Chapters My Little Pony: Fight Against the Titans
The female soldier remained perfectly still with an astonished look on her face as she browsed the seven colorful pastel ponies, still unsure if she was in a dream or going insane. Not only did she witness colorful ponies with horns and wings, but she also heard one of them speak a human language that she understood clearly. The ponies appeared to reach the girl's neck in height.
"Are you okay?" asked Starlight, walking right next to Twilight. "I guess you've never seen a pony before, huh?"
"But... but that's impossible," the human said in total disbelief. "You all can't be real. Where did you even come from?"
"From another world far from yours," Twilight said.
The soldier didn't even respond. She was in absolute uncertainty about these strange creatures. She turned away from them and started to walk out to the alleyway.
"I don't have time to think about this," the woman said. "People are dying as we speak and I have to help them escape. So goodbye."
Right before she could fire her grappling hooks at one of the structures, Twilight called out to her in a pleading voice.
"Don't go!" Twilight yelled. "We came here into this world to help you as well as all of the humans within these walls."
"How can you little ponies help us in times as dire as this? You wouldn't last a day with these abominations," the soldier said in a direct tone.
"Trust us," Rainbow budded in. "We may not look like much, but we're capable of many awesome things."
"Oh, please let us help you," spoke Fluttershy. "We promise we won't be a burden."
"Pinkie Promise!" Pinkie Pie added.
The soldier didn't have time to think about it, but forsaking these ponies would no doubt be like kicking a tin can after all of the training she learned from the training academy. Once she looked back at them, she saw all of them looking at her with pleading expressions in their eyes. She finally gave them an answer.
"Alright. You can help us, but don't expect everyone else to be so welcoming."
"Thank you so much, Mrs. ... uhh" Twilight said, unable to return the soldier's name.
"Ackerman. Mikasa Ackerman," she answered. "Now let's go! We do not have time to lose."
Mikasa fired one of her grappling hooks towards the top of a tall tower to get a better view as to where her allies are regrouping. Meanwhile, Twilight flew up towards Mikasa using her magic to carry Rarity with her. Rainbow Dash followed her while she picked up Applejack to carry her up to the rooftops of the city. Fluttershy picked up Starlight to carry her as well whereas Starlight used her magic to lift Pinkie Pie off the ground. Pinke Pie was enjoying the lift in the meantime.
Rain continued to pour across the city. Once Mikasa stood at the top of the tower, she noticed a few soldiers arguing amongst each other.
The bell signaling retreat has already been rung, so why aren't they scaling the wall? Mikasa thought.
"Hey, Mikasa!" Rainbow shouted pointing her hoof at a large fortress. "Look there!"
Mikasa turned to the direction Rainbow was pointing and saw several giants swarming all over the building. They were trying to reach for some humans trapped inside.
"The supply castle," Mikasa murmured.
Inside the castle, a few soldiers were hiding behind desks that they were using for cover hoping that titans would not find them. A female soldier with dark hair peeked over from behind the counters and noticed a titan looking through the window. She shuddered in absolute terror.
"We're... gonna die," she whispered. "There's no way out."
The other soldiers that hid with her were in a state of dread. One of them was working on loading a rifle. Suddenly, the soldiers heard a tremendous crash with a menacing roar. They shuddered and sobbed even more. The gun the soldier had was now fully loaded.
"Alright. Done," the male soldier said.
"How will that help us?" another soldier asked.
Without replying to her, he inserts it into his mouth and pulls the trigger, blowing his brains out behind his head. The other soldiers scream in terror after seeing their ally commit suicide.
The rain outside finally ceased leaving some dark clouds in the sky. Several soldiers with crossed-sword crests on their uniforms were evaluating the situation.
"Hey, Jean, what are we gonna do?" asked a small little soldier with a stripped head.
"There's nothing we can do," replied another male soldier with short, light ash-brown hair, sitting down wearing a worried feeling. "To think when the retreat signal finally rang, we can't climb the wall because we're all out of gas. Now we're all probably gonna die. Thanks to those spineless bastards."
"What, you mean the supply squads?" the other soldier questioned. "What is up with them anyway? Did they all get wiped out?"
"No, apparently they all lost their fighting spirit. I can sympathize with them, but how could they just abandon their supply mission and confine themselves in the HQ? Thanks to all of those titans, resupplying would be impossible."
"So then we got no other choice but to risk everything killing all of those Titans, right?!" shouted the shorter soldier. "It's far better than just sitting around and doing nothing! Titans will eventually come for us too! Even if we just keep running away from them, at that'll do is waste what precious gas we have left. Once we lose our mobility, we're done for!"
The sandy-haired soldier looked up at him.
"Looks like you're using your head for once, Conny," the man responded. "But do you honestly think that it would be possible with these forces? The seniors who fought on the front lines are mostly dead. Do you believe any of these recruits are fit to lead on a suicide mission like that? Even so, we couldn't possibly defeat all of those titans. I guarantee some three and four-meter Titans broke into the gas supply room; which means that working in there would be impossible."
Conny was surprised to hear his statement and was now realizing that the whole situation was dire.
"So, it's hopeless?" Conny said falling back into despair.
"Damn," Jean hissed while letting out a huge, depressed sigh and placing a hand on his head. "This life sucks. I would have told her if only I knew this would happen."
"We can do it, everyone!" shouted another soldier with reddish, brown hair tied in a ponytail. "Stand up! If we all work together, I'm sure we'll make it out of this! I'll take the lead if that's what it takes!"
It was pointless. The other soldiers didn't respond to Sasha's wake-up call, too daunted and traumatized with fear to carry out the mission. With all of those titans swarming the castle and their supplies running out, everyone knew that there was no hope to escape.
The brown-haired girl turned her attention to a younger soldier with golden hair that sat on a different side of the roof. He was in complete trauma after seeing his friend get eaten alive by a titan. She jogged towards him, hoping that he could help to convince the soldiers to fight.
"Armin, help me convi-" she staggered.
Once she looked into his eyes, she saw that the young soldier was too petrified to look her in the eyes. Four other soldiers did not appear to give in to total despair. They seemed to be the only soldiers with a greater feeling of the decisive outcome.
"Reiner," spoke a short girl with blond hair tied in a knot. "What now?"
"We wait, Annie," responded a soldier with a muscular build and short blonde hair. "We'll need everyone's help to pull this off."
"It's hopeless," said another soldier with freckles and medium-length, black hair. "We'll all be wiped out before we can escape this city, no matter what we try."
The soldier looked up at the cloudy sky.
"It's not that I wasn't prepared to die. But, what are we dying for exactly?"
The sound of retracting hooks began to sound in the air, grabbing the soldiers' attention. Many were relieved to see Mikasa arrive while others were astonished. However, everyone's emotions turned to confusion and panic upon seeing the seven creatures coming from behind.
"The hell are those things?" Conny exclaimed.
"Ready yourselves!" Reiner ordered.
Mikasa stood in front of the ponies facing the soldiers that were preparing themselves for a fight. She held her blade on her left hand into a defensive position between the soldiers and the ponies. Once every pony was on the rooftops with her, they stood behind Mikasa as their only means of defense.
"Stand down!" Mikasa yelled out. "These ponies are not a threat. They came here to help us."
All of the soldiers could not believe what they were witnessing. They began to chatter in excitement and concern, bringing Armin's attention to the ponies with a sharpened sensation of wonder.
"What... ponies?" Jean replied in a questionable tone.
"Unlike any ponies I've ever seen," replied another soldier.
"Just look at all of the colors of their fur."
"This can't be real."
"Some of them have wings!"
"Woah, a real unicorn!"
"Where did they even come from?"
"Is that a marshmallow pony?"
"I must be dreaming!"
Jean walked towards Mikasa with a sinister glare. Mikasa, however, wasn't intimidated in the slightest.
"Mikasa, who the hell are these weirdos?!" Jean demanded.
"Hey," Rainbow Dash asserted flying up to Jean's face. "Who are you to call us-"
Rainbow Dash was suddenly yanked back from her tail by Applejack.
"Rainbow," Starlight spoke. "Calm down. We're here to help them, not fight them."
As much as Rainbow Dash did not like being insulted, primarily by some other creature, she landed back on the roof next to her friends.
"Mikasa, why are you even protecting those things?!" Jean questioned.
"And did one of them just talk?" Conny added with a bewildered expression.
"Yes," Mikasa answered. "I'm not sure who they are or where they came from, but abandoning them would be a disgrace as a soldier. I was shocked to see them as much as you guys, but I truly believe that these ponies came to help us in a time of desperation. So can I trust all of you not to attack these ponies?"
The soldiers glanced at each other hesitantly, but knowing that Mikasa was renowned and stoic, they lowered their blades and slid them back into their sheaths. Seeing that they were no longer in a position to attack, Mikasa dropped her arm and moved aside, allowing the soldiers to get a better glimpse at the ponies, now looking upon them with the same level of fascination as Armin. Reiner began to walk towards the ponies to formally introduce himself along with everyone else.
"Well then," Reiner said. "My name is Reiner Braun. May I ask what your names are?"
"Certainly," Twilight replied standing in front of her pony friends. "My name is Twilight Sparkle, and these are my closest friends, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Starlight Glimmer."
