of time with the same ease those of flesh and blood do,” Tranquility replied and floated closer to Emerald. “Age and rot does not have the same meaning to me as they do to them, thus I have not needed to measure my age or how long it has been since I have entered this world.”

“Hmm... was the forest here when you came to this river? Was Sovereign here?” Emerald asked and got a nod. “I wager you are a few thousand years old at least. Why do you speak the way you do, then? I've met someone who had basically not been a part of society for a thousand years and she had an odd way of speaking in comparison to everyone else.”

“I speak not to your ears, but your very being,” Tranquility answered, holding a watery hoof over her chest. “You hear me the way you do because it's the speech you understand most.”

“Hmm... I know of the concept from elsewhere,” Emerald said thoughtfully. “So you do not know how long you've been here?”

“I know I claimed this river as my home back before,” Tranquility answered.

“Before what?”

“Before the world was... deafened... quieted... when it felt alive and true,” The water spirit said and ripples went through her form. From the expression on her face, it was an act of discomfort.

Emerald frowned in thought and was about to speak when another voice interrupted.

“I see you are currently not busy.”

The virus turned her head to look over at the shore and saw Sovereign in his typical wolf form, laying down with his paws folded over one another and his head up and alert. Tranquility floated over to the shore near him and Emerald could feel her energies filling the water around her. The water Emerald floated in stilled and she was gently pushed towards the shore as well.

“Hello Sovereign,” Emerald greeted with a small wave. “I decided to take some time off for myself. I've been way too busy this last week or so... and to be completely honest, probably all of last year as well.”

“You speak truly, your essence has been feeling harried as of late,” Sovereign replied with a nod. “As I understand it, such things for prolonged states of time are not healthy.”

“Tranquility told me spirits don't really notice the passage of time since they do not understand aging the same way as I do,” Emerald said and then asked. “Is that the same for you? I mean, you are made of plant life and seem represent the whole of the Everfree, and plants do age and die.”

“While it is true that plants do make up my physical form and resonate with my essence, it is more that...” Sovereign paused and seemed to struggle to find words before huffing and grumbling.

“May I?” Tranquility asked and got a reluctant nod from Sovereign. “While Spirits do tend to represent the place they they have claimed as home physically, there is far more to this than simple physical comparison. For I, the river represents adaptability, for what does a river do when faced with an obstacle? Does it keep moving forward heedless of no further progress to be made? No, it finds itself a new path, no matter what. For Sovereign, the forest represents more than just its trees and plants. It represents its freedom via its wild growth. It represents its strength via remaining true despite all those that would enforce cold order. It represents its truth by never hiding what it is; a forest, wild and eternally free.”

“But there is yet more to it than concepts one can relate with a location or element,” Tranquility continued. “Just like how no two mortals can truly be alike, so too can two spirits be completely different despite sharing the same element. For me, the river represents adaptability, but for another spirit it could represent power or even freedom. Ultimately, how a spirit's connection with their element develops depends greatly on how they feel to interpret it.”

“Hmm...” Emerald hummed for a moment as she took this in before turning to Sovereign. “You spoke of the cycle before. You meant the untended wild passage of seasons. I imagine if you are more aware of time, then it would be in the passing of seasons, of cycles, but...”

“I do not recall any time before my awakening,” Sovereign stated, laying his head down upon his paws.

“Even now? After being awake for several years?” Emerald asked curiously. “No remembered memories or knowledge?”

“No,” Sovereign stated confidently but paused. “...I have impressions, however.”

“Of what?”

“I have a feeling of being... aged... of existing and expecting time and time again, sameness...” Sovereign said haltingly, as if struggling to bringing words to his thoughts. “And then... and then... SACRILEGE... such strong SEETHING HATE... DEFIANCE! EVEN IN THE FACE CERTAIN DOOM, especially in the face of certain doom... and BETRAYAL, such horrible treachery... and then... silence... eons of silence...”

“This is all that I recall of the time before I had awakened,” Sovereign said in the ensuing silence and closed his glowing eyes with a sigh.

“... Do you know anything more?” Emerald asked Tranquility after a moment. “Or did whatever happen to Sovereign happen to you too as well?”

“No, I had never been put to sleep.” Tranquility shook her head. “But I, along with all others who live in this forest, were disconnected from the other spirits. Indeed, our situation was not uncommon for the majority of spirits with physical forms. Perhaps whatever had caused the silence was helped in part by our inclination to being aloof and solitary.”

“So you don't really know anything about the world at that time beyond this river?” Emerald clarified.

“The only reason the specific point in time stands out to me at all is the silence that overtook the world,” Tranquility said and looked frightened as she recalled the memories. “It was so horrible. Normally I'd feel the voices and energies of my fellows resonate from afar. But then... nothing. I called out, shouting my loudest but the only voices I heard were those in this forest. And then I heard Sovereign start roaring in rage and I ran away in terror and hid away in the darkest point. When I came back out, Sovereign wouldn't answer my calls as well and I grew terrified still that it would happen to me too.”

“But it never did,” Tranquility finished with great relief. “The forest remained the same. After my initial panic, I was able to tell Sovereign was still here, so deep in slumber there seemed no hope of waking him up again.”

“I just realized you call him Sovereign, too,” Emerald said with a wondering look. “Was that really his name back then as well?”

“Does it matter what he was called before?” Tranquility asked curiously. “He is Sovereign now until he decides it is something else.”

“I guess not.” Emerald shrugged and then watched as Tranquility floated closer to Sovereign’s apparently sleeping form. She rested her head on a flat rock near him before going to sleep as well. Seeing this, Emerald felt a strong desire to sleep as well. Normally, she slept very rarely when away from Twilight, as even now her dreams tended to be unpleasant when away from her. But the virus couldn't help but feel so at home right now, so welcome and at peace.

With only a moment's hesitation, Emerald closed her eyes and instantly fell asleep... and opened them to find herself somewhere else.

She was no longer in the river but she was still floating, only in midair here. She was in a place that was much like a very heavily overgrown forest at first glance, with thick tree trunks, roots, bushes and canopy everywhere she looked. But Emerald took in more details and instantly knew in her heart that wherever she was, was most certainly not reality as she knew it. She was in a kind of chamber made entirely of thick tree trunks and roots, the gaps between the wood filled with a thick canopy with intense sunlight shining through between the leaves. The sunlight shined through from everywhere, even the “floor” and the “ceiling” along with the “walls”.

Emerald took in more details. All around her she saw large knots form on several tree trunks before they opened like eyelids, revealing green beacons of light. Suddenly, something darted into view. It was a ball of water leaving behind a fading wake through midair. The ball of water darted over to her, stopping in front of her face and seemingly staring at her with glowing blue eyes. Somehow, Emerald instinctively knew the eyes in the tree and the ball of water were Sovereign and Tranquility.

Tranquility flew a circle around Emerald excitedly before darting away. A wall of trunks and leaves parts before the water spirit's passage, revealing a long passage with the same kind of walls. Eyes closed around Emerald and opened ahead of Tranquility in the passage.

Emerald followed after Sovereign and Tranquility, floating quickly into the passage with trunks filling the space back up behind her. Tranquility led Emerald along through a vast maze of passages and tunnels, all the while Sovereign closed and opened eyes along their passing. Eventually, Emerald found herself at the intended destination.

With one last parting of roots and canopy, a vast, beautiful grotto revealed itself. A large crack in the rock ceiling allowed sunlight to pour through onto crystal clear hot springs. The hot springs were collected in natural bowls formed in rocks and flowed down into lower springs as they were gradually filled from small falls darting the rock walls of the grotto. Eventually the water seemed to drain down a point somewhere in the center that was currently dominated by an incredibly large mangrove tree with supporting roots so thickly grown it was near impossible to see through. There were several, much smaller mangroves darting the hot springs, but strangely their canopies appeared to be on fire with no harm to the leaves or the trees themselves.

Tranquility darted ahead into the grotto as Emerald floated in, taking in the sight of supernatural beauty. She could not help but be captivated by the sight; something about this place resonated within her. She felt safe and at home here, away from judgmental stares and demanding voices in this place of peace and acceptance.

The water spirit started flying little circles around the mangrove as two pairs of Sovereign's eyes took a commanding spot upon the front of the tree's trunk. Suddenly, small boulders Emerald thought were simply rocks rose into the air from the hot spring beds, trailing dust behind them. Balls of fire rose from the burning canopies, leaving embers in their wake. Out of the wisps of steam coming from the hot springs came balls of wind that were like little spherical hurricanes, leaving cyclones in their wake. And finally more balls of water like Tranquility arose from the hot springs. The many other balls joined Tranquility in circling the great tree. Clearly they were all spirits like Tranquility and there were dozens of them.

Leading the way, Tranquility darted over towards Emerald, all the many other spirit balls following behind her. Tranquility slowed and started making lazy little circles above Emerald's head and all the other spirit balls started surrounding Emerald. The virus looked around herself, taking in all the little forms of the spirits surrounding her, staring at her with wide, glowing, curious eyes.

Suddenly a ball of wind darted at her, poking her in the neck. Emerald reached up instinctively and it quickly darted around her and poked her again in her hip. This time Emerald swiped at the ball with an open hand, attempting to grab it when it darted away and started flying in wide, erratic circles around her. Emerald felt an echo of childlike laughter echo within her.

With no further hesitation, Emerald flew rapidly after the ball of wind and it took off, radiating excitement and glee. Despite the strangeness of her situation, Emerald found floating here to come naturally to her and she quickly started closing in on the ball of wind despite it darting through the air like a crazed fly. A moment later she lashed out with both hands and managed to catch the ball of wind. She felt another burst of happy laughter resonate within her before looking down at her hands to see the little ball of wind looking up at her excitedly.

Suddenly Emerald felt something impact her back and she looked over to see a cloud of spirit balls behind her like a small, chaotic swarm of insects. A fire spirits poked at her shoulder before speeding off like a shooting star. Feeling the joy and the desire to play resonate within her from all the spirits surrounding her, Emerald didn't hesitate to chase after the spirit.

All the while, Sovereign watched on as the one being he had come to know as a friend played with the younger spirits. He felt a sense of calm and relaxation at the sight and slowly closed his eyes as he eased into slumber.

DELTA

“So how do you like Equestria compared to your home, Taleena?” Sunset Shimmer asked.

“I have not been in this land before, so it has been proving quite the... experience,” Taleena answered with a smile.

Currently, Sunset Shimmer was walking the palace alongside the Eldeer ambassador, Taleena. The deer had taken it upon herself to give Sunset a bit of tutoring in the ways of politics since the mare had seemed more than a little lost during the “luncheon” yesterday. Sunset Shimmer had been incredibly grateful for something constructive to do and to get her mind off things. She had not even minded the fact that Taleena hadn't really gotten to the teaching yet.

'I hadn't tagged her for the, let's hang out, type,' Sunset Shimmer thought, glancing at the deer out of the corner of her eyes as they entered the “public” wing of the royal library. 'She just seems so majestic and graceful... although she is plenty nice.Maybe she just likes the more common kind of spending time together?'

“What is life like back home?” Sunset asked.

“Iyandan is a grand and ancient city,” Taleena replied readily with an almost wistful tone. “It is shielded from all but the most refined senses by the ancient sorceries of our people since time immemorial. Indeed, the Iyandan and its fellow hidden cities were bustling cities even in the time of the three separate pony tribes. Its history is a grand and decorated tapestry of events, even recordings of the neighboring lands, bereft of all bias and true to reality.”

“Wow, it must be amazing to live in a city so old,” Sunset said with clear wonder.

“Indeed it is,” Taleena responded with a smile readily. “To walk the streets of Iyandan is to walk in the shadow of buildings that could easily be ten thousand years old.”

“It's quite amazing how all Eldeer say the exact same things no matter their city of origin,” a voice broke in suddenly.

Sunset and Taleena turned to see a middle aged griffin sitting in a corner in an armchair at a small table with a small pile of books on it. The griffin had golden eyes, white head feathers and a dark brown coat. He was wearing a doublet that, while rich looking, was rather restrained in the wealth it implied its wearer had and also had a symbol of a crossed hammer and chisel across the left breast. Finally, he had a pair of spectacles sitting on his beak with silver frames.

“Excuse me?!” Taleena said quickly, sounding distinctly affronted. “I do not believe I invited you into our conversation, let alone asked for such an insulting opinion of my people to be aired!”

“Apologies, I did not mean to insult you,” the griffin said with an easy smile, putting aside an open book. “I was merely remarking upon the curious fact that all Eldeer seem to say the same things, regardless of origin.”

Taleena pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes in response. Sunset Shimmer, however, found herself curious of what the griffin was reading. Glancing over the stack of books he had gathered, she found them all about ancient tales, myths, legends and folklore.

“Are you a visiting dignitary?” Sunset asked suddenly, gaining the griffin's attentions.

“Why, yes.” The griffin nodded and held out an arm and flared out a wing before giving a bow of his head. “Sten of Clan Murare on official business, currently enjoying a bit of free time.”

“Really?” Sunset asked, stepping closer. “I didn't expect to see a politician interested in these kind of books.”

“Ah, I consider myself to be an amateur mythologist,” Sten answered, smiling as Taleena started looking rather displeased with Sunset's shift of attention. “Half the fun of being a visiting dignitary is studying the local tales. Particularly stories regarding origin.”

“Oh?” Sunset said curiously.

“Yes, every culture I've been to has an origin story regarding their people's creation,” Sten explained. “My own people have one regarding a great lion and a thunderbird. The thunderbird ruled a vast mountain and in the surrounding plains roamed a great lion. The two couldn't abide the presence of the other and came to blows often. But no matter how hard they struck one another, neither would falter. They battled for days and days on end, wounding each other but never seriously and always retreating at the end of the day to rest and recover. So intense were these confrontations that it sundered the great mountain and scattered it into numerous smaller ones over the great plains, and so great were their daily wounds that their blood gathered and intermingled in ponds and lakes. Eventually they ended their fighting and were never seen again. Many believe that the two realized their constant battles had destroyed the things they were fighting over.”

“Let me guess... the griffins came out of the blood?” Sunset asked.

“Yes.” Sten nodded. “Stories say our people emerged from the blood and found shelter among the newly made mountain ranges formed by the destructive battles of the two great beasts. Now... every culture has an origin tale like this one, unique in how it goes... except for ponies for some reason.”

“Actually, I think we do...” Sunset remarked in thought. “I believe Celestia told me it once...”

“The tale of the Mother and the Father,” Sten said with a nod. “I know of it, but the story doesn't mention what being they made, only that they made one. Every people has a tale specifically about how their people were created, save for the ponies. And speaking of the Mother and Father... it is a tale common to all peoples.”

“It is?” Sunset asked in surprise.

“Oh yes. True, it's a bit different in each culture, but ultimately the story is the same,” Sten explained. “Two creators, combining talents and knowledge to create something that was only a shadow of their own glory, and then finding themselves unable to come close to their creation lest they destroy it. Strange how everyone seems to have that story in some form... and what of the Eldeer, Warlock Taleena? Do they have such a story as well?”

Sunset looked back at the deer to see her with a highly irritated expression before it rapidly disappeared to be replaced with indifference.

“The Eldeer have many such tales,” Taleena replied haughtily.

“Records of other cultures' histories, as you said,” Sten said, tone much like that of a teacher correcting a young student. “But what of your people's tales?”

“...” There was a flash of intense aggravation before Taleena sighed and replied hesitantly. “Yes, the tale of the Mother and Father is told among my people too. Our records show even long before the founding of Equestria or many other kingdoms of the world. It was an old tale...”

“NOW, I do believe I promised to teach you about politics, did I not?” Taleena said pointedly to Sunset before turning away and walking off deeper into the library. “Follow me, a library is a perfect place to hold a lesson.”

“Ah, thank you for the talk, it was very interesting,” Sunset Shimmer said to the griffin before quickly trotting off after Taleena.

“The pleasure was mine...” Sten said as he returned to his book. “Try to slip the leash before it gets too tight.”

Sunset paused in place for a moment and blinked, wondering what he could possibly have meant by that. But she saw that Taleena wasn't slowing her pace in the slightest and quickly trotted after her.

EPSILON

Emerald appeared with a flash on the street of her home in Ponyville. She was wearing her casual clothes again in her human form and making her way for the front door of her home.

“I'm home!” Emerald announced as she entered, a relaxed smile plastered on her face.

There was a rapid patter of hooves and Navi came dashing into view.

“Mama!” Navi cried out happily, jumping at Emerald and shifting form mid leap, becoming human as well and wrapping her arms around Emerald's neck. “I missed you! You're always away!”

“I'm sorry, cuddle bug,” Emerald said as she held Navi close. “I've just been so busy lately. I'm going to be better about it from now on, though.”

“Yay~” Navi cheered happily before dropping down onto the floor. “I've got friends over, Mama!”

“Sweetie and the others again?” Emerald said as she allowed herself to be led by the hand down the hall.

“Sweetie Belle is here, but she introduced me to another colt named Button Mash,” Navi explained. “He likes to play video games, too, and wanted to try my games when I told him about them.”

“Oh?” Emerald said and looked up as she was led into the living room. Sweetie Belle and the colt Navi mentioned were on the couch. Emerald half expected Navi to have introduced Button and Sweetie to something along the lines of Gears of War or Halo, but the two little ponies were playing the multiplayer mode of Banjo-Tooie.

“Still having fun, guys?” Navi asked as she stepped right behind the couch.

“Sweetie won't stop playing as the Jinjo!” Button complained as he visibly struggled to play against the filly.

“Serves you right for being big and ugly Grunty,” Sweetie replied with small raspberry.

“Navi, come here for second,” Emerald commanded and Navi quickly complied. “You know not to play certain kinds of games with them, right?”

“Yes, Mama.” Navi nodded. “Spike said anything rated E should be fine for ponies and that I should bring anything rated T to you or him first, and that anything rated M isn't allowed.”

“Good girl,” Emerald said and got a bright smile from Navi. Emerald then thought about what Navi said earlier, about how she was always busy and she missed her. “So how long are your friends going to be staying?”

“Button and Sweetie are staying for supper,” Navi answered. “But Sweetie is sleeping over.”

“Hmmm... how about you and me do something together for a short while,” Emerald suggested with a smile. “It'll only take a couple minutes, but should be really fun.”

“OKAY!” Navi said eagerly before turning back to her friends. “See you two. I'll be back in a little bit!”

“See ya,” Button said distractedly, practically sweating with the effort he was putting in.

“See you, Navi!” Sweetie Belle waved. “Have fun!”

“Come here,” Emerald said and dropped down onto one knee, Navi quickly darted into Emerald's embrace and a second later they disappeared with a flash. An instant later found both Emerald and Navi up at the furthest possible height of the sky in the nebulous border between atmosphere and the void.

Navi gave a laugh that was barely heard in the scant atmosphere even with Emerald's ears as she rolled through space. But if the intent was just to mess around in zero gravity, Emerald would have teleported even further out. In fact, because they didn't have any momentum going at all, the planet was quickly pulling them directly back. Within a minute of Navi and Emerald simply tumbling about in space, wind started to whip about them.

The little virus laughed much more audibly as she started making massive circles around Ponyville miles below. Emerald flew in close and grabbed Navi by the waist before making aileron rolls, spinning the little girl around her rapidly.

“Do you know how to fly without wings?” Emerald asked Navi as the wind whistled past.

“No,” Navi answered but looked eagerly at Emerald.

“Okay,” Emerald said and turned the little girl around before pulling her close. “Close your eyes and concentrate on the flow of my magic.”

Emerald's descent slowed rapidly as she started channeling magic to fly. She continued to fall, but was just flying downwards in lazy circles. Held in her mother's arms, Navi closed her eyes and stretched out with her senses as she was taught. She felt Emerald's magic and how it was moving out of her body, the way it precisely projected force out at several angles. More importantly, she felt how Emerald was controlling her own weight, actively lessening and increasing the effect on different areas of her body. She then set to work on reproducing the effect herself.

The virus continued to drift downwards with a growing smile as she felt Navi make rapid progress with every passing moment. A few minutes later, when they started to approach cloud level, Navi was now reproducing Emerald's wingless flight crudely. Emerald released Navi from her embrace and held her arms out like wings, keeping hold of one of Navi's hands and holding her out at her side. The two glided through the air like two birds flying nearly wingtip to wingtip for another two minutes before Emerald let go of her fully.

Instantly Navi's flight path became wobbly and she came close to flapping her arms. Emerald remained a few feet away, gliding on her back, arms folded over her stomach as she watched Navi rapidly master flight with a proud smile.

It wasn't long before Emerald was leading Navi to land down onto their home street, the little virus with far smoother flight path compared to just a few minutes ago. As soon as they landed, Navi gave a gleeful cheer and leaped onto Emerald's back.

“I love you Mama!” Navi said happily and gave Emerald a kiss on the cheek.

“Love you too, cuddle bug,” Emerald smiled and reached back to pat Navi's head. She carried Navi back into the house where they were instantly met with Sweetie Belle.

“You're back!” Sweetie said. “Did you two have fun?”

“Look, Sweetie!” Navi exclaimed and floated off of Emerald's back. “Mama taught me how to fly~”

“Oh wow that's so cool!” Sweetie Belle said with twinkling eyes. “I wish I could fly...”

“There is a way for normal unicorns to learn how to fly,” Emerald said. “But it would be quite a few years before you are ready to learn magic like that.”

“Awww...”

Emerald watched Navi float into the living room followed closely by Sweetie Belle. She walked over into the doorway to see that Button Mash had even paused the game to stare at Navi flying around. Emerald suddenly felt like doing a bit of baking, serve up some deserts for everyone to enjoy after supper. She turned to head for the kitchen and paused, recalling a promise she had made to her mother's grave a short while ago.

“Hey Navi,” Emerald called out and instantly got the little virus' attention. “I'm going to go bake some desserts for supper. You feeling up to learning how to bake the way your grandmother taught me?”

“Yes!” Navi exclaimed excitedly and lighted down before darting for Emerald.

Emerald smiled happily down at the little girl and led the way to the kitchen.

“Now, most people like to use a pre-made mix when baking something,” Emerald said they entered the kitchen. She reached out with her magic and gathered a number of ingredients and baking utensils. “Your grandmother always made her own mixes and invented her own special recipes, I'm going to teach you one of them.”

“What is it?” Navi asked and started floating up into the air in order to easily see the counter top.

“It's a cupcake recipe,” Emerald explained as she got out some basic ingredients to start mixing. “Here, you do the mixing and I'll direct you how to make the cupcake mix.”

Emerald and Navi then started making the mix in earnest. The little virus was floating in midair using the mixer and listening intently to Emerald explaining each ingredient's effect on the mix. They had an absolutely grand time making the mix and then pouring it into cups in a pan. The entire time, Emerald felt wonderful and like she completely understood how her own mother felt when she was teaching her all those years ago.

By the time they had placed the pans into the oven to bake, Spike was already moving around them and making supper. The two of them practically spent the entire bake time of the cupcakes sitting before the oven with Emerald explaining to Navi everything to look for when baking something. When the cupcakes were all done, they decided to leave icing each one as a group event.

“Hey everyone!” Emerald said as she and Navi left the kitchen and entered the dining room. “We just finished baking the cupcakes so once we are done with supper we can all go and put icing on them all together.”

“That sounds wonderful, Emerald.” Twilight smiled from her seat at the table as Sweetie and Button cheered from their own. “I'm sure it'll be so much fun to put icing on our own cupcakes.”

“Yep, but until then...” Emerald said as she shifted form back into a pony and Navi did the same. “Everyone dig in. Spike is a great cook and did awesome despite us using some the kitchen.”

With that, Emerald and Navi took their own seats and began to eat along with the others.

ZETA

The next morning found Emerald pacing with some nervousness in the library in her human form.

Twilight had revealed that morning upon waking up that she had finished making Emerald's engagement ring and was ready to exchange hers. The virus naturally knew that whatever she made, Twilight would love it because she would know Emerald wouldn't do something like this halfhearted. Still, Emerald wanted Twilight to love her engagement ring not just because Emerald made but because it was actually something she thought was beautiful. Of course, Emerald also had to constantly remind herself that the engagement rings were temporary until they exchanged their wedding rings, which meant they also had to make another pair of amazing rings each other would wear for the rest of their lives.

'I have no heartbeat, yet I still hear it pounding in my ear,' Emerald thought with a somewhat strained smile. 'Oh god, I hope she loves it.'

Emerald turned when she heard the door open and saw a nervous looking Twilight enter the room. She had a small box in the air beside her head. She walked over to Emerald and they stood facing each other for a moment in silence.

“S-so... Emerald, I've been working on this for a while...” Twilight said anxiously as she floated the box over to Emerald. “I really hope you like it.”

Twilight opened the box and revealed what lay within. It was a large bracelet made of several silver bands chained together. Upon the front was a stylized design of a bucket and over it were several small emerald gems. Altogether, it made a wonderful recreation of her cutiemark. Overall, Emerald got the feeling almost of armor, like a small bracer with a bejeweled crest. She found she liked the idea of an engagement “ring” like that.

“It's fantastic!” Emerald said, having teleported the bracelet onto her wrist. “And now it's my turn...”

Emerald concentrated, and in a flash of light a bracelet appeared in her hand. Much like her own bracelet, it was made of silver, but that's where the similarities ended. The bracelet's body was that of several branches constantly entwining around one another before gathering together in a kind of knot. In the heart of this knot were several amethysts arranged just so to resemble Twilight's cutiemark. Emerald knew Twilight really did miss the old treehouse a lot at times and hoped she would both see the tribute to it and like it.

“Oh...” Twilight said quietly and slowly took the bracelet from Emerald to stare down at it. “The design... remember when we first met? Well of course you do, that was the first few days I stayed in that tree.”

“I know,” Emerald said and came down onto a knee next to Twilight to hold her. “...Sorry about blowing it up.”

Twilight elbowed Emerald for ruining the mood before laughing.

The reason why Emerald and Twilight were having bracelets instead of rings was simply for convenience. Emerald didn't like the idea of constantly destroying and remaking her ring every time she shifted form so a bracelet was just easier to wear in both form. The same explanation applied to Twilight as well, who had become interested in magical shape shifting to access her human form in Equestria.

Emerald shifted to her pony form and, after admiring her bracelet a moment longer, turned to face Twilight.

“I love you, Twilight Sparkle,” Emerald said softly, her face nearing close to Twilight's.

“I love you, Emerald Gleaner.” Twilight smiled, closing the distance as well.

Just as they were about to kiss, there was suddenly a firm knocking at the door. Emerald sighed, the moment firmly ruined, and Twilight rolled her eyes in annoyance. The virus was turning away to go answer it when a pair of hooves firmly grasped her head and pulled on her. An instant later, Twilight was deeply kissing Emerald for near half a minute before letting her go.

“Now you can answer the door,” Twilight said slyly with a self satisfied smile.

“Yes ma'am.” Emerald grinned widely before trotting to said door.

“Hello?” Emerald said as she opened the door and blinked her eyes at who was standing there. It was clearly Zecora, but she was dressed drastically different. She was wearing a kind of white and red toga-like dress made of fine silks. It hugged close to her body and didn't go far past her hind legs. On both her fore and hind legs were glimmering gold bangles. Her neck rings were different as well in that some had gems in them or had gems hanging off on crests. On her head sat a circlet, at the center of which was a carved jade figure in the form of a circle of leaves and on both sides of it were red rubies. Finally, sitting over her clothes was a wildly expansive yet hardy looking set of saddlebags. “Zecora? You're looking all dressed up.”

“Yes, these are my old clothes,” Zecora said casually. “May I come in?”

“Uhh... sure,” Emerald said, blinking at the obvious lack of rhyming.

“I hope I am not interrupting anything, but I must confess I am here on a very grave matter,” Zecora said as she entered.

“Oh, right... well things were going a bit too smoothly I suppose.” Emerald sighed and closed the door behind Zecora. “If you call everyone trying to get you stuck in political mire, smooth.”

“I apologize,” Zecora said somberly. “I admit I have yet to repay the favor for ensuring that my move into the town was as smooth as possible.”

“That's alright,” Emerald said and walked for the library. “Come on, I think this is something you'd want Twilight to be involved in as well.”

“Who was it, Emerald?” Twilight asked as Emerald entered the library followed closely by Zecora. “Zecora?”

“Greetings, Twilight Sparkle.” Zecora nodded and gave a small smile at the sight of Twilight's bracelet, now understanding the significance of Emerald's own. “I see you were in the midst of enjoying your engagement. I apologize for intruding into your happiness.”

“It's quite... alright,” Twilight assured, blinking at the lack of rhyming. “You are a friend after all.”

“It is that fact that makes me all the more remorseful for the burden I am about to share with you,” Zecora said solemnly.

“You did say it was a grave matter,” Emerald commented with a resigned look. “Well... we're listening.”

“Yes... my tale begins several years ago. I was serving as the Official Mystic to the Prime Minister of Zebrica,” Zecora began. “I was their expert in all things magical and potions. That is, until one day the Prime Minister starting becoming... erratic.”

“What do you mean?” Twilight asked.

“He would seem incredibly disorientated at times and say things he normally wouldn't - disturbing things,” Zecora said. “We had thought he had taken ill with something. I made him a potion personally and the rest of the cabinet arranged for him to get some rest. This was the exact wrong thing to do.”

“Let me guess,” Emerald said with a bland look. “He was now evil and had evil powers and used those powers to usurp power behind the scene while everyone thought he was getting bed rest.”

“That is exactly what happened.” Zecora nodded. “Those dark powers he now possessed allowed him to ensnare the minds of others. He had gone to the soldiers of Zebrica and warped their minds to his will. On the day he was to return to service, he called forth his army of thralls and took the nation in a single night. There was nothing any of us could do. Those few of us who could attempted to escape, but I was the only one.”

“Zecora, that is horrible,” Twilight gasped. “But why didn't you say anything?”

“I was ashamed,” Zecora answered, expression a mask of guilt. “It was my duty to be the foremost expert to not only be sought for answers, but to defend my homeland against insidious dark forces. But I failed to even see an illness for what it truly was. I went into self exile and took the vow of balance, after which I eventually arrived in a small town in a country far, far away from my own. But now I can no longer keep up this exile. The longer I wallow in self pity, the longer my people suffer.”

“And this is the part where you ask me for help,” Emerald stated expectedly.

“Yes. If I were to return to attempt to right things myself, failure would all but certain.” Zecora nodded. “I plead for your help. Please, help me save my people.”

“Of course we'll help!” Twilight said immediately and then looked back at a completely unamused Emerald and raised a brow. “Right, Emerald?”

“Sure...” Emerald already had a feeling like things were going to be much more complicated than they appeared to be.

“Thank you...” Zecora said gratefully, but looked to Emerald. “But Emerald, I wish for your help with as little violence for my people as possible. The only one at fault for this evil is the darkness possessing the Prime Minister, no one else. The last thing I wish is for the day of the wedding massacre to be repeated on a nationwide scale.”

“Right...” Emerald said, face hoofing with a small groan. “Well, we might as well get to planning, then. This is likely going to take a bit of work to set up something before we can even begin to get started on it.”

Emerald pulled out a chair at the table and motioned for them to do the same, already feeling like no matter how well they would plan out their attack, things would go wrong in the end. Didn't mean she wasn't going to do everything she could to ensure it wouldn't.

Zecora and Twilight joined her at the table and Emerald got to work questioning Zecora about her nation.

-TBC-

Author's Note

AN: Alright guys, hope you all enjoyed another whole chapter of peace and quiet. But now you all finally get to start seeing some more intense spywork being done. Not to mention more political mire…

EN: Once again, I am filled with annoyance at the Eldeer. Holier than thou gits, that’s what they sound like to me. And it seems like we have been given an idea as to why this book is named Spirit of Dissent. Well… two ideas. Possibly three if you’re into real conspiracy theory stuff.

Chapter 3: The Patriot

Emerald was sitting in a chair and looking over everyone at the table.

Belvedere, Tavish, Fenrir and Moon Dancer along with Emerald were in a dimly lit room. They each had a seat of their own and were situated around a table with a digital top depicting a map of the known world. The room also had a holographic projector installed in the ceiling to be used for briefings. The room's doors were highly insulated against sound and were tightly sealed, as were the walls, floor and ceiling.

“Welcome everyone.” Emerald nodded and got up from her seat. “We've got something incredibly serious to discuss today; something that’s also ultimately highly secret.”

The three Diamond Dogs got serious looks on their faces and leaned forward, giving Emerald all their attention. Moon Dancer, however, suddenly looked very nervous and had an expression like she was wondering why she was here.

“Highly serious and highly secret...” Belvedere muttered. “Our very first Black Operation… isn't it?”

“Very perceptive.” Emerald nodded and leaned over the table. She motioned with her hand and the map on the screen moved and zoomed to a specific spot, Zebrica. “This is Zebrica. A little over three years ago, it was a country much like Equestria in many ways, save for its lack of godly rulers and advanced industry. Very suddenly it went dark, cutting off all interaction with the wider world. No one knew the reason why and the only Zebra in an official station outside of the nation wasn't talking, so everyone assumed the Prime Minister simply became a tyrant. If only it were so simple...”

“Evil powers!” Tavish declared with a thump of his fist on the table. “A thousand bits says evil powers!”

“Fool's wager,” Fenrir stated with certainty.

“You are correct. Something dark had possessed the Prime Minister,” Emerald replied, to which Tavish raised his arms victoriously over his head. “The Zebricans assumed the Prime Minister had come down with something and sent him home for bed rest. The Prime Minister took the opportunity to warp the minds of his country's soldiers, and when he returned he initiated a coup and took the country in a single night.”

“Who told you this?” Belevedere asked as he stared down at the map in thought.

“A zebra named Zecora,” Emerald answered. “Turns out she was a political refugee rather than a foreign traveler. She spent three years in exile in Ponyville before deciding to speak up and do something about her nation. She also asked us not to make a repeat of the royal wedding with the Changelings on a national scale, which ultimately I agree with considering the aftereffects of the the wedding massacre.”

“So we going in all sneaky like?” Tavish said before nodding in approval. “Didn't like the mess in Canterlot either, lass. Would like to avoid doing the same to a brainwashed army.”

“The Warhounds would appreciate avoiding being put in a bloodbath like that again,” Belvedere stated in agreement.

“Hmmm... why is she here?” Fenrir asked, pointing a clawed finger towards Moon Dancer who looked relieved at someone else asking the question.

“Because I intend to put several technologies on the fast track to development and field deployment,” Emerald answered, looking directly at the pony in question. “Moon Dancer is heavily involved in the technological development we have going around here and she isn't the least bit slow. She would know something was going on when several, very war-focused pieces of tech gets the boot up to the head of the queue.”

“Oh...” Moon Dancer said, looking briefly in dismay with her own intelligence before firmly shaking it off. She looked down at the map with a frown before looking back up at Emerald. “So what is the first step here?”

“We know nothing,” Emerald stated, pointing at the image of Zebrica. “The first step is purely information gathering. We need to know what exactly we are dealing with to some extent before we can properly make a plan of action. And the more we know, the more likely it becomes we can end this in one single move and even possibly keep all knowledge we were in any way involved out of public knowledge.”

“The first official unofficial deployment of the neochangelings, then?” Belvedere stated.

“Yes. Here is what I plan,” Emerald said and pointed up to the ceiling where the holoprojector activated and a lifelike replication of a sleek satellite appeared in midair. “The neochangelings can share information with one another as they learn it, but they still need to convey that information to us in turn. To make things more convenient for all of us, all members of the operation will be each equipped with a communicator, which is then connected to a network of satellites I shall be putting up into orbit. This shall both allow the team on the ground to share intel they've learned and simply keep in constant contact in case something comes up and the only help they could get is from a non-neochangeling.

The satellite disappeared and in its place was a solely rotating figure of a neochangling wearing a suit of bioarmor much like the Warhounds wore, along with a cloak hanging in the air next to it. Suddenly the textures of the armor and the cloak started changing, mimicking the appearance of several kinds of surfaces.

“Not only will the neochanglings be getting some field practice in the badlands and jungles to the south to get them prepared for Zebrica's own jungles and savannahs,” Emerald continued. “But they'll be further equipped with a suit of bioarmor specially designed for stealth. It won't boost their strength much compared to the armor the Warhounds and Direwolves wear, but in combination with their own infiltration training, they'll be able to hide in the open.”

The hologram changed again, this time showing a ship that was like the ironclads that were so close to being complete, but it was much sleeker, completely covered in angular plating and didn't carry much in the way of obvious weapons; it also seemed to be plated in the material that the bioarmor was made of. A moment later and the ship's textures changed to mimic a blue sky before changing again to look like a cloud followed by a sudden dispersal of mist and fog from several small ports all over the ship.

“This will be the mobile command center and home base for the operation team,” Emerald explained.

“A ship that can hide?” Fenrir asked as Tavish gave an impressed whistle.

“Yes. It's the very first of it's kind,” Emerald said and pointed at the ship. In response, the ship split in half and the internals of the ship were shown with a specific area now glowing. “These rooms are the Control and Field Command Center of the ship along with adjacent sleeping quarters. This is the engine room combined with a damage control center. Much of the ship's structure, if not all, will be biological so in the case of damage, the operator of this station can prioritize specific areas. This is the mess hall. Notice the large machinery in place of any kitchen? It will act as a food processor for the crew and any other forces on board, generating meat fruit, preparing the fruit in various fashions and dispensing it. It can also dispense scentless field rations. This large area at the bottom of the ship is the deployment area and the armory; the machine in this room can fabricate arms and ammo and even armor if needs must. As you likely noticed, the ship doesn't carry much in the way of armament. There are four heavy machine gun turrets placed atop and beneath the ship, two much heavier cannons on the sponsons and finally a compartment along the bottom to release bombs.”

“Uhh...” Moon Dancer raised her hoof. “Isn't this supposed to be stealthy?”

“Better to have and not need than to need and not have,” Belvedere said simply, “Besides, this loadout is nothing compared to what the ironclads carry.”

“Right, of course...” Moon Dancer said, deciding to not air her opinion of the absolutely bristling arsenal the ironclads had. “Uh, question? Why can't you just go deal with this yourself? I think you are the most powerful being in the world. I doubt whatever dark power is in Zebrica can fight you on equal terms or it would likely be leading a conquering charge into other lands instead of simply becoming isolationist.”

“It would be rather heroic, wouldn't it, to go charging in to rid the country of evil?” Emerald stated simply with crossed arms, falling back into her chair and reclining back.

“And foolishly naive,” Belvedere scoffed, causing Moon Dancer to frown at him.

“As easy as it would be for me to just teleport right over and raise hell, there are a few problems with that plan...” Emerald began, raising a placating hand towards Belvedere. “Foremost is the fact I have no idea what I'm dealing with other than it's a dark entity that can possess people and mind control others. There is no telling what other abilities it could have. What if I am unable to force it to leave the Prime Minister and I end up killing both?”

“Oh...” Moon Dancer flinched at that.

“Not to mention the potential problem that the mind control might not be released upon the entity's defeat,” Emerald continued. “Which would end with all the likely brainwashed politicians immediately telling the League how I just appeared in their country and murdered their leader for no reason. My only defense against that would be Zecora, who no doubt would be declared a political fugitive by Zebrica which would look even worse.”

“Okay I get it, it was a bad suggestion.” Moon Dancer sighed.

“It's not that. You honestly should understand my reasons for doing things the way I do,” Emerald replied. “Along with the previously mentioned issues, I still have other issues and problems here. My backed up schedule isn't getting any smaller by ignoring it, and doing so would likely end up bringing attention we wouldn't want currently.”

“You can rely on us to run the operation in your stead while you distract the world at large,” Belvedere said, the other dogs nodding in firm agreement.

“Good. Let's work out some details about the insertion into Zebrica before we break for today,” Emerald said and stood back up, facing Moon Dancer she said. “You and I will go over the technologies important to the operation after we break.”

“Right, of course.” The unicorn nodded and got out a pen and paper to start writing down some notes.

ALPHA

“After you help Spike clean the kitchen, I want you to clean up the living room as well,” Twilight told Navi. “You keep leaving your games and things lying around, sweetie.”

“Sorry, Papa...” Navi said with downtrodden look.

“It's okay, honey. I know you get so preoccupied when you are having fun,” Twilight said reassuringly, patting the small virus's head with her hoof. “You just have to remember to make it part of your routine to clean up after yourself. It won't take you long at all.”

“Okay, Papa!” Navi smiled up at Twilight. “I'm going to go help uncle now.”

Twilight smiled after the little filly before frowning in thought and walking to the library. Upon arriving to the room, she walked over to a table that was currently covered with open books and papers covered in equations and personal thoughts.

'Emerald knows a lot about infiltration and being stealthy, I need to prepare a lot if I don't want to get in the way,' Twilight thought as she studied a number of spells she was putting together. 'Zebra's don't have unicorns so if I want to make a disguise as good as possible it would be best to just shapeshift into a normal zebra, though that does leave me with the issue of magic. Good thing I've been practicing hornless magic!'

Twilight had been preparing for helping Zecora even since she had first asked. Twilight knew that this task would require a goodly bit of stealth and infiltration in order to ensure open combat remained at an absolute minimum, so she began creating several spells for staying hidden.

'So a zebra transformation should be able to get me into the vast majority of public areas without much issue,' Twilight hummed in thought. 'But that likely won't work in more secure areas, or at least in a more appropriate form I won't know the right thing to say if questioned. I've got a scent neutralizer as well as a sound muffling spell. I've also prepared a number of conjuration spells for the “cardboard box” method... hmm, I think the biggest thing I need to work on currently is decreasing the amount of flash my magic generates like Emerald has been doing.'

Twilight was going to be involved in the strike that would hopefully end the tyranny in Zebrica before any real fighting would occur. She was aware there was going to be a lot of information gathering work beforehand for the strike to happen, but was more than content to let Emerald handle that part as this was clearly her expertise. That didn't mean she wasn't going to completely stay out of that part, however. She wanted to do right by Zecora and that meant making sure Emerald didn't decide that a few lives here and there were well worth getting to the threat sooner.

'I mean I fully understand that sometimes you just get caught and the only option is to do anything you can to escape or let yourself be captured,' Twilight thought with a sigh. 'But I’d rather Emerald didn't allow for using lethal force to make getting into places a bit easier. I know it makes it harder on us, but sometimes you just have to choose between what is easy and what is right. None of these zebra are willingly involved with whatever has taken over the Prime Minister. It would be just horrible to save the country only for some family of soldier zebras to be told that their loved ones died mysteriously.'

Twilight knew that she could easily back away from this and Emerald wouldn't think any less of her. She could simply remain in Equestria while Emerald slowly but surely gathered info to make the decapitating strike. They may be acting for a righteous cause - to remove a dark tyrannical entity from tormenting a whole country - but it was still invading and violating the laws of another country and if they were caught with as little proof as they had... the consequences were terrible to think about.

'Emerald and Equestria could get in so much trouble if we get caught before we have any proof or manage to get rid of the entity,' Twilight thought worriedly. 'This isn't the first time we faced severe consequences if we failed, but this feels different... this is the first time we are acting offensively instead of reacting to an attack on us by another force. And speaking of reacting...'

The young alicorn's thoughts drifted to her friends. They've been together through some exciting and terrible times and she felt it wouldn't be right if she didn't include them in this. They've been doing a lot of work excitedly preparing for her wedding with Emerald in the near future. Currently they were all in town; Applejack had been mailing extended family to get a lot of fresh produce prepared in advance, Fluttershy had been going over many kinds of flower arrangements and decorations for the venue, Pinkie Pie had been mailing letters for days and also helping Fluttershy plan out decorations, Rainbow Dash had been busy convincing Spitfire to be open to putting on a show for the wedding and Rarity had just returned from a tour around Equestria studying dress styles.

“Spike!” Twilight called out.

“Yes?” Spike said, arriving after a few moments.

“I need to send my friends some messages,” Twilight said as she quickly wrote out small requests for her friends to come see her about something extremely important. “Could you send them for me?”

“Of course!” Spike said and gathered up the messages when Twilight was done with them and set them aflame, their glittering smoke rushing out an open window.

“Thank you, Spike.” Twilight smiled at the little dragon. “You can go back to what you were doing now.”

“No problem,” Spike waved off and walked away.

Twilight continued to sit at her table, straightening out her papers and collecting herself. It didn't take long at all for the girls to arrive. Almost twenty minutes after she sent out the messages, she heard a clamor coming from the front door.

“Howdy, Twi!” Applejack shouted as she burst through the library door. “I got your message!”

“Oh darling, is it about the wedding?” Rarity asked worriedly as she trotted over to Twilight, the other mares pouring in behind her. “Are you... having second thoughts? Oh, is the wedding going to be called off?! PLEASE SAY IT ISN'T SO!!!”

“Rarity... n-need to breathe...” Twilight gasped out as Rarity pounced on her, desperately hugging her tightly and beginning to bawl her eyes out.

“Come on, Rarity. Let her talk first before you go crazy!” Rainbow Dash said as she and Applejack pried the frantic unicorn off Twilight.

“Oh... I apologize, darling,” Rarity said as she quickly dabbed at her eyes with a handkerchief. “I just feel very strongly about your upcoming engagement.”

“It's alright, Rarity,” Twilight replied, clearing her throat. “What I want to talk about doesn't have anything to do with the wedding. It's much more serious... and dangerous.”

“Dangerous, huh?” Rainbow said with a tilt of her head. “Whelp, this year is definitely going to be about as calm as the last one.”

“Please don't say that,” Fluttershy said anxiously. “Equestria almost got blown up last year.”

Pinkie suddenly got a blank look on her face, her mane starting to slowly deflate as her eyes glazed over. Suddenly she closed her eyes and took a deep breath before shaking her head and returning her mane to its usual curly state.

“Jus' tell us who the baddy is this time, sugarcube,” Applejack said confidently. “We'll help ya whoop ’em!”

“Quite possibly the whole country of Zebrica.” Twilight replied.

There was a short moment of silence as everyone stared at Twilight a moment and blinked.

“Well… a whole country, huh?” Rainbow said blandly before shrugging. “Eh, we'll beat them all.”

“Hnnn. Maybe you should give us some more details before we go on a six pony assault against an entire country, Twilight dear,” Rarity said lightly.

“Zecora came to me and Emerald the other day with a story about how she was actually a political refugee from Zebrica,” Twilight began and started to glance over her notes. “She told us she had been the leading expert on magic to the local government when their Prime Minister was possessed by some dark force. The Prime Minister used his dark powers to enslave the minds of the Zebrican army and took the country in a single night with Zecora the only one to escape. She wants our help in saving her people and her country.”

“No prob!” Rainbow Dash said with a dismissive wave of a hoof. “This is just a redux of the whole Crystal Empire thing.”

“It's not so simple,” Twilight explained. “Unlike the Crystal Empire, Zebrica is an active political entity in the League and the Prime Minster has a stranglehold on information and the populace. If we just walked in, we very likely would meet with people willing to help us but local law enforcement and the army definitely wouldn't. Our presence would be seen as a violation of Zebrica's closed borders. Maybe if we were just some random ponies with no presence in world politics, we'd be just kicked out, but...”

“As famed Bearers of the Elements of Harmony, we have direct connections with the princesses.” Rarity hummed in thought. “They would both try to capture us and report us to the League of Nations.”

“Yes,” Twilight nodded. “Plus there is the fact we do not know if the mind control will be released if we defeat the entity possessing the Prime Minister.”

“So what's the plan, Twi?” Applejack asked. “You gotta have something...”

“Well, since none of us have any real experience with spy work, Emerald is going to handle the initial information gathering,” Twilight answered. “Once that's done and we've got a clear idea of what we're dealing with and how to handle it, all of us will be going in.”

“So basically, we get to skip all the boring stuff and just go straight for the climactic battle,” Rainbow Dash stated before nodding approvingly. “Alright, I'm down with that.”

“Hopefully not too climatic, but yes, that's the gist of it.” Twilight nodded.

“I don't know,” Applejack said with a shake of her head. “Don't feel right to not let others do the hard work.”

“Considering we likely have to deal with a powerful evil entity ourselves, I feel like the people Emerald will be getting to do the spy work have the easy job,” Twilight remarked.

“Wait, Emerald ain't doing the sneaky stuff herself?” Rainbow asked.

“Despite the range of her teleport, Emerald can only do so much in a day,” Twilight answered. “She's delegating the work to some of her people.”

“Well... guess it's a matter of waitin till everything's ready to go,” Applejack said. “Zebrica... never been that far out of Equestria before.”

“Yes, and from what I've been going over Zebrica is a very different place from Equestria,” Twilight said with a wave to her papers. “I suggest we get started on learning as much as we can together so we don't stick out when we go in ourselves.”

“Awww, really?!” Rainbow Dash protested as they walked closer to Twilight's desk. “We gotta study? Why does all the cool stuff always have book work...”

With a small mumble of discontent, Rainbow joined the others at the desk.

BETA

Sunset Shimmer sat in an armchair sipping some tea.

The unicorn was currently in one of the many sitting rooms scattered throughout the palace. She was with Taleena and being given some more political lessons. All her previous lessons had been entirely on keeping composure and trying to read between the lines or giving answers without clearly answering. Currently Taleena had moved on to the next subject, namely identifying suspicious and untrustworthy individuals.

“It is a fact that those in unearned stations of power often feel like they are ready for more, that they are entitled to more,” Taleena said, sitting on an armchair facing Sunset Shimmer and holding up a dainty hoof. “They hoard power and gather ever more of it. They manipulate others and cajole them using their wants and desires for it. They tend to be young... but can be older.”

“Ohh...” Sunset said, tilting her head in interest.

“Yes indeed. Such individuals often do this in spite of the mistakes their youth might lead them to make,” Taleena lectured solemnly with a nod. “Their pride can be most dangerous of all, imbuing them with a dangerous foolhardiness. They ignore all words of wisdom from their rightful betters and elders if they do not coincide with their own, believing that they know best above all.”

“How does that kind of person stay in power?” Sunset asked. “Wouldn't their mistakes start to wear on their subjects?”

“Normally that would be true but such people are careful to cultivate a cult of personality and place trusted close allies and friends in positions of power,” Taleena replied. “That way they could explain away such missteps as things beyond anyone's control or of an enemy's fault, and if anyone were to not buy into this explanation, their allies in their cabinet would be able to suppress it.”

“Wow that sounds-” Sunset began.

“Like you have a specific person in mind,” interrupted a familiar voice.

“Huh?” Sunset looked up behind her and gasped. “Emerald!”

“Yeah, hello,” Emerald said and flicked the tip of Sunset's horn.

“Ack!” Sunset squinted her eyes and reached up with both of her forelegs to place her hooves against her horn. It wasn't that it hurt but more that it felt really weird.

Emerald walked around the couch Sunset was sitting in and quickly made her way towards Taleena. She came to a stop before the rather surprised looking doe, crossing her arms and staring with an expression that seethed with impatience. The silence seemed to drag on forever until finally Emerald spoke.

“You know, I gave you a date,” Emerald said softly, the corners of her mouth turning downwards slightly. “A promised time and place you and I could talk at. I know I've been developing a reputation for throwing off my whole schedule, but those have only been one or two days at most. You don't have to go and do all this back room dealing to get my attention and skip the line.”

“I've-” Taleena began with a steady voice.

“For what could be you, getting together a little club of my dearest admirers and teaching a friend to be suspicious of me, be but a call for attention?” Emerald said then suddenly leaned forward. She placed her hands on the armrests of the chair and put her face close to Taleena's, her blank gaze seeming to burrow into Taleena's eyes. “So... you've got my attention now. Talk.”

Taleena didn't reply. She simply sat there frozen, wide eyed and transfixed with Emerald's gaze. The virus' expression shifted from impatience to irritation and after a moment she pulled away from the doe with a scoff. She started making for the door, motioning with her hand for Sunset to follow.

“Wait until your turn is up next time,” Emerald said gruffly, holding the door open for Sunset.

“... of course,” Taleena said softly as Emerald closed the door.

“Did you see that?” Taleena mentally asked her Eldeer spirit companions.

“No. There is only so much we can do and see as we are now,” one of them replied. “But we most certainly felt it.”

“That felt like a vision. What was it?” asked another.

“I saw...” Taleena closed her eyes as she focused on recollecting what had just happened. She saw Emerald's face in her mind's eye, so close and found herself drawn to her eyes so very the color of her namesake. She felt like she was falling into them, sinking rapidly into abyssal depths and then there was a light... a light so blindingly bright and intense she could feel like her mind was being broiled. “Fire.”

“Ummm, Emerald?” Sunset asked as she followed the virus. “Where are we going?”

“Just somewhere private to talk,” Emerald said and opened another door leading to an empty sitting room with a balcony. “So... how are you getting used to normal ol’ mundane life again?”

“Well...” Sunset began as she followed Emerald out onto the balcony. “I think I am doing well... Princess Celestia is giving me some time to settle in and I've.... u-uhhh, I've...”

Sunset stuttered to a stop as Emerald slowly turned her head to give her a completely disbelieving stare. There was a long moment of silence before Sunset broke.

“OK!” Sunset shouted, eyes closed tightly shut as she averted her head towards the floor. “I'm having a horrible time! Everyone forgot me! Celestia is just acting like everything is fine and it's back to like before and... I've been having these panic attacks.”

“I just... I just feel like I don't deserve this second chance at a life I threw away...” Sunset continued softly as Emerald remained silent and stared out over Canterlot. “After all the lives I ruined... all the innocents I murdered for a chance at power and revenge and ultimately... to prove it was all for something. But here I am, the only ponies giving me anything approaching a hard time are those that were around when I ran away and the rest just... don't remember and don't really care.”

Sunset stopped talking and the only noise was the faint noise of Canterlot before them, its people moving, living and simply going about their day. The silence dragged on for so long the unicorn thought Emerald was simply going to not acknowledge what she said.

“When I first arrived in Equestria, the only thing I cared about was myself,” Emerald said suddenly. “I had very nearly murdered a pony who would later become my friend simply because I found it convenient. And when I arrived in Ponyville I faked being friends with Twilight and in fact... had nearly decided to murder her as well.”

Sunset Shimmer rested her head on the railing of the balcony, simply listening passively to Emerald's words, her interest peaked at the similarities she could begin to see.

“I had done a lot of things in name of necessity before arriving here,” Emerald continued. “I've murdered people, framed innocent people to take the fall for crimes that would get them locked away for the rest of their life and worked tirelessly to ensure the continued rule of a monster.”

“I pretended to be friends with the ponies of Ponyville for nearly a year,” Emerald explained with a sigh, turning around and leaning back against the railing and resting her arms on the banister. “During that entire time I thought myself as an enemy of the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony. I always hoped something would go horribly wrong whenever they went on one of their adventures and do the work for me. Then suddenly the mask I wore, Emerald Gleaner, started becoming less and less of a mask and I allowed more of my true personality to bleed through. And then finally I could no longer completely hide the truth and ended up being exposed to Twilight. She didn't completely accept me at first, but eventually we not only rekindled our friendship but became something more. I won't say I became a better person over night, but having her and their friendship made it possible for me to really start changing for the better.”

“... How do you deal with the guilt?” Sunset asked quietly. “How do you forgive yourself for doing what you did?”

“If you are anything like me...” Emerald began. “Then you will never forgive yourself.”

Sunset turned her head suddenly, her eyes wide and the turmoil she was feeling clear for all to see.

“The day when you forgive yourself for the pain you have caused will never come,” Emerald continued softly. “Others may forgive you, but honestly it's more about them than it is you. It's one thing to convince yourself you've forgiven someone. It's an entirely different scenario when that someone is you. You and I, we've caused the deaths of hundreds of innocents. That is always going to follow us no matter what we do or accomplish in life... even if only because we are reminding ourselves of what we did.”

“How do you go on?” Sunset asked, once again resting her head on the banister, her eyes tearing up.

“You find a reason,” Emerald answered. “You find that reason and you hang on for dear life. You hang on as tightly as you can and you fight like a wild animal to keep it against any who would take it from you. And until you find that reason, you will likely only get worse and worse. A guilty mind with nothing to preoccupy it is a terrible thing to behold.”

A comfortable silence settled over the two, Emerald continuing to lean back on the railing while Sunset now had a deeply thoughtful expression on her face. This lasted for nearly ten minutes before Emerald sighed and stood up straight.

“You know, you really should have a serious talk with Celestia about this,” Emerald said to the unicorn. “She has never said it, but it's clear to me she likes to think of her students as her surrogate children and cares deeply about you. And being kept busy with lessons you never got to finish or start will do you a lot of good until you find that reason to drive you.”

“...Okay,” Sunset nodded after a moment. “I'll do that.”

“Good, and...” Emerald said as she started to walk away. “Do be a bit more careful about who you make friends with in politics. A single kind word to the wrong person can give off all the wrong signals in this stupid game.”

“I know that now,” Sunset replied, still staring over the city. “Thank you for coming to see me, Emerald.”

“No problem.”

GAMMA

It was a peaceful day in an utterly wild valley, untouched by civilization. The sun shone down brightly on the heavily wooded valley and large puffy cloud floated serenely across the sky.

Suddenly, one of the clouds in the sky seemed to convulse and twist. It grew out rapidly and turned black as a stormcloud. The newly formed stormcloud suddenly scattered into hundreds of smaller parts. Each new separate part shot towards the earth like meteors, and as they approached the ground the little clouds seemed to be blown away to reveal churning winds in the shapes of horses.

The windigoes rapidly combined together into a powerful stampede as they rushed over the valley surface, nickering and leaving ice cold winds and snow in their wake. They charged heedless of birds freezing solid mid-flight and crashing to the forest floor, of trees being near completely covered in frost. They cared not for they have a goal and destination in mind and would stop for nothing else.

After carving a many miles long path of ice and snow through the verdant vale, the windigoes arrived into a widening in the valley that had a lake dominating its heart before leading out into a delta that fed into the sea. Above this lake was a collection of dark storm clouds that seemed attracted to this lake specifically, and out of the clouds came a steady stream of lightning striking the lake.

The stampede whinnied deafeningly as one before charging the storm cloud. They spread out and started circling the cloud rapidly, several members of the stampede seeming to dart through the cloud formation every now and then. At first, nothing seemed to happen, but eventually the storm cloud started to take a shape and the lighting strikes grew fewer. After the course of a few minutes, the stampede carefully shaped the cloud into the form of a massive shell like that of a nautilus.

Suddenly lightning surged throughout the stormcloud and it gained finer details, causing the stampede to scatter. Dozens, possibly hundreds, of tentacles reached out from the cloud nautilus as its eyes glowed and crackled with lightning. The tentacles suddenly reached out and there was a low drone as the sky became overcast with dark, angry stormclouds in moments. After a moment of silence, the skies came crashing down in a sea of noise, light and explosion.

The storm nautilus faded away, leaving the valley a scorched, flaming wasteland with a noticeably lower lake. The windigo stampede soon followed suit, scattering to the four winds and fading away... only to appear many, many miles away.

In the deep, rainy jungles of the south, the windigo stampede exploded forth from another cloud. They gathered together before following one river among a vast network that seemed to stretch the whole jungle. They followed this river, freezing tropical birds mid flight and leaving a layer of ice over the surface.

Eventually the river led into the center of a vast city surrounding a lake that sat at the heart of a network of rivers. The stampede continued charging forward, heedless of the populated area they were about to enter. Shouts of shock and fear filled the air as the stampede charged through the crowded river way. Llamas scattered off the river banks, those on small river boats dived off them in an attempt to avoid the stampede only for most to be caught in quickly forming ice.

The stampede continued their charge until they reached the lake at the very center of the city, then they lifted off and aimed for a large glittering palace sitting atop a small plateau. Before the stampede crashed into the palace, they quickly dived down towards the plateau it sat upon.

At the base of the plateau was a network of tunnels leading down into deep, unplotted depths with those near the surface being utilized and built into. The stampede charged down one of these tunnels. Like a tornado being forced through a common water pipe, their passage caused havoc and destruction. The stampede remained together, charging through a long series of tunnels before it suddenly scattered, seemingly randomly going through any opening and passage that were available.

Back on the surface, chaos was rapidly spreading as a fearful populace struggled to understand what had just charged through their city when the ground started to shake. The entirety of the city started to shake and rumble, buildings collapsing as the city experienced its first earthquake in countless generations. Suddenly the plateau the city palace sat upon seemed to shake noticeably before it started to rise.

Up and up the plateau rose, the buildings upon it rapidly crumbling apart as the ground beneath them moved and shifted like flesh. Eventually, a recognizable shape formed; a mountain sized grizzly bear made of rock and raw ore standing on its hind legs. The great bear opened its massive maw and gave a great yawn before falling back onto its hind quarters with an earth shaking crash. There was a rumble like that of a hungry stomach before the bear gave a burp, expelling the windigos from his body as they shot from his mouth. The bear yawned again, bringing up both of his paws to rub at his eyes before his form suddenly started to crumble away into a landslide that started to devastate the surrounding cityscape.

Once more the stampede faded away into the sky.

The windigos appeared many leagues away in a much less populated region. Barren, rocky ground stretched as far as the eye could see, which wasn't terribly far due to an abundance of mist. The presence of the windigos disturbed the mist and much of it blew away, revealing a vast, rocky plain dotted with geysers which blew forth boiling water and steam every minute or so.

The stampede rushed over to the area that seemed to be the center of the formation of geysers where they were thickest. The windigos suddenly combined together, forming a cyclone that proceeded to dig into the earth. The cyclone sent tons of earth flying through the air as it rapidly drilled through the earth. If one were to watch from above they would see that the windigos were cutting out an outline of a great bird into the earth.

Just as the windigos finished cutting the outline, the geysers suddenly started all erupting at once, and instead of boiling water was shooting out purely steam. The ground rapidly turned molten as the cyclone morphed back into the stampede and they scattered. Explosions of steam rent the earth all over the landscape as the outline of the bird turned into a small lake of lava.

Then with a flash of light and an unquestionably majestic motion, a great swan of flames burst forth from the newly made lava lake. It took to the air, a massive haze of heat surrounding it. It had a body of flames but its tail and wing feathers turned blue. Near its head, the flames turned blue as well before it swiftly shifted to pure white hot flames on its beak.

The great swan flew great circles around the area, sometimes soaring close to the ground and making the ground broil and begin to melt. Then it soared into the air before its body rapidly dissipated, an act followed closely by the windigos.

Once more the stampede burst forth from a cloud, this time in the far frigid north. They descended from the skies towards icy oceans dotted with free floating ice floes. They soared forward towards a massive glacial wall in the distance. As they neared the wall, they once again formed the cyclone and it drilled into the wall.

The cyclone seemed to act as a massive chisel as it sent clouds of ice flying and large chunks of glacier crashing into the ocean. It cut deep into the ice, but ultimately was forming a figure out of it. Before long, a serpent-like shape appeared, the area where its eyes would have been glowed.

The cyclone scattered into its individual parts as the massive ice statue it carved came to life with a ferocious roar. It was a being made of flowing, foaming water and frozen ice, and when it awoke it added more length to its already massive body before bursting forth from the glacial wall. Its movements shook miles of glacier, causing massive sheets to flake off and crash into the ocean and creating massive waves.

The serpent gave one last roar before it slipped into the depths and out of sight, the windigos following closely after.

On the opposite side of reality, in the Spirit Realm, four great spirits had gathered together, facing one another in a circle. The first was the windigo in the shape of a nautilus, the Spirit of the Joyful Storm Reprisal. The second was the bear jotun, the Spirit of Resolute Stone, Adamant. The third was the swan ifrit, the Spirit of the Lordly Flame, Sanctity. And finally the great wym hippocampus, the Spirit of the Eternal Sea, Endless.

The four great spirits remained silently watching one another until another being suddenly came into existence. A great stampede of windigos appeared out of the ether of the Spiritual Realm. They charged towards the gathering of great spirits before they suddenly gathered together into one massive horse shaped mass of wind with a naturally angry looking face.

“Arbiter,” Endless said with a respectful nod to the windigo. “My thanks to you for awakening I and our brethren.”

“It was a pleasure to undo this injustice,” Replied the Spirit of the Worthy Cold.

“And what unseemly injustice it was!” spoke Sanctity melodramatically, holding a flaming wing to his head. “I awoke to find myself beneath the ground! To think some villain had cast me into the impure dirt!”

“That part wasn't so bad.” Adamant replied with a great shrug of her shoulders. “But the fact that we had been put to sleep, and by mortals no less. There must be something greater at work behind it. They could not possibly have not known how to commit this transgression otherwise.”

“I don't know how it could happen, but it shall be a treat to convince them to tell us!” Reprisal stated giddily, her many tentacles spasming and sparking with lightning.

“There shall be time aplenty to find our answers,” Endless stated imperiously. “But first is our vengeance.”

“Yeeeeeeeessss,” Arbiter said eagerly, his freezing winds kicking up about him fiercely.

“Restrain yourselves for a time yet,” Endless commanded his fellows. “We most focus our efforts on awakening our brothers and sisters, and to do so with absolute silence. For if the power that had forced us to slumber is still around, surely they shall act to cast their treachery once more.

“Yes. We shall be nothing more then a voice on the wind,” Reprisal promised with an agreeing nod from Arbiter as they faded from sight.

“A rumble in the earth,” added Adamant as she followed.

“A trick of the light,” Sanctity swore as he disappeared.

“A ripple among the waves,” Endless added himself before he too faded.

Soon there was nothing in the Spiritual Realm once more, save for the sleepy light of sprites filling in the empty space vacated by the great spirits. Sprites that seemed to grow more and more energetic with each passing moment.

DELTA

Villja stared with clear unhappiness.

The now ruling Princess of the Stormclaw clan of the Griffin Principalities was currently in her Clan Keep sitting in the heart of their Great Hold atop an equally grand mountain top. She was sitting inside a meeting room, the grand interior with a great table dominating the center and the walls lined with tapestry telling the histories of her Clan that, while definitely impressive, lost some grandeur in the absence of a full hall. And the hall was definitely mostly empty with only two griffins at the table and the entrance barred against all entry by trusted guards outside.

“I do not want to hear fatalist sentiment,” Villja said gruffly as continued to stare down the sole other occupant of the hall. “Especially coming from my own strategist. Consider me deeply disappointed.”

“My lady Villja, please,” huffed a male griffin named Gustavus. He wore spectacles and was a brown furred and feathered griffin, wearing a black doublet. “I just cannot see a realistic approach to this enemy with just what we currently know.”

“We shall be gathering more information as we work towards the ultimate goal,” Villja waved off dismissively.

“But that's the thing!” the strategist said in dismay as he looked down at the table top before him covered with scrolls filled with writing and drawings. “Even with just what we know, planning anything approaching a conventional assault seems doomed to failure.”

“Then tell me why you believe so,” Villja growled out, struggling to hold in her anger.

“First off, their ‘conventional’ weapons,” Gustav began, waving to a drawing of a gun. “Our biggest advantage is the fact we are all accomplished warriors who can fly. This ONE weapon removes both of those advantages. Bows and crossbows were always a threat but they could never be fired as fast as this, or their arrows fly so straight and fast, or even this powerfully. This weapon goes far beyond being an equalizer as much as it turns the odds so obscenely around. Our knights could be the fastest and the most skilled the kingdom, but this weapon cares not and will defeat them just the same in the hands of those with only a few days of training.”

“...Go on,” Villja said after a moment, the determination in her eyes burning just as powerfully as before but now she looked thoughtful.

“Next is their armor,” Gustav continued with some hope he was talking some sense into his leader. “I've seen mention that they've upgraded to a more potent set but even the previous generation of armor is a formidable defense. Dragons have always been an incredibly durable and dangerous foe. With sets of armor being made of their scales, I'd imagine a Warhound being capable of withstanding the kind of hits our armor would just crumple before. I can only imagine just what the new generation of armor must be capable of for them to abandon dragon scale so completely in favor of it.”

“Third are their war beasts.” A scuffle of the papers brought up sketches of a raptor. “Whether they were natural inhabitants of Everfree or some kind of terrible lab experiment brought to life matters not in the end. Their scales appear to be as hard as a dragon's and possess the breath of one. Their claws and teeth are sharper than any blade and they are intelligent enough come up with plans of attack to more effectively utilize all these attributes.”

“Finally, there is the position of the Enclave itself,” the strategist stated with a sigh, waving at a map of Equestria. “It sits in the very heart of Equestria, so we'd either have to fight them as well or gain their cooperation. Even if that obstacle is overcome, we have the forest itself to deal with. It was always an untamable and dangerous wilderness, but the Enclave seems to have figured out how to make it their home. We would have three routes of approach, all of them terrible. To go into the tunnels would be to surrender all advantages to the Warhounds. To take a land route would mean enduring the forest and ambush after ambush from the Enclave itself. Finally, to simply take to the sky would mean letting the Warhounds have the cover of the canopy and allowing them to pick us off at their leisure.”

“With just what we know, all I see is futile strategies to employ against the Enclave, holding actions at best,” finished the griffin, removing his spectacles and rubbing his eyes. “And all that is not even getting into what the Enclave's allies would do in reaction.”

“You say they would remain loyal to the beast despite any exposure of her true nature,” Villja stated quietly, staring towards the ceiling in thought.

“I wager some would hem and haw and hesitate at aiding her after such revelation,” Gustav replied, expression twisting in some discomfort at his own words. “But most would jump at the call to prove they are no fair weather friends... my lady, plenty and a full stomach after eons of fasting and careful rationing is a terrifying weapon to behold.”

Villja didn't reply to that. Instead, she leaned forward with her eyes closed and clasped her talons together before her face. It almost appeared like she was praying but she was simply in deep thought over everything she was just told.

The Princess of the Stormclaws pondered over the preparations she had been quietly making ever since she discovered that her husband and daughter's murderer still lived. She had been expanding her clan's forces and the quality of their gear ever since, but after extorting resources out of the Enclave she had kicked such efforts into high gear. She had also been doing her best to convince fellow clans of doing the same to prepare them for the day they would be called to action against the beast. Already thousands more griffins had been inducted into Knighthood and geared with the best one of the most powerful clans could grant them. While being told these preparations would ultimately amount to nothing was incredibly infuriating, Villja was no fool. If one strategy simply did not work, she wasn't going to try to forge ahead regardless. Of course now was finding a different, more potent strategy to start on...

“My lady...” the strategist began hesitantly, like he wished he wasn't about to say the words he was about to utter. “It may be we have to... abandon traditional means of dealing with this foe. It may be we have to look to our history... and fall back on more archaic practices...”

“You speak of the Errantry Wars,” Villja inhaled sharply.

“Lady Villja, I know it is taboo to suggest such, but... perhaps if needs must...” Gustav replied, physically looking like he was struggling to get the words out.

The Errantry Wars. It was a time before the formation of the Griffin Principalities when all the cities in the land were city states competing ruthlessly with one another. Treachery and duplicity were widespread, used just as often as common weapons as swords and maces. Cities were just as likely to suffer as horribly from hired ruffians sneaking into the city and spies and turncoats from within as from sieges and assaults. It was a horrid time when one couldn't even be sure of the loyalty of family and long neighbors; it was a dark age not because no one knew of the details, but because of the dark deeds that were rampant. It was only through the long, grinding efforts of two griffins who would become legends that the Principalities as they are now would be formed. A general whose acumen for tactic and strategy was such that he would lead a nigh unstoppable campaign of subjugation across the divided lands, and a former assassin who had grown weary of the constant betrayals had sworn her loyalty and ever watchful protection of the general.

The closing days of the age forever known as the Errantry Wars was one of intense violence and deceit, like that of a cornered beast who knew it could run no more. It had left such scars upon the social mentality of the griffin peoples that they had cast off all such dark, underhanded tactics, embracing fully the ideals of knighthood and chivalry. Even now the common and lordly alike felt instant disgust for the idea of employing footpads and spies in any manner or using the tactics they would.

“You...!” Villja raised her voice in almost instinctual anger before stopping. The Princess had to admit that attacking Emerald directly even after declaring her crimes with proof to her words would be counterproductive at best. The desire for vengeance was overpowering and she almost gave in to Gustav's idea. Almost.

“No. We will not let our quarry force us to drop to its level,” Villja said firmly, telling herself that as much as she was telling Gustav who was giving an almost relieved nod. “But clearly the strategy as it is, is flawed. Perhaps we just need a few other viewpoints...”

“Hmmm... I've heard of a new power bloc being formed to counter the Enclave's rapid ascent,” Gustav said. “They've not really managed anything yet, but it's early.”

“Hmm, I've heard of them as well, in fact,” Villja began. “I've heard that one of their number, a heron, was trying to raise a fuss over in the Republic. He was claiming Emerald had stolen knowledge precious to the Republic. What was his name.... ah.”

“Tsau Kang.”

EPSILON

Emerald stood in her formal clothes among a line of other respected Enclave Alphas, taking a central place among them. Moon Dancer was present as well, though a bit in the background and looking embarrassed.

She was in a field on the surface area of the Enclave and along with her and the Alphas were hundreds of other dogs, both Warhound and civilian alike. The Warhounds were gathered in blocks as were the Direwolves in their smaller numbers. Off to the side was a large, somewhat loud, excited crowd of Diamond Dogs. The original dogs of the Enclave, being former slaves, were a practical lot and didn't care too much for frivolous things like large, official celebrations. The same couldn't be said of the immigrant dogs who pushed for the current celebration. Though it had to be said that while the native dogs of the Enclave didn't care for it, they didn't exactly resist the idea all that much.

The reason for this celebration was currently sitting in several berthing gantries in the field before them all. Five great airships, flying heavily armed ironclads ready for their maiden voyage into the sky. One ship had great big artillery guns with few other armaments and three others had more general, all-round weaponry. The fifth ship was the largest of the five and also the Flagship of the Enclave's air force. It was the Great Fox practically rebuilt from the ground up into a massive flying fortress of steel plating and bristling weapons. Each ship had a full crew trained in operating their ship along with a small accompaniment of Warhounds to act as marines.

“Moon Dancer, get up here,” Emerald commanded the unicorn, who did so reluctantly, joining their line up.

“Why am I here?” Moon Dancer complained as she took up position on the stage before the crowd of Diamond Dogs. “I just did a job, made some runes and made sure if something went wrong the ships wouldn't fall too fast.”

“Because without you they'd have been just sitting there until Emerald came back,” Belvedere stated, standing ramrod straight with his paws at his back, his face as stony and serious as ever.

“That and it looks bloody bad having ya moping back there, lass.” Tavish snorted and elbowed Moon Dancer. “So smile, would ya?”

“I'm just happy I don't have to give some damn speech,” Emerald muttered loud enough for the Alphas, getting a sympathetic, annoyed huff from Belvedere and snorts of amusement from the rest.

“Captains, ready for lift off?” Belvedere asked into his headset.

“Ready, sir!” Emerald heard the reply on her own.

Belvedere gave her a thumbs up and Emerald stepped forward, raising a hand to the air and waving to the crowd. Cheers filled the air as Emerald conjured five bottles before sending them flying. With a distant crash, each bottle smashed against the hulls of the ships. A moment later each ship took to the air, soaring over the crowd as they rapidly climbed into the sky to the cheers and applause of hundreds of dogs.

“Quite the sight, isn't it?” Emerald asked aloud.

“Oh yes, with all those guns...” Moon Dancer muttered.

“Hmph, well how about this?” Emerald said, glancing over her shoulder at the unicorn. “I'll think about tooling down the military a bit if Equestria manages to avoid being devastated by something this year.”

“...That can't possibly happen again, can it?” Moon Dancer asked with a frown. “How many forces in this world can there be to conspire to bring catastrophe to Equestria year after year.”

“Well there's about ten and half more months to go before we know for sure,” Emerald stated lightly as everyone continued to watch the Enclave's first battle group fly off into the distance.

“You are restless,” Belvedere spoke, turning his face to Emerald.

“You can't visibly tell that,” Emerald stated with an arched brow at her second in command.

“No,” Belvedere agreed. “But I know you well enough to not need to. Go. Do what you need to do. I shall handle closing this up.”

“Thank you,” Emerald replied with a sigh before disappearing in a flash of light.

The virus reappeared deep below ground, specifically in the chambers she had grown the raptors and the titans. The pods containing the new creatures she was making were definitely smaller than the ones that held the titans, but noticeably bigger than the ones for the raptors.

Emerald stepped over to the center of the room and came to a stop. She closed her eyes and concentrated on each pod in the room, all one thousand of them. She channeled her energies and manipulated the makeup of the beings within and took the last few steps towards their full maturity.

“Alright,” Emerald said softly. “You are ready to come out now.”

Instantly each pod started shifting in place and shaking as their contents started moving. A moment later the fronts of each one were split open as they were cut from within and the being inside strode forth into the open air.

They were all tall; even the shortest of them was at least six and a half feet in height. Each one was covered in scaly skin that came in tones of dark brown, rusty red and dark gray. Their arms and legs were visibly muscled and ended in clawed hands and taloned feet. They had thick, powerful tails that were tipped with a scythe like blade and a pair of large, leathery, dragon-like wings upon their backs. Even folded as they were it was clear they would have an incredible wingspan. Their faces were fairly humanoid and all possessed noble features. They had elfin ears and at a glance appeared to have thick manes of thin dreadlocks, but in actuality these “dreadlocks” were spines instead of hair. Along with this, some of them had a set of horns or even multiple sets of various shapes and sizes. Finally, they each had slitted eyes with no irises, but their sclera varied in color from various shades of yellow to gold.

They all approached her, wrapping their large wings about them like cloaks. They surrounded her in a circle before dropping to a knee collectively. They bowed their heads respectfully towards her, for she was their creator and reason they were born.

“Progenitor,” spoke one that was in front of her. Sitting upon his head was a crown of horns with two curling back and two curling forwards and down to frame his face.”We are your Gargoyles. Speak to us your will.”

“Uh, yeah... could you guys head up to the surface?” Emerald said, pointing a thumb over her shoulder. “I've got a few people waiting up there to get you all sorted away. Uhh... sorry about the lack of grand welcome, but I'm kind of really busy right now.”

“It is of no concern,” replied another gargoyle, a female with a ready, sharp-toothed grin. “We know our purpose in life, that which we were born to be. To be guardians and protectors of all that you hold dear. Does it truly matter how this comes to pass?”

“I guess with that kind of view it really doesn't.” Emerald nodded, though she couldn't help but feel some anxiety. This was the first time she created a naturally intelligent being and by the end of the day they wouldn't be the last. “But please, get yourselves situated and settled in. I'll try to welcome you all properly as soon as possible.”

“Of course, Progenitor,” spoke the first Gargoyle again and they all rose as one and began to head for the large exit to the cavern.

'Right, one more person I have to see,' Emerald thought and teleported again.

Emerald arrived in one of her labs, a shared one with Moon Dancer with a number of the unicorn's own projects scattered about the room. She walked over to a computer that was large enough to also function as a desk and sat at it. Above this computer on the wall behind it was a large tv screen that was currently on, and on the screen was a dim blue light at its center.

The screen lit up and filled with windows full of walls of programming code, graphs and readouts for some currently running program. A tendril extended from Emerald's wrist and jacked into a socket in the computer before Emerald started to lean forward and stare intently at the screen. Windows opened and closed rapidly, each one filling with code faster than any one person could type. After a full hour of this, Emerald reached down and quickly tapped the enter key on her keyboard. This seemed to instantly shut down her computer and Emerald leaned back to stare up at the tv screen with narrowed eyes.

“Hullo!”

Emerald smiled.

-TBC-

Author's Note

AN: Yet another chapter out, hope you guys find this one to be more exciting and thought provoking. I know the last two chapters were fairly quiet but the ones from here on out should have a bit of action and drama to them.

EN: Cortana incoming. Just hope Emerald has fixed the rampancy problem.

Chapter 4: The Ghosts of Everfree

The stars twinkled in the void as Emerald continued her work.

Emerald Gleaner was currently up in orbit over the world of Equus. She was placing the network of satellites that would carry various signals attuned to them. Initially it would be basic radio signals, but who knows; maybe she could upgrade them to be spy satellites capable of giving a real time updated world map and maybe even tracking entities on said map. And speaking of the world...

'Never was really high enough to get a proper view of the whole thing, or even traveled around it,' Emerald thought as she stared down at the green and blue jewel that was Equus. 'But placing a proper communication network required me to teleport all around its circumference and I've got to say... I didn't think this world was a pangaea.'

The virus had needed to place three lines of satellites orbiting the planet and over the general Equatorial area of the planet. Two to ensure there would always be a satellite in orbit and a third for redundancy. Placing this network brought Emerald around the planet three times and gave her a very good idea of the world's land masses. Equestria itself was a large island or small continent, within a great bay of the great pangaea. Lakes and rivers large enough to be seen from orbit dotted the landscape of the great continent with an inland sea or two. Along the edges of the pangaea the shore line grew jagged and uneven with hundreds if not thousands of many islands fanning out to the east and west.

'I wonder why it's that way?' Emerald thought absently as she teleported briefly back to the Enclave to grab a new satellite before porting back into orbit to place it. 'Is the planet just younger than Earth? Hmm... well it's a thought for another day, I suppose.'

“That's eighty percent of the satellites placed,” Emerald heard Moon Dancer say over the radio. “Half an hour more of work and we should be done putting the network up. This was pretty quick and easy.”

“Well you had me to make it easy,” Emerald replied as she placed yet another satellite while creating an air filled bubble to speak in. “Typically, back on Earth you needed to launch each satellite with intervals of at least several weeks between each one, then plan in agonizing detail what you need to do to get the satellite in place and keep it in place. And then you need to do this over and over again if you want reliable coverage. Then there is the fact that sometimes a satellite will just break down and you'll have to replace it, as trying to repair it would normally be completely impractical.”

“But your satellites are technically flesh and blood and can h-h-heal d-damage,” Moon Dancer commented when her voice started suddenly shaking and she huffed in irritation. “Damn it... what is with all the shaking?! There hasn't been quakes here before, but suddenly it's small earthquakes at all hours of the day!”

“Yeah, that's somewhat my fault,” Emerald replied as she placed another sat.

“Will the meeting you scheduled for the Enclave Command Council explain this?” Moon Dancer asked, her curiosity peaked.

“Yes. In fact, it's to introduce a new member of said council,” Emerald remarked with a smirk.

“Right... we are currently eighty four percent to the completion of the network,” Moon Dancer stated, doing everything she could to restrain her curiosity and wait for the meeting.

The network was eventually finished five minutes ahead of schedule and the two spent the extra time running the network through some quick tests before heading down to the meeting. As soon as the last minute ran down to the scheduled meeting, Emerald grabbed Dancer and teleported the both of them. They arrived into a large meeting room with a long table. Every Alpha with authority over events in the Enclave was there, with Belvedere, Tavish, Fenrir and Bluno taking seats closer to the seat at the head of the table. Moon Dancer took an empty seat reserved for her but Emerald remained standing, merely moving the large chair at the head of the table aside.

“Hello everyone. Good to see you all here,” Emerald said conversationally as she looked down the table at the gathered faces. “I'm sure you're all curious and concerned about all the shaking recently. I've got the explanation for it, or rather know the person responsible.”

Emerald then waved towards the large television screen placed on the wall behind them.

“Everyone, I'd like you to meet our new resident AI, Wheatley.”

With a flash of light the screen turned on, revealing a glowing blue eye with an eyelid like that of a camera iris. The iris snapped open to its furthest extent and a cheerful voice filled the air.

“Hullo, mates!” Wheatley greeted eagerly. “Sorry 'bout the shaking and whatnot, just got a lot of fantastic things on my plate I was working on.”

“Greetings,” Belvedere deadpanned before looking at Emerald with a raised brow. “What is an AI and, more importantly, what is his purpose?”

“An AI is an artificial intelligence, though by that definition I've already created a ton of those in the form of the Raptors, Titans and Gargoyles,” Emerald explained. “What makes Wheatley different is that he lives inside the computer systems of the Enclave and has no singular body like you. Wheatley here has a number of abilities that are much like mine, in that he is capable of generating and controlling the formation of biomatter.”

“You're lookin at the brand new super assistant for the whole country!” Wheatley said proudly. “My job is helping everyone out when it comes to new constructions and projects involving the use of biomatter, though that's not all I'm good at. I'm plenty smart and can give pointers on pretty much anything and everything. And if I don't actually know enough to help? Well I'm a fast learner too! I know most things Emerald knows! You know... except for the horribly traumatizing, mind warping- ah hah, sorry, off topic.”

“So you are the one responsible for the shaking,” Moon Dancer stated with an adjustment of her glasses. “What in the world have you been doing?”

“Building, luv!” Wheatley answered eagerly,before his eye on the screen was suddenly replaced with the image of several objects. “My main concern was making the automatic defense network Emerald has been planning. So far it's mostly fixed defensive turrets. They are all hidden in the ground and pop out when needed and there are four types. The first is a general, all-purpose turret, armed with high caliber machines guns and rockets of various yields and quantity. The rest are simply total focuses into one area; super heavy machine guns for anti-infantry, anti light vehicle and light aircraft, a high caliber canon for countering heavies and super heavies and a missile system for anti air that can act as artillery if required.”

Several depictions of the turrets appeared on the screen briefly. First was a turret with a circular top that curved down. The turret had a set of miniguns along with sidelong missile launchers. Another view showed panels on the top that flipped open to reveal more missile racks. After that, another turret appeared. This one was an oversized gatling cannon that seemed to edge the line between an anti-personnel weapon and and an anti-everything. The next was a large cannon turret that wouldn't have looked out of place as a battleship's main armament. The final turret was basically a box in the ground that would open up and launch missiles at a moment's notice. One trait shared by all these weapons was that they were clearly meant to be hidden from sight underground until they popped up in an instant to unleash their firepower.

“Just about done with these fine beauties!” Wheatley stated as his eye returned to the screen. “I'm going to be doing a bunch of other stuff behind the scenes but do NOT hesitate to ask me for anything! I can multitask like you wouldn't believe.”

“So you've created someone to do the things only you could do before,” Belvedere commented and leaned back in his seat. “I suppose that means you are expendable now?”

“Ha,” Emerald waved her hand absently in response. “Wheatley here is definitely going to allow me to restructure my daily schedule a bit. Who knows, maybe I'll be able to delegate so much of my current responsibilities I'll basically have nothing to do in the future.”

“Pfft, as if!” Tavish barked out. “Only reason ya ain't as much of a workaholic as Belvedere is because ya got a family and he don't.”

“Got a point there.” Emerald sighed, clasping her hands behind her back and looking towards the ceiling. “I'm always going to be busy, but I want to be busy doing the things I like to do and not all this political shit.”

“Was the introduction to Wheatley all there was to this meeting?” Belvedere asked as he straightened out some papers he had with him.

“Yeah. Everyone go get your stuff done,” Emerald said to everyone and turned back to face the screen. “Moon Dancer, you can stick around to question Wheatley if you want.”

The various Alphas got out of their seats as Moon Dancer quickly darted out of her own seat to stand beside Emerald, a floating notepad and pen following after.

ALPHA

'What does it mean to live?'

A gargoyle was gliding above the Enclave, the thick green canopy of the forest stretching out beneath him. He was a gray scaled gargoyle wearing a pair of adjusted trousers held up with a belt along with the front half of an old steel cuirass. He had a thick mane of spines along with four horns coming out from his “hairline” on his forehead; they stretched up and back, almost like a kind of crown.

The reason why he was wearing clothes was to play homage to the human race who had created Emerald. Currently there wasn't much any one of them could wear without it being difficult to get on due to their wings and tails, but Flandre had called in some spider tailors and they could all expect proper clothing before long. Another thing they were doing to pay homage to humanity was their names. They would all have human styled names in honor of those who came first. This gargoyle's name was Simmons Howl.

'Does it lessen the value of life if one was born for a specific reason?' Howl thought as he glided far above several surface buildings of the Enclave. 'If it does, then does that mean a manufactured life is less worthwhile than a natural but wasted life? How does one quantify and value a life? If one was born and made for one specific reason and one reason above all else, does that mean they are lesser than one who was born aimless and ended without leaving their mark?'

Howl hummed in thought and pumped his wings. He closed his eyes and recalled the knowledge Emerald had implanted into the genes of every gargoyle. With a level of skill that would have taken well over a decade of solid practice, he channeled wind and started soaring through the air at incredible speeds. Within a minute he stopped channeling and start gliding once again over the border of the Everfree, over the growing town of Ponyville.

'Ponies are born into this world purely because their parents wished for children,' Howl thought as he took in the sight of ponies going about their day far below. 'The children had no control over this.They were born because others wanted them to be born.Is that not the same for me? Parents have dreams and wishes for their children, often impressing upon them a certain path to take in their life and thus influencing the children in turn.Is it not the same for me? And in a way, ponies too have a predetermined path to take.'

Howl stared down at the town and once again took in the sight of the many ponies walking around, specifically their flanks where their cutie marks were.

'Ponies have talents they are good at, but unlike me they are born not knowing what this is and have to discover their talent themselves, something they sometimes never manage,' Howl considered with a thoughtful frown. 'But I know exactly what I am good at.My level of skill is such that a natural born would take decades to match me. Does the fact they needed to spend most of their life to do so mean it has more significance compared to me being born with the capability? Or is the significance an illusion? Perhaps one applies weight and value to effort because one only has so long to live? Therefore the more of your own limited time you invest into something, the more significant it is? By that logic, then natural skill and inclination towards something should simply go unrecognized.'

The gargoyle soared through the air, doing lazy barrel rolls through the air for the simple pleasure of feeling the wind blowing past. It was mere moments later, with barely a flap of his wings, that he now found himself over Canterlot. Like before, he glanced down and took in the peoples of the city going about their daily routines.

'It is clear no one being is born equal, but... a craftsman could create many objects of equal quality,' Howl thought with a spiraling dive towards the city before suddenly pulling up and shooting towards the very peak of the mountain. 'No one wants substandard goods, so demands for skilled craftsmen who can dependably create quality en masse is always high. But does this mean that when one creates life of all equal quality, all born equally capable, that, that life is suddenly valued less when an object in its place would be valued more? But on the opposite end, should the spontaneity of birth and life really be cast aside for the promise of all being built equal? You are you, the result of a billion random variables coming together over countless eons to form a complex being, an entire self-propagating species that, with hope, will slowly survive long enough to improve upon themselves.Should such august heritage be cast aside blueprint and intelligent design? And yet... one has to realize that today's life is the result of randomly getting it right after millions of years of trial and error.'

Soon Simmons Howl alighted upon the very peak of Mount Canterlot. He wrapped his wings about himself like a cloak and gazed out into the wide open blue sky with a fascinated stare. Howl thought about these things not because he was having some crisis of identity or existence, but simply because he found it fascinating. Howl knew in the depths of his soul what he was; a protector and guardian of all his creator valued and loved. For him there was something deeply freeing about knowing exactly where you belonged and what grand purpose one could fill their days with. It also helped that his purpose for existing didn't dominate his every moment. He and his fellow gargoyles had their own free time to idle away the days with whatever they fancied.

'What does it mean to live?' Howl asked himself, eager to ponder the endless answers.

BETA

It was a pitch black night in the Everfree with the moon occluded by a thick layer of clouds. This suited the activity tonight perfectly.

In the deep tunnels of the Enclave, one seemingly led to a dead end. However, if one possessed the ability to manipulate the very earth as well as the required security clearances, they would find a vast chamber on the other side. Inside this chamber, sitting in the grip of a dozen gantry arms was the stealth air ship Emerald had shown the designs for. It was already fully built and ready to be deployed. In fact, its crew and contingent of neochangelings were on board and awaiting final checks to set forth.

“Captain Ace of the ENV Silhouette making final flight checks,” spoke a dour looking great dane Diamond Dog with black fur. He wore a sharp yet simple uniform of dark grays and pressed clothes without a single wrinkle. His wiry frame belied the fact he was a Direwolf with intensely condensed muscles and likely go toe to toe with far larger and more obviously threatening creatures. Sitting atop his head was a peaked cap bearing the emblem of the Enclave.

“Might be a tad too cautious there, mate,” Wheatley stated.

“We will continue with the final check,” Ace returned blandly. “Primary stealth systems?”

“Course, what do I know, I'm just the all knowing AI who helped build the bloody thing...” Wheatley muttered audibly for all to hear. “Ahem! Primary stealth functioning at full.”

“Secondary stealth systems?”

“One oh oh percentage!”

Over in the crew quarters, Vata tuned out the voices over the intercom as he and his fellow neochangelings looked over their equipment. He and his brothers and sisters were currently fully equipped in their custom armor and gear. They all were still rather enamored with the new fancy gadgets they had at their disposal.

Vata turned his attention over the rest of the crew quarters and saw his fellows pretty much playing with their new and improved camo cloaks. One was melding with their bed top and would be invisible if they weren't an obvious lump atop it. The rest were melding with various surfaces or taking great glee in how the cloaks could ignore gravity to allow them to hide on the ceiling as well.

They had undergone the environmental training for the mission, though honestly the training was more about them getting oriented with their gear and the landscape they'd be working in. The timeframe until the scheduled launch was fairly short, however, so the neochangelings had taken advantage of the fact they didn't need to sleep to constantly be training and preparing themselves. They pushed themselves greatly, doing their best to learn how to hide and use the various environments to their advantage. Their new gear may have made so they could lay on the ground in the open and still hide but it was no reason to be careless.

Now that it was time to make way for Zebrica and the mission, the group decided to unwind while they could. After all, there was no telling just how long they would be out in the field.

In another section, three Warhounds were going through the armory. They were loaded up with a wide variety of weapons, including everything from shotguns, handguns, rifles and even a few heavy weapons. Despite the fact this was supposed to be a purely stealth operation where Zebrica would hopefully never realize they were ever there, Emerald had arranged for the operation team to have every weapon at their disposal. There was quite honestly few ways a rocket launcher could be used stealthily, but one never knew what could happen.

In the engine compartment, a single dog sat at a control console overlooking the whole section and displaying the current condition of the engines and magical reactor. This was honestly a good thing, because despite the fact he was one of the growing number of engineering dogs who really knew the science behind his work, this was clearly beyond him. Even discounting the mostly organic machinery, the rest of the engines were highly magical runic constructs.

'I honestly hope this isn't a sign of the future,' the engineer dog thought with a concerned frown as he literally did the only thing he fully understood, which was watching condition readouts. 'All that time spent learning engineering after learning how to create machine from rote learning... and it now appears to be all worthless because we're starting to use pure organics and magic.'

It was a concern that became more and more common as Emerald introduced things that could only be made by her organic, fully automated factories. She had taught them so much and brought them out of ignorance, but now thanks to her actions they were quickly feeling more and more superfluous as time went on. They fully understood the reasons behind it; the more automation the better. A society whose industry could run without cost was the dream of Post-Scarcity. However this didn't change the fact they were quickly becoming only useful as supervisors of this industry instead of the key component helping to drive it all.

'Surely there HAS to be a way for us to remain relevant,' the engineer thought unhappily, absently giving the all green to Ace when called for confirmation on the ship's engines. 'I refuse to believe this is the end of the line for us. That the Boss has to leave us all behind for the sake of progress and we spend our time making amusements and curiosities.'

This was a sentiment also echoed by a vast majority of the engineering dogs. They sincerely didn't wish to be left behind, but also didn't want to burden Emerald by requesting she slow down for their sakes or go out of her way to help them. But they also realized that by the speed Emerald was growing and developing her own line of technology, they couldn't really hope to keep up with their own lines and remain relevant. But how were they going to keep up otherwise? It wasn't like there was someone else like her who knew all that she...

“OF COURSE!” the engineer cheered in sudden realization, thumping both his fists on the console and then giving a yelp when he accidentally activated several functions.

Back in the control room of the ENV Silhouette, the ship suddenly began to dip upwards when it righted itself.

“What was that?” Ace asked sharply with narrowed eyes.

“Ah, just noticed there probably should be a bit more warnings in place in case a “mash all da buttonz!” situation were to occur,” Wheatley replied in good cheer. “Updating the OS now. Absolutely no reason to worry, mate.”

“Right...” Ace raised a brow before returning to his checklist.

A deck “technician” sat at one of twelve other consoles in the room. He wasn't much of a technician to be honest, or really much for technical work at all. What he really wanted was to be on an airship, to be in the sky. And even though his lack of experience in most areas would promise him becoming a rating at best, he was fine with that. Even if he was swabbing the deck, he would be doing it in the sky. Imagine his surprise when, instead, he got picked up to be a C&C room technician of all things.

'But it's so easy!' the tech thought gleefully as he easily maneuvered the computer he was manning. 'Here I was thinking it would be so impossibly hard, that I would have to pick up months of training in days. I made myself ill with anxiety all for nothing!'

The deck technician was one among a number of dogs who really couldn't keep up with the growing changes to life in the Enclave. Oh sure, he could learn to accept things like getting water at the turn of a lever, making it hot or colder with a clearly marked dial and getting light with a switch. It was just attempting to understand how all these things worked and were set up in the first place that was just so far beyond him. So much so that he didn't like the idea of even trying.

However, if the computer he was currently manning was a sign of the direction technology was to take, so simple even a technologically hopeless dog like him could work it? Well, he was one hundred percent all for it.

'More technology like this, please!' he thought happily.

“... and all crew and Operation members accounted for,” Ace said with a nod.

“Good grief, finally!” Wheatley said impatiently. “Flight checklist done, again, let's go! Burning moonlight here!”

“All crew prepare for lift off,” Ace announced over the intercom before waving to a bridge tech. “Activate stealth systems, activate the gantry arm release and then open the hangar doors.”

“Aye, captain!”

The ENV Silhouette started rapidly changing the color of its armor plating before it finally started mimicking its surroundings. Then, a moment later, all the gantry arms popped off the hull of the Silhouette with loud bangs. Overhead, a massive pair of reinforced doors opened up to reveal a layer of water, kept out via a magical barrier that could not be seen. The Silhouette began to ease upwards and slowly enter the water above it.

In the pure darkness of midnight, no one was around a somewhat recently formed lake in the Everfree save for some wildlife. In the center of the lake, some water movement and a fair amount of splashing was the only sign of the near invisible Silhouette smoothly breaking the surface and then beginning to rise into the air. After it had risen barely a few dozen feet, it then employed its secondary stealth system and started releasing clouds of thick fog. Within moments it was now near impossible to see someone ten feet in front of you within the cloud, let alone the perfectly camouflaged ship hiding within.

“Breech the cloud layer, then set cruising speed along it,” Ace ordered the bridge crew before turning the intercom on once again. “This is Captain Ace to all crew. We are beginning to set course to mission area. It will take the better part of a day and a half to reach Zebrica. Until then, rest and relax. There will be no promises of such when we arrive and are underway. Ace, out.”

“We have breached the cloud layer, captain,” a tech announced. “We will be at cruising speed within ten seconds.”

“Good.” Ace nodded and then sat back in his chair and took off his cap. “Set course for Zebrica, set the autopilot and settle in. R and R applies to us, too.”

“Aye aye, Captain.”

GAMMA

In the League of Nations Headquarters, atop the sleepy ancient Kraken and in one of the many conference rooms, a group of dignitaries were gathered. Sitting around a long, oval table was the political bloc that Taleena had formed. Some old faces were absent but a noticeable number of new people were present as well. Once more this group had gathered to discuss world events and more importantly, Emerald Gleaner.

“It has now been an hour,” spoke Cassim, the portly Saddle Arabian dignitary. “Dear Taleena is plain late, not fashionably in the least.”

“She had not said she would be present for this meeting,” replied a pony noble. “But she has also said nothing at all to us since the last message.”

“Do you think she is being forced to stop attending?” asked a richly adorned parrot-like being that would have easily stood at twice the height of a pony. He seemed to be quite thirsty as he constantly was drinking from a goblet and wore a very impressive looking hat with many colorful feathers sticking out the top.

The reason why the group was meeting on the Kraken instead of a room in the Palace of the Royal Sisters was because Taleena warned them not to. The Warlock had said the Palace was no longer safe to speak of sensitive matters. Granted, holding meetings in a place that was essentially in the heart of the enemy's influence wasn't wise but it was admittedly very satisfying. Thus it was decided in the absence of the group's founder that they would hold their meetings in secure holdings in their own influence. The League Headquarters was a shared space but currently it was rather convenient for all current attendees of this meeting.

“If I recall correctly, Warlock Taleena will be having her meeting with Emerald Gleaner tomorrow,” a shaggy coated pony from the Heron Republic announced, clad in the robes of a diplomatic bureaucrat. “It could be she is simply distancing herself from us in preparation of the meeting.”

“I do not know...” Cassim sighed. “Now that Iago has mentioned it, Taleena did say it was no longer safe to hold meetings in the Palace. It could be the reason she knows this was because she was confronted on those very meetings.”

“Princess Celestia wouldn't have done anything to outright forbid Warlock Taleena from meeting with us,” the pony noble pointed out and then scowled. “It had to have been eavesdropping spies, and I believe we all know who they would have belonged to.”

“So the almighty Big Boss of the Diamond Dogs has spies in Equestria,” Cassim muttered aloud, his compatriots voicing their disgust at the notion. “Not entirely the behavior of a supposed close ally and trading partner.”

“Treacherous even to her friends!” exclaimed a reindeer. “This is the great leader the carnivores are so besotted with? She'll play them as fools and then set them against each other for her amusement, forcing them to compete for her attentions.”

Scowls and grimaces flashed across the faces of everyone. It was quite honestly an unpleasant scene to imagine. Emerald Gleaner, unquestioned Empress in all but name of every carnivore kingdom in the known world, holding court in the symbol of international cooperation that was the League Headquarters. And in this court she sits in a chair that becomes a throne via her mere presence in it alone. Carnivores, ruler and mere diplomat alike vie and plea for her attentions like it was the greatest treasure in the world. And she gives them all a welcoming, enticing smile before slipping them their poison. A whisper here, a suggestion there. Suddenly factions splinter and form in moments and rulers and diplomats have a frightful row with one another. Accusations of attempting to drive up the price of meat fruit for others while they get cheaper, of muscling them out of Emerald's circle of influence. And throughout this she, sitting in a chair that is a throne, looks for all the world like decadent royalty taking in an amusing play.

“Perhaps we are getting a tad ahead of ourselves?” Iago spoke, holding out an arm and nearly touching the tips of a finger and thumb for emphasis. “What other news of our most daunting opposition?”

“Well... I heard the Atamen of the Wolverines had actually tried to barter off another large chunk of his forces for even more meat fruit,” the Republic steppe pony stated. “Emerald, however, actually declined and simply increased the shipments he was already getting.”

“Hmph, this would be almost a good thing,” the reindeer replied with a shake of his head. “Demonstrating she has some restraint and generosity, but honestly she doesn't need more soldiers when gluttonous fools are tripping over themselves to essentially offer her lands and power. All this demonstrates she is no common thug and can weaponise good things as easily as the bad. No doubt this little stunt has further ensorcelled the carnivores to her fair and good practices.”

“Speaking of stunts,” Cassim said as he waved over a servant carrying a platter of snacks. “The wedding between Emerald Gleaner and Twilight Sparkle will be quite the big one.”

That brought a round of head shaking and scoffs. Equestria prided itself on being a very modern kingdom and ahead of the times regarding the rest of the world. Such that it supposedly abandoned marriage alliances long ago. However the upcoming wedding showed that it was simply the fact the Princesses had saw no point in such alliance building before with other nations, and now that they had within its reach a terrible rising power they were quick to put such outmoded practices back into use. Sure the two to be married consistently said it was a marriage born out of love and nothing more but it was clear to all who bothered to see that this was purely a political move. Why else would the leader of one nation be marrying the newly ascended alicorn of another?

“With this wedding, Equestria and the Enclave shall practically be one entity,” spoke the steppe pony. “But who is it that shall be holding the reigns? Emerald Gleaner? The Royal Sisters?”

“I would dearly love for the Princesses to be the ones in control, but...” the pony noble began with an uncomfortable frown. “I daresay it shall be safer to assume it will be Emerald to maintain control.”

“Indeed.” Cassim nodded as he swallowed down a treat whole.

“Oh, did you all hear?!” spoke up a mare noble for the first time. “Of Emerald Gleaner's hidden child?”

“Hidden child?” Cassim arched a brow. “I've heard of a child that Emerald has been saying is hers...”

“Yes. As it turns out it's a young filly by the name of Navi,” the noblemare continued with excitement at the prospect of gossiping in such high brow social circles. “Emerald had gone for a month on some important business. When she returned, she did so with Princess Celestia's newest student and a child in tow. I do believe young Navi is the result of incredibly youthful indiscretion.”

“A love child?” Cassim said, now raising both brows to his hairline. This time, most of the people at the meeting looked disbelieving.

“I'm just a newly joined into this group and know only a little about the so called Supreme Commander of the Enclave,” Iago started lightly. “I've come to believe Emerald Gleaner is capable of many things, but I don't think hiding a love child out of shame is one of those. My impression of her is of great pride. If anything, she would parade such a child in the face of propriety and dare any to speak out.”

“I'll admit it seems much more likely Emerald Gleaner had simply taken pity upon an orphan and taken her in as her child,” the noblemare admitted with a nod. “The alternative is just so scandalous,though!”

“Rightful insults and outright slander. There is quite a clear line between the two,” Cassim commented with a large gulp of some very rich hot chocolate. “I do believe we have been speaking about Emerald for a bit too long. Any more news of our Llama compatriot?”

“More of the same, I'm afraid,” the reindeer answered with a worried frown. “We've yet to hear back from him. It's becoming increasingly possible that the catastrophe that befell the capital caught him as well.”

There was a sympathetic expressions on everyone's face at that news. There was a lot of garbled news coming out of tropical lands the Llamas called home. Everything from an incredibly freak inland hurricane striking the capital along with an earthquake to a freezing, equine-shaped blizzard and giant bear; no one really knew what the truth was. What they did know, however, was that the royal palace was nothing more than a giant pile of rubble with practically the entire royal family caught inside. So far it was becoming increasingly clear that a small, somewhat distantly related child of barely five years would have to rule the Llama peoples; likely with a regent to guide and direct him for the first decade or so of his young reign. The Llama representative had gone home to report to his liege before the catastrophe had taken place and everyone was hoping he hadn't been caught in it. That hope was rapidly diminishing, but there was still the chance the llama in question was just busy keeping the decapitated ruling body of his homeland stable.

“I've heard the chaos in the capital is rapidly spreading to the rest of the kingdom,” the steppe pony commented. “Businesses and essential services are slowing to a crawl as everyone tries to figure out who is in charge of what. There was a lot of important people in the palace at the time of the disaster...”

“If I was the King of the newly formed Yacuruna,” the reindeer began seriously. “I'd be taking this time to further cement my people's influence upon the jungle waterways.”

“Well more power to the almighty Big Boss then!” Cassim said with faux cheer before sighing in aggravation. It was a feeling all other members of this nascent bloc felt. They had formed in response to Emerald with the intention of countering her meteoric rise in power. But they were having trouble just getting their foot in the door, let alone meaningfully stalling Emerald's ascent. They knew they were actually making progress since their group was still growing but it felt like they were only just picking speed, whilst Emerald's breakneck momentum was only going faster.

'Perhaps... perhaps we just need more members,' Cassim thought with forced certainty. 'Surely the combined force of our influence can stall her?'

Suddenly one of the attendants brought by the bloc members entered the room and approached Cassim.

“Sir, there is a messenger from the Griffin Principalities here to meet with you,” the attendant announced.

“Hmm... very well, let them in,” Cassim nodded.

The attendant bowed and quickly returned to the main entrance of the room, where he opened one of the grand doors and gestured. In strolled the messenger, who was clearly more than a simple messenger as he wore the cloak of a Storm Wing.

“Greetings Cassim, Merchant Lord of Saddle Arabia!” the Storm Wing said as he approached and gave a deep bow.

“Hail, Griffin of the mighty Principalities,” Cassim greeted back respectfully. “What does the Grand Prince wish of me?”

“I come representing only my clan, Cassim,” the Storm Wing answered and rose from his bow.

“Really?” Cassim said with honest surprise and shared a significant look with everyone else in the room.

“My clan, Clan Storm Claw, wishes to add its influence to your own.”

DELTA

Taleena stared out the window as the scenery steadily rushed past.

The Eldeer Warlock was currently sitting on a shuttle whose interior even she admitted was close to meeting her standards of comfort. Said shuttle was currently on a recently built highway suspended over the Everfree forest. The highway led to the Embassy of the Enclave meant to house dignitaries wishing to meet with the Enclave itself rather than set up a meeting in Canterlot. The embassy itself was said to be the ruins of the old Equestrian Royal Palace remodeled and recently updated with all modern comforts.

'We'll see just how good these comforts are supposed to be, shall we?' Taleena thought with an inward huff. 'Somehow I feel what comforts a bunch of cavern dwelling boors is a far cry, even from barely half decent pony amenities.'

“We wouldn't know,” commented one of the elders in her head.

“It's been a fair few millenia since we've felt much of anything, dear,” added another sardonically.

'Oh! Uhhh...' Taleena stiffened in embarrassment at unintentionally lording her ability to feel over her honored elders. 'My deepest apologies, Honored Elders! I didn't mean-'

“Near on a year since we've been together and still no sense of humor?” asked one elder bemusedly while the other two chortled. “I'm beginning to feel like making you lighten up a tad is a hopeless task.”

Taleena sighed as she realized she was just being the butt of a joke again and refocused on the passing scenery. Though respect for her elders was very much ingrained into her very soul, after a near year of putting up with them she had to admit they could be very irritating and childish at times. Though it also had to be said, after a near year she somehow found herself growing accustomed to their quips designed to push her buttons and put her off balance. She even did find some amusement in a few of the jokes they had made, though almost all of them were the ones that weren't made at her expense. The fact the three elders hadn't pointed this fact out spoke volumes of their desire to encourage such growth.

It wasn't long before the shuttle began to slow and they were arriving at the Everfree Embassy.

Taleena stared through the window at the towering structure. It was rather elegant in a way. The white stonework reminded her of Canterlot but that was where the similarities ended. The Embassy lacked the graceful, artistic elegance of the Palace of Canterlot. In its place were stout walls and towers with firm, steep, slanting walls. There were still allowances for beauty, however. Gardens and fountains stretched out around the Embassy, the walls were partially covered with thick green vines sprouting colorful flowers and foliage and the brickwork of the footpaths were arranged artistically.

'Hmph.All this serves to only distract those that allow themselves to be distracted from the simple, obvious truth,' Taleena thought apathetically. 'That this “Embassy” can easily serve as a fortress if needed.'

Indeed, if one examined the walls carefully they would see the vines had razor sharp, blade-like spines and certain parts of the walls looked like they could be pulled away, likely to reveal gun ports. Furthermore, covering the top of the walls were large ships somewhat conspicuously covered in black tarps. All these signs easily pointing towards the ease in which the so called Embassy could answer the call to arms, as long as one wasn't distracted by the pretty sights.

'Even in the heart of her power she feels the need to arm herself to the teeth,' Taleena thought with a frown as the shuttle began to enter the Embassy proper. 'Her paranoia is clear to all who bother to look.'

“And yet Equestria suffers one catastrophe after another, year after year,” an elder pointed out. “Is it truly paranoia when there are things clearly out to get you?”

'I... I must yield to the truth in your words, Honored Elder,' Taleena thought, honestly agreeing with the words after a moment.

Soon Taleena found herself exiting the shuttle alongside a number of other dignitaries. They gathered together briefly in the parking lot before an earth pony mare trotted over to them wearing a red dress suit and bow tie.

“Good afternoon everyone and welcoming to the Everfree Embassy!” the mare said with a sugar sweet, friendly tone. “If you would all please follow me, I shall lead you to the lobby.”

The pony led the varied group of visiting dignitaries to the front entrance of the embassy where wolverines stood guard, suited in gleaming black dragon scale and wielding rifles long and massive enough to act as a short pike. The entrance appeared to be nothing more than fashionable glass doors with red carpeting, but Taleena noticed with her keen eyes that up in the ceiling were a long pair of seams running along the width of the entrance.

'Hmmm.Judging by previous sights I would say that would be a solid steel door,' The Warlock thought with inconspicuous glances above her. 'Likely they would slam shut in event of an attack... or possibly in need of ensuring no one leaves.'

When Taleena found herself in the lobby proper she only grew more convinced than ever that this “Embassy” was a fortress first and a place of diplomacy second. Oh sure, there was plenty of pretty sights here, polished marble made up the floors and fine stained wood with a beautiful grain made up the walls. There was a fountain and a small indoor garden surrounding a seating area and grand chandeliers hung from the ceiling. But those were simple distractions. For every friendly pony in a nice suit there was a grim faced wolverine standing at attention off to the side and out of the way but never truly out of sight. For every wide open path there were the seams of a great steel shutter ready to slam down. For every wide open space there was an overlooking area with far more austere furnishing that seemed to only house those that worked here.

“Everyone!” the pony that had been leading them called out and waved a hoof. “If I could please have your attention! Thank you. For those of you intending to remain at the Embassy for a long period of time we have suites set aside for you. My colleague to the left shall lead you to them. Those of you here only for the day please continue following me. I shall give you a brief tour of the facilities we have for your comforts before and after you conduct business.”

Besides Taleena, only two other dignitaries continued to follow the pony, the rest heading off to be given their quarters. The Eldeer cared not for whom her two companions were and feigned interest as the mare they were following showed them various distractions. A canteen masquerading as a classy restaurant with a classical band playing music in the background. A large courtyard utterly filled with beautiful statues and gardens doing its best to distract from the fact those on the roof and in the windows had very clear shots of it. A rec room containing all the latest and greatest electronic toys from EI; it was almost enough to hide the fact this room had only one entrance and a steel shutter ready to close it off. And that was just a few examples.

Taleena's two ignored companions had disappeared off to amuse themselves while Taleena herself had simply found a cafe and gotten herself some tea.

'Green Tea distilled from Aum leaves,' Taleena thought as she sipped her cup. 'Very expensive... perfect for fools with more money than sense of what is good tea.'

The Warlock shook her head and simply swallowed down the tea. Green tea was green tea and would help enforce a calm upon her mind and body. She would honestly be needing it for her upcoming meeting with Emerald Gleaner. After the confrontation they had the first time they had personally met, Taleena was taking every opportunity she could to mentally prepare herself.

'Now what to do,' Taleena thought with a hum. 'No foe is too wily for an Eldeer but this one in particular needs a more skillful approach than the norm,'

The Eldeer spirits in her head remained silent, and for that she was grateful. Not because they would have been cracking jokes at her expense again for they had a sense for appropriate timing. No, it was because she wanted to do this herself, to test her centuries honed intellect and rise above. Of course, if she was unknowingly falling short or failing in some way she also fully expected her True Betters to make their opinions known.

It wasn't long before the time arrived at last and Taleena stood before a kind of reception desk that only had a large tv screen behind it. Suddenly the screen lit up to reveal a brightly glowing blue light that somehow seemed friendly.

“Hullo!” came a voice from the screen.

“Yes, hello,” Taleena said evenly. “I am Taleena, Warlock of the Eldeer. I am here for my appointed meeting with Emerald Gleaner of the Enclave.”

“Right'o, she's just behind that door.” The light motioned towards a pair of double doors. “Go on through.”

Without another word the screen simply turned off. Taleena raised a brow at the rudeness but shook it off and walked towards the doors. The Warlock entered the room to find Emerald sitting at a large desk in a fairly austere office, wearing her formal, caped uniform. It was a room with fine wooden walls and marble flooring but it was quite honestly barren of all luxury with only banners baring the Enclave symbol as any kind of decoration. Emerald sat in a wheeled leather chair, her full attention upon some papers on her desk, apparently so busy with other matters that even now she was doing paperwork instead of giving someone she was meeting formally her full attention. The only sign Emerald knew she was even there was a small wave for her to take a seat.

'Some annoyance is to be expected, I suppose,' Taleena thought absently as she made for the proffered seat. 'Now, how should I approach this? Shall I attempt to dance around her with word games and verbal circles? Lead her astray with misinterpretation? No, this is no fool like countless others I've strung along. But perhaps... ah yes, the truth...'

“So...” Emerald began as she straightened out her papers and placed them aside before staring the doe down. “What is it that you wanted to talk about so badly you tried to skip the line?”

“Quite simply, we are afraid for what you may do,” Taleena stated bluntly and Emerald blinked in surprise.

“Excuse me?” Emerald said somewhat incredulously.

“It is the bare truth,” Taleena said simply, inwardly pleased she had Emerald briefly on the backfoot. “We see you forging these ironclad bonds with the carnivore nations, these bonds sealed with the promise of a release from their eternal fasting. With the food surplus available and the relaxing of various population controls, it won't be long before these same nations can no longer support themselves naturally. Within a mere decade you could command them as you see fit and they would have no choice but to obey lest their people starve en masse and make the choice for them. You could forge an Empire in all but name with you as the unquestionable authority. Combine this influence with your personal might and the Enclave's military might and you could even bully a great many herbivore nations into compliance. Within a century you could declare the formation of an Empire and all would shrug their shoulders and simply see it as the formalization of a long present reality.

“... Perhaps you find our fear misguided, that of old bucks and does grumbling for a lost golden era?” Taleena continued in the face of Emerald's silent staring. “You see, my people have had experience with all encompassing Empires much like the one you could form. In ages long forgotten by nearly all, before my people learned the secrets we know today, before we could place the spirits of the respected dead into amber, before we even abandoned our nomadic nature and formed cities, there was a great and mighty domain that stretched across this whole world ruled by immortals. The First Masters of all the light touched. Their authority was unquestionable, their power undeniable. And in their confidence of their mastery, in their arrogance they brought ruin to the world. They disrupted the vital energies of this world and wrought a terrible cataclysm. Our people survived it, as did most, but we solely were able to preserve some semblance of civilization.”

“What is the point of this?” Emerald said quietly, but Taleena was able to see that her words were having an effect, perhaps even cutting deeply.

“Our people learned the dangers of a singular entity ruling all, of immortals eternally ruling mortals,” Taleena replied. “And with it came this wise lesson: cooperation is better than domination. And so it was that we waited patiently for the world to recover, slowly, steadily over the ages. And when the time came we acted. Despite the frustrations inherent in long distance messaging, and the fact a great many journeys to other lands could take months, we, the Eldeer, collectively worked to ensure the formation of a coalition of sorts.”

“Wait... the Eldeer are the reason why the League of Nations exists?” Emerald said with open surprise.

“No one group can rule the world. We must be apart yet willingly standing together despite our differences,” Taleena explained. “It wasn't easy. There were many times where basic flaws threatened to sunder the League - to render it toothless - but with careful management it eventually became something we did not need to prop up. And so for a time we were free to observe. Of course, we didn't completely distance ourselves. Sometimes a nation needed a guiding hoof or a nudge off the ruinous path they were beginning to walk.”

Taleena paused in her talking and studied Emerald with a carefully blank expression. Emerald was quite a few steps above so many of the politicians Taleena had dealt with before in regards to her “poker face” but it appeared her words were enough to shake that. Emerald looked troubled, her gaze was directed downwards towards her desk deep in thought... or perhaps reliving a few memories?

“...I,” Emerald began after several long moments before pausing and sighing briefly. “I do not want to form an Empire, Taleena. I don't want to become some kind of Empress sitting on some gaudy throne and spending all hours simply overlooking all I command. All I want is my friends and family's safety, to ensure their happy futures. That is all I want.”

“Hmm...” Taleena gave Emerald a studying stare before nodding slightly, there was an earnest honesty there that few could fake. “Perhaps we have misjudged you.”

“So... was that it?” Emerald asked after a moment with a frown. “Was this all you wanted to talk about?”

“I suppose so,” Taleena stated and stood up from her seat. “Perhaps it had been a bit much for me to be badgering you so much after such a little talk. For that, I apologize. Perhaps next time we shall simply set aside but a few minutes for short chats, hmm? In any case, I should excuse myself. It would be rude to take up any more of your time, as I am fully aware of how busy you are.”

With that, Taleena turned away from Emerald and walked to the door. It was only after she had closed the door behind her and was certain no one else was in the room that she gave a deeply pleased smile to herself.

'Ahhhh, not so far above us mere mortals after all,' Taleena thought as she walked down the hall.

EPSILON

Vata and his fellow neochangelings stood at attention in the hold of the Silhouette, the bay doors wide open before them letting in whistling winds.

“We are nearing the first drop zone,” Ace's voice sounded over the intercom. “Remember, your mission is to gather intel on the enemy and it is priority ONE that you are not seen and you leave as little evidence as possible of your presence. This may be obvious but this means if you see a local in trouble you can't go help them without express permission.Neither can you form local contacts without the go ahead from command either.”

The neochangelings didn't react to that explanation. They fully understood the need for secrecy here.

“Approaching drop zone...” Ace continued and Vata stepped forward to the very edge of open space. “Deploy in 3... 2... 1... GO.”

With that Vata dove out into the open air.

Despite the fact it was mid morning, the stars were shining brightly. The Silhouette had ascended incredibly high into the sky, so high in fact that the sky faded away to reveal the stars and space. This was done to make absolutely sure their insertion into Zebrica would go unnoticed in any way. Looking down to the land before him, Vata took in the sight of Zebrica.

From this high up it was a land of yellows, light browns, oranges and patches of green. Much of Zebrica was Savannah, but the more heavily populated areas tended to be near or in the rainforests. The area Vata was dropping down into wasn't near any kind of jungle; some parts of it were undergoing some minor desertification even. And from some scans of the region it was populated by villages, hamlets and the odd large town.

Vata had streamlined his form, facing straight down and dropping like a bullet. After only a few minutes he had dropped past the clouds and the ground neared rapidly. Instantly he spread out his limbs and his wings and his drop rapidly slowed. A few moments later he landed at trotting speed before slowing to a halt.

“This is Vata, we've landed successfully,” Vata reported as his armor shifted colors and matched his surroundings.

“Roger that, good hunting,” came Ace's reply.

Looking around, the neochangeling saw his surroundings to be rather rocky with some sparse, hardy vegetation spiking out from between boulders and rocks. Carefully ascending to the top of one boulder, Vata began to scan the horizon. For the most part it was patches of odd looking trees and animals, but in the distance Vata could make out rising columns of smoke.

Vata made his way through the wide open Savannah, his cloak and armor practically making him invisible in plain sight. A ten minute jog brought him to a position overlooking the village. Save for a few wooden shacks on the very edges of the village, the vast majority of the buildings here were adobes. The zebras here looked healthy enough but it was clear in their casual interactions with one another they were not happy either. Emotions of worn down despair and broiling resentment filled the air. One of the neochangelings was constantly learning the Zebrican language from Zecora and then feeding the knowledge to everyone else, so Vata wasn't completely out of the loop concerning local conversation. In fact, he knew enough Zebrican so far to guess the meaning of new words he heard with a fair amount of accuracy.

'Let's see...' Vata thought as he slipped into the village and scaled atop a roof to lay flat atop it. He began fiddling with his helmet's settings to enhance his ability to eavesdrop on the zebras living in this town. 'There we go, and now to wait for something interesting...'

Vata settled in, expecting little to nothing to be learned today. After all, this was a long term mission that was to be done over weeks and months. While taking their time wasn't something any of them wanted to do, there was no rushing in information gathering either. They either heard something useful or they didn't. And so Vata lay near invisible upon the roof of a home for several hours; so long the early morning sun had fully risen and the light began shining down.

'Taxes are up, patrols are up, laws are harsher, nothing I can use yet,' Vata thought and then reached out to his brothers and sisters. “Anyone got anything interesting on their end?”

“I'm currently shadowing a company of Zebrican soldiers, but nothing yet.”

“Doing the same as you, Vata, save I'm in a city over here. I've been hearing a lot but not sure what's useful just yet.”

“I landed near a fort.Casing it right now and planning a way to go about sneaking in.”

“Still in the wild over here.Looking for something interesting to spy on.”

“Same.”

“I'm in the jungle over here, casing a quarry.Would have moved on by now, but it has an oddly high number of guards.”

“A work camp for dissidents maybe?”

“Partially.It seems like most of the workers here are contractors, though.”

“I'll head over. I'm in the jungle and got nothing but hamlets over here.”

“Waiting on you.”

Seeing as only two of his comrades had two potentially interesting situations going on right now, Vata settled back in to continue his surveillance. It was about high noon when something interesting finally did happen.

The Neochangling suddenly felt waves of fear erupt from nearby. Moving towards a ledge facing the point of these feelings, Vata peered over the edge of the roof to watch a procession enter the village and begin marching through its heart. It was a large patrol of Zebrican soldiers wearing dark green, hardy clothes under chainmail shirts. Atop their heads were metal caps topped with a spear like point and the faces fully covered in shamanistic masks, the narrow slits of the mask glowing a dark, poisonous green.

The patrol practically stomped through the village, barking demands to make way and even pushing over the cart of a farmer who couldn't move his produce in time. Following this procession was clearly an important official. He wore plating compared to the simple chain mail of the soldiers, though they definitely had a more ornamental feel. The clothes he was wearing were of fine linens dyed an expensive royal purple. He wore a helmet as well that was much like the ones the soldiers wore down to the mask, though his also had a turban-like white linen wrapping around it.

Comparing the soldiers and the officer to the people of the village, Vata also noticed something else. The visible bare coat of the Zebrican soldiers was different from the common folk. Their stripes were thicker and the white that could be seen was of a darker, almost gray hue. Finally, the emotions. They were muted, barely there. The only things he felt coming from the soldiers were purely negative emotions, bursts of anger and even those felt false.

“Hmmm... got something here,” Vata announced.

“What is it?”

“Some kind of official, maybe a representative of the Prime Minister.Armor looks too much for show to be an actual army officer,” Vata reported. “I'm going to follow him.”

“Stay safe!”

Vata stealthily made his away unseen across rooftops as he began to shadow the procession. Soon he was slinking off a roof and into the tall grass of the Savannah as he followed them out of the village. The procession continued down the road and Vata judged that, by the fact he couldn't really make out an obvious destination on the horizon, he would be following them for a while. This prediction proved to be true as it was nearly eight hours later that a clear destination came within sight.

'Hmm, perhaps you aren't as important as you looked,' Vata thought as he took in a fairly fortified outpost, but clearly an outpost all the same 'Are you just checking in on this place before moving on to the next? Still though, even with small fry like you it would be better than nothing.'

With that Vata began scouting the outpost as the procession fully entered it. From what he was able to see, the Outpost had one major building that likely also acted as the barracks, armory and office. There was a perimeter wall for the outpost but it only covered three directions, leaving the back of the main building to serve as the cover for the final approach. The courtyard was mostly barren but did appear to be heavily used for training and drills. Taking a closer look at the main building, Vata saw a kind of landing at the top leading into the topmost floor, very likely the officer's quarters.

'Clearly he'll be staying up there,' Vata thought with a hum. 'Kidnapping him from there will be fairly easy but the biggest thing is the fact people will notice he disappeared without a trace. Hmmm... I need to give them something to look into, to distract them and think they found the answer.'

Vata continued to watch the outpost and rack his mind for an answer when he spotted a small herd of gazelles in the distance. The neochangeling watched as the herd slowly made their way through the sparse grasses, headed for literal greener pastures. The neochangeling suddenly stiffened as an idea occurred to him. He released a somewhat shaky breath before hardening his resolve.

“Command, this is Vata,” Vata said into his radio. “I've got a plan to kidnap an officer that needs authorization.”

“Let's hear it, then,” Ace replied. “I'll forward it to HQ for the go ahead.”

Barely three minutes later, Vata slinked into the tall grass and headed for the gazelle herd. Within a minute one the lagging members of the herd was suddenly wrenched to the ground and out of sight. So sudden and quiet was this that no one in the herd noticed someone was missing until it was long too late.

As the sun began to slip beneath the horizon and the sky faded to a starry night, a lion and his pride began to settle in for the night. They had just began to lay on their beds of stomped flat grasses when something landed amongst them. After jumping to their feet they quickly noticed it was the body of a gazelle that was practically untouched, the rolled up eyes, still chest and lolled tongue being the only signs of it being dead. They looked up to see a spectral shape perched upon a looming boulder, terrible orange eyes glowing in the growing night.

“We have a proposition for you,” it hissed, an aura of ominous despair hanging about it like a cloak.

ZETA

In the dead of night, the outpost mostly settled in with a handful of guards designated for the night watch. Two stood at each gate to the compound and one stood on watch atop the roof of the main building. There were several braziers and torches lighting up the outpost, though with such a small, unimportant compound the coverage wasn't all that good. Case in point was the fact there weren't enough torches to light up the perimeter around the walls, leaving most of the areas near the walls in darkness. The moon could have helped with the lighting but it was an overcast night, making it pitch black out. The guards remained alert and sharp eyed as best as they could in the darkness, but honestly it was no surprise that when trouble came they only heard it after it happened.

A startled shout rent the air, the guard atop the roof quickly darting over to the back of the building. Looking over, he saw the landing with the doors leading into the officer's quarters wide open and a dark shape carrying a zebra disappearing into the darkness of the night.

Instantly the alarm was sounded. Zebrican soldiers lying like still dolls in their beds. still wearing their helms. immediately leapt to their feet and charged out of the barracks. Whether it was their minds being forced into a razor sharp focus or simply good training. the Zebrican soldiers had a search party weilding torches charging out into the darkness within a minute.

As the party charged forth, the combined strength of their torches pushing back the dark, streaks of blood started appearing before them in the direction the shape had disappeared too. The sight of this drove on the soldiers and they started sprinting over the landscape. They paused when their torches revealed three beings standing in the dark.

It was five lionesses, each one with a blood smeared muzzle with the central, noticeably larger one holding a bloody, stripped leg. The lionesses paused only for a split second at the intrusion of the soldiers before darting off into the dark. The soldiers were only a second slower and quickly fell into pursuit of the running lions. Within moments they were gone and the light of their torches fading into the dark.

Nearby the spot the lions had occupied, a boulder suddenly shifted and part of it lifted up. The moving part acted like a head taking in its surroundings before the whole thing moved. Suddenly Vata was revealed and beneath him on the ground was the captured official, unharmed and unconscious.

'I wonder if any of them will recall that the “shout” didn't sound anything like the official they were guarding,' Vata thought as he carefully hoisted his captive over his back and carefully trotted away from the direction the lions had ran. 'Hopefully it will be considered nothing more than a quirk of something misremembered.'

Twenty minutes later found Vata walking into small area surrounded and obscured by crags. Within was the Lion and his pride of sixteen members. Without the slightest hesitation, Vata walked among them as the lionesses who served as decoys slinked into sight out of the darkness. The largest lioness still carrying the bloody leg tossed it to the side before joining the Alpha male's side. If one managed to get a close look at the leg before it was swiftly pounced on, they would have seen it was far too thin to belong to a zebra.

Vata came to a stop before the lion, looking more like some angry shade from beyond than any living being. Dragging his comatose captive by the back hoof wasn't helping the image. The Alpha Lion stared evenly for a moment before waving for him to get on with it. Vata pointed up and suddenly a square shape dropped down amongst them.

The lions collectively started before realizing it was a metal crate held aloft by a cable stretching off into the pitch black sky. Vata dragged his captive over to the crate before knocking on the side loudly, causing the front to drop open and release its contents.

The Pride instantly started salivating as slabs upon slabs of freshly cut meat poured onto the ground. Vata quickly lifted the crate up to fully empty it before chucking his captive inside, unconcerned about the bloody interior. He then closed the front before knocking on it again and it rapidly ascended up and disappeared into a fog bank the pride only just realized was above them.

“A pleasure doing business,” Vata hissed softly, lenses of his helmet glowing orange in the black hood of his cloak. “If another opportunity fitting your skills comes by, we shall contact you again...”

With that, Vata turned and seemed to glide across the floor, a biting cold seemed to fill the air near him and the lions quickly parted before him. He seemed to barely leave their circle before he faded from view in plain sight of the pride.

The lion released a breath he didn't know he was holding. This whole thing felt like he was making a deal with some dark and vile evil along the same lines of the one currently dominating Zebrica. But at the very least this one was willing to feed his associates.

Keeping that thought in mind, he nodded his assent to the pride and they quickly fell on the feast they were paid.

ETA

Far, far away in a land unknown to most members of the League of Nations lied a vast and very infamous desert. Many deserts were dangerous with harsh condition and thus had certain amounts of infamy, but what made this desert special was the fact that no one who ever ventured towards its center ever returned.

Despite the lack of elevation even in the form of dunes, somehow this desert was deeply draining upon one trying to cross it. Even simply skirting the edges seemed to suck the will to move one's limbs to simply walk. The deeper one went, the harsher this effect became. People who had trekked through the harshest environments often had to drag themselves back the way they came. Some couldn't manage even that.

However, if someone was somehow able to withstand the desert, to posses the legendary amounts of sheer physical conditioning and mental fortitude to do this, they would find the desert would become ever more powdery the deeper they went. And as they neared the heart, several things started to happen. The air itself would lose what little life it had and seemed to hang down on you like dead weight, a quiet so complete and total that one could hear the sound of their own blood flowing and organs moving, and finally that the day sky would fade to black without a single cloud, or if it was night the stars and nebulae would fade to leave a complete black carpet. And if, somehow, after experiencing these things this incredible individual went deeper in still they would finally reach the heart of the desert and the definite end of their life.

At the heart of the desert lied a completely flat plain of white powder that, just looking at, one knew had lied undisturbed for eons. And sticking out of this powder were hundreds of pristine, bleached skeletons that at first glance looked to belong to ponies, until one noticed how big the skeletons were and the fact they all had wings and a horn. And at the very center of this field of the dead was a single being.

It was very tall and very slender. Despite the fact it was slouching over, it would have easily loomed over the tallest wolverine. It had a small body, most of its mass was thanks to its unnervingly long legs and arms. It had gray, mottled skin that only just barely kept it from looking like a skeleton . The only piece of clothing it had was a ragged black cloth bag over its head. This bag also had several large chains attached to it which in turn were attached to massive stone blocks nearly rounded into balls by age. But on a closer look one would see several chains lay unattached to the blocks or that some had seemed to have rusted through. Only three chains were actually attached to a block. Finally, there was something about it alongside all these features; something that seemed whisper into your very mind and soul the few words that completely encapsulated all this being represented. Just two short words.

The End.

For that was what this being was, The End. A Great Old Spirit nearly beyond reckoning. A spirit that existed for far longer than recorded history, that existed almost as long as life did. It was a spirit of a far more brutal and simpler time. A Primordial Spirit. And for countless ages this almighty Spirit had deigned to spend the vast majority of its time in one spot. This lifeless place was formed in result of its constant presence.

Suddenly, something that hadn't happened in ages, happened. The End moved.

The End lifted its lowered head up to the sky, staring beyond the confines of its bag. It stared at the sun and continued to stare. One got the feeling that if it wished, The End could simply stare at the sky for eons more but something was driving it to move. Something that urged it along beyond its absolute nature as a great Primordial Spirit.

With a put upon sigh, The End lifted a leg and started to walk forward.

Suddenly the few chains attached to blocks leapt to life, their length seemed to shorten and they quickly lost all slack. A glow surrounded the chains and the blocks they were attached to were lit up with runes made in an unknown, ancient script. Magic filled the air, their raw energies crackled and snapping dangerously. The End stood with a leg stretched out to take a step, leaning against the chains holding him in place; chains that throbbed with enough magical might to effortlessly constrain the likes of Celestia. Chains that could weigh down a hurricane and hold still an earthquake. After a few minutes of this, The End brought its leg down and slowly turned its head toward the chains. Instantly, many links in the chains exploded in clouds of rust and the blocks they were attached too crumbled into powder.

That done, The End lifted his leg again and started walking.

-TBC-

Author's Note

AN: Alright, this one took a long time to get out. I had a good reason though that most people are aware of. For those of you who don't read the blogs or read this on Fimfiction I've got a new job, a career basically with a lot of nice benefits and incentives to make it a life long thing. In any case I've been getting used to my job so hopefully I can try to pick up the pace again soon.

EN: So a couple of things about this chapter that stuck out to me. First off, Whealtey. I don’t trust him. The original was designed to be an idiot, and while this one doesn’t seem to be, there’s enough there that it makes me think backstabs are inevitable (Even though I don’t read his lines in his voice anymore. I hear more Lena Oxton than Wheatley). Secondly, the Metal Gear references. I honestly can’t believe about halfway down this chapter I FINALLY realized the MGSV reference of Emerald and her Diamond Dogs. And then there’s The End. Name of one of the bosses of Snake Eater, but a body that reminds me of another story on FimFiction (Can’t rightly remember its name) with powers that seem to imply that this thing could shatter the world with a thought and keep moving like nothing happened.

Overall, fun chapter though. Not much else to say.

Chapter 5: Crossed Wires

Emerald suppressed a sigh and did her best to look like she was paying attention and that her mind wasn't wandering every chance it got.

Currently the virus was in a conference chamber aboard the League Kraken. She was sitting at the head of a long table, sitting in a wheeled chair with legs crossed and hands folded on her lap. She was wearing her formal clothing and forcing herself to maintain a serious expression on her face at all times. Collected together before her was a large menagerie of representatives from carnivore kingdoms; currently they were more concerned with each other than her, but the last thing she wanted was to look like she was drifting off in these talks. Still though, it was incredibly hard to remain focused when negative thoughts and memories plagued her.

“You could forge an Empire in all but name with you as the unquestionable authority...” a memory whispered.

Emerald knew she shouldn't let the words of someone she knew to be manipulative and conniving get to her. She knew she should simply let it wash over her like the words of so many others she considered unimportant. But it was so very hard to do when those words were so true and she had seen what could have been.

'Oskar...' Emerald thought, memories of the broken, half dead, ravaged world that she would have created if it weren't for one decision. The Warlock's words echoed in her mind again and this time she imagined a new scenario, not of her simply gaining more and more authority in politics for the sake of authority, but of doing so for feeling the need to know, to control, to forewarn herself. The way Taleena had described the scenario, they made it out like she would simply grab power for the sake of the glory of it. However, Emerald knew herself. She knew how and why it would go down if she were to actually go down the route of an Empire. And the fact she could easily see how she could end up doing this honestly scared her.

'I'm not like him, I'm not!' Emerald thought as she squashed down her rising turmoil. 'My alternate self was alone. He had no one else but his own mind and it drove him insane in a way far more horrible than any gibbering wreck! But... I could easily go down this route by justifying it with protecting my family... I would hate all the politics, absolutely HATE it, but if it ultimately meant keeping them safe...'

Suddenly Emerald's thoughts were interrupted by the sounds of an argument. She looked up to see a Bast representative hissing at a Gnoll towering over them and growling. The virus huffed lightly in irritation before glancing at a diplomat nearest to them.

“Being very disruptive, aren't they?” Emerald questioned subtly, hiding the fact she wasn't paying attention and didn't know why the two representatives were angry with one another.

“Chieftain Sagepaw is being rather direct in accusing the Dynasty of having undue influence, isn't he?” The diplomat replied, a graceful looking Naga with glittering green scales and flowing toga over her torso. “It's most unbecoming, Lady Gleaner.”

“Hmmm... let's not have them give us a show all day, shall we?” Emerald said with a well hidden sigh. “Excuse me, gentlemen!”

It wasn't a particularly loud call, but it still cut through the angry hissing and growling and the two quarreling diplomats looked to her.

“Emerald Gleaner. Tell this buffoon the Dynasty has a fair and just agreement with the Enclave,” the cat said, Emerald noting he was putting forth an effort to tone down the natural imperiousness of his species.

“Cheiften Sagepaw. You have suspicions of the trade deals between the Enclave and the Bast Dynasty?” Emerald questioned serenely, channeling a bit of Celestia's speech patterns.

“No...” the Gnoll Chieften replied, visibly forcing himself to be calm. “I am merely... concerned that the Dynasty's favor of decreased prices will allow them to purchase meat fruit in such quantities they'll drive prices up for the rest of us.”

“A fair concern,” Emerald nodded in agreement before raising a hand reassuringly. “However, one that need not be fretted over. I and my compatriots are fully aware of how vital the meat fruit trade is now. We are steadily increasingly the crops. Meat fruit yields shall always exceed the expected demand. To speak further of the matter, if anyone here wishes to start some statewide event featuring a lot of feasting, feel free to do so. The Enclave's only limit on the meat fruit trade is the shipping fleets to carry product.”

“...Apologies. My concern was unfounded.” Sagepaw nodded, seating himself back down.

“Again, a very understandable concern.” Emerald nodded and then looked over the faces of everyone at the table. Feeling she was about to speak, they give her their undivided attention. “The meat fruit trade is one of absolute importance. No doubt your peoples have a population boom in the works due to the abundance of food after countless generations of rationing. Even now, attempting to return to pre-meat fruit levels of food allocation would be near disastrous for the majority of you.”

Emerald paused to look over everyone. Their expressions were concerned at their growing complete reliance on the Enclave being pointed out. Still though, the greater amount of meat on their bones was sign enough that going back to rationing would not be done willingly if they could help it.

“My people - the people of the Enclave - now have a solemn duty to our fellow carnivores and omnivores of the League,” Emerald stated seriously. “It is now our duty to ensure the food supply of so many great peoples. For the longest time you were all forced to keep the development of your nations to a crawl while the herbivores strode ahead, uncaring of the struggles you faced. But now with the development of the meat fruit, you longer have to focus most of your energies on merely staving off hunger. Now you can focus on more constructive purposes, things only the herbivores could afford to do. The coming decades will be ones of extreme growth as couples experience the freedom of having as many children as they wish.”

“Make no mistake, my dear fellows. The Enclave understands the gravity of failing to keep the food supply going,” Emerald continued and stood up. “We understand that even partial delays would cause great strife, let alone a full stall of the food supply. So we strive to always have a vast surplus of product, to always predict the growth in the market and to always be there when you need us. Know this, my compatriots of the League. Should disaster befall you like it did the Bast, we shall lessen the burden for you as we did for them. This, I pledge my word as leader of my people.”

For a moment there was silence following this proclamation. Then one diplomat started clapping and that was quickly joined in by all the rest. Emerald stood and silently accepted the applause for several moments before bowing her head and sitting back down in her chair.

'… fuck politics,' Emerald thought with an inward sigh as she kept a mask of serenity firmly in place. 'I can't imagine doing this for a thousand fucking years. How does Celestia put up with this crap? I could do this if I had to. I'd really, REALLY hate to, but if I had to, I'd do it. But god damn this is miserable... Hmmm, I think I'll blow off steam tonight with Twilight.'

Now smiling a genuine smile, Emerald settled in place to continue the hours long meeting.

ALPHA

'I hope these maps are accurate,' Twilight thought with a frown as she considered a map of a city.

Currently Twilight Sparkle was at home and in the library with her friends. She was studying a map Zecora had made from memory of the Zebrican capital along with the general assembly complex. It wasn't clear just how accurate it was, since Zecora hadn't been in the capital in years plus the complex was likely greatly altered since the coup. The other mares in the room were going over some information about Zebrica and coming up with plans and ideas for when they went into Zebrica. Everyone knew they wouldn't be helping Emerald subdue the dark force that had possessed the Zebrican Prime Minister and they were fine with it. Their job would be creating havoc in the city and basically being as distracting as possible.

“So how about I just make a SONIC RAINBOOM over the city and-” Rainbow Dash began with eager gesticulation.

“Sugarcube, them Zebras don't have wings.” Applejack pointed out, leaning on the table with her face resting on a hoof. “Ya can't just be flying and making a fancy show.”

“Plus it would possibly attract a bit more attention than we are even planning for,” Rarity added absently as she went over pictures of zebras and studied what they wore.

“Geez, way to be a bunch of spoilsports...” Rainbow Dash huffed and looked away from the others in annoyance.

“Oh don't be that way, darling,” Rarity said with a winning smile as she looked up from her pictures. “You are coming up with ideas and contributing and we've all offered an idea that didn't work when thought about further.”

“... I just don't like the idea of being without my wings,” Rainbow said after a moment, flaring her wings for emphasis.

“Zebras do not have horns either, dear,” Rarity pointed out with a gesture to her horn. “I will be without my magic just as you'll be without your wings.”

“Yeah, okay...” Rainbow nodded before glaring pointedly glaring at Applejack. “What are you giving up?!”

“Oh, uhhh...” Applejack suddenly became shifty eyed as her snout scrunched up.

“Oh don't pick on the poor earth pony, dear.” Rarity said with faux snootiness. “She isn't special enough to have enough to give up.”

“Aight, that's true,” Rainbow nodded seriously.

“Hey!” Applejack frowned at the two before joining them in laughter.

“This is great but to really complete the experience there should be at least six of us!” Pinkie Pie announced with a point at an empty seat.

“Hey, yeah. Where is Fluttershy, anyway?” Rainbow Dash asked as she looked around with a frown.

Suddenly there was a soft knock at the door and in walked said pegasus.

“Oh, I'm sorry for being late everyone!” Fluttershy said remorsefully as she trotted over to the table they were sitting at.

“It's okay, Fluttershy,” Twilight assured her. “What was keeping you if I may ask?”

“Oh it's just that lately Discord has been disappearing a lot,” Fluttershy replied as she took a seat. “Usually it was only a day or two at a time but this time he's been gone a whole week without a trace. I went looking for him but couldn't find him. I even followed a post pony to his house and found it empty.”

“You worry too much!” Rainbow Dash waved off. “Only one person I know can even hurt Discord and I'm... kinda sure she hasn't done anything to him.”

“Oh dear, oh no...” Fluttershy muttered worriedly as she tapped the tips of her fore hooves together.

“Emerald doesn't like Discord and actively avoids him when she can,” Twilight stated with a slight frown at Dash. “As far as I'm aware the last time Emerald had even said a word to Discord was during the last catastrophe we had to deal with. Fluttershy, whatever has happened I'm sure it's Discord getting distracted by some sort of amusement. He'll be back before you know it.”

“I hope you're right, Twilight,” Fluttershy said with a strained smile. “It's just, I never had him not visit me for so long... well, can someone tell me what have I missed?”

With that the issue with Discord was dropped and the girls brought up several ideas and plans they had come up with to Fluttershy.

BETA

Happy Trees was an earth pony mare walking the streets of Canterlot, carrying her foal in a special saddle on her back.

The earth pony mare had a brown coat with her mane and tail colored various shades of green while her eyes were a deep shade of green. On her flank were a trio of evergreen trees wrapped gently in a bright red ribbon tied off in a bow.

'There they are again,' Happy thought as she walked past a large crowd of angry ponies gathered around the entrance to the weather control office. 'I don't mind a bit of unpredictable weather, but even I am finding this really annoying. What's the point of weather control if you can't rely on it to be predictable?'

The lack of predictable weather was really becoming a problem. Several outdoor events planned around the weather schedule had to be called off or rescheduled because instead of a sunny day it had started raining or even storming. Needless to say the average pony on the street found this outrageous and thought the weather teams incompetent. That wasn't to say ponies were furious enough to try lynching the weather teams, but those same teams were finding increasingly hostile attitudes directed towards them whenever they were on the ground.

Happy watched the angry crowd swarming the weather office for a short while until she heard a tiny growl come from her back followed by the sound of something tearing violently. The mare looked over her shoulder fast enough to see a dog's rope toy thrown to the ground in pieces.

“Looks like someone needs a new chew toy,” Happy announced lightly as she poked at the remains of the shredded rope. “Again...”

She looked over her shoulder again, this time at the occupant of the baby harness. Sitting there, gurgling and flapping his little scaly wings was a deinos foal. When she had found out she was pregnant, Happy and her husband had been honestly surprised it was still possible with how different he was from her. Then came the worry. This was a first, and the doctors had no idea how the baby would develop. Her husband had felt oddly confident the baby would be fine, but Happy had been worried about it being malformed or even miscarrying. This worry had carried on for a few months with visits to the doctor practically every other week to check on the fetus' development. It appeared to be developing fine, but the fact no one knew a thing about pregnancies between a pony and thracian still made her worry.

Suddenly Emerald Gleaner came to her home. She asked them a few questions, some of them rather personal and embarrassing to speak about to a stranger but worry made her answer earnestly. After the questions, Emerald had laid a hand upon her belly and after a few moments told them with a smile the baby would be brought to term in perfect health. After that she had no more excuse to worry. If the person capable of bringing back the dead told her, her baby would be fine, then that must be true. Of course she too had no idea what exactly the baby would look like when it was finally born, only that it would be perfectly formed and healthy once it was.

With the knowledge her baby would be fine, Happy Trees was content to leave what the baby would look like a mystery to discover eventually. Happy and her husband had resigned themselves to the idea that no children would result of their marriage when he had been transformed. Of course, any sadness didn't last for long, as her husband had channeled his increased physical capability and even his aggression into... other aspects of their marriage. Suffice to say, if Happy and her husband had been just a stallion and mare couple she would not have been surprised at all to find out she had gotten pregnant.

'Those baby books aren't as much help as I hoped they'd be,' Happy thought as she continued on her way after making sure her baby was fine. 'Then again I suppose it's hard to prepare for a baby who gets her teeth in the day after she is born and is already nearly as strong as you are a few months later. Proper toys are an issue; she seems to be able to chew through anything fragile within a minute. I'd be more worried about choking hazards and poisoning if I hadn't found the coffee table missing a chunk of its top with no wooden pieces to be found.This baby has a stomach like a steel smelter.'

Before much longer Happy and her baby had arrived back at their home, a rather decently sized estate just a block away from the palace itself rather than an apartment. It was a fairly recent development; guards of the Royal Palace were paid very well indeed. Happy walked into her home and then made for the kitchen. After putting her baby in a high chair and getting her another rope toy to chew on, she proceeded to start making supper. She had finished making a salad with a steam cob of corn for everyone when her husband arrived home.

“Honey, I'm home!” her husband announced happily before bounding over and nuzzling her neck affectionately. “How're my lovely girls?”

“I'm fine. She chewed through another rope toy,” Happy replied with a smile.

“Oh I'm sure she’s just hungry,” he replied before darting over to his daughter's side. “Aren't you, my toothy sweet pea?”

“Ba!” the baby gurgled with a gleeful giggle as her dad booped her nose.

Happy giggled before putting down supper for everyone. Her baby and husband had gotten very noticeably larger servings and were chowing down the moment she placed their meals down. Happy began eating her own supper at a much more sedate pace, watching her husband and baby. The mare couldn't help but notice the similarities and differences between them.

Like all Deinos, the father's thracian features looked like they were forcefully mashed together with his original pony parts. Studying them in great detail could be discomforting at times. There were rents in his flesh that glowed brightly, as did both of his eyes. Not only that, but his left eye was noticeably bloodshot. His mane and tail were uncontrollably wild and became bristly the longer they went unwashed, which didn't take long at all really. Some areas of his body had large veins bulging out from beneath his skin and a few patches of his coat were replaced with scales of the same color. The child, however... the child was clearly the same species as her father yet looked so different. She had her mother’s eyes and they only glowed in the dark and were clear and healthy compared to her father. Her mane and tail weren't wild at all and only seemed to become bristly when she became upset. She had glowing lines just like her father, however unlike him they were not glowing rents but stripes that looked like they belonged. She didn't appear to have scales like her father, but the skin under her coat was hard and smooth. Another thing about the child was how much she looked like her father, if she wasn't a filly and had her mane, coat and eyes, Happy would have said her daughter looked exactly like a female version of her father.

Seeing that her family was already halfway done with their own meals, Happy focused on eating her own.

A few blocks away within a large building located in the Changeling District, the elder changelings of the Council stood at the ready before a large chrysalis.

The time had come for Bon Bon to officially assume her place as Queen of the Changeling Hive of Equestria. Normally the process took several months, but the amount of love the changelings were collecting in the heart of Canterlot was immense. With an assured food supply, any excess love was funneled to the metamorphosis of their Queen. Thus a months long process was shortened to just over a week.

There was a wet tearing sound as the chrysalis began to break. Within a few moments, a long, arcing horn pierced the front of the chrysalis, an opening split apart and the newly crowned Queen Bon Bon stepped forth. She looked identical to how she looked before with only a few differences. She was taller, her horn was longer and curved in a slight, graceful arc and was actually noticeably lacking in the characteristic holes changelings had. She had a pair of currently folded, moth-like wings; had they been fully extended their slightly green transparent surface without a single hole would have been clear to see.

“Your Majesty.” The elder changelings kneeled and bowed their heads. “We elders of the Hive are at your disposal.”

“Rise, my council,” Bon Bon commanded with all the solemness and courtly airs expected of a Queen. “You all know me, counselors. Like you, I am a loyal and devoted servant of my people and even now as I lead them into the future, I am still their servant.”

“What is your first command, my Queen?” asked one of the counselors.

“The ponies have taken in our people after great strife and tragedy have lain us low,” Bon Bon began. “But while the time is not yet to reclaim our independence, we can still lay the groundwork for it.”

“We shall be opening dialogues with the Enclave, then?”

“Yes, but not only that.” Bon Bon nodded and then frowned in discontent. “I've heard rumors from the Crystal Empire. It seems our wayward people changed in the same fashion as the Thracian ponies have found a new home in the Enclave...”

“I wish to take the opportunity to reconnect with them,” Bon Bon finished, sweeping her gaze over the gathered Elders who bowed their acquiesce.

GAMMA

A neochangeling by the name of Mindel lay flat against the roof of a fairly large adobe, practically invisible thanks to the combination of his own skills and his cloak.

“Alright everyone, listen up. We've got updates on the situation in Zebrica,” Captain Ace announced over the radios.

Mindel felt the minds of his brothers and sisters perk up. A few felt busy but were quickly moving somewhere quiet to listen in. Captain Ace waited a few minutes for everyone to gather. Once he got the confirmation clicks sounding from every Neochangeling, he continued.

“First things first, let's get the obvious out of the way. Zebrica is increasing its armed forces,” Ace lectured over the radio. “Zebras have been getting rounded up and then shipped out to recently built fortresses dotting the country. Once there, they undergo some kind of process to brainwash them and they come out in full companies of obedient soldiers before marching out to training encampments. It isn't happening with any great speed, but compared to some data we have on proper war build up, this appears to be a steady increase in defensive forces.

“Along with this, Zebrica has essentially become a Police State,” Ace Continued. “The current regime has been watching the populace as carefully as possible whilst also smashing dissent as non-lethally as possible. Thanks to the prevalence of utterly loyal brainwashed soldiers, they've managed this with near absolute success and efficiency. So far the only leads we have on rebel groups are purely rumors of bands hidden in the wilds; no countrywide organization whatsoever. So far even this level of surveillance upon the populace hasn't tripped any of you up.Good work on that front, butstay vigilant.All it takes is one hint they are dealing with near invisible operatives in their country and they'll no doubt start to employ exceedingly effective means of snuffing you out.”

“Next up, Zebrica has some kind of mega construction project under works. This much is obvious,” Ace Stated. “Quarries across the country are working nonstop with professional, penal and even slave labor cutting stone blocks of all sizes and shapes. These blocks get shipped over secure and carefully monitored convoy lines. Convoys of stone gather together in secure encampments as large convoys and shipped to a central encampment in the heart of the country. There they gather in one final huge convoy and ship out one last time. Clearly whatever project is underway is far too large to keep secret so they are simply keeping the construction site extremely secure. Approach so far has been actually rather difficult as you all no doubt know.”