As soon as Twilight announced all of their names, the soldiers couldn't help themselves but snicker trying not to burst out into laughter. Twilight noticed their rude behavior and was not going to take it lightly.
"I'm sorry, did I say something humorous?" she asked in a stern tone.
Remembering that they were not ordinary ponies and that they were probably capable of whopping their sorry flanks, they stopped almost instantly. Afterwards, the soldiers put their legs together, put their left arms behind their backs and placed their right fists on their hearts giving a salute towards the ponies.
"Not at all, miss," a soldier exclaimed.
"No ma'am," replied another.
"I'm so sorry, really!" told the maroon-haired girl walking towards Twilight and the other ponies. "It's just that...to see a unicorn or a pegasus come to life is just so fascinating. I was so excited to meet you all I could hardly contain myself."
The soldier held out her right hand to give them a handshake. Twilight offered her hoof to greet her properly, still slightly taken back from her weird enthusiasm.
"What on Earth is she doing?" a tall man with short, dark hair replied to Reiner.
"I'm not sure, probably trying to recover from that little remark about their names.", Annie murmured.
"Anyway, my name is Sasha Braus. It's nice to meet all of you.", the maroon-haired woman said.
All of the soldiers were quite surprised seeing Sasha getting along with the magical ponies so quickly, even after seeing the rainbow-maned pegasus threatening one of their comrades. Mikasa gave a small smile and walked towards the blond-haired girl. Meanwhile, the ponies split up among the many soldiers that were still fascinated to see such mythical beings. Twilight, Starlight, and Rainbow Dash went to chat with Reiner and the other three soldiers, whereas Jean and Conny joined Sasha talking to Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy.
"We know your kind are called humans, but what are those giants you are trying to fight against?" Twilight asked.
"These giants you speak of," said the tall, slender man. "are what are known as Titans. You see, they appeared about a century ago and nearly devoured all of humanity. Those who have survived erected the walls that you see around you."
The ponies looked across the town. Sure enough, they saw the massive, stone walls that surrounded the whole district with sheer awe and wonder. They were very impressed to see the kind of workforce to create barriers such as those.
"Three walls surround each other, Wall Maria, Wall Rose, and Wall Sina.", he continued. "The one we're currently in right now is Wall Rose. We lost Wall Maria five years ago."
"Oh no," Starlight exclaimed. "What happened?!"
"Two new breeds of Titans called the Colossal Titan, and the Armored Titan destroyed the outer and inner gates letting all of the Titans into the territory that Wall Maria surrounded," Reiner added. "We lost a third of our lands and a fifth of our population as a result."
"So, what the hay happened here?" Rainbow asked in a worried tone.
"The Colossal Titan appeared once again and destroyed the outer gate of Trost," the slender soldier continued.
"Trost?" Starlight questioned.
"The city we're in right now," he added.
"Oh, I see," Twilight acknowledged. "Thank you, uh..."
"Bertholdt," the man responded. "Bertholdt Hoover."
Twilight, Starlight, and Rainbow Dash looked at each other with worried glances, knowing precisely what kind of enemy they were up against in this world. Meanwhile, Applejack looked across the roof to see Armin still sitting down in total desperation.
"Hey," Applejack cried. "Ah remember that little fellah. That's the youngster we all saw before we got here."
Mikasa looked at where Applejack was facing. Sure enough, she recognized him as her closest friend.
"Armin!" she cried.
Armin was overwhelmed with fear once again. Mikasa along with Applejack and Rarity trotted to Armin to try and comfort him.
Mikasa... he thought to himself. Oh God, what am I going to tell her? How am I supposed to face her? There's no point in me surviving this. I should have died along with Eren.
Mikasa, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Rarity squatted down to see Armin directly face-to-face with each other.
Armin looked at Applejack and Rarity and began to be overcome with fear once again.
"It's alright, darling," Rarity said in a soothing voice. "We're here to help."
"Armin, are you alright?" Mikasa asked. "Are you hurt?"
Armin didn't dare look her in the eyes and tried not to choke on his words.
"Mikasa," Applejack said to her. "Ah hate to tell ya this, but before we came to this here world of yours, we saw his friend eaten whole by one of those monsters."
Mikasa gasped after hearing Applejack's statement. She hoped deep in her heart that it wasn't her adopted brother. She stood up to look around for him among the many soldiers.
"Armin, where is Eren?" Mikasa asked. "Is he alright?"
"Eren, who is he?" Fluttershy asked.
"Eren is my brother, and I promised to protect him no matter what," Mikasa answered. "Armin, where is he?"
Armin looked right at Mikasa with his eyes flowing with tears and began to stress the fate that had befallen to his comrades. Applejack, Fluttershy, and Rarity saw Armin's expression and understood what had happened.
"Those... of the 34th Training Corps Squad..." he sobbed kneeling down and placed his hands on his knees. "Thomas Wagner, Nac Tias, Mylius Zeramuski, Mina Carolina, and Eren Jaeger all accomplished their duties as soldiers and heroically died in battle."
Applejack, Fluttershy, and Rarity's mouths fell wide open, and tears began to form in their eyes as well. All of the ponies and other soldiers heard the terrible news as well, drawing all of their attention to the two soldiers and two ponies.
"No way," Sasha murmured.
"So the 34th squad was all but annihilated, huh," Jean inferred.
"So the same thing will happen to us if we fight those titans too," another soldier said.
Fluttershy's eyes began to produce tears as well while the other ponies bowed their heads in sorrow.
"I'm sorry, Mikasa," Armin mourned. "Eren died in my stead. I... I couldn't do anything to help. I'm sorry."
Mikasa's expression remained blank as Armin continued to grieve for his dear friend and ally. Fluttershy scooted over to Armin and placed the side of her head on his shoulder as a form of sympathy.
"Oh, Armin," Fluttershy muttered. "I am truly sorry about what happened."
Mikasa went down to Armin as well and grasped Armin's left hand.
"Armin," Mikasa spoke looking directly into his eyes. "Relax, this is not the time to get sentimental. Here, stand up."
Mikasa lifted Armin onto his feet. The ponies were shocked to see Mikasa's absence of emotion. Mikasa walked to the soldier with freckles and black hair.
"Marco, if we eliminate all of the titans swarming the HQ, we can refill our gas tanks and climb the wall, right?" she asked.
"Yeah, that's right," Marco replied. "But even if it's you, there are far too many-"
"I can do it," Mikasa interfered.
"But Mikasa," Starlight said walking to her. "You can't possibly fight all of those titans by yourself."
"I said I can do it!" Mikasa retorted.
Mikasa raised her right sword up towards the sky, grabbing everybody's attention, including the ponies.
"I'm... strong; stronger than all of you. Far stronger!" she cried. "And so, I can kill all those titans. Even alone."
Everybody, even the ponies, was stunned by Mikasa's words of faith and bravery. She pointed her blade at everybody, making the sword vertical to the ground.
"Forget lacking talent, you're all nothing but cowards," she resumed. "It's a real shame. You can all sit back and twiddle your thumbs for all I care. Feel free to sit back and watch. That is all you have to do."
"Hey, Mikasa," shouted a female soldier. "What the hell are you saying?!"
"You're gonna take on that many titans all by yourself?!", asked a male soldier.
"There's no way that's-" declared yet another male soldier.
Mikasa remained silent for a second while the ponies waited for her response.
"If I can't do it," Mikasa answered. "then I'll just die."
Twilight and all of her friends gasped simultaneously.
"But if I win, I'll live. If I don't fight, I can't win," Mikasa ended.
She fired both of her grappling hooks towards some nearby structures and flew towards the HQ, without another word.
"Hey!" Conny yelled.
"Wait, Mikasa!" cried Twilight.
The ponies and soldiers saw Mikasa fly farther and farther away from them. The ponies started to feel stings of guilt and sadness.
"I... I don't believe this." Starlight murmured. "She just... she just flew straight towards her own grave like it was nothing."
"There's absolutely no way she can kill all of those titans, not by herself," Twilight added.
"The real shame is your way with words," Jean said in an agitated voice. "Expecting that to rile us up... It's all your fault, Eren."
Jean raised his blade into the air and started to shout, bringing everyone's attention to him.
"Hey! I don't remember being taught to leave our comrades to fight alone! You're all gonna become real cowards!"
Jean went straight towards the HQ, followed by Conny.
"Jean, Conny!" Fluttershy shouted. "What are you-?"
"We can't let that happen," Reiner stated.
Reiner and his other comrades walked towards the end of the roof, readying themselves to race towards the fortress.
"Hey, cowards, weaklings, idiots!" Sasha screamed.
"Yeah, you fraidy-cats, crybabies!" Pinkie continued. Sasha looked down at Pinkie Pie with a smirk on her face. Pinkie returned Sasha's grin with a smile.
"Let's go, girls! We've got a building to reclaim!" Twilight assembled.
"Alright!" Rainbow Dash blurted flying up in the air. "Let's do this, together!"
"Together!" shouted the ponies.
Twilight flew towards the HQ while grabbing Starlight. Rainbow Dash went and grabbed hold of Applejack and flew with Twilight towards the headquarters. Pinkie Pie, however, hopped and jumped across the rooftops, surprising the other soldiers with her agility.
"Fluttershy," Rarity said. "You must go on without me! I don't want to slow you down."