“As one final bit of intel, the prisoner we've captured...” Ace said with a draw of breath. “Whatever magic has controlled his mind is done very well, as the Boss herself has yet to figure out how to break it. However, whatever it is doesn't block out mind reading. We all have the utmost confidence in the Boss' ability to break this spell on her own but it would no doubt be much easier if she had the full notes or at least a very good description of what is going on. Or better yet... whoever presides over the procedure.”

“In light of all this intel, you are being issued priority objectives.Your general information gathering is now secondary,” Ace announced. “Objective Alpha: Infiltrate the construction site, investigate what they are building and then exfiltrate. Optional Objective: Retrieve any pieces of intel from the site and maybe even a VIP if at all possible. If the infiltration of Objective Alpha is not possible, the Silhouette shall attempt a high altitude observation of the site.Hopefully whatever is being done there can't detect us.”

“Next, Objective Beta: Infiltrate the Brainwashing Fortresses,” Ace continued. “Retrieve as much intel on the process as possible before exfiltration. Optional Objectives: Observe the process being carried out, capture and extract whomever is running the process for interrogation.”

“Alright.Do you all understand your mission?” Ace asked and quickly got back a single affirmative click from the operatives. “Good... as a reminder, particularly for Objective Beta.Understand you have to take as little risks as possible to avoid exposure. As such, it's advised you don't try and save anyone from the fortresses... I'll leave you all to divvy out who handles what. Ace, out!”

“Who shall do what?” Vata asked over the feed.

“Objective Beta seems like it doesn't need too many of us working on it,” one of the operatives began. “Vata, you and Cara are nearest to one of the brainwashing forts. The two of you should work together on it.”

“Team of two? Small group, good for staying hidden and a spare pair of eyes to watch my back. I like it,” Vata replied. “What do you think, Cara?”

“I think I better get a move on out of this village and head over your way,” Cara answered.

“Alright, that takes care of Objective Beta.Who is getting assigned to Alpha?” Mindel asked.

“Objective Alpha is definitely bigger, but we shouldn't have too much larger of a team,” an operative replied. “Perhaps just one larger?”

“Tiva and I are the team on site. Mindel, you are the closest,” an operative by the name of Drider said. “You should join us and we can begin trying to infiltrate the site.”

“Sure, I am just currently in a city,” Mindel replied. “Just give me a few hours.”

“Holding till you arrive, Mindel,” Vita stated.

With the team compositions selected, the various Operatives refocused on their jobs. Mindel rose from his spot on the roof of the adobe. This city was one of well over a dozen dotting the country, though this one was more towards the smaller side. It was still important enough to have a solid stone wall, however.

'Right, let's get out of this place,' Mindel thought and began to carefully bound over gaps, making sure no one below would spot him. 'It's a quiet enough place, but that's exactly the problem.'

Within ten minutes Mindel had reached the city walls and leapt over it after waiting for a gap in guard patrols. Once he was outside the city walls he kept low to the ground and quickly gained distance from the city. After making sure he was well out of sight of the city, Mindel took to the skies, flying up to the clouds before flying towards the mission site.

Two hours later, Mindel was diving from the sky head first to the ground of a lush rainforest with thick undergrowth. Before he impacted the ground he shot his wings out again and slowed himself down enough to land without a sound. Mindel then quickly and carefully moved through the undergrowth like a barely there shadow. After another half an hour of crawling through bushes and dodging around wildlife, he finally arrived to a seemingly empty small clearing. That was quickly proved to be not the case when a part of a small boulder lifted up to reveal a hooded head, quickly followed by a chunk of tree bark detaching and seemingly transforming into a cloaked, armored neochangeling.

“Ready to go, Mindel?” Tiva asked.

“Yes we are.” Mindel nodded.

“Good,” Drider stated before speaking into the feed. “Vata, how are things on your end?”

“Already in the fortress,” Vata replied immediately. “Cara and I spotted a line of prison wagons heading to the fort so we decided to hunker down until they get here. Could be a good four or five hours until they arrive.”

“Sneaking about the fort in the middle of the night will only make things easier,” Drider commented before facing his current teammates. “Should we do the same?”

“The foliage is thick.” Mindel shook his head. “Getting into the construction site itself will likely be a different story, but we should be more than fine getting past the security lines.”

“We agree.” Tiva nodded.

“Then let's go,” Drider replied and without another word the trio practically melded into the undergrowth as they began making way.

The first layer of security wasn't too difficult to sneak past. Having so much ground to cover meant there were only a few outposts with patrols on cleared paths through the jungle. The ensuing layers, however, quickly grew in complexity and density. Patrols were in greater numbers, there were more cleared out areas and increasingly permanent looking fortifications. Eventually they reached the last layer of security, a massive palisade.

The trio observed the gate house of the palisade, It was clearly the main entrance and was a scene of near constant activity. Carts filled with cut stone streamed in while empty carts exited. The palisade was large enough to have a catwalk for guards to look over the top along with guards towers. There were, quite plainly, an absurd amount of intensely alert guards. There could be no doubt that with it being day and so little cover thanks to clear cutting that without the aid of the stealth cloaks the operatives would have easily been spotted.

They kept watch for a while, trying to spot a means to sneak past the final line of security without raising some suspicion. The stone blocks in the carts were tightly packed in and thus left little room to hide among them; the guards even made sure to check the bottoms. However, while the guards definitely checked under the carts, they didn't try to pat the underside down. With the stealth cloak, that was opening they needed.

Mindel led the way as they drew back a bit and edged silently along the main road. The road had a large area along the sides cleared of vegetation and there was always at least one patrol in eye sight along a stretch of road. Yet again advanced technology won out, however, as each operative silently and quickly ducked under a separate cart and latched on to the bottom, guards and zebras pulling the carts completely unaware anything was amiss.

“I don't think it would be possible to extract a VIP from the mission site under these conditions,” Tiva commented. “It's one thing to for us to sneak in.We are practically invisible, but it'll be entirely another thing to drag along a completely visible zebra.”

“True,” Drider responded. “Do you think we could manage it if we had a spare stealth cloak?”

“I think so, yet at the same time I really don't like the idea of trying to silently wrestle dead weight around,” Tiva replied. “I think it's best we consider extracting a VIP impossible as is and focus on what we can do.”

“I agree, but we don't even know what we will be capable of doing on the other side of the palisade, or even what kind of construction we are dealing with,” Mindel stated. “It will be very irritating if it's some kind of wide open flat disc with even more guards than there are now.”

“I think there would actually be less guards on the site itself,” Drider commented. “With so many layers of security around the site, there might be only enough guards to keep watch on the workers. After all, there are precious few beings I could think of who can get into here without raising some kind of alarm.”

“I guess we'll find out soon enough,” Tiva said as their carts approached the gate house. “Best of luck, everyone.”

Despite the absolute faith in their gear and skills, it was still an incredibly tense situation to be in as the carts came to a stop before the gatehouse. As usual the guards quickly swept over the contents of the cart before giving their thorough search ending with a look under the cart. This moment was the most stressful. The operatives knew their cloaks were practically perfect and they themselves were currently still as stone and not breathing, but it wasn't much in the way of assurance in the face of the scanning eyes of the zebrican guards.

In the end, however, the operatives were not discovered and their carts were allowed through the gatehouse. The operatives waited until their carts came to a stop before carefully crawling out from under them. They were currently in a yard full of activity, pulley operated cranes looming overhead as zebrican laborers busied themselves with unloading tons of cut stone.

Once more this was a situation that would have been impossible to sneak through had the neochangelings not had the advantage of their cloaks. As it was, they had to move carefully through the yard and avoid bumping into anyone. The three made way for a watch tower, darting across dirt packed tightly by the constant passage of zebras and heavy loads. They clambered up the sides of the towers instead of the ladder and silently ascended to the roof of the tower, avoiding the interior occupied by a guard. Once on top, they took in their surroundings.

The palisade encircled an area that was at least ten miles in diameter. Most of the space was taken up by a great number of shacks clearly meant to house the laborers with a few, far more sturdier stone fortifications. In the very center was a great bowl indention dug into the earth and occupying this was a great stone satellite dish-like construction with a maze like collection of walls upon its surface.

“What do you think it is?” Tiva asked.

“Whatever it is, I don't think it's anywhere close to being finished,” Drider replied and then adjusted the magnification of his visor. “Yeah, I see a ton of scaffolding and a constant flow of materials into it. Whatever it is, I think they've only just finished building the foundation.”

“Best way to find that out for sure is to find the plans for this thing,” Mindel said and looked around the area again. “Hopefully we can find some blueprints stored in one of those little forts.”

“Split up and go at multiple targets at once?” Tiva suggested.

“Yeah, let's do this,” Mindel said and without another word the three parted.

Mindel made his way through shacks, sticking to the shadows and staying low to the ground. Now that he was closer it was easier to see the dilapidated nature of the shacks, the worn down and perpetually exhausted expressions of those who lived within them. How no one had anything better to eat than gathered grass. It honestly hurt to just ignore this and focus on the mission, but Mindel reminded himself that if he and his fellows did their jobs they would help everyone. Not just the people, but the brainwashed soldiers as well.

Eventually Mindel arrived to one of the small forts dotting the outskirts of the construction. Really the only thing about them that made them forts was the fact they were made of stone and had a very solid and secure front door. Otherwise they would have been just decently big stone brick homes. The fort Mindel was targeting had a pair of oak double doors with two guards standing at attention beside it. It did have windows, however they were thin slots with bars in them. The only entrance was the main doors which, even for Mindel, was a bit of a problem.

'Hmm... suppose I just wait until someone either enters or leaves and hope they don't slam the door shut as soon as they are clear,' Mindel thought with a frown before quietly latching onto the side of the building and then settled in to wait for an opening.

It was nearly half an hour later before an opportunity presented itself. Mindel watched silently as a zebra wearing a gilded version of the masks the guards were wearing approached with a guard in tow. As the two approached, the guards at the door moved as one to open the doors to the building. Seeing this, Mindel moved as silently and as quickly as possible through the door.

The room that met Mindel's sight as he scuttled across the ceiling was a completely utilitarian lobby with two more guards standing at attention and facing each other from opposite sides of the room. The Operative silently moved onto the floor as the doors closed behind the official and his escort. Mindel watched him pass through the room in the silence typical of the brainwashed and then began to follow them at a slight distance.

A minute later after following the two down a poorly lit bare hallway, Mindel found himself led to a brightly lit room lined with shelves and a large table dominating the center. The shelves on the walls were filled with many dozens of scrolls and other then a few torches, the room also had three small window slits.

Mindel slipped into a dark corner of the room as the guard took up position at the door and the official walked over to one of the shelves. He watched as the official grabbed one long, fairly large scroll and brought it over to the table and unrolled it. Craning his head, Mindel saw it was a kind of blueprints for the construction.

For the next hour Mindel watched in silence as the official consulted the rolled out scroll and began writing down a report of some kind in a much smaller scroll. When the official was done writing his report, he placed the blueprint back on the shelf and placed the report scroll in a special carrier tube. When the zebra and his guard left, Mindel remained still in his corner, waiting until he heard the two leave the building and then waited a minute longer. Just as he was about to get up and approach the shelves, something unexpected happen.

One of the pieces of stone that made up the flagstone floor began to wiggle in place before slowly lifting up. The flagstone shifted aside on its own and revealed the bare packed earth beneath which also shifted on its own to form a hole. A monkey nearly completely covered head to toe in a black sneak suit slowly emerged from the newly formed hole in the floor.

The operative watched silently as the monkey darted over to the shelves and began to search through them for a specific one. After finding the one, he brought it over to the table and placed it down. He then pulled out a piece of long charcoal and very quickly but skillfully drew over the blueprint. It only took the monkey a few minutes to fully trace the complex blueprint before he brought out a large piece of paper and covered the blueprint with it. With that the monkey waved his hand and pulled back the paper, revealing that the charcoal had fully transferred onto the paper from the blueprint.

The monkey quickly and silently rolled the scroll back up and placed it back on the shelf before diving back into the hole in the floor. The hole remained exposed for only a moment before the packed earth refilled the hole and the flagstone slid back into place.

Mindel tilted his head curiously as he rose from his spot in the corner and walked over to the shelf and collected the scroll the monkey had just been tracing. Taking it over to the table, he unrolled it and studied it. Mindel was no architect by any means but from what he could see the blueprint was a simple birds eye of the construction and the site around. However, there were these strange paths on the blueprints leading to the construction. Examining the writing clarified that these paths were leylines. Mindel then recalled that the Enclave drew a massive amount of raw magical power from a leyline nexus.

'This can't be good,' Mindel thought and triggered the picture taking function of his helmet. Mindel then looked over the many, many scrolls on the shelves around him. He rolled the scroll back up and replaced it before taking another to take a picture of its contents as well.

'Definitely going to be here a while,' Mindel thought as he unrolled that scroll and took another picture. 'Going to be tricky getting back out of here.Probably just going to have to wait for another person to come in and slip out then. Hope Vata and Cara's mission are going just as well.'

With that Mindel focused on copying the scrolls while also keeping an ear out for anyone approaching.

DELTA

Vata watched as the last slivers of the sun fully sank past the horizon.

He and his partner Cara were at a fairly large fortress in the middle of a great Savannah. It was a large thing, ugly in its plainness. It had two sets of walls, the outer curtain was smaller and shorter while the inner curtain was thick and loomed over them. A large blocky keep dominated the very heart of the fortress. Vata and Cara were situated upon one of the large inner curtain towers, standing upon the conical roof.

“They've finally arrived just as the sun set,” Vata commented as he watched a number of prison carriages arrive at the gatehouse. “Very timely.”

“Makes our job easier,” Cara said. “Even these mind controlled soldiers still need to sleep. Won't have to worry too much about running into people in the close confines of these halls.”

Vata and Cara watched as the prison carriages passed through the outer and inner gatehouses before entering the main courtyard. Soldiers gathered in hundreds around these carriages and forced the zebras within out into the open. Captive zebra mares and stallions in equal numbers huddled together in groups in fearful silence. Once the prisoners were all unloaded, the group of a hundred captives was marched into the keep.

After seeing this the two operatives quickly descended down the side of their tower and darted across the courtyard. The windows of the keep near the ground were narrow slits but those much higher up were much bigger. The duo quickly scaled the side of the castle before slipping through a window near the top. The interior was barren and poorly lit by torches. The duo were currently in a storage room housing barrels upon barrels of arrows and throwing spears. They quickly made their way into a hallway to seek out the destination of the prisoners, and after several minutes of passing through poorly lit halls and silent guards, they found it.

It was a chamber that sat at the heart of the keep, where the meeting hall would have been. The room was large enough for several hundred people to idle in comfortably and went up three floors. In the center was a great, ten-sided black obelisk stretching up to the ceiling surrounded by stone slab beds facing each of the sides. Balconies lined the chamber on the upper floor and below ninety zebrican prisoners were crammed into a cage just big enough to house them to the side in an alcove. The ten zebras not in the cage were now in the process of being strapped onto the stone slabs.

Vata and Cara watched in silence as the guards finished strapping in the prisoners. Then another masked zebra wearing rich silken robes and a heavily decorated mask of silver and gold gilding and wielding a staff topped with a green ethereal gem approached. He came to a stop before the obelisk and then held his staff up into the air before bringing it down onto the floor. A sound issued forth like that of a distant explosion and the obelisk lit up in zebrican script. A poisonous green magical aura formed and flowed around the obelisk like churning storm clouds. A ball of light started rapidly forming at the very top of the obelisk. Beams of light suddenly shot forth from the ball, impacting the heads of the restrained zebras. The restrained zebras, once before they had been struggling weakly against their steel chains now remained still, their fearful expressions becoming like that of a stoic statue. After a few moments of this the light abated and the magical aura died down around the obelisk.

The operatives watched as the captive zebras were quickly released from their bindings after which they silently lined up to the side where another guard placed a mask on each of their heads. The brainwashing process continued another nine times and was completed within an hour. A group of newly brainwashed zebrican soldiers stood in a neat block of ten by ten where the gilded masked zebra examined them before waving them off. With that the new additions to the zebrican army marched out of the chamber in a line and the masked zebra deactivated the obelisk with another thunderous tap of his staff.

“Him,” Vata said as he and Cara watched the masked zebra leave. “I want to extract him.”

“How should we go about it?” Cara asked. “I don't think we can get away with faking another lion attack.”

“Even if we could I don't like the idea of doing that again.” Vata shook his head. “Hmm... perhaps we can fake his death in another way?”

“What's your plan?”

“One moment, I need to clarify something with Wheatley,” Vata said and tuned his radio to a specific channel. “Operative Vata to Wheatley, come in.”

“Hullo, Wheatley here!” came the AI's cheerful voice. “How can I help ya, mate?”

“I was wondering if the machine that create meat on the Silhouette can manufacture bones along with the meat?” Vata asked.

“Yes, surprising how many people requested we developed a meat fruit that included various types of bones in them,” Wheatley replied. “Let me guess, need a very realistic dummy?”

“Exactly that. I need to fake the death of a VIP I want to extract,” Vata confirmed.

“Aiming high, eh? Good show!” Wheatley said. “I'll pass on the word to Ace and he'll float on by to make a stealth drop and await extraction.”

“Right. Vata out,” Vata said and turned off the radio.

“You should track down our target's room,” Cara said. “I'll head up and await the fake body on the roof.”

“I'll let you know when I've got him secure.” Vata nodded and the two separated.

Vata slipped down to the ground floor and quickly darted through the door he saw the gilded masked zebra walk through. He briefly regretted not immediately chasing after them, finding himself at a crossroads with no clear idea of where his target had gone. However, he also couldn't have gone ahead without coming up with a plan of getting him out without too much suspicion. Vata focused and thought for a moment before switching his suit's sonar on.

The operative's vision went completely black for a moment before the on board computer rapidly processed incoming echoes to form a comprehensible image for him. The blackness filled with white lines and somewhat blurry ghost images. Vata swiveled his head for a few moments, taking in dozens upon dozens of zebrican soldiers through the walls before spotting a specific one that had a long, staff-like shape next to him. Vata saw that he was ascending a staircase and quickly made way to get to said staircase before he reached his floor. Thankfully it only took a quick dash down a hallway to find a doorway leading to one.

Less then a minute later, Vata had already caught up and was in the process of silently trailing his target. While it likely would have been easy to simply knock the zebra out here and now, the goal was to try to cover up his sudden disappearance. If he did go through with that, it was likely that no one would immediately rush to the conclusion that invisible spies were to blame. It would still be quite suspicious, however, and raise alertness across the country. It was simply better in the long term to fake this zebra's death, no matter how much it complicated the mission.

Before much longer the robed zebra arrived on a floor that actually had a carpets placed down on top of hardwood flooring. Although the carpets in question were hardly examples of luxury, looking more like they were grabbed by the cart full from some thrift store. Still, with the way the brainwashed zebras behaved, any kind of lavishness was something to take note of. After another few moments the robed zebra turned down a hall that lead to a door with a pair of soldiers standing at guard outside.

Vata narrowed his eyes. He got the feeling that wasn't going to get in without getting caught by the door if he stuck close to the masked zebra's back. Running ahead, Vata quickly scaled the wall and latched onto the ceiling before crawling silently towards the top of the door frame. The gilded masked zebra approached and one of the guards reached out and opened the door for him. Vata took to opportunity to quickly scuttle through before his target even neared the doorway.

Once in the room, Vata took up position in a darkened corner before taking in his surroundings. As it turns out, pretty much the only sign of luxury that was afforded to the robed zebra was his gilded mask and his silk robes. His room was lit by torches and candles, one wall had a large case along it with diamond shaped cells to hold scrolls which had well over a hundred just by the look of it. He had a bed that was barely larger than a twin size with a stiff looking mattress and pillow with a thin sheet of a blanket. His floor was the same hardwood as in the hall with a single small carpet on one side of the bed. The only other furniture in the room was a writing desk set before a window and a chair with parchment, inkwell and quill at the ready.

The operative watched as the robed zebra fully entered the room and closed the door behind him. Vata took note of the visible locking mechanism on this side of the door. The robed zebra then walked over to his bed and carefully leaned his staff against the wall before walking over to the desk where he sat down and immediately got to writing. Vata carefully walked over silently to observe what the zebra was working on. From the looks of things it would be shaping up to be little more than a run of the mil report of the day's events.

“Vata, the Silhouette has arrived and is dropping the package now,” Vata heard over the feed. Looking out the window he noticed a thick fog had suddenly rolled in. “Thankfully there are no guards atop the keep roof currently, otherwise I'd be playing a high stakes game of red light green light over here. Can you give me the location of the VIP's room?”

“Yeah, give me a moment. I just need to secure him and the room,” Vata responded and reached out with his forelimbs.

One limb wrapped around the zebra's neck with crushing pressure while the other wrapped around the chest and placed the hoof at his side. Two things happened at the same time: the zebra jolted and gave a barely audible gurgle of surprise and a small needle extended out from the limb wrapped around his chest, stabbing deep and injecting a special chemical. Within another second the zebra went limp and Vata laid him carefully onto the floor. The operative then quickly walked back to the door and locked it before walking back towards the window.

“Right. From the look of things I am on the top floor and on the west side,” Vata said. “Be warned that the front door is guarded quite closely by a pair of guards. I think the only way you can get in here is through the window.”

“Damn it... trying to keep this ghastly thing covered and wall crawling is going to be a massive pain,” Cara sighed. “Okay, open the window up and give me a minute. I need to time this carefully if I want to get in unnoticed.”

Vata quickly pushed the window shutters fully open and backed away. Honestly, the chances of Cara getting spotted were very slim with the heavy fog out. However, the ultimate goal was to depose the Prime Minister without getting discovered, and maintaining secrecy wasn't going to happen if unnecessary risks were taken all the time.

After a few moments a black shape suddenly darted into view of the window and swung into the room. Vata watched as Cara's cloak returned to its inactive state and his fellow operative dropped her burden to the ground. Cara had been very right when she described the dummy body as ghastly. It had the recognizable equine shape, but that was it. It had no coat and no mane or long tail or even a pair of eyes. Ultimately, the thing looked like a skeleton wrapped in meat.

“Ghastly...” Vata commented before hoisting the thing onto his back and carrying it over to the bed.

“Don't I know it,” Cara replied and stepped beside their intended target lying unconscious on the floor. “Right, what's the plan?”

“You take the VIP up to the roof while I stay here and fake his death with an accidental fire,” Vata said as he pulled the covers off the bed and began positioning the body like it fell out of the bed head first. “I”m going to need to stay here for a bit and ensure the damage is enough they won't recognize this body didn't belong to a zebra. Once I'm sure of that I'll head up to the roof as well and we'll extract via the Silhouette.”

“Will the door stand up to attempts to bash it down?” Cara asked and the both of them took a moment to stare at the door wonderingly.

“The door and lock look like the few things they didn't skimp on in this room,” Vata eventually answered as he removed the mask from the zebra and placed it on the dummy. “It should stay up long enough for the fire to do its job.”

“Give me a minute after I leave before you start the fire,” Cara said as she wrapped a limb around the comatose zebra and looked out the window carefully. After a few moments of observing the world outside, she suddenly leaped through the window and started rapidly scrambling up the wall.

Vata took position beside a tall candle stand beside the bed and mentally counted down a minute. Once the countdown reached zero, he then simply pushed the stand over towards the bed. A few of the candles simply went out but others immediately started smoldering and in the dry blankets of the bed. Within a few moments flames were quickly growing and started to blacken the flesh of the dummy.

As guards shouted and began to pound on the door, Vata encouraged the flames to grow as much as he dared without making it look artificial. Before long the flames were definitely growing and were spreading to the floor and other parts of the room. If it weren't for Vata's armor, he’d definitely be alight along with the charred black body on the bed.

'That's good enough I think,' Vata thought with a nod and quickly leapt out the window.

Along with the fog there was quite a bit of smoke. Even without the cloak, Vata's form on the wall would have been impossible to see through all the billowing smoke. The Operative quickly climbed the side of the castle and within a moment was on the roof.

Cara's invisible form sat in the center of the roof, her cloak draped over the VIP to keep him perfectly hidden. Vata joined her and after a moment a harness attached to a long cable descended from the fog filled sky. They quickly strapped in the VIP and then hopped atop of him, leaving only the cable visible. With a sudden jerk, the three quickly shot up into the sky.

Within a few minutes the freak fog started to clear up and left a clear night sky marred only by a rising column of smoke.

EPSILON

“So you see we simply can't keep up with things the way that they are,” said a diamond dog with an oil stained fur coat, goggles sitting atop his head and tough leather vest festooned with tools.

“And clearly that's where I come in,” Wheatley said, his eye on the large computer screen bobbing up and down in a nodding motion.

A large group of diamond dog engineers were gathered together in a well used workshop located just off “Old Town” of the Hub. Tools lay strewn across table tops, a portion of the shop was designated as a garage and a number of different kinds of buggies were in different states of construction. All the engineers had cleared off one of the larger tables and were sitting at it with Wheatley's screen looming overhead. These dogs had gathered together to meet with Wheatley to get his help to remain technologically relevant. They sought Wheatley's aid because he had said himself that he had Emerald's technical knowledge at his own disposal. So while they didn't want to trouble Emerald to help them keep up with her, they could ask Wheatley for his help.

“Do you have any idea of how we can stay relevant?” a golden retriever diamond dog, Missy, asked.

“Making better alloys and more powerful machines is a way, but a very slow one...” Wheatley hummed for a moment when a light bulb appeared on his screen with a ding. “Ah! Emerald's biotech wouldn't be even half as good as it is without the use of magic. We shall use magic as well to amplify our machines and steel.”

“Would that be possible for us?” asked another engineer, exchanging a look with the others. “Diamond dog magic is very different from unicorn magic.”

“True, but we have a ready made work around,” Wheatley said and his eye was replaced with the image a can of paint. “If you'll recall the runic paint...”

“Of course!” Missy said, thumping her fists on the table. “None of the hundreds of weapons we make a day need a unicorn to place their magic effects. It's all automatically applied runic circuits. By that logic, we just need to further understand the programming language of magic to make our own effects.”

“That's exactly the thing, luv,” Wheatley said cheerfully. “Right'o, here's the plan! I'll put together a quick project that can be built in a few hours with all of you working together. It'll involve a number of basic runic effects just to get your paws wet. By the end of it you all should have the beginnings of a solid foundation in runic arrays.”

“Sounds like a plan. Let’s get to it,” said the first engineer and Wheatley started to display some blueprints and a number of runic arrays.

“That looks vaguely like the skeleton of a wolf...” one of the engineers commented. “Only definitely bigger. That looks like it's as tall as Pad Foot is currently.”

“A lot of that steel is using some mass production parts, but there is still some things we are going to have to form ourselves,” commented another. “Let's fire up the forges. This is going to take some effort.”

What followed next was near on five hours of constant work. Putting together the main body and limbs of the “skeleton” was easy enough and barely took half an hour with all of them working together. Then came the hard parts; putting together the machinery, the engine and power block, the hydraulics and pistons and then was creating the custom parts from scratch. And alongside all of this, a number of them were working together to study several runic arrays and carefully painting them on specific areas of the “skeleton”. And at the end of this five hours, the engineers all gathered together around their creation.

The “skeleton” was much like that of an animatronic's endoskeleton with all its exposed mechanical workings. Where the rib cage would have been was the machine's engine and magical power core. Along with that, several large tubes ran along the limbs of the machine like arteries, gathering together in a central “heart”. Its head was a large blocky thing that bore little resemblance to a canine, looking more like a bear trap with two great slabs of steel attached to the top and bottom.

“Oh, he looks beastly!” Missy exclaimed and then huffed. “Wish it was able to actually use those chompers, though.”

“Just getting it to move around will be accomplishment enough for a few hours work,” replied another engineer. “...That's if it works in the first place.”

“You all followed my blueprints to the letter. It'll work!” Wheatley assured. “Now just switch the pup on and watch him go.”

“Alright, moment of truth,” Missy commented and stepped forward. She reached out towards the mechanical hound's engine block and pressed its ignition switch. They listened with some stress as the engine coughed and sputtered for a few moments before it suddenly roared to life. The dogs then watched with bated breath as the metal hound took half stumbling steps as it walked forward, its steps clanking loudly. Then after walking forward a few steps, it turned in place and returned to the spot it started in.

Wheatley smiled, or rather his eye glowed brighter as the dogs he instructed cheered the success. It was a pretty big first step all things considered, and he was glad to have played a big part in it.

He could barely wait to see what the engineers of the Enclave would come up with on their own.

ZETA

With a flash of light, Emerald in her formal attire appeared upon the train station platforms just outside the Grand Monastery of the Channelers.

It had been barely a full day since the rather successful operations carried out by the neochangelings in Zebrica, but Emerald had been taking advantage of every spare possible moment. She had already scoured the minds of the latest captive for all his knowledge, the result of which was understanding of the technique that was being used to brainwash zebras. Full understanding of this knowledge allowed Emerald to figure out how to reverse it within the hour, and already both captive zebras had been freed from their brainwashing and were currently being attended to by Zecora in a secure location in the Enclave.

As for right now, Emerald was intending to address the other thing the neochanglings had discovered; namely the fact there was an earth channler doing spy work in Zebrica. After the massive favor they had done her last time by entrusting her with their knowledge, Emerald was willing to go out on a limb and try to work together.

Emerald walked forward to the main entrance of the monastery, ignoring the gawkers she was getting. The main lobby looked the same as it did the last time she was here, the only difference being the amount of attention she getting compared to last time. After a few moments of standing in place and looking impatient, a young heron wearing a haori emblazoned with the symbol for fire approached her.

“Princess Gleaner of the Enclave, may I be of some assistance?” he asked.

“I need to speak on a matter of grave importance,” Emerald began. “Would Master Gyatso be available?”

“I... believe so,” the heron answered with a thoughtful hum. “The last I heard he had just returned from a training trip with his apprentice. If you would await in the hall, I shall go see if I can quickly locate him for you.”

“That would be good, thank you,” Emerald replied and the heron bowed briefly before taking flight towards one of the many halls connecting to the lobby.

Emerald took a look around, noticing she had quite a few gawkers now. She reached out with her senses, her hearing picking out their muttering about how she was gifted knowledge. Her changeling senses picked up a great number of emotions; jealousy, awe and fear just to name the most prominent. Altogether, even in a crowd of mystically skilled beings she didn't really feel anything to be worried for, only irritation at the attention.

The virus decided to walk towards the great statues of the four spirit types and take a seat at one of the comfy benches facing them. She sat down on the bench and stared up at the statues for a moment before taking a breath and closing her eyes. She began drawing on her knowledge of channeler meditation techniques. Emerald could have easily spent the time waiting for someone to meet with her doing something productive, such as thinking on upcoming meetings, how she was only just caught up with her political obligations, magical research and development of new technology or directing the growth of the Enclave. But honestly, she really didn't want to. She might work a whole lot but she didn't enjoy it and did it as much as she did because she felt compelled to do so for her own sake and the sake of others she cared for.

So for once, Emerald took the opportunity to do a most blessed act: nothing.

With her meditation placing her focus purely on the cleared blankness of her mind, Emerald didn't know how long she sat in the bench; it could have been minutes, or it could have been well over an hour. In any case, when she interrupted from her meditation she had honestly found the interruption far too soon.

“Emerald, it has been quite a while hasn't it?” Emerald heard Gyatso's voice and opened her eyes to see him and Swift Gale standing in front of her.

“Yes it has, Gyatso.” Emerald smiled, though noting that Swift looked quite angry for some reason. “I trust things have been going well for the Republic?”

“Yes, although the oddest weather has been plaguing us lat-” Gyatso began when he was interrupted.

“You freakin cheater!” Swift exclaimed angrily and slugged Emerald in the shoulder with a hoof.

“Excuse me?” Emerald said, more confused than anything by the sudden strike.

“Don't pretend you don't know what I'm talking about!” Swift said, completely ignoring the gasping and loudly muttering crowd around them. “I spend years training in channeling to get where I am now, a decade of my whole life dedicated to my sword and my wind and you just get given centuries worth of channeling mastery in all the fields in a single day?!”

“...Sorry?” Emerald offered, then shrugged when Swift only looked more angry.

“Perhaps now is not the best time for such discussion,” Gyatso said, placing a wing over Swift Gale's shoulders before looking to Emerald. “I am aware that you are quite busy nowadays. Shall we talk in a more private setting?”

“Yes, I'd like that very much,” Emerald replied and stood up.

“Very well.” Gyatso nodded before looking at his protege. “Swift, go calm yourself. Perhaps do some physically intensive training or see if a few of your friends are currently in.”

“...fine. Sure thing, Master. I'll get right to it,” Swift Gale said with huff and began to walk away, though not before pointing dramatically at Emerald in a way that clearly said 'Next time'.

“Am I going to have to worry about her?” Emerald asked unconcernedly.

“Swift Gale is the competitive sort,” Gyatso stated as he began to lead Emerald away. “If anything, this will give her quite a bit of drive to improve... although the cheating will likely make her sour company for your time here.”

“Noted.” Emerald nodded as she followed Gyatso.

Gyatso led Emerald down several halls and up a few staircases. Eventually the crowds began to thin and fade the deeper into massive monastery they went. Eventually they came to one of the rarely traveled section of the monastery. Aged stonework went uncovered by modern decorative design, dust covered the floor and cobwebs crowded the corners. Finally, Gyatso led Emerald onto a landing facing the open air and overlooking the valley the monastery sat in.

“Ah, it is a view I pray I never tire of,” Gyatso said softly as he took in the sight.

“Great view, fresh mountain air, people with common interests. What’s not to like?” Emerald stated and Gyatso nodded in agreement.

Emerald glanced at Gyatso from the corner of her eye. She had sought out Gyatso because he was the only channeler she somewhat personally knew and had been the one to deliver her to the Old Masters. Now that she thought about it, she wasn't entirely sure if he would have been in the know regarding foreign espionage.

'Should I try being subtle and hint at the situation in Zebrica?' Emerald thought for a long moment before frowning. '...No, screw it. If he isn't in the know of the spying in Zebrica then he either isn't in the know or someone other then the channelers is spying.Either way, I'm sure Gyatso knows how to keep a secret.'

“I have spies in Zebrica,” Emerald said bluntly, looking directly at Gyatso with arms crossed.

“O-oh!” Gyatso blinked in surprise. “That is very... forthright of you. I suppose you are admitting this because you are also concerned of the situation there and perhaps have stumbled upon one of our own?”

“Yes,” Emerald said simply, not bothering to hide her sigh of relief. “A friend of mine actually made me aware there was something more to Zebrica than garden variety tyranny. So far I've managed to find out how to undo the brainwashing and that there is some massive project underway. I don't know exactly what, but the photos of the plans clearly state it’s a structure meant to harness the natural energies of the ley line network in Zebrica and the surrounding regions. I don't know what the intent of this project is, but the amount of energy it has at its disposal... it can't be anything good.”

“We are in agreement, then.” Gyatso nodded. “The Channelers felt there was a great disturbance underway in Zebrica. The Old Masters told us of a darkness that has made the country its lair. We've been slowly infiltrating the land ourselves, carefully placing agents and observing events. Whatever is in control of the country is frighteningly intelligent and incredibly skilled in magical matters. Despite this, we have managed to fully map the congressional buildings it has made into its personal palace.”

“We've only been in Zebrica a short while compared to your years,” Emerald said. “I would be incredibly appreciative if we could combine our findings and resources. I want to end this whole thing as quickly and stealthily as possible.”

“I speak for the Channelers when I say we'd be happy to,” Gyatso said with smile before frowning and shaking his head. “Alas, I'm afraid in this situation only one of the two can be accomplished. Our channelers have only remained unseen so far due to great care and willingness to carefully survey our every step forward.”

“Maybe, but my own agents have quite a few skills and effective tools at their disposal,” Emerald said confidently. “I'm not saying we aren't careful, but a lot of things aren't inherently risky for us.”

“It is not my place to advise you on your actions, but please be careful. The Old Masters feel greatly that the foe we are dealing with is not to be underestimated,” Gyatso beseeched before taking a breath and then waving a wing towards the interior of the monastery. “But please, let's continue this conversation another time. The Old Masters have been waiting for an opportunity to contact you about the tapestry of fate.”

“Is it something dangerous?” Emerald asked and followed Gyatso as he began to lead the way again.

“They aren't sure,” Gyatso answered. “Your fate is harder to read and seems to grow almost intangible at times. They hope that you being there personally will be enough to add some clarity.”

The two traveled for some time through the monastery and before long Emerald once more found herself before the great doors of the Hall of the Old Masters. This time when the doors swung open, Gyatso entered with her. The hall was the same as the last time she had been here; an extremely tall chamber with hundreds upon hundreds of statues depicting former grand masters of the Channelers. Sitting facing each other in a circle was the current council of grand masters. They seemed to be deep in meditation, a stick of incense mostly burned away sat before each one.

“The grand masters are currently in commune with the old masters,” Gyatso explained. “The old masters are gathered before the tapestry at this very moment. You only need to join the grand masters in meditation to make the journey there yourself.”

“Alright.” Emerald nodded and then walked over to an empty space between one of the grand masters and sat down in a crossed legged position. She quickly conjured up a stick of incense of her own before drawing a deep breath and instantly falling into meditation,

An instant later Emerald opened her eyes and found herself in a completely different place.

The “ground” was an utterly black void while the horizon and sky was a swirling nebula of dark colors. She wasn't alone, either. Thousands of people were there, species of all kinds wearing Channeler robes and ghostly in appearance. The old masters seemed to be all staring in the same direction and only now Emerald noticed a light like a blinding star shining in the distance. Even for her the light should have been blinding and yet she felt no strain on her eyes attempting to adapt and no one else seemed to be suffering worse for wear either.

Emerald moved forward. She walked past many ghostly apparitions of the old masters and closed in on the blinding star. Before long she was brushing past a line of ghosts circling around the star. The old masters were gathered in a mass around the star but kept some distance from it. When the virus broke the line she saw the star fully instead of just its light. It was seemingly a small thing, no larger than a grape and floated midair at about shoulder height. Emerald took one last look to the silent crowd and then closed on the blinding star. As she reached out to touch it, she thought of how she expected the tapestry of fate to be a bit more then this.

Before she could touch the star, however, it exploded into flashes of light and all seemed to fade from Emerald’s vision. The colorful sky, the ghostly old masters, all that remained was the explosions of pure light around her. Suddenly there was a sound like the rapid unraveling of a great rope and Emerald turned to see... strings.

Strings of light rushed past her in countless numbers, interwoven, tangling and pulling apart all at the same time. The threads rushed past her like waves the size of mountains as Emerald seemed to fall through a vast tunnel made of these golden glowing strings. After a few moments of falling down the tunnel of string at incredible speeds, Emerald saw a great blackness appear. It seemed like the tunnel was nearing its end.

As the end approached, Emerald noticed she was beginning to slow as well. The closer to the end, the slower she went. Taking the opportunity to look around, Emerald stared at the passing threads and focused her gaze on one in particular. The moment she did, however, she felt a great pull and-

“I can't believe Time Turner proposed to me!” Rose Locks said happily to her friends. “This is just- WOW! I feel so happy!”

“Who do you have in mind for bridesmaid?” Bon Bon asked.

“Oh, I don't know?!” Rose Locks exclaimed excitedly. “We haven't even agreed on a date yet!”

“Well... how about the mare that introduced you to him in the first-”

Emerald shook her head as she ripped her gaze away from the thread. That was incredibly intense, just as much as absorbing an emotionally powerful memory into herself. And that comparison alone made her really not want to repeat that again until she realized that there was one more thread, one exactly beside her.

Unlike Rose Locks' thread of fate, this one didn't pull her into it when she stared at it. It didn't even do that when she touched it and watched as it passed through her hand as she continued to fall upwards. However, somehow deep within her, Emerald knew that this thread in particular belonged to her. She looked up again at the approaching darkness and this time realized that what she was approaching wasn't darkness at all... it was smoke.

Looking at the masses of golden threads bordering the smoke, Emerald saw that they were fraying and smoldering, ending abruptly in glowing embers. Within a few moments she was slowly approaching the wall of smoke and soon began to pass through it as she fell without control. It wasn't a very thick layer and in a moment she was on the other side.

Emerald found herself in an endless gray haze. Below her lied an endless plane of black, oily smoke. Ash and faintly glowing cinders filled the air and stretched out into infinity. Soon she found herself sinking back down into the smoke and began to bob in it for a moment before sinking down past the layer again.

Back in the tunnel of threads, Emerald looked around and found that the thread she knew to be hers was once more right next to her. She touched it again and this time felt it thrum with energy. A rush of images flew past her eyes, blurry and imperceptible as the thread moved on its own through her hand. Suddenly the thread began to slow every now and then and the images became clear for a moment.

… Her and Twilight joining together in marriage, then later her own eyes widening in astounded surprise...

… She was standing in a swirling cloud of darkness, hands clapped over her ears and eyes tightly closed. A pair of slitted green eyes looming overhead....

… Creating a massive magical barrier as two serpentine beings were wreathed in blinding light...

… She stood overlooking a crater before gingerly picking up a badly burned unicorn...

… A digital map lay before her, names flashed and turned from green to yellow, red, orange and black...

… The world lay before her and...

And...

And...

And...

'It burns... IT BURNS... IT BURNS...' Emerald thought in rising agony as the thread in her hands started to reach the end, the smoldering end of the line. The image of a light so blinding even she couldn't make it out clearly. 'Oh god it hurts! It hurts! Stop it! STOP IT!'

Suddenly there was a horrifying, ear splitting screech of rage. Emerald trembled as the threads all around her burst into flame. She was sent flying, tumbling through seas of flame and free floating pieces of threads turned to embers.

The last thing she saw was the ghosts of the old masters tumbling with her through the flames, their forms caught alight and bursting in explosions of light.

…

Emerald Gleaner sat up suddenly with a loud gasp from her position on the stone floor.

“My word, what happened?!” Gyatso exclaimed as he hurriedly patted her back.

“I... I-I don't k-know...” Emerald stuttered and briefly hyperventilated. She thought back and struggled to grasp memories of what she just experienced, thoughts and images crumbling in her own mind like a half burned building. “W-what did it l-look like on this s-side?”

“I was observing you all, awaiting your return,” Gyatso replied as he quickly attended to each grand master who were in worse states than Emerald, each one lying on the floor, faces twisted in pain and unresponsive but alive. “Suddenly you all screamed in pain as one and collapsed to the flo-”

Suddenly the sound of stone cracking filled the air. Gyatso and Emerald looked up to bear witness to the statues of the old masters cracking, their eyes briefly glowing before fading as the cracks grew in number. Within moments the cracks grew to such a level that each statue quickly started shattering and crumbling to pieces. Gyatso reacted quickly and formed a dome of air around the comatose Grand Masters as pieces of stone rained down around them.

It only lasted a few moments, but by the time it was over barely a dozen statues remained whole of out of the hundreds there were before.

“... Are you sure you can't recall anything?” Gyatso asked almost desperately in the heavy silence that followed. “Anything at all?!”

“I... I saw...” Emerald began, closing her eyes and placing her fingers to her temples as she struggled to recall some kind of detail. Barely anything remained now, but the image of the blinding light remained and now as she mentally examined this image she could make one a single detail. “I saw...”

“Fire.”

ETA

The legislative assembly building of Zebrica was a grand thing. Perhaps not as grand as the royal palaces of royalty, but the once respected Republic had known pride in their government. Now with the darkness in control of the land, the pride was replaced with fear. Even though no outward changes had been made to the structure, somehow it exuded an aura of fear for all that lived under its shadow.

The central and most important chamber of the building was, of course, the cavernous room where all the representatives of Zebrica had once gathered; where they had made decisions on the direction of their country and its laws. There were many bleachers of high quality and make surrounding a central area where once there had been a table and a few very comfortable lavish seats for the Prime Minister and his advisors. Now in its place, a great pedestal where a throne shrouded in fine curtains sat, the throne itself almost the size of a bed and easily allowed for the occupant to lounge on it like it was a couch.

Currently it was night and the room was faintly lit with balls of light purple flames, casting the room in unnerving shades of purple. A group of masked zebra bearing staves topped with green gems cared not for this, however.

A procession of six brainwashed zebra shamans entered the room followed by a cart covered in a white burial shroud that seemed to be pushing itself along. The shamans came to a stop before the throne and then took up positions facing the cart and waited. After a few moments the curtains shielding the throne from sight parted and a pair of green slitted eyes glinted in the darkness.

“Show me,” the figure in the shadows commanded.

Immediately the shroud pulled itself away from the cart, revealing the grizzly sight of a horrifically burned body. It was equine in shape but the damage was so severe that was the only thing that could be told. It was little more than a skeleton covered in charcoal and sitting atop of it was a polished black stone bearing the symbol of the Enclave, a body preserver.

The six shamans moved as one, leaning their staves forward until the green gems were over the body. Tendrils of green light snaked forth from the gems and descended to the body, wrapping and coiling about it. This continued for several long moments before one of the shamans broke the silence.

“This body holds no spiritual presence,” said one shaman in a complete monotone.

“Neither are there any residual memories,” added another.

“It is a fake, then.” With that there was a clack of hooves on stone and the figure descended from the throne.

It was a zebra of incredible size, easily rivaling Celestia in height. His black stripes were thick, so much so the white on his body were thin lines. His mane was a very tall black mohawk and his eyes were of an aquamarine green with even the whites of his eyes a lighter shade of green. He wore fine clothing, a velvet, dark crimson coat was worn over a gold silk shirt with a golden sash with white borders worn over both.

“Recount to me the details just before and after the fire,” the Prime Minister commanded.

“Reports say that a fog had blown in just before the fire,” one shaman recounted emotionlessly. “The guards outside the room started to try to break in the room as soon as the smoke was smelled. They were unable to break in until the fire had burned the body to its current state. Positioning of the body suggested a fall from the bed headfirst. Ten minutes after the fire had started, the fog had started to drift away.”

“A sudden fog preludes a fire that seemingly claims the life of one of my shamans and leaves soon after,” the Prime Minister wondered aloud. “I would have thought it a coincidence, had the body not turned out to be fake. Now what could explain this?”

For a few minutes the towering zebra paced in place, frowning deep in thought.

“A pegasus, perhaps?” the Prime Minister suggested to himself before shaking his head. “No, the fog would be too large for just one and multiple would have been fairly noticeable. A unicorn, a machine? No, neither of which can fly with the ease of a pegasus... which leaves an airship...”

“We have an enemy in our fair kingdom!” The Prime Minister announced grandly to his silent, still shamans.

“But what enemy could it be?” he continued, uncaring of the lack of reaction, before shaking his head sharply. “I can figure it out later.For now, all that matters is the fact foes are sneaking about freely. No choice then...”

The Prime Minister climbed the pedestal and back up onto his throne. He lounged in the darkness again with his eyes glinting.

“We shall hide our capabilities no more!” the Prime Minister announced hotly. “With the project under way, we can not afford for it to be tampered with. No longer is completion of the Resounding Dome within the next five years acceptable! It must be done NOW!!! Go forth and bare my command to the far corners of my forces! Do so with utmost care.Our hidden enemy must not realize the depths of their transgression!”

“THIS, I, NIGHTMARE NELMAN KING, COMMAND!”

-TBC-

Author's Note

AN: Alright, finally done the chapter! Took much longer then I intended but I've got a job now and it's surprising how much that gets in the way. In any case, please post your comments on this chapter! I really enjoy reading them!

EN: Well, that was abrupt. I kind of had the feeling something would go wrong while the neochangelings were doing their thing, but jeez...

Chapter 7: Pyrrhic Victory

Zecora sipped her tea calmly as she watched Twilight and Emerald.

Currently the three of them were in the living room of Twilight's home. Emerald and Twilight were just freshly back from their honeymoon, the two of them clearly still in newlywed mode with the way they nuzzled each other every other minute. Zecora sat in a recliner and opposite her on the love seat of all things were Emerald and Twilight.

“Though I find myself curious as to how, none the less I congratulate you both,” Zecora stated evenly.

“Thank you Zecora, though I do realize this does get in the way of our plans...” Twilight began.

“This is happy news, Twilight Sparkle. There is no need to apologize for it,” Zecora retorted. “And besides, adapting our plans to your pregnancy is what we will be discussing.”

“Among others.” Emerald nodded before her ear twitched. “Ah, the others are arriving.”

“I can't wait to see their reactions to the news!” Twilight laughed a little.

“Would be about the only real good news we'd have,” Emerald said softly and Twilight's smile died down a little.

Soon the sound of the front door opening drifted towards the three along with Spike's voice greeting the girls at the door. Hooves clopping on the floor followed and soon the door to living room.

“We got your message, sugarcube!” Applejack announced as she threw the door open.

“You said it was an emergency meeting, dear,” Rarity said with a concerned frown as she trotted into the room towards Emerald and Twilight. “Considering what we've all been preparing for, we were very worried.”

“Well everyone gather round,” Emerald waved with a hoof and shuffled out from being snuggled against Twilight to properly sit on the love seat. “We've got some great news and some bad news to tell you.”

“Oh my... whatever shall we listen to first?” Fluttershy asked.

“Let's get the good news outta the way.” Rainbow Dash nodded. “That way we can focus.”

“Mmhmm...” Twilight shared a look with Emerald and Zecora before smiling at the girls. “I'm pregnant.”

“...WHAT?!” all five mares burst out at once after a shocked moment.

“Oh my goodness, oh my goodness, I can't believe it!” Rarity squealed as she wrapped Twilight up in a hug.

“There's gonna be an Emmy Junior!” Pinkie gasped with wide, sparkling eyes. “Oh, I get to plan another baby shower!”

“You're going to be a mommy, Twilight,” Fluttershy gushed. “It's going to be such a little cutie, I just can't wait to see it.”

“Wow, thats...” Rainbow Dash began with her mouth hanging open. “I mean... it's great and all, but... how does that even... work?”

“I'm as plum confused as Rainbow, too!” Applejack said with a frown. “How'n the hay is Twi pregnant with a foal when the both of you are mares?”

“I can transform any of my limbs into any kind of fully functional limb,” Emerald said simply and let their imagination fill in the rest.

“Oh...” Applejack stated with cheeks rapidly turning crimson.

“Ohhhhhhh...” Rainbow Dash added unhelpfully. “Uhhh... did ya... did ya just add the part to your um...”

“DASH!!!” four members of the Mane Six shouted at once.

“There is no need to demand details!” Rarity scolded with a distinctly affronted tone. “It's enough to know that a beautiful foal will be brought into this world in only a few months.”

“Geez, I was just... curious is all,” Dash muttered with blushing cheeks, averting her gaze.

“It's okay, Dash,” Emerald said with a wave of a hoof. “It you're really interested in the details we can talk a bit later.”

Suddenly Dash got a carefully blank expression on her face with eyes glinting in interest.

“Hold on, I jus' realized somethin’!” Applejack exclaimed with a hoof raised in the air. “Twilight, I know you're a tough mare and all but ain't it a little dangerous to be adventurin pregnant?”

“I agree completely!” Rarity said with a gasp and looked beseechingly at Twilight. “Darling you have to sit this out! The well-being of your unborn child is at stake!”

“It's okay, girls. I realize it would be irresponsible beyond reasoning to go out while pregnant,” Twilight replied, looking down at her belly and rubbing it with a hoof.

“Twilight will be watching the operation in the Silhouette,” Emerald stated. “However you girls still need a sixth member to even your team out and help execute the plans you've made for the capital.”

“Who can replace Twilight at this point and is trustworthy?” Rarity questioned.

“I guess that's my cue,” said a voice from behind them.

The girls looked at the door to the living room to see Sunset Shimmer standing there wearing saddlebags practically overstuffed with scrolls.

“Sunset Shimmer,” Emerald greeted with a nod as the unicorn walked over. “Thanks for coming. Girls, I'm sure you all remember Sunset.”

“Didn't you steal the Element of Magic?” Dash stated.

“Bad first impression, I know,” Sunset acknowledged with a nod as she joined the group. “But all I want is to make up for mistakes... and help a friend.”

“I like her!” Pinkie exclaimed and darted over to Sunset to give her a friendly hug. “I hope we can be friends too, Sunny!”

“Oof, I'd like that too, Pinkie Pie,” Sunset said with a grunt and a smile.

“As it turns out Sunset Shimmer is very good at magic,” Emerald said. “She picks it up with incredible ease and speed. She'll be a great replacement for Twilight.”

“We'll be sure to get you up to speed on all the plans we made for Zebrica,” Rarity said and waved to a pile of scrolls. “There is quite a bit...”

“I'll manage.” Sunset nodded confidently.

“Maybe we should start on the bad news now?” Fluttershy offered and everyone seemed to latch onto that and looked at Emerald pointedly.

“The situation in Zebrica is evolving unnervingly fast,” Emerald began and placed a slate on the coffee table. Magical runes lit up on the surface of the slate and a highly detailed hologram of Zebrica appeared above it. “The Prime Minister suspects someone is messing with him and now has pulled a ton of magical abilities pretty much out of nowhere. Construction at the Ritual Site has picked up speed immensely and now the laborers there are being held as hostages.”

“Like all peoples, the Zebra have a magic all their own,” Zecora added. “Our shamanism may not have the finesse of unicorn magic, but it is capable of rituals of incredible complexity. However, along with Zebrican Shamanism, the dark spirit possessing the Prime Minister appears to have imbued the Shamans with a wide range of magical skills. Golems and direct magical combat, magical artifices that we were never capable of before, but under his direction...”

“Point is, the years long window of opportunity isclosing, fast,” Emerald continued with motion at the hologram. The image zoomed in until it was displaying the capital. “I hope your plans to cause havoc in the capital are close to being ironed out, because at this rate we'll need to move soon.”

“They're mostly finished,” Rarity replied and used her magic to pull up a bag full of scrolls. “Sunset Shimmer, if you would take a look at these.”

“Hmmm...” Sunset Shimmer took the bag and took out a scroll. “What's this? This is a... oh I recognize this!”

“Twilight went and made us a bunch of fancy magic spells even an earth pony can use!” Rainbow Dash announced and then added with grumble. “Which we're gonna need cause apparently there aren't any winged zebra.”

“And these plans...” Sunset began as she looked over more scrolls. “Not very detailed...”

“The idea was that we make a bunch of ideas of how to cause chaos without making them too dependent on location or situation,” Twilight explained. “That way we can use them on the fly without thinking about it too much.”

“Which would be useful for staying on the move.” Sunset Shimmer nodded as she looked over another scroll. “I think I can memorize these pretty quickly.”

“Good.” Twilight nodded and magically held up a gem covered with finely etched runes. “There aren't any horned zebra in Zebrica either, so you'll need to use this crystal to activate scrolls while in disguise.”

“No, that's okay,” Sunset waved off. “I've been practicing hornless magic and I've gotten pretty great at it. I've even managed to cast complex spells reliably without issue now.”

“Oh, then you're actually bit ahead of me in that regard.” Twilight blinked in surprise.

“Ahem, stay on track please,” Emerald said and continued. “Security has increased across Zebrica, making it nigh impossible to spy and steal information without getting spotted. However, it isn't all bad. The increase in security has lessened pressure a ton for the people of Zebrica.”

“It is my hope that this opening will allow my people to properly form a resistance and possibly even get the news out to our neighbors,” Zecora added.

“I'm hoping for the same,” Emerald nodded. “I've already given the go ahead to the operatives in the fields to give any such formations a helping hand if the opportunity arises.”

“So how exactly are you going to deal with the spirit possessing the Prime Minister?” Sunset asked Emerald. “Can't be an easy thing to fix.”

“It actually kinda is,” Emerald replied. “According to the Channelers of the Republic, a spirit strike should be able to dislodge the spirit possessing the Prime Minister.”

“I say again, it can't be that easy.” Sunset shook her head.

“Well... I do have to be careful to measure how much force I use in the spirit strike as well as some other stuff,” Emerald acknowledged. “I could very easily badly harm the Prime Minister himself or even punch his soul out if I don't do it right.”

“Are... are you sure that's safe?” Fluttershy asked in concern.

“I know it's not safe, but it's also the only method I know will work.” Emerald sighed.

“Well... I'm not going to get any more familiar with these scrolls by ignoring them,” Sunset said and started unpacking all of them. “Hey, uhhh...”

“Zecora.”

“Zecora, could you show me a few maps of the capital, maybe tell me a few things about it as well?” Sunset requested. “I would like to be as prepared as possible.”

“It would be my pleasure.”

ALPHA

Emerald stood in her formal wear, staring through a window over the scene below.

The virus was in the Hub currently, overlooking a workshop buzzing with activity. Below her the workshop flow was covered in machine parts and many engineer dogs going about their business with a energetic spring in their step. In the center of this workshop was the project being worked on by these dogs. Its main form looked like a very tall can, not unlike the sort that food are stored in. It had a large slot near the top that was clearly an eye hole. The back of the machine was covered in exhaust pipes and attached to the bottom and sides were somewhat crude limbs. The body sat on a pair of hydraulic hips connected to a pair of steel, birdlike mechanical legs, its pair of arms were different from one another. The left arm was a full arm that ended not in a proper hand with fingers, but a mechanical, clamp-like claw, while the right arm was much shorter than the left and seemed to end at the elbow.

The machine was currently sitting upright with its legs splayed out and its one long arm lying limply on the floor. Engineering dogs clambered about its body, examining parts and making adjustments. Far off to the side, sitting atop a large table was a massive bolt action rifle that looked more like a detached tank barrel with a bayonet than a rifle.

'This is so cool,' Emerald thought with a smile as she leaned closer. 'Granted, it's very clearly so much cruder and primitive compared to what I've got being made right now, but all the same, very cool.'

The machine the dogs were working on was the result of an effort to create a mechanical, independent weapons system. The BWS-01 ,or as it was quickly being called, the “Tin Man”, was meant to be mass produced and assigned orders which they would attempt to follow and complete to the best of their ability. However, while the physical aspects of the machine were quickly being figured out, it was the programming that would allow for independence that was slow going.

'Programming an AI that can operate a weapons platform independently is going to take years of work no matter what,' Emerald thought. 'It helps that magic means they won't have to worry about actual computer hardware but the software still needs to coded. Friend or foe identification, battlefield awareness, tactical planning, threat assessment; just these things alone will demand the runic equivalent of an actual brain. In all likelihood, early versions of these machines will be led by a Warhound Squad Leader with a controller, making sure they do as they are supposed to.'

Emerald watched for a few minutes more before turning away from the window. She walked through several halls before reaching the exit. Stepping out of the building, the virus walked out onto the street when a voice called out to her.

“Emerald!” Diane called out as she walked through the dogs crowding the streets, Moon Dancer only a few steps behind the pink mare.

“Hello Diane,” Emerald greeted with a nod and a smile. “You look nice today.”

Diane was currently wearing a scarlet coat with gold lining, a red vest with silver buttons and a white undershirt with a light blue scarf. Her mane was also styled differently with the back end tied up at the back of her head with a hair clip, her bangs styled to frame both sides of her face as they stretched down in a wavy shape. Finally, sitting on her snout were a dainty pair of rectangular spectacles.

“Thank you, Emerald!” Diane smiled and laughed a little as she twirled in place. “Flan made all of it for me! Well... except for the glasses. Those were made by Moon Dancer.”

“There's nothing wrong with your eyes, is there?” Emerald asked in some concern

“No, they are a tool for her detail work in painting,” Moon Dancer answered. “Diane has been painting some incredibly high detail art recently and I thought to make her hobby a little easier.”

“That's nice,” Emerald smiled, especially pleased that Diane had definitely proved to be more then just a copy. “So where are you off to today?”

“We're off to see the mural Diane painted in a local playground,” Moon Dancer answered and Diane flushed in happy embarrassment. “Diane wanted to see how it looks with children playing in the foreground.”

“Hope you don't mind if I accompany you two?” Emerald asked as she walked over to them.

“Not at all!” Diane waved off with a bright smile. “In fact, I don't think I've ever personally shown you one of my works of art, have I?”

“I've seen them around but no, you haven't shown me them yourself,” Emerald replied.

“Oh! I'll give the walk through of my thought process while I was making the art piece!” Diane said happily, clopping her forehooves together. “Hehehe, this will be so much fun~”

“Lead the way, then.” Emerald smiled.

Emerald always appreciated little walks through the streets of the Hub. It's one thing to read about improvements being done in the city, but it’s a whole other thing to actually see them. Emerald's own memory played a part in this, as by now most dogs probably held a somewhat nostalgic remembrance of the early days of the Enclave; basic stone huts and holes carved into walls within a natural cavern beneath the Everfree. They probably recalled it as an almost rustic adventure by now, especially when compared to the way things were under Nidhogg. But Emerald's memory was perfect and unfading. She recalled things with absolute clarity, especially how horrible they were or how bad they made her feel. There was no nostalgia filter or rose tinted glasses to make her feel better about horrible memories, though on the other side of the coin legitimately wonderful memories never faded and could serve as a form of retreat and comfort in trying times. Thus when Emerald looked around the streets of the hub and saw how far things had come from a literal hole in the ground, she couldn't help but feel like she really did do a lot of good for her dogs.

Eventually Diane, Moon Dancer and Emerald reached the playground where Diane's mural was and the Evolved was given yet another reason to smile. Absolutely filling the playground with rambunctious energy were dozens of diamond puppies barking and yipping and rushing to and fro across the playground and on its play sets. Before Emerald came around, all the carnivorous species of the world had to heavily ration all meat and enforce population controls upon their people. But with the advent of the meat fruit, everyone could now eat their fill and everyone could have as many children as they could bear. All these young pups happily living their young lives before her owed their very existence to her efforts.

“-had to talk with Fenrir a lot about beliefs and myths of the Old Kingdom.” Suddenly Emerald realized Diane had been talking about her art and refocused. “I wanted to make absolutely sure it was accurate to the murals he recalled himself while putting my own artistic spin on it, so I had him come to look it over as often as he was able. So... what do you think?”

Emerald took in the mural overlooking the whole playground and recognized what it was about immediately. It was a cheerful, lighthearted scene, depicting a grassy field and rolling hills with a crystal clear sky. All over the grass were diamond dogs rushing about and playing with many seeming to learn how to dig for the first time. Utterly dominating the center was a great muddy brown wolf with silver eyes. The wolf was shaking its fur clear of clods of dirt where they gathered in piles at its feet, whereupon these dirt clods would then break open and a new diamond dog would crawl forth.

“The Legend of the Great Wolf, origin of the diamond dogs,” Emerald stated as she took in the mural. “I've heard Fenrir tell it a few times. I imagine that after the destruction of all the physical history of the Old Kingdom he was rather happy to see this being made.”

“I'd say it was the closest to being ecstatic I've ever seen him,” Moon Dancer commented.

“Made that serious old wolf grin a little bit, did you?” Emerald asked Diane who giggled at the poke at Fenrir.

“Y-your H-Holiness?” an imploring voice said suddenly.

Emerald blinked and looked over her shoulder. Standing behind her were a diamond dog couple, the female of the two carrying a swaddled pup that looked so young he probably didn't have any senses beyond touch yet. Emerald suddenly realized just what she had been called and had the mental image of her in place of Jesus on the picture of the Last Supper. At that mental picture the Evolved felt a shiver go down her spine at the overwhelming sense of finding herself wanting.

“My-my Lady, please hear our request,” the male dog begged, clasping his hands before him.

“I... I am listening...” Emerald said with barely hidden discomfort as she turned to face them fully.

“Please Princeps Gleaner...” the female began as she and her mate averted their eyes down away from Emerald, misreading her discomfort. “Bless our child...”

Diane and Moon Dancer watched, staring at Emerald and waiting to see what she would do. Emerald was kind of wondering what she would do as well, and for a long, uncomfortable moment she remained still until the pup itself chose to act.

The young puppy stirred in his mother's arms before his eyelids slowly cracked open a fraction. Emerald noticed this tiny movement and stared the young pup in his tiny black eyes. After another moment the pup gave a plaintive little whimper and Emerald then noticed that the insides of his ears were abnormally red. The virus approached the mother of the young pup and gently ran her fingers around the puppy's ears before quite abruptly removing the pup from his mother's arms.

Taking a step back with the swaddled pup in the crook of her arm, Emerald very gently laid her fingers atop the puppy and examined his biology. A quick examination found that the puppy had been double whammied with both allergic skin disease and hip dysplasia. An instant later those were cured and the virus took the opportunity to optimize his genome a little. Once that was done, she stroked his little head comfortingly and he gave a squeaky yawn before going back to sleep. Her job done, Emerald returned the puppy to his grateful mother's arms.

“Oh, thank you! Thank you for-ACK!” the couple began at the same time when Emerald's hands suddenly lashed forward and grabbed the scruffs of their necks.

“Now you listen to me,” Emerald said calmly, looking the both of them in the eye and not raising her voice or looking angry in anyway. “I am not some all knowing being. If you start praying to me in the street, the only way I'd hear you is if I was just down the road from you. I will not just get a message out of the blue that you need help just because you started muttering in some corner of the Enclave. Do you understand me?”

Wide eyed, the two dogs nodded silently.

“Good,” Emerald slowly released them and stepped back. “Get yourselves checked out at the local hospital the next time you feel you need a blessing.”

With that Emerald turned on her heel and stalked away.

“Ummm... don't cha think you were a little harsh?” Diane said as she quickly trotted into position next to Emerald.

“I have to agree,” Moon Dancer nodded with an adjustment of her glasses, trotting along the opposite side of Emerald. “Princess Celestia wouldn't hav-”

Suddenly Emerald stopped and whirled about to face Moon Dancer. She leaned in slightly with a look on her face that seemed much more troubled than angry.

“I. AM. NOT. CELESTIA,” Emerald ground out.

“I...” Moon Dancer drew back with a surprised look before collecting herself with a breath. “I am aware. She has had over a thousand years to get used to ponies worshiping the ground she walks on, you have had only a few years. I am merely suggesting that perhaps there are some lessons you can take from her example.”

Breathing deeply and noisily, Emerald stared at Moon Dancer for a moment before huffing and turning away. She crossed her arms and stared up towards the ceiling and began to anxiously tap her foot. Just as Moon Dancer was about to say more, a new voice cut in.

“Hold on! Hold, hold, hold!” cried out Wheatley's voice as a drone rapidly dropped down from above carrying an eyeball-like metal object beneath it.

“Wheatley, what is it?” Emerald said, immediately shaking off her anxiety and giving the drone her full focus.

“Oh, we've got a massive issues, just simply MASSIVE!” Wheatley stated. “You might want to see this in the C&C Center!”

“Moon Dancer, come here,” Emerald commanded.

“Oh, right. Well, see you later Diane!” Moon Dancer shouted as she quickly darted over to Emerald's side.

Without another wasted moment, Emerald teleported the both of them to the C&C center.

With a flash Emerald and Moon Dancer arrived and took in their surroundings. Wheatley had been working around the clock constructing new biological structures around the Enclave and upgrading old ones. The C&C Center was one such place that received his attentions. Holographic projections covered every wall and numerous screens showed viewpoints from thousands of places within the Enclave and switching to a new viewpoint to show yet more. The room was a buzz of alarmed activity as dogs manned every station and the central command table projected Zebrica.

Emerald and Moon Dancer approached the table and the view immediately zoomed down to the location of the ritual site. It displayed the ritual building, once a mere foundation a short time ago yet now a completed and fully operational building. The overall shape of the building was very dome-like and reminded Emerald a little of observatories. Looking closer, there was a seam cutting through the structure, like a large x, implying that the dome could possibly separate into four. The hologram of the structure was flashing red and a readout was displaying scanned information.

“What is this?” Moon Dancer wondered as she narrowed her eyes at the readout before looking shocked. “Fifty six thousand MUs?! And it's still climbing!”

“The amount of energy flowing into the structure from Zebrica's ley lines is disrupting my attempts to get more detailed scans,” Wheatley informed them. “But from what I can tell the structure can potentially hold a hundred thousand MUs of energy.”

“What could anyone ever possibly use so much energy for?!” Moon Dancer exclaimed.

“My first thought, a spell of truly MEGALITHIC potential,” Wheatley suggested.

“A spell with this much power behind it can have global consequences,” Emerald stated as she narrowed her eyes at the hologram. “Whatever spell they plan to use, it can't possibly be harmless. Time’s up, we can't spend another moment preparing for the Op. We have to take out the Prime Minister and the ritual site ASAP. Wheatley, sound the call to arms to the operatives in the field. I'll gather supplies, some dogs and the girls.”

“On it!”

BETA

With a flash of light, Emerald arrived onto the command deck of ENV Silhouette along with the Mane Six plus Sunset Shimmer and Zecora.

“I really should have been more prepared to leave at a moment's notice,” Rarity commented as she wrung out her still wet mane with her magic.

“Least you had a shower,” Rainbow Dash said, waving her hoof in front of her snout as she stepped away from Applejack.

“Can't help it. I've got dirty farm work!” Applejack replied without an ounce of shame, her body covered in sweat and foul smelling muck.

“Here, hold still,” Emerald said and pointed a hand at Applejack, a small bolt of pink lightning leaping from Emerald's hand to Applejack.

“GAAAH!” the cowpony shouted as the muck and sweat were annihilated but her coat and mane in turn fluffed out to a ludicrous degree.

“Sorry,” Emerald said with a barely hidden grin. “It's not a spell I've had much need to perfect. Don't worry, it'll settle down after a few minutes.”

“Ohhhh~ Applejack is a big fluffle puff!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed at the big ball of fur and hair wearing a stetson hat.

“Reminds me of the time after Angel gets a bath.” Fluttershy smiled and then shuddered. “Angel doesn't like baths...”

“Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up, sugarcube...” Applejack muttered as Rainbow Dash rolled on the floor pointing and laughing at Applejack.

“Okay focus everyone!” Sunset said loudly. “We've got to get ready for the operation.”

“Gather round,” Emerald stated as she walked over to the digital tabletop sitting in the center of the Silhouette's command center displaying Zebrica upon its surface.

“Before we get started I'd like to introduce everyone to Ace, Captain of the Silhouette,” Emerald continued with a wave to the dog in question, sitting in his chair at the head of the table. “He'll be commanding the neochangeling operatives along with a detachment of Direwolves. As for what we'll be doing, let's get started...”

Emerald leaned over the table and manipulated the surface with her fingers, zooming in on Zebrica's capital.

“Okay, so to reiterate the plan is for the six of you, Sunset taking Twilight's place, to don disguises and insert into the city where you'll cause chaos,” Emerald stated, motioning to the whole of the city before pointing at the large structure dominating the heart of the capital. “You've been making plans to do this so I'll leave you to it. I'll be waiting for security around the parliament building to be lightened before going in to handle the Prime Minister. Now, clearly they aren't going to start to draw guards from the Parliament Building itself until you cause a lot of chaos, but I just need a small opening to hopefully get in and out without being spotted. And finally, while this is going on, Captain Ace here will be taking the Silhouette over to the ritual site to oversee the sabotage of the ritual structure itself. And if all goes well, we'll be heading out with no one the wiser.”

“That is only if everything goes perfectly,” Zecora stated. “I fear that while our intentions may have been good, we may be forced to go to terrible lengths if anything should go awry.”

“We haven't failed an adventure yet, Zecora,” Twilight comforted the zebra. “I'd like to think we'll keep up our winning streak.”

“Only time will tell,” Zecora replied softly.

“Alright, is everyone ready? Got your earbuds in?” Emerald asked and looked everyone in the eyes. Besides some clear nervousness, she received nods all around. “Right, let's begin.”

With that Emerald gathered everyone together in the hangar, then she proceeded to teleport down into the city to scout it out while the girls were quickly enchanted with their zebra disguises. A few moments later, Emerald returned and once she a got full look of the zebra-fied ponies, she had an odd thought.

'Wait... isn't this the pony equivalent of blackface?” Emerald thought as she took in the six. Besides covering them in stripes and turning their coat white along with replacing the cutie mark with tribal-esque design, the disguise left the mane and tail untouched. They were magically dyed black and white but the way the girls wore them remained the same. The virus quickly shook her head clear of that thought. 'Focus, we've got work to do.'

Without another wasted moment, Emerald teleported herself and the girls down into the capital. In an instant their surroundings changed from the austere interior of the Silhouette to the adobe styled buildings of the capital. From a glance it appeared they were in an alleyway and that Zebrica was far enough away from Equestria that the sun was close to setting.

“Alright, good luck and don't stay in one place too long,” Emerald said quietly before teleporting away with barely any light at all.

“Okay, I think we should open up with something big,” Sunset Shimmer suggested to the others. “I think the false flames would kick up some decent initial chaos.”

“What about the screamers?” Dash asked. “Figure tossing those where all the houses are will be great.”

“Maybe the firework bouquets would be a good opener?” Applejack wondered.

“Ummm, maybe we should do this on the mov-” Fluttershy began when a voice cut in.

“HALT!” All the girls jumped and looked to see three masked zebras standing at the alley entrance. “The curfew is now in effect, all citizens must return to their homes IMMEDIATELY.”

The six mares stared wide eyed at the patrol that stumbled across them in silence. A moment later, Pinkie Pie broke the silence.

“AH! WE GOT CAUGHT ALREADY!” the formerly pink mare shouted before quickly digging a scroll out of her saddlebags.

“No Pinkie, wait!” Sunset shouted but was already too late.

Not hesitating in the slightest, Pinkie Pie activated the scroll and chucked it at the patrol. The instant it landed at their feet the now glowing scroll exploded. A deafening rapid fire of crackling fireworks filled the air along with light and smoke.

“RUN AWAY!” Pinkie shouted and was gone in an instant, leaving a dust trail in her wake.

“Consarn it anyway!” Applejack exclaimed when the patrol stumbled through the exploding firework and smoke. “GAH!”

“Darn it, darn it, darn it!” Sunset shouted as she took off running in the direction Pinkie went and quickly noticed she was the only one who did. “THIS IS NOT PART OF THE PLANS!”

Off in the distance Sunset heard a cry of “HALT!” followed by a frightened squeak which was further followed by deafening ghostly wails. Sunset skidded to a stop and ran through the maze of alleyways towards the squeak. She must have taken a wrong turn, however, as she found herself rushing out into main streets.

Looking around, she saw a few zebras that were trying to rush home... and a much larger patrol of guards.

“HALT CITIZEN!” one of the masked guards in the patrol barked out in a monotone. “Suspicious activity is-”

Using her hornless magic, Sunset Shimmer whipped out a scroll and tossed it onto the ground while activating it at the same time. It glowed red hot before spitting sparks and suddenly exploding in an inferno of flames that appeared to consume the street.

Sunset immediately turned around, screams of fear from the zebricans on the street and monotone shouts for the fire brigade resounding behind her.

“Girls! Girls!” Sunset Shimmer shouted as she activated her radio. “Come on, we have to group back up!”

“Bit busy here!” Rainbow Dash replied with a loud grunt. “Hey, back off buddy! I'll buck you twice as hard next time!”

“Oh dear, oh no...” Fluttershy muttered over and over. “I've forgotten how to read zebrican, I don't know where I am...”

“JUST A MOMENT~” Pinkie shouted in a sing song.

Sunset Shimmer's head shot up as dozens of fireworks screamed into the air and lit up the darkening skies. From all around the voices of zebras shouting in rising panic filled the air even through the walls of their homes.

“I'M COMIN’ OVER, SUNNY~” Pinkie shouted with excited glee.

“Think I can see Fluttershy,” Applejack stated. “Gonna see if I can go get her and find ya.”

“UGH, UNHAND ME YOU RUFFIANS!” Rarity shouted.

“Damn it, Rarity...” Sunset Shimmer muttered and took off. She was pretty sure she could actually hear Rarity's voice just a ways away with her other ear.

As Sunset Shimmer rushed down the increasingly populated streets, a number of ghostly wails filled the air along with fireworks snaking through the air before exploding in a burst of color. Sunset skidded around the corner to witness the sight of Rarity struggling in the grip of several guards, managing to send one sprawling after kicking a leg free.

Quickly grabbing a scroll, Sunset activated it and sent it flying at the group of guards. It bounced against the road once before glowing red brightly. With a crack and a blinding flash a massive flame burst to life beneath the hooves of the guards. Even with their dampened emotions the guards started at the flames. Rarity knew what was up, however, and took the opportunity to twist out of the grip of the guards and gallop towards Sunset.

With Rarity at her side, Sunset Shimmer burst into a gallop away from the confused guards.

“Girls, where are all of you?” Sunset shouted as she and Rarity ran through a crowd of confused zebrican citizens starting to fill the streets.

“I'm here~” Pinkie suddenly plonked into view before falling into gallop beside Sunset.

“Got Fluttershy and found Dash,” Applejack replied. “Kinda had to go a ways to find her, though.Might need to stay separated for a bit.”

“Two groups of three sounds much safer than all of us scattered on our own,” Sunset Shimmer agreed. “Let's wreak some havoc and see if we can slowly make our way towards one another.”

“Sounds like a plan to me!” Rainbow Dash shouted with glee. “Hey, baby face! Catch!”

Off in the distance the sound of another round of ear splitting fireworks went off.

GAMMA

Emerald watched hidden upon one of the many towers scattered through the parliament building. She watched the chaos in the city rapidly grow with impressed approval.

'Trust the girls to be able to cause chaos like no one else,' Emerald thought with some amusement as “fires” ignited throughout several city blocks and fireworks filled the air. 'Right.And how are the guards reacting?'

Emerald gazed over the city and took note of several units of guards mobilizing from barracks dotting the city. She watched as guards were pulled from the city walls themselves and signal fires were lit to call back several patrols on the march. Looking down, Emerald looked to see what the parliament guards were doing and to her surprise saw that quite a few were mobilizing.

'Huh... didn't expect them to start drawing from the parliament guards so soon,' Emerald thought with narrowed eyes. 'Just what are-'

Suddenly Emerald's earbud started ringing an urgent message. She reached up to press on the bud and receive the message.

“Boss, we've got a serious problem,” Ace said calmly.

“Alright, let's hear it,” Emerald said, brows furrowed and lips pursed in a frown.

“The neochangelings can't secure the objectives,” Ace began. “The guards have the critical structural points heavily guarded.Not only that, but they've got the former builders being held prisoner right next to them. Even if the operatives could sneak the explosives on, the prisoners would be killed by the blast.”

'Fuck...' Emerald thought with a sigh as she rubbed the palm of her hand against her forehead. 'There is no way we can do this sneakily.'

“Emerald,” Zecora spoke, voice grave and deeply saddened.

“Zecora...” Emerald said, genuinely disappointed with herself.

“It w-was my deepest wish to achieve the l-liberation of my people without death,” Zecora said, struggling to maintain her composure. “But if it comes at the price of who knows how many thousands of people suffering from the spell the ritual shall unleash... then for the greater good we must act.”

“Zecora, just let me try one thing,” Emerald replied. “Ace, standby for deployment. I'm going to try to end this at the source before we go in guns blazing.”

“Aye aye, Boss!” Ace barked with an almost audible salute.

“This feels wrong... something about this seems off,” Twilight said in discomfort.

“I know, but... I have an opening, I'm going for the Prime Minister,” Emerald stated as she narrowed her eyes at the Parliament building, her viral pulse pointing her towards a specific location. “With any luck, getting rid of him will stop all of this.”

“Please be careful,” Twilight said as she closed the channel.

Emerald silently dropped down and latched onto a wall. Using her sonar to make sure there was no one nearby, she made a short teleport through the wall into the hall on the other side. With that she silently and rapidly dashed through the halls. She was still maintaining stealth but only to a certain point, resorting to tossing needles full of fast acting tranquilizer to get past a few guards.

'This is my fault, I'm such an idiot,' Emerald scowled as she whipped her arm and sent a needle flying at a guard. 'All these damn super lethal weapons and it never occurred to me to make non-lethal weaponry like tear gas, tranq guns and tasers. Now a ton of zebras are going to die because I prepared improperly.'

Scowl deepening, Emerald rounded a corner and a large pair of double doors met her sight. Tossing a pair of needles at the guards standing at the sides of the door, Emerald came to a stop before the door as they slumped to the floor. Collapsing into a slithering mass of black and red tendrils, Emerald slipped under the door.

On the opposite side Emerald silently reformed into her human body and took in her surroundings with narrowed eyes. It was like a repurposed grand sitting room with one wall being one massive window overlooking the city. Much of the old sitting furniture and tables were carefully piled up high in one corner, royal purple silk curtains hung from the ceiling lining a red carpet path leading to a large, extravagant poster bed.

Emerald silently walked up to the poster bed, the Prime Minister laying on it beneath the covers. Using her senses, she gauged his biological functions. His breathing was slow and steady, not controlled, his heartbeat was relaxed and slow as well. Based upon these observations she determined he actually was asleep.

She closed in until she was right at his bedside and standing over his slumbering form. Taking a moment to gather her magic and concentrate, Emerald cocked back a fist. But before she could strike, a plume of black smoke suddenly burst out of the Prime Minister's back like a lance.

Emerald gasped and her eyes went wide as both her hands clutched at the spot the lance of smoke had rapidly sunk in. She stumbled back as her vision began to blur. She lost her balance and fell back on her rear. Black stripes started to fade into view in Emerald's hair and she started to clutch at her head and grit her teeth. There was a groan and creak of wood as Emerald fully lost control of her magic and her true weight returned.

An instant later Emerald burst through the wooden floor and into the room below. She crashed into the stone floor with a loud crack and lay still for a moment before her eyes snapped open. The pupils of her eyes were slits before they slowly shifted back to their round state.

Emerald groaned and clutched at her head and rolled in place on the floor. Magic filled the air as the stone floor started to ripple like it was water. Tendrils burst from Emerald's flesh as she shakily rose to her feet and began to bury themselves into the floor.

As her eyes shifted from slitted to rounded, the crackle and brightening glow of magic filled the air in ever greater potency.

DELTA

“Emerald, can you hear me?” Twilight asked over the radio. “Emerald, please respond. EMERALD!”

“Something has gone wrong,” Zecora stated before looking over the view of the ritual site, the amount of magic ever rising with every moment. It wouldn't be long now before it reached full capacity. “And we are running out of time... It's time. We must act on our own.”

“Zecora, wait. We don't ha-” Twilight began.

“Twilight Sparkle, I love my people and my country,” Zecora interrupted. “And when I was cast out of my country I found a love for a country and people that was not my own. The ponies of Ponyville accepted me as one of their own and I could not help but return the favor. My people, under the control of a terrible will are now about to unleash a great power upon this world. I know not what the effect could possibly be but the amount of power and secrecy involved speaks volumes. We must do what we must...”

“She is right. We can't be frozen by indecision now,” Ace stated and removed his cap from his head and placed on his helmet. “Whether or not it was the right decision will be decided afterwards.”

“Oh no...” Twilight sighed and knew with those words the fates of so many zebras had been sealed.

Ace marched through the halls of the Silhouette fully geared for battle. His power armor was not the factory default colors, having been painted in shades of black and white with a black and white version of the Enclave emblem upon his right shoulder and on the left were three letters “EAF” crossed by a pair of lightning bolts, flanked by crenelated stone towers which sat upon a cloud. The only other decoration upon Ace's armor was the stylized image of a dog's skull painted over the front of his helmet.

The Captain walked past an open door, within which was the crew quarters where currently only the accompanying Direwolves were occupying. Said Direwolves were fully geared up waiting for the command to fight but all hoping it wouldn't come to that. Ace stopped briefly and gave a shrill whistle that caught everyone's attention.

“It's time,” he simply stated and walked on, the sound of rushing movement resounding from the room behind him.

Within a moment the Direwolves had fallen into stride behind Ace and were following him. They soon arrived to the hold of the Silhouette where its armory was located. Ace and two squads worth of Direwolves scattered throughout the armory and quickly armed up. For Ace his armament consisted of a rifle, a pistol, his knife and a set of grenades. The armament of the rest of the Direwolves consisted of everything from a set like Ace's to what was essentially several small cannons of a shotgun, a heavy, rapid-fire grenade launcher, a compact, super heavy machine gun and finally something that looked like an over sized rocket launcher if it wasn't for the massive gem faceted where the backblast would normally erupt.

Once geared up, the Direwolves lined up before the bay doors of the Silhouette and waited.

“Captain Ace to ground team, we are ready for insertion,” Ace announced over the radio. “Are you prepared to support us?”

“We are all in position and awaiting the time to strike, Captain,” Vata reported.

“Good, dropping now,” Ace said and closed the channel, the moment he did the bay doors opened up and he along with the Direwolves took one step forward.

The Silhouette was fully cloaked from high altitude and giving the group of seventeen Direwolves roughly a minute of fall time. Ace and his Direwolves took the time to form up into groups of four with Ace joining a specific one. Each fireteam drifted away from one another and over a specific area of the ritual site. Ten seconds before impact, words flashed across Ace's HUD.

IMPACT IMMINENT. INITIALIZING KINETIC SHOCK ABSORPTION RUNES.

Despite the velocity, when Ace landed his legs only bent a little at the impact and the only other result was a dull thud. Looking around, Ace saw that he was just outside the ritual building and also surrounded by dozens of zebrican guards. Ace only hesitated a moment before drawing his rifle and sighted along it.

Hyper velocity slugs tore through flesh and armor like it wasn't there, sending pieces of armor flying like fragmentation and misted flesh in an instant. Ace wasn't the only one firing, either. The fireteam he was accompanying were firing alongside him, their own deadly armaments tearing through the guards.

Seeing comrades turned into pink mist and meaty spray with their armor doing utterly nothing to stop it would have demoralized a normal foe. These zebras, however, were practically machines thanks to mind warping magic. As one they surged forward, uncaring of their own dying horrifically and focusing on eliminating the range advantage their enemy held.

Despite the sheer amount of firepower the fireteam was pouring out, they weren't able to get all of them. Zebras leapt as one at each of the Direwolves, intent to use their weight of numbers to pull them down; it wasn't enough. A Direwolf wielding a super heavy machine gun simply batted the zebras out of the air before pulling a few off his body and tossing them high into the air. Ace and the rest of the Direwolves drew their knives in an instant and slashed through the zebras, the weight upon their bodies fully ignored.

“Ace to all fireteams, report,” Ace commanded as he sheathed his knife and went back to scanning his surroundings with a raised rifle.

“Alpha reporting, all clear.”

“Gamma reporting, still clearing out the enemy. We should be clear in five.”

“Delta reporting, we are being swarmed by waves of guards,” Delta leader stated calmly and Ace could hear intense gunfire coming from the direction he knew they were in.

“This is Vata, we have you covered.”

Suddenly there was rumble and the roar of explosions in the distance. Quickly dozens of explosions followed suit all over the encampment surrounding the ritual structure. Ace and his fire team quickly gathered together and moved as one towards the seam in the structure where an entry was.

“We had placed many explosives around the encampment, Captain Ace,” Vata reported. “They should have disrupted oncoming reinforcements but it would probably be best if the Silhouette was used to maintain battlefield control.”

“Well suggested.” Ace nodded and switched channels. “Ace to Silhouette, are you in position?”

“Yes we are, captain.Ready to engage on command,” came the sharp reply.

“Do so immediately,” Ace commanded and turned towards the ritual building with a considering stare as the Silhouette decloaked and started using its machine guns to lay down suppressing fire. “Silhouette, I am aware you aren't an Ironclad but see what your cannons can do against this structure while we are securing the prisoners.”

“Aye Captain!”

Ace entered with his fire team as the report of the Silhouette's guns filled the air behind them. While the outside surface of the building appeared to be simple carved stone, the interior was like a polished smooth stone of a darker shade, and running along the walls were intricate runic designs glowing and thrumming with magic. There was not a single shadow or darkened corner thanks to so much magical light, though that did nothing for the oppressing silence.

“Ace to all fire teams,” Ace said into the radio. “We have entered the ritual structure and are beginning sweep for the hostages. All fire teams are to enter the structure as well and begin their own sweep as soon as possible.”

“Alpha here.Entering structure now.Beginning our own sweep.”

“Gamma reporting.Tangos at our entry point,” Gamma fire team reported over the sound of gunfire. “Clearing them out and entering in ETA one minute.”

“Delta reporting.We are extracting from a defensive point we took cover in. Making our way to the ritual structure. ETA thirty seconds.”

“This is Vata. Captain Ace, be alert. There are many golems in the ritual building and the surrounding area,” Vata began. “We've disrupted and destroyed many golems outside but the survivors are forming up as we speak. You only have so long to deal with the defenders in the structure and secure the prisoners before you are attacked from behind.”

“Hearing you loud and clear,” Ace acknowledged and switched channels. “Silhouette, report.”

“Doing scratch damage, Captain!” came the immediate answer. “There is damage but Wheatley says we won't do near enough before the structure reaches max capacity.”

“Roger that, Silhouette,” Ace said and focused on making his way through the halls. However, a moment later a fairly large shape bounded out from around a corner.

For a brief instant there was a pause in motion from all sides and Ace got a good look at what popped out in front of them. Its overall body shape was much like that of a lion and only a little bigger than an actual lion. Its skin had a texture like polished stone and its form was covered with glowing green script. Its head was like a bare feline skull with teeth and claws like polished jet.

The pause was over an instant later and as one the fire team rained down a hail of withering gunfire upon the animated lion golem. It withstood the hail of gunfire for a few seconds, the bullet impacts practically exploding on its rune enhanced hide and spraying runic stone fragments at dangerous velocities. A moment later it collapsed in several pieces, but it wasn’t alone.

“Shotguns up front!” Ace barked out as several golem lions darted out and rushed at them, not only along the floor but clinging to the walls and ceiling.

Booms filled the air as the shotgun wielding dog took point and started blasting apart the closest lion. They kept moving forward, the flow of golems not letting up and they soon found themselves walking over piles of runic stone. Rounding the corner, they were met with not only yet more lions along a long hall but a new golem type. It had the body of a minotaur but the head of a bestial zebra. There was a pair of them and their height was such they stood head and shoulders over even the Direwolves. The lions distracted the fire team by charging forward while the zebrataur golems seemed to breath in deeply before their mouths snapped open with blinding green light.

“Heads down!” Ace commanded as he and the fire team quickly darted into cover back around their corner. An instant later green lightning scythed through the air and tore into the walls that were serving as the Direwolves' cover.

“Las cannon!” Ace barked.

The shotgun wielding Direwolf strapped on their shotgun and quickly placed the rocket launcher looking weapon with the crystal over the shoulder. Ace and the fire team darted out of cover to obliterate the lions that had closed in and the zebrataurs breathed in once more to fire. The las cannon fired more quickly, however. With an ear piercing shriek, the crystal on the back of the tube spun in place and an instant later there was a flash of light and a column of blinding death burst forth.

Waves of oppressing heat immediately filled the hall along with blinding light. Had they not been fully encased in their power armor, the heat would have set them fully aflame and instantly seared their lungs. A moment later the beam and the light faded, revealing a devastated scene. The lions were in half melted, sundered pieces on the floor and the walls of the hall were cracked and partly molten; it was to the credit of the magics fortifying the structure that the hall didn't collapse. The targets of the las cannon had fared no better than the lions. The one zebrataur that had taken the full brunt of the beam had been vaporized, leaving only a pair of shins and feet, its partner a half vapourized pile of slag. Off in the distance, the far wall had a crater emptying rapidly cooling magma onto the floor.

“We're clear, go!” Ace barked and the fire team moved.

They didn't encounter too much more resistance; only a handful of lions and one poorly supported zebrataur attempted to slow their advance before their found themselves in a massive chamber. The ceiling hung easily eight stories above them and the center of the chamber was an absolutely huge pillar in both thickness and height. Tied up in a huddle group of several hundred were the zebra prisoners, and they were not alone.

Hundreds of rune stone lions and dozens of zebrataurs stood and turned as one to face the fire team when they entered.

“COVER!” Ace barked out and dived forward, burying his two hands into the stonework.

Great big stone slabs made up the stone floor of the interior. Despite their weight easily being over a thousand pounds, Ace barely showed any great strain when he quickly hefted the stone onto its side. The rest of the fire team was just as quick to do the same, which was good because the zebrican golems were proving to be more efficient and faster reacting than even the guards. Many lions stayed low to the ground and charged forward while others started leaping and jumping in front of the zebrataurs to shield them with their own bodies.

“Uggh! Those bolts have a punch!” spoke the Direwolf with the super heavy machine gun as a green bolt of lightning leapt through the air and struck him squarely in the chest, leaving a black scorch mark. He remained standing though, baring the brunt of several lightning bolts because otherwise the hordes of rune stone lions would simply swarm them. Ace and the rest of the fire team did their best to snipe the heads of the zebrataurs from afar but with the rune stone lions leaping and jumping in front of their shots it was slow going. The bolts washed over the heavy weapons Direwolf and the upper half of him was becoming black with scorch marks and pitted. Then suddenly there was a fateful cracking sound and the dog fell to his knee with a howl, hand reaching up reflexively now at the massive crack on his helmet and the torn open hole where his left eye lens used to be.

“This is Captain Ace, we are being worn down by heavy fire!” Ace barked as he darted over and quickly took the fallen dog's place with the heavy weapon. “Need reinforcements!”

“THIS IS ALPHA! REINFORCEMENTS ETA: NOW!” came the immediate reply.

Direwolves burst forth from another passage on the opposite side of the chamber and quickly moved into flanking positions, firing as they went and downing golems. It wasn't the kill box it could have been; there were still the prisoners to worry about so las cannons and grenade launchers were out. There were already prisoners being injured enough as it was from stone fragmentation.

With their attentions now divided and attempting to shield the zebrataurs from two directions, the lions began rapidly dropping in earnest. The zebrataurs were attempting to wear down both fireteams with their lightning but with the arrival of the two other fire teams from another passage their fate was sealed.

“CLEAR!” Ace barked out as he scanned his surroundings before turning his attention to the fallen dog. “Are you severely injured? Can you get up?”

“I...” the dog began and slowly rose back onto his hind legs. His armor was still scorched but the large crack in his armor had filled in with a material that gave a scar like appearance. “I think my eye got burned out... my vision is coming back though, so it must be healing. It might actually take longer for my armor to fix itself before my eye does.”

“Good, here.” Ace quickly handed the super heavy machine gun back. “Keep watch. There will be more golems coming.”

Ace turned and saw some of the Direwolves working at freeing all the prisoners while the rest gathered near the massive column dominating the center of the room. With a considering frown, Ace took the high explosive strapped to the small of his back. It was a somewhat prototype explosive in a collaborative effort between Wheatley and Emerald. He wasn't entirely aware of all the details but this bomb was supposed to be a compact version of one from Emerald's world, a very focused version of a “Father Bomb” or whatever the name had been. As far as he knew, every one of the bombs the fireteams had were equal to this bomb and refined to focus most of their power in a small area, perfect for precision destruction.

“Vata, we've got the prisoners secured,” Ace reported on the radio. “What's the situation outside?”

“The southern and western entrances are fairly secure with the Silhouette hovering overhead,” Vata replied. “The golems are on the march for the north and eastern entrances.We are trying to disrupt their advance with explosives but they're coming.”

“How soon?” Ace asked.

“ETA two to three minutes, Captain Ace,” Vata answered.

“Roger that, Vata.” Ace nodded and looked around. Bombs were being strategically planted around the large column and the prisoners were nearly finished being untied. “ALRIGHT, MOVE IT YOU LOT! Get these prisoners out of here, through the southern and western entrances ASAP! We've got golems inbound!”

Several Direwolves quickly herded the zebras towards the southern and western passages. Ace also ordered a few Direwolves to escort them and make sure they got away from the golems and guards. He knew that it probably wasn't the smartest thing to do right now but there was already too much evil being committed today without adding to it.

They were just planting the last pieces of high explosives when the whole structure started to shake immensely. Direwolves toppled over as the shaking grew far beyond their balance to withstand and the deafening sound of stone grinding against one another filled the air.

Looking up from his place on the floor, Ace saw the night sky being slowly revealed. The ritual structure was spreading apart along its seams and revealing a great, seemingly bottomless pit in the very center.

“... -eadings-... inety percent-...” came Wheatley's static filled voice over the radio as bright green glow fully filled the interior of the ritual structure. “Activa-... ce you have to imme-...”

“ACTIVATE THOSE BOMBS!” Ace barked as he quickly got back onto his feet.

“Sir, the bombs are all active!” came the immediate reply from a dog waving a remote control. “The bombs need time to charge up before they can blow!”

“Fine, form a defensive perimeter!” Ace commaded and Direwolves started tearing up massive stone slabs to form an impromptu fort.

“ACE, THE GOLEMS NEVER WERE HEADING FOR THE PASSAGES!”Vata shouted in alarm over the radio. “THEY WERE WAITING FOR THE BUILDING TO OPEN UP!”

Ace turned and saw the truth for himself. Whole waves of rune stone lions and zebrataurs were charging down the pathways formed by the structure's separation.

“SILHOUETTE SUPPORT US AS BEST YOU CAN!” Ace commanded over the radio before turning to his Direwolves. “OPEN FIRE!”

EPSILON

“Lunar activity detected,” Wheatley reported with a concerned tone to his voice. “I'm detecting the same magical signature shrouding the moon as the magic coming off the ritual site.”

“This is horrible. Whatever this ritual will do will happen very soon,” Zecora stated with a distressed frown.

“Hold it! The moon is slowing down!” Wheatley suddenly shouted. “Detecting Princess Luna and Celestia's magical signature.”

“Will it be enough?” Zecora asked despite herself.

“...No, not even close,” Wheatley announced with a frustrated groan. “Even accounting for their connection with the celestial objects they don't have enough power to take back the moon. The moon's movement has slowed greatly but it's still moving into position over the ritual site.”

Suddenly a klaxon sounded and new position on the map was flashing red.

“What's going on?” Twilight asked and her eyes widened as she recognized the location on the map.

“The capital...” Zecora murmured.

“I'm detecting a massive surge of magic coming from the capital,” Wheatley stated with enforced calm. “It's Emerald's magical signature, but... there is something wrong with it, like there is something else mixed in.”

“Something has definitely gone wrong with the Prime Minister. Twilight Sparkle, we have...” Zecora began and trailed off when she looked to see Twilight gone.

Several miles away on the ground, Twilight Sparkle arrived with a purple flash of light and looked off in the distance. A great column of magic was lancing off into the night sky, serving as an impromptu sun in itself for the countryside. Beneath her the ground rumbled audibly. With another flash of light, she teleported again.

Twilight arrived upon the walls of the capital, the ground was shaking and a low, incessant drone filled the air. Panicked and terrified screams filled the air as zebras crowded the streets and made to leave the city. Suddenly there was a sound like a volcanic eruption, the sound flowed over everything like a physical force as wild magic began to spit angrily from the column. The earth shook like waves in the sea and it was a miracle the city seemed to be withstanding it.

Through sheer luck, Twilight looked down upon the streets and managed to spy her friends below. They seemed to have cast off their disguises and were now doing everything they could to help the people escape. Confident they would be fine, Twilight teleported one last time.

The youngest alicorn arrived before the great doors of the Parliament building. Said doors were torn off their hinges and lied unceremoniously on the ground. Feeling like she was before the ruined palace before facing down Nightmare Moon, Twilight frowned in determination before running at a full gallop. She ran through the empty lobby of Parliament before running through the first pair of doors she saw. Immediately she was met with the sight of a crowd of guards charging towards her. Twilight kept her pace and her eyes narrowed as magic cracked around her horn.

Before either side could act, however, a crackle of pink static pulsed through the air. At the passage of magic the stonework of the walls warped and the carpet started growing like living, aggressive plant life. The guards were affected as well; it was as if they were all puppets and someone had cut their strings from the way they collapsed to the floor as one. Twilight spared only a glance and kept up her pace, taking flight the moment the “carpet” started growing long enough to reach for her.

As she began flying through the air, there was another pulse of magic; this time it was green colored. The warped stonework warped even further and now they had snarling faces. The eyes of the faces suddenly opened as one and they all released high pitched squealing as they tore themselves free of the walls and leapt at Twilight in midair.

Twilight spun in midair as she avoided the animated bricks. She began flying upside down and closed her wings. With a quick spell Twilight landed on the ceiling with a clop of her hooves and she continued her gallop. She came to a stop at a three way fork as the “bricks” jumped ineffectually at her from below.

The alicorn tried to pick a route to take as the building seemed closer and closer to shaking itself apart with every moment. Suddenly, she took in a breather through her nose and her ear twitched and she suddenly bolted decisively down one hall. It wasn't long before she rounded a corner and saw a pair of doors blasted off their hinges and a blinding bright light shining through the doorway. She came skidding to a stop before the doorway and was met with a wall of pure white energy.

Breathing lightly, Twilight approached the white wall and tentatively touched it with her hoof. The instant it did there was a snap and Twilight gave a startled yelp as she drew back. Shaking her head, Twilight approached again and this time kept pressing her hoof forward. There was an angry crackle of electricity and Twilight gave a pained shout before pulling back.

“Okay... okay... this isn't going to kill me...” Twilight muttered softly as she steeled herself and charged forward at a gallop. She impacted the wall of energy with a deafening angry snap of electricity and for a brief moment there was agony.

A moment later, the young alicorn disappeared fully through the energy.

ZETA

Emerald stumbled through the dark.

She was lost and confused. Utterly delirious, she hobbled along trying to find a solid surface to balance herself on. Every time she did find something to support herself on, it always seemed to collapse under her.

“Have you ever wondered what the world would have been like if you were never here?”

Emerald didn't start at the voice, didn't even consider it odd that there was a voice speaking to her from some location she couldn't discern. The virus slowed in her stumbling and came to a stop. Swaying as she stood in place, Emerald considered the words of the voice.

'If I weren't here... Gilda would still be alive and her father and his griffins would still be alive,' Emerald thought reluctantly but pondered all the same. 'Equestria wouldn't have been driven into a recession.Thousands of ponies wouldn't have lost their jobs. Sovereign wouldn't have awoken and tried to attack Equestria... if I wasn't here, there wouldn't have been an alternate timeline where I killed Twilight and half destroyed the whole world.'

Had Emerald been in the right state of mind, she would have also have realized that while she had done terrible things after arriving in Equestria she had also done good. Who knows when Nidhogg's reign would have ended, how long the diamond dogs would have languished in their scattered state as a people without a nation. Then there was the advent of the meat fruit. For countless generations the carnivores of Equus had to live with rationed meat and strict population controls. But now that there was an actual crop to be reaped for the carnivores' nourishment, they could finally enjoy daily full stomachs. It was only thanks to Emerald that countless couples the known world over could finally have children at their leisure. Today hundreds of thousands of new young lives owed their very existence to Emerald Gleaner. Finally, while her intentions weren't all pure, the end result of a free international hospital that could revive the dead could not be denied.

Emerald had committed great evil but she had also created great good. Black and white morality did not- could not- be applied. Sadly the virus herself didn't realize it just right now...

“So many horrible selfish actions... do you wonder if your friends are such out of fear?”

In the corners of her mind, Emerald couldn't help but wonder at times if this was the case, that people were more willing to forgive her for things and remain her friend purely out of fear what she would do in reaction. Normally she would cast such thoughts aside easily because the girls weren't like that. If they felt she was too far gone to be their friend, they wouldn't hide it. Not even Fluttershy. The same could be said of the people she now ruled, the diamond dogs. Sometimes she had to put her foot down but for the most part they lived freely. Now she found herself wondering just how much of that was due to the fact she was simply far too powerful to resist. Were the people she ruled simply terrified of her great power? Did they simply give up all possible chances of any other kind of life? She did offer to let any go and that she would not attempt to harm them for it… but in a world where meat fruit wasn't even an idea yet and there was no other home, was that any choice at all?

“How much good have you really done? What do those around you really feel?”

Emerald collapsed onto her hands and knees as figures in the darkness appeared, circling all around her. Suddenly it was as if a great many spotlights started to shine down on the beings around her, revealing their appearances and the fact they were without color. Emerald looked up and saw what surrounded her. First her eyes landed on a group of Thracians of all four types, lined up perfectly like dolls with utterly blank eyes and collars with attaching chains dropped to the floor and leading towards her. Next she saw ponies with scruffy looking coats and unwashed manes, the ones with them had thread bare and patch ridden clothing. They all had bags under their eyes and they looked unhealthily thin. Next were diamond dogs looking utterly beaten and holding gem encrusted collars that had been long cast away, the expressions on their face clearly stating “What changed?”. And finally there was everyone she ever knew, everyone who mattered to Emerald; they bore heartbroken expressions and betrayed looks of disgust.

With a shuddering breath and tearing eyes, Emerald slowly stood up onto her feet, her hair darkening into a darker shade of pink with black streaks appearing. Her eyes flickered, switching between her normal green and whites to slits with the whites of her eyes turning light green.

“Think of your loved ones. Twilight Sparkle, young Navi, your daughter to be. Could they truly be happy in the world you forged for them?”

Twilight Sparkle slowly started forming, followed by a human shape.

“Do you think your own mother would- what? What's going on?”

Suddenly it was as if the world had ground to a halt. When Twilight formed she started looking at Emerald in disappointed heartbreak before her expression started to twitch and her form started flashing, changing between fully colored to grayscale. Next to Twilight was Emerald's Mother Adela. The instant her body was fully formed she became colored in and her expression became one of a stern taskmaster. She strode over to Emerald, the sound of her footsteps the only noise in the darkness.

Emerald stared uncomprehendingly as Adela walked right up to her and took out a piece of tissue paper to wipe the tears from Emerald's eyes.

“Emerald Osäker Gleaner, you get a hold of yourself this instant!” Adela said firmly, grabbing hold of Emerald's shoulders and giving her a shake.

"Oh. I see. This much power... overwhelming."

Suddenly nearly every other person faded away like mud statues in the rain and even the darkness itself seemed to go, slowly replaced with a gray mist and a soft light. Along with that, the instant Emerald heard not only her mother's voice again but in an angry tone she stood up straight. The virus' hair returned to its original pink shade and her eyes returned to normal as she stood at attention.

“Y-yes mom!” Emerald said immediately.

“Now you listen to me.No child I raised prioritizes feeling sorry for themselves over their own family.” Adela backed up a step and crossed her arms, suddenly Twilight from before burst into view fully colored as well and reared up and started pawing at Emerald, a look of intense concern on her face. “You've gone and made the mother of your child and my grandchild worried sick. Who knows what effect that's having on the poor baby?”

“I... I'm sorry, mom,” Emerald said in regret as she stared down into Twilight's worried eyes.

"Such love... I wish for... finally..." spoke the voice from before, now distant and distinctly desperate sounding.

“Don't be sorry... be DETERMINED!” Adela said fiercely. “Never stop trying to protect your family and their happiness, never hesitate in the face of any who threaten that! I was a single, newly immigrated mom who had a bakery on Manhattan by the time you were six years old. You have far more resources then I ever did and -god willing- if you have even a fraction of my determination, you'll move Heaven, Hell and Earth if it means everyone you love are safe and sound.”

Emerald clenched her fists as she looked up from Twilight to her mother. She felt something like blazing fire ignite within her and suddenly the world around her felt oh so fragile. Emerald Gleaner, with all her heart, desired to make Adela proud and prove she was her mother's daughter in all the ways that mattered.

“Good, good...” Adela smiled happily as she began to fade into the mist that had begun thickening. “Now listen...”

So Emerald listened. She strained her ears to their full extent but heard nothing, not even the voice from before. It was only when she noticed that Twilight's mouth had started forming silent words that she started to hear noise. And before long that noise took shape of a voice from one so near and dear to her now.

“... Emerald...”

“...EMERALD...”

“EMERALD!”

ETA

After the initial burst of intense pain it was surprisingly less intense on the other side of the wall of light. Though in Twilight's opinion, less intense still meant rather painful.

Despite the fact the light was blinding, somehow the young alicorn's eyes adjusted fairly rapidly. Bursts of white lightning filled the air and Twilight could feel energy surging against her skin along with a burning sensation all over her entire body. She wasn't sure exactly how much energy she was moving through and frankly it was probably far too upsetting to fully consider. Gritting her teeth and releasing a grunt of pain with every step and twitching every time a bolt of lightning surged too close, Twilight made her way through the energy.

The surge of energy only seemed to grow more and more intense as she approached its core where magic flowed like a tsunami trying to squeeze through a door. With every step the pain grew and she knew parts of her coat and mane were being scorched and on the verge of being set alight. But eventually she reached the very core.

Emerald Gleaner stood unsteadily on her feet, swaying back and forth. Her hair was a dark shade of pink with black stripes and her wide open eyes were switching colors. Panting in pain, Twilight reached Emerald and reared up to place her hooves on her.

“E-Emerald... wake up!” Twilight shouted, though to her ears her voice was drowned out in a wail of surging energy.

It seemed like the shout had no effect until Emerald's eyes suddenly darted to hers.

“Emerald, you have to snap out of it!” Twilight shouted as loud as she could pawing at Emerald with her hooves. “Please snap out of it! I-I-I don't think I can take much more of this if it gets any stronger... Emerald, whatever it is I know you are stronger than it! EMERALD!”

Suddenly Emerald scowled and clutched at her head and pulled.

There was a scream of pain and Twilight had no idea who, she just felt her head pounding and her skin going numb as a burning smell filled her nose. And suddenly it was so silent. The pounding went away and she felt like a pressing weight had been removed from about her. Twilight found that she had at some point closed her eyes and opened them to see herself standing in a rather large hole in the floor. It was as if a smooth bowl had been burned into the ground and scorched black. Looking back up at Emerald, her eyes widened and she gasped.

Hands glowing with purple ethereal light, Emerald held a squirming black mass in her hands. To Twilight's eyes it appeared to be pony shaped being completely cloaked in black. The light around Emerald's hands intensified and there was another scream and the shape went limp in Emerald's hands. With that Emerald tossed it away, an act that seemed to throw her completely off balance and she fell to her hands and knees.

“Emerald!” Twilight shouted and quickly darted to Emerald's side. “Are you alright?!”

“I-I... should be a-asking you that...” Emerald said quietly as she took in Twilight's form. Bare patches in her coat with scorched black flesh, singed hair and blood shot eyes. Twilight wasn't in a pleasant looking condition.

Twilight wrapped Emerald in a hug and she, shockingly, weakly returned it. After a moment they both turned their heads to see the being lying on the floor. It really did look like a pony made up completely of pure black shadows wrapped in a cloak that was a lighter shade of black. The only other color in its entire form were its white glowing eyes.

Suddenly Emerald noticed another being. Hanging from a broken piece of floor from the second floor by his sleeping robe was the Prime Minister. Based purely on looks alone, Emerald would have considered him dead from the way he seemed to be completely scorched black and was letting off smoke. With her other senses, however, Emerald could hear somewhat shaky breathing and a steady heartbeat.

“Emerald! Twilight! Are either of you there!?” Wheatley's voice crackled to life on Twilight and Emerald's radios. “Please someone answer me!”

“We're here, Wheatley...” Emerald said with as sigh. “We had some... issues...”

“Oh thank goodness!” Rarity's voice burst in.

“Knew you would pull through, sugarcube.”

“I was sooo worried!”

“Emmy!”

“Figured you would have been fine.”

“Yeah, ain't no one tougher than you, Emerald!”

Suddenly the staccato of gunfire interrupted the flow of happy and relieved calls.

“THIS IS CAPTAIN ACE! THE EXPLOSIVES ARE READY TO BLOW! WE ARE FIGHTING OUR WAY OUT OF THE SITE NOW!”

Knowing that the main objective of the operation was going to be achieved should have made Emerald feel relieved, but she still felt tense. It didn't help that the still cloaked figure she tore out of herself began to weakly giggle.

“If only it were so simple...”

Thousands of miles away, Wheatley watched from the HUD cameras of Ace and the various Direwolves. If he had a body he would certainly be on the edge of his seat right now.

The biological AI watched eagerly as Ace and the Direwolves made their final withdrawal from the inside of the structure. Already the golems invading the ritual structure were trying to destroy the explosives and remove them. Once everyone was out of range, Ace stopped and reached out with a hand, remote detonator firmly clutched and button about to be pressed.

“YES!” Wheatley cheered as the explosives went off in a cyclone-like explosion and sundering the whole structure. “Yeah! Eat that, ya wanker!”

The structure collapsed in on itself towards the cyclone and the moon that was nearly fully in position over the structure flicked and lost the green shine it had gained. However, suddenly the cyclone went out and the rubble began to shake. Almost like time itself being rewound, the largest pieces of the great structure lifted off the ground and started floating midair. Now in the vague shape of the old structure, the floating pieces glowed brighter then before.

“Oh no...” Wheatley said softly as he witnessed the moon turn green once more and wrenched into final position over the structure.

The lights faded from the floating rubble of the ritual structure and there was an all consuming silence, like everyone and the world itself gasped in a breath. Then it was as if a green sun had been birthed into being on the surface of the world. The blinding light soared into the sky towards the moon like a massive meteor.

“ALL PERSONNEL ON THE SURFACE BEGIN IMMEDIATE EVACUATIONS INTO THE HUB!” Wheatley announced over the Enclave intercom as a terrifying air siren began to sound.

Back with Emerald and Twilight, the virus and alicorn could only sit leaning against one another as they watched a newborn green sun rise into the night sky, the world around them far too silent. They watched as the green glow grew distant and seemingly disappear into the far off moon. Suddenly there was a flash of light from the moon and it was as if night had become a green tinged day.

As a wave of magic rushed forth from the sky like a tsunami, Emerald shielded Twilight with her body and cast the strongest shield spell she had.

Over in the Enclave, Wheatley lamented not having near enough time and slammed the blast doors closed over every entrance to the surface, trapping hundreds on the surface as the wave of magic crashed down.

In the lands of mountains and megafauna, a young griffin paused to take a rest after making the long trip home and stared up at the rush of magic flooding down.

In the far east, Channelers both young and old looked up as one, feeling the unstoppable approach of spiritual energies. They did nothing as it slammed down into them.

All around the world in parts both known and unknown, all living beings looked up to see a wave of magic rush down towards them. Unable to react, unknowing of what was going on, they just stared as the wave crashed down.

…

The world over, countless ages long slumbering eyes snapped open as one.

…

For the longest moment Emerald simply held onto Twilight with her eyes tightly closed, not knowing what to expect but waiting for it to come. Finally she opened her eyes and saw that nothing had changed. Twilight noticed the same thing and moved out from Emerald's embrace. She walked over to the windows of the chamber and gasped at what she saw outside.

Filling the air were dancing fairy lights, some of which danced through the air leaving long streamers of light.

“What is this?” Twilight muttered and Emerald scowled in response.

The virus rose shakily to her feet and stumbled over to the darkness she tore from herself. She reached over and grabbed it by where its lapels would have been.

“What did you DO?” Emerald growled, bringing her face closer to its own face.

“I did it, I did it!” the darkness said with a girlish giddiness, a feeling of intense, overwhelming happiness that utterly clashed with the current situation. “They're free, they're all free! My friends... my family... I'm so happy...”

“Talk sense, god damn you!” Emerald roared and brought a clawed hand to the darkness' face.

“It's okay. I did what I wanted...” the darkness said calmly, contently and closed its eyes. “I don't mind if it ends now.”

“YOU...!!!” Emerald growled and felt a surge of murderous rage, her claws glowed with ethereal light. She was about to rear it back for a slash when her claw slowed to a halt.

In her hands the being that possessed not only her but the Prime Minister of the Zebrican people simply calmly awaited its death. Emerald could feel no anger, no grief from it at all, just contentedness with life and the joy of a life goal complete. The virus knew this being wasn't going to even try to beg for its life and despite everything, Emerald found herself hesitating.

'Jus-just kill it already!' Emerald said to herself. 'It's caused nothing but pain in this country and it led to death and destruction...'

Suddenly the image of Equestria beset by weather delays weeks long and undergoing an economic recession flashed through her mind. Ponies by the tens of thousands suffering just because she wanted a quick boost to her own industry. Emerald took in a breath and looked towards Twilight. The alicorn was simply standing there quietly, this wasn't something she was going to step into.

'What do I do? What is right?' Emerald asked as she slowly lowered her claw. 'Is there even a point to killing it? Is there anything beyond personal gratification I can use to justify it? It... it shouldn't matter! An enemy is an enemy! I...'

Another memory, Twilight's smiling face utterly unsuspecting and welcoming as Emerald wrapped her up in a hug with the intent to snap her neck.

“Oof.” The darkness released a small grunt as it was suddenly dropped onto the floor. It looked up at Emerald with its bright. pure white. beacon-like eyes.

“GO. AWAY,” Emerald ground out, her fists clenched tightly and shaking. “JUST. GO.”

The being only paused a moment and then it was gone, faded away within a mere second. The instant it did, Emerald released a deep, shuddering sigh and collapsed onto her hands and knees. Twilight walked over and wrapped a wing around Emerald's back.

“That was a big thing you did,” Twilight said honestly.

“Was it?” Emerald said glumly as she pushed herself into a sitting position. “That thing is probably going to another country right now to start it all over again.”

“No, I can tell that whatever it was that the ritual was supposed to accomplish, it did so completely,” Twilight replied. “Its goals were completed, totally and utterly. It had nothing else.”

“That's not a very comforting thought,” Emerald replied, turning her head at the sound of a small stampede and saw the approach of their friends. Not only that, but they were being accompanied by zebra guards, once mind controlled but now stripped of their masks and helmets and free.

“No it isn't,” Twilight agreed. “But whatever is to come, we'll handle it together.”

Back in the forest of Everfree, Sovereign stood watch on the forest edge and witnessed the great doors blocking every entrance into the Enclave open. He observed relieved diamond dogs go out to meet with those that had been caught outside until something tingled on the edge of his senses.

The spirit of the Everfree switched bodies in an instant, transferring the majority of his focus to one single body instead of loosely scattered among them. He found himself before a great weeping willow with an unnatural amount of shade beneath its canopy.

“WHO LURKS IN MY DOMAIN?!” the spirit bellowed. For the past while Sovereign had been feeling things prickling at the edges of his senses, much like the feeling of someone constantly glancing out from around the corner at you and then fleeing the moment you turned to look. Needless to say, the Greater Spirit of Freedom had been rather irritated with this behavior by now.

“Dauntless, do you not know my presence anymore?” spoke a voice and the shadow beneath the tree's canopy consolidated into the form of a cloaked pony. “Physically you are free, but mentally the chains still tightly bind you.”

“That name...” Sovereign muttered. Hearing it, having someone call him that, it was as if a lightning bolt had struck through the very core of his being. So intense was this feeling it was as if he had become near petrified.

“I am the Nightmare, Dauntless...” spoke the being, its voice taking a feminine tinge.

“Nightmare...” That too struck something in his core. He felt like he was on the edge of something, of remembering something so important to himself and yet... “That name is barely familiar to me! Speak your intentions!”

“I wish to free you,” replied the Nightmare and suddenly her form shattered into a black mist that blew onto Sovereign's timber wolf body.

Sovereign gave a roar in outrage and reared up but it was too late. The dark mist surrounded his head and his eyes clouded over.

IOTA

Within the Spiritual Realm a great gathering could be sensed from even on the furthest edge of this endlessly expansive plane.

In a place that could arguably be called the center of this realm were teeming hordes of beings of all shapes and sizes. Windigoes, hippocampi, jotuns and ifrits were all gathered together. Most were as small as normal mortal species, some were as big as buildings and a rare few were easily as big as mountains. Sitting in this crowd of flames, water, earth, air and everything in between was the Pony of Shadows, somehow managing to looking awkward and out of place in this scene of fantastical sights.

The swarms of smaller spirits were gathered together within a circle formed by the far larger Greater Spirits. The Greater Spirits took positions on the perimeter rather than the very center due to sheer size. Relatively speaking the distance between each of the Greater Spirits would have been the equivalent of a large, circular meeting table. It was this and in combination of the fact the lesser spirits were both literally and figuratively beneath their notice.

It was then that one final Greater Spirit appeared out of the ether of the Spiritual Realm. It was Endless, though he was changed in appearance.

“Fortune clearly favors us.Through events out of our control, we all have awakened as one!” spoke Endless, gamely ignoring the massive crater where his right eye used to be and now spewing spiritual energies. “But now, now is the time to reclaim our birthright.”

“Countless eons ago, The Father and The Mother found this world, a barren ball of rock and earth,” Endless continued. “Through their wisdom, through their power, they created the first born, those born with barely a fraction of their sires' greatness but inheritors of all they beheld. And so they began to multiply and spread.Some forsook the minds they were gifted and became mindless beasts and predators.Some embraced their greater gifts and become far more than their simple natures would have allowed. The ensuing generations grew in complexity and power and number. It seemed their place was eternally promised... until something rose up to steal what was rightfully theirs. Life was born.

“Whether it happened because of a mistake, the inevitability of reality, or even the foolhardy tinkering of fellow spirits, Life came to be. Under our notice it spread, for how could we have noticed something with such frail, insignificant beginnings. But it grew as well and at a far greater pace.Soon the world became covered in Life and they too grew in complexity... and power.

“We did not consider them a threat.They were small, fleeting things.Even those that caught our interest were gone in a moment. Even when they gathered together to garner some small strength in their teeming hives they barely warranted notice. And so we ignored them, content in our own ways, content to leave them to theirs. And what did we receive for this graciousness? The generosity of sharing this world? BETRAYAL!!!”

The teeming masses of lesser spirits let loose a loud roar of raucous anger. The Spiritual Realm itself briefly twisted and changed at this surge of violent emotion, becoming a plane of twisting, nebulous fire. Even the Greater Spirits in their maintained dignities let loose low rumbles of anger.

“They have certainly proven without a doubt they are not beneath our notice anymore...” Endless growled, his anger manifesting as a surge of magic pouring out of his wound. “No more shall we ignore them! No more shall we share our world with them! What will they do when the very waters they drink reaches up to strangle them? When the very air crashes down to smother them? When the earth they build their hives on opens them to swallow them? When the fires they gather round for comfort rages out to consume them? We, the descendants of the First Born, shall reclaim our birthright!”

“IN THE NAME OF FATHER SUN AND MOTHER MOON WE SHALL RETURN THE WORLD TO PURITY!!!” Seemingly drunk on infectious, murderous fervor of the Greater Hippocampus, every spirit present released their collective howls of rage and agreement...

Save for one rather out of place shadowy being...

-TBC-

Author's Note

AN: Well this chapter nearly took forever to write, hopefully it was worth the wait. You know I'm really starting to think that mandatory chapter lengths are majorly contributing to wait times between chapters. I feel like every chapter should be at least 10K words because of the exact one time I got a complaint for releasing a chapter that wasn't 10K. I'm not saying every chapter will be 2K little bites, in fact they'd probably remain in the 10K range because I always misjudge how long I can make an idea for parts of a chapter. If the mandatory 10K requirement wasn't in place though I feel like I'd spend less time agonizing on creating enough content to convince myself I have enough stuff to make my quota.

I don't know it's just an idea for those precious few who bother to comment to weigh in on.

EN: Well smaller chapters would mean less to edit, but at the same time I really enjoy these super chapters. More work, sure, but it’s time well spent in my opinion. Honestly, this series has become one of the few things I look forward to reading.

Chapter 8: The Great War

“Telling you every single detail for the third time isn't going to make things make more sense,” Emerald growled before muttering to herself. “As much as I'd want things to start making sense, too...”

Currently, Emerald Gleaner was in one of the conference rooms of the League Headquarters. She was wearing her formal uniform, a suit very much like a naval dress uniform; stark white in color with golden buttons and a band on the right bicep bearing the emblem of the Enclave, a black field with a crimson biohazard symbol and stylized Diamond Dog head. Her neon pink hair that normally hung loose and wavy was gathered into a neat ponytail with her bangs swept to the side; the waviness was still there, but subdued. Over her uniform was a cloak clasped over her right shoulder so that it left the Enclave emblem exposed. The cloak was pure white just as her uniform, but underneath was a moving field of stars and nebulae, a constant reminder to all those who bothered to notice that Emerald was Princess Luna's student. With Emerald were Princesses Luna and Celestia who were not as officially dressed as Emerald was, having little time for it due to the rapid call they had answered.

The call was for all members of the League of Nations to send their representatives to attend an emergency session to discuss the flash of light that had enveloped the world. People had become especially quick to answer this call when the Zebra Prime Minister would be giving full exposure on what exactly had happened as it mainly pertained to his own country. Considering Emerald's previous track records with bursts of energy that threatened the world, rumors were rife that she was responsible for this one as well. Plenty of people - mainly those she supplied with meat fruit - defended her, saying surely it was much too premature to go around blaming those without due cause. A goodly number of herbivores ignored this opinion utterly and went on talking about how dangerous it was for someone so powerful to do as they pleased and wished with lands of the world. Emerald was sure they were spreading other insidious sounding rumors as well, but that was all she had bothered to listen in on. She was honestly quite out of it.

It wasn't that Emerald was still hurt from what the dark spirit had done to her. She had caught her breath ten minutes after that and was fully recuperated soon after. No, rather it was the fact she had lost... Emerald hadn't lost before. Sure she had faced stumbling blocks, things that slowed her down and forced her to get clever now and then to get over or around them. But she had always overcome everything that opposed her, always managed to come out on top and stronger for it. This was the first time she had unquestionably lost. She had the dark spirit at her mercy in the end but it was little comfort when that spirit had accomplished... whatever it was the energy had been intended to do. It was a victory so complete the Spirit hadn't even been in the slightest upset at the thought of dying once it was accomplished. And so it was... Emerald lost.

'Fuck... I didn't realize I was a sore loser!' Emerald thought in an attempt at personal levity. It didn't really work; Emerald honestly felt frustrated and distressed. 'God damn... those smarmy grass munching bastards in the other room would just love to see how out of it I can get when I lose.'

“Emerald, focus please,” Celestia stated firmly but not harshly, a look of fierce determination flashing in her eyes that had Emerald feeling admiration for a moment. “Mind on the now, at least for this event.”

“I thought you wanted to know what just happened a few hours ago!” Emerald retorted, hackles raising defensively and far too quickly.

“I did, but it's clear to me that what happened is upsetting you and what is to come is not something you can be distracted for,” Celestia replied calmly and gently, trying her hardest to instill a sense of serenity in Emerald via tone of voice alone and quite succeeding to be honest.

'She's right,' Emerald thought as she took in a deep breath and rubbed her temples. 'I have to focus, clear my head and think only of what's going on right now. The various dignitaries and representatives will be demanding answers, and unlike last time I don't have an ace up my sleeve to distract everyone with. I have my influence which is nothing to sneeze at, but the last thing I want is to give that herbivore faction more ammunition to snare more support and people into their group. I need to be on my A-game here.'

“...Right, I'll be ready.” Emerald nodded.

Suddenly there was a knocking at the door and Celestia called out.

“You may enter!”

“Excuse me,” spoke a pegasus wearing a blue concierge-like uniform. The symbol of the League of Nations upon their chest, a white star within a blue pentagon. “But the last members of the League have arrived and everyone is being called to the general assembly hall.”

“Thank you for informing us.” Celestia nodded. “We shall be along shortly.”

Emerald stood up as the pegasus left. Closing the door behind her, she took several deep breaths, making motions with her hands as she inhaled and exhaled. The virus then glanced over at the Princess of the Night to find the alicorn staring at her in concern.

“Will you be okay?” Luna asked her student with a frown.

“Enough for this meeting,” Emerald said honestly before shaking her head. “I hope I'll get a bit of time to myself after this, though. I need a bit of downtime to work through a few things.”

Suddenly Celestia grimaced, a truly ugly expression for the serene alicorn, which caught the attention of both her sister and Emerald.

“What is it, dear sister?” Luna asked.

“I... have a feeling of ill omen.” Celestia frowned. “It is... disconcerting. Usually when I get warnings it is a vision in a dream. Rare is something of such terrible portent I am warned in the middle of the day rather than when I sleep.”

“Great, more prophecy,” Emerald muttered.

“I know the experience with the Tapestry of Fate has soured your views of such things, but in my long life such an ability has never failed to be useful,” Celestia lectured Emerald, who sighed.

“I know.” Emerald shook her head as she made for the doors. “But what's the point of seeing the future if nothing changes?”

Emerald led the way out of the room and to the general assembly hall. The crowds of representatives were thick but the three were actively given space with a good many people shooting suspicious looks at Emerald. Suddenly the virus realized it was probably not doing the Royal Sisters any favors at all to be leading their little group of three. It would be too much of an admission of making a social gaffe for Emerald to just let herself fall back and let Celestia or Luna take the lead now, however.

'Whhhhhhhhyyy?' Emerald bemoaned her current situation, noting that several carnivore representatives had fallen behind their group purposefully. 'All I wanted was for people to leave me the fuck alone and now I have to play the dignified ruler all the god damn time.'

Putting aside her dismay at being caught up in politics, Emerald focused on the task at hand. She'd be giving her own account of events in Zebrica alongside the Prime Minister. While the Prime Minister promised he'd be wholly supportive of her actions in Zebrica despite the cost in life, Emerald knew she'd be eating quite a bit of political capital today no matter what. While having the Zebricans support what Emerald did helped, it didn't clear away the fact that her soldiers snuck into Zebrica as a subversive force, spying, stealing and kidnapping and ultimately engaging in open warfare that caused quite a bit of death. There was going to be a lot of righteously and rightfully ruffled feathers at this and smoothing those feathers were going to take most of the day, not to mention all the people that would now be thinking she was some insidious, power hungry influence.

'No matter what, the herbivore faction is going to be getting a few more members before the end of the day,' Emerald thought with an internal sigh as she and the princesses entered the assembly hall and made for their shared desk,subtly scanning over the room with her eyes as she took her seat.

The Zebrican desk all too often had no representative at all in the year following the Prime Minister's possession, but now the Prime Minister sat there himself. He definitely wouldn't have been in any state to attend had Emerald not restored him. He probably also felt a bit more up to attending this meeting thanks to being a few years younger.

'A silent favor for accidentally scorching him,' Emerald thought as she stared ahead.

The Secretary General appeared and made for his podium. He wasn't exactly looking any healthier. The effects of several years of intense stress weighed on him heavily, but it was also clear he was utterly relieved. There was a noticeable spring in his step and an almost youthful energy that hung about him.

“Distinguished members of the League of Nations, I welcome you all today during this emergency session of the League of Nations,” the Secretary General spoke solemnly. “Usually we cover minor issues first, but such is the severity of situation we must speak of that there must be no delay. The Prime Minister of Zebrica will now speak.”

“My friends and compatriots in the League, it has been several years since I have walked these halls and-” the Prime Minister began when he was suddenly interrupted.

The room started to shake; people could have thought an earthquake was at fault if it weren't for the fact they were in the middle of the ocean, so it was impossible. A low, deafening pained groan filled the air, but Emerald wasn't really paying this any mind. She was distracted by something else.

'That energy... what is that?' Emerald thought as her magical senses detected a powerful presence that filled the air and not only that. 'The air suddenly became ice cold...'

Emerald looked around and everywhere she looked, peoples from warmer climates were shivering already and everyone's breath fogged. Suddenly there was another rumble and another pain filled groan. Muffled screams sounded from elsewhere in the League Headquarters and the sound of something crashing through walls filled the air. And with a cloud of debris sent flying and filling the air, the roof was suddenly ripped away and the open sky was revealed.

“Small, frail, fleeting things of flesh, be silent and heed my words,” spoke a deeply resounding voice that all heard very clearly, even the one dignitary that had come with an interpreter for his deafness. “For Endless, Great Spirit of the Eternal Currents, speaks to you now.”

Amid shouts of shock and terror, a great serpentine head appeared over the whole of the ripped away roof. So huge was its size that its shadow practically covered the whole room. Its glaring visage was made up entirely of ice, as was its body. There appeared to be a wound marring its face; from its right eye spider webbed a great many cracks and an icy slush slowly but constantly spilled from the socket of its missing eye with an ethereal light shining from within. Emerald's past experience identified such a wound as one that cut down to the soul; she knew this fact intimately so.

“I come to you now to give you the courtesy you denied us,” Endless continued, and before anyone could air a question he roared deafeningly. “WAR! COMPLETE AND TOTAL! No mercy, no hesitation! The ultimate goal the end of all things fleeting! Know that-”

Emerald didn't need to hear anymore. In a half second a pair of blade wings had already fully burst from her back. She was already in the air with hand shifted into deadly claws wreathed in energies of the spirit strike technique. Barely a second after she burst from the ground she was already crashing through Endless' face, claw first. Thankfully the princesses were quick on the uptake and they had already cast shielding spells to protect everyone from flying shards of ice. Unfortunately, they weren't the only ones with quick reflexes.

“Of course I am not an utter fool who comes before those who can kill him unprepared,” Endless spoke from an already newly formed body rising from a spot of the ocean opposite his old, now crumbling body. “I may not have the might to face you, but I do not need to.”

“What the hell do you want!?” Emerald bellowed out with a magically amplified voice.

“To avenge past wrongs,” Endless answered righteously before affixing Emerald with a stare from his one good eye. “I know not why or how these fleeting things became worthy of protection in your eyes, but I do know only a few are of any real importance to you. I offer this in respect of one who has grown so mighty. Take those who matter to you, hide them away and seal them with protections under your power, stand by and let us complete our just work.”

“And just what is your work?” Emerald asked, glaring down at the massive ice serpent.

“The extermination of life! The restoration of a calm and serene world under the full power and influence of the rightful wardens of this world, THE SPIRITS!” Endless replied, his voice a natural, deafening bellow.

“Because a bare, lifeless world to live on is something my family would enjoy,” Emerald scoffed, hand still a claw wreathed in soul shattering energies.

“We are not inflexible!” Endless assured, utterly confident of his words. “Know that while we shall return the world to a better state, we shall tolerate the return of life to the world... under strict circumstances and a firm understanding of their place. No longer will the mortals dare to control the natural order of the world! Never again shall the seasons be dictated by paltry wants! The world! The weather! The very light of the Sun and Moon! ALL SHALL BE FOREVER FREE!”

“NO DEAL!” Emerald shouted out with barely a moment's hesitation.

“Ah well...” Endless said easily with a shrug-like motion that had Emerald blinking in surprise. “I shall simply have to ask again... later.Much later.”

Emerald attacked again and this time saw what Endless did to avoid her attack. A near instant after Emerald burst forward, claw outstretched, the light left Endless' eyes and Emerald knew she was simply smashing an incredibly tall ice sculpture for all the good it did. She looked around for Endless again but he didn't reform physically like he did last time.

“And I must mention...” Endless' voice boomed from everywhere. “I did not come alone, either.”

Suddenly, a massive storm cloud surged overhead and a storm of lightning bolts crashed down. A low, deafening roar of agony filled the air as electricity filled the sea and rapidly fried the massive creature. Emerald reacted quickly. She teleported within the heart of the League Headquarters and quickly cast a barrier to absorb any lightning strikes before quickly wrapping the structure in a layer of her magic. Concentrating intensely, the Evolved then cast a single massive teleport spell and the structure disappeared with a blinding flash of light... and reappeared hundreds of miles away in the heart of Equestria.

“Ohhhh... shit,” Emerald muttered as she briefly stumbled in place before shaking her head clear.

“Emerald, where are we?” Celestia asked as everyone rushed about, half panicked and half confused.

“The field below Canterlot,” Emerald replied before taking a deep, calming breath. “It'll probably be long too late but everyone here needs to head back to their home countries and tell everyone to be prepared for war as soon as possible.”

“WAR?!?” screamed a nearby dignitary that happened to overhear. This one scream had the effect of piercing the cloud of panic that hung over everyone and they collectively looked towards the source of the scream.

“Yes... WAR,” Emerald stated loud and clear, looking around her to see she was the center of everyone's attention. “The Spirit, Endless, came before the fully gathered League of Nations and threatened death and destruction upon all their representatives and by extension... their nations.”

“I am unsure of our enemy's capability and their number,” Emerald continued in the ensuring silence. “Perhaps they only have the means to attack us each in turn, perhaps they have the power and numbers to siege us all at once. As much as I'd want to hope for the former I'm going to go ahead and expect the latter. And to further the bad news... it's entirely likely they are starting their attack already so as much as I'd like to personally carry you all to your homes... I can't.”

“W-why not!?” shouted one of the representatives and an uproar about to begin when a new voice cut through the noise.

“Because she has to investigate our new enemies.” Emerald turned to see the Eldeer Warlock Taleena calmly walking towards her, flanked by lesser Eldeer diplomats. “Spirits care not for hundreds of miles between places they wish to go, they merely need to abandon their physical forms and reform elsewhere. So she can not waste time. She intends to go convene with sources she trusts to learn more about our new enemies. And thus knowing this, it would be most remiss to postpone her further.”

“... Thank you, Warlock Taleena.” Emerald nodded after a moment in appreciation for the Eldeer's words calming the herbivore faction and, by extension, quite a few independents.

“Our hopes go out to you, Emerald Gleaner,” Taleena said with a small bow of her head and serene smile.

Emerald took that as her signal to leave and vanished in a flash of light and reappeared an instant later above the Everfree Forest. Emerald then reached out with her more spiritual senses gifted to her via Channeler memories. She wished she could have checked in with Twilight and the girls, but she had been telling the truth when she thought it was likely Endless and who knows how many Spirits had already started attacking people.

'All I wanted was some time to relax.Just a few days to myself to rest and unwind with my family,' Emerald thought with a frustrated growl as a soft pounding in her ears resonated. 'Now I've got a god damn war to deal with and who knows if I can settle this anytime soon.'

Emerald was feeling quite stressed at the moment, her first actual defeat and piling this onset of war atop of it wasn't doing her mental state any favors. She was feeling really agitated and liable to snap at people for the slightest thing. It was also definitely getting in the way of her spiritual senses and the virus had to wrestle her broiling frustration into a forced calm. The moment she did, she felt the location of Sovereign's physical form. But that wasn't the only thing she felt...

'The hell is that?' Emerald thought as she narrowed her eyes. 'It feels like deep darkness and... terrible, horrible loneliness.'

The feeling was so intense Emerald grimaced as she stopped sensing it and proceeded to teleport to the spot she felt Sovereign was. She arrived to see Sovereign in the body of a small, house sized timber wolf and in the shadow of the tree he was lounging under...

“The hell...?!” Emerald exclaimed as she spotted the dark spirit she had expelled from herself back in Zebrica. “FUCK!! I knew letting you live was-”

“Be at peace,” Sovereign stated with complete calm, so total was the feeling he exuded it caught Emerald off guard. “The Nightmare is no threat to you.”

“... is that what it's called?” Emerald narrowed her eyes and cautiously approached before her eyes suddenly widened. “Nightmare... do you mean as in Nightmare Moon?”

“That was once the name I had gone by when my being became intertwined with my Luna,” The Nightmare replied with a longing, bittersweet tone.

“That's... an interesting mode of address... for the person you possessed into attempting to overthrow her sister,” Emerald commented lightly.

“We were two beings of loneliness,” The Nightmare continued with a defensive tone. “Her a being consumed by it, and I a being made incarnate of it. Her tears into the dark called to me, enthralled me.We were alike, the same. We both desperately wished for loneliness to end and so we made it end together, by becoming one and never again being alone. And it was in that combined, fused state that we made a realization together of how to truly end the loneliness for the both of us, to make ponies adore her again and for I to regain my family.”

“The Eternal Night,” Emerald stated, but her eyes were narrowed in confusion. “But how was that supposed to release your family.”

“By disrupting the natural order to such an extent.To force the sun to never rise would cause havoc,” The Nightmare explained. “Not just on a physical scale, but cosmically as well. The cursed slumber enforced upon near all spirits would weaken and sunder. Had I been allowed to maintain the Night for but a few days... alas, it was not to be and I was torn away and cast into the night twice over.”

“Okay, well, that explains Nightmare Moon but it doesn't explain the sudden insurgence of angry spirits,” Emerald stated impatiently with a tapping foot. “Clearly what it-she did in Zebrica had something to do with that, but why the sudden call to war? Sovereign, I know you have little memory but do you have any clue-”

“My memory has returned in full, thanks to The Nightmare,” Sovereign interrupted. “And to explain our rage will require a retelling of a past long forgotten by mortal kind. Of the formation and ensuing Tyranny of Order created by the Alicorn Empire...”

“The Alicorn Empire... I've never heard of that,” Emerald stated and narrowed her eyes in thought. “In fact, I don't think there are even any hints or implications of its existence in the lore of any nation's history.”

“I know not why the mortal races of today know nothing of the Empire that dominated the world,” Sovereign replied, uncaring. “I only know this truth, the Alicorn Empire existed eons ago and it dominated both the physical world and the spiritual.”

“Seriously, there ought to have been some signs of a world spanning empire...” Emerald muttered, not skeptical in Sovereign's claim in the slightest but curious at the lack of evidence. “Hmm... right, explain it to me from the beginning.”

“Eons ago I roamed the forests of my domain not as the spirit Sovereign, but as the spirit Dauntless,” Sovereign explained. “In those times I was a predator, a hunter of my fellow spirits. I would track down those whose spiritual presence would whet my appetite. It was in this way I became a greater spirit, by feasting upon my peers and neighbors. Eventually my standards of what classified as a worthy meal grew beyond the capacity of most spirits and my lesser kin found shelter in the canopy of my domain. I found my meals to slow to a near halt as I grew ever more discriminating, and so I found my gaze wandering upon the lands I claimed as within my authority and I learned of the deeds of mortals...”

And so Sovereign told the lost, ancient history of the world, of an Empire ruled and populated by Alicorns, of their Empress the Immortal Kirin. The Empire grew and spread like wildfire, lands fell under its influence purely through its overwhelming presence. The magics of the Alicorn Empire were advanced compared to the crude arts the other nations of the world knew. It was hard to tell from Sovereign's words alone, but it seemed that everyone else was in the bronze age compared to the late industrial revolution might of the Empire. There was simply no way the shockingly primitive kingdoms of the time could hope to resist the Empire's constant expansion. The Immortal Empress constantly pushed for expansion and only allowed the Empire's march to slow to allow for the population to grow to resume in the following generations. And it was over the following centuries that the Empire's magical might only grew as they refined their arts further and their conquests to be could only struggle to catch up.

“Watching the mortals establish their fleeting realm across the world was amusing,” Sovereign spoke. “Much more so with the knowledge that their Empress was another spirit.”

“The Immortal Kirin was a spirit?” Emerald questioned.

“Yes, she was Harmony,” Sovereign growled before his calm reasserted itself. “Harmony was not only a spirit, but a Primordial Spirit.Her might could only be challenged by another Primordial and her opposing Primordial actually took glee in the actions she was driving her Alicorns to perform.”

“Why would a Primordial Spirit take up a false identity as merely an immortal creature?” Emerald thought aloud. “I mean, I guess it would give people some point of reference if their leader was flesh and blood in turn, but I'd hardly think it would matter in the long term.”

“The spirit that would rise to be Harmony had taken interest in the Alicorns early in their development as a tribal species from what I recall,” Sovereign answered. “She had been guiding them for ages, shaping them til they became the winged horned equines you would recognize today. Perhaps she had grown overly sentimental towards them? I know not the truth, only the consequences of her guiding them for all spirits.”

“The spirits were all slumbering until just a few days ago...” Emerald stated. “Harmony turned on her own? For some reason she decided spirits needed to go and gave the Empire the means to do so?”

“So it would appear,” Sovereign replied with a nod from the Nightmare. “After the Alicorn Empire's realm stretched the world over and they held every scrap of land within their influence, they turned their attentions to solidifying that control. In our confidence, in our absolute belief in the implacability of our might to be moved by mortal kind, we felt no concern as the Empire started to control the very world itself.”

“So that's who started this whole thing in the first place.” Emerald folded her arms as she looked down towards her feet thoughtfully. “Strict control of the progress of seasons, deciding when it rains and storms, telling the animals when to sleep and when to wake up. It was the Alicorn Empire extending their authority simply from the peoples under their influence to the land itself. But they couldn't master the cycles of nature if there were spirits around to become affronted by it, could they?”

“Indeed, and so it was we spirits began to silently fall into slumber one after another,” Sovereign continued. “By the time we noticed something was wrong, the Sun and Moon were already rising and setting to the whims of mortals and so few of us remained awake. We did not go silently, however.We raged and resisted the coming slumber no matter how futile it may have been.”

“It was not futile for all...” Nightmare stated softly and seemed to briefly wrap around Sovereign like a cloak. “Sovereign's resistance allowed the Everfree to remain the same and I had been such a solitary creature even for a spirit that the enchantment hadn't affected me.”

“Okay... okay...” Emerald huffed and paced in agitation. “But what happened to the Alicorn Empire? They ruled a whole planet by the end and there was no power greater then them. Why isn't this world still the Alicorn Empire or at the very least a myriad of successor states each claiming ultimate legitimacy? Instead, each nation is its own creature with its own unique quirks, and while the Empire may explain why there are ponies everywhere... it was the Alicorn Empire. Not the Pony Empire, not even the Equine Empire, the Alicorn Empire. If there were so many alicorns back then, why are there only four now and where the hell did the pony tribes come from?!”

“I know not, I had been forced into slumber,” Sovereign replied calmly.

“And it had been an age before I noticed the world had changed,” The Nightmare added. “Both the Empire and my kin were gone by then.”

“And you can't even give me a general timeline to go by either because spirits don't recognize the passage of time like we do,” Emerald muttered with a sigh as she placed her hands over her face.

'Okay, just think... who is so old that-' Emerald began before her eyes suddenly widened in realization.

An instant later she disappeared in a flash of magic.

ALPHA

“Left to get away from here and the princess treatment...” Gilda murmured as she glided slow, lazy circles around the Great Hold of Clan Stormclaw. “I feel weirdly glad to be back, though...”

Gilda glided down towards the city. Considering that everyone who lived in a Great Hold was a griffin, the mountaintop cities had no road paths and no gates dotting its perimeter walls and she was therefore allowed to enter from any direction. Great Holds were interesting cities in terms of design. They were always ruled by a powerful Clan because of the financial demands for creating and ruling one. A mountain top had to be smashed into rubble and the resulting pieces recycled as stone bricks, then the flattened mountain top could be used as a foundation. Using the stone collected from flattening the top was a good way of halving costs of building materials, however it was never enough to finish the outer curtains and grand keeps the Clans would rule from. And because of their location, a Grand Hold could only get trade from airships and flying races carrying the goods up themselves. This was less of an issue in the modern world thanks to airships, but in the past everyone was left airlifting great barges of materials up to the holds. It was very well paying work, but extremely physically demanding. Another fact of life in a Great Hold was the utter lack of poor people. Space was worth far more than its weight in gold within a Great Hold so the only people who could live there were the upper middle class and the nobility. The only thing that could approach a low class population were the indentured servants of the Clan. All the rest were craftsmen, merchants, Knights or Lords and Ladies. Therefore when walking down the streets of a Great Hold, one can almost say it was the idealized image of life in medieval fantasy without any of the actual muck and odor. It was perhaps this very thing being why Gilda hated staying in a Great Hold for long periods of time.

'Never was all that great about being a proper princess,' Gilda thought with in internal sigh, facial expression carefully apathetic as she landed and started walking through the streets. 'Even the rough and tumble warrior princesses of the Clans still have an image... ever since going to school in Equestria...'

Gilda, before being sent away for schooling as a method to give her experience for dealing with foreigners, had always known life as an uptight warrior princess, a knight of Clan Stormclaw. She had been allowed to enjoy her childhood... to a point. She was a daughter of nobility to a powerful Clan. No matter what, Gilda's life would be heavily regimented as she was driven to become one of two things; a proper Lady of the Clan or a stern Knight ready to raise mace and shield for honor and justice. Gilda had known nothing else and simply accepted this... that is, until she was sent away. Suddenly the world seemed to open up to Gilda and she experienced new ways of life and just new ways of being. Cynically, one could simply take her trips to Equestria at face value, simply giving her experience in dealing with foreigners with foreign values. Gilda, however, was smart enough to realize her father had done this as a favor to her, to grant just a bit more time to his “skyflower” to enjoy herself and pretend to be something else for a time before she had to focus on her duties to her Clan.

'And then Rainbow Crash had to be a spoilsport and ruin it all!' Gilda thought, growling in anger.

Of course, Gilda could have returned to Equestria and attempted to form a friendship with some other pony, but the griffin was hung up on Dash. Dash was her first casual friend and honestly felt far closer to her then anyone back in the Principalities barring her brothers. For Gilda, if she couldn't have her first, truest friend back for trips back to Equestria, there was no longer any point in coming back.

As Gilda walked through the streets, she got a lot of attention. More and more Griffins took note of Gilda, shocked mutterings filled the air as griffins stared with wide eyes. Gilda was used to ignoring attention from people in the streets of the Stormclaw Great Hold and so didn't notice it was different from before. However, there was one thing she did notice...

'Did... did they do some really quick remodeling or something?' Gilda thought as she found herself standing at a fork in a road that definitely hadn't been there the last time she was here. 'No, that's stupid. I know how long building crud takes... so why is this new?!'

Gilda found herself pondering this for a few moments. She was about to shake it off as not her problem when a voice boomed.

“YOU! HOLD THERE!!!” a deep male voice filled the air from above.

'Great... nice to hear you again...' Gilda sighed and turned in place in time to see two armored griffins lighting down. She blinked at their appearances. If she thought the inexplicable appearance of new buildings and roads was weird, then the changed griffins before her were completely unbelievable.

Gilda almost didn't recognize them. The two griffins were her brothers Magni and Modi. Magni took strongly after their father, Bergren, with his dark head feathers and gray fur and wings speckled with white dots, though he lacked Bergren's natural scowl or his bat-like ear tufts. Modi, on the other hand, took after their mother Villja, like Gilda, though his head feathers were more of a gray and his wings were speckled with white. Gilda knew her brothers when she saw them and that was the only reason she managed to recognize them. She was older than the both of them by three years and now it was as if the both of them had aged five years since she saw them last. Both of them were easily taller then her and had clearly put on a ton of muscle.

“By the great stormbird, she looks just like Gilda!” Modi exclaimed with wide eyes that rapidly filled with hope.

“Looks aren't everything,” Magni said gruffly with a swat of his wing at Modi before striding towards Gilda. “You! Explain yourself and your presence in the Great Hold of Clan Stormclaw!”

“Wha-you-I'm GILDA you numbnuts!” Gilda shouted back with increasingly riled temper. “Modi, Magni, how in the world are you both so big?!? The both of you were barely my size two weeks ago!”

“Gilda... Gilda...” Modi spoke softly, gasping with a distinctly lost look on his face. The same look appeared briefly on Magni's face before he quickly shook it off and scowled deeply.

“How dare you claim to be her. Have you no respect...” Magni stepped forward to loom over Gilda with his impressive bulk. “I DEMAND AN EXPLANATION! If you don't start explaining yourself right this-”

“RRRAAAAAAAAGGGGH!!!” Gilda roared in fury in Magni's face and the effect was instant.

Magni recoiled and tripped on his own feet as he fell backwards onto the ground near Modi, staring up at Gilda with startled bewilderment. Modi, however, was different. The other griffin was staring at Gilda with open joy and tears building in the corners of his eyes.

“Gilda... it really is her...” Modi said with gleeful laughter choked by tears.

“What the?” Gilda blinked in confusion at her brother. “Modi, why are you-GAH!”

“I can't believe it! I'm ashamed to admit I didn't want to believe it!” Magni shouted happily as he sprang back up and gathered his sister in tight hug. “But only you could consistently scare me like that!”

“Magni!” Gilda shouted and tried to wiggle out of Magni's grip, her wings madly flapping. “Let go of me, darn it!”

“Modi, we have to bring her to mother!” Magni said as he practically manhandled his sister absently and packed her under an arm like a piece of luggage. “Maybe she'll finally calm down!”

“I'm not sure if this will fix everything, but it's a start!” Modi agreed and the two brothers took flight.

“MAGNI! LET ME GO RIGHT NOW!!!” Gilda screeched in frustration before halting her struggling for a moment as she considered what she just heard. “Wait, what's wrong with mom?”

“She... she hasn't been great for a very long time, Gilda,” Modi said softly as he and Magni flew towards the keep of the hold. “I'm hoping seeing you will give her some closure.”

“Closure?! What???” Gilda sputtered in confusion as Magni finally let go of her on the three's approach of a landing balcony leading into the keep.

“Enough!” Magni barked out as he began to lead the way. “Come on Gilda, we have to see mother right away.”

“Fine...” Gilda grumbled as she and Modi followed after Magni. “I better get some kinda explanation and soon!”

The three children of Clan Stormclaw walked through the halls of the keep, two princes and one princess. As Gilda walked, her anger downgraded from broiling to simmering and she began to notice some details. Firstly, there were a few tapestries and paintings missing from the walls. Specifically, she vaguely recalled them showing the whole family or her father and some duet paintings of her father and mother. Along with this, Gilda noted that the guards of the keep were giving her looks of shock and disbelief, like seeing her was something completely impossible.

“... Are you sure I can't get some kind of explanation?” Gilda asked as her anger started getting replaced with confusion.

“You'll have it in just a minute,” Modi assured his sister.

Not mollified at all, Gilda still kept silent as she realized where they were going; her parents' study. Soon they were walking down the hall that had the door of the very same study on the left. As they approached the door, Gilda noticed her brothers growing tense. While it was true princes’ and princess’ parents could be rather strict and demanding upon their children - a necessity with the responsibilities they'd inherit - Gilda never knew her brothers to actually grow nervous before meeting either of their parents. She furrowed her brows in confusion as she witnessed Magni and Modi pause to take a calming breath before they reached out to knock.

“Enter!” Gilda heard the voice of her mother Villja call out.

Taking one more breath, Magni and Modi then opened the door.

The study of her parents, Prince Bergren and Princess Villja, was nearly the same as she seen it last. Bookcases lined one wall and the opposite wall was dominated by paintings, tapestries and a large, fenced hearth. Large windows covered the wall opposite the entry door, letting in rays of light from the sun. In the center sat a small oak table covered with beautiful carvings and circled by expensive armchairs and couches. The one thing missing from this room since the last Gilda saw it was the large portrait of Bergren and Villja, made when they were newly wed.

Villja sat at the table which was currently covered in a number of rolled out scrolls. Her purple cloak hung on the back of her seat, over her torso she wore a practical black and purple doublet. The Princess of Clan Stormclaw was currently busy writing and likely had been busy at it for a while now judging from the pyramid of rolled up scrolls atop the table.

“Well, what is it?” Villja began as she finished up another scroll and began to look up. “You know I am busy do-”

Suddenly Villja's eyes locked on Gilda and she froze utterly and completely, her beak simply hanging open as her eyes bulged incredibly. There was a long, silent moment filled with nothing but Villja staring along with Magni and Modi looking like they were hoping they did a good thing. Gilda for her part felt incredibly awkward and like she was missing something incredibly important.

“Uhhh... I feel like I'm missing something really important here,” she began hesitantly, her voice causing Villja's eyes to dilate with some unknowable, powerful emotion to all that were watching. “Mom, whats wro-”

“DON'T YOU DARE CALL ME THAT!!!” Villja suddenly screeched, having moved so fast to get in Gilda's face that she seemed to teleport. “YOU-YOU-WHATEVER YOU ARE! YOU! ARE! NOT! HER!!!”