"Huh?" Fluttershy said with a worried expression. "But we can't leave you behind; there's no way!"
"Don't worry!" Sasha shouted. "I can carry her. You have to catch up with the others!"
As much as Fluttershy wanted to argue, she looked at Rarity, who gave her a reassuring smile. Fluttershy nodded and flew with her friends and the others.
"Grab hold and hold on tight!" Sasha called to Rarity, squatting down to let Rarity on her back.
Rarity wrapped her front legs around Sasha's chest and rear legs around her waist. Sasha fired both of her hooks towards the buildings and was ready to maneuver through the city.
"So tell me, darling," Rarity said. "How fast does this device fly exa-WAAHAAHAAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
Before she could finish her question, Sasha and Rarity sky-rocketed to the HQ with Rarity screaming her lungs out.
"Damn," whispered a male soldier. "I'll show you who's the crybaby."
All of the soldiers shouted and bolted towards the headquarters with their newfound confidence. The rooftops were now buzzing with the cadets and ponies racing through the city of Trost, hoping that there was still a chance to make it out of this nightmare alive.
My Little Pony: Fight Against the Titans
As the soldiers flew across the city of Trost with their maneuvering gear, Mikasa swiftly sliced the nape of a nearby Titan roughly 13 meters tall. The Titan collapsed onto the streets, letting more soldiers through the horde. The ponies were stunned to witness Mikasa's agility and swiftness as they continued to follow her.
"Hurry!" Jean cried. "Everyone follow Mikasa! This will be a quick, decisive battle! Charge towards the HQ before you run out of gas!"
"Mikasa is amazing!" Conny stated. "Just how does she move that fast?!"
Streams of gas were pouring out of her device broadly.
Oh no, Armin thought deeply. She's expending too much gas. She'll run out in no time at that rate! No matter how skilled she is in mobility, she's as good as dead!
Mikasa retracted one of her hooks and fired both again at a nearby Titan, slicing the nape clean off. The Titan fell backward on an adjacent building. Mikasa turned right into a different street, continuing to exhaust so much gas up to the point where she would eventually run out.
She isn't calm like usual. She's trying to keep her emotions in check through action. At this rate, she's going to-
The hissing of gas suddenly ceased from Mikasa's device, causing her to lose altitude and momentum. She fell backward, crashed on the roof of a building and rolled onto the streets. The impact of the fall caused her blades to snap off near the base of the handles.
"Mikasa!" Armin yelled, changing his direction towards his fallen ally.
Rainbow Dash saw Mikasa tumble and also flew to her direction while carrying Applejack.
"Hang on, Mikasa!" Rainbow shouted. "We'll save you!"
"Damn," Jean fumed upon losing their most outstanding soldier.
"Jean, take the lead for everyone!" Conny shouted. "I'll stick with Armin!"
"No, I'm going too!" Jean retorted.
"Huh?! What are you saying?!" Conny asked. "There are still more titans left! We need your skills!"
Jean grimaced since he knew that someone had to lead all of the soldiers to safety, forcing him to abandon Mikasa and Armin. Conny went in the same direction his friend was heading. Twilight, on the other hoof, was also concerned for Mikasa's well-being and flew towards the direction Armin was going while carrying Starlight with her.
Mikasa landed safely on a tent of an abandoned product stand. She looked up at the sky and thought about how she lost her family following Eren's death.
Again , she thought to herself. It happened again. I lost my family again.
She raised her right hand with her blade, noticing that it was broken off along with the other blade in her left hand. She slid off the tent, fell on her knees and looked down at her damaged swords, feeling the depression of losing Eren as her only family member left.
Do I have to recall this pain and start over again?
Rainbow Dash and Applejack landed in the street and ran towards Mikasa while she was still pondering what to do now.
"Hey, Mikasa!" cried Rainbow. "Are you okay?!"
Mikasa did not respond.
"Come on!" Applejack exclaimed. "We gotta get the hay outta here!"
The two ponies began to feel tremors, which Mikasa left unnoticed. Rainbow Dash and Applejack looked across the street and saw a Titan with a rectangular face, a huge belly and about 15 meters in height walking towards them.
Meanwhile, Jean looked at the HQ to see that it was still a long distance to cover.
"It's no use," Jean said. "We can't even get close to the HQ. Without making sacrifices at least..."
Jean looked down to see a soldier trying to use his maneuvering gear to reel the cables that were hooked on the roof of another building back in his device, but was entirely out of gas. The soldier started to hyperventilate in fear seeing some titans begin to swarm him.
Damn, he's all out of gas, Jean thought.
"N-no! Stay away!" the soldier cried.
As a small Titan picked up the terrified soldier, Jean watched him looking hysterical himself. Jean heard small whimpering to his left and saw Fluttershy trembling with fear cowering behind the slope of the roof Jean was standing on. Jean began to wince again upon seeing the pegasus' cowardice. Jean suddenly noticed a male and a female soldier fly towards the swarm of titans, wanting to save the ambushed soldier.
"Tom, I'm coming!" yelled the male soldier.
"Stop! It's already too late!" Jean argued.
The two soldiers ignored Jean's orders and continued to try and save their partner.
"Stop!" shouted the male soldier as he flew towards the titan grasping the soldier.
Unfortunately, another titan grabbed him by the waist, crushing his spine in the process. The soldier went limb as the Titan was about to place the soldier in his mouth. Tom lost all salvation and screamed in terror as the titan opened its mouth agape and chomped Tom's upper body, causing blood to spill all over the Titan's hands and down onto the ground.
Why couldn't I stop him? Jean questioned himself in his mind as he witnessed more soldiers being devoured by the Titans. Why didn't I? Even if it was through force, I could've...
Jean started to sweat profusely, and his hands began to tremble.
Do I have the right? The right to be in a position of responsibility?
"No!" screamed the female soldier. "No! I don't want to die!"
The soldiers standing on the roof, including Reiner, Bertolt, Annie, Marco, and Sasha also felt the same feeling that Jean was having. Rarity and Pinkie Pie even watched helplessly in tears as the massive Titans made meals out of the abandoned soldiers. Jean closed his eyes shut, wanting this gruesome scene to fade away.
"Mikasa! We have to get out of here! A titan's coming this way!", Rainbow Dash shouted grabbing Mikasa's shoulders and shaking her frantically.
Rainbow's words fell on deaf ears as Mikasa continued to remember her childhood days like when Eren gave her the scarf she was wearing. She had that scarf for about six years and wore it to this day for it was the only memory she had left of Eren. Rainbow and Applejack saw the titan coming closer, only to be a few yards away from them.
This world is cruel and... astonishingly beautiful. , Mikasa thought. It's been a nice life.
"Applejack!" exclaimed Rainbow. "Grab Mikasa and get out of here!"
"Already on it, Rainbow!" Applejack replied putting Mikasa on her back.
The two ponies started to run the opposite direction until another titan appeared from the other side of the street, causing the ponies to skid to a halt. This Titan was much more muscular and had long strands of black, untidy hair. It had long, pointy ears that resembled an elf, eyes that were shrunken deeply into its sockets and exposed teeth due to a lack of lips and cheeks.
"Another one?!", Rainbow shouted. "You gotta be kidding me!"
"Rainbow Dash!", yelled Applejack. "Take Mikasa and get outta here!"
"No way! I'm not leaving you alone defenseless!" Rainbow argued standing in front of Applejack.
Applejack could not quarrel against Rainbow Dash's loyalty among her friends. Applejack faced the fatter titan while Rainbow Dash stood against the other, preparing themselves for a fight to protect Mikasa. Mikasa continued to recollect her past. She looked at her shortened blade and remembered the time those evil merchants abducted her.
She held the knife with her two hands while the last merchant was strangling Eren. "Fight!" Eren yelled. "Fight! FIGHT!" His words began to come back to the present.
Eren... Mikasa thought remembering those words looking back at the fatter titan.
"Fight!" Eren commanded. "Fight! FIGHT!" Mikasa's body began to surge with an intensity to fight back and kill the merchant before it killed Eren.
Mikasa gasped after remembering Eren's words. Her eyes started to produce tears that moved down her cheeks.
I'm so sorry, Eren, she thought to herself. I won't give up anymore. Never, ever again. Because if I die, these memories of you die with me.
Mikasa stood on her feet and grasped her blade. Applejack and Rainbow Dash saw her ready to fight back; so they too stood their ground against the Titans reaching for them.
That's why... I'll win no matter what! I'll live no matter what!
Rage began to fume up inside of her as she let out a battle cry throughout the city, causing Applejack and Rainbow Dach to let out battle cries of their own. Suddenly, before any of them could strike back, the muscular Titan stomped hard onto the ground forcing Mikasa, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash to fly up in the air about three feet.
The Titan clenched his right fist and delivered a mighty punch right into the other Titan's jaw, causing blood to spray all over its face. Once the rogue titan stepped over the three of them, Mikasa, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash ducked for cover and shut their eyes as they slid on the ground, unaware of the fatter Titan that fell and slid sideways from the impact of the rogue Titan's blow.
"What in tarnation?" Applejack said holding on to her Stetson.
"What just...?" Mikasa murmured.