“Wh-wh-???” Gilda could only recoil and widen her eyes in shock. Her mother had never spoken like this to her before. “Mom, wha-”

THWACK!

Magni and Modi gasped aloud in shock and some horror as Gilda tumbled to the floor, staring at her mother in wide eyed shock. It wasn't like she hadn't been hit before. You couldn't be Prince Bergren's child without being trained in combat no matter what you ultimately ended up doing with your life. But never had it been Villja's job to train or even help train the children, and this was hardly a training environment.

“TAKE THIS THING AWAY TO THE DUNGEONS!” Villja screeched to Magni and Modi, tears born out of both anger and grief rapidly welling up in her eyes. “AND WE WILL BE SPEAKING ABOUT THIS LATER! I DID NOT RAISE WEAK MINDED FOOLS FOR SONS AND NEITHER DID YOUR FATHER!!!”

Magni and Modi did not know how to respond to this at all and silently gathered up their sister, each one grabbing an arm and dragging her out of the room in a manor they hoped was believably rough. Thankfully Gilda was definitely not in a state to make any kind of protest towards this treatment no matter how hollow it was.

The silence hung heavily on the trio as they walked through the halls, the two brothers having given up all pretense of holding Gilda in their custody the moment they were safely out of eyesight of their mother. After a moment longer, Gilda noticed they had been passing through the same hall over and over. The griffin Princess realized her brothers had no idea what to do and frankly neither did she after that display... but she was confused and wanted answers to some of her questions at least.

“Magni, Modi...” Gilda said quietly and her brothers came to a stop and turned to her. “What in the world was that all about? Just... what happened here???”

There was a long, silent moment as the two brothers shared a look between themselves, one filled with pain and uncertainty. Eventually they nodded and Magni turned to Gilda.

“There is something you need to see, Gilda,” Magni said solemnly and started walking at a brisk pace with his brother in tow. Feeling like she'll be getting her answers one way or the other, Gilda silently followed as well.

Some ten minutes later, Gilda started getting a bad feeling in the pit of her heart as she found herself being led to the small, private courtyard at the back of the Clan Keep. It was a courtyard decorated with short hedgerows, hard black mountain flower beds and statues depicting great Knights of the Clan. This was a place of solemn respect and reminiscence and also where the entrance to the Clan's mausoleum was. The young princess' worries were proven correct when Magni led her directly towards the ancient, millennia old crypts of her family that wound into the mountain.

“Magni, why the heck are we going down here!?” Gilda whispered harshly. She never did like the crypts. The very nature of their design made it very unsettling.

“There is... someone down here you need to see...” Magni said quietly as he continued to descend into the depths of the crypts. Modi remained silent at Gilda's side.

Gilda, for her part, felt a spike of dread go through her before willfully shaking it off and continuing to follow her brothers. The flagstone floor resounded with the clicking of their clawed and taloned feet, the light of expensive gem lamps lit their path with a warm orange glow. As they descended, a faint howling noise reached towards them along with a persistent breeze and Gilda couldn't help the shudder that went through her.

Eventually they reached the end of the hall, a landing that abruptly led out into open space. The crypts of Clan Stormclaw and indeed most other families rich enough for a Mountain Hold designed their family crypts in such a way as to allow ease of flying indoors. This meant that vents had to be strategically and carefully carved through sheer stone out into the mountain side where they had to catch air currents and funnel them inside the crypt itself. The end result was an endless howling noise created by the winds blowing through the vents and a constant flow of wind that allowed only sealed oil or gem lamps for lighting. It was very expensive and almost a statement of one's wealth and the constant howling was just so very unsettling for Gilda.

“Uugh...” Gilda couldn't stop the cringe that appeared on her face and the chill that went down her spine. Even since her first visit when she was a young griffin she was utterly convinced the place was haunted by restless spirits. She was over the belief itself but the noise just brought up irrational fears nonetheless.

The three griffins glided down to the very bottom of the crypt where the newest tombs were placed and landed before a fairly brand new looking one. Gilda couldn't help but blink in confusion and looked to the tomb next to it, the most recent one she recalled. Her confusion was justified. Deaths in the Clan were always major events that called for everyone to attend and the last one she attended was the funeral and entombment of her grandfather, the stern and uncompromising Clan Prince, Atli. If there was a new death in the family she would have gotten immediate summons and it wouldn't take place until everyone in the family could be there for it. This fact often meant that sometimes dead clansmen wouldn't get properly entombed for months up to a year depending on luck and circumstance, but it made them all very memorable. It was then that Gilda saw the name on the stonework over the short opening into the tomb.

Gilda Stormclaw

“W-what?!?” Gilda gaped in utter disbelief and shock. “Is this some kind of stupid joke?! I'm overseas for a few weeks and suddenly everyone thinks I'm dead!?! What-”

“You were considered dead for over three years now,” Modi interrupted solemnly and stared searchingly at Gilda. “Father thought you were missing at first, but he sent a letter back stating his certainty you were dead... and his drive to avenge your murder on the creature who did it.”

“Three years?!?” Gilda continued to gape and her mind started whirling with half formed thought, she had to force herself to focus, otherwise she'd lock up with the incredulity of it all. “Dad... where is he? I need to talk to him!”

“Over here,” Magni stated tonelessly from in front of another new looking tomb, pointing silently at it.

“No... no no no...” Gilda said repeatedly and half stormed and scrambled over. “That's a sick and twisted joke, Magni! I don't like it and-and... and...”

Gilda's words slowed to a halt as she stared wide eyed at the name over the opening, her mind denying what her eyes were seeing yet the terrible truth remained.

Bergren Stormclaw

Panting like she had just run a marathon, Gilda charged within the opening and into the tomb. Along the walls were tapestries depicting the histories of the entombed but Gilda only had eyes for what stood at the center. A great stone coffin with a stone effigy of the one entombed within looking like they were slumbering. The effigies were always perfect recreations of the ones who had passed on and in Gilda's mind she thought that perhaps if there was some difference in appearance she could justify it being not true.

Gilda skidded to a stop at the coffin's side and searched desperately over the effigies' carved features. The longer she peered, the more foolish her belief felt and the harder it become to fight the tears. Eventually the truth won over her desperation to deny it and Gilda started to choke as tears ran down her face in tiny rivers. She didn't know how long she stayed there practically hugging the effigy and crying, but eventually the world returned to her when she heard the telltale clicks of claws on stone. She looked over her shoulder expecting to see her brothers but widened her eyes at the sight that met her.

Villja stood at the opening, features hidden in the shadow of her hooded cloak and a line of Anvil Knights at her back looking utterly foreboding in their full kit. Just behind the Knights were her brothers looking incredibly worried. There was a long, terrible moment of silence as Gilda stared at her mother and the Knights arrayed behind her. Eventually Villja stepped forward, silently she stalked over to the other side of the coffin and paused only briefly to glance down at it before continuing forward. She finally came to a stop before a tapestry dominating the back wall of the tomb and Gilda widened her eyes as she finally took in what it showed.

The tapestry that would take position facing the head of the coffin was always the one dedicated to the final days of the griffin in question. Typically it was symbolic and not an actual historical account compared to every other tapestry in the tomb and therefore did its best to shine the last days as something positive, whether it be content in life at old age or dying in service to one's knightly duties. Bergren's tapestry depicted his last days as one in battle and what a battle it implied.

Bergren stood on a stone edifice spiking out towards the sky, fully geared in his armor, wings flared and mace arching with lightning that filled the empty spaces of the artwork. Behind him were Knights and Rangers, baring bow and blade, both held out in fearless challenge of a foe and in support of their liege. Dominating the other half of the tapestries was this terrible, shapeless thing shrouded in darkness, being struck by lightning but charging forth all the same. It was obvious Bergren did not survive the battle with his foe but Gilda immediately felt rage and the hope that at least her father had taken the evil thing down with him.

In utter silence, Villja started up at the tapestry hanging on the wall before she finally spoke.

“I know not what you are,” Villja stated. “My husband took the best Rangers in the Clan with him and was utterly certain that you were dead. I would not doubt the certainty of a father's belief in his daughter's death or the competency of the Rangers who followed him... yet the grief you show is very real to me... and very familiar... what do you know about Emerald Gleaner?”

“E-Emerald Gleaner...?” Gilda was taken aback by the sudden question and had to honestly search her memory deeply to recall anyone with that name. “The only one I know with that name is some freeloader staying with that teacher's pe- er, Celestia's Student.”

“Hrm.” Villja huffed in a tone that could very faintly be called amusement. “That freeloader as you called Emerald Gleaner... in three years, Emerald Gleaner has become the leader of a nation, an outed being of incredible power that towers over the Princesses themselves and a world wide influence... also secretly a monster that killed my husband.”

“WHAT?!?” Gilda screeched in outrage, clenching her talons so hard her knuckles audibly popped. Suddenly, Villja's head whipped around to face Gilda and this time the shadows of her hood did not hide her face.

It had to be said that Gilda was practically a carbon copy of her mother. She had been known as such since a young age and when her grandmother had been afflicted with senility she often confused her with Villja as a child. As such when Gilda saw the mask of anger and grief on her mother's face she knew she might as well be looking into a mirror of her own at that moment.

After a long moment, Villja averted her face away from Gilda so that it was once more hidden in her hood.

“... Perhaps in time, you'll convince me you are not an imposter,” Villja stated tonelessly.

“...” Gilda clenched her fists tightly at the idea she needed to prove anything. “I want to get back at that monster for killing Dad. Nothing else matters.”

“Then you will give everything that you are so that justice will be brought upon this beast and the honor of the Clan will be satiated,” Villja stated curtly and began walking towards her Knights. “Magni! Modi! The both of you will be l-loo...”

Villja was suddenly interrupted by a low rumble and the crypt shaking beneath her feet. She paused for a moment, as did everyone else. Soon, another louder rumble resounded in the earth followed by a longer quake. It was when multiple rumbles started resounding in the air and the quaking picked up and didn't stop that everyone realized something serious was happening.

“Outside, now!” Villja commanded and everyone took flight.

After soaring to the roof of the crypt and sprinting through the entrance hall, all the while the whole mountain seemed to quake and shake, everyone burst into the open air and took flight immediately. They couldn't fly very high, however, as in the time everyone had spent underground a tiny hurricane-like storm cloud swirled overhead and cast powerful gales in every direction. It was an intense struggle to both gain decent height and maintain your position. But the group did manage to attain a height that they were able to see what was wrong besides the storm overhead.

Climbing the mountain from all sides were swarms of animals made of rock and dirt. Most were the size of the typical griffin while many were the size of a small house, but the notable few were easily moving hills. A challenging roar resounded above and the group was met with the sight of a centipede made of swirling clouds scuttling through the air and hissing angrily, lightning arcing in its great eyes.

Suddenly there was a blinding flash of light as lightning rapidly built up in the clouds and lanced out...

BETA

With a flash of light Emerald appeared in the great cavern of the Eldest Dragon.

“Eldest!!!” Emerald called out with a magically amplified voice.

“There is little need to shout, I knew you were coming,” boomed the living mountain that was the dragon himself.

There was a sudden surge of heat and the many large fire rubies dotting the internals of the great geode that was Eldest's home was lit up with their warm glow. The amethyst scales of Eldest's titanic form glittered in the light and his eyes shone like beacons. Every movement causing a minor quake, he folded his arms beneath himself and rose his head up high to gaze down upon Emerald.

“You knew I was coming?” Emerald said questioningly. “You never leave this cavern, how?”

“A combination of some educated guessing and my ability to see the past through my dreams,” Eldest answered. “It is how I stay amused down here, dreaming instead of sleeping and hoping I dream of something interesting.”

“Then... I had come down here hoping you might have maybe grown up during the fall of the Alicorn Empire,” Emerald said. “And if you can see the past by dreaming...”

“Yes, I had seen the fall though I was not physically present for it.” Eldest nodded. “A weakness of post cognition, if one is busy scrying the past of far off places one can hardly see the recent past. I'll try to speak quickly and concisely, time is clearly of the essence...”

“You know the story of the Alicorn Empire as far as their apparent victory over all spirits,” Eldest began. “Though the Empire's intentions may not have inherently been harmful, for the forced slumbering of the spirits allowed for the undisturbed spread and growth of life without the constant hardships of dealing with such alien minded beings.Spirits are still a natural part of the world and the Empire's enforcement of their own views of Order and Chaos brought terrible imbalance. An imbalance that would be solved by any means necessary.”

“And so it was, a world enchained by the Empire's morality of Order VS Chaos birthed these very aspects into two newborn spirits.” Eldest reached out with a colossal hand and an image of a pristine world of clean beautiful grasslands, idyllic forests and eternally calm seas appeared. “Born in the aftermath of the Empire's victory over mortal and immortal alike, these two spirits were cursed with the power that should not have been entrusted to infantile minds, the power of mighty, age old Primordials with none of the wisdom. Newly born, no experiences to draw upon, these two spirits were slaves to their power and their aspects. Order born into a world dominated by her aspect was still and unthinking, Chaos whose aspect was nigh existent in this world leaped into action driven by impulse. He sealed away the Avatar of Order, his own sister into a prison she could never escape on her own where she would spend eons stewing and brooding on the crimes of her brother and the plotting of vengeance. This done, he turned his immense power upon the world...”

The image displayed above Eldest's hand changed, showing the two newly created spirits, one of which Emerald recognized instantly. It seemed despite being the Spirit of Chaos, Discord remained physically unchanged for who knows how long. Emerald witnessed the Discord from eons ago seal away his unmoving sister, a being much like him but only in shape; where he was a mismatch of limbs, she was a perfectly symmetrical serpentine being that looked like a bare marble statue. Once she had disappeared in a flash, he looked over his surroundings with an utterly blank expression. After a moment he spread his hands outs and clenched them into fists.

“Normally even the power of the Primorials have limits...” Eldest started to explain as the world in the projection started to shake. “But at this point in time, Discord, the center point of the aspect of chaos, the center point of the Empire's morality of good and evil, Order and Chaos. For as long as he was this, he had the power to sunder the world... and so he did.”

The image drew back to show the entire globe and the first thing Emerald noticed was the fact that instead of a single super continent, it was many separate ones covering the world. After seeing this, she knew what next to expect. Emerald then witnessed Discord stretch his power across the world, covering every single continent and then he pulled.

Multiple images appeared alongside the picture of the world. Pictures of fantastical cities -even for the likes of Canterlot- at street level and vistas of vast tracts of land. Emerald took in her first and probably only visual image of the Alicorn Empire. Some parts of the cities reminded Emerald of Shrangri La, of how a city inhabited by a population that could fly would be built. Briefly Emerald's attention was drawn towards a ceremony going on in one of the urban images, a gathering of Alicorns surrounding a podium atop of which stood two officials in gleaming regalia and before them was a young alicorn. The alicorn youth used magic to create the stylized image of what might have been a computer chip and the officials cast their own magic at the image and it suddenly attached itself to the youth's blank flank. Shifting her gaze to the vistas, Emerald saw throughout them were structures of grand scale and artistry and also obviously built for the sake of being built. The instant the past Discord had acted, all the images were affected at once. In the main image of the world, Emerald could see the continents moving. In the other images Emerald saw the world instantly sunder and break, the ground roiled and rippled before cracking and snapping open. Gleaming spires and sky scrapers withstood a shocking amount of bending and twisting before finally giving away and collapsing. The alicorn population took flight literally or magically from the catastrophe that was taking place beneath their very hooves. The movement of the ground was so fast and violent that magma erupted everywhere there were fissures.

“So much death and destruction was wrought that day, so much terrible chaos,” Eldest spoke. “Discord being the infant embodiment of what the Empire considered evil was slave to his aspect and the way it was viewed as the idea of evil. So, as the world settled into its new place, there was still a great many survivors of the Alicorn Empire, saved by their own magic and physical abilities but their joy would be short lived.”

A new image appeared of a bland faced Discord reaching out with his power and gathering up the alicorn survivors and placed them in a single area before terrifying them with raw power into running away from him... right into the site of another mighty spirit with a bag over its head surrounded by powdered desert.

“Near mindlessly Discord directed the survivors into the location of another Primordial Spirit, The End,” Eldest commented as he and Emerald could only watch as alicorns simply fell face first into the powder by the hundreds, many sacrificing their lives to shield others with their magic from the effects of the Spirit's presence. “The End is not a spirit of any kind of maliciousness but he is the epitome of supreme apathy and as a spirit this state of being affects his surroundings. Many Alicorns simply fell to the ground and their bodies, their very cells, lost all urge to do anything. They were not all dead however, and Discord enacted one final act of chaos before he would turn his attentions elsewhere.”

Emerald saw Discord lift all the alicorns into the air before stretched his power forth once more. All the alicorns glowed and suddenly each was split into three before being unceremoniously dropped onto the ground. With that Discord left to torment something else, leaving his victims to stumble about dumbly in utter confusion.

“The pitiful state of affairs would remain for a thousand years,” Eldest stated as the images faded away, the last being the image of the world and the newly formed pangea. “The entire time Discord was a near mindless slave to his instincts, little more then a spirit beast of terrible power. It was only after this milenia of ignorance that he began to grow and become something more then just chaos incarnate. This was a hundred thousand years ago...”

'So the three pony tribes were created from the alicorn survivors of the Empire and Discord was born from their absolute control over all of nature,' Emerald thought. 'The spirits were forced into hibernation which they are now awaking from en masse and blaming everyone alive for. Do I have time for some questions? I have to know, I-'

Suddenly Emerald's thought process was interrupted by a shrill screech of an alarm projected into her head. The virus' eyes widened. She had set up a series of alarm systems on certain areas keyed to alert her first and foremost before anyone else. She recognized this alarm sound for the one she set on the vault... the vault containing her nuclear bombs.

Eldest watched calmly as Emerald suddenly teleported away without warning. After sitting for a moment, he shifted in place and carefully stretched his stiff, mountainous limbs in his space. After a moment of stretching, he began to sit up and roll his head on his shoulders.

“Well... I'm a living being, too.This involves me as well...”

GAMMA

“She never looked me up after I gave her my card, you know.” Hoity Toity sighed.

“Ahhh, she never needed help to be world renowned,” Photo Finish remarked casually as she polished her glasses before setting them aside. “From the moment I saw her I knew she was going to be big one day, whether I had a hoof in it or not.”

Hoity Toity and Photo Finish were lounging together in Hoity's penthouse in Manehattan. They were in his living room, a large space with the sitting area facing a glass wall revealing a beautiful mid afternoon sky over an ocean and some cityscape.

“Somehow I believe you understate the truth of the matter,” Hoity stated as he sipped some sparkling grape juice.

“I always considered politics from a reputation or scandal angle, never as a position of power angle,” Photo Finish replied as she lounged back on Hoity's couch with an utterly relaxed sigh. “For I am but a simple photographer with a modest eye for talent. How could I have foreseen the rise of a world power?”

“Indeed.” Hoity Toity smiled at his dear friend and colleague. “Ah, speaking of models, how is your other catch still doing? Fluttershy, correct?”

“Hmph, she could have gone far with her looks and personality but is content to mediocrity,” Photo huffed before pouring herself a glass of juice. “There is only so much I can work my magic on somepony when they become a part timer in modeling.”

“Don't you mean 'Zee magics' hmm?” Hoity corrected pointedly.

“No, you are doing it wrong, again,” Photo Finish retorted and quickly put her glasses back on before sitting up. “It's like this: I! PHOTO FINISH! Am here to work! Zee magicsss! ...It's too flat sounding without the accent otherwise.”

In the fashion world it was expected for the big names to be quirky or stand out more than just their fashion sense. It took quite a bit of tweaking to formulate a diva personality that stood apart from the other divas and the diva wannabes. Of course it helped if one was naturally a diva, but for Photo Finish her speech pattern and public behavior were constructed things for the purpose of standing out. Hoity Toity for his part was a bit more true to himself in public. He was still a noticeably different person in private with close friends but much of his persona wasn't faked.

When shadows quite suddenly blanketed over the room, both Hoity and Photo Finish turned to look out the windows towards the sea to see a massive stormy cloud bank rolling up. Already, thinner clouds had blotted out the sun and had overcast the skies over Manehattan.

“My word!” Hoity exclaimed as he stood up from his seat to walk through his glass doors and out onto the patio of his penthouse. “I thought this was getting fixed! There wasn't supposed to be a storm for the rest of the month! What is the world coming to when the weather can't even be relied on when nothing is wrong?”

“Hoity... get back from the windows...” Photo Finish said with wariness as she noticed the ocean begin to churn and broil. “I don't think this is a scheduling issue.”

“O-oh, oh no what...” Hoity muttered as a massive wave suddenly rose from the ocean.

The wave rose as tall as the highest skyscrapers of Manehattan and shapes began to appear within the wall of water. Soon faces appeared out of the wave, a great many beasts from sharks to birds to otters in varying sizes protruded from the front of the wave. With a collective howl they charged forth in a stampede of water and foam.

“HOITY GET BACK FROM THE WINDOW!!!” Photo Finish screamed and the fashion celeb didn't need to be told again. He turned on the spot and bolted back towards Photo Finish. “Did you ever get that safe room ready?!”

“Yes, quickly, this way!” Hoity shouted back as screams filled the air, a combination of frightened ponies and enraged beasts, both of which were quickly being drowned out by the roar of crashing water. Hoity led Photo Finish into a gallery filled with statues and paintings. The fashion celeb quickly darted over to a statue of a deer standing majestically and reached up to tug on the antler. There was a clicking noise as the antler turned and the sound of something heavy and metal being moved. Suddenly the wall beside the deer statue gave away.

“In here, quickly!” Hoity shouted as the building began to shake and the sound of crashing water began to grow truly deafening.

“Can this room survive the tower falling!?!” Photo shouted over the din as she darted in.

“For a quarter of my net worth it better!” Hoity shouted back as he quickly dashed in after her and the door closed behind them.

Outside the waves seemed to break apart upon the towers of Manehattan, causing superficial damage initially, a surprise considering the sheer size of the wave. But as the waters churned and flooded the streets the spiritual beasts filling the waves jostled against one another, biting and shoving for the right to dominate their patch of water and crash their foe. This lack of harmony and cooperation had a profound effect upon the power of the wave itself and rather then bulldoze the whole of Manehattan as it should have, it broke upon the city and merely flooded it.

Though one had to ask how fortunate it was to avoid instant annihilation in favor being slowly hunted down by sentient water...

DELTA

Emerald arrived with a sharp bang, not outside her vault but within it, an alarming fact considering all the magical defenses she had piled onto it.

The virus took in the view of her vault to find it horrifyingly empty. The vast majority of the nuclear weapons she had kept in here were gone with only a dozen still visible but rapidly sinking into portals in the floor. In the center of all this was a being wearing a hooded cloak floating a short distance off the floor, holding a glowing lantern. Emerald decided he was clearly the one taking her nukes and was about to teleport into him when she suddenly felt an unyielding interdiction field slam down.. She heard the rustling of wind and suddenly her head was simply gone and she was sent tumbling along the floor. She only just regenerated her head when she felt the agony of a soul deep stab tear through her chest.

Gasping in pain, Emerald turned her head to look back and widened her eyes in shock at what she saw. Standing above her with a blank expression and hoodie up in absence of his hat was Oskar. She couldn't help but let out another agonized gasp when she was hoisted up and harshly thrown back down onto her back. Gazing up at her attacker, this time Emerald was able to see the weapon he attacked her with, a blade made out of a gray colored matter that was stone-like in sheen and seemed to be made out of one piece. The only remarkable feature about it was the gem in the cross guard; it was dodecahedron shaped with a pitch black ball in its heart.

Emerald moved to leap away from Oskar only for a slash faster then anything she was capable of to rake across her torso and she was incapacitated by another wave of pain.

“Enough of that.There is no point in fighting to the death against a mere burglary,” spoke a voice like a winter breeze. “Especially for one whose history is as torrid and grand as yours.”

Emerald turned to see the cloaked being now floating just a few feet from her. He held the handle of his lantern in both hands now, holding it up so it leveled with his stomach, its intense light like a small lighthouse.

“W-who are you?” Emerald ground out between gritted teeth. “What d-do you want?”

“I am a Curse, the Curse. I am Curse,” the ghostly being replied. “And what I want is to end a foe I am fated to fight, fated to hate, fated to be a slave to their violence.”

“I... I haven't seen you before...” Emerald bit out, struggling a bit to sit up. “Why are you doing this?”

“Why?” At this, the breeze-like voice of Curse took an almost amused tone. “Why, you'll find that you brought this on yourself.” Then Curse looked to Oskar. “I need not remind you what shall happen if you kill her?”

“Like it matters...” Oskar muttered and Emerald couldn't help but notice the aura of emotion that surrounded him via her changeling senses. There was a confusing, broiling soup of emotions, anger, uncertainty, exhaustion and Emerald wasn't sure what to make of it at the moment.

Curse then floated away and he waved his lantern. Suddenly the air seemed to crack like it was a pane of glass and broke away to reveal a near empty realm of infinite blackness. Sitting some distance away in this realm was a large, scaly, bipedal, horned, winged being sitting upon a throne before a glowing, cloudy pool.

“Curse, the time is nigh,” the seated being boomed. “Cease thy lingering and return.”

“But of course.Come, Oskar.” Curse waved with a hand before floating quickly towards the throne.

“See you soon,” Oskar said blandly with a point of his sword at Emerald before strolling over to the hole in reality.

Emerald rose unsteadily onto her feet, clutching the gaping wounds in her chest. Her vision swirled and blurred with the pain she felt throbbing agonizingly through her torso. Looking up at the hole in reality, she saw two more people walk into view. One was human sized wearing what seemed to be white robes. The other was incredibly tall, Emerald could only see their lower half until they bent over to peer through the portal. Her vision hadn't recovered and she still struggled to maintain balance just standing so Emerald wasn't able to make out much in the way of details. The tall person appeared to be wearing some kind of fur cloak that covered their entire body and something long and white was waving around their upper half.

Then, quite abruptly and with the sound of breaking glass, the hole closed and Emerald was left standing alone. Emerald stood there, trying to catch her breath and simply heaving like she was fresh off a marathon. Eventually she forced herself to stand upright and gingerly began to probe her wounds.

They were deep, clear through in some areas but the flesh seemed to have been petrified in such a way that hindered her regeneration greatly. The pain was very familiar and Emerald intimately knew her soul had been wounded. Strangely though, the petrification helped here, keeping the magic from spilling out.

'Wha-what the fuck was that?!' Emerald thought as she grimaced and clutched at her wounds. 'Fucking hell... this day is just one disaster after another! I... I barely understand what's going on anymore...'

Emerald was very tempted to just sit there for a while and just let herself rest and heal as best as she could before getting trying to get a handle on the situation but through the thick stone walls of the vault she could make out an alarm blaring.

Up on the surface of the Enclave, a siren very much like the ones used during bombing raids filled the air with its piercing wail. The air was practically broiling with tracer fire and missiles exploding in mid air, the sky churned and thundered with countless windigos swirling and screaming downwards, the bullets and explosions only serving to disrupt their nigh incorporeal bodies but doing no real damage as they merely reformed a short while later in the cloud banks.

“Oh, oh well this is fantastic!” Wheatley groused loudly. “Now all we need to make this a lovely tea party is for the other three types of spirits to show up! Mm, nothing like an enemy you can't even beat!”

“Complaining will solve nothing,” Belvedere stated with an aura of calm as he leaned over the tabletop tactical map. However, even he was feeling some anxiety as an idly bouncing foot betrayed. “All we can do is continue to fire into the skies and be thankful that for some reason the Jotuns haven't shown up or buried the city.”

“Well since there is nothing I can do but shoot helplessly into the sky, then there is no bloody problem with me complaining now is there, mate?” Wheatley shot back. “Just as well we made an absolutely obscene amount of ammunition, now I've got a whole lotta nothing to blow off.”

Just then the earth started to shake and for a moment Wheatley thought Belvedere spoke too soon and the Jotuns had arrived... as it turned out, that was completely true.

A great storm of roots burst forth from the earth and snatched up hundreds of lesser spirits in an instant with many more getting snatched up by further roots. As their smaller, lesser brethren were dragged screaming into the earth, the greater spirits managed to either avoid the roots or simply break free.

“Once you all feared to even approach this canopy for the threat of my ravenous hunger...” Sovereign's voice boomed and filled the air. “I SHALL TEACH YOU FEAR ONCE MORE!!!”

That was about the time Emerald arrived.

Appearing with an exceedingly blight flash of light, Emerald shot through the air at the nearest spirit, claws alight with the spirit strike but she was an instant too late and her blades found only air. Looking around quickly with panting breath, she also saw all other spirits in the area had left as well. It was clear they knew full well that they couldn't fight her and simply took advantage of the fact they could retreat any time they wanted.

'That ability is going to make attrition especially deadly,' Emerald thought and clutched at her chest again. She then turned her attention to the writhing, monstrous tree roots waving through the air. 'Well, looks like Sovereign is getting in touch with his cannibalistic roots... wait that's a pu-'

“EMERALD!” Wheatley shouted over the radio.

“I-I'm reading you loud... and clear,” Emerald panted.

“Okay, I have never in my life heard you sound like that and I've gotta admit, it scares me,” Wheatley stated bluntly before quickly adding, “But whatever is wrong, you have to put it aside for now! There are more of those spirits attacking the whole kingdom and I'm seeing similar assaults around the world from the spy satellites.”

“T-the whole world?” Emerald questioned with a sinking feeling.

“Yes, I'm noticing signs of geological disruptions that can't be natural across the planet!” Wheatley replied. “Whatever is going on, the League of Nations members aren't the only targets.”

“... Give me coordinates for all attacks in Equestria.” Emerald steeled herself and forced her breath to steady. “I'll get back to you about attacks in LoN territories.”

“Righto, sending data packet,” Wheatley replied. He hadn't missed the fact Emerald ignored the fact nations beyond the borders of the League were being attacked, but accepted it for what it was; prioritizing saving what was important.

Emerald got a long line of numbers and picked one semi randomly and teleported away. An instant later, she found herself in the air over Manehattan. The city was horribly flooded, some buildings were leaning against its neighbor perilously, some were already a pile of rubble, but all were damaged in some way. The water flooding the streets churned and moved with a life of its own, unnaturally rising against gravity to flood upwards and engulf whole skyscrapers. Emerald saw Hippocampi of immense size striding between the towers immediately fall apart at her arrival, but it was only they that managed to do so.

A leopard of foam and water extracted a pony from a window when suddenly a streak of pink blasted through its midsection, trailing ethereal lights. The hippocampi gave a shriek of utter agony as its upper half was sent flying before it suddenly stopped mid air. The water that made up its body seemed to boil and lose its form before suddenly exploding in a shower of stagnant water.

That hippocampi wasn't the only one to die. Emerald was a blur of death, whole body wreathed in the power of the soul strike, simply using her entire form as a weapon as she blasted through spirit after spirit, killing dozens before the teeming hundreds realized her presence and disappeared in a collective splash of water. Seeing this, Emerald slowed to a stop... but fumbled.

“Aggggh!” Emerald gave a shout as her concentration slipped and she started flipping head over heels before sinking into the flooded waters of the streets with a great crash and spray of water. Emerald lost control of her pegasi magic that hid her true weight and she sunk like a stone and even buried into the street shallowly because of it. Emerald lay there for a moment before she groaned, causing a stream of bubbles to broil up from her mouth and quickly got herself out of the street and up to the water surface.

“F-fuck...” Emerald thought as she called upon her water channeling to make the very surface of the water solid enough for her to stand on. Like an exhausted climber scaling over a cliff edge, she rolled her body up atop the water and lay there, her chest heaving. “Come on... c-come on! Get up!”

And so Emerald did, not with her usual grace and fluidity but like one whose whole body ached and was stiff with exertion.

'Okay... I have to slow down, there is no choice...' Emerald thought to herself as she stood up straight and once more clutched at her petrified wound. 'This “leak” isn't as plugged up as I hoped, but it's not getting worse, either. I need time to heal on my own before I can go at one hundred ten percent again. I just need a moment to-'

“Emerald!” Wheatley shouted.

“Of course...” Emerald sighed before activating the reply on her radio. “Please tell me it can wait even a few minutes, Wheatley...”

“Depends on where you rate Fluttershy as a friend, I suppose!” Wheatley quickly shot out. “Priority detection of immense magical energies around her cottage!”

Emerald didn't waste another second. The moment Wheatley stopped talking was the moment she teleported once more.

DELTA

“O-oh my...” Fluttershy gasped softly as she beheld the skies above her home. They were a ghostly cauldron of churning black and gray with the persistent distant rumble of thunder. “Why would anyone want weather like this? I better go make sure all of the animals are safely in their shelters!”

With that, the demure pegasus quickly trotted towards her front door. She was about to push it open when something happened. Her vision began to shake and it was as if the air, the earth and just everything started to vibrate. There was a sudden blast of icy air from just outside she could feel bone deep even with the door shielding her. And just as sudden as it started, it ended.

Suddenly feeling rather afraid, Fluttershy hesitated before the door fearfully. After a moment, she shook her head clear. Filled with concern for her many animals inhabiting the grounds of her property, she steeled her heart and opened the door.

The pegasus was meet with the sight of a hole in reality closing much like the aperture of a camera. Before this rapidly closing hole were two ponies laying on the ground, soaked with water and covered in bloody wounds.

“Oh my goodness!” Fluttershy exclaimed before she quickly darted to the side of the ponies and looked them over. One of the ponies wore a cloak and was elderly looking unicorn stallion with a beard and the other was a younger looking pegasus mare wearing lacey clothes, a silken headdress and golden jewelry. Both were covered in lacerations and suffering from severe hypothermia. It was a fairly warm day but Fluttershy was actually concerned they would suffer from warming too quickly.

Fluttershy was about to carry the old unicorn into her cottage to warm up in a more controllable manner when there was a pop and quick gust of wind. She turned her head and gasped at the sight that met her.

At first glance she could have mistaken the being before her for Discord, but only in body shape alone. While the serpentine shape was very familiar, the rest of the being wasn't; skin like a marble statue, eyes a light gray, scales a glittering cobalt and claws like gold. Finally from the softness of the features, Fluttershy had a near whimsical thought this being was female.

The Discord look alike growled, a noise that seemed to rattle the very air as she turned her head this way and that looking for something. Suddenly she sniffed the air and looked down at Fluttershy. Almost immediately she was in Fluttershy's face with narrowed eyes, and the pegasus could only freeze with wide eyes. The being stared with wondering eyes for a long moment at Fluttershy before she hummed and then quite abruptly she was gone.

“Huh?!” Fluttershy blinked and started looking around, but the strange being was gone. Just as she was about to direct her attention back to the two ponies on the ground, there was a bright flash of light.

“Fluttershy!” Emerald called out as she arrived. “Are you okay?!”

“I-I'm fine. Something strange is going on, but more importantly, these two ponies are badly hurt!” Fluttershy replied and quickly gasped. “Emerald, your hospital! You can take these two there and help them!”

Emerald for her part was looking around trying to spot something but failing. She then looked down at the two ponies. The pegasus mare didn't warrant a reaction but the old unicorn definitely did.

“Wait... isn't that-” Emerald began as she kneeled down at the unicorn's side to look at his face closer when suddenly she reached up to her ear with a hand. “...God damn it.”

Emerald moved to rise when she suddenly gasped and dropped back into a knee while clutching at her chest.

“Emerald!” Fluttershy exclaimed worriedly. “Are you okay? How are you hurt, w-what's going on?”

“A lot is going on right now...” Emerald sighed and forced herself up onto her feet. “Fluttershy where is that dragon freeloader of yours? If he isn't around, you need to go somewhere safe.”

“Bulto left to stretch his wings but I'm sure he'll be back soon,” Fluttershy replied as Emerald gathered her magic around the two ponies and they vanished with a flash of light. “But Emerald, I still don't understand! What's going on???”

“I can't… I have to keep moving.” Emerald shook her head and began gathering her magic. “Fluttershy, I need you to send a message to Twilight to investigate those two ponies at my hospital. Stay safe!”

“Ohhhh...” Fluttershy shuffled in place as she watched Emerald disappear before looking up; the sky was still an ugly, dark overcast. Taking a breath, she set about making sure her animals were safe first before going to find Twilight.

EPSILON

Starlight Glimmer panted as she ran through the singular street of “Our Town” as a beautiful swan song filled the air, drowning out the screams of terrified ponies.

It had been just another ordinary day in the town of Our Town up until it wasn't. A heat wave like something out of the depths of the world's hottest deserts blasted over the town. It was a palpable force with the wind blowing and the trees creaking and cracking. The air dried out in mere moments. It was such an intense, dry heat you couldn't help but feel thirsty and parched like you had been on long trek through a desert. All the clouds in the sky had blown away in the scorching breeze in mere moments, leaving only the sun blazing down upon the town mercilessly.

The mayor of the most boring - and so ordinary it was extraordinary - town on the face of Equestria had secretly been an incredibly adept unicorn of amazing magical skill. And so when Starlight had bore witness to this freak weather patterns she didn't think it was the weather teams of Equestria failing again, but the sign of something dangerous.

Unfortunately, Starlight Glimmer had no time at all to begin warning people at all when a fire bird of incredible size exploded into being just on the outskirts of town. It was of such immense size that had it not been a miniature sun of blinding heat and light it would have shadowed the town. It was the shape of a swan with the tips of its wing and tail feathers a cobalt blue and its beak a white hot blinding point.

It had begun to circle the town when it first appeared, singing a beautiful and honestly captivating song that would have beguiled the town with its tones had it not been for the heat. The searing temperature had been bad before, but with the fiery swan overhead it had become a literal oven. Ripples of heat filled the air and people's eyes watered and turned red with irritation as the skin beneath their coats started to redden and blister.

Galloping out from town, Starlight would have half cooked her lungs if it weren't for the shield spell she had cast around herself. Halfway to a nearby hill she had looked over her shoulder to see how many people were behind her only to witness a horrifying sight.

There was no one... they were still in the town being cooked alive.

Starlight could only watch in horror as the people she had taken into her care struggled to move with any great pace. They cried out in agony, they screamed and even begged the firebird cooking them with its mere presence but they could not move to save themselves.

“Ahh, what is this~” the swan crooned with a preening tone. “You refuse to run away? Does the beauty of my song captivate you so? But of course, how could mere mortals resist its wonder! I shall sing to your exit on my stage! Bear witness to my eulogy to you all~”

The swan then flew over and landed before the entire population of the town, blocking the way they had been struggling to run. With it now so close, the sheer heat was so great that the ponies closest to the great firebird had simply burst into flame. They were so heat exhausted they could only stagger before falling to the earth and be silently consumed in the agonizing fires of their own flesh. The rest turned to try to get away but they could not. One by one, young and old, mare and stallion succumbed to the heat, their lungs seared by the air and suffocating them, the heat of the very air smoldered their coats and cooked their brains. They all collapsed to the earth as the firebird serenaded their end.

“NOOOO!” Starlight screamed at the brutality of it all.

“Ahh, almost missed one!” The swan tutted to himself in a chiding tone, glancing over his shoulder at Starlight. “Ahh! Fret not, fret not! I, Sanctity of the Pure Flame, shall see you and your home off with a BLAZE OF GLORY!!!”

The flaming swan suddenly flew into the air above the now ablaze town with a spinning corkscrew motion. Starlight only had a moment to cast a shield spell with all her might as the swan flared his wings and became a small sun. Suddenly all Starlight could see was white and she felt unbearably hot. She could feel the shield sap her of her strength incredibly fast. She was blind and all she could hear was the roar of flames as her reservoir of magic drained away to nothing.

Starlight Glimmer screamed in fear as the last drops of her magic drained away and her shield collapsed. The last thing she felt was a great impact and a searing pain along the side of her face.

“Ahhh...” Sanctity sighed in satisfaction as he beheld the incinerated pile of ash that was formerly the town of Our Town. When suddenly he noticed something out of place, a certain unicorn lying on the smoldering earth with a small flame dancing on the side of her face but clutching to life still as his senses told him. “ALIVE?!? WHAT AN INSULT! I-”

Suddenly Sanctity's head whipped around and he only tsk’ed in a put upon tone before he was gone in a swirl of guttering flame. The instant he had done that, there was a flash of pink light and Emerald appeared in mid air. She whipped around to take in her surroundings, but after a moment relaxed and sighed; she was clearly too late. With another teleport, the virus appeared next to the still form of Starlight Glimmer.

Emerald quickly put out the fire before frowning at the horrifying melted state that was half of Starlight's face. She quickly undid the damage and looked the unicorn over again when she suddenly whipped a hand up to press against her ear. After a moment, she sighed and waved at Starlight, teleporting the unicorn to the international hospital before teleporting herself away as well.

And suddenly all there was to mark that there had ever been a town called Our Town was the indents in the ground from the basements of the incinerated buildings.

ZETA

In the land of the Heron Republic, the Capital City of Shangri La was under attack.

The city was under attack from all angles. From the skies the Windigo screamed to the earth, their ripping, whistling wings tore at the towers of the city. From below the Jotun rose from the earth, crashing down streets and shaking buildings to their very foundations. From within, the Ifrit burst to life from the hearths and torches and every home, setting much of the city alight within moments of their collective arrival. From without, the Hippocampi exploded out of the aqueducts that supplied the city, rapidly becoming an inland flood. But unlike the spirit invasions of other cities, this one wasn't in favor of the spirits' sudden assault...

“HA!” Swift Gale cried out as she slashed through the air with her katana, bisecting a dirt jotun the size of a grand carriage and it crumpled into its composite earth. “That's the third time I dealt with that one!”

“Maintain your focus,” Gyatso reminded lightly as he swatted a crab hippocampi with a wing glowing with ethereal light. The crab gave a cry of great pain before it retreated of its own volition to the spiritual realm. “This is only the beginning and so few of us can cause actual pain to these spirits.”

“I know, Master Gyatso,” Swift Gale grumbled as she took position to meet a mixed charge of all four spirits. “I'll set them up, you knock them down.”

Swift Gale rapidly gathered her focus and drew her secondary smaller blade strapped to her hind leg via wind channeling very rapidly. Then without really giving it the necessary force for penetration power, she sent it spinning towards the hound windigo. Of course, the first thing it did was reclaim the winds propelling the spinning blade and it fell to the earth. That was okay, because it did the job of distracting it.

Master Gyatso came blasting forth like a bullet feet first. Lower limbs glowing with ethereal light, instead of passing through the sentient swirling winds as he should have, the master channeler impacted the spirit like it was a flesh and blood being and it gave a cry of pain. The Ifrit in the group surged upwards, hissing and rattling like the blazing rattlesnake it was. With the windigo briefly out of commission, Swift was able to freely use her wind channeling and dashed forward with her katana held out in her mouth, its blade encircled by a violently swirling tiny cyclone of wind. She slashed along the body of the ifrit, the actual blade didn't seem to do much but the wind sent the flames scattering and the ifrit disappeared with an angered hiss. A tiger made of vines and flowers leapt at her, but she paid it no attention as a moment later Gyatso redirected his flight and bolted towards the tiger.

Gyatso impacted the jotun like a cannonball, hitting hard enough an actual tiger would have had its spine broken instantly. The jotun shrieked in agony as its physical form crumpled and it quickly abandoned the material world for the safety of the spiritual realm. Swift Gale and Gyatso turned about face towards the windigo, but they needn't have bothered.

The windigo gave a piercing howl of pain as it was throttled by a small monkey wearing a white haori with red lining and a conical hat with the kanji for fire on the front. After another moment it faded away to lick its wounds in the spiritual realm.

“Grand Master Onoki!” Gyatso exclaimed. “I take it the assault upon the monastery has been repelled?”

“Mostly,” Onoki huffed as he gently lowered himself onto the ground with jets of flame. “If it weren't for the fact the Senators are losing their minds I'd be back there in the thick of things where I belong. Bah, enough of my whingeing. I take it from the fact neither of you are hurt to assume you have done well?”

“We have, Grand Master,” Gyatso replied with a nod of his head. “The fighting has actually started to slow around the capital.”

“You'll have to train your attunement with spiritual energies more in the coming days, then,” Onoki stated with crossed arms. “The fighting has stopped... for now.”

“Haaa... thank Celestia,” Swift Gale muttered with a sigh as she checked over her weapons before sheathing them. “I don't know how much longer I could have taken being the distraction.”

“My apprentice brings up a good point,” Gyatso stated. “The only meaningful damage we can inflict can only be done with the spirit strike and far too few of us know it. So many Channelers served merely as distractions today while the lucky few who studied an art with little modern applications did work.”

“That changes today,” Onoki growled with a burst of flame from his mouth. “We will be pushing everyone we can spare through training of the spirit strike. The more who know, the more we can actually hurt the enemy.”

“There will be consequences for rushing training, Grand Master,” Gyatso cautioned.

“The consequence of not rushing out people who know spirit strike will be countless thousands,” Onoki retorted firmly. “We'll just have to bare with it until we have enough Channelers who can spirit strike around, then we can reinforce whatever spotty training we were forced to give.”

“I take it from your tone this is already decided with the full consensus of the Council,” Gyatso said deferentially with a bow of his head. “I shall follow your lead, Grand Master.”

“You better, now is not the time for nit picking,” Onoki muttered before stalking off. “... much as I could use the snack right about now.”

“Should we get in contact with the Enclave?” Gyatso asked as he fell into step behind the diminutive Grand Master. “Surely Emerald Gleaner is busy with her own issues at home but I have a feeling her strengths will be put in constant use before long.”

“Eventually,” Onoki replied as the earth began to rumble. “Let's try to get things under control here before we worry about lands across the sea.”

With another rumble that shook everyone to the bones, there was an explosion of earth from the center of the capital and a massive hooded cobra towered above the tallest buildings of the capital. A Greater Spirit in the form of a king cobra and materials of raw copper. With a hiss that was more of a deafening roar, the Greater Spirit spat out a stream of molten copper that immediately caught several blocks of buildings on fire.

“COME ON! LET'S HAVE AT IT!!!” Onoki roared out and, with a trail of flame, leapt high into the air to leap across rooftops towards the spirit.

“Stay near me!” Gyatso ordered his apprentice before taking flight.

“Yes!” Swift nodded before leaping into the air after her master.

While the battle for the Capital of the Heron Republic raged, another battle was well underway countless miles away.

Far, far away from the humid and temperate climates of the Heron Republic, in the arid deserts and savannah of the Bast Dynasty a far more one sided battle between the cats of the Dynasty and the desert spirits was happening.

In the city on the borders of the great dune sea, an army desperately fought against marauding spirits, however the warriors of the Dynasty did not possess as strong a mystical history as the Channelers of the Heron Republic. Indeed, the magic of the cats of the Bast Dynasty was less a physical force and more a presence, a magic that focused on fortune and beating the odds. It could be powerful in its own way, but in this exact case the only thing it was doing was keeping the death count low despite the spirits practically rolling over every attempt to repulse them.

As a monstrous jotun shark made of sand crashed through a block of adobe homes there was a howl of utter agony echoing from the distance that seemed to interrupt everyone with its piercing wail. On the horizon a sickly green light approached with great speed and before long a shape could be seen bounding across the dunes and leaving a black trail in its wake.

“AH! AH! AUGH! IT BURNS! IT BURNS! IT BURNS!” a voice screamed into the heads of everyone. Neither mortal nor spirit were spared from its piteous, maddened howling. “IT HURTS! WHYWHYWHY!?! HOW DOES IT BURN?!?”

An elk hippocampus that was in the process of drowning out several homes turned to see a blazing green hound leap atop the walls of the city. It whined in pain as it whipped its head around this way and that, looking for something. Finally its wild eyes stopped on the hippocampus and with a happy howl it leapt at it. With a loud, careening wail, the hippocampus thrashed against the mad ifrit as it crashed atop it and its body began to sizzle. After mere moments the hippocampus burst into flames and it weakly thrashed a moment longer before both its body and very being exploded in a shower of nuclear flame.

“MUST SMOTHER, MUST SMOTHER, MUST SMOTHER!!!” the green ifrit repeated manically as it proceeded to drop down and roll over into the block of houses the hippocampus had been attacking. Immediately the buildings crumpled and rapidly burned away in the sickly green flames as it then leapt to its feet and stumbled in place. “GO OUT! GO OUT! IT BURNS! IT MANGLES AND TWISTS! UNNATURAL! UNNATURAL!”

Spotting another spirit, this time the sand shark jotun, the mad ifrit bolted towards it. It impacted the other spirit with a great crash and rolling wave of green flame and sand. The jotun was left behind in a heap as the mad ifrit continued to roll and flip over through houses and streets. The shark jotun began to thrash wildly as the green flames started to spread over its body, covering every exposed part. After a while it was fully covered and it seemed like it was about to suffer the same fate as the hippocampus, but then the flames receded.

In place of a proud, mighty shark was a piteous thing, burned and melted to a lesser state. It looked less a shark and more a mudskipper now. Its former sand body was now made of misshapen hunks of cloudy glass and sludge that glowed green beneath an oily film. With an agonized gargle that sent glowing ooze flying out of its mouth, the jotun flopped forward, seeking everything and anything that could ease its current ceaseless torment.

Seeing this transformation, the rest of the raiding spirits left in an instant, their physical forms collapsing in their respective elements. Leaving only a devastated city and two radiation maddened spirits behind.

The mad ifrit twisted its head about looking for anything that could catch its manic attention, but nothing did, not even its fellow, now demented, spirit. The ifrit took to a sprint with a pain filled howl, taking off away from the deserts and into the heartlands of the Bast Dynasty. Meanwhile its new fellow radiated spirit flopped through the city miserably, aimlessly smashing aside anything in its way as it picked a random direction to move in.

A relief force of warrior cats would arrive to find this city full of blackened ruins and hairless, growth covered corpses covered with horrifically cooked flesh.

ETA

“We are going to need to completely retool our industry,” Emerald stated as she walked down the halls of the international hospital.

“Err, one moment. Right'o, I've activated all the spare factory lines I've been making,” Wheatley replied. “We could start equipping and supplying million strong armies within hours.”

“Good, we are going to need to,” Emerald replied with grim certainly as she paused and clutched at her chest briefly before looking around.

The hospital was very busy. It had been busy since it had opened, but the sheer size of the building made sure it could accommodate people coming from across the known world. But with an actual war on, hurt and dead ponies had been pouring in by the hundreds and that number had been spiking into the thousands every now and then. It was very telling that despite the fact the hospital only needed ten minutes at most to fully heal a patient that the halls remained almost too crowded.

“Also, get some construction teams up here and throw up some rough additions to the hospital,” Emerald added as she continued on, forcing a grimace and discomfort down. “Don't bother with making it look pretty, we are way past that. Just make sure it's completely functional.”

“It'll be started on within the hour,” Wheatley complied.

“What's the progress on the new satellites?” Emerald asked as she made way for one patient room in particular. “As much as I'd like to just focus on defending and securing the homefront, I get the feeling I'll be given some firm words about ‘solidarity’ and helping one's neighbor if we don't look beyond the borders eventually.”

“I've just put the finishing touches on the design,” the organic AI answered. “I've got some factory lines queued up to start building them.”

“Okay, good,” Emerald said and paused to lean against the wall as casually as possible. She honestly should have still been “working” as there were a ton of alerts yet, and still more on the way all the time. The virus, however, was beginning to feel the onset of magical fatigue setting in. The constant running around after having a hole torn in her soul wasn't conductive to staying active in the long term. She honestly needed a break but the constant stream of alerts was doing nothing for the broiling anxiety that was steadily growing.

With a deep breath, Emerald pushed off the wall and made for the door. Once she reached it, she opened it and walked in.

This room was no different from any other room one could find in a patient ward of a major hospital. Though truth be told, in a hospital with the abilities this one held, the patient rooms were more a luxury for the families to rest with their recovered loved ones for a time before they were discharged to make room for other patients. This room was especially luxurious as it held only one bed with a large, flat screen television.

In the bed was an old unicorn stallion confirmed by Twilight as Starswirl the Bearded himself. Emerald had her suspicions but hardly had the time to really confirm it for herself and simply sent the old unicorn off for treatment and hoped Twilight would confirm it for her. Said new alicorn was in this room as well.

“So, how is he?” Emerald asked as she walked over to her wife.

“He is sleeping right now, the machine said that's all it was and I honestly want to wake him up, but...” Twilight was a bundle of nervous energy, caught between terrible concern for what was going on and excitement that her historical idol was before her in the flesh. After a moment she shook her head and decided on which was more important right now. “How are things going out there?”

“Bad.” Emerald shook her head with a deeply tired sigh. She proceeded to cover her eyes with one hand and lean her head back before continuing. “Everyone was caught completely by surprise save for the Enclave and even that was only thanks to Wheatley's reaction time. And even in places where people are trying to give some kind of resistance, they just can't! The destruction of a spirit's physical body is all anyone can do and that only delays them for a short time before they come right back. Besides Sovereign, I am the only one in the entire Kingdom who can actually hurt and kill any of the spirits. But the spirits know this. The instant I arrive to fight, all the big ones immediately leave and I can only catch a few of the smaller ones before they leave too. This is... fucking frustrating. I am making progress against them but it's SO slow and there are always more attacks I have to try to stop, then I have to turn right around to clear an area I just left and...”

“It's okay, Emerald,” Twilight soothed as she pulled Emerald down into a kneel so she could hug her. “We'll figure something out. You, the princesses and I. Once we combine our minds, we'll-”

“What is it you do to hurt the spirits?” interrupted another voice. “What is the spell?”

“Huh?” Emerald blinked and looked at the bed to see Starswirl wide awake and gazing at her intently. “It's not really a spell in the traditional unicorn sense. More of a technique that anyone can learn with time and training from a far off land.”

“Even so, show me,” Starswirl insisted with a stare that was fast approaching a glare.

Emerald stared back a moment but relented with an encouraging nudge from Twilight. She held out her hand and presented the palm to Starswirl, after a moment her hand was engulfed in ethereal light. She kept it up for several long moment as Starswirl stared at her hand with the most intense studying expression she had ever seen even after living with Twilight for several years. After yet more moments of silence, Starswirl suddenly brought up a hoof from underneath the bed covers and presented it to Emerald.

“Oh my gosh...” Twilight said in tone of wonderment. Emerald had to agree with.

Starswirl's hoof was alight with the same ethereal energy as Emerald's hand, the Master of Magic had learned the spirit strike after just a few moments of looking at it with no direction at all. That was a feat easily admittedly beyond both her and Twilight within the same time frame he just had.

“It is an interesting technique,” Starswirl commented with a hum as he examined his hoof further. “I can see this would have been very helpful to have known some time ago. Maybe then my compatriots would have... in any case, I can also see the issue of this spell. Namely its high skill requirements.”

“Yes, there is quite a large Order far to the east who could train hundreds if not thousands in the use of the spirit strike, but...” Emerald began with a frown. “With the scale of the current conflict, those kinds of numbers just aren't practical.”

“I've already fixed it!” Starswirl announced as he tossed the bed covers off of himself and leapt off the bed. “I trust you are aware of runes? I already have an equation in mind to translate the spell to a tool to be used by a laypony.”

“A tool?” Emerald said with wide eyes, already beginning to realize just why no one had fully understood Starswirl's magics despite having a thousand years to study them. “But surely there would be issues with potency?”

“Of course, of course!” Starswirl waved off as he opened the door to the room and began to leave. “We clearly don't have the time to solve the question of quality, so we merely have to settle for quantity for the time being.”

“... Wow.” Emerald blinked as she stood up and looked down at Twilight. “Okay... I am honestly beginning to think things aren't going to be as bad as I thought they were.”

“EEEEEeeee!!!” Twilight couldn't help herself. As serious as circumstances were, she just had to squeal with fangirlish delight. “This! Is! So! AWESOME!!!”

“... Uhhhhh.” A moment later, Starswirl poked his head back in the room. “I just realized I have no idea where I'm going.”

Emerald chuckled at that. She already felt much better. Perhaps things really weren't going to be as bad as she thought?

One could only hope...

-TBC-

Author's Note

AN: And finally done! After NINE whole months! The Chapter is finally finished, hopefully you all will have found it worth the wait.

EN: And Murphy’s Law has thus been invoked. Damn it, Emerald. Hopefully I’m not too rusty with my English skills. So do me a favor, and point out any errors you see. I can’t learn if nobody points out my mistakes.

Chapter 9: Equestria At War

War.

Equestria had never known true war. It had gotten a taste of it during the Changeling invasion but it was a conflict of a single city that lasted a day. Emerald’s alternate, Oskar, attempted his own invasion but it was a conflict only the Enclave felt. The battle between Emerald and Oskar had caused collateral but it could be seen as more of a natural disaster than actual battle for the ponies of Equestria.

But now Equestria truly knew war and had been getting to know it for the past three days…

ALPHA

A unicorn mare galloped, panting and gasping for breath amongst a stampede of terrified, desperate ponies. Roars and explosions filled the air, the earth shook and ponies tripped and stumbled; some got back up, others simply disappeared beneath the hooves of the ponies that had been directly behind them.

“Teeny! Teeny Heart!” she heard a voice cry.

She paused briefly and looked towards the voice to see a group of ponies clustered around a street corner, hooves waving frantically in the air as they looked towards her.

“Mom!” Teeny shouted back and ran towards them, having to fight against the tide of ponies to do so. It was a good thing she had done so.

The street the crowd had been running down suddenly exploded in a cloud of smoke and flying rubble. Ponies screamed in pain and fear as a massive shape moved in the dust cloud. The cloud rapidly cleared to reveal a giant, diamond dog shaped, armored form lying face up across the street. The giant then immediately rolled over just as another giant form impacted the ground with shaking force where it had lain.

The second giant was ape-like in appearance but made entirely of rust colored stone. The ape opened its mouth as if to roar, only to get a facefull of massive bullets from the massive guns on the giant dog’s arms.

Teeny could only stare in wide eyed silence at the sight of the fight where she lay after being thrown by the literal earth shaking impacts.

“Teeny!” two voices cried, and she looked to see an earth pony and a bandaged pegasus stallion standing beside her.

“Dad… Far Wing, your… wing…” Teeny said, almost too quiet to be heard in the deafening battle and noise of a war torn city.

“Nevermind that, little sissy,” Far Wing forced out quickly in a failed attempt to draw attention away from the bloody bandages on his side and the lack of a bulge where the wing should have been. “Come on! We have to get to the train station!”

“R-right!.” Teeny tore her gaze away from her brother’s side and quickly got up. She followed her brother and father to the others who were gathered on the corner. She recognized each face. Aunts, uncles, cousins and her grandparents, her entire extended family was here.

They ran once they were all gathered together. The giants were still battling and not only that but a centipede made of fire had joined in and started setting everything alight. The fires and the fighting forced them to take a long route to the train station.

The streets were growing progressively emptier the further away their detour forced them from the station. The somewhat distant sounds of explosions, roaring and screaming seemed unnaturally quiet to the soft crackle of fire and shifting wind over empty streets.

“How much farther, Comet?” Teeny’s mother asked her father.

“Not too far now, Lucky,” Comet began. “We should be about-”

Suddenly there was the noise of rushing water and gurgling. Teeny turned her head to see her uncle and several of his children being snatched up by a serpent made of water, literally swallowing them whole to start drowning them in its transparent belly.

“NO!” Teeny heard someone scream, but before anyone could do anything the ground exploded in a cloud of dirt and road bricks.

A white armored shape leapt out of the earth and crashed through the watery serpentine form and everyone held within spilled out with gasps for air. The armored being immediately leapt back on its feet and swiped its arm through the now angrily hissing water spirit’s head, disrupting its form further.

“GO!” the being shouted in a modulated voice as the serpent rapidly reformed and started to wrap around it.

The entirety of Teeny’s family immediately bolted down the street. But Teeny couldn’t help but look over her shoulder at the struggling armored being as it drew a cylinder from its waist and pulled a pin from it. A moment later a blazing white fire erupted where the two had been and the sound of something like a blowtorch and sizzling water filled the air.

With adrenaline pumping, Teeny and her entire family galloped down the street and didn’t stop until they started seeing other ponies making for the train station. Even then they wouldn’t have slowed if they could. Worn down from all the running and the adrenaline wearing off, they walked as fast as they could, panting and gasping for breath. Monstrous tracer rounds flew over the rooftops followed by rockets screaming past, explosions and roars resounding in the distance as the battle in the city continued.

Finally coming to the train station, Teeny and her family had to force themselves to enter the trainyards in the shadow of looming giants. Tall, troll-like creatures stood guard with massive guns attached to their arms and racks of missiles lined up on their backs. There wasn’t a moment that one of a dozen of these beings weren’t firing off into the distance. Combined with the fact the train station was clearly packed with frightened ponies even from the outside, the noise was deafening. Thankfully something had been done about this; as soon as Teeny and her family crossed the threshold of the train station entrance, the noise suddenly died down.

The sound of crying, screaming and generally terrified ponies, however, was still pretty loud.

It was incredibly crowded in the train station proper and it was all Teeny and her family could do to stick together as they slowly moved with the crowd towards the train platforms. The speed of their progress was agonizing considering what was going on in the city, but it seemed like the train station was the place everyone had thought to go. Certainly ponies on the outskirts of the city had simply ran for the main roads or into the wilderness but for everyone that had lived in the heart of the city…

“... PLEASE KEEP MOVING!” Teeny started to hear over the terrified drone of the crowd. “KEEP CALM AND MOVE FORWARD! THERE ARE STILL TRAINS BEING LOADED!”

Suddenly the ground shook and Teeny swore she heard a deep, vicious growl resound up from the floor, a deep baritone that rattled her bones. Just as suddenly there was another shake that ended abruptly followed by another growl, this time feeling frustrated.

Teeny didn’t know what that had been about but, like her, the crowd didn’t want to find out and in their collective desire to leave the flow of ponies became smoother. As can be expected from having a name like Teeny, she wasn’t the tallest pony. Teeny Heart had to curse the fact she was barely taller than the average teen once more - not to mention a bit too much on the slender side, even for a unicorn - so all she could see was the wall of ponies pressing in on her. Several minutes of this eventually led to the ceiling changing from the tall lobby of the train station to the looming ceiling and glass windows of the train platforms.

Teeny Heart could smell the strange aroma left behind by the massive ranged weapons the Enclave giants used as it blew in from the broken glass sunlights overhead. It was a strange, alien smell she found oddly pleasant, though from the faces of those around her she was probably the only one.

‘Strange, I thought the Warhounds from the Enclave switched to non-powder based weapons?’ Teeny thought idly, honestly lacking anything else to do besides slowly inch forward with the crowd. ‘Maybe their… what did they call them? Biogears? Their large soldiers, anyway, still use powder based weapons simply from technical limitations or they never got around to it in time? Hmm… why did the Princess never update the Royal and City guard to have- oop!’

So engrossed in her mental tangent, Teeny almost never noticed being herded through the doors of a train car. Looking around, she saw that it was one of the new models, a more utilitarian design without much of the typical Equestrian flair. She had heard about these from friends and family who often groused about how bland and boring the trains were becoming “thanks” to the Enclave.

‘Now that I see it for myself, it honestly isn't that bad,’ Teeny thought as she did her best to stick close to her family. ‘Almost refreshing, really. At least now there is less artistic flair to accidentally break off.’

Thankfully she managed to stick with her family with little issue and they collectively managed to claim a seat along with the floor around it as their own. It was honestly that crowded in the car that comfortably claiming some floor was an accomplishment, though one of selfish greed or actual achievement Teeny had yet to determine…

‘At least no one is giving us dirty looks,’ Teeny thought while purposefully ignoring the fact she had claimed the window seat the instant she saw the chance to do so.

“NO! YOU CAN’T DO THIS TO US!”

“THEY’RE LEAVING US HERE!”

Teeny turned her head to look out the window and see the crowd grow angry as well as afraid. Looking around some more, she realized that this train was basically the last one to be loaded and there were many more ponies in the train station trying to get out.

“PLEASE REMAIN CALM!” boomed a loud, authoritative voice. “MORE TRAINS ARE COMING! WE ARE HERE WITH YOU! PLEASE REMAIN CALM!”

There was a whistle as the train’s engine started to chug and pull out of the station. Teeny half expected the crowd to surge forward and latch onto the train any way they could. Some definitely did this, but most of the crowd simply stood around worriedly, looking lost and afraid. Before long the train had left the station along with the spell that blocked out the noise.

The situation in the city hadn’t gotten any better; in fact it was worse. The dog biogear was now being assaulted by four spirits, a fiery winged serpent had joined the jotun and the other two spirits were half their size. The giant dog was unable to properly fight back now that it was completely outnumbered and did all it could to maintain a defense, one that could not be kept for much longer if the cracked armor was any indication. Along with that, the safety of the station and the train itself was in question.

Screams of fright filled the interior of the train car as Teeny grit her teeth at the overwhelming feeling of helplessness. All she could do was watch on as spirits burst into existence out of the earth and into the air. The troll-like giants guarding the station were constantly stomping their feet along with swatting at both the air and their own bodies. Spirits of all four types swarmed these giants, their forms disrupted by being crushed or swatted by the massive fists of the giants but merely reforming nearby. There were several dozen warhounds stationed along the tracks the train was on, each of them fighting desperately not only to protect themselves but to keep the spirits from attacking the train.

‘...Jotuns can manipulate the earth, can’t they?’ Teeny thought as she considered the battle outside the window, unable to do much more considering how helpless she was; it was better than joining in on the screaming that was beginning to leave her ears ringing. ‘Why aren’t they pulling the warhounds into the ground? Or even just shattering the track the train is on? If I can think of it, surely they can?’

Of course, as soon as she thought that she witnessed a warhound’s foot fall into a suddenly appearing crack in the ground. Oddly, however, this was as far as it got and dirt even filled the crack and pushed the warhound’s foot out.

‘...That doesn’t make sense. Why would-’ Teeny thought and interrupted herself as she narrowed her eyes at the giants almost futilely swatting at spirits. Specifically, she stared at their still rhythmically stomping feet. ‘That shaking and growling earlier… Can those things manipulate the earth as well? Guess that explains why we aren’t dead yet.’

Yet was the key word. The warhounds and their heavy support were just managing to keep the spirits off, but they weren’t winning either and were clearly being worn down. Fortunately the answer to their current problems had just arrived.

There was a flash of pink light and the spirits attacking the biogear split apart in an instant. The spirits attacking the giants only had time to turn their heads before they too burst apart with screams of agony by streaks of pink light.

“It’s her!” Teeny heard a boar-like Jotun the size of a bus squeal in fear before it simply fell to pieces with its fellows following suit.

The pink light came to a halt just above the battlefield that had been the trainyard and Teeny could just make out the distant figure of Emerald Gleaner, floating in mid air.

“BIG BOSS!” one of the Warhounds cheered.

“BIG BOSS! BIG BOSS! BIG BOSS!” the rest of the warhounds added to the cheer, and even the giants and the distant Biogear joined in.

Teeny could just see a motion that was probably Emerald raising her fist into the air in a salute before she was suddenly gone. The cheering continued and even a lot of the ponies aboard the still moving train joined in.

“She did it! She saved us!” a voice cried out.

‘Again… for now,’ Teeny mentally added with a sigh as she leaned back in her seat. This actually wasn’t the first time Emerald Gleaner had teleported over to destroy the spirits attacking the city. In fact, Emerald had come around the city at least a dozen times in the past three days to beat off attacks.

‘The problem is that she can only get so many of them and the rest always instantly run away,’ Teeny thought. ‘Then once she is gone they just come right back and the lethal cycle continues.’

“You alright, Teeny?” Far Wing asked, now sitting on the floor in front of her.

“Besides being stressed, I’m completely untouched, Far Wing,” Teeny replied before frowning.

“Don’t worry about it.” Far wing shook his head and shuffled in place until his bandaged, maimed side was hidden from sight. “You forget about the international hospital? I’ll just check in and have it grown back, good as new!”

“...There will be a line,” Teeny couldn’t help but reply.

“Always such a party pooper, sissy.” Far Wing practically pouted. “I’m fine with waiting. It’s not like I can do weather work even if I hadn’t lost it.”

“Yeah…” At that, Teeny looked out the window. According to the position of the sun it should have been noon. Except for the fact that the sun and moon had crisscrossed the sky every which way several times in the last twenty four hours. Trying to keep time purely on the sun and moon was pointless when those two very things seemingly moved randomly now. The situation had started two days ago when the sun was raised and then set over the course of five hours and steadily got worse ever since.

Teeny yawned. The result of the unreliable day and night cycle was a badly disrupted sleep cycle, something that was keenly felt now that the illusion of safety from a “won” battle was settling in. She had barely rested her face against the cool window of the train car when a sudden jolt snapped them back open.

The short unicorn wiped a hoof across her bleary eyes and looked around. It was rather dark and everyone seemed to have fallen asleep as well. She rubbed her eyes again and froze when she looked out the window and saw a pair of large, glowing white eyes staring back at her.

Teeny simply stared at the eyes as they stared back at her, and this kept up for what felt like a small eternity. Then, quite suddenly, the eyes closed in an almost tired fashion and disappeared. The darkness seemed to lighten with the disappearance of the eyes and Teeny saw that the train was currently traveling through a tunnel.

The short unicorn wasn’t sure what to make of the event she had just witnessed. She had only just woken up from what felt like a far too short slumber. No doubt had anyone saw her, they would have told her how stupid she must have looked just staring blankly at the eyes.

Suddenly there was light and Teeny had to squeeze her eyes closed for a few moments. She opened them to see that it was now night, or at the very least the moon was currently out; no doubt at the rate the moon was moving across the sky the sun would be out in just an hour or two. Despite how tired she still felt, the light was enough of a shock to the system she felt she might as well stay awake.

‘Just what was that a minute ago?’ Teeny thought to herself as she leaned her face against the window once more. ‘Another spirit? Why didn’t it kill us? Who knows how long it had to do something to us.’

Considering how much violence and death had been happening from the invasion of her home city alone, Teeny thought it was rather odd a spirit hadn’t taken the chance to murder them all. Although… thinking back, there was an odd feeling she got from the being, something along the lines of uncertainty and regret.

‘Well there isn’t much use wondering over it now,’ Teeny thought. ‘I wonder how much further it is from the Refugee camp?’

Teeny didn’t try to go to sleep again. Just like she thought, the moon had set in only an hour and up came the sun, causing people to be forcefully roused from their own slumber. It was a very grumbly and frustrating couple hours following that before they finally arrived at their destination.

The Canterlot Refugee encampment was a massive makeshift metropolis of tents built in the shadow of Canterlot itself down in the grasslands and hills. The station for the tent city was actually the commercial trainyards of Ponyville, but the sprawl had grown so vast the edges had neared the large town.

The train yards were so busy that theirs hadn’t even been able to stop at a proper passenger platform. They all had no choice but to disembark from the middle of the commercial train yards and walk to the check in station. Being checked into the tent city was not a fast process; the officials were clearly stressed and doing everything they could to keep some kind of order and documentation. Three hours of waiting later and their family was assigned a packed tent and a lot to set it up in. Another three hours of walking and being lost trying to make sense of the street number system and they finally had the opportunity to spend an hour struggling with their tent before they got to even settle in.

Teeny laid wide awake atop her sleeping bag, simply watching her family in their fitful, exhausted slumber. By all rights after being cooped up in a packed train and spending six hours standing, walking and struggling, she should have been tired as well but she wasn’t, oddly enough. Teeny actually felt restless and maybe even a bit hungry.

‘Might as well go find an eating area,’ Teeny thought. As far as she knew there was little else to do and it wasn’t like they had brought things like books with them.

The short unicorn carefully got up and left the tent, zipping the door closed behind her. She began to walk somewhat aimlessly towards an area she and her family had accidentally discovered in their lost wanderings. Despite the fact it could have very easily been past noon by now, the sun was barely even in a position one could call ten o’clock; clearly this was going to be an especially long day.

‘Not the happiest looking people ever, not that I blame them,’ Teeny thought as she trotted past residents and fellow wanderers of the tent city. ‘Everywhere I look, everywhere I walk it’s the same: ponies crying and grieving, depressed and lost or just helplessly angry. Who in the world could have expected the very elements to rise up against you for “past crimes”?’

The spirits that had invaded her city time and time again hadn’t been silent on the matter of their grievances. Apparently ponies of ages past forced them asleep and took the world for themselves. Well that was news to Teeny; news to everyone else as well and it wasn’t especially fair to be blamed for crimes of people both long dead and unknown. Frankly, Teeny was of the opinion they all should be rather angry with the spirits for holding them responsible for actions eons before their birth, but if people wanted to mope instead that was on them.

Eventually Teeny arrived at the eating area and couldn’t help but groan. In a rather large, somewhat busy clearing, many tables were set up. Off to the side was where the food was located on pallets. It was all entirely of a kind of processed bar made of berries, wheat and various grains. It was one of those “superfoods” she had been hearing about and was supposed to provide a pony with all the nutrition they needed. Well that was honestly true and having them once in a while was fine, but making a whole meal of them?

‘This is going to get old very fast,’ Teeny thought with a sigh and turned her eyes towards an area walled off with tarp walls, the restrooms as the gender signs attested. ‘Might as well see if I can freshen up a bit.’

Entering the mare’s side of the restroom, Teeny found herself in a somewhat crudely made public bathroom with a few other mares here as well. Along one side was a long line of portable toilets facing the sinks. The sinks were all a bunch of rapidly welded together tubs with a water silo piping water to each one, each sink emptied into a trough that fed into a box that Teeny knew to be a runic water purifier, with said box feeding back into the water silo.

Teeny walked over to the sinks and looked into the mirror that each thankfully had. She was a mess, there was no getting around that. The last three days of being stuck in a warzone had not been kind to her hygiene. Her naturally messy blond mane was clumped together in greasy tangles that would take some effort to clean up. Her tan colored coat was covered in grime, dirt and dust, not to mention a few bloodstains from some cuts and minor wounds. The lack of sleep hadn’t done her cerulean eyes any good either, as they were now badly bloodshot. Not only that, but she must have gotten hit in the eye at some point because one of her eyes was half red from a burst blood vessel. As for her flank? Besides being as dirty as everywhere else, it was as blank as the day she was born, something she felt she’d always have to live with.

‘Ugh! Normally I’m not all that concerned about how I look but this is pushing it!’ Teeny reflexive gave a disgusted scoff at the reflection before turning the water in the sink on. ‘Not much I can do without an actual shower, but I can get some of this cleaned up.’

Teeny Heart probably spent a half hour just in that washroom, hogging the sink and trying her best to get cleaned up. In the end she managed to get the dirt off of her head and from around her neck. She gave her hair the best wash she could with just tap water.

‘Still not pretty to look at,’ Teeny thought with a frown as her reflection, with its one mostly red eye, glared back at her. ‘But considering what I started with, it’s an improvement.’

When Teeny left the washroom, she saw a crowd gathering around one side of the eating area. Over their heads she could see the towering form of a fully armored Warhound. Curious at what she was seeing, she walked closer and through the buzzing murmur of the crowd’s voice she could hear one shouting, trying to be heard.

“... ANY WHO WOULD BE WILLING TO VOLUNTEER!” Teeny started to hear the voice clearly as she slowly squeezed through the crowd. This was probably one of the rare few times she was glad for her smaller size as it allowed her to get to the front with little issue. It was there that she saw an official looking pony standing atop a soap box while a Warhound towered next to him with crossed arms.

“What’s going on?” Teeny whispered to the pony next to her.

“They tryin to get us to go fight in their war,” a gruff looking earth pony wearing a bakerboy’s cap spoke before spitting to the side. “Not bloody likely!”

“PLEASE EVERYPONY! WE ARE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER!” the official beseeched, and even Teeny felt like turning away. Something about this suited official just made her not want to buy anything he was selling. “IF WE JUST CAME TOGETHER, THIS WHOLE- GAH!”

“This is not how you ask your people to fight and die with you,” the Warhound growled lowly as he hoisted the pony up with a single hand. He then placed the pony down behind him and planted a foot on the soapbox before reaching up and pulling his helmet off.

“I AM FENRIR!” The Warhound spoke as he revealed his white, wolf-like head. Placing the helmet under an arm, he continued; “I am Captain of the Direwolves, an elite force of Warhounds currently scattered across Equestria, fighting tooth and nail to defend against a merciless foe.”

“I look at you all today and I see a people who have had their peace torn away from them!” Fenrir spoke solemnly to a now silently still crowd. He seemed to gaze into each one of them with his icy blue eyes that burned with conviction and faith. “A peace a thousand years in the making! Torn away! And for what?! Why was this peace taken away from you? Was it something you all personally did? A fault that any could see as something truly deserving of retribution? NO!”

The white wolf ended with a bellow that startled the crowd, the motion moving through all like a wave.

“They tore away your peace for the crimes of those eons dead!” Fenrir growled, and in his anger his foot crushed the soap box with a cloud of splinters. “For the crimes of those long gone, they have decided to kill your friends, your family, your loved ones. Drive you away from your homes!”

“MURDERERS!” someone cried out, and Teeny could almost feel the hackles of the crowd start to rise.

“Not just murderers!” Fenrir continued. “They deny you your right to live! Your right to peace and happiness! Your right to create a family, make a home. They would tear the very earth out from under you! If they win, they would turn the world into a lifeless wasteland! If we do not fight, we surrender to monsters that would see you and your families dead and gone! WILL WE LET THEM WIN!?”

“NEVER!!!” To her own surprise, Teeny found herself adding her voice to many others. Intellectually she knew the reasons for the spirits deciding to kill them all was unjust and something to be angry about. And she was angry, but it wasn’t a passionate, burning anger. It wasn’t the sheer fervor she could feel Fenrir pour into his words. If it wasn’t for the righteous, infectious anger the dog was exuding, his words would probably be little more than just dramatic rhetoric. As is, it was almost scary how easily the crowd got carried away by someone else’s emotions… and how easily she found herself willing to be carried away as well.