Mikasa, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash looked up and simultaneously gasped. They looked up to see the Rogue Titan stood against the other one. Their eyes twinkled with absolute awe towards the Rogue Titan. It inhaled deeply, and then let out a massive, ear-piercing roar, forcing Mikasa, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash to cover their ears. The Titan sprinted towards the befallen Titan and began to stomp furiously on its nape. The three of them looked back at the Rogue Titan in confusion as it continued to stomp the other titan in a massive bloodbath.
A titan is... killing a titan.
Mikasa, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack watched with awe and disbelief as the Rogue Titan proceeded to force its foot into the truncated neck of the Titan that it killed already until it was finally satisfied. The three of them were astonished what their eyes have just beheld.
"Woah Nelly," Applejack said.
"What just happened?" asked Rainbow Dash.
Armin continued to zip over the buildings, conserving what little gas he had left. Twilight followed in pursuit still holding on to Starlight while scanning for her friends.
"Please, Mikasa," Armin muttered. "Please be okay."
Armin, Twilight, and Starlight heard a roar to their right and turned their heads to see where that cry was coming from. Starlight spotted Mikasa, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash down in the street where the rogue titan was.
"Down there!" Starlight shouted. "I see them!"
They looked at where Starlight was pointing, and sure enough, they saw their friends.
"Mikasa!" Armin yelled.
"Applejack! Rainbow Dash!" Twilight cried.
Armin retracted his hooks and fired them again at the side of a building adjacent to Mikasa, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash. He swung down and grabbed hold of Mikasa. Rainbow Dash saw this as the perfect opportunity and grabbed Applejack towards Armin and Mikasa. Armin pushed Mikasa on the rooftop and tumbled along with her to safety. Twilight, Starlight, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash land on the roof with them as well.
"Mikasa, are you hurt?!" Armin asked with high concern.
Out of nowhere, Conny lands on the same roof like everyone else to check on them.
"Hey, are you two okay?!" Conny shouted.
"Yeah, we're fine!" Armin answered.
"Then let's go!"
Soon, Conny looked up and saw two Titans approach each other.
"Shit, two 15-meter-class Titans!" Conny yelled.
"No," Mikasa replied. "That one is..."
Armin, Twilight, and Starlight looked down to the street to see a Titan's skeleton fading into thin air. They looked back at the two Titans and realized that they were paying no attention to them; the Titans were to affixed at each other. The Rogue Titan stepped closer to the other Titan and let out another menacing roar. The other Titan roared back in exchange. The Rogue Titan slowly pulls its fists up and prepares itself for combat, which was perceived by astonishment and dismay by Mikasa, Conny, Armin, Twilight, Starlight, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash.
The other Titan began to charge straight towards the Rogue Titan. The Rogue Titan responded by lifting its right leg upwards and pulling its right arm back. Moving back down to draw strength from the ground up, the Rogue Titan aggressively drove the side of his left fist into the right side of the Titan’s head. The tremendous force was enough to rip the head off of the Titan's body along with a small piece of its vertebrae ripping from its joints.
"Holy moly!" Rainbow Dash cried.
The severed head was flying right towards them at a dangerously high speed.
"Duck!" Starlight shouted.
Everyone immediately ducked for cover as the head flew right above them, blowing them with a blast of wind. The head bounced on one roof and crashed directly into a nearby bell tower. Everyone looked back at the decapitated head with total shock and amazement. They suddenly heard a loud crash and looked back to see the Titan's body on the ground laying on its stomach. They turned their attention to the rogue titan and saw that the impact of the punch tore off the flesh from its hand where steam was hissing. The ponies looked in sheer astonishment to see the Rogue Titan's hand regenerate almost instantly.
"That Titan..." Twilight murmured. "has regeneration capabilities?"
"No.", Armin replied. "All titans can regenerate. Look!"
Armin pointed down where the other Titan fell. The ponies were shocked to see the Titan trying to lift itself up by pushing off of the ground, even without its head. Twilight and Starlight were terrified by the mere invincibility of these abominations, until the rogue titan slammed its foot right into the other Titan's nape, killing it immediately. Everybody was completely amazed.
"I-It landed a finishing blow?!" Armin said. "It knew exactly where the weak point was?!"
"Weak point?" Starlight questioned. "What is this about a weak point? That thing was still moving, even without its head!"
"Well, you see. Titans can regenerate parts of their body after a cut or deep wound; all except for one place: the nape. That's exactly why we use our swords. A deep slice at the nape will kill a Titan quickly enough so that they can't regenerate quick enough before it dies," Armin stated.
All of the ponies were quite intrigued by this fact, despite it also being terrifying.
"Enough chit-chat!" Conny disrupted. "Let's get a move on! Before it comes this way!"
"No, wait!" Armin replied. "It's completely ignoring us. Otherwise, it would have attacked us by now."
"It seemed to have a general understanding of hand-to-hand combat too," Mikasa added. "Just what is it...?"
"What else, but an abnormal?" Conny answered. "What we know is less than what we don't. Anyway, let's hurry to the HQ."
"Yeah, besides, we still gotta take care of those Titans all over the HQ," Rainbow added taking the sky once again.
"Wait, Mikasa is out of gas!" Armin mentioned, forcing Rainbow Dash back on the roof.
"Huh?!" Conny exclaimed. "What, seriously?! What are we gonna do without you?!"
"There's no way we're letting you stay behind, especially someone as awesome as you!" Rainbow Dash spoke.
"There's only one thing to do," said Armin, bending down and removing the gas canisters on top of his sheaths. "I don't have much left either, but hurry up and swap with me."
Mikasa looked down at Armin with an anxious expression.
"Armin!" she cried.
"We have no choice!" Armin retorted, switching his gas canisters with Mikasa's. "I'd just be wasting it. But...make sure you use it properly this time to save everyone."
Mikasa was still astounded over Armin’s decisions, mainly because they returned the carelessness of her own.
I was... Mikasa pondered inside her head. leading everyone without the resolve to take responsibility for their lives. Ignorant of that responsibility, I even abandoned my life at one point. For selfish reasons, at that. I...
Mikasa was interrupted by the sound of her device ejecting a small portion of gas, Armin having completed replacing the gas canisters.
"All right," Armin said. "the operating device is still functional. I'll put all my blades in there too."
"But what about you Armin?" Twilight asked. "We can't leave you behind either."
"She's right," Starlight budded in. "If we're going to make it out of this, we're going to make it out together."
"It'll be fine," Armin answered. "Just... leave me this one. I want to avoid at least being devoured alive."
The ponies were disheartened to see Armin sacrifice his essentials to fight. Rainbow Dash, in particular, had her eyes wide open and a gaping mouth, earning respect for the young soldier. Mikasa took the tiny blade from Armin's hand and threw it into a nearby alley, surprising not only Armin but also Twilight and Starlight as well.
"Wh-why?", Armin asked, feeling disappointment to have his only means of defense cast away like rubbish.
Mikasa placed her hand on Armin's and looked at him directly into the eyes.
"Armin," Mikasa said calmly. "I won't leave you here."
"The same goes for us," Applejack ensured.
"Mmhm," the ponies unanimously agreed.
Armin was dumbfounded by the ponies' loyalty towards him, especially Rainbow Dash. Mikasa lifted Armin onto his feet. Everybody looked back towards the HQ, hoping that they would make it out of the city alive together as friends. Mikasa's thoughts were back when she, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash encountered that Rogue Titan when it was killing the fatter one.
Back there... Mikasa said in her mind. We were filled with nothing but awe. A titan killing a titan... It's completely unheard of. But it was faintly uplifting; Because that scene seemed to embody the rage of humanity.
My Little Pony: Fight Against the Titans
4 I Can Hear His Heartbeat
"Armin," Mikasa said calmly. "I won't leave you here."
"The same goes for us," Applejack ensured.
"Mmhm," the ponies unanimously agreed.
Armin was dumbfounded by the ponies' loyalty towards him, especially Rainbow Dash. Mikasa lifted Armin on to his feet. Everybody looked back towards the HQ, hoping that they would make it out of the city alive together as friends.
"B-but moving through a crowd of Titans while carrying someone is-" Armin said.
However, Conny started to become annoyed by Armin's doubt and grabbed his right hand.
"Come on!" Conny said. "Let's go!"
"But wait! You're also low on gas as well. If you try to carry Armin with you, you'll just be exhausting more gas," Twilight interjected stopping Conny in his tracks. "You'll be endangering not only your life but Armin's as well."
Conny looked back at Twilight feeling embarrassed to be corrected by a pony and hissed through his teeth. As much as he wanted to argue with Twilight, he knew that it was far too risky.
"So what do you suggest we do, genius?" Conny questioned.
Twilight shut her eyes and rubbed her right front hoof on the side her head, trying to formulate a plan. Meanwhile, Armin looked back at the Rogue Titan roaring in fury, thinking that it might want to resume killing more titans. That's when something clicked inside Armin's mind.
"Guys!" Armin yelled. "I have an idea!"
"Really?!" Starlight asked in surprise. "What kind of idea?"
"Only you two are needed for it, so the final decision is yours," Armin declared. "I know it's crazy, but maybe we could make use of that Titan?"
"That titan?!" Conny exclaimed.
"What in tarnation are ya trying to pull off, Armin?" Applejack questioned.