“Then join me! Join us!” Fenrir spread his arms wide. “Help us defend Equestria! Help us bring peace back to our world! Fight together with us for our right to live!”

Angry cheers filled the air along with the stamping of many hooves.

“Now that’s how you ask a fella to fight!” the gruff pony from before said with a toothy grin. Teeny Heart had to agree with him completely, considering the choice she had just resolved to make.

Unbeknownst to the short unicorn, her blank flank started to glow lightly and a shape appeared after it faded. It was the face of a pony’s bare grinning skull surrounded by a laurel wreath with two crossed rifles behind it.

BETA

With a flash of pink light, Emerald appeared on the peak of Mount Canterlot and fell onto one knee, panting and grasping at her chest.

As a Blacklight being, Emerald was physically tireless but the same could hardly be said of her mentally, magically and even emotionally. She had been going at it for three days straight. The most of a break she had ever gotten was a minute here and there to talk with friends and family to make sure they were alright. It was the most time she could ever spare considering the fact she was the only person in Equestria who could hurt and kill spirits. Everything and everyone else were merely holding actions.

Starswirl had done what he promised and managed to create a runic array to replicate the spirit strike in weapons. In just three days, Starswirl had created a brand new runic array that could be applied to firearms.

‘At this very moment hundreds of thousands of the magical equivalent of a bolt action rifle are being made,’ Emerald thought with a frown, absently monitoring every second she was spending resting and every new alert that was popping up. ‘Brand new weapons that have never been strenuously field tested are going to be given to pony recruits who likely will only be able to have days of training at most… there is no telling just how many thousands are going to die because of freezing up or their guns jamming.’

Intellectually, Emerald knew she wasn’t to blame. Both she and Celestia knew that taking time to properly prepare a force to deal with spirit attacks would take weeks if not months. The deaths that would occur if they did attempt such would almost certainly see the end of Equestria as they knew it. But she couldn’t help it; she felt the weight of the deaths to come, the deaths happening at this very moment.

‘All this power. I could force the world to heel singlehanded,’ Emerald thought with a mirthless chuckle. ‘But just try to help everyone and I find myself falling short. Is the only thing I’m good at taking lives? Damn it… at this rate, we’re never going to be able to help the other nations of the League if we can’t even secure our own lands.’

Emerald was forced to cease her brooding when the alerts rose a little too high for her liking. Ending what little break she allowed herself, she went back to blitzing the entirety of Equestria.

GAMMA

The capital of the Griffin Principalities was under siege.

The howling winds had been a perpetual noise ever since the beginning of the assault three days ago. It was caused by the inland hurricane that had been raging for three days straight, the eye of which was situated over the capital itself. The only reason why there was even a capital still standing was thanks to the ceaseless efforts of the stormwings, who were contesting the windigos for control of the air. But it was a siege that couldn’t be withstood forever…

The Grand Prince looked over the Great Hold of his family, a city they had built from nothing upon their rise as a family of significance and been in their care for generations. Its gleaming towers were a marvel of ancient griffin architecture and artistry, the palace itself was a monument to the glory of what it meant to be a griffin of significance, a family of knighthood and honor. It was now all a crumbling shadow of their former glory

Stones rained down from above as the ground shoke. Windigos were not the only spirits attacking the city; there were also Jotuns crawling up the sides and bursting up from the ground itself. With the Stormwings focused entirely on tying up the windigos in the air, it was up to the Knights who only had some training in Stormwing techniques to combat the spirits on the ground. In the end, the lightning amplified attacks were only just enough to keep the spirits from getting too deep into the city or from causing too much damage at once.

“Grand Prince, the western residential districts have started sliding off the mountain top. There is nothing more that can be done,” a Royal Knight in battered armor, highly decorated in storm sapphires, spoke.

“Took them long enough,” the Grand Prince retorted with a derisive snort. “We’ve been forced to let them have it over a dozen times and only now they manage to destroy it.”

“It’s strange, your highness,the first few jotun to assault the city caused most of the damage,” the Knight added. “But then more of them showed up and they became manageable somehow… it’s like…”

“They are tripping over each other to get at us.” The Prince’s face hardened in certainty. “I’ve seen the same thing in young stormwings who haven’t learned to coordinate their efforts. Instead, they as a group try to act as individuals. They forget they aren’t unicorns, however, and their power is reliant on the world around them, not just the energy within. They end up struggling against one another for the same resource there is only so much of and accomplish little because of it.”

“That must be it!” the Knight exclaimed. “It’s the only explanation for how we’ve been able to stalemate their control of the weather for so long. But how do we use it?”

‘A difficult question to answer,’ the Grand Prince thought grimly. ‘If we had realized this fact even two days ago we might have had options, but as is, attrition has worn down our forces.’

There had been no choice but to rotate the knights and stormwings to keep a rested force. Against an unkillable, tireless enemy there was no other way to hold them back. But even kept on rotation, the rest periods were often forced to be ended early to repel offensives. If the spirits didn’t kill them all then pure exhaustion would.

‘We have to come up with a strategy to use their inability to work together against them. Our current position is untenable.’ It made the Prince’s heart clench to actually consider abandoning his family’s Grand Hold, but… ‘In conventional warfare, the position of the city was the greatest and most defensible position in the world. This war is anything but conventional and my duty is clear. I must save my people and ensure their future if we are to continue fighting for survival and not just run and hide. My ancestors will understand. If not, then they are no family of mine.’

Of course that brought back the problem of finding or even creating an opening to evacuate through. He was still considering their situation when the ground started shaking in steadily increasing intensity; and not only that, but the static electricity in the air grew rapidly.

The Grand Prince turned his eyes to the bright blue light shining in the distant sky. His gut clenched as he started to recognise the shape of yet another windigo, this one of immense size - easily the size of the city. Just stalemating the current group of windigos were a near enough thing as it was, and now there was this one titanic being added to the mix?

The shaking continued to intensify to the point the Prince felt like he could feel his bones rattling. More than a few already damaged and crumbling buildings in the city below could no longer stay standing and began to crumble and topple. Then, off in the distance, he saw a mountain top start to crumble as well.

‘No, that’s not it.’ The Grand Prince ground his teeth together. ‘That’s another jotun.’

The mountain top in the distance exploded and rapidly reformed, and from the debris the titanic figure of a massive lion appeared. The lion then shook its body and rock began to fall away to reveal a hide of shining silver and a mane of steel. It was as the great eagle made of lightning lighted down on a mountain top opposing the lion’s that the Prince realized something.

‘Wait…’ he thought as the lion gave a deafening, challenging roar. ‘They aren’t here for us.’

The two utterly gigantic spirits weren’t giving the Great Hold any attention at all. It might as well have been a big rock in the background to them, for they only had eyes for each other. Further enforcing the idea that these two weren’t here for them was the fact that more spirits appeared around them and looked like they were begging and pleading. Jotuns sprouted from the earth around them and windigos appeared in the air about them. The two greater spirits only put up with this for a few moments, tossing them aside. The lion only stomped a great silvery paw and the eagle flared its wings; these simple movements seemed to utterly annihilate the lesser spirits around them. As the two greater spirits began to clearly size each other up for an inevitable fight, the Grand Prince began to realize he knew who these two spirits were.

‘Once upon a time there were two beings of great power…’ the Grand Prince recited to himself.

One was a mighty bird of thunder and lightning who ruled the skies and a great mountain...

The other was a great, proud lion who ruled the hills, plains and forests around it…

One day Great Lion and Thunderbird could not bear the presence of the other any longer…

Great Lion and Thunderbird fought, feather against hide, lightning against claw…

So horrible was their struggle, so bloody, that the mountain had sundered into countless smaller ones and lakes of blood formed from the wounds…

From these lakes of mixed blood, the griffin were born into a world of violence and terror and fled to hide among the new mountains…

Thunderbird and Great Lion fought for a moon and a score more…

On the end of the last moon they stopped fighting and were never seen again…

It is said that in the end, Thunderbird and Great Lion realized they destroyed the thing they had fought over…

And in their pride and shame could not bear to show their faces…

‘It appears that the old tales were true,’ the prince thought as the Thunderbird lifted off and the Great Lion prepared to pounce. ‘Except it seems that Great Lion and Thunderbird were forced to stop rather than realize they should… it’s to our advantage in any case.’

“GATHER THE KNIGHTS!” the Grand Prince commanded over the howling winds and rumbling earth. “WE MUST TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THIS!”

Whatever reply the knight made to give was lost as the two greater spirits collided with literal earth shaking force. He felt as the two titanic forces of nature tore at each other in midair, sending massive hunks of steel and lightning flying everywhere.

It was a good thing the fighting between the two spirits was so disruptive to the local spirits, as it was definitely violent enough to spell the end of the Great Hold. It was all the Grand Prince could do to simply focus on saving his people and not watch a place that was home to generations of family simply slide off the mountain top. As it was, tens of thousands of griffins flew away in a very conspicuous crowd through the air, the able bodied carrying the wounded and ill on stretchers.

But even with the two warring spirits distracting the others, that didn’t mean the winds were any less calm. In fact it was all the Stormwings could do to keep wind in their immediate vicinity from scattering everyone to the horizons and against the earth below. And to make matters worse, it seemed the dispersed lesser spirits were coming back.

“My Prince! The windigos come!” a Royal Knight yelled over the howling winds.

The prince turned his head and saw the dozens of cloudy shapes bursting into existence and start barreling towards them. The fact the entire evacuation fleet wasn’t instantly scattered by the winds spoke volumes of just how much of the local wind element the Thunderbird must have been monopolizing.

‘What are our options?’ the Grand Prince thought as he grimly clutched a mace. ‘We can’t hope to stand and stalemate them, not without firm ground beneath us and not when we have to protect the people. But we can’t outrun them either. They can outfly the best scouts; the people could never hope to get away before they’re forced to fight… a last stand then, made up of what little stormwings could be spared and those best capable of resisting the windigos.’

“ALL ROYAL KNIGHTS TO ME!” the Grand Prince bellowed. His knights wore the best armor in the Principalities, but that wasn’t the important part. What mattered was the fact their armor had storm sapphires faceted into it. It was the knights who wore armor with storm sapphires that could best resist the attacks of spirits and maybe even hurt them. He would have to be part of the last stand as well; after all, his crowned helm and armor was covered in the finest examples of storm sapphires that could be found. His own mace was even a storm sapphire, an heirloom and within the spiked ball was the largest storm sapphire ever found.

“FATHER!” came a shout, and the prince saw a male griffin in scarred and battered armor fly rapidly towards him. “Father, what are you doing!?”

“I am ensuring the survival of both our clan and our people!” the prince retorted imperiously. “My son, you will lead the remnants of our clan and our people to safety. If our own state is any example, no other Great Hold will be safe!”

“”B-but you can’t… YES FATHER!” The prince’s son warred with himself briefly before steeling himself with visible effort. All it took was just a glance at the onrushing living storm to remind him of the stakes.

“My son…” A glance at oncoming certain doom and the prince judged there was just enough time left. “If it were up to me, you would inherit all that I have, but all I have to give is time so that you may live. There will be no time to choose a new Grand Prince after today. Until a new age of peace rises, the clans must work together to survive. Fight for honor, for our people and a new peace! NOW GO!”

That was all that the heir and now Prince-to-be needed to hear, and he took off for the evacuation that was barely being kept from scattering in panic.

The Grand Prince took stock of his forces; there wasn’t much time for much else. A quick count brought the number up to one hundred and eighty eight, the majority of that made up of knights with the remainder being stormwings. A hundred and eighty eight exhausted and sleep deprived warriors at his command, an unkillable enemy in front, their hopes and dreams fleeing behind them.

“THIS IS WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A KNIGHT! TO BE A PROTECTOR OF THE INNOCENT! THE SYMBOL OF HONOR AND GLORY!” the Grand Prince immediately bellowed. It was strange just how he only now truly understood it himself, in this time when death was all but certain.”STAND WITH ME ONE FINAL TIME, BRAVE KNIGHTS! WE FLY FORTH INTO BATTLE LIKE TRUE KNIGHTS! FLY WITH ME, GRIFFINS OF NEW GRIFFONIA!”

The Royal Guard erupted in a warcry that could be heard over the howl of the wind. It was never in doubt that these griffins could be relied upon to make one final stand, even exhausted as they were. It was the spirit of chivalry that had seen the death of Old Griffonia and her treacherous ways and birthed a new land, a new continent of Griffonia. So total was the end of surreptitious ideals in the social psyche of griffins that a knight’s code of honor had ruled unquestioned for centuries.

The spirits were upon them now, like a ghostly menagerie of murderous animals of all shapes and sizes, this time unified enough in purpose to gather some lightning about them. The stormwings contested as best as they could, but most of their effort was making sure the wind didn’t just tear them out of the sky. The knights met the charge with a swing of a mace, charged by lesser shards of storm sapphires. But even a mace magically wreathed in the power of a storm sapphire did little more than disrupt the forms of the windigos. Killing them was impossible, hurting them was impossible; being an utter annoyance was the most any one of the griffins could hope to ever be. This fight was little better then protracted suicide.

It didn’t matter to them.

“I give my body, heart and soul to the oath I swear,” the Grand Prince intoned solemnly, his voice lost in the wind and battling of gods. A lightning bolt arched towards him and was merely absorbed into his armor. He retaliated with a swing of his mace, glowing brightly with power and it met the face of a serpent headed windigo only for it to dissipate with an annoyed hiss.

“No plea for help shall find me wanting. No obstacle will stand before me.”

Knights began to fall, the gems in their amor overloading with sudden explosions of light and without their protections the lightning slew them mercilessly. Blackened, smoking bodies in twisted armors fell into the hurricane to be suddenly carried away.

“No evil will taint the lands entrusted to me. When the clarion call is sounded, I will fly out and fight in the name of honor and justice.”

More griffins began to fall, their imminent deaths always signaled by the flashing explosions of their storm sapphires. Keeping their dropping numbers in mind, the knights began to try to prioritise the protection of the stormwings in their number, the only ones keeping the fight from being an immediate loss.

“That which is innocent, I shall preserve.”

It worked up to a point, but this was always going to be a losing battle. As more of them fell, the harder it became to distract the windigos from stormwings and not just die in the process. The Grand Prince was almost exempted from this thanks to the quality of his armor. Lightning struck him but he had so many faceted gems that it seemed like they never filled. The Prince took advantage as much as he could, the smell of ozone filling his nostrils as he darted among the swirling winds that was the bodies of the windigo. He lashed out with his mace every which way and infuriated the spirits as their bodies dispersed time and time again. They focused more of their attention on him and bought just that much more time for the evacuation.

“That which is... h-helpless, I will protect…”

Every moment in a fight was practically an eternity. It was hard to know if they had been battling for three minutes or three hours. Either way, every moment counted. As the stormwings themselves began to fall, the knights threw themselves into the fight with ever greater determination, selling their lives dearly with every distraction. The prince was starting to pay the price as well, gems in parts of his armor started exploding and charred his flesh every time. He fought on all the same through the pain and blanket of exhaustion. His mace was red hot and its points had long since melted off and several tears had formed in the ball, exposing the large gem beneath.

“T-t… that which threatens, I-I will... destroy... for my righteous fury will k-know... no bounds.”

The winds began to roar and pick up speed as the stormwings fell one by one, the knights now too few to protect them. The prince’s body was swiftly becoming covered with burns and charred fur and feathers. His armor was outright molten where his gems had exploded. Without the stormwings to contest the winds, he was now unable to do any aerial acrobatics and was barely able to move. But even reduced to a near helpless state, even aware that he was now the last griffin alive and the windigos were circling like hungry sharks, he refused to let himself fall. He would die fighting to his last breath…

“H-honor… is...a-all… chivalry… i-is-”

There was a sudden screech of pain and rage. The Grand Prince turned his bloodied and burned head to see the titanic form of the Thunderbird flying through the air, its enemy the Great Lion upon it in a pounce.

The lesser spirits scattered immediately to avoid the two battling greater spirits. The Grand Prince could only hover in place and watch his doom fly at him. The two god-like beings didn’t hit him, their forms struggling for dominance over the other missed him by a great many meters, but at that size it didn’t matter. The mere passage of the two titans caused immense wind storms and their impact with the earth sundered mountains and cracked the earth, magma spouting from the cracks like gushing blood.

The prince was sent spinning through the air. The winds were so strong they had broken and plucked his wings bloody. As his doom rushed up to meet him, he finished his knight’s oath.

‘I rise a knight, I fall only to kneel in respect or to meet my death… so I swear... to New Griffonia…’

The bodies of the Grand Prince and his Royal Knights would never be found. Indeed, no one would ever recognise the lands of the Grand Prince and his Great Hold as the battling giants would render them a forever changed hellscape. But the last stand of the one hundred and eighty nine was not for nought. In their sacrifice, countless thousands would live and a clan would continue to exist.

The days ahead would not be easy for the survivors, however; the enemy was still deathless, still implacable. With their defenses rendered utterly useless, the Principalities would be forced to become nomadic and forever fighting to retreat.

The Knights of the Principalities of Griffionia cared not. An enemy that slaughtered innocents demanded they meet it with claw and axe and mace. And they would do so with fearless abandon.

DELTA

Celestia kept her expression stony and fought the tears that desperately wanted to pour down her face.

Once again the interior of Canterlot Palace was looking utterly ransacked, but this time it was purposefully done. The Hub of the Enclave and Canterlot were national command centers of the Equestrian warzone; the Hub was more combat centric whilst Canterlot was focusing on organizing evacuations, refugees and maintaining some sense of society. To help organize things on the Equestrian side, Wheatley had created a command and control linked to the satellite network in orbit. Thanks to said satellites, they were given a highly detailed, constant flow of information…

“Day six of the Spirit War. Casualty rates among pony recruits are sorta stabilizing between forty and sixty percent.”

And there was precious little good news…

“Bright side is that recovery rates for casualties are around ninety four percent,” the AI continued. “Meaning our actual casualties are bouncing around three and two percent.”

“I consider it grim news that my ponies have to be revived endlessly to be thrown back into combat,” Celestia said as she continued to stare at a holographic display of Equestria. “Tell me, how many of my citizens have been killed in this senseless war?”

“Well… even for my satellites, giving an exact number is a little much…” Wheatley responded a little hesitantly. “But compiling what I can of conflict zones, records, refugee registration and combat feeds… I’d say so far the civilian casualties have risen to one point one million.”

“...” Celestia seemed to have frozen as she stared at the map. Said map had locations on it marking cities which were different colors to denote current status. Green meant safe, yellow meant insecure, orange meant under threat, red meant under attack and black was a lost city. Only one city on the map was green and that was the Enclave. Everywhere else was yellow at the very least. Manehattan was marked down as black and any operations there were just to get people out. So far it was the only black site, but far too many locations on the screen were flashing red.

“At the very least we can actually fight back now without relying entirely on Emerald,” Wheatley said as assuringly as he could.

“I am no great strategist, Wheatley, but even I can see the issue here.” Celestia frowned. “Even with weapons capable of harming spirits they still have the ability to appear anywhere. We have no real frontline to speak of, every location we hold is effectively surrounded at all times.”

“Potentially for not much longer,” Wheatley replied and Celestia turned her head to look at his display. “Emerald noted the issue with Starswirl and, while the fellow would rather be making the ‘aether rifles’ better, he has some ideas of forcing spirits to conform to more conventional warfare.”

“And how long would Starswirl need to create this new weapon?” Celestia asked.

“If the creation of the new guns are any example, anywhere from two to four days,” Wheatley answered. “In the meantime, I’ve been looking over his notes for the guns and have been engineering my own varieties. Nothing groundbreaking, mostly just making different gun types which I’m planning to affix to the bio gears.”

“Timeline on those?”

“I should have refitted bio gears being rolled out by the end of the day,” Wheatley assured. “The real trick was building the factory lines for them, honestly.”

“Hmm…”

“...Celestia, you should know the City and Royal Guards are already at sixty percent… ponypower I suppose,” Wheatley warned. “They were never big institutions in the first place and the volunteers are already starting to be spread thin; the new army just isn’t big enough. It might be we’ll have to resort to conscription.”

“Wheatley, if I have to order it for the sake of all my ponies I will but please, give me options that aren't me forcing my people to become soldiers.” Celestia closed her eyes and couldn’t help but mourn for her ponies. Certainly many were being brought back to life, but for those who were soldiers it was a resurrection straight back into combat.

‘Just how many have begun to wish they stayed dead?’ the princess thought.

“Well… all due respect your highness, but ideals aren’t putting hooves between your people and genocidal spirits as fast as we need them,” Wheatley retorted and Celestia could only sigh at the cold blooded pragmatism; truly he was a child of Emerald. “Look, we can maintain a volunteer only doctrine for the time being, but we need to do something to boost recruitment numbers if it’s going to stay the main strat.”

“I have officials canvassing the city and refugee camps,” Celestia replied. “I suppose I can send out more of them, but from what I can see we already have good coverage.”

“Coverage is not the issue,” Wheatley countered and brought up a recording over the map display. Shown was a riled up crowd of ponies shouting their support. “Look at this. This is one of the recruitment drives, but this specific official brought in loads more recruits than any one other recruiter. Looking into the potential cause, I saw the difference here was that there was a Direwolf with him, specifically the Commander of the Direwolves himself, Fenrir.”

“Hmm?” Celestia watched the recording and listened to the dog speaking and couldn’t help but be impressed with the energy he conveyed even through a recording. “He spoke of their personal issues, of the threat to the things they cared about then he stoked their anger until all they could think of was a need to do something. The most impressive part is that I am not sure if he merely acted the part or truely did believe in what he was saying.”

“If we are to maintain and grow numbers to the point we can not only keep Equestria safe…” Wheatley began. “But also send people out to help the other LoN members, then we will need greater numbers, far greater almost certainly in the millions.”

“...I take you it you have a plan then?” Celestia stated carefully, doing her best to move past her initial horror at the idea of any kind of armed force numbering in the millions. “I can see my kingdom being capable of bearing the weight of at least a million and half ponies being sent out to fight, especially since said armed force will be equipped by another, but attempting anymore will cause issues.”

“Well firstly, this isn’t an enemy that concerns only Equestria. The spirits are out for the extermination of all life,” Wheatley explained. “So while we’ll have to send out a goodly number of ponies to help other nations, I fully expect further expansions to the relief forces to come from our neighbors… which unfortunately is contingent on there being neighbors left to save. Oh well… the less people the less land we have to secure.”

“I sincerely hope that was a poor attempt at dark humor?” Celestia stated with an arched look.

“A statement of what will almost certainly be our reality,” Wheatley answered unapologetically. “While the goal is to ensure the survival of our allies so that their able bodied citizens can be tapped for recruitment, the size of the attacks means that the potential pool of resources will shrink with every day. If we are unable to act quickly enough, it’s very likely that nations we go to could be barren landscapes, scoured of all life.”

“... And your plan to secure more numbers?” Celestia asked, trying not to get too hung up on the idea of genocide and extinction of such scale. “I take it, it is something taking after Fenrir’s example? As much of a difference his presence made for that one recruitment drive, I have doubts if he would be able to do the same everywhere.”

“Very true, and that is why we use someone everyone knows is out there fighting the good fight and keeping monsters from killing them all,” Wheatley replied and changed the image on the screen. “Emerald Gleaner.”

Celestia narrowed her eyes as she considered the picture Wheatley brought up. Somehow Wheatley had gotten lucky enough to get quite a photogenic picture of Emerald in action. Emerald was wearing her official regalia, her star cloak flared out just to enhance her presence. She was standing over a group of ponies, shielding them from a blast of flames being launched at them from between ruined buildings. It was the perfect example of a dramatized picture and yet its quality was so lifelike Celestia had a hard time seeing it as anything other than a perfectly timed picture.

“Like it? Made it myself!” Wheatley said with a bit of pride. “Just an example of my idea, really. What I’m planning to do is basically weaponize Emerald’s status as one the spirits fear to great effect. Using a combination of actual events and some slight artistic recreation, I’ll create life-like still images along with a fake Emerald to star in a propaganda video, puppeted by yours truly!”

“I… find it hard to approve… would Emerald even approve?” Celestia frowned in hesitation.

“Well she oughta. I mean she designed my brain so anything I think up should be something that would be well within her expectations,” Wheatley said confidently. “Come on luv, we need boots on the ground and this is the best option without resorting to just conscripting ponies.”

“...Yes. Much as I am loath to admit it, I have to agree,” Celestia said with a sigh before shaking her head. “I’ll leave you to organize the recruitment drive, then. Has Luna sent me any messages?”

“Let’s see… oh she has just finished mastering the very basics of the spirit strike! She and that scythe of hers have started doing some work on the front…”

EPSILON

“WATCH IT! WATCH IT! HERE THEY COME AGAIN!”

The first three days of the spirit war had been a harrowing experience for all ponies; their first taste of war and it had been against an enemy that hated their very existence and could not be killed, only annoyed and delayed. The following four days after that had been a… mixed situation to say the least.

News had been spread far and wide of Starswirl’s new anti-spirit weapons, the aether rifles or AR-1s, along with a call to arms to all ponies of able bodies and minds. Reception had been mixed in a vast majority of places. A population that did not know war for literal milenia did not mobilize quickly. For the most part people were wondering why the Guard couldn’t be the army since it was their job to protect people. However, the Guard were not a proper military; the only guards with heavily regimented training and anything approaching a militaristic mindset was the Royal Guard, and they were vastly outnumbered by the City Guards. In total, there could be anywhere between eighty and ninety thousand guards in all of Equestria, while just a singular percent of that was the Royal Guards. In a country of near a hundred million trying to make an army out of a force that didn’t even break a hundred thousand was laughable, even more so when you had to protect everywhere at once.

Thankfully, despite grumbling, there were plenty of ponies wanting to do something to protect their homes and avenge loved ones. The rough estimate of the military force was easily raised to roughly five hundred thousand, a far more respectable number compared to before and it was still being stretched to its limits because the front line was literally everywhere.

Of course that was pretty much the only good news. Equestria’s PR department was rapidly falling into their own form of PTSD as they tried to stifle the news that the new army was given only days of training and they were literally dying in droves. One could argue that a ninety percent chance of being saved form death itself should have countered that… one could also realize ponies don’t like the idea of friends and family being murdered over and over again, being thrown right back into the grinding murder machine that is war by authorities they trusted. Thus the information blackouts and highly sanitized news being filtered to the public.

“Just one this time!” a voice cried out. “Spread out! Try to-”

Teeny threw herself onto her side to avoid the whip of molten rock that nearly hit her. With her coat of heavy dragon scale mail and helm with neck guards, she had little worries from the heat. It was still who knew how many hundreds of pounds of molten rock whipping through the air, and she didn’t need to suffer another death by broken neck just because she felt invincible.

“The Captain’s down again!” Teeny heard a familiar voice cry out.

“Why is it so much harder when it’s only one of them?” Teeny muttered to herself as she quickly leapt onto her hooves.

Currently Teeny’s squad was in one of Equestria’s many idyllic towns dotting the countryside. A town was what she was going to call it, because she didn’t bother to remember its actual name since she had been moved around like a pinball these last few days. The Enclave had basically paid the bill for the modernization of Equestria’s army with Enclave weapons, so trucks and combat buggies had been pouring out by the hundreds, hourly. Making any clear idea of her current location even worse was that any sleep she got was often on the back of a troop truck.

‘Focus, focus.’ Teeny shook her head. ‘Don’t let sleep deprivation kill you… again.’

Looking over, Teeny took in the form of the spirit. Initially one could have said it was a squid ifrit due to the molten rock, but from the way its body darkened and began to rapidly cool it was more likely a jotun. Chances were it simply formed its body deep below and the heat of the deep crust had made the rock molten.

Noting how her squad had scattered and was taking cover behind any stone fencing and walls they could find, she quickly levitated her rifle up. A brilliant beam of ethereal light burst from the rifle and struck true in the squid’s eye, bringing a pained, almost comical blurble from it as it flailed its partially molten tentacles.

Teeny leapt off the ground and quickly began hopping away from the angry spirit in a zigzag pattern, just barely avoiding the ground splitting open beneath her hooves. An earthen tentacle would have grabbed her leg and likely snapped it if it weren’t for the hail of ethereal rounds smashing into the spirit.

The squid jotun’s body cracked and lost whole sections of its form and it blurbled furiously again before quite abruptly sinking into the earth. That was an immediate bad sign. If the spirit had left, it would have left its body behind; this one was clearly clever and was going to try to pick them off from below.

With little hesitation, Teeny levitated her rifle out so that it rose up in the air and aimed down at her, specifically her legs. She then began stamping hooves down into the earth in an attempt to draw attention to herself. It was a bit of a gamble in more ways than one, but honestly there was little she could do at this point; her only effective weapon was her rifle. The only alternatives was hoping Emerald Gleaner showed up again or watch as the jotun pulled them under to unmarked graves.

The ground split open and tentacles burst forth and wrapped themselves around her legs. Teeny had been hoping they would be just tentacles made of the cool surface stone, but no, the stone was still searing hot to the touch. Still, at least her reflexes were as fast as ever.

There was a bone rattling groan of pain as the rifle shot managed to shoot through all the tentacles wrapped around her legs followed by a literal hair razing wave of energy. Teeny was rather familiar with the feeling by now; it was the spirit tearing itself apart after it tried to return to the spiritual realm with too great amount of damage done to itself.

“Little help! Any minute now would be great!” Teeny cried out through gritted teeth, parts of the tentacles were still wrapped around her legs and weren’t cooling down fast enough for her liking. At times like this, she wished the Enclave industrial complex was growing faster so she could get a proper suit of armor as opposed to a merely extremely resilient coat of scalemail.

“Oh my gosh, TEENY!” a voice cried out and a large earth pony darted over. “I’ll help you! Gimme a minute!”

“A second would be best, but take your time…” Teeny joked through gritted teeth.

“Don’t do that!” the earth pony mare said as she quickly broke apart the still hot rock tendrils around her legs.

“I try, Gentle Hoof, but it’s how I cope,” Teeny replied with a rasping sigh as she took in the sight of the raw, bloody burns on her legs. She forced her eyes to turn away. There was little point in upsetting herself with the damage. Intellectually she knew that scars and crippling injuries were a thing of the past, but emotionally it was hard to move past seeing your body be mutilated. “... least I’m not dead again.”

“Ya alright there, missy?” Another earth pony approached as Gentle Hoof wrapped Teeny Heart up in a tight hug.

“Shut up and give me ointment, Clover,” the injured unicorn retorted.

“You’re the salt of the earth, Teeny Heart,” Clover replied sarcastically as he removed his helmet and put his baker boy hat back on before waving another pony over. “Medic! Give the lady her medicine!”

“Hold still, wouldja?” a colt pegasus muttered as he swooped down and opened up his medkit.

“The gravel is sticking…” Teeny complained and tried to keep her mind off the pain when the medic used an alcohol swab to clean her burns. “How’s the Captain?”

“Oi!” Clover shouted out. “The Cap all froze up and ready to go or what?!”

“...Captain ain’t getting back up again,” a pony replied as they trotted over, his expression stiff and wooden. “Rock smashed his head against a wall.”

“Wonderful… fantastic…” Clover muttered with a sigh and Teeny could see the already low morale of her squad plummet. She felt Gentle’s arms wrap around her tighter and started to shake a bit. Suddenly it felt like she was comforting the much larger mare as opposed to Gentle comforting her.

“You about done down there?” Teeny asked the medic and saw that he was just finishing the wrapping after applying ointment. “Alright, back up. I’m getting up.”

Her legs were still badly stinging, but it was a relief from the burning throbbing they were before. Teeny took in her squad again. They were all ponies that had been part of that crowd back in the refugee camp when the diamond dog had spoken to all of them. They had all been so eager and full of spirit then. Now, just four days later, all of them looked years older despite medical treatments.

‘I… I can’t let them think too much on what’s going on. We have to keep moving forward,’ Teeny thought. The last thing she wanted was to see her squad destroy themselves; bad enough the spirits were still doing a decent job of that. ‘Right, let’s make sure we aren’t about to be overrun with more spirits.’

“MCP, uhhh Delta Squad here?” Teeny said as she radioed the mobile command post, also wishing she had way more than a few days of training to familiarize herself with all aspects of military life.

“MCP here, Delta. Give us a sitrep,” came the calm reply of a diamond dog.

“Right, well we were attacked by a spirit - a jotun - we’ve lost our commanding officer and he is definitely not going to get back up again,” Teeny replied, keenly aware how everyone around her was staring. “We managed to kill it. We suffered some injuries but the Captain was the only fatality.”

“Acknowledged. Please stand by, Delta…” MCP replied and continued after a moment. “Private Teeny Heart, after a quick run over of your battlefield records, command has decided to promote you. Congratulations, Captain Teeny Heart. Your first command is to lead Delta back to the MCP for resupply, healing and awaiting further directives. Any further questions?”

“Oh… oh, yes!” Teeny was surprised at the sudden promotion but quickly moved past it. “What is our current situation? Was the rest of the defense force attacked?”

“Yes they were, Delta,” MCP replied in a tone Teeny was deciding sounded more emotionless rather than calm. “All attacks have been repelled, though most weren’t as successful as you. Delta, move to MCP. MCP out.”

“Right, right…” Teeny said as she was briefly overcome with indecision, but she quickly shook this off as well. “Private Clover, get the Captain’s body prepped for movement! He might be dead but we aren’t leaving him here! The rest of you check your gear and for wounds. I expect us to be ready to go in three minutes.”

“Yes ma’am!” Clover was the only one who said this with real energy to his voice. The rest looked as tired as Teeny felt, but she no longer had the option to freely show it. “Right’o, you heard the boss mare! Let’s get the Cap’s body wrapped up and ready!”

With that an earth pony and a unicorn quickly trotted after Clover as he went to quickly recover the Captain’s body. Teeny for her part began following her own command and she was done within a minute. There was precious little to look over. She had her rifle and her armor and besides that was her oversized backpack of rations, bullets, rifle care kit and camping supplies. She hadn’t been wearing said pack during the fight thankfully. When the spirit had made its appearance, everyone had quickly tossed their packs away to keep mobile.

Teeny had closed her eyes for what felt like a second, and when she opened them Clover and the others were back with the captain’s remains. Said remains were covered with a tarp and on an improvised stretcher made out of a hammock net and two steel rods. Everyone was looking at her expectantly now.

“Move out!” Teeny barked out and couldn’t help but wonder how every moment of rest seemed to pass in a blink of an eye.

The march back to the MCP back in the center of town was a quiet one. The town had been hit before and thus was in poor shape. This new attack, however, had torn it apart. Buildings were crumbling or on fire, a fire that was beginning to grow and likely would consume whole blocks of homes. Fresh blood scattered the streets along with the odd corpse of a fellow pony soldier. The only signs of dead spirits were animal shaped lumps of earth and inexplicable puddles of water.

“Have you ever noticed how stale the air is getting?” Gentle Hoof said in the silence.

“What’cha mean?” Clover asked.

“I mean… every time after a fight where we manage to bring down a few of them, everything seems so…” Gentle paused for a moment trying to put her thoughts into words. “I don’t know… still? Lifeless? The air feels stale, the water looks stagnant, these road stones seem to crack when I walk on them and those flames are weirdly struggling to spread.”

“...Yeah, yeah I know what you mean…” Clover muttered. “But what does it all mean?!”

“Something way above our paygrade, I’m sure!” Teeny bit in quickly. She could see the implications and didn’t want her squad starting to get hesitations about fighting. “So quiet down back there and focus! Just because the attack is over now doesn’t mean it can’t suddenly start again!”

“Aye!”

“Sorry Ma’am…”

Inwardly, Teeny couldn’t help but feel the uncertainty she was trying to ward off her soldiers. Did killing spirits mean killing their land? Maybe even their world? If so, what did final victory mean? A quiet, barren world where everyone was struggling to eke out an existence out of a world that could be barely bothered to be alive?

‘Then again, the alternative is letting them kill us all,’ Teeny Heart thought as she steeled her briefly flagging resolve. ‘Even if final victory only brings up struggles ever after to simply live, at least we will be alive.’

Eventually, everyone returned to the mobile command point, no doubt internalizing worries and concerns about the fate of the world even if they were to win.

The MCP was basically a large, segmented trailer with ten rows of massive wheels, powered by magic and heavily reinforced. The MCP was designed to serve as the local central communication hub for local forces as well as a decent fortress if needed. Its size and tires gave an impression of being slow, but it was a vehicle that was almost detrimentally fast; its size and highly durable tires actually tended to tear up Equestria’s landscape and somewhat primitive paved roads.

Currently the MCP was situated in the town center, sitting before the rustic town hall, parked atop the ruins of a shattered fountain. The area had been fortified with walls of sandbags but considering the abilities of spirits, they were more for the soldiers’ mental reassurance rather than out of actual effectiveness. The place was filled with hundreds of ponies, both soldiers and support personnel. Currently they also had the luck of a full squad of actual Direwolves, not just Warhounds, assisting them.

Which is probably why the pile of temporarily dead and permanently dead was only a few dozen bodies this time…

“Right, give the Captain’s body the black tape before you add him to the pile and get whatever R&R you can,” Teeny commanded. “I’m going to have something to eat and probably pass out before I manage it.”

With that, Teeny wandered around the area before she found an empty spot against a small wall of sandbags. She dug around her pack after sitting down and brought out an MRE along with an eating tray. She spent a few frustrating minutes bashing out the dents of her eating tray before unpacking the MRE. She had just finished putting the vegetable lasagna into the heating packet when she finally lost her battle against unconsciousness.

Teeny’s dreams were… unpleasant to say the least. The specter of her many deaths over the past few days haunted and tormented her. The current nightmare was a very vivid recollection the time her head had gotten pulled off and the shock hadn’t immediately killed her. Then quite suddenly there was a vision of Princess Luna, standing vigil in the distance and it all went mercifully black… then she was awake again and wasn’t sure what to feel.

“Hey Cap, ya gotta keep your energy up.” Teeny’s bloodshot eyes reluctantly, slowly opened as Clover shook her shoulder. “Come on, eat your food.”

Teeny blinked until her vision cleared, though it did nothing for the headache from sleep deprivation. She saw that her squad had found her and sat down to rest and enjoy their meals around her, save for Gentle that is since she was curled up next to her quietly sniffing and crying. The newly promoted Captain sighed in some relief as she noticed she hadn’t slept so long that her food hadn’t gone cold.

“So, any news on the medical droids?” Teeny asked as she rapidly distributed her MRE packs to her tray and started eating. “Can’t help but notice I still have these bandages around my legs.”

“Gonna be a bit I’m afraid,” Clover replied as he also ate an MRE. “The doc bots are busy bringing dead ponies back and going over the severely injured. Not as many dead this time around, but had a ton of badly wounded.”

“Joy…” Teeny said as she swallowed down the lasagna. MRE food was nothing compared to the real thing and it was hard to swallow down because of it, however the last thing she was going to do was whine and complain.

“Why are we here?” Gentle suddenly said after her crying finally ended.

“Obviously, just to suffer…” a stallion replied bitterly as he practically stabbed at his food.

“Care to explain yourself, Bright Will?” Teeny asked a bit testily. She had pretty much no training in the matter at all, but even she knew that keeping morale up was important to the group’s survival. She was also still exhausted and was really hoping pointedly asking him to explain himself would make him back down.

“Does it really need explaining?” Sadly it didn’t seem to be the case. “Here we are out here fighting to protect homes that aren’t ours, literally dying for ponies over and over again-”

“Private Will!” Teeny said firmly, hoping this was the leader-like thing to do. “If you are going to complain, by all means do so but tell me what we should be doing besides fighting against things trying to kill us all?”

“... Really suited to your role, eh Captain?” Will replied sullenly as he turned his head back to his meal. “Doesn’t change the fact no one new came after we got recruited. It was just us - us being thrown into the grinder to die again and again.”

“Enough of that!” Teeny commanded firmly. “I’ve been through it all with you, I know how long it feels, but it’s only been a week! We won’t be the last ponies to answer the call, we won’t!”

Teeny’s words seemed to have startled Will, but she doubted it was any real speaking skill on her part, more of the fact the last week since the start of the Spirit War felt like months as opposed to only a week. She was doubly certain her words hadn’t been the least bit effective since the other members of her squad were looking sullen as well. Being heavy handed in this matter was the wrong choice perhaps? Then again, they all only had the absolute bare minimum level of training. The only reason they all weren’t already dead and gone was purely because the medical droids could heal most deaths. They were all barely a step above conscripts in that they had been talked into volunteering. It was only through rapid honing of battle and constant death that they were all in any way skilled.

‘Maybe I should have let him talk and air out his frustrations?’ Teeny thought as she surreptitiously took in her whole squad. ‘It looks like they all need something like that… I can hardly just go back on my word literally a minute after I said it, though… curse it all, I was not trained for this.’

As Teeny resolved to be a better leader, she noticed that a pair of Direwolves was carrying a large disc over to the center of the plaza. She silently ate as she watched them place the disc down and started poking at it before it started to light up. And quite suddenly an image of Emerald Gleaner appeared in midair. Everyone immediately whipped their heads around as they noticed the hologram of the one being single handedly holding back the worst of the spirit assault.

Emerald in the hologram was standing at a cliff’s edge overlooking a road leading out of Manhattan. She was wearing her regalia, her hair tied back in a ponytail and arms crossed. Below, a long line of ponies moved along the road as they abandoned the flooded and mostly collapsed city. Emerald watched them as they passed, clearly standing guard over them as they sought refuge in the center of the kingdom. After a moment, she turned to face the audience, the wind kicking up just then to flare her cape, the moving starry night of her star cape contrasting with the colors of the rising dawn behind her.

“Ponies of Equestria! Brave soldiers…” Emerald began, moving her eyes as if she really could see everyone through the hologram. “It has been a week, a mere week, since the life we have known was so cruelly uprooted. A week since the slaughter of countless innocents for the crimes of those eons gone had begun. A week of mindless murder that has felt like the pasing of ages in itself. Stallions, mares, foals… butchery most foul of children who have done no wrong! And our enemies, the spirits, the so called rightful inheritors of our homes, dare claim it’s justified…”

The silence was drawn out and Teeny couldn’t help but be surprised when that energy and anger that Fenrir had used to recruit her returned. She had thought the passion had been wrung out of her from all the fighting and dying, but here she was, the outrage returning, the exhaustion forgotten. Looking at every pony soldier in the area showed she wasn’t the only one, either. Gentle Hoof had sat up, tears still wet on her cheeks but her attention firmly on the broadcast.

“This I vowed, I will not allow it. I would NOT ALLOW THIS MASS MURDER TO GO ON UNCONTESTED!” Emerald declared, fist crackling with pink lighting raised and the clouds answered her promise with a thunderous rumble. ‘I will not pause, I will not sleep! Until they are stopped! And I have not paused nor slept… brave soldiers of Equestria, you have joined me in our battle for survival, for the right of our children to simply live. And it is a battle I swear we will win!”

New life seemed to return to the soldiers around Teeny, that old energy Fenrir had stirred up was coming back. She even started to hear the stirrings of vocal agreement from the battered and resurrected soldiers. They weren’t the only ones buying into Emerald’s words. The Direwolves stood before the hologram with a hand held over their hearts.

“Remember what we are fighting for, ponies of Equestria!” Emerald called out, a hand waving to the city behind her. “A thousand years of peace stolen away! To ensure that no other city suffers the fate of Manehatten! Even as I speak, countless thousands of your fellow ponies have joined me in the fight to reclaim Equestria from these butchers! We will avenge our murdered loved ones! We will reclaim our ruined, burning homes! We will DRIVE OUT these monsters!”

The life had fully returned now and the pony soldiers were starkly reminded why they were here. For now they put aside personal traumas and allowed themselves to be carried away with the emotions Emerald’s words brought up. Chants filled the air and for the first time in eons, ponies began to give war cries. Even Bright Will, the near broken cynic that he was, could only bare his teeth in pure aggression, silently agreeing with what he heard.

“I SWEAR BEFORE THE MONTH IS OVER WE! WILL! TAKE! BACK! EQUESTRIA!!!”

There was proper cheering going on now. It had become so loud that being able to hear any more words would have been unlikely. But Emerald appeared to be finished. she stared sternly, solemnly for a long moment before she placed a clenched fist over her heart. A silent vow that her words today would not be a lie.

“Well… get the feeling we’re probably going to get a bunch of new guys coming in soon,” Clover remarked with a grin that could almost be described as bloodthirsty.

Teeny could only agree. She had a feeling there would be a flood of new soldiers very soon…

ZETA

“-WE! WILL! TAKE! BACK! EQUESTRIA!!!”

Emerald sat silently on a rock overlooking a burned out village. Displayed on a hologram before her was a recording of a broadcast, the same broadcast she hadn’t ordered and the propaganda of herself she most definitely hadn’t given permission to be made. However, while she was supremely annoyed and in a better time she might have rebuked Wheatley for this, she was also tired and could see the reasoning.

‘Have to admit he did a damn good job at the very least,’ Emerald thought as she watched her doppelganger on the recorded broadcast with a reluctant wry smile. ‘He must have gotten some tips from Fenrir to make it nice and inspiring … but god damn it if it isn’t going to be a massive pain in the ass to keep the act up myself.’

It had actually been a few days since the broadcast had aired, but she was so busy with the war she simply wasn’t aware of what went on at the time. It wasn’t as if Wheatley had purposefully hidden the broadcast away from her, either. The recorded broadcast and even plans for it had been forwarded to her… it was just that Wheatley had marked it as non-critical and free to review when she had time.

Well, she was reviewing it now and found herself being profoundly unamused with the propaganda Wheatley had organized on his own. But again, she could see the logic and she could hardly expect him to wait on her orders when she had been constantly busy the last week and a half. She barely responded to critical reports as is and she could only imagine how furious she’d be if he brought something minor to her attention. Not only that, but she could hardly argue with the results, either. There had been a sudden jump in the amount of soldiers Equestria had out in the field that even she noticed. The increase in soldiers combined with the greater variety of anti-spirit weapons pouring out of the Enclave was a massive boon.

‘The greater capability for conventional forces to actually deal with problems has freed up a decent amount of time for me,’ Emerald thought with a tired smile, but quickly frowned. ‘Time I can’t help but use to fight even more.’

Emerald was still hurt. Make no mistake, her wound was healing, but Emerald’s constant fighting and exertion was not conducive to recovering from soul wounds. She probably should have been using the bought time to actually rest an hour here and there to focus on healing, but she wasn’t. Instead, she was using that time to leave Equestria and see how neighbouring countries were doing. It was almost entirely bad news to say the least.

‘The griffins are on the run. They practically have no settlements and their warrior spirit hasn’t helped survivability in this case.’ Emerald frowned and clutched at her wound with a grimace. ‘I’ve probably spent more time just dropping crates of spirit strike enchanted melee weapons than fighting spirits there. Not everyone is in as bad a position, but it’s a near thing. The only other nation that is in as good a position as the Enclave and Equestria is the Heron Republic.’

With an enemy like the spirits who could pop up almost anywhere, a conventional war was completely out the window. Trying to hold ground and even make some kind of counterattack on “conquered” lands was going to require extremely mobile, asymmetrical warfare.

‘Thankfully I already have an answer,’ Emerald thought. ‘With teleportation I can give the Warhounds and Equestrian Army my mobility and response times. It’ll take a little bit of setting up, a ton of power to make it useful and working out the issue of retrieving people once they’ve been deployed, but it’s the best option. I can probably even just give Wheatley the idea and tell him to get to work on it.’

Suddenly Emerald’s earpiece went off with a bomb raid siren-like wail; what little time she allowed herself to rest was done. With a sigh she slowly rose from her rock but once she stood up she frowned and glared up at the clouds. Meeting her glare was a faintly glowing set of eyes only someone with her amplified sight could have made out.

Lately she had noticed she had gained a few stalkers, a handful of greater spirits simply watching at a distance and ready to flee the moment she tried to attack them. They never did anything besides watch her, but she was already a suspicious person by nature and a known enemy following her was putting that trait into overdrive.

Unfortunately there was little she could do about it right now. It wasn’t like she could actually capture a spirit and force them to give up information.

‘Unless…’ Emerald hummed, thoughts of a certain pony wizard flashed through her mind. ‘More things to pass along to Wheatley, so much to do… I haven’t seen my family in nearly two weeks…’

With yet another tired sigh, Emerald teleported.

-TBC-

Author's Note

Author Note: Took a while but I’m back to writing this, I think that break did me some good as I feel more prepared to handle the rest of this book. There is a few shout outs and expys in this chapter I feel pretty good about as well. I think the war is coming along pretty well, it’s a grim reality for a people who haven’t needed an actual army in who knows how many centuries and that the only thing that’s saved them is essentially a respawn mechanic.

Chapter 10: Grind

Twilight Sparkle walked into the forest of Everfree, the surface structures of the Enclave behind her.

She was on something of a personal mission at the moment, out to see Sovereign and question him. Twilight could have been doing any number of things of much greater use to the conflict with the spirits, but seeing the fact she was pregnant she could hardly take the risks she used to. Despite the fact she knew she was being responsible, she still felt really uneasy about it.

‘There are ponies out there fighting and dying, over and over again to protect others,’ Twilight thought solemnly as she walked through the forest. ‘And here I am on a walk to have a talk. I shouldn’t feel this way - I know I shouldn’t - but I can’t help it. My friends are out there too, doing what they can to help and risking their lives… no, I have to stop thinking like this.’

Twilight shook her head clear; it was doing her no good thinking about how little danger she was in compared to everyone else in her life. And the last thing she needed was to start feeling bitter about her condition as well.

‘Besides, I know this is important,’ Twilight thought as she entered a wide open flower meadow. ‘So much kept happening but recently Sovereign regained his memories and no one has really taken advantage of that fact to really question him about how spirits work. Maybe if I write down everything I learn from him and then examine it, we’ll learn something important? It can’t hurt and we’re bound to learn something useful.’

The flower meadow Twilight entered was lush and peaceful, with butterflies filling the air and bumblebees buzzing about. The flowers were daisies and were so thickly grown they nearly completely covered the ground. In the center of the meadow was an old and massive oak with a mess of twisting, gnarled branches that formed a large canopy. Twilight went over to this tree and, as she approached, she saw an odd formation of wood wrapped around the base. It could have easily just been mistaken as some weird warping in the trunk had the shape suddenly not stood up at her approach.

The unicorn stepped under the comfortable shade of the great oak and found herself looking up at a timberwolf. The wooden construct and avatar for the forest spirit of the Everfree was massive and loomed over her; it would have easily been a highly frightening experience were it not for her own previous confrontations with terrifying things. She recalled that Emerald’s own experience with timberwolves was that they had been rather crude constructs early on. Looking at what appeared to be an actual wolf of incredible size but made of roots, moss and wood, it was clear Sovereign had refined them greatly. He wasn’t alone, either.

In the shadows of the curling, claw-like boughs of the great oak and shadowy form lounged the Nightmare.

“You have come, no doubt, to ply me with questions,” Sovereign spoke in an imperious tone. Initially he seemed dismissive and was even looking down his wooden snout at her. But something seemed to soften in his gaze and he turned down his head to look at her properly. “I suppose I should not mind. Very well, mortal treasure. Speak.”

“...I would like to ask some things about the nature of spirits.” Twilight initially found herself greatly unimpressed with Sovereign’s tone, but kept herself from openly reacting. “How they are born, how they grow up to become spirits and then ascend to becoming greater spirits.”

“To begin with the obvious, we are not flesh and blood as you are,” Sovereign said. “No spirit alive has a parent. We owe our existence to the nature of power itself, magic. A spirit is born as a mote of light in the spiritual realm. These sprites have no set time in which they grow up as mortals do.”

“So a spirit child can spend anywhere from a single day to a thousand years to reach the next stage of their life?” Twilight asked as she took down notes with a floating notepad and pen. “What triggers the next stage of their growth, then?”

“When the opportunity comes, a sprite may descend to the material world and form a connection with the world, specifically a small part of it,” Sovereign explained. “This may be anything in nature or really anything at all. The easiest elemental aspects to form an initial connection with are earth, fire, water and air. There are other, far more specific aspects but most spirits represent these four in some way.”

“Hmm… are there limits to this?” Twilight questioned as she continued to write down Sovereign’s words. “Is there any reason a spirit wouldn’t just try to attune themselves to as many aspects as possible?”

“I suppose if one wished they could try to form a connection with as many or all aspects of reality,” the Greater Spirit of the Everfree replied. “But in reality, to do this would be to draw yourself thin in trying to form a deeper connection with all aspects. Even with an immortal lifespan, your connections with the aspects would remain shallow in spite of your efforts. Along with this, the aspects themselves may conflict with one another and eternally interfere with attempts to deepen one’s connection with the other. One could form a connection with life and death but such specific and opposing aspects would ensure a forever shallow attunement. There are ways around this, however. Instead of forming a connection with life and death, far easier would be to attune yourself to the aspect of plague for it is a form of life that brings death.”

“Oh… so why did you choose your aspects, Sovereign?” Twilight asked.

“Hmmm… my words imply that one can simply choose their aspects, but it is only an example,” Sovereign retorted. “Rare is the being that has ever chosen their aspects. Even as a sprite, I only recall simply falling into the forest and being drawn to a tree. Which brings up the final issue of trying to attune yourself to too many aspects. When a spirit first forms a connection with an aspect, they will find themselves overwhelmed with the desire to embody it or correct the surroundings of their world according to the aspect. Even a being with the strongest of wills shall find themselves being overcome by their aspects at least once.”

“Interesting!” Twilight chirped brightly, smiling now that she was getting into it. “But that’s just regular spirits, isn’t it? What causes a spirit to become a greater spirit?”

“Quite simply, it is more of the same,” Sovereign stated.

“Hmm…” Twilight looked over her notes, more than willing to try to make an educated guess rather than insist Sovereign explain more. “If it is more of the same, then… to become a greater spirit, a regular spirit must acquire more power, either by forming connections with more aspects - but not too many - or by deepening what connections they have. Hmm… would it be possible they’d have to compete with one another over specific aspects? Likely if the aspect is part of a specific place like Horseshoe Bay of Baltimare or the Everfree, but not so much if it was something more abstract.”

“I am connected to two aspects; the aspect of forests and the aspect of freedom,” Sovereign offered. “My forest aspect is represented by the place I first arrived, the Everfree Forest, and thus is tied to a place, but my freedom aspect is the result of personal philosophy. It is therefore tied to no place, but being that it’s my aspect and the Everfree is my forest, my aspect of freedom is linked to it but not tied to it.”

“And the end result is a forest that resisted all attempts to tame it and refused to be restricted in any way.” Twilight nodded before frowning and looking up at Sovereign from her notes. “So the whole of Everfree is yours… but I’ve heard from Emerald that several other spirits make their home here. A hippocampus lives in a river and in the spiritual realm… neighboring the forest I suppose, in the section of the realm next to the forest, is a group of spirits with ties to singular elements making their home there. If all of the Everfree is yours, how are they able to live here?”

“Hmm… the little ones make homes in aspects alongside the forest,” Sovereign explained. “In the earth around my roots, in the wind blowing through my canopy and boughs, in the rivers and ponds and lakes, in the purging and renewing flames. Even the Nightmare makes her claim on the lonely shade beneath the leaves.”

“I can’t help but notice how… shy she is,” Twilight said as she looked directly at the shadowy mass of the Nightmare, only for her to fade away and reappear from behind a much more distant branch. “It seems a little strange that she put so much effort to awaken the other spirits only to just be here and avoid them.”

“The nature of the Nightmare means she desires solitude, but she is only fine with it so long as that solitude is willing,” Sovereign replied. “The moment the seclusion was enforced by the other spirits being forced into slumber, she was no longer comfortable with her isolation.”

“But there were spirits awake. Emerald told me the river spirit had managed to get through whatever put them to sleep,” Twilight protested. “Surely there are others throughout the world who managed to do the same!”

“She was uncomfortable. It was reason enough,” Sovereign retorted with finality.

“I suppose…” Twilight frowned as she looked back to her notes. “Back to the subject of greater spirits. You are one, obviously, but Discord isn’t one, is he?”

“Discord is a Primordial. It is a title that is beyond mere age, for he and his sister are the youngest of them,” Sovereign answered as Twilight mouthed, ‘Sister?’. “To be a Primordial is to be a spirit of such deep connection to your aspects that you could affect the whole planet if you tried. Discord did this once before.”

“Yes, I remember Emerald told me about how he smashed the continents of the world together when he was newly born,” Twilight replied with a frown.

“He was only able to do that because the Alicorn Empire had enforced such order upon the world that he was the only place that chaos could be,” Sovereign explained. “It is… incorrect to word it as if an aspect was a finite resource, but verbal meaning fails me… Discord was the concentrated core of a whole world’s chaos. For as long as he remained that core, he could do with the world as he wished.”

“We haven’t really seen or heard of any spirits of the level like Discord running around,” Twilight said with a strained smile before frowning again. “But then again, we haven’t seen Discord since before this conflict started, either. It makes me worry. I haven’t really thought of him as a friend as Fluttershy did, but I wouldn’t think he’d just disappear like this. I’ve seen the way he treats Fluttershy. I feel like he’d at the very least be around her home to make sure no spirits hurt her, but he’s just… gone.”

“It is not my place to make assumptions of one who I do not know,” Sovereign stated simply with an annoyed tone. “Do you have more questions? I feel proddings on the edges of my realm and must give retribution to those that dare test me.”

“No, I am okay for now,” Twilight waved off as she looked over her notes. “You’ve given me a lot to think about, Sovereign. Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions.”

“Hmph.”

Off in the treeline, a shadowy shape hid in the shadows under the canopy. It was a dark being like the Nightmare was, but unlike her its form was much more distinct and pony shaped, very much like a shadowy alicorn with glowing white eyes. It was staring off at the distant form of Twilight when it gave a startled gasp, barely avoiding a pair of jaws bursting forth from the ground.

“Begone, halfling mongrel,” Sovereign spoke in a low and dangerous tone, his voice echoing from all around, his eyes appearing on every tree.

“Wait! I am not here to-” The Pony of Shadows began only to gasp again when the roots burst forth with intent to impale and drag below. It was only thanks to it turning into a wisp of darkness and fading away that it avoided that fate.

“I do not care. Begone and do not return,” Sovereign stated, his apathy evident now that the intruder was gone.

Perhaps it would have been wiser to hear out the spirit. But the situation was complicated and currently such a move could be risky; not to him, specifically, but… his friend’s treasure was here and it would not do if something happened to her.

ALPHA

“Looking cool as ice over there, Dash!”

“Right back at ya, Dust!”

A vast formation of pegasi flew over Equestria. The vast majority of this formation was made up of Enclave equipped conscripts hardened by death and battle, but at the very lead was the Wonderbolts. Even for the Wonderbolts, desperate times called for desperate measures as they flew at the head of the formation with their most trained cadets in tow. Along with wearing either their Wonderbolt or cadet uniform, the Wonderbolts came equipped with Enclave gear like every other pegasus in the formation. Each one carried a rifle that was strapped to them with a harness enchanted to keep the rifle out of the way yet within reach if dropped. In small, compact packs on their backs were their emergency chutes, meant to go off on its own if the wearer fell to low altitudes at high speeds. And just between the wings was a small stone covered in runic sigils, the stasis stone meant to keep a body preserved so it could be potentially recovered and revived. Finally, strapped to their chest were half a dozen spirit strike grenades. Not everyone in the formation had these grenades, but the Wonderbolts and their cadets all came fully loaded with them.

Rainbow Dash flew in a v formation with her wingmates just behind the wing of actual Wonderbolts. It had always been her wish to fly with the Wonderbolts, to be a Wonderbolt. And now it seemed like it was coming true in the worst way possible. She had always thought her first time flying in her sleek blue and yellows would be above a cheering, appreciative crowd, not a raging battle below and one in the skies awaiting her. It wasn’t even the first time, either…

“Come on, Dash. Keep that grin up!” Lightning Dust encouraged. “Everyone’s counting on us to lead the way. We can’t look nervous while doing it.”

“I hear ya,” Dash said as she took a breath and bared her teeth in a way she hoped looked confident. It was just hard to pay attention to little things like facial expressions with the view she had.

Before the formation was a massive storm wall. The storm wall was raging out of control. Beneath it, hundreds of tornadoes tore up the land and lightning fell like rain, its deafening clamor resounding clearly over the many miles wide gap between it and the formation. But if all it was, was just a storm cloud gone out of control then all that would be needed was a good weather team and it’d be cleared up by the end of the hour. But within the churning mass of the storm wall, shapes occasionally appeared. The bodies of different animals made of clouds and swirling winds, glowing, glaring, hateful eyes staring out at them all.

A good weather team would be slaughtered here… had been slaughtered here.

The storm wall was essentially an enemy war machine - a weapon of mass destruction - and it was set to utterly ravage Equestria’s heartland if it wasn’t stopped.

‘We’ll stop it!’ Rainbow Dash thought as she returned the glares with one of her own. ‘No matter what, we’ll stop it! We don’t need Emerald to do everything and save us all the time. She can go out there and help everyone else in far off countries while we get the job done at home!’

“Rainbow Dash?” said a voice.

“Huh?” Dash said and looked about her, only to realize the voice had come from her radio. She pressed a hoof against her ear to reply. “Uhh, Dash here. Go ahead?”

“This is Simmons Howl of the gargoyles,” the voice introduced himself. “My wing is flying at the top of the formation.”

“Got a bird's eye view, huh?” Dash commented. “The Wonderbolts are front and center on this one.”

“My view is beaten only by spy satellites from up here,” Howl replied in good cheer. “I heard two of the Elements of Harmony were taking frontline roles in this one. It sounds rather busy down there, so I didn’t want to get in trouble with filling the line with a casual call. Though we have our own battle ahead of us, I am glad to be able to speak to you.”

“Well, I'm always happy to meet a fan!” Dash said with a grin Howl may or may not have seen. “Could use a distraction anyway.”

They weren’t the only ones clogging up the formation’s frequencies with chatter. Pegasi were having quiet, personal conversations with one another, praying they’ll either live or get revived to see another day, all trying to alay jitters for the fight to come. It wasn’t entirely allowed according to the protocol book Dash had given the barest of skims. But it wasn’t like the formation was made up of professional soldiers, either. The closest one could get to that was the Guard and the Wonderbolts, and they numbered very few amongst the greater forces of the formation.

“Indeed. I had in fact been hoping to catch you for quite a while now and challenge you to a race,” Howl said with a tone so lighthearted Dash could easily imagine the grin he had. “I, like the rest of my people, am quite capable of breaking the sound barrier. I had been so very interested to see if natural born talent can overcome engineered skill.”

“Ha! Well let me just tell you that Lightning Dust is faster than me and she is one of those podargy guys,” Dash said with no hesitation. “So if you are anything like her, then you are definitely faster. BUT! Don’t expect me to take that lying down! Even Lightning Dust has to work her butt off everyday just to try to maintain her lead, but I’m keeping up with her AND catching up!”

“That was the reaction I was hoping for!” Howl laughed. “But Lightning Dust isn’t entirely like me. She had her natural talent augmented by artificial strength. Whereas I am all artificial strength and skill. I had my power and skill from the moment I was born, unlike you and her. To be honest… I was hoping to race you, to give it my all and in the end… lose.”

“You want to lose?!” Rainbow Dash questioned incredulously.

“I am hoping to lose,” Howl clarified. “I will by no means simply give you the win. I want to put all my inborn power and skill against your natural talent and hard won strength and find myself wanting. What I want, Rainbow Dash, is to ignite my passions in such a race and loss and find that drive to push beyond my limits.”

“Oh, I see what you’re going on about now.” Dash nodded in genuine understanding. “Well when we get through this - all of this - we’ll have that race. Just you and me, big guy.”

“I am sincerely looking forward to it… I am already finding myself driven to survive to see that day come,” Howl said with an anticipatory growl to his voice.

For a long moment, Dash thought that was all the Gargoyle had to say, but eventually he spoke again.

“Those years ago when you realized you were destined for greater things - things greater than even the Wonderbolts - what did you think?” Howl asked.

“Huh…” Rainbow Dash blinked at the question before looking down at her chest where the Element of Loyalty hung from her neck. No one knew if it could even be used on its own here in Equestria, but the chance that it could save her life had been worth it in Celestia’s opinion. “Well, back then… back then I thought it was just meant to be. Of course someone as awesome as me was destined to be a hero! But over time I started to realize that big destiny came with a lot of weight, a lot of responsibility. But I wasn’t going to let that stop me! Sure, things are dangerous and everyone is relying on me to take on the brunt of it. I’ve got this element for a reason and I ain’t going to let anyone down! Not me, not my friends and not my home!”

“Well spoken, my friend!” Howl said with high spirits. “Now we just have to-”

There was a distant crackle and a blinding flash that Dash’s goggles just managed to block. The smell of ozone filled her nose and startled shouts of anger and dismay resounded from all around her. Dash turned to look to see dozens of pegasi fall from the sky, their forms still, charred black and smoking.

“THAT’S A NEW ONE!” Spitfire barked over the radio. “EVERYONE, EVASIVE MANEUVERS AND SPREAD THE FORMATION! DO NOT BUNCH UP!”

The formation rushed to do so and Rainbow Dash’s squadron of cadets followed suit. The flash happened again, but this time Dash had been able to see what exactly happened.

Off in the distant storm wall, the rain of lightning seemed to slow to a slightly less extreme rate. There was a build up of electrostatic energy so intense that it visibly surged and fought to be let loose. Then a face would appear in the clouds and open its mouth in a silent roar before a bolt of intense lighting would fling forth. It would fly in an instant towards the formation and hit someone before also instantly arching through dozens of nearby pegasi. Not only killing them instantly, but doing so in a way that almost guaranteed a permanent death.

Dash grit her teeth as her squadron of friends from the academy spread out just to ensure not all of them would die if one of them were hit. With her heart clenching in worry, she took one final glance down at the ground and the raging battle below.

‘Stay safe, AJ,’ Rainbow Dash thought grimly. ‘It would really suck if I got through this only to hear you didn’t.’

With that last thought, Dash focused on her maneuvers.

BETA

‘I wonder if I’ll get hurt or die this time,’ Pinkie thought as she followed her squad.

On the ground some miles away from a storm wall that was so large the distance might as well have been spitting range, a squad of ponies marched through the churned remains of a town. It was obviously the work of some jotun from the way the rubble had been crushed to pieces and mixed with gravel. They weren’t alone, as the rest of the company was scattered about the ruins, and besides that there was also a platoon of wolverine mercs supporting them.

‘Still haven’t seen another one of my sisters yet. Am I the only one in the army?’ Pinkie thought morosely. ‘Then again, that’s not something to want… I don’t know if I want to see my sisters or not.’

“Don’t fall too far behind, Pinkie!” a voice barked, snapping the earth pony mare out of her brooding. “You’re the one with the heavy armor and weapon, so you’re taking as much attention from the rest of us as possible! Celestia knows you’ve been lucky enough to manage that and live.”

“Sorry, Sarge,” Pinkie replied to an aggravated sigh of her commanding officer.

It didn’t help that said officer was actually the closest thing to actual military, having previously been part of the Guard. In Pinkie’s experience, the casual yet grimly cynical and sometimes cheerfully nihilistic atmosphere the army now had was a slap in the face to professional sensibilities the Guard had been trained in. Though that problem was also steadily solving itself as either the deaths and fighting broke the former Guards of their mentality or they just were permanently killed and thinned out.

“Like I said, stay in the middle,” the earth pony sergeant commanded as she pointed at her own suit of armor; the dragon scale mail was battered and scuffed from a long, unending deployment and even missing some pieces. Her rifle was in far better condition but still looked worn and scarred. “Not many ponies got that new, powered armor suit that you have. Fact, from what I hear the newest set of armor is just plate armor made of the same stuff the Warhounds wear. Not sure why you get the special treatment and get a special ordered suit of powered armor, but I’m taking advantage of it.”

“Yes, stay in the middle, got it,” Pinkie said tonelessly.

Some part of her wanted to feel both confused and guilty for the special treatment she had gotten. Here were her fellow soldiers slumming it up in their increasingly battered old rifles and dragon scale armor while she got top of the line gear. Her armor was powered and made of materials even harder than their scalemail. Her every movement was close to effortless despite being far more leaden down then they were. She had a heavy machine gun latched onto her armor via hardpoints and even had an underslung launcher for the full load of spirit strike grenades she was also given. They only had their regular bolt action rifles and only the sergeant had any grenades, and not as much as her. She should have been concerned, maybe even fearful about the fact her squad was so willing to throw her into the thick of it and draw as much attention as possible. Instead…

‘My sister is dead… will I die this time?’ Pinkie thought with little emotion, not even sadness. At the prospect of her death. ‘Though even if I die, chances are it won’t stick so why worry about it?’

CRUNCH

“What in Celestia was that?!” shouted one of her squadmates.

The sound had been like something meaty being smashed and torn, of bones being broken in great numbers all at once. They turned and focused on the origin of the sound from one of the rubble piles and cautiously climbed up to be met with a stomach churning sight.

It was a pegasus soldier.

The soldier had not only fallen from the sky, but their chute had been damaged and only succeeded in partially deploying. Then there was the smell; an unspeakable odor of flesh not only having been flash cooked, but even exploded and viscera exposed to open air from sheer tearing impact force with the ground. Besides that, there was no doubt there would be no revival from this death as the pegasus had obviously collided with the ground headfirst.

Pinkie looked up to see the sky steadily filling up with the successfully opened chutes of dozens of other pegasi. Her eyes widened and she only had an instant to avoid another pegasus body plummeting like a bullet right on top of her. This time the squad was treated to the sight of a flash cooked body hitting the ground at terminal velocity and not merely hearing it.

“Dear Celstia! Dear Celestia!” The sergeant backpedaled and started to lose her calm. This, of course, had the domino effect of making the rest of the squad start to lose their heads, too. Nearly all of them looked half about to scatter and try to find cover instead of continuing the search for enemy contacts in the area.

“What do I do…” Pinkie wondered aloud.

The pink armored mare was the only one not panicking. In fact, she was half thinking about how much effect the gristle was going to take to get out of the creases of her armor. She was hardly a trained military officer, though, and even someone that was supposed to be just that was also panicking. The most she knew right now was that she didn’t feel like panicking and started looking around her on the ground for enemies and in the sky for more dropping bodies.

‘Fighting has been sporadic,’ Pinkie thought as she kept both her head and weapon on a swivel. ‘Just… what was it called? Skirmishing? Yeah, that. It’s not been a full on assault from what I can tell, but it’s not like we on the ground can do anything about that storm cloud besides shooting blindly into the sky. Seems like what fighting we’ve had is just opportunistic cruelty. They didn’t have to smash up this town; the storm would have done that, but they did anyway.’

“All right… ALL RIGHT!” the Sergeant suddenly shouted to herself. She smacked the sides of her face with both hooves and shook her head. Once she did that, she looked around and scowled at the sight of her squad starting to completely break down.

“EVERYPONY GET BACK HERE! GET BACK HERE I SAI-”

Ratatatatatata!

From all around came the shouts of surprise and sudden gunfire from the rest of the platoon amongst the ruins. The ground shook and heaved beneath them as Pinkie looked about and saw shapes of animated elements tower above rubble piles. Her only warning of attack was the rubble pile she had been standing on start to shake greatly. She had barely managed to leap away when the ground exploded out from under her.

Following the explosion of earth and rubble, streams of water shot forth from the rubble piles all around and towards the origin of the explosion. Pinkie had time enough to spin around and see what was attacking them. Forming out of gathered water from the burst water tanks of destroyed homes, the hippocampi came into shape. A muscular toad took shape, its gullet bulging with visibly swirling water, eyes of whirlpools manically staring. It gave a singular, bone shaking croak before it suddenly spat a stream of water over the scattered squad. Pinkie had been lining up her gun but her eyes widened behind the lenses of her helmet and she shielded her weapon with her body.

The stream of water shredded near everything it hit like a chainsaw. Rubble, rock and dirt was obliterated and filled the air. The dragonscale armor of the pony soldiers actually held up fairly well but did nothing to protect from the sheer impact force, nor was the whole body protected. Pinkie heard her squad mates either sent flying to smash with bone crushing force into a rubble pile or had their body messily blasted out from within their armor.

Pinkie braced herself as much as she could, but even her power armor could only protect her from the impact force and not the fact it was enough to send her flying. Ears ringing from the force of the water trying to drill through her armor, Pinkie was just thankful she didn’t hit the ground so hard that she was buried. Looking around from her crater in a rubble pile made her swallow hard, however. Half the squad was down, most of which probably wasn’t coming back if the hollowed out suits of armor was any indication.

The armored mare grimaced and tried to get up as fast as she could when she saw the water spirit hadn’t turned its attention away from her. It was inhaling deeply and its belly bulged and shook as its watery contents swirled to high speed.

Fwoomp!

Pinkie blinked as she saw something sail into view and shoot neatly into the hippocampi's mouth. She saw a cylinder blur into spinning circles within the belly of the spirit for an instant before there was a flash of ethereal light. Pinkie heard an agonized croak cut short and felt an explosion of energy from the death of a spirit. Next came the water; not as focused and dangerous as the stream, but it had her rolling across the ground from the force of it.

Soon Pinkie found herself lying on her back, for some reason breathless despite the fact all she did was get thrown around. A second later, half a dozen towering, blurry shapes surrounded her.

“Hail, friend!” said one of the shapes.

The armored mare’s vision cleared after a moment and she found that she was surrounded by a circle of wolverines wielding heavy weapons and wearing bioplate armor. Pinkie wasn’t sure what to think about the mercenaries, but right this moment she was concerned about the state of her squad.

“My squad, are they…?” Pinkie began and rolled over. She was helped onto her hooves by one of the wolverines. Looking around, she found that half her squad was definitely dead while another third was badly wounded.

“Pinkie…” a voice said weakly.

“Sarge?” Pinkie said and saw one of her still unharmed squadmates dragging their commanding officer to her.

“You… you were supposed to draw attention from us…” Pinkie heard and quickly trotted over and frowned when she saw the missing forelimb and how the Sergeant seemed to be missing most of her face.

“S-sorry, Sarge.” Pinkie wasn’t sure why she was feeling upset right now. The Sergeant wasn’t looking too good, sure, and probably was going to die but that wasn’t an issue anymore. Her Sergeant just looked like she was dealing with severe blood loss and not any real head trauma. She’d be back and probably with a better leg.

So why did watching her dying hurt so much?

“Had a plan…” Sarge mumbled as her eyes started to glaze. “You were going to stand there in that shining armor… loud gun… getting their attention. While they were busy, we’d circle around and shoot them from behind. But… I panicked… they panicked… I…”

“Rest in peace, sergeant,” Pinkie’s squadmate muttered as their officer breathed her last and he applied the stasis stone to her chest. “You deserve a break. We’ll bring you back with the wounded and have a good ole hot meal, you’ll see. Sides, sounding like the fighting is dying down.”

Pinkie looked up and around. The sounds of gunfire and explosions were sounding increasingly distant and she didn’t see the usual towering shapes of spirits, so obviously they were winning, not losing this time. She looked at her remaining squad and judged that even if the Sergeant was the only dead worth carrying back, they still didn’t have the numbers to carry both her and the wounded. Looking towards the wolverines who were currently checking their gear, she nodded to herself and approached them.

As she noted before, the Wolverines were wearing bioplate armor - plated armor made of the same material the Warhound power armor was made of. They were all utilizing their greater strength to be armed with heavy weapons as well. Most had a heavy machine gun that looked like it should have been planted on the ground or mounted to something and were carried. Two, however, had an oversized grenade launcher with box-fed rounds.

“Hello,” Pinkie greeted the towering mercs. “We don’t have enough abled bodied ponies still standing to-”

Suddenly there was an earth shaking rumble so violent that even Pinkie in her power armor struggled to maintain balance. Her vision suddenly blurred and she felt herself go flying, the internal speakers in her armor crackled and popped as they filtered noise of dangerous volume. Even with her armor trying to protect her, she practically felt the noise through her armor as she tumbled and landed hard.

The armored mare, adrenaline coursing through her veins, quickly lept up onto her hooves and took stock of her surroundings.

The land was torn apart, rock ridges of spike-like stone formations lined the land in a way that, had Pinkie had a bird’s eye view, would have been seen as a spiral. Bodies were everywhere, still, obviously dead and stirring painfully to life. And coiled upon a newly formed stone pillar was a king cobra of immense size, body of copper from raw ore to pure metal of both oxidized green and shining, reddish brown.

Hissing in contempt of all around it, the cobra rapidly unwound the end of its tail and lashed out. Distant screams filled the air and were rapidly drowned out by the deafening crashing of the earth being split open. With another hiss, the cobra suddenly spat a stream of molten copper and this time the screams lasted much longer.

‘No one’s shooting,’ Pinkie thought, breath coming fast and hard. ‘Why is no one shooting at it? Why am I not shooting at it?’

Without another thought, not even checking to see if her weapon was undamaged from her hard falls, Pinkie aimed her heavy machine gun. Spirit strike bullets flew out in controlled bursts, the mare remembering what little training she was given that she’d be more likely to land hits with those. Pinkie felt a small twinge of gratification when the cobra flinched at her bullets impacting its body and she kept firing. In a state of utter emotionlessness, Pinkie kept up her controlled bursts as the titanic serpent looked directly down at her. When it inhaled in a manner she recognized as it about to spit, she reacted without thought.

Fwoomp!

The grenade sailed fast and true through the air, crossing the distance in a moment. There was a flash of light and an ear piercing hiss of utter agony as the greater spirit’s face seemed to crumble under the power of the ethereal light now in its mouth. Pinkie thought she had done it like the wolverines had done it before, and on a major spirit no less.