"It attacks other Titans and shows no interest in us. I'm not sure how Titans would react after seeing talking ponies, but maybe we could guide it to the supply station."
"Where a horde of Titans is gathered," Starlight tweeted. "Armin, that's a splendid idea!"
Armin nodded his head in agreement while he blushed a little bit after hearing Starlight's compliment.
"If it takes out the other titans for us, everyone could be saved."
"Guide? How the hell do you plan on doing that?!" Conny roared in unbelief.
"I'm assuming it fights solely on instinct," Armin answered looking back at the Rogue Titan. "Your job would be to take down all the titans near it. Once you do, it'll probably move in search for more titans. It should eventually head toward HQ."
"D-Do you think we would risk our lives over an assumption?!" Conny shouted back, still not convinced.
"But if it's true, we could take all of the Titans attacking HQ down in one fell swoop!" Armin returned.
"Besides, what other options do we have left, huh?!" Rainbow Dash added. "That Titan may just be our only chance of making it out of this nightmare alive."
"Ah'm with Rainbow on this one," Applejack budded in. "Our friends are gettin' their flanks kicked by those nasty varmints. It looks like that there Titan is our only ride outta here."
"It's worth a try," Mikasa spoke.
"What?" Conny gasped. "Are you serious?!"
"It's better to bet on an assumption rather than simply waiting for death," Mikasa said.
"I agree," Twilight spoke. "That titan has got to be our best bet!"
"So you plan to fight Titans with a Titan?" Conny asked.
"Yep, that's the plan," Starlight answered.
Conny sighed in defeat, knowing that Armin and everyone else was certain about this plan.
"Fail, and we'll be made a mockery of," Conny declared.
"But succeed, and everyone will be saved," Armin replied.
"I'm willing to take that risk," Rainbow Dash said.
"Then we're all in agreement," Twilight announced. "Mikasa, and uh... sorry, I never got your name."
"Springer. Conny Springer," Conny answered. "But what about you ponies? How will you four keep up with us?"
"I'll carry Armin that way you don't waste all of your gas," Twilight answered.
"Huh, are you sure, Twilight?" Armin asked in a worried tone.
"Don't worry. I'll keep you safe no matter what happens," Twilight responded, turning her attention to Rainbow Dash.
"Rainbow Dash, you carry Starlight towards the supply castle and meet up with everypony else, understand?" Twilight said.
"But what about Applejack?!" Rainbow asked.
"Now, don't ya worry about me, Rainbow," Applejack replied. "Ah'm sure my legs can carry me up to that there HQ. Ya make sure that Mikasa and Conny staw outta harm's way."
Rainbow Dash knew how strong Applejack was since that earth pony worked on an apple farm for most of her life. Rainbow Dash returned a nod and a smile to Applejack.
"Alright!" Rainbow Dash returned in support. "Then let's do this!"
"YEAH!" everybody cheered.
Mikasa, Conny, Armin, and the ponies went towards the Rogue Titan to lure it to other Titans in hopes that Armin's plan would fall into place.
Meanwhile, Jean, the soldiers, as well as Fluttershy, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie, continued to stand on the rooftops in sheer horror as they were still watching the Titans devour their comrades. Jean wished that he could save them, but he knew deep down that they had to make it to the HQ or else everyone else will meet the same fate. Jean started to wonder to himself if he was fit to be a leader.
Do I have the right? Jean thought to himself. The right to be in a position of responsibility?
"Jean, what are we going to do?" whispered the yellow pegasus, still quivering in fright behind the slope of the roof.
Jean looked back at Fluttershy and saw tears pouring out endlessly. He suddenly remembered what he was fighting for exactly. Jean was not fighting just for his comrades, but also the ponies as well. While the ponies didn't seem to have as much bravery as the other soldiers, he knew that these ponies could be the only ray of sunshine winning this war against the Titans.
Knowing exactly what to do, he walked towards Fluttershy and kneeled down to the pegasus' level. He wiped the tears away from Fluttershy's eyes with his finger, allowing the pegasus to look up at him with glittering eyes. All of the soldiers and ponies looked at them with dismay and wonder.
"What is he doing now?" Marco questioned.
Pinkie Pie grew a smile on her face, knowing precisely what Jean was doing. He was comforting and encouraging Fluttershy like a true friend.
"Listen, Fluttershy was it?" Jean asked in a calm voice, receiving a nod of agreement. "Here's what I need you to do. Gather your pony friends and prepare to charge for the HQ. While all of these Titans are distracted, we can slip right past them. Just follow my lead and stay close, alright?"
Fluttershy only gave him a small nod of approval. The other soldiers were shocked to see Jean, out of all people, comfort a little, harmless creature like Fluttershy.
"Since when did Jean become so soft?" Annie asked Reiner.
"Not sure, really," Reiner responded.
Afterwards, Fluttershy flew right next to Rarity and Pinkie Pie. Jean stood back up to his feet and started to look for the most explicit path without being spotted by titans. His companions stood tensely as they continued to witness the deaths of a few soldiers.
"I hope you two are ready," Fluttershy said to Rarity and Pinkie.
Once Jean pinpointed a route, he began to put his plan into action.
"NOW!" Jean shouted grabbing everyone's attention. "Rush over to the HQ now!"
Jean leaped off of the roof onto another conserving what little gas he had left. Marco and Sasha were the first to follow his lead towards the HQ. Fluttershy, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie were the next to follow Jean's lead with Fluttershy flying over the rooftops and Rarity and Pinkie Pie jumping and leaping across the roof, followed by Reiner, Annie, Bertholdt and a few other soldiers.
This is our chance, Jean thought as he ran across the rooftops. We'll be finished if our gas runs out anyway.
"Everyone charge!" Jean ordered.
The soldiers and three ponies continued to run and leap across the buildings, getting closer to the main fortress.
Further back from the soldiers' ranks, Mikasa latched both of her grappling hooks into two separate buildings over the roadway towards more Titans. She moves behind a Titan about 12 meters and cuts the Titan's nape almost flawlessly, causing the Titan to tumble onto the streets. Conny swung close behind Mikasa while Twilight, Armin, Rainbow Dash, and Starlight flew next to him. Down into the streets, Applejack galloped at full speed trying to keep up with everypony else avoiding as many Titans as possible.
A few yards down the street, the Rogue Titan wrestled yet another Titan, slamming it into a structure behind it. It finished the other Titan off with three powerful punches in the head. After delivering the finishing blow, it saw Mikasa and Conny swing past it and Twilight, Armin, Rainbow Dash, and Starlight as well. The Rogue Titan also noticed Applejack racing across the streets towards the HQ. The Titan looked at where they were heading and saw a massive horde of Titans around the fortress, longing for more Titans to kill.
Jean and the other soldiers flew above the streets with their maneuvering gear with Fluttershy flying overhead, Pinkie Pie bouncing on the roofs, and Rarity holding on to Sasha while screaming in the process. Knowing that engaging the Titans head-on would be a suicide attempt, Jean and the other soldiers flew around the Titans' heads and bodies with expertise. Fluttershy kept a close eye on everypony to see to it that every soldier made it to the fortress in one piece.
Jean continues to fly over to the HQ. However, a Titan with a horrid smile grabs Jean's left leg, restricting him from any movement.
"Jean, no!" Fluttershy yelled.
She dove straight down towards Jean head first as fast as her wings could carry her. She flipped her body and stretched her right leg, bucking the Titan's arm with the back of her hoof. The Titan was caught off-guard and lost its grip, allowing Jean to escape and continue towards the HQ. Fluttershy followed him in pursuit before the titan could grab her. Pinkie Pie and Rarity saw the heroic act Fluttershy pulled off and smiled in delight.
"Woohoo!" Pinkie cheered. "Nice moves, Fluttershy!"
The other soldiers continued to follow Jean's lead, getting closer to the castle. Jean and the soldiers landed on the roof of another tall building and ran to conserve gas. Jean looked up to his left to see the flying pony that saved him from certain death while Marco fell right next to Jean.
"Jean!" Marco called, grabbing Jean's full attention. "Thanks. We got away thanks to you."
"Huh?" Jean said in slight confusion.
"You pulled through for us," Marco continued. "I told you, didn't I? You're suited to be a leader."
Jean smiled and made his response.
"Well, I don't know about that!" Jean replied.
Soaring up in the air, Jean and the others were nearly at the HQ. Jean dodged two other Titans before one of them could get their hands on him. One unfortunate soldier was caught by a Titan, causing some blood to spill out. The soldier shrieked in fear as the Titan was about to feed on him. Jean looked back in terror as the Titan ate him alive.
"Damn!" he shouted, turning back towards the HQ.
Jean fired his hooks again and swung towards a nearby window of the HQ. He leaned back and extended his left leg to break the window that he was approaching. With a mighty kick, the window shattered into tiny pieces. Jean tumbled inside while shielding his face from the broken glass. Fluttershy dove for the window and tucked her wings to prevent injuring herself from the broken glass. Annie, Reiner, Bertholdt, Marco, and the other few soldiers that survived broke the other windows and landed to safety. She fell right next to Jean and gave her a helping hoof with a contented smile. Jean returned the smile and grabbed her hoof to allow Fluttershy to lift him up to his feet. Sasha, Conny, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie were the last to enter the building unharmed. Afterwards, Sasha let Rarity off of her back to settle her things.