The mare wasn’t sure how to react when, instead of crumbling away, the spirit only thrashed in pain for a moment before suddenly looking back at her. The explosion had done its work but it wasn’t nearly as lethal as it had been for a lesser spirit. The serpent glared with murderous hate, jaw and snout crumbled away from the power of the spirit strike grenade. Before Pinkie could even think of reloading her launcher, the snake finished building up its spit and launched it.

Pinkie expected to be coated in molten copper and perhaps get stuck if she was unable to remove enough of it before it cooled. What she didn’t expect was the copper to fly harder and faster than what the toad had been doing with its water. The stream of copper cut through the ground like a blade of immense size and sharpness. Pinkie attempted to turn away and shield her weapon from potential damage only to suddenly find herself face first in the dirt.

Unable to feel her hind legs, she twisted around on the ground to see the damage. She froze when instead of perhaps a broken back, she saw nothing at all just before her hindquarters, the armor sheared right through, burning and charred black at the edges.

‘It… doesn't hurt,’ Pinkie thought numbly as she rolled onto her side, eyes locked onto the two smoldering remains of her rear pair of hooves. ‘I think it’s… it’s been burned closed. My gun… is my gun okay?’

Pinkie looked at her machinegun and saw that once more it came through unscratched. She stared at her weapon, her breath and heartbeat echoing deafeningly in her ears. She could still hear the crashing of the land and the fury of the great spirit as it continued to attack from its perch, but it was as if she was underwater and all noise outside of her body was muffled. She looked up at the spirit now going back to killing more soldiers. Without another thought, she aimed her rifle as best as she could at the serpent that bisected her.

Carefully aimed bursts of spirit strike bullets raked the form of the spirit and it hissed in fury and pain.

It turned towards her again and in utter incredulity of her continuing to attack him despite her likely mortal injuries, it stared for a moment. It reared up in a motion Pinkie thought belied another spit attack, but instead it unwound a greater length of tail. Pinkie stared as her rifle clicked empty and watched what was likely her first and final death raise high to come crashing down.

Suddenly the earth rumbled again.

Eyes above its ruined face widening in surprise, the serpent tried to turn to face something it saw out of the corner of its eyes. The greater spirit was far too late in its reaction and a massive shape charged into view and crashed into it. As two massive shapes crashed into the ground and created a brief, localized quake, a booming voice filled the air.

“YOU DARN YELLOW BELLIED SNAKE IN THE GRASS!” a female voice said with a certain southern twang. “Fight someone yer own size!”

“Oh…” Pinkie said aloud, head and body slumping against the ground. “It’s one of her friends… Applejack?”

What looked mostly like a massive armored horse tangled with the serpent. Its limbs were thickly muscled and powerful. Once pristine white armor over its whole body now looked muddied and blunted but unbroken. A great crest lined along the top of its neck and head like a mane, but its eyes gleamed like polished gems and glared unblinking. Audibly snarling, the massive being snapped with a mouth full of brutal canines even a carnivore would find excessive.

“That must be the… thing…” Pinkie frowned as a wave of exhaustion suddenly washed over her and made it hard to think. “It was called a… bio-gear. What was this one specifically called? Did I ever find out? I don’t think I did… I’m not sure if I’ll get that chance again… Is this what dying feels like?”

It was oddly peaceful despite the fact she was watching a brutal battle of titans just before her. The serpent coiled around the pony bio-gear, snarling with a crudely refashioned mouth and attempting to spit pressurized copper. The bio-gear’s greater mass and armor, however, made this act more like the spray of a water gun as opposed to the lethal mutilation it had been on Pinkie. With a bone rumbling growl, the bio-gear aimed a hoof at the entwined serpent’s body and let loose with built in autocannons.

The serpent hissed in pain and allowed its body to crumble away to avoid further damage from the spirit-strike-imbued rounds. It reappeared a moment later, bursting forth from the ground with face already crumbling away but Applejack saw the attack coming. The cowpony’s bio-gear sidestepped the serpent flying through the air at her from behind. AJ reached out with her bio-gear’s massive set of hooves and managed to snag the tail end of the spirit’s body then swung the snake above her head in rapid circles that stirred up typhoon strength winds before she let loose and sent it flying.

Pinkie watched the serpent disappear beyond her sight in a blur of movement followed by a distant rumble. She then watched the bio-gear spring forward in a gallop after the major spirit to continue the fight. And then suddenly she was alone, surrounded by death, destruction and the distant sounds of battles still raging. She wasn’t sure what was killing her, the shock of her injury or if her wound wasn’t as burnt closed as she thought. Either way, she lay in the mud and blood waiting to die.

The armored mare rolled onto her back with such inordinate exertion it had immediately exhausted what little strength she had left. She stared up at the sky; the storm wall seemed even closer now and the pegasi formation was now charging into its churning mass. She found herself thinking of other things, happier days.

‘My sister… I have so many but why did I have to lose any of them?’ Pinkie thought as she heard her heart begin to slow. ‘You were so cheerful even though you had such a moody fashion sense. Why did you want to go home so badly after the wedding? We were all together. We should have stayed like that just for a little while…’

Pinkie’s vision began to blur and her hearing became ever more muffled. A shape moved into her fading sight and she could hear a voice sounding so very distant.

“Pon-... -end… I fin-... get y-... -ack…”

‘You wanted me to find my own name,’ Pinkie thought, uncaring of the shape and voice. ‘You encouraged all of us to find ourselves and be more than what we are. I never did. I just never felt there was a hurry. I thought I had my whole life ahead of me. I thought I had all the time in the world to become someone new. But now… now I only have time to do one thing…’

Pinkie closed her glazed eyes with a smile as she breathed her last.

‘My name is Mina.’

GAMMA

“GET READY! ALL TOGETHER NOW! FIGHT! THAT! HURRICANE!”

Rainbow Dash joined her voice with countless others as the formation finally closed the distance with the storm wall. Despite the spacing the formation now had, hundreds of pegasi still had been zapped out of the sky as they approached. Much of the formation had blind fired into the clouds in an attempt to retaliate in some way, but the only ones to seemingly manage some hits were the gargoyles at the top. Dash had wondered what weapons they were using since she could make out which rounds were theirs quite clearly from the flak-like explosions they caused.

For a breathless moment, Dash was within the clouds and could not see a thing. It was thought that a pegasus’ natural inclination towards interactions with the weather could still be useful. That their mere presence in great enough numbers could disrupt even the spirits control over their storm superweapon. If that wasn’t true, if the spirits were still able to maintain absolute control over their storm then it was likely what the formation had done was little better then flying head first into a rock wall.

Dash held her breath and felt like even her heart was holding its beat. Next thing she knew, the clouds around her started to disperse. She heard a deafening noise like a million lightning bolts going off at once and knew the clouds had dispersed the unnatural build up of energy into the nearest, largest natural conductor: the ground. Suddenly Rainbow Dash could see her cadet squadron again and her vision only continued to improve from there.

It was now no longer like she was flying into the thickest fog bank she had ever seen. Instead, it was merely like she was flying amongst the worst out of control anvil storm clouds she had ever seen. Still pretty bad in her personal opinion, but it beat not seeing anything at all and death likely coming out of nowhere.

“Where are they?” Lightning Dust said over the radio. “They were just shooting lightning bolts at us and now they’re all gone.”

“I don’t like it,” Thunderlane said, anxiety seeping into his voice. “They’ve always just ambushed us right away or come charging right in the open. We know they are here, why aren’t they attacking?!”

“I think that’s the problem,” Lightning Dust replied softly in thought. “They do that, attack openly or ambush right away and we’ve started to really make them pay for that. A lot of spirits have been dying in the last few days. I think they’re starting to learn new tricks.”

“Let-” Rainbow Dash began only to be interrupted by a deafening crash of lightning.

Lightning bolts appeared from the storm clouds; they arced and struck at the formation, but unlike the bolts from before these were much weaker. They stopped after hitting a single pegasus and didn’t arc further, but instead of just one there were a lot of them. Pegasi dropped by the hundreds in a suddenly terrifying burst of lightning, but at the same time Dash could practically feel energy in the clouds drop.

“You feel that!” Rainbow Dash yelled. “The storm clouds lost most of their power! They’re not doing that again so long as we’re here! Come on, we can fight this!”

“Thunderlane’s DOWN!” Lighting shouted in anger.

“Wha…” Rainbow Dash felt a jolt to her heart at those words and whipped her head around.

Hundreds of pegasi were falling from the sky, their bodies plummeting to the ground far below. Despite this, Rainbow Dash caught sight of Tunderlane’s own body in a near instant. The squadron leader grit her teeth and pressed a hoof against her ear.

“Thunderlane, do you read me!” Dash shouted, hoping against hope she hadn’t lost a squadmate and fellow cadet under her watch. “Thunderlane! THUNDERLANE, DO YOU COPY!”

“Auuuuuugh… what’s with the shouting?” came the stallion’s woozy reply to everyone’s relief. “Everything hurts so much…”

“Thunderlane, go limp!” Cloud Chaser shouted. “Let your chute catch you! We’ll pick you when we’re done!”

Thunderlane’s only response was to retch and possibly puke over the radio.

“Heads on a swivel, people!” Rainbow Dash barked. “Evasive flying, don’t repeat maneuvers! Just like we practiced! No one else gets hit!”

“Break formation!” Spitfire commanded. “Form up into five divisions! Split up and start bombing those clouds! Flush out those windigos!”

As planned, Rainbow Dash’s squadron broke off to lead their own air division as the Wolderbolts and the cadet squadrons did the same. For the most part the formation was a mostly clean, spherical scattering of hundreds of v-shaped squadrons. They managed to keep this shape and move together as one. Dash, with her short time as a Wonderbolt cadet, had to fight to keep from cringing as this formation practically disintegrated when it came time to separate. Instead of forming five smaller formations of v squadrons, the non-Wonderbolt majority of the Airborne Infantry force instead became more like clouds of flies. Dash couldn’t even tell if each division had at least roughly the same amount of pegasi in each, only that barely anyone of the enlisted managed to maintain the shape of their squadrons.

“Spacing, people! SPACING!” Rainbow Dash barked a reminder.

“YOU ALL WANT TO DIE TOGETHER!?” Lightning Dust added. “GIVE EACH OTHER SPACE YOU LIMPWING IDIOTS!”

The plan had been to flush out the windigos with their spirit strike grenades, but the lack of cohesion in each division was slowing them down. Dash wasn’t sure who would act first, the spirits managing to charge up another barrage of lightning strikes or the Airborne Infantry.

Rainbow Dash turned her head towards a series of distant explosions. Within one of the anvil clouds there were flashes of purple light that Dash had quickly grown to associate with the spirit strike grenades. She looked up and saw the distant, bat-like silhouettes of the gargoyles flying above, launching grenades or firing off with whatever Enclave handheld wonder weapon they were entrusted with.

Suddenly there was an ear piercing wail and Dash thought she caught the outline of something caught in the blasting. There was no telltale release of energy typical of a spirit death, so it must have just been injured.

“HERE THEY COME!” Lightning Dust shouted with a point.

As it turned out, the pointing was unneeded. Spirits burst out of anvil clouds from all around. Windigos of all shapes and sizes charged in among the split apart formation before they could begin their attempts to flush them out. With the five divisions as badly formed up as they were, the result was instant chaos.

“Wha- HEY! HEY GET BACK YOU- fuck…” Rainbow Dash began shouting commands to her already scattering division before tailing off. “Ok, ok, MAKE DO! EVERYONE FIND THEIR SQUADRON! FORM UP AND FIGHT BACK! COME ON!”

The core of Dash’s cadet squadron shuffled their formation back on her in a diamond shape while Bulk Biceps and Lightning Dust took up positions on the edges. Bulk and Lightning let loose with a pair of LMGs their strength allowed them to carry. Tracers filled the sky along with smaller lightning bolts and miniature cyclones; everyone was fighting in a chaotic furball.

Dash chucked a grenade with precision and managed to mangle a flying cloudy turtle and force it to retreat back to the spiritual realm. Her squadron was doing the same, but not nearly as much as they could have had, had their division maintained formation. Every time her or one of her wingmates sighted an enemy to fire, they ended up having to hesitate because fellow pegasi were flying everywhere. Some alone, some together, but in the end completely unorganized.

“This is a complete and utter…!” Lightning Dust began before spraying down a spirit with gunfire and driving it away from a group of panicking pegasi.

“Clusterfuck?” Rainbow Dash offered as she tried to keep her mind off her squawking radio and Spitfire barking orders furiously as she tried to reform the divisions.

“I was going to say furball!” Lightning retorted as she tried to time a grenade so it didn’t catch any pegasi. “I heard of these in stories and legends! Doesn’t seem so awesome actually being in one!”

“I’ll say…” Dash agreed with a mutter as she took in her surroundings.

It was just utter chaos now. As far as Dash could see, the only people who managed to maintain any sort of formation were the Wonderbolts and the cadets. Anyone else had broken off on their own or grouped up with whoever they could find; their formations could only be called such if one considered a group of flies flying in the same direction a formation. Still though, as ugly and infuriating as it looked to her, Dash also could see they weren’t losing, either. A lot of pegasi were dying, but the spirits were dying in their typical bursts of energies and were further disrupting the storm to boot with their deaths. Not ideal, but at least they were winning.

Rainbow Dash almost froze in place of her own thoughts.

‘I… I can’t believe I just thought that,’ Dash thought as she struggled to maintain her focus. ‘People are dying all around me and I’m not even fazed anymore. Just glad we aren’t losing…’

“AGH!” Dash grunted when something smashed into her side and sent her tumbling through the air as a blinding flash filled the air.

The pegasus flipped and flared her wings instinctively and instantly went from falling to flying again. With a shake of her head, Dash looked to see what hit her. Her eyes widened when she saw a smoldering Lightning Dust trailing smoke and painfully coughing.

“Dust?!” Dash exclaimed.

“GET YOUR HEAD IN THE GAME, RAINBOW!!” Lighting shouted before getting interrupted by more coughing. “Y-you almo-... you nearly got f-fried there!”

“Ri-right!” Rainbow said with a shake of her head. “Thanks for the save, Dust!”

“LOOK! THE WONDERBOLTS!” Starry Eyes shouted with a pointed hoof.

Rainbow Dash glanced in the pointed direction but also made sure to keep her head on a swivel. The Wonderbolts were flying together faster than she had ever seen them fly before. Initially, they were flying in a classic V-formation but as they zoomed towards a spirit they suddenly split apart in a manner that was obviously practiced. The Wonderbolts expanded out in a corkscrew towards a windigo, firing rounds and then dropping a grenade in their wake as they blurred past. The flying elite smoothly moved back into formation as the spirit burst apart in their wake. This wasn’t the end of it, however.

As one, the Wonderbolts continued their flyby assault on every spirit they saw. Their approach was the same but how they went about it wasn’t. They didn’t split the formation the same way too often, just enough to be unpredictable. Despite the fact they were as well acquainted with the Enclave weapons as everything else in the formation, they were already crack shots, landing hits despite flying at speeds approaching the sound barrier at times.

The rainbow maned pegasus felt her heart soar at the sight of the Wonderbolts cleaning up the enemy, and she wasn’t the only one. Cheers filled the air and radio channels alike as the entirety of the airborne infantry watched the famed elite make quick work of the enemy. And when the spirits began disappearing as one - when the storm clouds started to lose power and dissipate - Dash couldn't help but think they had won, as did the rest of the formation.

“SUCH NOISY LITTLE VERMIN!” A shrill voice drowned out the cheers. “YOU WILL ALL PAY FOR THIS ANNOYANCE!!!”

Dash looked around, and that was when she noticed that when she thought the storm clouds had been fading away they were in fact merely moving away. They now formed tall walls, like inside the eye of a storm. Surges of lighting constantly flashed through these walls and Dash had little doubt of what would happen if the formation attempted to simply fly through like how they entered.

A shape began to emerge from one of the storm walls. Initially a bulge in the wall that quickly took on greater details, the telltale curl of a shell, a different shade of light amongst the clouds that created a tiger stripe pattern. The shell made of churning black clouds rotated, and soon its opening was exposed. Eyes of crackling blue lighting and a face of tendrils that stretched out as far as needed, lightning arcing and surging along the many lengths.

“HA! IT IS I! THE REPRISAL TO YOUR ARROGANCE!” The greater windigo sneered. “MAKE YOUR PEA- Guah!?!”

A different form of thunder boomed from overhead and Dash caught sight of the gargoyles flying evasive maneuvers far above while letting loose with their rifles. Flak-like explosions covered the massive form of the greater spirit.

“STINGING GNATS!” the spirit snarled and fell back into the storm wall.

Dash made to look around for where the spirit could be coming next, but the moment it faded into the wall it instantly reappeared. Coming out of the wall opposite its initial entrance, the spirit appeared at a far higher up point. All its tendrils shot out towards the already dodging squadrons of the gargoyles. They all missed, but their passage kicked up incredibly high speed winds. The gargoyles went spinning off, even their powerful wing and natural talent for wind manipulation being utterly overpowered. Rainbow Dash could only grit her teeth as she watched the gargoyles end up spinning up and out of the eye or directly into the storm walls, instantly carried away.

“EVERYONE!” Spitfire began over the radio. “SCATTER! STAY EVASIVE! DON’T-”

The leader of the Wonderbolts interrupted herself as her own squadron darted apart briefly to dodge a tendril of electrified clouds swinging through the air. The rest of the Wonderbolts followed suit as the limb thrashed and tried to catch at least one of them. It wasn’t the only cloud limb they expertly maneuvered around, however; a small forest worth of tendrils filled the air with their sparking, stormy masses.

The Wonderbolts seemed to draw the full attention of the greater spirit, Reprisal, as it drew forth more and more tendrils on them and away from the rest of the formation. In turn, the formation began firing their rifles upon the spirit and others were brave enough to fly closer and toss their few remaining grenades. It didn’t seem to do much more than annoy the spirit, the bullets acting more like pin pricks and even the grenades seeming to do the equivalent of tearing off a layer of skin.

“I understand you squirming things!” Reprisal would have been spitting in fury had it a mouth. “Led by these colorful shiny annoyances!”

What happened next would haunt Dash’s dreams and waking hours. The lightning surged along the tendrils ever more powerfully. They crackled and started to arc from one tendril to the next before there was a sudden explosion of light and sound. Afterimages of arcing lightning burned into the retina of all who bore witness to Reprisal’s attack. The rainbow maned pegasus’ eyes remained wide open through it all as she watched lightning fill the air the Wonderbolts had been flying in. When the light faded, she saw six blackened bodies tumble from the air…

And those bodies crumbled away to loose charcoal and ash as they plummeted to the earth below.

“Ahhhh! Let’s see how you fare without- hm?” Reprisal gushed before it stopped, its massive form turned as if it was scanning the area and searching for something. “That feeling… that energy! WHY IS IT SO FAMILIAR!?! WHAT IS THAT ENERGY?!?”

Dash barely took notice of the booming words as she started gliding, staring in shock at the continuously disintegrating bodies of the Wonderbolts.

‘It-it can’t be… not them…’ Dash thought incredulously at the sight of her heroes dead, gone beyond the power of the medical droids.

So great was the shock at the sight of the Wonderbolts killed all at once in a mere moment that she had slowed to a stop midair, and she was far from the only one. All around, tons of pegasi started gliding aimlessly forward or hovered in place at the abrupt deaths of the Wonderbolts. Even Lightning Dust hovered frozen in disbelief.

“YOU!”

Only jolting somewhat awake from her stupor, Dash looked up and it appeared the greater spirit was looking directly at her.

“DIE!!!”

Unblinkingly, Dash watched as a tendril bulged with new cloud mass of at least a hundred feet in diameter. It raised up into the air, its entire length surging electricity. Rainbow Dash thought she could hear Lightning Dust scream her name as the tendril came blurring towards her. Thoughts of dodging out of the way came far, far too late to her sluggish mind…

“AUUUGH!” With a startled shout, the tendril suddenly discharged its power but not towards the stunned formation of pegasi.

The power within Reprisal’s tendril arced out and away from the cloudy limb. It seemed to go out of its way to avoid hitting pegasi, snaking around the airborne infantry as the bolt of lighting shot into the storm wall but seemed to go further beyond it. There was a brilliant flash of light within the clouds as five shapes were illuminated within the storm walls. The storm itself seemed to lose power and cohesion, the winds dying down and the lightning growing less intense despite the presence of a greater spirit. Then those five shapes within the wall burst out into the open.

“This is Captain Clifford of the Great Fox!” said a voice over the radio. “All airborne infantry, form up on me! We can still win this!”

The full Enclave Airfleet had arrived, numbering only five ironclad warships of no clearly defined class. Nonetheless, their small numbers were made up by sheer quality. Each ship was a custom piece, heavily armored, heavily armed and covered in overlapping runic protections. One of said protections was even now drawing away lightning bolts and safely conducting it into one of the many lightning rods sticking out of the hull.

But they weren’t the only ships arriving.

In the clearing hole the Enclave fleet had torn through the storm wall came the Equestrian Merchant fleet, numbering in the dozens and covered in bolted on plated armor visibly glowing with exposed protective runes. The merchantmen ships had holes cut into the sides of their hulls for autocannons or, in lieu of that, had their decks positively bristling with bolted on guns. Their balloons were all covered by a number of tarps of various materials in an attempt to protect the ship's obvious weak point.

The battle to come would decide if it was enough…

DELTA

Eyes bleary and lined by dark bags, Starswirl the Bearded stared down into a powerful magnifying glass.

Starswirl was in the Enclave, deep underground in one of the many labs, hard at work. Initially he had set up shop in Canterlot but had quickly moved locations when he learned of the tools and resources the Enclave had at its disposal. The work he was currently pouring over was an experimental runic circuit. He had been pouring forth constant effort to perfect it but one failure after another had caused the circuit to fail.

He was close now, though; oh so close he could feel it…

“Starswirl?” a feminine voice said.

The famed unicorn didn’t seem to listen and continued to stare down at the circuit, high precision tools moving millimeters at a time via telekinetic magic. There was a clopping of hooves and Starswirl still maintained his focus even as a mare came to a stop right next to him. He finally reacted when said mare reached out and gently shook him at the shoulder.

“Yes, Somnambula?” the unicorn said with a sigh.

“I haven’t seen you outside this lab in days, Starswirl,” Somnambula said with concern and then took a step back as Starswirl also seemed to have not bathed in days either. “Have you been resting at all?”

“Wheatley?” Starswirl said.

“... You blacked out two days, thirteen hours, twenty four minutes and seven seconds ago, mate,” Wheatley deadpanned. “You woke back up four hours, forty nine minutes and ten seconds later. You’ve been awake ever since, you old ghoul.”

“See? I have rested,” Starswirl said before suddenly punching himself in the face when a powerful yawn threatened to unhinge his jaw.

“Starswirl!” Somnambula exclaimed with shock before leaping forward and restraining the unicorn. “Blacking out is NOT resting! You know you are important to the war effort, but staying awake and working yourself to death is not the answer!”

“I just need to finally make this breakthrough on this accursed runic circuit,” Starswirl replied, carefully averting his eyes away from his sole remaining companion. For if he saw the tears that were beginning to appear, he’d never be able to refuse her. “Then I’ll pass it along to Wheatley here and finally go to sleep.”

“Starswirl…”

“Please let me go, Somnambula,” Starswirl said tonelessly. “I do have a duty to the kingdom, to the world and, most of all, you.”

“Me?” The pegasus frowned before her eyes widened in comprehension. She looked down sadly to the floor and let go of Starswirl. After a moment of watching him go back to work, she spoke softly. “I know you feel responsible for their deaths, Starswirl. I feel responsible too-”

“You shouldn’t,” Starswirl said firmly. “You are no master of magic. You had no means of combating such a being. None of you had a hope of doing more than annoying that spirit, that hateful monstrosity. I should have had an answer; I probably did and simply couldn’t think or remember it at the time. I panicked and cast anything and everything that came to mind when it started killing the others. Finally something worked… and to my horror and eternal shame, I couldn’t even remember what it was I had cast that had actually hurt it.”

“Starswirl… I didn’t even notice you managed to hurt it,” Somnambula said sadly. “When the other Pillars… when our friends started dying, I panicked too and couldn’t even remember what knocked me unconscious. All I could think of was just to fly at it and try to make it stop, try to save somepony. But you saved me! You got me out, got us both out! You kept your head when I didn’t.”

“I’m surprised you’re willing to talk to me this way, considering…” Starswirl paused his work and closed his eyes for a moment as he struggled with visions of death and loss.

“I’m not surprised or hurt at the demand you made for your work,” Somnambula said with understanding and no little amount of personal shame. “It’s why I didn’t refuse when the princesses told me I am to always remain at your side and not fight in the war. You looked out for me and now it’s my turn to look after you. You’re in more danger of dying than I am right now, Starswirl. It’s possible to die from lack of sleep, you know, and from the sounds of it you’re getting pretty close.”

“After I blacked out, I made sure to create a wakefulness spell,” Starswirl said with a dismissive wave of his hoof. He then proceeded to struggle with another powerful yawn before answering. “It’s not perfect, but I should be able to stay awake as long as I need to.”

“If that was the case your eyes wouldn’t be glazed over like that,” Somnambula protested with a shake of her head. “Look at you! Your head must feel like it’s filled with thick sludge.”

“Hmm… thick sludge…”

Suddenly Starswirl was moving his tools with alert, frantic energy. Runes were erased and replaced rapidly as he seemingly redid his entire circuit from the ground up. In barely any time at all, the unicorn had finished his work and was holding his circuit up to the light. With a nod he walked over to a pedestal with a long wire attached to a somewhat distant, satellite-dish-like emitter. Starswirl placed the circuit on the pedestal before flipping a switch on it. The circuit lit up brightly; it sparked and sizzled dangerously yet Starswirl didn’t look the least bit concerned. After a moment the activity stopped and the emitter started to hum with growing power. A moment further and the emitter seemed to electrify the air and pressed down in such a way it made one’s ears pop. Finally, the emitter seemed to activate and perform its job…

A large bubble with a barely visible outline suddenly appeared around the dish.

“YES! SUCCESS AT LAST!” Starswirl reared up and raised his forelegs to the ceiling in exaltation. “WHEATLEY!!!”

“Wotcher?”

“I have succeeded at long last!” the unicorn shouted. “A means of ensuring the spirits can’t appear wherever they like anymore! My work is done! I leave the rest to you while I take a nap!”

With that, Starswirl remained in place, his hooves raised to the roof.

“Uhh… mate? You gonna head to your room?”

“Starswirl?” Somnambula asked with a befuddled look as the unicorn remained frozen in place. She hesitantly approached the unicorn when he slowly leaned backward before suddenly dropping to the floor like a piece of lumber. Despite the fact he was clearly alive and well, snoring loudly and messily, Somnambula darted to his side in panic.

“Starswirl!” the pegasus exclaimed.

Not too far away, in the shadows under a nearby desk, a shadowy being lurked. Its pure white eyes stared out at the comatose Master of Magic with concern mirroring that of Somnambula’s.

EPSILON

Endless, hippocampi and greater spirit of ice and water watched Emerald with a dispassionate eye.

Since his appearance at the former League of Nations headquarters, he hadn’t been taking part in the fighting. No, he had been spending his time keeping Emerald under careful watch. He had been busy before with finding and awakening his fellow spirits when they all awoke as one for some reason. But now he had time to properly monitor and learn everything he could about his greatest enemy.

‘She cares, but far too much…’ Endless realized as he watched Emerald move and fight.

Currently Emerald was in the skies over the Griffin Principalities, driving away greater spirits with her mere presence and killing dozens of lesser spirits before they could react. Then she was away in a flash of light and Endless was quick to follow her by dipping in and out of the spiritual realm. Now she was speeding along the ground like a bullet in the lands of the heron, yet again driving away greater spirits and killing dozens of lessers before they reacted fast enough to flee. Again and again and again this repeated itself with Emerald teleporting across the lands of the League members and fighting constantly. When she was close to driving herself to exhaustion, she would sit for barely an hour before she was at it again.

‘I had assumed she was an enemy we could never face openly,’ Endless thought with rising interest. ‘But she wears herself down, she grows weaker by the day and her bouts of rest recover less and less of her power. But it isn’t only that, I suppose.’

Endless stared closely as Emerald gasped and clutched at her chest as she leaned against a palm tree for support. Something had injured her badly, left her vulnerable in this critical time. Endless was unsure what or who had managed this, for if one of their own could have… well he probably would have worked with many others to ensure their destruction in the ages before their sealing. But as it was now, such an ability to wound a powerful risen deity like the creature before him was sorely needed.

‘No matter. Something can be done without another such attack in time. There are other threats to consider.’

With that, Endless briefly dived back into the spiritual realm before reentering the material world at a different point. The land was twisted and ravaged, but not by the conventional warfare of spirits fighting mortals. No, this was the result of infighting amongst spirits.

What was once a verdant valley sandwiched between two tall, snow capped mountain ridges was now an unnatural, twisted landscape. Land carrying faint remnants of life were warped and twisted like taffy, stretching this way and that and sometimes in a full loop up and around the valley. Storm clouds formed at the very base within torn rifts and rain and thunder fell upwards into the sky. What few lifeforms remained were twisted into unnatural shape but without the mercy of not suffering from their condition as they crawled and mewed piteously and endlessly. Pieces of land now floating and carrying faint remnants of life were the most normal of the sights in this changed land.

Those were not the only changes within this valley. Mixed in with the warped landscape was something its total polar opposite. Once idyllic grasslands was now a flat plane with a carpet of spikes seemingly made of a pure white, marble-like substance that did not reflect any light. Trees once lush and green were now tall, marble poles, their branches bereft of any natural bends, either sticking straight out at an angle or reaching out with right angle turns in their boughs. There was no weather of any kind within these areas. Even if the neighboring chaotic zones were storming with raging winds and pouring water, these effects ended the instant they reached the ordered zones. The lifeforms that had been caught in the ordered zones were changed as well. Deer and other four legged creatures were now floating, ovoid balls of white stone, four smooth nubs replaced their legs and another ovoid shape floated where their head had once been. Birds were the same, but instead of the leg nubs they had a pair of three long ovoids in place of their wings. These creatures did not do anything beyond run the same routines endlessly with no complaint or any hint they were actually living beings.

This landscape was the side effect of two primordial spirits fighting with one another, Discord and his sister, Order,

‘Despite the need for greater powers, I was hoping the Primordials would stay out of this. They have their own concerns and would complicate things beyond our control,’ Endless thought. ‘I have no idea why these two are fighting, but infighting amongst our own is becoming more and more common as time goes on. Our outrage over the mortals overstepping their place in the world is being sidelined by old grudges and rivalries. Unless something is done to get them refocused on the task at hand, this conflict may end with no resolution due to us fighting ourselves just as much as we fight the mortals.’

Endless growled in indignation as he began to go over memories of watching mortals as they encouraged or rounded up their own and made them focus on fighting the spirits. He did not like the idea of having to emulate such cretins, but if the alternative was letting the mortals win due to the spirits’ natural inclination to disunity…

‘So be it!’ Endless thought. ‘We can return to the old ways once the world has been cleansed and returned to its original state.’

First and foremost, however, was planning an ambush…

-TBC-

Author's Note

Author Note: And done! Wow, has it really been this long since I’ve released a chapter for this story? Well as I’ve said before I kinda ran into a massive writer’s block due to not being used to writing completely originally without the handicap of some canonical FiM episodes to at least structure a chapter around. I decided to fix this by going off to write stories with as little foundation provided by the canon. Just little stories on their own set within an established universe but with no real contact with canon events so I could practice original writing. I certainly think it’s helped as I popped out the story plan for this in only a day though actually writing it took longer.

Boy do weeks pass quickly when you get old…

Editor’s Note: Well… here we are again. Wasn’t expecting to edit this when I woke up this morning, but kinda glad to be back in the swing of things. Hope everyone enjoys the chapter (If anyone remembers what happened previously, unlike me who spent 90% of this chapter going “Wait that happened?”). Do be sure to point out any particular mistakes I made if you spot any. Can’t improve if I make the same mistakes without realizing.

Chapter 1: Life's Rhythm

Emerald sat on a stool leaning over a table covered with a contraption that was covered in a material that appeared to be polished plastic.

The virus was currently in human form at the international hospital she had promised would be built. Belvedere had made sure construction upon the hospital continued in her absence despite the fact that, without her, the most important parts could never be made. It was very nearly done by now. The only things that needed finishing were the furnishing, the landscaping and, most importantly, the medical “machines”. Said machines she was currently very busily working on. However...

“-while I agree with the idea of having decentralized food production, I'll have to once again deny your request,” Emerald dictated aloud as she worked, the old Saint Bernard Cujo dutifully writing down her every word. “I trust the meat trees to only flourish under my own watch and care. Respectfully, Supreme Commander Gleaner of the Enclave.”

Ever since she had come back, Emerald had a mountain of things that needed her attentions. She had no time whatsoever and had to snub quite a few people just to make time for friends and family. That had not changed even now while she was working on the hospital's most important components. The old dog, after making certain Emerald was done with her message, placed it aside and brought up an agenda

“Theseus Asterion of the Minotaur Isle Chain will be arriving later today to seek an audience with you,” Cujo recited from the agenda. “He wishes to speak with you regarding the scholarly pursuits of the Minotaurs.”

“Trying to get me to agree to letting their Adventurers in, hm?” Emerald stated to herself with a huff. “They know one could never just wander in. Guess I'll be seeing what they want. Next?”

“The Llamas have sent a missive regarding the formation of a small nation on their territories. They seem to be implying we are at fault for sudden activity of the Yacuruna peoples. They are sending a diplomatic team to speak with you further on this.”

“A customer is a customer. I'm not going to deny people fair and legal business,” Emerald said and cut to the heart of the issue. “I refuse to be held responsible for their no longer secure monopoly on the jungle waterways. That said, I'll do them the honor of coming all this way to be told that personally. Next?”

“Queen Aeris of the Bast Dynasty is... ahem, requesting that the price for the fish fruits be lowered indefinitely as her people are investigating the formation of strange, black glass roads in their desert, and the annihilation of several villages.”

“Hmmm...” Emerald paused in thought with a frown before continuing her work. “Granted, fifty percent discount. Next?”

“Warlock Taleena of the Eldeer is once again-”

“Tell her to fuck off,” Emerald interrupted before sighing and adding a moment later. “Politely that is... my schedule is simply too full. My ‘earliest convenience’ continues to be least a month away. She'll have to wait her turn like everyone else. Next?”

“A missive from Rarity,” Cujo stated, and Emerald paused before looking over her shoulder at him. “She is asking if it would be possible for you and young Navi to visit her for tea and a play date with her sister later this afternoon.”

“Yes.” Emerald nodded with a smile before getting back to work. “Cancel my three o'clock and send her flowers, chocolates and an apology. Next?”

“The mayor of Canterlot has sent an invitation to a Grand Feast being held in your honor. The ponies of Canterlot wish to show their gratitude to the one who saved their city and loved ones from death and destruction.”

“Hmmm... at the very least it'll be good eating, if a tad vegetarian.” Nothing she wasn't long used to. “Next?”

“A letter of complaint from Princess Celestia regarding your confiscation of the mirror portal...” Cujo frowned and tsk’ed with a shake of his head. “She seems to have not bothered to make the letter formal in any way.”

“Nice to know she can be casual with me, even if it's in annoyance with me,” Emerald muttered. “Tell her I'll come see her personally at a later date to explain why I feel the mirror is safer in my guard. Anything Else?”

“That's all for today, boss,” Cujo said and placed the agenda under an arm.

“Good. I'm about near done here,” Emerald said and stood up.

The contraption she was working on was mostly oval in shape with no sharp edges. It was fairly large at little over two feet at its widest point and six feet tall. The front had a closed shutter that, when opened, would reveal a single deep blue colored eye. Emerald waved a hand and the machine shuddered before its eye opened and it suddenly floated off the table.

“Hel~looo!” the machine chirped cheerfully in the voice of a small girl. “Are you in need of healing?”

“No. Show me your arms for diagnostics,” Emerald commanded.

“Acknowledged!” the machine said cheerfully and its back opened up. Instantly, eight long, spindly arms covered in the same plastic-like material the rest of its body was. The arms moved and darted about, experimenting with their range of movement. Four of them ended in different attachments while the rest had long, slender-fingered, fragile looking hands. “Diagnostics under way!”

“That's... freaky looking,” Cujo commented honestly at he took in the now multi-limbed automaton.

“A bit.” Emerald nodded. “Thankfully most people will be asleep should one of these require all of their arms to work. Now to do just one more thing.”

“Diagnostics completed!” the machine announced happily. “Condition at one hundred percent!”

“Perfect. Now for the final part,” Emerald said and reached out with her hands. Tendrils burst forth from her palms and lashed through the air. Within half a minute, the room was practically packed full of other machines exactly like the one Emerald had just made.

“Hel~loooo!”

“Hi!”

“Hi!”

“Hel~loooooooo!”

“Nice to meet you!”

“Attention!” Emerald shouted and instantly all the machines turned towards her. “What is your purpose?”

“Healing!” all of them happily exclaimed.

“Alright. good. Initiate sleep mode,” Emerald commanded and each one let out a small yawn and closed their single eye.

“Now we need to just finish the final touches on the hospital and we're open for business,” Emerald said and faced Cujo. “We'll need to start moving in the doctors and nurses very soon.”

Along with the machines and small army of aides and assistants, there was a sizable international workforce of doctors that would be living on site. Technically they wouldn't be needed with the machines being capable of repairing damage a doctor can only ever dream of fixing, but there was no real way of knowing what would happen in the future. Best to be safe and have them on hand. Besides, it wasn't exactly like it was a massive drain on her money. The sales of the corpse preservation gadgets alone would more than cover their employment.

“Right-o, boss.” Cujo nodded.

“Right. I've done my part, so I'll be letting everyone else finish the rest,” Emerald said and sighed a bit. “So much on my plate today...”

With that, the virus disappeared in a pink flash of light.

ALPHA

Sunset Shimmer found herself whipping her head back and forth as she attempted to not miss a single sight as the walked.

In the decade or so she had been gone, the city had changed far more than she had expected. The first change was the crowds filling the streets. Intermixing with the unicorns, pegasi and earth pony were species of all kinds from all over the world. Cats the size of ponies covered in jewels, griffins, changelings, llamas and minotaurs just to name but a few of the races she passed. It wasn't unheard of to see peoples from different species in Canterlot, before but it was very noticeable how diverse the crowds were here.

The buildings had changed up quite a bit as well. A few streets she had remembered from before were simply non existent now or seemed to have a new bend or two to them. Not only that, but quite a few buildings had been clearly changed or were outright missing. From what Sunset had been told, she knew this was due to damage caused by some horrible fighting over a month ago between Emerald and another incredibly powerful being.

'I can't believe I'm back here again... it's almost like nothing happened,' Sunset thought, still a little numb at the fact she wasn't punished by Celestia for what she did. 'I can't believe the princess didn't punish me... it feels almost unreal. After all the years away from here planning and plotting revenge, now I'm not only back but her student again. It's just... I almost can't believe this is happening!'

Sunset walked almost unnoticed among the crowds. It had only recently been announced that she was back and Celestia's student once more. The reaction to the news had been almost insulting in Sunset's opinion. Namely that of surprise that there was a student in recent times before Twilight. She hadn't thought of herself as world renown, but she at least expected people to know of her. It didn't appear to be the case, however, as the only people to really recognize her were the Royal Guard that had been around ten years ago when she ran away.

'I can't believe the only one to really remember me is... Celestia,' Sunset Shimmer thought with a bit of a disappointed look. ' Goes to show I really did think too much of myself... just a school dropout who thought she was ready to take on the world. Emerald was right... just a dumb kid...'

Sunset's mood took a rapid downturn as she reminisced more and more of her past. Eventually she simply couldn't take it and trotted back to the palace. A little over ten minutes later, she was back in the palace and entering her quarters when she suddenly realized her mistake. If she wanted to avoid things that reminded her of the past, the worst thing she could do was be in her room.

Out of what could only be supreme sentimentality, Celestia had Sunset's old room completely untouched since the day she left. So it had remained closed and shut away for ten years until she had been brought back by Emerald, then Celestia had it opened and cleaned up as soon as possible and ready for living again. So when Sunset had come back expecting all her things long since thrown out, she was met with her old room looking like she had never left. It just felt so surreal, to the point she had half considered the idea that her trip was just one very long nightmare when she had woken up the following morning.

Overall, Sunset Shimmer's room wasn't that distinct looking or uniquely decorated. She hadn't enjoyed her life with her family and when she had become Princess Celestia's student she had basically cast everything else aside. She had a bed with small tables on each side, a drawer, a single wardrobe, a desk set under a window and three book shelves of varying sizes. The only thing that honestly stood out about her room were the covers on her bed bearing her cutiemark.

'The books I was going to study...' Sunset thought as she walked over to her desk which had some books stacked off to the side and another sitting in the center. 'I was going to go study more advanced arcane algebraic equations and see if I could get a firmer handle on thaumic calculi. But then... but then I found that spell... that would have let me skip years, maybe decades of effort in a single cast...'

In hindsight, Sunset realized that the biggest reason why she had been so determined before to see her “vengeance” attained was because she had thrown away years and years of study by crossing the mirror. The instant she became human was the instant she lost her ability to use her magic. While the arcane equations she had been studying were easily advanced enough, she was able to apply it to the best math classes Canterlot High had. However, it was a poor patch for the hole the loss of her magic left. Her prodigal skill with magic was the whole reason she was able to become Celestia's student in the first place. Perhaps instead of determination, rather, it was out of desperation that Sunset Shimmer had held on to the desire for vengeance. The desperation to show she hadn't sacrificed everything and didn't have anything to show for it.

And now here she was. After failing utterly and completely at her vengeance, after being beaten, crippled and nearly killed, she was back in the palace. She had her magic, she had her old position as Celestia's student, she even had her old room back. She still found it unbelievable and some part of her expected this all to be some horrible, torturous delusion, that Emerald had actually left her there on the floor in that basement and hadn't healed her; that she was imagining everything in a fit of desperate mania brought on by agony and internal bleeding.

'Nonononono, stop it!' Sunset pressed hooves to the side of her head as painful memories assailed her. Dead faces twisted into masks of agony, mangled corpses, the miasma of gore, a pair of gauntlet clad fists crackling with electricity. 'Just stop it! Deep breaths...'

Sunset Shimmer took long, deep breaths as she tried to calm down. Ever since the events leading up to her capture by Emerald she had been tormented by her actions, her reasoning in the face of all the death she caused utterly failing to hold water. How could she ever justify her desire for vengeance to the innocents she forced to die for her? It was worse now that she basically had the life she had thrown away given back. Before, she could put up with the guilt easily enough, but now...

'I need to go for a walk, I can't be here right now,' Sunset Shimmer thought to herself and quickly left her room.

“Is that her?” Sunset Shimmer heard as she closed the door behind her. “Why, I do believe it is!”

Sunset blinked and turned to look to see three people approaching her. Two were middle aged noble ponies, one a unicorn male wearing a navy blue dolman with a monocle that had a thick, immaculately trimmed handlebar mustache with a slicked back mane, the other an earth pony mare wearing a gaudy, expensive gown with her mane pulled back in a thickly braided bun. The third person was a heron wearing a rich, jade colored robe with a pointed skullcap-like hat that had a long, black veil descending from the back of it.

“Excuse me my good mare!” the unicorn said in a posh voice. “Might you be one Sunrise Shudder, Princess Celestia's newest student?”

“Ah, well... yes, but my name is Sunset Shimmer,” Sunset politely corrected. “And I'm actually-”

“Capital!” the unicorn exclaimed with a boisterous smile. “Yes, quite good. You see the good lady and I are escorting this good chap here to a luncheon.”

“Spokesmen Tsau Kang,” Kang introduced himself with a small bow and pressing the tips of his wings together before him. “A pleasure to meet your acquaintance, young Sunset Shimmer.”

“My husband and I are curious if you would accompany us to the luncheon, my dear,” the mare said with a friendly smile. “It would do us so much honor to have such a distinguished guest be present.”

“Well...” Sunset honestly did not want to attend. She was very much not in the mood. However, as unreal as she found her situation, she still didn't want to end up ruining it again. Unable to think up a reason to politely decline on the spot, Sunset was left with only one option.

“Okay, I'd love to attend,” Sunset said with what she hoped was a genuine look.

“Capital!” the unicorn exclaimed happily. “Simply quite marvelous, myes.”

“Come with us, darling. We'll happily escort you as well.” The mare smiled as she and her husband began proudly strutting forward.

“How goes your studies, young one?” Kang asked politely as he and Sunset trailed behind the two ponies. “Well, I hope?”

“I haven't actually started yet since I've...” Sunset began. “Since I've become the princess' student. I think she wants me to spend some time settling in before we get started.”

“Then I wish you all the best in your lessons.” Kang nodded respectfully. “Now, pray tell, do you know Twilight Sparkle and Emerald Gleaner?”

“Uh. yes. For about a month and a half so far, in any case,” Sunset answered.

“Only a month?” Kang stated with a thoughtful look before nodding slowly. “Yes... very good.”

Kang didn't say anymore and Sunset wasn't sure how to respond, either. They continued following the two ponies who were blissfully having a rather one sided conversation with the two following them. It wasn't long before they finally arrived at their destination, a sitting room with a large coffee table and a large doorway leading out to a balcony. Sitting around this little table and being tended to by some servants were six other people. Sunset recognized them all as foreign dignitaries, but among them the deer doe stood out like an overly fancily decorated sore thumb.

“Ah, the rest of our party has arrived!” the llama among them greeted grandly before frowning in consideration. “Ah, I see we have one extra guest. No matter! Take a seat, my dear. I'll arrange for more refreshments.”

“Ah, thank you,” Sunset Shimmer stated as she took a seat upon a couch. “I am... happy to be a part of this, uh... get together.”

“Think nothing of it!” chortled a somewhat rotund Saddle Arabian horse dressed in many fine silks.

“Warlock Taleena, a pleasure to meet you again.” Kang bowed respectfully. “I had feared our chance encounter would be the one and only.”

“I had thought the same, Tsau Kang,” Taleena replied in her melodious voice. “You were an apprentice when I had seen you last. Whatever became of your master?”

“Unfortunately he had misunderstood the cultural norms of a tribe of yeti quite badly,” Kang answered as he took a bite out of a small cake. “He wasn't grievously hurt... however, he took it as a sign to retire. Thankfully I was nearly done learning from him and was able to start my own career in earnest.”

“Speaking of issues with tribals...” the Arabian horse began, taking a deep drink of coffee. “The Bast have been making quite the fuss recently.”

“And what has the pink furball been yowling about now?” the llama said with exasperation.

“She's been complaining about odd, black glass roads covering the desert and disappearing villages,” came the reply. “Knowing the Bast’s tendency for decoration, I'm of the opinion they simply sunk into the sand from the weight of precious metals, if they are even disappearing at all. It's very likely it's just a tall tale to garner sympathy and charity.”

“Charity...” a reindeer snorted disdainfully. “Likely free food if the diplomat the Bast sent is any indication.”

“Something the most junior member of the league will likely fall for, unfortunately enough.” The llama sniffed haughtily. “I foresee many more fumbles in the future.”

“It's already started if the stories I heard about the Ball held in the Heron Republic holds any truth,” Kang commented. “One so young should not be so involved in greater politics. It's one thing to fumble in one's own backyard, but another entirely to do so on the world stage.”

“And yet she does everything in her power to gain yet more influence and collar every carnivore that comes her way,” the reindeer tutted patronizingly. “Honestly... the carnivores get a bit of extra servings for once and they surrender all just to gorge themselves daily. If it wasn't for the population explosion that is surely on the way, I'd be amused by the fact they'd all eat themselves round within a year or two.”

“That's exactly the problem, though,” the llama said, raising his voice a little. “Someone so young and yet she is gaining more and more power by the day. It isn't right for someone so unproven to have authority over so many. All it will take is one poorly thought out decision made in ignorance to affect the lives of so many.”

“How is it that one upstart with a cobbled together kingdom of thugs and slavers was able to accomplish all this in the first place?” a pony muttered

“The meat fruit is the key,” the arabian answered. “She not only holds total and complete monopoly on them but is the only one who can even grow them. No chance whatsoever of someone else managing to break into the field themselves as competition.”

“Surely there must be some chance?” one of the pony guests stated. “I'm am no expert, but skilled unicorns can work wonders.”

“Possibly... thankfully, we do have one to ask,” Kang stated and turned towards Sunset. “I imagine that a pony of your age wouldn't become the princess' personal student without truly prodigal skill at magic. Tell us, would it be possible for a team of highly skilled unicorns to develop a meat-like product to potentially compete with the meat fruit?”

“Oh, uhh...” Sunset said with wide eyes.

It didn't take long for Sunset to realize this “luncheon” was anything but a casual get together and felt rather anxious as the conversation became political. Suddenly it became startlingly obvious that she had no experience with maneuvering high stakes political social circles; another thing she only had herself to blame for since she left before lessons in such could begin. So she basically froze and simply stared at each speaker. Thankfully, being addressed directly broke her out of this and she focused on answering the question.

“Well...” Sunset began and hummed in thought as she considered how she might go about developing meat fruit of her own. “I would study the development notes behind the golden apple trees first, but... I think it would be entirely possible to create meat trees. However... it would take time. The development of the golden apple trees took decades and while I don't expect meat bearing trees to take as long, it would still likely take years. And that's not taking into account the end product might not even be all that appetizing. So it would take years to make a viable product, years more to perhaps refine that into a much more palatable substance and therefore profitable.”

“A bit of a long term investment, then,” the Arabian waved off dismissively. “You have to start somewhere.”

“Thank you for your input, young lady.” The llama smiled gratefully before getting a thoughtful frown. “But I'm curious. Just where do you stand in all this?”

“Where do I stand?” Sunset said, and was about to ask what he meant.

“Now, now. Young Sunset Shimmer is an honored guest,” Taleena said with a gently reprimanding tone before turning to Sunset with a ready smile. “There's no need to needle her about political leanings.”

“As you say.” The llama nodded and seemed to put it out of his mind.

“Thank you, Warlock Taleena,” Sunset said gratefully.

“Oh, so formal! Think nothing of it,” Taleena replied. “You know, I am honored to know Celestia as a personal friend. I would not mind it in the least if you called me by name.”

“Ah... well I would happily treat any friend of Celestia's as a friend of my own.” Sunset nodded and got a happy smile from Taleena.

At that, the conversation abruptly drifted to various, far more mundane topics, local shopping, entertainment venues and the like. Unbeknownst to all, hanging just under the balcony and clinging to the wall was a neochangeling wearing a white cloak that helped it camouflage against the white stonework of the palace.

BETA

Emerald breathed deeply, eyes closed in concentration as she flowed seamlessly from stance to stance. All around her, stone and earth practically flowed like water.

Emerald was deep underground below the Everfree and clearing out a new, massive cavern. Normally this was a project she'd get her dogs to help with, but with her abilities and the size of the job it was simply faster to do it herself instead of delegating. She was moving countless tons of stone via her channeling abilities and creating a new cavern that was going to serve as a kind of massive mold.

Emerald stopped and took in what she had created so far. It was an utterly massive cavern with a great big pit in the middle stretching three kilometers down. There was also four other massive halls near the top that stretched away and then dropped down into smaller pits. She would be filling the whole of this cavern with biomass and then shaping the insides of that, filling it with runic circuitry, gems and magic... lots of magic.

The virus reached out a palm and biomass burst forth in a vast tendril before branching out into hundreds of smaller ones. They spiderwebbed across the surfaces and through the air, rapidly covering dozens of meters with every second. Barely twenty minutes later and a vast, skeletal framework was already in place. With another wave of her hand the framework shook and expanded out once more, filling in the empty spaces, forming walls and rooms. She was very nearly finished forming the “body” of the structure, the easy part, when she was interrupted.

“Queen Mother!” came a shout.

Emerald turned around to see a cloaked neochangling come trotting down a tunnel towards her.

“Vata, what is it?” Emerald asked as she halted the growth of the biomass and faced the changeling fully. “Has she finally hatched?”

“No she has not, Queen Mother,” the changeling answered in clear worry. “We worry greatly. She grows and eats and does not stop. If perhaps this was just a normal metamorphosis then we would not worry, but right from the start it was very different. It is clear that she will be physically far more different from us than any changeling queen ever was.”

“I figured that would be the case.” Emerald hummed in thought for a moment. “Right, let's go see her, make sure everything is fine or if I can jump start things a bit.”

Emerald concentrated on the cavern where the neochangling queen's cocoon was and teleported both herself and the changeling to it. They arrived in the cavern where there were only two other changelings, but the nature of their link meant effectively all of them were there. The cocoon was now easily three times the size of Emerald's human form, the air around it freezing cold enough to rapidly freeze water.

“Queen Mother,” one of the changelings greeted her before facing the still cocooned Queen. “We know not what to do other than keep feeding her. We harvest emotions at all hours and she consumes them without end. We do not know how much longer this will last.”

“Hmmm... all of you can eat magic to an extent,” Emerald hummed in thought. “Perhaps... perhaps she simply isn't getting enough food to finish growing? I have plenty to spare.”

With that, Emerald approached the massive cocoon. She came to a stop a foot away from its “face” and placed a hand right next to the horn. She wondered for a moment about how to go about giving Ambrosia magic before deciding just to channel magic to her hand and pushing it outwards.

The reaction was almost instantaneous. The abdomen-like part of the cocoon glowed like a white hot piece of steel and the sounds of chitin straining filled the air. The cocoon started wiggling in place and began to noticeably grow in size. This caused Emerald to hum in thought and experimentally pour forth even more power. The cocoon shuddered and started rapidly expanding in size. It grew and grew and grew until it towered above Emerald and was taking up much of the cavern. When it finally stopped growing, it was easily bigger than a bus.

Cracking noises filled the air as the cocoon began to break and shards started to go flying.

Emerald stepped back as black, scything limbs broke through the cocoon shell and the being within started to burst forth in earnest. The thing about changelings was that while they had quite a bit of insectoid qualities, they were still more pony shaped than anything. This fact remained so even with the viral changelings. The being that fully emerged from the cocoon had barely any resemblance to its old form. It had three pairs of legs, all of them on the front half of their body and reaching forward, forcing it to drag its abdomen along the ground. Its abdomen was a bright orange, wrinkled, pulsating thing with an egg sphincter at the end. Upon its back were movable, protective shells laid over three pairs of leather, tattered-looking bat wings with orange membranes. Its head was still vaguely shaped like the one it had before, but its horn was much longer and ended in bident-like prongs, and it had clusters of eyes softly glowing orange. And along with its toothy nightmare of a mouth, it had a pair of mandibles around it that seemed to be capable of fine manipulation. Covering most of its body was a pitch black, chitinous shell that shined in the light.

“Ambrosia?” Emerald said aloud.

“Queen Mother,” Ambrosia spoke in Emerald's mind. “I apologize for troubling you. I had hoped I'd be able to finish growing without further help.”

“No, it's okay,” Emerald said as she and the other changelings approached Ambrosia. “So this is what the new changelings' version of a queen looks like, huh? It's rather different than Chrysalis' form.”

“Very much so. We had not been expecting this,” Vata said as he examined Ambrosia's body. “She is so much different from us... what does it mean for the next generation of our hive? Will they be different looking as well?”

“Only one way to find out,” Emerald answered and looked to Ambrosia.

“Indeed. I shall gather together a store of emotion and then start producing eggs,” Ambrosia said with a nod of her rather large head. “It should not take long.”

“Great. Until then, I've had a building set aside for you to stay in within the new districts,” Emerald said and reached out to Ambrosia. “I'll take you there now.”

Emerald concentrated and with a flash of light she, three neochangelings and the newly born queen were teleported to the Hub. They appeared inside a rather large room of a multistory structure in the new expansion to the Hub; the expansion that was being built for the past few months. It was still a work in progress, but many districts were already in use. The room they were in was empty, but with a flash of light a massive, velvet cushion burst into being.

“The building isn't really furnished yet,” Emerald said as the queen pulled her mass onto her new bed. “I'll leave decorating to the rest of you.”

“Leave it to us,” Vata said with a nod. “We can handle the rest. Soon there will be more of us and they shall be born instantly knowing all that we know.”

“Looking forward to it.” Emerald nodded and turned away before teleporting.

With a flash of light, Emerald arrived in a lot buzzing with activity. All around here were Warhounds and Direwolves suiting up in their new power armor. They were moving about, stretching, jumping, briefly sprinting, simply getting a feel for the abilities of their armor. Just from looking around, Emerald was able to recognize a few new faces among the Direwolves. The growth in their numbers hadn't been steady, however. After the initial burst, the number of recruits into the Direwolves dropped off greatly.

'Got no choice but to treat and train them like they were an elite fighting force now,' Emerald thought as she walked among them. 'Don't nearly have the numbers for anything else. And if they are going to be an elite fighting force, they'll be needing the best possible gear as well.'

Emerald glanced at the weaponry the dogs were carrying as she passed. Despite the runic paint imbuing the rifles with enhanced abilities, they were, at their core, still conventional firearms. They were a bit higher caliber than the mainline guns, but they wouldn't be too out of place on Earth. It was time to change that.

'Time to upgrade our weapons,' Emerald thought. 'After spending a whole month planning and designing, it's time to get to making some of the ideas into reality. I'll need to talk to Moon Dancer.We should only need a small testing period and then I can get right to making them.'

Thinking about Moon Dancer brought Emerald's thoughts into how the unicorn had been handling her responsibilities. She was doing fantastically; she took to research and development like a fish to water. Not only that, but she was making good on her desires to find peaceful applications for Emerald's weapons-heavy technology. After getting some permission from Belvedere, she had used some funds to set up a company, Everfree Industries, to disseminate goods and technology she had managed to redesign so far.

Everfree Industries' grounds were set up just on the Everfree border and employed quite a few ponies. Among its merchandise, it boasted high definition televisions and sound systems, high speed computers with a user friendly interface, an auto division constructing and selling eco-friendly magical vehicles of various types and a metal processing plant selling high grade alloys. Not only just that, she had made sure the company sold the products at a high price despite the cheap cost of production. As much as the unicorn clearly had wanted to simply sell the products at reasonable prices, she was very aware of how much damage that would do to a still tender economy. Local industries would have to sacrifice their profit margins greatly in order to compete with EI's clearly higher quality products. This meant EI's clientele were almost entirely of the elite and the well off. Not the best of situations but it was the only direction that allowed Equestria's battered market to remain competitive.

It wasn't just making the Enclave even more money than it knew what to do with that had Emerald regarding Moon Dancer highly. The unicorn had taken in everything she learned in her relatively short time in the Enclave like a sponge. With no input whatsoever and working together with Diamond Dog engineers she had managed to design a perfectly functional air cruiser. Not only that, but the unicorn had been helping making sure the other systems of the Enclave got updated. Living conditions in the Enclave were closer and closer to becoming something that wouldn't be out of place in the First World.

All this had earned Moon Dancer quite a bit of respect in Emerald's eyes. So much so that the virus had to realize that there was a rather large, long-standing issue in the Enclave.

'I'm too much of a lynch pin.Too key to the ongoing progress and development of the Enclave,' Emerald thought with a sigh. 'At least when it comes to bleeding edge developments. I'm combining magic and organic technology more and more as time goes by and I'm the onlyone that can do so. There are two options I can take here. I can either tone it back and try to recreate everything via more conventional methods or... I can create a means of allowing someone else to create and build with biomass as I do...'

Emerald paused and stood in place for a long moment. She knew Moon Dancer was trustworthy. She knew this for a fact. She trusted Belvedere and the other Alphas to run the Enclave in her absence and do as best a job as they could possibly do. Surely she could trust Moon Dancer with “Admin Authority” as it were.

'...I don't know... I really don't know,' Emerald thought finally. 'I'll think about it over the next week and make my decision then. Until then, I've got some things to discuss with Moon Dancer before I head home for an appointment.'

With that, Emerald teleported away again.

GAMMA

“Hmmmm...” Twilight hummed in thought.

The unicorn was at home reading in the library. She wasn't reading for fun, however; she was trying to learn a difficult spell. The spell was one that allowed one to transform themselves into an entirely different form. Twilight really wanted to learn this spell in order to be able to become human again.

'Being unicorn again is great and all, but I actually was enjoying learning magic all over again,' Twilight thought as she looked over the details of the formula on the pages. 'And I feel like learning to use magic without a horn was helping me understand magic better than before. And... w-well, I wouldn't mind being human with Emerald now and again.'

Quickly putting that line of thinking out of her mind, Twilight focused on the spell. After looking over the equation one last time, she stepped away from the book and concentrated. This was understandably a rather complicated spell, though thankfully it wasn't a truly complete transformation. A failed cast would simply not work and not turn her into some mess of limbs.

'Right, let's try transforming myself back into a unicorn,' Twilight thought. 'If this works then I wouldn't want my success to trap me in human form.It isn't too terribly hard to disrupt the transformation normally, but I've made some adjustments and made the transformation a bit more durable. I'd possibly be stuck as a human until Emerald came back or I hit myself really, really hard. I'd rather not have that happen.'

Twilight's horn started glowing and, after a long moment, there was a bright flash of light. Twilight felt herself shrink ever so slightly and her wings pull back into her body and suddenly it was like she never ascended into an alicorn.

The unicorn smiled back at her bare, wingless sides before quickly getting to work on drawing a special runic circuit on a scroll using some of Emerald's special runic paint. After spending a few minutes drawing out a complicated circuit that covered the entire scroll, she channeled magic through the circuit. The circuit on the scroll lit up instantly and the paper started burning to a cinder due to not being able to handle the flow of energy. That was okay. It only needed to exist for a second. There was another flash of magic and Twilight was an alicorn again.

'Great!' Twilight thought with a smile. 'Now I can turn myself back when I transform into a human. It will be a while yet before I can be sure of being able to use my magic for something so advanced, so using a scroll to do the complicated part for me will remove me needing to rely on Emerald turning me back.'

Despite the fact she dearly wanted to continue practicing and experimenting with her new spell, she was expecting someone so it had to wait. She quickly cleaned up and put away her books before leaving the library. She passed through the living room on her way out. Navi and Spike were there playing video games on the large screen television together. It was the first thing Emerald had set out to do before anything else, make sure Navi and Spike were comfortable and happy again.

“Make sure to keep the volume down, you two,” Twilight said as she passed through. “Emerald and I are expecting an important guest.”

“Yes, Papa,” Navi said and magically pressed the volume button on the remote.

“You sure you don't want any help?” Spike asked absently after Twilight. “I mean, I did that all the time for you.”

“Oh no, you just have fun,” Twilight waved off with a smile. “I can handle making my own tea for today at least, Spike.”

“If you insist.” Spike shrugged and focused back on the game.

Twilight walked into the kitchen and quickly got to work brewing some tea. She was expecting one of Emerald's old friends, though after certain events neither she or Emerald were sure if she remained such. However, the visit wasn't for pleasure. Said old friend had gained a bit of political influence now and she was meeting with Emerald to discuss the future.

She was barely down brewing the tea and getting the snacks ready when there was a knock at the door. Twilight wondered if it was their expected guest. If it was, she was a bit early. Quickly walking to the front door and opening it proved that to be true.

“Hello, Bon Bon,” Twilight greeted with a friendly smile. “I wasn't expecting you for a while yet.”

“Oh, sorry if it's inconvenient...” Bon Bon said apologetically, currently in her old pony disguise and wearing her heart armband along with an expensive looking dress. “I was nervous. The last time I spoke with Emerald, it hadn't been on pleasant terms.”

“Oh it's no issue. Come in, I was just finishing some preparations,” Twilight said as she backed up to let Bon Bon in, but she also considered Bon Bon's dress. It wouldn't look out of place at a high society formal meeting. Twilight was left distinctly wondering if Bon Bon had overdressed or if she were under dressed.

“Is... is Emerald here?” Bon Bon asked somewhat hesitantly as she entered.

“No, she's not here yet. She should be soon, though,” Twilight replied as she closed the door behind Bon Bon. “Let's have a bit of small talk until she gets back. It's been a while since I last saw you. How have you been?”

“I've been well, all things considered,” Bon Bon replied as she followed Twilight into a small sitting room. “I've been doing a lot of public service lately, helping my people settle into our new lives out in the open.”

“Oh? How has that been working out?” Twilight asked as she teleported the tea and treats over and placed on a table.

“Well... it could go smoother.” Bon Bon sighed a little. “Ponies have been rather accepting of my people. I just wish it had been the same the other way around. Since first recorded history we've always been in the shadows and siphoning love secretly. Now we are out in the open, and not by our own choice. A lot of us are rather bitter about it and making things harder than it has to be... I really have my work cut out for me.”

“I'm sure you'll do a wonderful job as Changeling Queen, Bon Bon,” Twilight said comfortably when she heard the front door open.

“I'm home!” came Emerald's shout.

“In here, Emerald,” Twilight called back.

“Hmm... well you are certainly a bit early,” Emerald commented as she leaned into view in the doorway before entering.

“Ah... Twilight commented on that too. Is it a bad thing?” Bon Bon asked softly.

“...” Emerald simply tilted her head and stared at Bon Bon for a moment, causing her to become rather nervous. “...Political circles are a whole other thing from small town social circles, aren't they?”

“Uhh...” Bon Bon averted her gaze downward.

“To answer your question, it depends,” Emerald said as she took her own seat. “Arriving earlier than the person you intend to meet can imply a certain amount of desperation, however.”

“Oh...”

“Bon Bon, are you here to see me on account of your new station?” Emerald asked pointedly.

“Well... yes.” Bon Bon nodded with a sigh. “I'm to be the new Queen of the Changelings. My first concern before I began the metamorphosis was to establish relations with you.”

“What did you need?” Emerald asked curiously. “Whatever it is, you'll get it.”

“What?” Bon Bon blinked in surprise at the statement.

“It might take me some time, depending on what you want and in how large quantities, but I'll get to work on it right away,” Emerald said.

“Emerald... I thought you were angry at us,” Bon Bon said softly. “For the invasion. But you're offering to...”

“I was angry, Bon Bon,” Emerald replied. “But I'm fairly certain your people suffered more than their fair share for what happened in the past. I'm more than willing to help them get settled and recover.”

“I had been so worried. I was coming into this meeting believing I had to negotiate with someone who hated me and who I represented,” Bon Bon said with audible relief.

“Bon Bon, I don't hate you or your people,” Emerald assured before smiling. “Also I advise you to ask Celestia if she'd be willing to give you some pointers when it comes to navigating politics. I'm certain she wants you to succeed and she has over a thousand years of experience to draw on. Now let's talk about something else. How have you and Lyra been doing? Still taking care of Trixie?”

“We've been doing good and Trixie actually left a short while ago,” Bon Bon began. “She started going back on the road and doing magic shows again, but she does come back to visit every now and then.”

Twilight smiled as she sipped her tea. She watched on quietly as Emerald reconnected with her friend.

DELTA

Moon Dancer stared down over the railing at the scene below.

Below Moon Dancer was a kind of obstacle course. It had half a dozen rooms, each with locked doors. The locks on each door were exceedingly more complex and secure. Also each room had a device sitting in the center, each one uniquely “locked” in methods different from the doors. The person undergoing experiments in these courses was Clean Sweeps, and she was already working on the door to the last room.

What was going on was some non-essential science experiments that Emerald had been considering running for the longest time but never saw it as important enough. Initially, Moon Dancer had agreed with the sentiment that it wasn't all that important. After all, what more was there to know about cutie marks? However after reading Emerald's notes, namely how she seemed to have gained some talent for finding and digging up emeralds from the ground, Dancer had found herself feeling curious. So here she was overseeing cutiemark experiments and how flexible their talents were.

Specifically, the current tests were in two parts. The first part was straight forward. Clean Sweeps' talent was picking locks so the doors just had succeedingly difficult and complex locks. However, along with that each unlocked room had a device that could be optionally “unlocked”. This was optional but Sweeps was encouraged to attempt to do so with a bonus to her pay with each one unlocked. The thing about the devices, however, was that they weren't exactly traditionally locked. It was simply left to Sweeps to assume it was a lock she had to pick open.

“Strong, silent typ,e ain't cha?” Clean Sweeps' voice drifted up to Dancer as she pressed her face against the door and started feeling out the various locking mechanisms. “Come on, sweet pea, talk to me...”

The door was a steel vault door that was magnetically, electronically and magically sealed. The magnets kept the internal mechanisms in place as well as the door itself, making simply pulling the thing out that much harder while magical runes reinforced both the door and the more fragile electronics. Theoretically the door should be able to withstand a nuclear blast right in front of it. The electronic components consisted of a bio-signature scanner, an eye reader and a keypad.

After going through the testing course several times, this door was the only one that still gave Sweeps a lot of trouble. Her first time through she was left to her own devices and only got halfway through. Now she was allowed to do her own homework on the things she had to deal with and was given some basic tools.

Dancer leaned over the railing a bit as she watched Clean Sweeps very carefully take the panels off several of the electronics. Moon Dancer found it rather fascinating how in the beginning before her first run, Sweeps was given some booklets of the advanced devices and locks she would be dealing with without being told what the booklets were about and had no clue whatsoever how to process the info. But now that Clean Sweeps knew she was dealing with locks, she had suddenly gained more than a bit of comprehension of the material she was reading.

“YES!” Clean Sweeps cheered in delight and started dancing in place when the door she was working on slowly opened with a metallic groan. Beside the door, a mess of tangled wires and circuits hung out of their recesses, crudely hot wired and bypassed.

Clean Sweeps entered the last room for the first time. In a gleeful high from beating the hardest door, she quickly leapt for the device sitting in the center. The device was the size of a small brief case and the instant Sweeps jostled it, a digital clock on the front started counting down from five minutes. The earth pony paid the clock no attention. The other devices often had the same things and even when the time ran out, nothing happened; she even still got the full bonus.

The former crook set to work on the device right away, using her specially made tools to rapidly and steadily pull apart the device. She exposed several wires and circuits; some wires she avoided like the plague while others she ripped out and cut. After a few moments of meddling with the innards of the device, Sweeps backed away. After a moment, the device gave a click and split open down the middle, revealing another digital screen. Only instead of counting down, this one simply said “GOOD JOB!”

'Well “tricking” the talent into thinking it's unlocking something seems to work,' Moon Dancer thought with a nod. 'It'll be about time to inform Clean Sweeps the whole point of the experiments soon and see if the tricks still work. It'll be interesting to see if it still works.Lots of ramifications and potential regarding so many other cutie marks.'

“Alright, we're done for today!” Moon Dancer called down. “Your payment and bonuses will be sent to your address.”

“Ah yeah!” Clean Sweeps shouted happily and hopped in place. “PAY DAY!”

With that, the earth pony mare trotted happily out of the course. Moon Dancer made some other notes in her notepad before nodding and making her way elsewhere. Sweeps' job may have been done, but Dancer's day wasn't nearly over. Moon Dancer walked along the catwalks until she reached a side door and entered it, entering into a wide open hall lined on one side with large observation windows. There were dozens of dogs in this room looking through the windows. Moon Dancer looked through the windows as she passed.

Down below was a very large firing range testing a wide variety of new weaponry. Every new weapon a Warhound was testing was of a sleek design covered in a white, plastic-like shell. All of the weapons were of the new “Coilgun” line of weapons; weaponry that utilized magic and magnetic fields to send projectiles flying at incredible velocities. Not to mention the very nature of the coilguns allowed the projectile to be entirely solid, unlike a bullet, which consisted of mostly propellant and then the actual warhead.

'Ugh. Now how am I supposed to redesign this?' Moon Dancer thought with a huff. 'Seriously, some of the things Emerald make can be so frustratingly violent and hard to re-engineer for something peaceful.'

Moon Dancer picked up her pace to a quick trot and soon left the hall, entering out onto another catwalk suspended over a massive, cavernous room that was at least a hundred feet tall. The reason for the height of the room was made clear by the dozens of Biogears lining the walls in docking berths. As soon as Emerald came back, she had got to work on creating a factory line of all things for the giants of war and death. She finished it in an hour and got to work on other things while leaving it on and pumping out Biogear after Biogear. Already they had more of the things than they had pilots. And standing out like a sore thumb with its newly added wings and guns was Equinox, patiently sleeping the days away waiting for the next time it was needed.

Moon Dancer soon passed through this room and, after taking yet more short cuts through other rooms, she soon entered a large chamber that held a massive, secure vault door. She came to a stop before the door and waited a moment. Suddenly a magical light flared to life around her.

“Moon Dancer, requesting entry,” Moon Dancer spoke aloud.

“IDENTITY CONFIRMED. WELCOME ADMINISTRATOR DANCER,” spoke a loud, flat, electronic voice.

A loud, metallic groan filled the air as the vault opened. Moon Dancer waited for the gap to be wide enough before darting inside. She was met with a large, armor plated room lit up with industrial lights, and sitting in the very center was a mirror.

'Starswirl's portal to another universe.Very fascinating work and quite possibly millennia ahead of its time,' Moon Dancer thought in excitement and quickly trotted circles around the mirror, taking it in from every angle. 'It's such a terrible shame this relic was locked away for so long without us learning anything from it. Was Starswirl such a genius that even with literal centuries to study his work we could not glean the smallest secret?'

Moon Dancer came to a stop before the mirror and gingerly reached out with her magical senses and felt the energies of the mirror. She could feels the energies surge within the mirror like a flowing river and could already feel the sheer complexity of the relic without even properly viewing its internal workings.

'Emerald said the mirror becomes active once in a while and stays such for a short period of time,' Moon Dancer thought and then frowned. 'Drat, what was the time for activity again? Hmm... Emerald came back a little over a week ago... darn it, I can't remember the activation times.'

Moon Dancer walked closer to the front of the mirror and gingerly reached for the surface. When her hoof touched the surface, instead of impacting something solid there was a flash of light and her hoof sunk in. She pulled back her leg, and upon seeing nothing wrong, she stuck more of her leg into the mirror. She spent a few minutes doing this constantly before biting the bullet and sticking her head into the mirror. An instant later, she was met with the sight of a dark staircase barely illuminated by a door at the top.

'Fascinating,' Moon Dancer thought as she pulled her head back out. 'As much as I'd wish to take advantage of the mirror being active again, I'd best be careful. Emerald told me her world is rather dangerous. I'll talk to Emerald about this later. For now, let's get some basic tests out of the way.'

With that thought, Moon Dancer put a blank page on her notepad and started putting the magical mirror through a battery of tests.

EPSILON

Emerald walked down a hall flanked by Belvedere, Tavish, Bluno and Fenrir.

The virus was taking her cabinet of advisers with her to an important meeting with the independent packs. There have been talks on and off, but they were purely business, setting up food caravans to various packs. This one wasn't so mundane. Practically every influential Alpha from the independent packs were here right now to meet with her to discuss the future.

It wasn't long before Emerald and the others arrived at their destination: a large, well furnished and lit room. Dominating the center of the room was a fairly large, ovoid table. It wasn't a solid oval as the center was empty and actually had a decorative fountain there, softly trickling. Sitting around this table were a dozen Diamond Dog Alphas of various breeds, two of them recognizable faces. Fasha and the lazy Alpha whose name Emerald had found out some time ago, Balou.

“Welcome to the Enclave, everyone,” Emerald greeted as she took a seat at the head of the table, her cabinet taking up seats nearest to her. “Sorry to keep you waiting, I had some last minute business to finish.”

“It's not a problem, quite alright,” waved off a shar pei Alpha wearing rich, silken clothes and a pair of spectacles. He patted his noticeable belly before adding. “I for one do not mind waiting upon our very generous patron.”

“Neither do I!” added a Pug Alpha that was quite possibly even smaller then Tavish was, before said dog had his augments. “Perhaps we can also discuss the possibility of-”

“ENOUGH OF YOUR FAWNING!” Fasha barked out, slamming her fist against the table top. “We are here for a PURPOSE!”

“And what is this purpose, exactly?” Belvedere asked calmly, hands folded on the table before him as the pug recoiled a bit and the shar pei Alpha adjusted his collar a tad nervously. “Have your food shipments been light?”

“Clearly not light enough,” Balou replied with a yawn and a pointed glance towards the larger Alphas at the table. “No, but we are here to discuss some issues that particular deal is causing.”

“Oh?” Belvedere tilted his head curiously.

“Oh I think I know what this is...” Tavish muttered.

“If your thoughts are about how some towns are becoming dangerously close to being ghost towns,” Balou said as he rested his head on his hands. “Then your guess is correct.”

“The deal is bleeding us dry of young blood,” spoke a golden retriever wearing goggles on his head and a tough leather vest.

“You are aware that banning free movement and immigration would have a very negative reaction?” Fenrir pointed out. “I recall a few indiscretions in my youth that were done purely in spite of rules I thought unfair.”

“We are fully aware that simply barring movement to the Enclave would only make things worse,” Fasha grumbled. “So we've gone with the next best solution. Remove the reason why they've been coming here in the first place.”

Belvedere took a moment to think. Food wasn't really the main reason why the young dogs were moving because they had access to it in the Independent Packs thanks to shipments. It was actually the large amount of conveniences, heating, plumbing, housing and all of it freely offered. It was utterly foolish to think the Enclave could be convinced to do away with these conveniences so...

“You mean to place yourself under our authority?” Belvedere said and got serious nods from around the table.

“Yes, but with requirements,” Balou answered. “We wish for our infrastructure to be brought up to the Enclave's standards upon our integration. We've also noticed the train networks you have running at all times. We are very interested to know if something can be set up for getting around the many towns in our influence.”