"WOOHOO!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed. "We made it!"
"Thank goodness," Rarity addressed. "I thought we'd never take it alive. Now I can finally take this thing off."
Rarity walked to the nearest table to unpack her saddlebag using her magic. The soldiers were surprised to see the unicorn use magic to levitate the bag she carried, especially Reiner and Bertholdt. Jean looked to see Rarity take out a small brush with her magic and used it to brush her hair, untying any loose ends or strands of hair. Jean looked at the marshmallow pony with a mean scowl and just ignored her. He scanned the room to see how many soldiers survived the assault.
How many made it? Jean wondered placing his left palm on his eye looking solemnly onto the floor. How many died on my order, taking advantage of our comrades' deaths?
He suddenly noticed two soldiers hiding under a large desk. The two soldiers looked back at him with worry and dread.
"You guys... are the supply squad, right?" Jean asked.
"Yeah," the male soldier answered softly.
After getting his answer, Jean grabbed the soldiers military jacket, pulled him out of the desk, and pucked him square in the left side of his face, causing the soldier to drop onto the floor.
"Jean!" cried Fluttershy, flying in front of him.
Jean ignored Fluttershy and pushed her out of the way to deliver another punch at the bruised soldier.
"Stop, Jean!" Marco ordered, grabbing underneath Jean's arms and restraining him from further advancing.
Fluttershy moved towards Rarity at her side and hugged her in terror, not wanting to see the conflict any longer. The female soldier hiding under the desk bent down to help the fallen soldier.
"These guys left us out there to die!" Jean screamed. "People died in vain because of you lot!"
"Titans broke into the supply station!" responded the female soldier in tears. "There was nothing we could do!"
"Did you forget that it's your job to do something about it?!" Jean angerly questioned.
Jean turned his attention to the ponies while he was still being restrained by Marco, specifically Rarity.
"And you!" he shouted. "What the hell was that you were doing with that brush?!"
"Well, I just used magic to simply brush my mane, that's all," Rarity replied.
The soldiers gasped once they heard the word 'magic' come out of her mouth. Jean, however, was the least fazed about it.
"Then why didn't you use your so-called 'magic' to save those other soldiers that died out there?!"
Rarity began to get irritated of Jean's back talk, and her manner started to come close to Jean's.
"The same reason your men didn't use swords to fight back against those ruffians!" Rarity replied, coming closer to Jean and Marco.
Jean was suddenly taken back by Rarity's comeback.
"I was just as horrified as the rest of you, but you know as well as everypony else that waltzing into battle unprepared is just ludicrous."
Jean ignored Rarity's statement and looked at the yellow pegasus.
"What about you?!" Jean demanded. "Why didn't you use the same kind of strength to kick that titan's arm that grabbed me and help those other men that died out there?!"
Fluttershy receded down on the floor in terror.
"Th...there were just too many of them!" Fluttershy answered in a low voice. "It was too risky!"
"I'm certain that everypony else can say the same, huh?!" Rarity appended. "How much speed or strength do you believe a pegasus like her could convene against that many titans?!"
"Clearly, the same speed and strength to save me from that titan's grasp!" Jean retorted.
"Because she sees you as a true friend!" Rarity interjected, causing Jean to step back in shock. "Sure, Fluttershy may not be the bravest pony I know, but if there's a friend of hers who is in grave danger, she would never back down from a fight! She saved you from certain doom, and this is how you thank her?! By questioning her bravery to save the others?! Forshame!"
Deep down, Jean know that almost every word that came out of Rarity's mouth was right, but Rarity was not going to let him off that easily. Before Rarity could continue her dispute, Reiner heard a whooshing sound and looked out the nearest window. What he saw made him snap into immediate action.
"Get down!" he shouted.
Everyone's attention was brought to Reiner as he ran towards the center of the room. Suddenly, a large hole was blasted through the wall by a Titan. The force of the blast forced a few of the soldiers to tumble and crash to the other side of the room. Jean, Marco, Rarity, and Fluttershy barely avoided the debris and bricks that hurled towards them. Fluttershy, being the most terrified out of everypony, hid behind a fallen table.
Jean looked outside to see where the crash came from and saw the faces of two Titans peeking through the breach after the dust cleared. After spotting the giants, Rarity ran towards Fluttershy and lifted her onto her hooves. However, Fluttershy kept her focus on Jean, who was still in shock as he looked at the Titans' ugly faces.
"Shoot!" Jean hesitated. "We got too many people here!"
Most of the soldiers fell into a state of panic and ran deeper inside the HQ.
"Hurry!" shouted a male soldier.
"Get inside!" yelled another.
"Stop! We can't all get in at once!" cried a different soldier.
"Where did Mikasa go?!" screamed another male soldier.
"She ran out of gas and got devoured!" screeched another.
"Fluttershy! We have to go, now!" Rarity shouted.
"Yeah, Titans are crashing the party!" Pinkie added.
Jean didn't even move a muscle because he began to question himself about the fate of humanity.
It was obvious, thought Jean. I guess this is how reality is. Was I... trying to immerse myself in some dream or illusion? I should have noticed... our reality. It's obvious if you think about it. There is no winning, not against them.
"Jean!" Fluttershy wailed, breaking free from Rarity's grasp and running towards him to get him out of harm's way.
"Fluttershy, no!" Rarity yelled, following Fluttershy in pursuit.
Rarity went to help Jean as well. When the three of them looked out the hole, they saw a massive fist collide into one of the Titan's face, crashing into other Titan's head as well.
"What?!", the three of them said in unison.
The impact of the Titan's punch created a thunderous sound outside the fortress. The other Titans fell right off of the building and slid into the streets. Jean, Rarity, and Fluttershy saw that the punch came from the Rogue Titan standing right outside the hole. The Rogue Titan let out a tremendous roar, making Fluttershy tremble once again. The other soldiers that tried to retreat inside the HQ walked back into the room and looked at the Titan with stunned expressions.
"What's...that?" Jean murmured.
Out of nowhere, Mikasa crashed through a different window with Twilight carrying Armin in his arms. Rainbow Dash and Starlight were the next to enter the room. Twilight and Rainbow Dash settled Armin and Starlight down onto the floor plus all of their saddlebags on some of the tables to catch their breath. From outside, Applejack was about to reach the HQ when she heard somepony call out for her name.
"Applejack, hold on!" Conny shouted.
Applejack looked behind and saw Conny about to grab her. She jumped up into the air to allow Conny to catch her successfully. Once Conny got a hold of the pony, he zipped up straight through the window Mikasa broke to get inside and landed safely with Applejack.
"Thanks for the lift, partner," Applejack said, removing her saddlebag and placing it with the others.
"The pleasure's all mine," Conny replied.
"Alright!" Rainbow Dash shouted while flying in the air. "We all made it!"
"Mikasa!" Jean shouted, bringing her attention to him.
"Whew, I just ran out of gas," Conny said in relief while tapping the empty gas canisters. "We did it. Just barely!"
Fluttershy ran to Applejack and gave her a warm hug.
"Thank goodness you're ok!" Fluttershy whimpered with tears in her eyes.
"Don't worry, sugarcube," Applejack replied softly rubbing her back. "Ah'm just glad the rest of y'all are safe and sound."
"Y-you're alive!" Jean hesitated as he looked right at Mikasa.
Conny approached Armin and slapped him right on the back.
"We did it, Armin!" Conny congratulated. "You're plan was a success!"
"Ow, that hurts!" Armin stated.
"Everyone," Conny shouted to everyone in the room. "that Titan's an abnormal that attacks other titans! Not to mention, it doesn't care about us! If we can make good use of it, we'll be able to get out of here!"
Upon hearing Conny’s persistence of using a Titan, the other soldiers, including Rarity and Fluttershy, murmured loudly with confusion and uncertainty.
"Make good use of... a Titan?" muttered a male soldier.
"Like fighting fire with fire?" Rarity questioned.
"You think we'll be saved by a Titan?" Jean asked skeptically. "Something that delusional-"
"It's far from delusional," Mikasa interrupted. "It doesn't matter what it is. All we need is for that titan to continue its rampage," she continued, as she saw the Rogue Titan punch another one sending it flying backward. "Realistically, that's our best plan for survival."
"Well, while that Titan is taking care of the other ones, how do we get out of the city?" Starlight asked.
"We have to refill our gas canisters if we want to leave with our maneuvering gear, but the storage room is filled with smaller Titans," Armin stated.
"Hey, Twilight," Conny called. "Can't you unicorns use your magic to take out those Titans? I'm sure you could do a lot of cool things with that magic of yours."
"We could, yes," Twilight replied. "The only problem is that since there isn't magic in this world, the magic we brought with us would make things difficult to cast advanced spells rather than simple ones. Using an advanced spell would use almost all of my magic."
"Well, can't you at least kill them without being noticed?" Jean added. "Titans only pay attention to humans like us."
"Um... well, that Titan I saved you from tried to grab me while I was flying away," Fluttershy added. "So I think the Titans see us just as human like you guys."
"Great, so now what?!" Jean asked in exasperation.
Armin and Twilight thought deeply to formulate a plan good enough to exterminate all of the Titans in the storage room. Armin suddenly gasped once a plan came to form.
"Guys, I think I got it!" Armin called out to everyone.
The ponies and the rest of the soldiers were paying close attention to Armin's plan.
Outside of the HQ, the Rogue Titan looked behind him and saw a Titan about his height ready to tackle him. The Rogue Titan quickly turned to face the other Titan and locked his arm, using the momentum to his advantage by tossing the other Titan over its shoulder. Two smaller Titans were crushed in the process. The Rogue Titan roared once again before he charged at another Titan his height running towards him. The Rogue Titan blew a punch directly at the Titan's right shoulder sending it flying into a nearby building. It then struck a seven-meter right into its jaw with an uppercut and kicked a three-meter high into the air with ease.
"It's fine," he said to everyone. "That Titan's stronger than your average one. The building won't be attacked as long as it's rampaging outside."
Deeper inside the HQ at the highest level, several soldiers were waiting for a wooden lift to arrive at the top floor. Some of the soldiers had removed their maneuvering gear now that all of their gas has been used, making their maneuvering gear useless. The ponies sat down on their haunches next to Conny, Annie, Reiner, and Bertholdt.
"How much do you guys know about that Titan?" Reiner asked.
Conny was brought back by Reiner's question but decides to change the subject.
"We can worry about that after we get out of this," Conny answered dodging Reiner's question.
Reiner nodded in agreement.
"True," Reiner said. "First things first."
"We found them!" Jean shouted grabbing everyone's full attention.
Jean was carrying a large, extended crate along with the other few soldiers.
"They're the Military Police Brigade's stock. There's a bit of dust on them though."
"Well, it's better than nothing," Starlight commented.
Once Jean and the others set the crates on the floor, Twilight, Rarity, and Starlight used their magic to open the lids to reveal long rifles with gunpowder, ramrods, and bullets. The ponies looked at the weapons and tilted their heads in confusion, wondering how precisely those guns were used to fight.
Afterwards, Jean, Marco, and several other soldiers grabbed their own rifle and loaded them with the supplies found inside the crates.
"Are three bullets really enough?" wondered Jean. "Besides, are guns going to be of any use against Titans?"
The ponies and soldiers gathered around and looked down at the paper that Armin placed describing the detail and levels of the HQ. Armin looked at Jean to give him an answer.
"I think it'll be a lot better than not having them," he replied. "If only seven 3- and 4-meter-class Titans are down there, it's possible to blind them all simultaneously with this much firepower."
"Alright then, so what is the plan?" Twilight asked.
"And how will these rifle thingemagingies come into play?" Applejack added.
Armin looked down at the large piece of paper to think about the best course of action.
"Okay," Armin said, bringing everyone's attention to him. "First, we'll lower a crowd of people from the center part of the roof using the lift. Then, we'll all fire at the faces of the Titans at the same time to rob them of their sight. After that..." Armin paused for a moment and glanced at everyone. "everything will be decided in the next moment. The seven people hiding above the rafters will match the timing of gunfire and slash at the Titans' vitals. In other words, this plan bets everything - all of our lives - on a single attack."
The ponies and most of the soldiers felt anxious after hearing Armin's last statement. Regardless, they continued to listen to the rest of Armin's plan.
"It's a strategy that'll allow seven people to take down a Titan each, all at the same time. I'd like the seven most physically capable people to take up this task, though I apologize for burdening you guys with that responsibility."
"No worries," Reiner responded with a smile.
"Regardless of who does it, if they fail, we'll all die," Annie replied. "The risk is the same."
"Plus, if one of then messes up, we'll be sure that nopony gets eaten," Rainbow said, striking her hooves together.
"Same goes for me," Applejack responded.
Although the ponies' spirits were uplifting, Armin was still harboring doubts about the plan. He knew that he would also put the ponies lives at risk.
"But is my plan really the best way to do this?" he murmured.
"Let's just go with that," Marco encouraged. "There's no time anyway. It's all we've got. Now we just have to give it our best!"
"Don't worry," Mikasa reassured. "Be confident in yourself. You have the ability to seek out the right answers."
Armin was dumbfounded by Mikasa's approval.
"Eren and I have been saved by that ability in the past," Mikasa added.
"What?" Armin questioned. "When?"
They were suddenly cut off by a loud clatter that came from the lift.
"Lift is ready!" called a male soldier. "So are the guns! They're all loaded!"
The soldiers and the ponies stood up while Rainbow Dash flew a little higher in the room.
"Ah, yeah!" Rainbow shouted. "Let's go kick some Titan flank!"
"Rainbow Dash," called Mikasa grabbing her attention. "Stay close to your friends and wait here. If anything happens, you must live. If we don't make it, don't come back for us."
"No way I'm leaving you behind!" Rainbow replied. "I'll stick with you guys no matter what!"
"So are we!" Twilight interjected. "We'll make sure this plan works out in the end! Right, girls?"
All of the ponies nodded with simultaneous 'mm-hmm's in total agreement. Mikasa turned to face Armin.
"You don't realize it. Let's talk later," Mikasa concluded.
"Okay," Armin responded, walking into the lift.
Rainbow Dash looked back at all of her pony friends and accounted for all of them, except Pinkie Pie.
"Uhh... has anypony seen Pinkie Pie?" Rainbow asked.
The other ponies looked at each other with worried expressions and searched the whole room with Pinkie Pie.
"I'm right here, silly filly!" Pinkie shouted.
The ponies looked at the lift to see Pinkie joining the soldiers that were carrying the rifles. Pinkie Pie had her own weapon, as she was holding a small, blue cannon with tiny wheels out of nowhere. This brought great puzzlement amongst most of the soldiers.
"Pinkie, where the hell did you get that cannon from?" Bertholdt questioned in shock.
"This old thing, it's my party cannon. You never know when you need it!" Pinkie replied.
As much as Bertholdt and the other soldiers wanted to question her, they were relieved to know that Pinkie Pie had something to defend herself at least.
With the plan finally being set, Mikasa, Jean, Conny, and Sasha, Reiner, Bertholdt, and Annie began to walk down the stairs leading to the storage room with all of the ponies right behind them. Each of the humans carried a set of blades held inside a handle.
"But are we gonna be able to take down the titans without three-dimensional maneuvering devices?" Conny wondered.
"Of course," Reiner assured. "They're only 3- and 4-meter-class Titans. Their vitals will be easy to target."
"Yeah," Jean agreed. "we just need to slash the nape from top to bottom, regardless of their size."
"One meter long, ten centimeters wide!" Sasha calculated.
"Or I could stick this up their asses," Reiner said in a joking matter. "That's their only other weakness."
"I had no idea," Conny uttered. "That's an option too?!"
"I didn't know until now either," Sasha replied.
"Reiner," Jean groaned. "those could be your last words, you know."
Once the soldiers hid on top of the rafters silently and prepared themselves to attack, Applejack and Rainbow Dash hid behind the corners of the storage room's entrance and peeked behind the corners. The other ponies hid above the next floor peeking through the lift's pathway. Everything was now put into place. The only thing to be determined was the accomplishment of the plan.
There were seven Titans in total just wandering about in the storage room, looking for any human that was still cornered. The lift continued to lower down into the storage room slowly. Applejack and Rainbow Dash saw the seven volunteers were still hiding on the rafters waiting for the soldiers on the lift to fire their rifles at the enemy. Once the lift finally reached the storage room, the soldiers had enough space to aim their weapons at the Titans. A few soldiers gave Pinkie Pie some room to allow her to fire her party cannon with great accuracy.
"It's good," Marco whispered to the soldiers. "There are still only seven here."
The soldiers cocked the hammers of their rifles all at the same time, whereas Pinkie Pie adjusted her cannon so that it would rest on the railing of the lift.
"We'll stick to the plan," Marco concluded.
A titan near the lift stopped in its tracks. After a few seconds, it quickly glanced at the soldiers on the lift, causing most of them to quiver in fear.
"Calm down! Let them get closer!" Marco ordered.
One by one, the Titans approached the lift with all of the soldiers and one pony inside of it. As Pinke Pie got a better view of the Titans' faces, she began to shudder herself. However, she started to giggle and prepared her cannon to surprise them.
"Let's put a smile on their faces!" Pinkie whispered, hardly containing herself.
Wait, Marco said to himself.
The soldiers on the rafters waited for the others to fire. The other ponies continued to watch as the Titans drew closer to the lift, hoping that Pinkie Pie would not be harmed in any way.
We can't afford to lose our advantage, Reiner thought.
Not if we want everyone to survive, Bertholdt assumed as well.
We'll decide it with a single blow, Conny speculated.
The Titans were only a few feet from the lift.
"Wait," Marco murmured.
The Titans were now just about a foot from the soldiers, staring directly at them.
"Ready..."
The soldiers placed their index fingers on the trigger and Pinkie Pie placed her right hoof on the knob of her party cannon. All of the Titans were now inches from them.
"Fire!" shouted Marco.
"Suprise!" Pinkie yelled firing her cannon directly into a titan's face.
The barrels of their guns were blazing with fire as the bullets shot right into the Titans' eyes. Pinkie Pie's cannon shot confetti, balloons, and streamers at a titan's face instead. Surprisingly, two party horns jammed right into the Titan's eyes, robbing it of its sight. The rest of the Titans' eyes were bloodied and smoldering, leaving them without their sight.