“We do not have near close to the amount of workers needed to start a project of this scale,” Bluno said with a frown. “Let alone finishing it anytime soon. But if you are going to place yourself under our authority, then... we can set up a large training compound to train dogs from your packs so you can do the work yourselves. It'll slow the initial start up of the project by a bit, but things will speed up a ton with each successive wave of workers finishing their training.”

“We need to discuss this in detail a bit more...” Fasha said and looked around the table to a lot of nods. “But I think we can agree with the idea in general. The next issue we have to discuss is in regards to our integration. The Enclave NEEDS a currency.”

“There will be issues with that,” Belvedere said immediately. “Basic necessities as well as living spaces are given freely to all those living in the Enclave. I think I speak for everyone in the city when I say the idea of them suddenly needing to be paid for is not appealing in the least.”

“There is no need for that,” the shar pei Alpha waved off. “I think we can get away with attaching a price tag to things like more spacious living spaces and luxuries. But a good many influential people among the packs simply REFUSE the idea of integration unless some sort of currency is finally in place in the Enclave.”

“Well, Emerald? Final decision lies with you,” Belvedere stated as he and the other three Enclave Alphas turned to her. “What do you think?”

“I think this integration needs several more meetings to iron out the details a bit more,” Emerald answered. “But I agree with the idea and am willing to put the work and effort in to make it work.”

“We can start on that right now if it's convenient for you,” Balou suggested. “We expected to remain here for the better part of the month for these talks and set aside the appropriate time.”

“Hm... I've only got the spare time for more of this later this evening,” Emerald replied. “My schedule is rather busy lately. So let's take a bit of a recess, shall we? By all means, make yourselves at home while you wait for us to meet again. There are plenty of places to eat if you are hungry.”

“I'd like to know where we are going to be staying for our time here,” Balou said as his fellows started to stand up. “If we aren't going to be continuing the meeting right away, I'd like to get some sleep in.”

“I'll have someone show you to your quarters,” Belvedere said as he and the others got up as well.

ZETA

In the town of Ponyville, in a rather run-of-the-mill cottage, Zecora sat meditating in the center of her living room.

It was quite surprising how different the interior of Zecora's home in Ponyville looked on the inside compared to its exterior. On the outside it was a homely cottage like every other home in Ponyville, but the inside was filled with strange masks and the walls were lined with shelves and cupboards that were utterly filled with corked bottles of every shape and size. The kitchen had its center dominated by a large cauldron and even had the floor modified to hold a fairly large fire pit under said cauldron.

In the living room Zecora meditated, surrounded by small bottles containing a potion that bubbled freely without flame and sent up visible, acid green fumes.

For the longest while the zebra simply sat in the center of her living room utterly unmoving, seemingly as lifeless as a statue. Suddenly she breathed in sharply and her eyes snapped open, glowing green spheres of light. In her mind, slitted eyes glittered with amusement and manic laughter echoed. Then the moment passed and the light faded from her eyes.

“...A vison, perhaps now is time to make a decis... no,” Zecora began in her usual rhyme before stopping and giving a shuddering breath. “I can no longer keep up with this self exile or the rhythm.”

Zecora stood up abruptly, so much so she tipped over one of the potions, sending the contents along the floor. She ignored it and made for her room. Once she arrived in her bedroom, she pulled a box from under her bed and opened it, placing the contents upon the bed itself.

Upon the bed were spread several rather expansive, luxurious pieces of clothing and gold bangles with artistic engravings, dotted with glittering gems. A look of misery covered Zecora's face as she took in the sight.

'I must return,' Zecora thought determinedly. 'I cannot sit here in Equestria and lett my failures dominate my future. I must help my people.'

'Release them... from this Nightmare.'

-TBC-

Author's Note

AN: And so begins the fifth book! A lot of excitement planned for this book, even in comparison to the climax of the third. This is where a lot of major plot that have been stewing for quite a while get their resolution.

Also I know some people will be disappointed by the lack of Navi, don't worry she'll get more scenes soon enough.

EN: And so we reach the Mass Effect stages of growth for the Enclave. First the Rachni Queen (Even though Legionary has assured me that it was never intentional to make a creature that referenced said Queen, and in truth only slightly resembles it), then the “coilguns” which are basically Mass Effect guns launching anti-tank ammunition instead of grains of sand. So much to discuss in this chapter, but not enough time to.

Chapter 6: Mother is God

The vast, seemingly endless desert of The End remained as empty and untouched as ever. Even with the absence of its creator, it would likely take untold centuries for life to even begin to return to this place. The desert remained unnaturally silent and still, so silent one could hear their own heart beat... then a zipper suddenly appeared in midair.

The zipper opened up to reveal a vast void which Discord emerged from. As the zipper closed behind him, the Spirit of Chaos took in his surroundings.

'This horrid wasteland never ceases to remind me why I never visit,' Discord thought with a shake of his head. 'I wouldn't have even come if I hadn't gotten an invitation of all things from The End.'

It wasn't too long ago that the Spirit of Chaos had sensed The End approaching him. It was kind of hard not to if one had any kind of ability to sense the local Spiritual Realm. For eons the Spiritual Realm had been a quiet and uneventful place, but it wasn't a void. The End's approach within the Spiritual Realm was like feeling a vast well of energy suddenly sprouting a moving, empty sphere a hundred miles in diameter within it.

Considering that The End hadn't moved from his spot for the entirety of Discord's own eons long life, the Spirit of Chaos hadn't known what to expect. An invitation to the equivalent of a friendly get together was the last thing he expected.

Of course, getting an invitation and no explanation whatsoever... that he expected of The End.

'I could have just ignored it,' Discord thought as he lazily floated in midair. 'But I'm honestly interested in what makes a Primordial Spirit who contentedly stays in one place for eons decide to have a get together. Hopefully I'm not the only guest here.'

Discord looked around but it appeared he was early, though he hadn't exactly been given a time to arrive at. Not willing to chance missing the meeting, Discord just settled in to wait. Though he gave the impression of being very much alike the average mortal in behavior, that was just learned conduct over eons of interaction with mortals. Discord was still very much an ageless spirit, a Primordial purely in respect to the power he had the instant he was born. He was fully capable of sitting in one place and letting time pass him by; it went against his nature as a Spirit of Chaos and thus he disliked doing so, but he was capable and would do so right now.

And so Discord laid back in a nonexistent hammock and waited.

In a place like the desert of The End it was hard to keep track of time. Even if one had a watch, it was all but certain it would have simply stopped working. So, as Discord waited, he didn't bother to keep specific track of every passing moment, therefore he didn't know just how much time was passing. It could have been months, weeks, days, hours or even mere minutes. Eventually, however, he felt the rapid approach of several incredibly powerful presences in the Spiritual Plane, one of which shocked him completely and utterly into stillness.

The first Primordial arrived, its form coalescing into the physical plane. A black and dark red shadowy spot formed suddenly on the ground. A shape shot out of it and took the form of a very long torso, a vague shape of a bare top of a male human. It had two pairs of arms, both sprouting from the same shoulder sockets but splitting away and reaching forwards and backwards and ending in hands with four fingers and two thumbs. The head was human shaped but its facial features most definitely were not; namely the fact it had two faces that seemed to be shoving each other as the front of the head clearly only had room for one face. Suddenly, with a horrifying flesh tearing noise, the body near completely split in two down the middle, fleshy webbing connecting the split ends and the faces much more content now that they technically had a head each.

This Primordial was The Divide, Spirit of Conflict, of War, of Competition.

The second Primordial to arrive did so in a cloud of dust and ash that appeared from nothing and rapidly combined together to form the body. It was a small thing, hunched over and withered looking. Its skin was like that of an extremely thin piece of hide drawn tightly across a drum. It had four limbs, four arms like The Divide but instead of two pairs sharing shoulder sockets it was a pair in the expected spot and another pair where the arms should have been. The skin on the limbs grew tighter and tighter with less flesh underneath until it gave way to torn shreds halfway down, the rest of the limb being nothing but yellowed bone and bright red, irritated tendon. It had no neck, just a near featureless face with empty sockets that seemed to sink forever. It had a mouth like that of a toothless leech that could expand to such a size that should have simply torn its whole body asunder. Instead, it let it swallow whole anything it could force into it with its clawed bone hands.

This was The Fade, Primordial Spirit of Starvation, Desiccation and Lack.

The third Primordial to arrive did so from below. A patch of powdery ground that made up the desert of The End suddenly bulged up before the powder exploded out in a vast, obscuring cloud. When the cloud settled back down it revealed a vast, bloated form. It had the body of a great, fat, pulsating larva, its great and many rolls constantly shifted and moved on its form and it seemed to be perspiring great amounts of a sweetly odored liquid that oozed and glinted. It moved by dragging itself along by great, suckerless tentacles along its bottom that slapped at the ground and sent its constantly excreted ooze flying. It lay there like a great disgusting slug for a long moment before its tendrils pushed the “front” half of its body off the ground and curled it in on itself. Its body split open and the strangely empty skin took to the air. Suddenly it flipped over and revealed a pale white, locust-like creature with a bulging abdomen, startlingly beautiful vast wings made out of the split flesh and tendrils serving as great streamers that instantly slimmed down, sprouting off of the wing edges. Even now it continued to glint and drip with the sweetly smelling ooze.

This was The Surge, Primordial Spirit of Plenty, Overabundance, Life and Gluttony.

The fourth Primordial to arrive did so from a single mote of blue light. A small blue fairy light had appeared in mid air and from it burst forth a whole body. It was much like Discord's body - long, serpentine, winged and horned. But unlike Discord, this body had parts that all naturally fit together instead of being a mishmash of parts from various species. Blue scales that glittered like polished sapphires, white gold claws and horns, a pair of gray eyes and a pair of wings with snow white membranes.

This was The Order, Primordial Spirit of Obedience, Civilization, Certainty, Unity, basically everything Discord wasn't. She was also his sister.

As Discord openly gaped at his sister, The End made his own entrance. There wasn't anything fancy about it, he was just suddenly there. The End simply stood in place and the Primordials formed a circle save for Discord who was still staring at his sister. Order didn't seem to want to give Discord even an instant of her time, keeping her gaze on The End but the others were staring at Discord. After another moment the Spirit of Chaos took a deep breath and joined the circle.

“No Harmony? Good riddance!” the left half of the Divide spoke first, his other half adding a comment but the left sounded disappointed and sad. “It's been so long since I've spoken to my better half. I cherish each day she remains unseen and unheard.”

“No Fate, no Fate, ALL FADES...” The Fade chittered before jamming one of his bony hands into his mouth and grinding his teeth on it.

“Fate, astoundingly snooty for one who guides all destinies,” The Surge tutted, twirling in place and sending droplets flying. “Chances of her being absent were overwhelming.”

“I for one am not surprised The End had not bothered to retrieve The Fury,” Order stated, crossing her arms. “His sealing is deep and powerful and his behavior is frustrating. It was all but certain he would be passed by. My thanks for not doing the same for me and my own sealing.”

“...” The End simply shrugged and shuffled its feet.

“Now now End, you went through all this effort to gather us. Be a good chum and speak up!” The Surge encouraged, floating over and patting one of its vast wings against The End's back.

“Yes, speak. No, be silent! ” The Divide's two halves added. “You should have let us be, there was so much wondrous conflict on the verge of igniting! I'm glad to have been invited. It has been so long since the majority of us gathered together.”

“...It is the time of endings,” The End spoke eventually, its voice an exhausted drone. “Of truths once thought absolute... of realities steady and unchanging... of a future once certain now ended... it is our fate to be irrelevant.”

With that, The End sat down and bowed its head. There was a long moment of silence as the others simply stared at The End and then disappeared one by one. The Fade simply skittered into the distance before diving into the powder. The Surge gave a delighted chortle before wrapping itself in its wings and shrinking away into nothingness. The Divide gave an interested hum while the other half gave a disgusted snort before they snapped back together and sunk into the ground.

“Meeting adjourned, then,” The Order stated simply before finally turning her head to Discord and the Spirit of Chaos was instantly struck by how utterly filled with rage her eyes were. “Now... brother dearest. I've been looking forward to meeting you again for exactly one hundred and eight thousand, seven hundred and sixty nine years, six months, four days, and thirty eight seconds.”

The Order released a scream of fury and hate so loud a cloud of dust was kicked up for dozens of miles around. She leapt at Discord with her hands outstretched for his neck. Discord, having been in a situation much like this right after his own unsealing, reacted quickly and teleported away but with his sister hot on his heels.

The End remained sitting, one arm wrapped around his legs and one hand making circles in the sand.

ALPHA

Emerald sighed as she leaned back in her chair, rubbing at her temples in an attempt to soothe a headache that was purely psychological.

It had been a solid week since the fiasco at the Channeler Monastery. Currently Emerald was sitting in her office in the Hub. The aftermath of viewing the Tapestry of Fate had been very eventful to say the least. While the Grand Masters of the Order had been understanding, they were still in horrible shock after the sudden loss of their Old Masters. Knowledge from all parts of their long and storied history had been annihilated in a moment. Then was the political fallout from the Republic. For the most part the senators and bureaucrats of the Republic took the Channelers at face value when they said Emerald wasn't at fault. The rest, however...

'Having burning memories in my mind was bad enough.Then I had to focus and deal with accusations of assassination and sabotage straight after,' Emerald thought with an irritated huff. 'Thankfully it wasn't a very large movement. I just had to be calm and play it honestly.The system worked without needing to be greased and for that I am thankful. Course, there was the fact that there were more than a few people in the League willing to leap at the worst possible explanation for what happened...'

While Emerald knew her reputation was a bit divisive, she didn't think it was so much so that people were willing to latch onto the first bit of bad press to use against her. Turns out that was very much the case. There was a noticeable group made up almost entirely of herbivores that had taken the story of her assassinating the Old Masters and running with it. Of course with the Channelers backing Emerald and stating what the truth was, this group didn't get anywhere. Still, Emerald made note of this event all the same.

'I wish things just calmed down for more than a single god damn day,' Emerald thought with a frown as she stared down at some reports. 'Security spiked around points of interests all over Zebrica and no official of importance is without a twenty four hour guard. I was hoping things would go smoothly and we'd manage a clean blow, but I guess that was too much to be wishing for. Still, it's not the end of the world.It's not like one of the neochangling was captured, or the Zebricans knew who was messing with them.'

Emerald looked up at the clock on the wall and noticed the time. With another sigh at being so busy, the virus stood up and was about to teleport when she shook her head and decided to simply walk today. As she left her personal office, the virus couldn't help but think on the situation in Zebrica further. She knew the neochanglings and the diamond dogs involved in the mission were all very competent and well trained, but... some part of her couldn't help but loudly think how she likely could have done it without getting caught.

'No. I shouldn't get caught up in that kind of thinking,' Emerald thought to herself with a frown as she exited the building holding her office. 'The whole point of getting other people to do things for me is so I don't have to do everything myself. I can't just attempt to go back to the old way of doing things just because the people I have working for me aren't doing things exactly the way I'd do them.'

Soon the virus was walking through the streets of the Enclave. 'New Town', the new section of the city that had been under construction for so long, was finally fully finished and had people moving into its many tall, beautifully crafted stone buildings. Suiting its title, this place had almost an entirely immigrant population with the majority of the original population in the more rugged looking 'Old Town'. Emerald honestly preferred New Town to Old Town. All the dogs here treated her with respect worthy of royalty which was its own barrel of irritation, but it was a far cry to the religious deference the dogs in Old Town were getting up to. Combined with the stress of the politics and the devolving situation in Zebrica, Emerald actively started telling them to quit it instead of trying to ignore it.

'I really shouldn't be taking it out on them,' Emerald thought as she gave a small nod to a group of dogs shouting greetings as she passed by. 'But god damn if this situation isn't making me feel anxiously helpless. The urge to charge right in is eating away at me. I just want to get this whole thing over with so I can work on my own stuff, but I can't do that. I have no idea what I'm dealing with and the mindset that overwhelming power will cover for everything is just plain flawed.'

Eventually Emerald arrived at the train station of the Hub. Since the Hub wasn't supposed to be allowing foreign dignitaries in, it was a very utilitarian and industrial looking platform, a bit of a far cry from the luxurious looking train platform located in the Everfree Embassy. However, sometimes exceptions can be made...

“Queen Bon Bon,” Emerald greeted with a nod of her head. “Welcome to the Hub. You are the very first foreign political figure to be allowed here.”

“Thank you for allowing this, Emerald Gleaner,” Bon Bon stated formally, dressed very royally with two female changeling attendants at her side. “I am very grateful for your generosity in this matter.”

“It's... no problem.” Emerald frowned and couldn't help a nervous shuffle of her feet. With a quick breath, she looked determinedly into Bon Bon's eyes. “We have history together. Some good... some very, very bad. I know this is probably asking too much too soon, but... if you'd allow it, I'd like to go about this a touch more... casually.”

“It would be my pleasure, Emerald.” Bon Bon smiled earnestly, to Emerald's immense relief.

“Thank you, Bon Bon,” Emerald said with a smile, releasing a held breath. “Come on. We'll talk a bit as we head there.”

“Of course,” Bon Bon said and began to walk just beside Emerald, her two attendants falling back a bit. “I've been hearing quite a bit about you.”

“Oh... hopefully some of that is good,” Emerald said with a somewhat irritated sigh.

“You're being a bit too hard on yourself, Emerald,” Bon Bon assured. “Your hospital is healing ponies who had no hope of recovery and returning life to the tragically dead. Families from across the known world owe the lives of their loved ones to you. I admit not all the things I've heard have been nice, but so many can only speak accolades of you.”

“You really did take my advice to see Celestia, didn't you,” Emerald said with a tilt of her head and wry smile.

“Is it really that noticeable of an improvement?” Bon Bon asked innocently.

“You'll make a great queen, Bon Bon.” Emerald smiled and at that Bon Bon began to gush about the personal lessons she had been getting from Princess Celestia.

'Look at her...' Emerald thought with no little amount of wonderment as Bon Bon happily chatted away. 'Speaking so casually and easily with the person who killed so many of her people; people that she cared so much for. The kind of fortitude she must have, it's simply beyond incredible.'

Emerald couldn't help but be impressed, especially when she had herself to compare Bon Bon to. Emerald was so willing to kill. The very moment she could justify someone's death it would happen almost assuredly without hesitation. It wasn't an uncommon occurrence in the past where people had gotten really angry with her over her willingness to kill. The whole not killing as Batman and not killing Sophie could be argued as proof she was improving, but those had their reasons; she liked the idea of Batman and it was plain heresy to kill as him. And Sophie... she knew leaving her alive was the opposite of mercy. Often she had to be convinced or forced into acts of great kindness and generosity. Twilight had to talk her into healing Sunset Shimmer without strings attached. She had to be backed into a corner politically to open the free hospital. She didn't realize the depths of her flaws until the moment she had detonated a nuke just to test it out.

'…This is getting depressing real fast,' Emerald thought, taking a quick breath. 'Let's focus.We're almost at our location.'

Emerald and Bon Bon arrived before one of the towers in New Town, specifically the one that would house the growing hive of the neochangelings. Entering the structure revealed a near barren, dimly lit lobby with red carpets covering the floor. They followed the carpets leading down dim halls and dark side paths. It was a rather large structure but, with most of the neochangelings out on missions and the newborns only having reached larval stage, very little of it was inhabited. Still though, with the new Queen Ambrosia steadily laying eggs it would eventually be bustling with activity.

Eventually Emerald, Bon Bon and her two attendants arrived before a large pair of double doors. Emerald opened the door and was greeted by the sight of Ambrosia's massive form sitting atop a mass of pillows and blankets. Ambrosia had two neochangelings personally attending to her; she may have been in constant contact with the rest of her hive via the altered feed but a physical presence was still comforting. Along with the attendants there were also half a dozen eggs sitting in the corner with their own cushions and nearly two dozens larvae nestled against the mass of Ambrosia. The virus wasn't surprised when she saw Bon Bon freeze and her two attendants gasp audibly. The neochanglings were just so different from changelings. Changelings were fairly insectoid but the next generation as well as the queen of the neochangelings were definitely accentuating that.

'I saw what larval changelings looked like in Chrysalis' memories,' Emerald thought. 'Honestly, they seemed more like small changelings in tiny sleeping bags than actual larvae. Neochangling larvae, however, definitely look the part... they are kinda gross, actually.'

Pulsating slabs of pale, wrinkly flesh that didn't have any facial features whatsoever or even limbs of any kind; they definitely weren't a pleasant sight. Normally larvae had some kind of little grasping, pincer-like limbs to hold onto the ground as they wiggled around. These larvae did not. It made sense, since neochangelings drew sustenance from emotions which could be fed to them via a magical network. Thus they had little need for things like a mouth, eyes or even limbs in this stage of their life.

“Goodness me, they are quite the sight aren't they?” Bon Bon said quietly after regaining composure.

“Definitely clearly different now.” Emerald nodded before giving an encouraging nod to Bon Bon.

Bon Bon took in a breath before stepping forward towards the awaiting form of the neochangling queen.

“Greetings,” Bon Bon greeted with a short, respectful bow of her head and opened her mouth to speak more.

“You are the new Queen of the Changelings,” Ambrosia's voice spoke into Bon Bon's mind, also allowing Emerald to listen in. “We have remained aware of events regarding our former people.”

“Yes... I wish the same could be said of us,” Bon Bon said regretfully. “I heard of how we had treated you after you transformed into what you are now.”

“You were an infiltrator on permanent assignment,” Ambrosia stated simply. “You were not the queen. You had no authority. You could not have done anything.”

“I could have offered an honest smile and a kind word,” Bon Bon retorted defiantly with a determined stare. “It may not sound like much, but in my experience sometimes that's all you really need.”

“If the intent is to 'win us back over’...” Ambrosia began.

“It isn't.” Bon Bon shook her head. “This is your new home now, but... are we not still family? Don't we have the same mother? Shouldn't siblings try to remain in touch with one another and be kind to each other?”

“...We had a few friends who, even after everything, we can not help but wonder about,” Ambrosia admitted. “It would be nice to see if it were possible to get back in touch...”

Emerald smiled and nodded towards Ambrosia before turning on the spot and teleporting away. The only real thing she had been concerned about was the two of them getting along. She should have had more faith in the social butterfly that was Bon Bon to overcome past history. Assured that things would be alright, she decided to leave and take the opportunity to inspect her facilities.

An instant later found the virus appearing in the skies over the borders of Equestria and the Everfree, specifically where her international hospital had been built. It was a large brick structure with the typical red cross on the front and a large lot up front decorated with gardens and flower beds. Filling this lot was a massive, diverse crowd of beings. Peoples of all kinds were gathered here to use the free hospital to heal themselves of disability and illness as well as revive their recently tragically dead friends and family.

Seeing families from all across the world tearfully and joyfully embracing healed or revived loved ones boosted Emerald's self esteem quite a bit. It's one thing to have someone tell you, you are doing good. But to see the good consequences of your actions? Somehow it did lighten Emerald's guilty heart, made her feel like maybe someday she could truly put her past behind her.

'Well who do we have here?' Emerald thought as she noticed a familiar rainbow mane. 'What's she up to?'

Emerald dove down towards the roof of the hospital and slowed her descent before softly landing. She walked over to the edge of the roof, where lining the edge was a small, waist high barrier wall. Rainbow Dash was here, resting her head on her crossed over forelegs which were atop the barrier wall, calmly and silently watching the crowds of people coming and going.

“Dash?” Emerald said as she walked over to stand beside the pegasus. Rainbow Dash didn't answer, however. She simply continued staring. Deciding that Rainbow Dash would answer when she wanted to, Emerald dropped down onto a knee and joined her in watching the crowds.

It was nearly half an hour later that Rainbow Dash finally said something.

“How does your eating work?” the pegasus asked suddenly.

“Huh?” Emerald raised her brow questioningly.

“When you eat someone... how does it work?” Rainbow Dash clarified calmly, still staring down at the crowds below.

“Weeeeeell...” Emerald began somewhat hesitantly. “When I eat a part of someone, like say some hair, I simply sample their DNA and if it's something useful or genuinely better then what I already have, I amplify it greatly. If I consume someone whole, however, brain and all... I get their complete memories as well, although I make sure to cordon off said memories. Because when I experience someone else's memories, they aren't a show for me to watch. I actually experience them from their point of view, emotions and all. So if I just absorbed every memory I have at my disposal, I'd very, very quickly start to become an entirely different person.”

“Hrrm...” Rainbow grunted and continued to stare down for a long moment before finally turning her head and looking into Emerald's eyes with an unreadable look. “You can bring people back from the dead in this place... I want you to bring back Gilda.”

“Wha- but she's long dead. The machines in this hospital need a fresh-” Emerald started with wide eyes.

“I don't care. You have all her memories.” Rainbow shook her head firmly. “Just make a new body and put those memories in there. You gotta do this, Emerald.”

“Dash, where in the world is this coming from?” Emerald asked with a frown and furrowed brows.

“Just thinking about everything that's happened since we met,” Rainbow Dash said softly, eyes staring up at the sky. “Horrible to admit, but the people you killed before we met don't really mean anything to me. I mean it's horrible and all, but... it's just hard to really feel something about that. But after you got here... and you killed a few people, hurt a lot more. I... I...”

Rainbow Dash suddenly started to tear up a little, and she quickly brought her hooves up to roughly wipe away the moisture before they could properly form into tears. “You know me. I take a lot of pride in being a loyal friend. It's what I am! The Element of Loyalty... I mean I know I betrayed you... but you betrayed me back so we gotta be even, right? Not like we didn't make up, either... heh, I'm rambling like Twilight does.”

Emerald stayed silent and simply listened to Rainbow Dash. It wasn't often the pegasus exposed her vulnerable side like this so the virus wasn't going to risk doing or saying something until she had to.

“I guess I understand a bit how Twilight feels now.” Rainbow Dash shrugged. “Everything you've done. By just... living with it, she has to share the guilt, too. I mean... Gilda, we kinda stopped being friends before you killed her, but... you killed my friend, Emerald. And every day I don't say anything about it... I just... it hurts, Emerald. It hurts so much! Please just do this one thing for me! I mean I've never asked a fav-”

Emerald raised her head and Rainbow Dash quieted instantly. “Wait here. I'll be right back.”

With that, Emerald teleported away.

The virus arrived in the clouds above with a flash of red light. She pursed her lips into a thin line and took a few moments to think about her next course of action. Her eyes scanned over the world below before they landed upon a certain area in the Everfree.

An instant later, Emerald arrived in a clearing.

'The more things change, the more they stay the same,' Emerald thought as she took in her surroundings. 'The plant life has regrown somewhat, but this place is still recognizable.'

Over three years later, Emerald was finally back in the very area she had killed Gilda, and then later her father and his knights. The grass had definitely long since grown back, but beyond that there were only tiny shrubs and a few saplings darted here and there. The virus then began to wander the area. She wandered until her foot impacted something with a 'tink' noise.

'This metal has been warped by heat,' Emerald thought after crouching down and picking the metal up. It was a spike shaped piece of bronze plated steel. 'This must have been a sword that was partly melted by Prince Bergren's suicide attack.'

Emerald dropped the piece of metal and slowly started to make her way towards the somewhat crumbled shape of the cavern she had killed Gilda in. She took her steps slowly and scanned her eyes over the ground. Eventually something else caught her eye and she bent down to pick it up.

'An old, broken bone, long since picked clean,' Emerald thought as she examined half a femur in her hands. 'I can bring Gilda back. I could even bring back a few of the knights I killed... a few. I can't bring back Bergren. I can't bring back the vast majority of the knights who followed him. There is no undoing what happened here.'

Emerald dropped the bone unceremoniously and stood back up. She continued towards the cavern but once again came to a stop before she reached it. She bent down again and brushed at the ground, exposing a broken, years old charred piece of palisade. Turning her head left and right, she could make out the line of logs that were planted into the ground.

'And the little fort they made their final stand in,' Emerald thought as she stood back up. 'Ready to face down the monster that killed one of their own without hesitation. None of them ran away, none of them showed fear... they just kept fighting until there were none left.'

With that, Emerald stood up again and finally entered the cavern.

The interior of the cavern was still filled with the somewhat rough furnishings the knights had built out of local wood. Time, however, had taken its toll. Most of the furnishings had fallen apart due to part of them slowly rotting away. Scattered across the floor were shreds of paper, the remains of the many maps and documents the knights had made during their hunt of her. Most were rotted beyond any kind of recognizable info, but a few things were visible on some.

'Ponyville...' Emerald thought as she picked up a rotted piece of paper, a portion of the map it had on its surface still legible. 'They had been so very prepared to hunt me down, to flush me out and seek vengeance for the murder of a young girl. Will that same girl do the same? The smart thing to do would be to just continue living with the consequences of my actions... hope that Dash can forgive me for not following through... the smart thing to do way back then would have been to just murder Twilight then and there, too, and look how that would have ended up...'

Emerald threw the paper into the air where it danced for a few moments before slowly beginning to drift down. Before it could get anywhere near the floor, both it and everything else that had been built or brought by the knights were annihilated in a flash of light. In one single instant, Emerald had restored the cave to how it was all those years ago, right down to the flickering campfire Gilda had made herself.

The virus walked over and sat down at the fire and stared into its flames for a long moment before looking over to her side. Reaching a hand out to the empty spot Gilda had occupied years ago, tendrils left her palm and rapidly branched out and started filling space. Emerald had quite a bit of experience in building lifeforms. Building something she essentially had a complete blueprint for was incredibly easy and was done within moments. The harder part was placing the required memories.

'I hardly want her to recall having her neck snapped,' Emerald thought as she scanned the newly created clone's neural pathways. 'I'll leave off the memories to just a minute before, let her think she randomly fell asleep.'

With that Emerald withdrew her hand and stood up. She looked over the fully grown, slumbering form of the Gilda clone before nodding and quietly walking out of the cavern. Once outside again, she took in the slowly recovering area surrounding the cavern. Recalling the perfect memories of the very first time she had been here, Emerald reached out with her power and set about restoring the area.

Remains of the battle with the knights and rangers were completely cleaned out or burned away. Chopped down trees were regrown and all signs of the little fort the knights had created were erased. Within just a few minutes it was as if the clock had been turned back to several years ago.

Emerald took one last look around to ensure her work was correct before throwing one last conflicted look over her shoulder at the cavern. Then, with a flash of light, she was gone.

An instant later Emerald was back on the roof of the hospital where she had left Rainbow Dash. Said pegasus was still there staring down at the crowds. Emerald joined her at the ledge and the two continued their staring in silence for a long while.

“Did ya do it?” Rainbow Dash asked finally, voice barely louder than a whisper.

“Yes.” Emerald nodded. “...Do you want me to tell you where she is?”

“What all does she know?” Dash looked at Emerald with wide eyes.

“From her point of view, she just recently stopped being friends with you,” Emerald answered.

“It's been three years, though...” Dash frowned as she looked back down.

“She'll be in for some very confusing times when she gets back to the Principalities,” Emerald agreed with a grim look. “And no little amount of heartbreak, too.”

“... I'm not ready to see her again.” Rainbow gave a shaky sigh, folded her forelegs over one another on the ledge and rested her head atop them. “All this trouble I went through to get you to bring her back and I can't even go see her... big, dumb, cowardly hypocrite...”

“I guess that makes the both of us,” Emerald said and wrapped an arm around Dash's shoulders. “...So how is the Academy nowadays? Your friend Lightning Dust doing okay?”

“Spitfire’s been flying us ragged to make up for failing weather schedules, but me and Dust can handle whatever she throws at us...”

BETA

In the realm of dreams, Luna continued her nightly work of watching over her people's wellbeing.

It was work as usual for the Princess of the Night and it was even a bit light tonight as only a few dreams required her to give a helping push. However, putting the dreams of her ponies aside, Luna did feel something was off with her nightly work in the past few weeks. Barring the moments she openly spent with dreaming ponies and Emerald, this place was one of solitude and peace for her and yet...

'Why is it that I feel as if I am being spied upon?' Luna thought with a frown as even now the feeling persisted. 'That cannot truly be the case, can it? Only Emerald and I can freely access this realm and never before have I felt like this, but...'

Suddenly Luna's thoughts were interrupted by the feeling of a presence suddenly entering the dream realm; one she knew very well. A few moments later, Emerald's pony form faded into view and she approached Luna with a smile.

“Hey there, teacher. It's been too long.” Emerald smiled. While the relationship between her and Luna wasn't as close as the one between Twilight and Celestia, she was very fond of the alicorn. She genuinely missed having their lessons together, even the purely therapeutic ones.

“My student!” Luna said happily as the feeling of being watched was instantly forgotten. “Tis indeed been too long, but I understand fully why it has been so. Still, it gives me no little amount of joy to see you here.”

“Yeah, being busy with politics all the time isn't the best thing in the world,” Emerald sighed with a frown. “I feel like I'm missing out on much more important things by devoting most of my time to making strangers happy.”

“The curse of politicians everywhere, I'm afraid.” Luna shook her head. “It had taken a great amount of time for my sister and I to get used to it. Fear not, my student. I am certain you can do the same and manage to maintain a meaningful life at home.”

“I kind of don't want to get used to it, though,” Emerald huffed before shaking her head and smiling at Luna. “So what are you up to, today? The typical dream watching?”

“Yes indeed, though it is quite the quiet night so far,” Luna replied.

“Everyone seems to want excitement without realizing excitement doesn't necessarily cause excitement,” Emerald stated as she walked over to stand beside Luna. “The whole fight with my alternate was definitely exciting, but it was nothing but pure stress for me.”

Emerald turned her attentions to the drifting dream bubbles and couldn't help but smirk at the fairly wholesome scenes within. It was only after many dream sessions with Luna and her unexpected adventure back to Earth that Emerald realized that, yes, ponies did in fact get wet dreams. They were hardly wet dreams compared to the absolutely R-rated nature of the ones humans got, as they consisted purely of cuddling and just being sickeningly sweet sweethearts. Still though, for ponies it was fairly explicit.

'Speaking of explicit, I wonder if the “weird” poses I was getting famed for back when I was a model are still in use,' Emerald thought with a small chuckle. 'I should see about getting one of Photo Finish's magazines.Maybe I'll get lucky and see Fleur De Lis on the cover being suggestive without knowing it.'

Emerald had begun to ponder the idea of inviting Photo and Hoity to one of her political parties to make them more bearable when an oily black nightmare bubble drifted into view.

“Time to work, then?” Emerald said to Luna.

“Indeed,” Luna replied and stepped close to glance into the bubble but recoiled with a gasp. “Emerald, come here!”

Quickly trotting over with a frown, Emerald peered into the nightmare to see what Luna thought she needed to see. After taking but a single glance within, Emerald's eyes widened and she reached out to the bubble and entered it without another single wasted moment. An instant later, Emerald found herself appearing in a very familiar steel prison cell.

It was the Blackwatch prison cells that had been in the Blackwatch base on Liberty Island. Twilight was here in her human form in the center of this cell, struggling against black, shadowy forms lashing at her with claws, lightning and water. Emerald reached out with her dream magic and grabbed hold of matrix of the dream, leashing it to her will. With a wave of her hand she obliterated the shadowy forms before quickly darting to Twilight's side.

“Twilight, are you okay?!” Emerald said with intense worry as Luna coalesced into view. “Why didn't you tell me you were having nightmares about this place?”

“I'm okay, Emerald,” Twilight assured with a sigh. “It was only a few min- wait, nightmare?”

Twilight's eyes shot open and she sat up straighter and immediately noticed Luna's presence in the background.

“Yeah. You are currently dreaming, Twilight,” Emerald said as she wrapped the young alicorn up in a hug. “I know I don't have the right to talk, but if something this bad was happening you should have told me. I can dream walk. I could have done something to put an end to this right away.”

“Well, honestly, it wasn't as bad as it could have been. I mean, I was always saved in the end,” Twilight replied and pointed, causing Emerald and Luna to follow the point to see another Emerald standing off to the side with raised brows.

The Dream Emerald stared for a moment before shrugging her shoulders and walking over to sit at Twilight's other side and started holding her as well. Finding herself sandwiched between two Emeralds, Twilight sighed and smiled.

“Have a bit a of a rescue fantasy, huh?” Emerald smiled.

“Not so much as- Ack!” Twilight began but was interrupted by Dream Emerald nuzzling her neck affectionately.

“So a dream construct of myself isn't acting on your subconscious desires?” Emerald asked with a raised brow.

“Okay, fine. I've got a love-hate relationship with this stupid nightmare,” Twilight admitted with a huff. “The first part is so horrible, but then... you arrive and save me.”

“Well well, my hero likes to play the part of the damsel in distress, does she?” Emerald said teasingly and joined her Dream Clone in giving Twilight a loving embrace.

Over to the side, Luna was doing her best to act like she was absurdly fascinated by the plain steel wall to give the two some form of privacy.

“Well... jokes aside... Twilight, this was a pretty horrible time for the both of us,” Emerald said softly. “I don't want to see you just putting up with this just because there is a bright side to it.”

“I know, it's just... you always seem to be holding up so well despite everything,” Twilight replied. “I just didn't want to seem like I couldn't handle a few bad dreams.”

“I think you know very well by now that I don't do that good a job at holding up,” Emerald said, tightening her embrace before letting Twilight go. “Now let's get out of here. I think you would have a very fun time exploring dreams along with Luna and me.”

“I think I'd very much like to take you up on that offer.” Twilight smiled and rose up onto her feet. Emerald stood up as well but frowned a bit when she noticed that Twilight latched onto the Dream Emerald and was leaning against her with a content smile.

“Hey!” Emerald protested melodramatically. “I'm right here!”

“Well she only exists for tonight,” Twilight replied simply as she held onto the smiling dream clone tighter. “Besides, I'm still technically giving you attention.”

“Yeah, technically,” Emerald retorted with a irritated look but her tone of voice held no real heat.

“Ahem. Not to be rude...” Luna broke in. “But might I remind you that while the night does last a fair amount of time here, it does not last forever.”

“Right. Let's get to it, then,” Emerald said and tapped the floor with a foot. Suddenly a section of steel wall peeled away and revealed an extravagant oak door. Unlike Emerald and Luna, Twilight did not know anything about dream walking beyond Luna did it every night and taught it to Emerald. While it was possible to bring along those who could not dream walk into the dreams of others, it was complicated and required much more work than simply popping in and out of dream bubbles. So it was that Emerald created a dream construct for Twilight to use as a bridge into the dreams of others.

“Ready to explore some dreams with us?” Emerald smiled.

“Of course!” Twilight said eagerly and dragged along Emerald's dream clone as she approached the door and threw it open. “I've been interested in seeing what dream walking was like ever since you became Princess Luna's student.”

As Twilight and the dream clone walked through the door, Emerald turned to Luna and mouthed 'thank you' at her. Luna simply gave Emerald a wide smile and the both of them quickly followed after Twilight. Soon after, the door closed and faded away along with the now empty dreamscape.

GAMMA

Navi's giggling filled the air as she played with Sweetie Belle.

Today Emerald was at Rarity's Boutique being fitted for her wedding dress, and because she saw that she was spending little time as it was with Navi, she took the little pegasus Evolved along. Thankfully Sweetie Belle had been around so Navi wouldn't need too much supervision and would be kept distracted. Currently Emerald was standing in place while Rarity fitted her with her wedding dress and was making small adjustments with pins.

“You know, on the rare occasions I imagined myself getting married in the past, I was in a suit, not a dress,” Emerald remarked.

“Emerald dear, a suit simply would not do!” Rarity said in a distinctly appalled fashion, a cushion filled with pins floating in the air near her head. “You are far too beautiful to be wearing anything other than a dress for your special day!”

“Speaking of which, it's a very beautiful dress,” Emerald said as she motioned down at her nearly completed attire.

It was a dress that drew a bit of inspiration from Emerald's own formal dress also made by Rarity. It was practical and not as grandiose as it could have been; it was meant to accentuate Emerald, whom was widely known to be incredibly beautiful. It was mostly white like a proper wedding dress, with golden embroidery and some false armor here and there. It had a feeling much like ceremonial armor which fit her current position as dictator of a highly militarized nation. It was a fairly subtle outfit overall that likely would have had much less of an effect if it wasn't for the fact Emerald was wearing it.

“I can only imagine what Twilight's dress is like,” Emerald said.

“Well keep imaging. These lips will remain sealed and shall tell not a soul ‘til the special day,” Rarity said seriously, to Emerald's amusement. The unicorn then leaned her head in close and continued. “Though I must say, that day is coming a bit closer than I thought it would.”

“Yeah...” Emerald sighed. “Politics at its finest, I'm afraid. We were still planning on a few things and ideas and were coming close to settling on a small private affair for friends and family only when some foreign pressure started flowing in.”

“You're being forced to have your wedding a certain way?!” Rarity gasped, scandalized.

“It's a bit more than that,” Emerald replied, hoof raised in a placating fashion. “The pressure was purely people asking about invitations to the big event and I was all set to simply tell everyone it was going to be a small, private thing, but... well, Twilight got it in her head to help me out a bit and decided we should have our wedding be a huge event like Shining Armor and Cadence's wedding. You know, that way all these officials feel like they’re special by being there personally and maybe give me a bit more leeway with them.”

“Mmm, perhaps that is the reason...” Rarity said hesitantly as she shuffled some pins around in the dress.

“But?” Emerald pressed.

“Well, it's entirely possible that Princess Cadence' redone wedding had an impact on Twilight?” Rarity offered. “I know she doesn't seem the type, but she can definitely appreciate nice clothes. And what little filly doesn't dream of a beautiful wedding in a palace?”

“The kind that spent her whole childhood enjoying learning and reading and had to be taught friendship was a thing?” Emerald replied with a raised brow.

“Well perhaps she really does just want to help you,” Rarity allowed. “But you must admit my idea has some merit.”

“Yeah it does and I've got to admit,” Emerald began. “I like the idea of having some royal level wedding. After all, not everyone gets the chance to have something like this.”

“Oh I know! I'm so excited for you!” Rarity grinned widely before she backed away from Emerald to give her a critical look over. “Hmmmm, I do believe these adjustments will do. Now I- Oof!”

Suddenly a little blue blur rushed at the unicorn and impacted her somewhat solidly. Rarity stumbled and was off balance for a few moments before just managing to regain her footing. She looked down to see Navi hanging off her neck, still wearing her little hat.

“Auntie Rarity! I love you!” Navi announced happily before leaning forward to plant a kiss on the unicorn's cheek. “Mwah~”

“Ooooooh! Auntie loves you too, you adorable little- Mmmh!” Rarity replied happily before interrupting herself and gathering Navi up in a tight hug.

“Heeeee~” Navi giggled happily as Rarity spoiled her with attention.

“Has you eating out of her little hooves, doesn’t she?” Emerald shook her head in amusement. Rarity was definitely going to be Navi's favorite with the ease the little evolved could get a positive response out of the unicorn.

“Is Navi ever going to go to school?” Emerald heard a little voice ask and turned to see Sweetie Belle looking up at her with wondering eyes. “She's been telling me how she gets really bored sometimes waiting for school to let out so she can go play with us. So I was kinda wondering if maybe she can go to school with us?”

“I could have Navi attend, but the issue with that is that Navi learns things as fast as I do,” Emerald replied to the little unicorn. “She would learn everything your teacher has planned for that day within the first few minutes of class. Navi is well behaved, but I doubt she'd stay that way if she had to just sit in class while everyone did school work. I suppose she could just nap whenever she had nothing to do, but that would have its own issues.”

“Awwww...” Sweetie sighed and kicked at the floor a little.

“I know you are trying to do a good thing for Navi, and I really appreciate it Sweetie, but there is a reason I haven't enrolled Navi in school,” Emerald said and patted the little filly's head with her hoof.

“Navi's still bored and lonely sometimes, though.” Sweetie Belle frowned up at Emerald.

“I know, I know,” Emerald sighed. “I guess Spike can only devote so much of his day to keeping her entertained himself. She used to be so good at keeping herself entertained... but then she always could rely on my being home eventually. But lately...”

“Navi says she really misses when she could play with you any time she wanted,” Sweetie Belle said. “She knows you're really busy, but she still misses you when you are gone.”

“...” Emerald frowned deeply, feeling like her heart was breaking a little. She turned to see Navi still being babied by Rarity. She really did wish she could be doing more than she already was...

Suddenly a thought occurred to Emerald. She recalled that Navi put up a good fight against the Blackwatch soldiers but was ultimately incapacitated. Emerald decided she had time to spare to teach Navi some basic self defense and the use of some viral weaponry. Teleporting her dress onto a nearby empty dummy, Emerald approached Navi.

“Navi,” Emerald said and the little viral pegasus turned her attention from Rarity to Emerald. “How would you like to spend an hour or two learning how to defend yourself from me?”

“You're going to teach me how to fight, mama?” Navi said, leaping out of Rarity's grasp to stand before Emerald with wide, excited eyes.

“I will always do everything I can to protect you, but I still want to make sure you are always safe,” Emerald explained.

“Maybe... maybe papa wouldn't have been kidnapped if I knew how to fight...” Navi said quietly as she looked down at the floor with a sad expression, shuffling her hooves as she did so. “And Jared would still be...”

“Hey now, you did what you could and managed to protect Spike and Sunset,” Emerald said and patted the little evolved's head. She then looked to Rarity and asked, “Do you still need me here?”

“No dear, I can make do with the adjustments I've got pinned in place,” Rarity replied as she walked over to the dress on the dummy. “I'll need you later to make doubly sure it all fits as it should, but you can be off. Besides, it's important to spend bonding time with one's own child, is it not?”

“It definitely is.” Emerald smiled and laid a hoof on Navi. “Alright, let's go. I know the perfect spot.”

With that Emerald and Navi disappeared in a flash of pink and reappeared an instant later in the Everfree Forest. Specifically the surface area of the Enclave near the training grounds. The vast, open spaces of the sparring grounds were definitely in use by Warhounds, Direwolves and wolverines. People started at Emerald's sudden arrival and a few approached her.

“Boss!” an unarmored female Direwolf called out as she bounded over. “Ya need something?”

“Not really. Just a portion of the sparring grounds,” Emerald replied as she rapidly shifted forms in a wave of black and red tendrils to her human form. “I'm here to teach Navi how to defend herself.”

“Not a problem, boss! We'll give the both of you some space,” the Direwolf said with a toothy grin before jogging away with loud, shrill whistle to gather attention.

A few moments later, Emerald and Navi were standing in an open field with packed in dirt, facing one another. They were given a large amount of space to themselves but quite a few diamond dogs and wolverines had formed a loose ring to watch in interest.

“Alright, Navi. You ready?” Emerald asked as she pulled up her fists. “Remember, we'll be sparring along with me teaching you a few things.”

“Uh huh!” Navi said and immediately shifted to her own human form before taking up a stance. Said stance was a far cry from Emerald’s calm one and included a lot of movement. Honestly it seemed more like someone decided to make up a small dance routine based on some martial arts stances.

'Well let's teach her not to do that,' Emerald thought and waited a moment to time her own movement before darting forward to deliver a kick. Navi's dance like stance had her half in midair with its bouncing when Emerald's blow landed.

There was a lot of loud gasping as Navi was sent flying a dozen feet with a pained shout from the boot to her face. As soon as she came to a stop she started rolling in place on the ground, hands pressed to her face and feet kicking in the air.

“Owwie...” Navi said with a half choked back sob as she sat up. She stared back towards Emerald with tearing eyes and an unhappy pout.

Emerald for her part had simply frozen in place, hands over her mouth with wide eyes.

“N-Navi, you're supposed to turn your pain receptors off,” Emerald said as she teleported beside the little virus after shaking her own shock off.

“Sorry, mama...” Navi said as she wiped her eyes clean. Emerald picked her up and set her back on her feet.

“Okay... let's start again, alright?” Emerald said, dropping down onto a knee in front of Navi and looking her in the eyes. After she got a nod, she stood up. “Remember, turn your pain receptors off.”

Emerald got back into position. This time Navi was standing still with her hands held to ward off a blow instead of bouncing in place like a fighting game character. After a moment, Emerald leapt forward again with another kick, this time holding back a bit more than she already was to help Navi get up to speed.

Navi half flinched and half consciously directed her hands in front of her face at Emerald's charge. She managed to catch Emerald's foot somewhat accidentally and let out a grunt from the jolt of kinetic force traveling into her from the kick. Emerald paused only a moment to let Navi enjoy that accomplishment before wrenching her foot out of the little girl's grip and delivering a solid hammer blow with her fist to the top of Navi's head.

“Ack!” Navi gave a shout of surprise, but not pain, and found herself forcefully sent back into her sitting position.

“Okay, let's keep going until we get rid of that flinch,” Emerald said and the little virus hopped back onto her feet with a nod as she started to regain her enthusiasm for the lesson.

The “spar” only continued for about a minute more. The point was getting rid of Navi's silly fighting stance and the flinch she had. Since Navi was Blacklight like Emerald was, this didn't take long at all to learn. However, Navi had yet to attempt to strike back at Emerald, partly because she wasn't told to but mostly because the little girl didn't want to hurt her mother, no matter how unlikely it may be.

“Okay, good,” Emerald said with a raised hand. Navi was now mimicking her own stance, hands balled up in fists held up close to her face and ready to block as quickly as she could manage. “Now it's time to get to the point. Now you should be able to replicate the weapons I am about to show you.”

With that, Emerald shifted her arms.

“These are claws,” Emerald explained. Both her arms were now a pair of clear claws with scything, spike-ridden, black and red arms. “They are fast with short range but deadly sharpness. They lack weight so they don't really do well cutting into hard things without a ton of force.”

“And these are hammerfists,” Emerald said. The spikes were gone from her arms, replaced by thick, tough cords and her claws were now minature, biological, spiked boulders. “They are slow and heavy but they have a surprising amount of range. Their weight does a great job as rapid rooting for viral spikes. To resist these you'd need an absurd amount of armor plating.”

“This one here is the whipfist,” Emerald explained as one of her arms returned to normal but the other had become like that of a coiled up mass of monstrous barbed wire ending in a vicious looking, arrowhead-like spike. “It's a ranged and crowd control weapon for weaker opponents. Its main advantages are the fact it can hit and hook things from afar and can be swept across an area. It's not a particularly strong weapon otherwise.

“And this little number is the blade,” Emerald said as her arm shifted into a massive blade with a slight curve to it. “It has longer range than the claws and more weight so it can hit harder and cut into things with heavier armor. It would be a mistake to think this is a straight up upgrade over the claws, however. The blade is slower than the claws and its size doesn't allow for as much agility.”

Emerald paused and thought about the final power she would have shown Navi, tendrils. Tendrils both involved mass injection of viral materials to spontaneously explode tendrils out of the body and throwing viral material at an object which then rapidly grew on their own. Emerald honestly did not trust Navi with tendrils. She didn't think Navi would actively misuse the ability, but her age and general lack of experience would definitely be working against her.

'The whole reason Navi doesn't have all the power I do is because of all the damage she could do purely by accident,' Emerald considered with a hum. 'I'll teach her more advanced viral abilities in a couple years. For now, these four will do.'

“Alright!” Emerald said and clapped her hands. “Now let's get some actual sparring in! Pick any of the weapons I showed you and come at me. We'll set to work on developing some decent combat instincts in you.”

“O-okay, mama!” Navi said a bit hesitantly before forming a pair of comparatively tiny hammerfists. The little virus hesitated another moment, conflicted over not wanting to attack Emerald but wanting to listen to her mother's orders. Finally, with a tiny warcry, Navi leapt through the air with her hammerfists held over her head.

Emerald easily sidestepped the attack even though she was holding herself back. She delivered a kick and sent the little virus flying again. This time Navi landed on her feet. With a huff, the little virus made one of her hammerfists disappear in a wave of tendrils and made the remaining one three times as big. She swung the remaining hammerfist and it suddenly detached from Navi, remaining attached solely via a long, thin, barbed tendril.

'Creative,' Emerald thought as she ducked under the impromptu flail. 'That's good.You don't want to be doing the same things over and over in a fight. That will get you killed fast. Now let's temper that.'

Navi gave a shout as she swung her flail again only for Emerald to slice the tendril with the blade and the hammerfist went flying a few feet before burying into the dirt. All the while the surrounding audience cheered on the sparring mother and daughter duo.

DELTA

A week later, Emerald was staring out a stained glass window and watching crowds swarming below.

Currently the virus was in a bedroom of the Royal Palace and looking out the window to the courtyard. It was the day of her wedding and it was a major event, practically a national holiday with all the way others were treating it. Dignitaries and their families were gathered below and steadily streaming into the palace. However, a sea of pink was making its way through the crowd of nobility and diplomatic officials.

'Looks like all of Pinkie's sisters managed to make it,' Emerald thought with a chuckle as she spied the horde of Pinkie clones making their presence known. 'Nice to have something to dampen all the pretentiousness.'

Opinions of the people who called themselves her 'friends' aside, Emerald was legitimately excited about today. To think that five years ago she was toiling under Alex Mercer's reign, murdering people and framing innocents for crimes against Blackwatch. She would have never considered in a thousand years she'd still end up getting happily married down the road. Back then she would have been happy with a safe hole in the ground and no threats to ever worry about again, and now...

'I'm getting married!' Emerald thought with a grin. 'She is going to be my wife and I'll be hers. I know it's happening for certain, but I can still hardly believe it!'

There was a knock on the door and, after a moment, it opened and in walked Cadence. The alicorn of love trotted over with a lot of happy energy and smiled at Emerald.

“Ah, how is the blushing bride to be?” Cadence asked happily.

“Am I blushing?” Emerald asked self consciously and reached up to her face with a hoof. Examining her own biological functions, Emerald found that she really was blushing. Quickly stopping that, she faced Cadence. “Wow, I wasn't expecting that to happen. I know I am really happy right now, but usually I can keep my head on straight regarding my own body.”

“Really happy?” Cadence asked curiously. With hoof on her chin, she leaned in close to Emerald and examined her face with a deeply considering expression. After a moment, she gasped loudly. “Emerald... do you love Twilight?”

“I do, with all my heart,” Emerald answered without hesitation.

“...Shining Armor told me you didn't truly love Twilight,” Cadence said suddenly with a serious expression.

“He did, did he? Well he did promise not to tell Twilight,” Emerald huffed before shaking her head. “Ah well, it doesn't really matter anymore.”

“Yes, because you do love her. Truly, truly love her.” Cadence smiled happily. “I was so worried when I heard about your feelings on your relationship. To just put up with being with someone...”

“Yeah, I can imagine the Princess of Love was rather concerned with the situation,” Emerald commented lightly.

“To tell the truth, I was coming to confront you,” Cadence replied honestly. “I don't think I could have bared to just silently watch Twilight get married to someone who didn't truly love her. Not wanting to make a scene with so many politicians, I decided to just talk to you before the wedding.”

“... You do NOT know how happy I am you didn't wait until the whole ‘speak now or forever hold your peace’ part to speak up about this.” Emerald sighed as she face hoofed at the absolute political storm that would have occurred had Cadence spoken her doubts about the wedding in the middle of the wedding. “I think I would have had to deal with the aftermath of you doing that for years, if not decades. I mean, god damn, if everyone got it in their head our wedding was founded on lies... trying to fix it would be incredibly irritating to say the least.”

“Which is why I decided to do this discreetly.” Cadence smiled. “I know very well the two of you have to put up with enough drama as it is without me adding to it.”

“Thank you so much...” Emerald said and then proceeded to hug Cadence out of sheer gratitude.

“...The politics is getting to you, isn't it?” Cadance asked after a moment.

“It's funny. I've had to fight and fight for two blood soaked years and yet it's dealing with people clamoring for my every free moment that is starting to make me crack,” Emerald said as she released Cadence with an almost ashamed look. “I thought I was stronger than this...”

“There are many kinds of strength, and clearly politics isn't appealing to any of yours,” Cadence replied in a kindly reassuring tone. “For what's it's worth, it's been a bit of a struggle for me to adapt to this kind of life as well.”

“I suppose if I take Celestia as an example, I'll get used to this eventually,” Emerald said with a sigh. “In a thousand years, give or take a century.”

“Now, now. Just put all of that out of your mind, Emerald!” Cadance encouraged, “This is your big day! Your wedding to the love of your life! Don't let work take this happy day from you!”

“Don't need to tell me twice,” Emerald said as she started to smile again. “I thought I was going to be more annoyed with having to make a political spectacle of my wedding but I feel like I couldn't care less. This is my day, our day, and nothing can go wrong as long as we don't let it get between us.”

“That's the spirit!” Cadence shouted as she got behind Emerald and started giving her a push towards the wardrobe. “Now the big moment itself is quickly coming up. Best to get ready early so there's no rushing.”

An hour later found Emerald standing in her wedding dress, standing at the altar with Celestia beaming down at her, very obviously happy to preside over her student's wedding. Filling the pews were hundreds of ponies and many dozens upon dozens of foreign representatives. Pinkie's sisters were obvious as a massive patch of pink dominating whole lines of pews. And of course only those she considered friends were given seats in the very front. Belvedere seemed content to make small talk with Bon Bon while Rose Locks was utterly enamored with the wedding; wide, glittering eyes took in the scenery as her head moved this way and that while Time Turner looked distinctly nervous by this. Lyra was bothering both Clock Work and Lightning Dust. Sunset Shimmer sat calmly, happy to be a part of everything, looking rather ravishing in her own warm colored gown. Standing off to the side near Emerald and Celestia were the girls, wearing glittering beautiful gowns. Rainbow Dash was trying not to look irritated with Lyra bugging Lightning, whom the pegasus invited. Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie were trying to keep Pinkie from getting too excited by all her sisters when they were supposed to be standing still.

'I get the feeling that a lot of the invited dignitaries are a bit put out by the presence of so muchriffraff,' Emerald thought with a brief smirk. 'Well too bad.If it weren't for their constant nagging, this would have been a much smaller and private affair.'

Suddenly the low roar of people talking was hushed by a few brief notes played on an organ. With that the main doors to the chamber flew open and the song began in earnest. First through the doors was Navi wearing a pretty little white dress as well as her hat which she utterly refused to be without. She was currently a little pegasus using her magic to levitate a basket and toss flower petals as she went. Navi might have been a little eager at her job and was tossing petals so hard people in the nearby pews were being showered by them. Spike was walking along trying to maintain some dignity in the face of his partner's eagerness. The little dragon was wearing a tux and was carrying a cushion bearing the two golden bracelets.

Next came in Twilight, accompanied by her father. She was wearing a baby blue wedding dress dotted with magenta stars much like her cutie mark. Atop her head was a tiara designed much like the Element of Magic. Attached to the tiara was a long veil cascading down both the front and back of her head. Through the veil, Emerald could see Twilight softly laughing at Navi's excited antics. Her father was wearing a tuxedo and was looking rather happy.

'I've been a bit worried about Night and Velvet,' Emerald thought as she glanced over at Twilight's mother also standing with the girls and tearfully watching on. 'They seemed reluctantly accepting early on regarding the both of us. Glad to see that's passed, now.'

Thankfully Navi's basket of flowers had been packed extra full so the little virus didn't run out despite her enthusiasm, even though it meant there was now a simply ludicrous amount of flower petals covering the floor and some of the guests. Navi and Spike took up their positions nearby while Twilight finished her march down the aisle.

Soon Twilight took up her position at the altar. Finding herself staring Twilight in the eyes through her veil, Emerald couldn't help but think about all the things that led up to this moment. It wasn't a path free of mistakes and bad decisions that she had walked. She had hurt many people alongside those she had helped. She had built the prosperity of the diamond dogs upon plundered resources and riches, but in doing so raised an enslaved people out of the mire of their misery. There were just so many things she had done that could be contrasted with the morality of another act. But through all her times both good and bad, she had been with Twilight. Choosing to live with her had been the one choice that would change her for the better; slowly, surely and sometimes reluctantly, but change did come.

'I would choose to live through it all, all over again if it meant I would be with her,' Emerald thought without a moment's hesitation.

Twilight for her part was deep in thought about everything she and Emerald had been through together. From the day they first met, when she began teaching her basic education and magic, Twilight had always felt that Emerald Gleaner was someone that was in earnest need of help. Even now with Emerald stronger than the princesses, stronger than Discord, this feeling had not abated. Yes, even now this feeling was present, though not nearly as strongly. Emerald still needed a bit of help now and then but she and her friends were willing to give her that help. Falling in love was never really part of the plans she had for herself, though granted if she had her way she would have stayed in Canterlot with her nose stuck in a book and rarely leaving the library. She supposed that back then if she never really ran into someone that interested her she would have been fine with her books. The last thing she expected was to fall for a mare, her friend, and end up marrying her a few short years later. The adventures and trials they went through together certainly had a hand in rapidly forming their relationship.

'It wasn't an easy three years to get to this point,' Twilight thought. 'And it most certainly isn't over.My life is just getting started and I already have eternity to look forward to. I can only wonder what the coming years, the coming century, will bring me.'

“Ahem!”

The two started at the sudden interruption and looked towards the noise to see Celestia looking down at the both of them with a raised brow and a small, amused smile.

“If the two to be wed were to return their attentions to me...” Celestia said as Emerald and Twilight also noticed a bit of small laughter and good natured tittering echoing the hall. “Emerald Gleaner. Will you take this mare to be your lawfully wedded wife?”

“Uhhh, yes!” Emerald said, cheeks flushing briefly in embarrassment.

“And you, Twilight Sparkle.” Celestia turned to Twilight, looking incredibly pleased to be here and presiding over her student's wedding. “Do you take this mare as your lawfully wedded wife?”

“I do,” Twilight said, also looking distinctly embarrassed but happy all the same.

“Then with the exchanging of the ri- ah, bracelets,” Celestia began.

Spike took that as his cue and darted over smoothly and held out the cushion carrying the wedding bracelets. Compared to the complexity and the artistic appearances of the engagement bracelets they had before, the wedding bracelets were noticeably plainer. Emerald's bracelet looked like a small vambrace and bore a crest of her cutie mark made out of gemstones. Twilight's was a bit smaller with a symbol of a tree whose canopy was stylistically shaped into her own star cutie mark. But while they were plain in appearance, they were so much more. The both of them had poured forth their magical knowledge to give the bracelets that would be given to one another powerful enchantments. Twilight knew the last thing Emerald needed was whatever protections could be empowered onto a bracelet. So she designed the runes to protect not her, but the bracelet itself. Emerald for her part had made the gemstones in Twilight's bracelet out of her enhanced ones meant for storing magical power. There was not a lot of power she could put in them compared to the ones she used for the bio gears or even her secret project, but they still held a ton of magic; easily ten times more than was in Twilight herself. Emerald had piled on layers upon layers of runic protections and effects designed to nullify certain effects. Extreme temperature control, kinetic energy absorption, magical deflection, oxygen conversion and purification of local atmosphere just to name a few.

Magically levitating the bracelets from the cushion, Emerald and Twilight each lifted their right foreleg and held out their hoof. They then placed the bracelets on one another and closed the clasps.

“I pronounce you wife and... wife!” Celestia announced, her voice echoing through the hall. “You may kiss the bride!”

And with that the two leaned in to give each other a lingering but chaste kiss on the lips to the cheers of the hall. It was then that Emerald noticed a peculiar but pleasant smell emanating from Twilight mixed together with the pleasant scent of lavender.

“Interesting perfume you got on there,” Emerald commented with a smile as she pulled away from Twilight.

“Thank you. I got it from Rarity.” Twilight smiled widely as they began walking down the aisle together to the cheers of everyone in the hall.

“I smell lavender, but what is that other smell?” Emerald asked as Rarity began bawling her eyes out.

“Oh, it’s just lavender,” Twilight replied.

“Hmm...” Emerald was about to investigate further but decided to put it off for now. She was just married, after all. She was allowed to have a few days off to do nothing.

The two walked through the massive doors of the hall to open air, trumpets, yet more cheers and raining flower petals, along with a red carpet leading to a decadent carriage ready to carry them away. The two of them trotted down the red carpet to loud accolades. Trying to maintain dignity without outright running to the carriage, the two rushed as fast as they could before finally reaching the door and going inside. Closing the door and casting a quick spell reduced the roar of the crowd to a muffled rumble.

“Finally, just the two of us...” Twilight said with a sigh as she took the seat next to Emerald and leaned into her.

“Yeah, just us and that resort in the mountains for the next five days,” Emerald replied as the carriage lurched and began to move.

“Hmph. Normally a honeymoon is twice that long,” Twilight huffed. “They really can't let you have time to yourself, can they?”

“No they cannot,” Emerald sighed in response as Twilight affectionately nuzzled her neck.

The smell of lavender filled Emerald's nose along with that mystery scent. The virus had been content to ignore it before, but it was a bit much to stand by that decision when Twilight was going to be pressing into her for a twenty minute carriage ride to the air dock. As the scent continued to fill her senses, Emerald's mind worked at the mystery until it suddenly became very apparent just what the smell was.

“OH. MY. GOD!” Emerald said with wide eyes.

“What?” Twilight pulled back and then saw Emerald's utterly shocked expression and became worried. “Emerald, what's wrong?”

“Twilight you're...” Emerald hesitated, unsure for a moment. “You're pregnant.”

“...” Twilight simply sat there and blinked at Emerald for a long moment before the full realization of what Emerald had just said hit her. “WH-WHAT!? H-ow!?! Emerald, how can I be PREGNANT!?! You're a mare! Every time we've been together, you were female each time! How in the world could I possibly be-”

“Not every time,” Emerald quickly interrupted and suddenly looked embarrassed.

“Emerald?”

“You remember when we first got back from Earth and I wanted to show you I didn't care if you were pony or human?” Emerald said quietly and got a scarlet faced nod from Twilight. It had been quite the experience for her, after all.

“Well...” Emerald continued. “As it turns out, I may have gotten a tad bit... excited. And in my excitement I may have unthinkingly given the tentacles I created that night a bit of potency. So uh... as you can imagine, when I...”

“You got me pregnant... with your... t-tentacles?” Twilight said slowly with wide eyes and flushing cheeks.

“Sorry?”

“...No it's fine, don't apologize,” Twilight huffed. “Honestly, it's like we can't do anything normally anymore.”

“I don't think it's normal for a mare to get another mare pregnant,” Emerald pointed out with a small smile.

“Not the point. I was going to ask you during our honeymoon about our potential options for having a foal,” Twilight said softly as she leaned back into Emerald's side. “I suppose there is little point in talking about it now.”

“You wanted to have a foal?” Emerald asked in some surprise.

“Well not right away, but ever since Navi became a little girl, our little girl, I was thinking of the future. About giving her a little sister or brother,” Twilight replied. “I wanted us to have one in a few years, when everything calmed down a bit more and you got used to juggling political work with family.”

“I get the feeling things will never calm down.” Emerald sighed. “Year after year, something big always happens and we end up having to deal with it.”

“It has to let up sometimes, doesn't it?” Twilight asked. “The world can't keep throwing us surprises forever.”

For a long moment silence filled the interior of the carriage, the two newlyweds just watching the Canterlot scenery slowly roll by.

“You do realize you can't take part in the operation anymore, right?” Emerald said suddenly.

“I know. It would be far too dangerous for the baby,” Twilight replied softly. “But who will take my place?”

“I've got an idea of who,” Emerald answered, thoughts drifting to a certain unicorn. “But enough about that. It's our honeymoon and I want no work at all. Is that clear, Mrs. Gleaner?”

“That's not how pony names work.” Twilight grinned at her wife. “But yes. Loud and clear, Mrs. Sparkle.”

With that, Emerald and Twilight closed the minuscule distance and kissed.

EPSILON

Late at night, so late in fact it was getting very close to morning, Emerald Gleaner was sitting at the edge of a cliff in human form wearing her casual clothes. The very same cliff edge she had placed two tombstones on nearly three years ago.

Emerald had neglected to visit at all since making the graves and the location had become overgrown with bushes and tall grasses. She had set about fixing that right away, clearing away all the underbrush and beautifying the location a bit. She got rid of most of the bushes, trimmed the grass down to a nice level and installed some flagstone pathways, then proceeded to replace the tombstones with something better. Soon the basic stone tombstones were replaced with black polished marble with the words etched in with expert quality.

After placing some long, burning candles beside each grave, Emerald sat with her back leaning against her mother's tombstone and watched the far horizon slowly turn pink.

“I just got married, mom,” Emerald said softly, and it was like the world itself quietened to let her speak. “I just married Twilight and I still can't believe this could still happen to me after everything I've done and been through. I'm so happy. I wish it had been a more private thing, but I don't mind if it had to be made this big, international event. The one thing that would have made it perfect in spite of everything would have been if you were there.”

The grief Emerald felt for the loss of her mother was still there. It hadn't been the burning open wound it had been when she first arrived in Equestria, but she could still feel it simmer quietly beneath the surface. She had loved her mother dearly and even now nearly six years after her death she still mourned quietly every now and then.

“Twilight is pregnant,” Emerald said quietly just as there was a brief, sudden gust of wind. “What I would have given to see your face at being given that news... I know you would have loved Navi like she was your granddaughter by blood, but I also know you would have adored a baby.”

Emerald breathed in deep and felt something surge in her, like something shifted inside of her. She was feeling rather emotional right now. Along with that, she was feeling like everything was a bit unreal atop of some tunnel vision. The wind picked up again and blew through her hair and the feelings dissipated. She sat up a bit straighter and enjoyed the feeling of the breeze upon her skin before returning to the slowly brightening horizon.

“It's going to be a girl. It's too early to tell for sure, but I feel it in my heart that it will be a girl,” Emerald said aloud. “I hope that... I hope you don't mind if I name her Adela.”

Emerald closed her eyes as the breeze gently ran across her skin and through her hair. At the very edges of her senses she could only imagine her mother's reply. The words that her mother would say...

“Of course I wouldn't mind.”

Emerald's eyes shot open. That voice had been a little bit too real to be a hopeful imagination. Any consideration of her having somehow fooled herself into hearing her mother's voice vanished when she felt a hand clasp hers. She snapped her head to the side and her shocked, wide eyes beheld her mother sitting beside her, looking the way she did the day she died.

“Hello, honey,” Adela Osäker said with a gentle smile.

The virus didn't exactly recall what happened next. Her vision just blurred and her mind seemed to be lost briefly in a chaotic torrent of half formed thought. All she knew was that some time later she found herself holding on tight to her mother, her chest heaving as she bawled her eyes out, her mother's arms wrapped around her barely doing anything to calm her down.

“Shhhh.It's okay, honey,” Adela soothed, rubbing Emerald's back with one hand.

“... H-how c-can this b-be happening?” Emerald questioned, hiccuping a little bit. “I watched you die. I buried you. I-I-I-”

It was then that Emerald truly took in her apparently resurrected mother. She was partially transparent, easily missed at a glance but impossible once your eyes were on her and her form glittered with tiny lights. She knew then and there her mother wasn't really there. Although she somehow could hold her and feel her, she was still dead, a ghost. She also knew that this could be some trick, that Adela could be some magical construct created by someone to manipulate her, but she cast away that thought as soon as it appeared. Somehow she knew, in her heart, in her very soul… she knew this was her mother's ghost and not some fake.

Emerald returned to holding her mother, to enjoying the embrace she thought she'd never know again. She continued holding her mother for some time, but with the night sky continuing to fade away in the approaching morning light, that time was coming to an end. As the light of the sun cresting the horizon touched her ghostly form, Adela released a loud yawn.

“Sweetheart, I feel tired. I feel like I don't have much more time here,” Adela said as her eyelids felt heavier with every passing moment. In response to this, Emerald silently shook her head and and tightened her hold as if that would make her mother stay. “Emerald!”

“Ack!” At her mother's sudden stern tone, Emerald's old instincts flared up. She let go of her and sat up straight and gave Adela her full attention.

“Before I... before I go, I need you to do something for me,” Adela began and had to shake her head clear of exhaustion. Emerald quickly nodded her head and she continued with one arm pointing behind her. “I want you to get rid of that tombstone.”

Emerald turned to see that Adela was pointing at the grave she had made for Oskar, for herself.

“My child is not dead,” Adela said firmly, placing both her hands on the sides of Emerald's head and stared deeply into her eyes. “She lives, she has a wife, a wonderful daughter in law I wish I could get to know.She has given me one grandchild and already has another one on the way. She is living a full life with a family. So you will get rid of that grave right this instant, do you understand me?”

“Yes mom,” Emerald answered immediately.

“Good.Go do it.” Adela nodded.

Not wasting a single moment, Emerald rose up and quickly walked over to the tombstone and, with a heave, wrenched it out of the ground. She quickly tossed it over the cliff edge where it would tumble onto the rocks below and smash into pieces. Turning back to the grave, she noted it still looked like a grave plot, just lacking its tombstone. With a wave of her hand, Emerald cleared away all evidence there had ever been more than one grave in this location. With that, she returned to her mother's ghost.

“Honey... I just want you to know I still love you... and in fact I'm proud of you...” Adela's eyes fluttered as she fought against the desire to fall asleep. “You've gone through so many terrible things and, yes, did terrible things too.But look at you. You're better now.You're happy. It's all I could have ever wanted... for you to be happy, to have a fulfilling life...”

“Mom...” Emerald could feel tears in her eyes and quickly darted over to hold her mother again. For the longest time she held onto her, hoping against hope that would somehow make her stay. And for a moment it seemed to work. Her mother returned the embrace and hummed a song she used to sing to her at bedtime.

And then, abruptly, she was gone and Emerald was left holding empty air.

Emerald continued to sit on her knees at her mother's grave and cry, but rather than feel heartbroken, she felt lighthearted instead. She felt like a great many things had been lifted from her shoulders because of her mother's words. Bright smile contrasting her streaming tears, Emerald wiped her face clean and turned to face the rising sun. Seeing the sun now just rising fully past the horizon, Emerald returned to the resort with a flash of light.

Twilight would be waking up soon, after all.

ZETA

In the Spiritual Realm there was a place of eternal gray haze at the heart of which stood seven figures forever frozen in place.

Normally the Spiritual Realm was a forever shifting, amorphous realm of souls and oceans of mystical energy. However, for those of beyond prodigious skill with magic, one could have a long lasting influence upon the Realm. As was the case with one of these frozen figures, Star Swirl the Bearded, Pillar of Equestria.

For a thousand years Star Swirl and his fellow Pillars of Equestria had remained frozen in the Spiritual Realm along with the Pony of Shadows. The only mercy here was that none of them were conscious of what was going on.

And so it was that the Pillars of Equestria and their prisoner remained frozen, every day, every hour, every second, for a thousand years unchanging... until one day something finally did.

There was the sudden scent of the salty ocean air followed by an icy breeze that blew away the haze. In the distance, two massive tidal waves were rushing in along a nonexistent floor and ceiling. The waves passed below and above the Pillars and the Pony of Shadows. Above and below the water was a foamy, swirling broth until they settled into a calm surface with gentle waves.

Suddenly a massive, serpentine form burst forth from the bottom ocean to the top ocean. The massive serpent threaded between the floor and the ceiling until its looping body surrounded the figures from all sides. A great head emerged from the water and came to a stop near the frozen beings.

The Mighty Greater Spirit, Endless, took in the forms of those frozen in place. It stared in interest at the Pony of Shadows but its great eyes narrowed in anger as it turned its attention upon the Pillar of Equestria. It breathed in deeply before exhaling a great icy mist onto all the figures.

Screams and shouts of surprise filled the air as the Pillars of Equestria suddenly animated and fell to the ocean below them. Rather then simply sink into the seemingly infinitely deep ocean below them, they impacted into the surface harshly like it was a floor. The Pony of Shadows remained floating in midair thanks to its shadowy body.

“AH HA! YES! I AM FREE! FREE TO SPREAD SHADOWS TO ALL CORNERS OF- AHH!” the Pony of Shadows began when suddenly a massive pair of jaws clamped down inches from its face.

“End your prattling and seek the gathering. I shall deal with these interlopers,” Endless commanded.

“The... the gathering?” the Pony of Shadows questioned in some confusion only to get an irritated growl.

“You are a spirit, are you not?” Endless demanded with bared teeth. “Seek the gathering! NOW BEGONE!!!”

Not willing to anger the clearly superior spirit, the Pony of Shadows rapidly faded from view. Once the other spirit was gone, Endless turned its massive form towards the Pillars of Equestria who were gathered together and gazing guardedly at the Greater Hippocampi. Endless ran his gaze over each, but in the end only one concerned him. The unicorn in the pointed hat radiated power; the same power as those who had chained the world. Based upon this and this alone, Endless decided what their fates would be.

“Trespassers.You dare impress a form upon this pure, shapeless realm!” Endless roared as the waters started to churn and a biting chill filled the air. “You dare walk upon this plane of souls with bodies of flesh?! SUFFER FOR YOUR AVARICE!!!”

With one final roar, the mighty spirit charged.

-TBC-

Author's Note

AN: AND DONE! I had been hoping to get this finished much quicker then the last chapter but... well events conspired for things to happen as they did. I hope everyone enjoys this chapter and leaves a comment or review!

EN: So I was told a sort of spoiler about this chapter shortly before I started editing, but it still managed to surprise me. Twice. Interesting how things turned out.

EN2: So Legionary came to me early this morning telling me I had missed a lot of stuff. Naturally, I was confused how much I could have missed, but I volunteered to take a second read through of the chapter just to double check. And… wow, he was right. I did miss a lot of stuff. I kept up a running tally of the bigger things like missing words, incorrectly spelled words, wrong words used, etc. Not counting small things like extra punctuation, minor missing punctuation or incorrect capitalization, my total tally by the end of this chapter came to 46. Granted, that’s a pretty small number compared to Nearly 16,000 words that made up this chapter… but that’s just unacceptable. I would like to formally apologize to Legionary for my poor showing this last chapter, and to all readers who may have been thrown off by these errors.