Mikasa, Jean, Conny, Sasha, Reiner, Bertholdt, and Annie leaped off of the rafters and readied their blades to strike.
Mikasa killed her target swiftly without fail, landing safely on her knees.
I got it! , she cheered in her mind, turning around to see everyone else. And the others?
Jean, Annie, Reiner, and Bertholdt successfully made their kills as well. However, Conny and Sasha missed their point, tumbling on the floor. The Titans that were still standing turned around to see their attackers. Sasha and Conny looked at them with terror, knowing what was to come next.
"Sasha! Conny!" Rainbow Dash screamed, beaming right towards the Titans.
Applejack ran off with Rainbow Dash to assist her. The other ponies gasped seeing their newest friends in danger. Rarity, seething with courage, grabbed the nearest set of blades with her magic and ran downstairs leading to the storage room.
"Rarity!" Twilight screamed. "What are you doing?!"
Conny and Sasha backed away from the titans trembling with fear.
"U-um, I apologize for sneaking up behind you so suddenly..." Sasha wobbled.
"Oh no!" Conny exclaimed.
"Sasha and Conny need help!" Bertholdt shouted.
"Hurry, cover for them!" Jean ordered.
Annie ran towards the titan going for Conny. Before she could reach her target, Applejack sprinted towards the Titan and bucked the Titan's tendon with her rear hooves, forcing the Titan to lose balance and tumble on the ground. Annie saw it as the perfect opportunity and expertly sliced the titan's nape, killing it. Rainbow Dash bucked the other Titan's knee, causing the Titan to tumble towards Sasha. Sasha quickly leaped out of the titan's reach.
"I'm so sorry!" Sasha screeched.
Mikasa was about to strike at the titan until she saw Rarity with her own blades in her magical grasp. Sasha also noticed the unicorn charging right at the titan at the corner of her eye. She jumped high in the air and moved the blades near her front hooves. With a clear view, she readied her strike onto the Titan's nape.
"Not today, you ruffian!" Rarity bellowed.
Rarity spun swiftly with the blades in her grasp, matching the movement of her body with the blades. She performed a clean strike directly into the Titan's nape, ending its life and sparing Sasha's life. Rarity skidded to a sudden halt on all fours and magically dropped the blades onto the floor. The frantic Sasha jogged towards the pony and hugged her around her neck, weeping in Rarity's mane.
"Rarity!" Sasha cried. "You saved me!"
"Are you hurt, darling?" Rarity asked with concern.
"No, thanks to you!" Sasha replied.
"Then stand up already, dear. This is very uncomfortable," Rarity said, bringing Sasha to her feet.
Conny walked towards Applejack and Annie to give them his gratitude.
"Thanks a lot you two," Conny said to them.
"Happy to help, partner," Applejack replied tilting her Stetson.
"No problem," Annie acknowledged.
"Hey, now," Reiner called to Annie. "that was dangerous, Annie. I'm relieved you didn't get hurt."
Jean ran towards the soldiers standing on the lift with a smile on his face.
"We got all of them!" Jean yelled at them. "Start filling up your gas tanks."
The soldiers returned smiles of their own.
"Great!" Armin cheered.
Armin saw Marco about to collapse in relief, but he and a female soldier caught him before Marco could do so. Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie ran towards each other to meet themselves with a group hug. Twilight, Starlight, and Fluttershy came from the storage room entrance to join the group hug.
"Applejack! Rainbow Dash!" Starlight called. "You two were amazing!"
"Hey, what am I? Chopped liver?" Pinkie yelled.
Starlight giggled after hearing Pinkie's protesting.
"You did well too, Pinkie," Starlight reassured.
"Rarity," called Twilight. "What were you thinking? You could have gotten hurt."
"I'm terribly sorry, dear," Rarity apologized. "I couldn't bear to see another friend get devoured by one of those fiends."
Twilight smiled at her and returned a warm hug.
"Well, I'm just glad you're alright."
"Hey, Rarity," Rainbow Dash budded in. "I can't believe you actually made your first titan kill."
"Well, it doesn't take much to outfox a Titan," Rarity replied flipping her mane.
The soldiers went to restock their supplies by refilling their gas canisters and equipping themselves with more blades.
"Yeah, we're saved now!" said a male soldier.
"No more Titans are coming inside!" shouted another. "It's thanks to that abnormal's rampage!"
Armin scanned the room to see the soldiers replenish their supplies and was relieved to know that his plan worked out in the end. He turned around and noticed Twilight and Starlight looking at him with happy expressions. The next thing he knew, the two ponies hugged him around his waist.
"Twilight! Starlight! What are you-" Armin sputtered in slight confusion.
"Nice job out there, Armin!" Starlight commented. "Your plan actually worked!"
"Who knew you were this smart for pulling this off?" Twilight added.
"Uh... thank you," Armin answered, still staggered after earning such compliments.
While Sasha was resupplying her gear, she was still producing some tears after that near-death experience with a Titan.
"I surrendered to a Titan," she trembled.
Rarity sat right next to her and comforted her by rubbing her shoulder with her hoof.
"It's alright, Sasha," Rarity hushed. "We're perfectly safe now."
"Yeah, but...now I'm too ashamed to look anyone in the eyes!" Sasha cried.
"We'll all scorn you for it later!" Conny called out. "Right now, we need to leave!"
Rarity couldn't help but giggle slightly. Jean and Marco refilled their tanks as they sat down next to each other.
"I can't agree that I'm suited to lead," Jean said. "So stop saying I am."
Marco remained silent for a brief moment as he finished refilling his canister to start on the next one.
"You might be mad, but listen," Marco spoke. "You're not a strong person, Jean, so you can't sympathize with the feelings of the weak. Nevertheless, you excel at looking at things objectively. So you have a clever idea of what needs to be done, don't you? Like when you comforted Fluttershy when she was witnessing people being devoured by Titans?"
Marco's compliment brought Jean into realization.
"Your order was right. That's why I was able to move and why I'm still alive, why she's still alive," Marco ended, pointing at the yellow pegasus.
Jean looked to his left to see Fluttershy sitting bashfully with blushing cheeks, surprising Jean to a greater extent. She stood up to walk towards Jean and wrapped her front legs around his neck, embracing him in a warm hug.
"Hey, what are you-" Jean questioned.
"Thanks for saving all of us, Jean," whimpered Fluttershy. "I'm so happy I met somepony like you."
Jean felt the strain from today's mission drain away, remembering Rarity's words when they first made it to the HQ. Jean couldn't help but return her gratitude by laying his arms on the pegasus' back. Marco smiled after watching the heart-warming scene.
"By the way, didn't you mean to say 'someone'?" Jean asked.
"Hm, is that how you say 'somepony' here in this world?" Fluttershy wondered.
"Yeah, I guess," he answered with perplexion.
"You all ready?" shouted Conny. "Let's move out!"
The soldiers walked outside the HQ and used their maneuvering gear to fly across the city. Rooftops were buzzing with hooks and wires as the soldiers flew towards the wall north of Trost.
'We gotta bail now!" shouted a male soldier flying across the buildings.
"Go! Go! Go!" screamed another. "We need to meet up with the main units!"
Armin ran outside to join them until he saw Mikasa standing on the roof of a large building. She seemed to be fixated on the Rogue Titan from earlier.
"Mikasa?" Armin said in worry.
Bertholdt, Reiner, Twilight, Starlight, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash spotted Mikasa as well wondering what she was staring at. Armin fired is hooks at the building where Mikasa was standing on, followed by Twilight carrying Starlight Glimmer and Rainbow Dash lifting Applejack onto the roof. Armin landed right next to Mikasa along with Twilight, Starlight, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash.
"Mikasa," Armin called. "we've gotta hurry!"
"That titan..." Mikasa whispered.
Armin and the ponies looked down to where Mikasa was watching. Armin gulped in fear and the ponies suddenly gasped all at the same time. Two fifteen-meter Titans, three four-meter Titans, and one seven-meter titan swarmed the Rogue Titan, tearing and devouring the flesh from it.
"Cannibalism?" Armin murmured.
The rogue titan roared faintly as his body was weakening, unable to regenerate its body.
"Its body can't regenerate?" he questioned.
"I thought that if we could solve the mystery of that Titan somehow, it'd become a chance to pull ourselves out of this hopeless reality," Mikasa evaluated.
"I agree," Reiner spoke, bringing all of his attention to him.
Bertholdt, Annie, Jean, and the rest of the ponies joined everyone else on the rooftops as well.
"If it gets devoured, we'll be as clueless as ever," Reiner stated. "Let's take out the Titans clinging to it and keep it alive for now."
"Are you serious, Reiner?!" yelled Jean. "We can finally get out of this hellhole, you know!"
"But there's a chance that Titan could become our ally," Annie butted in. "Don't you think it'd be a greater weapon than any cannon?"
"An ally?" Jean stuttered. "Do you hear what you're saying?"
"Who cares!" Rainbow shouted, flying a few feet in the air. "Let's help it out before it's already too late!"
Rainbow Dash bolted straight for a fifteen-meter Titan devouring the rogue one.
"Rainbow! Stop!" Twilight cried out to her.
However, Rainbow Dash did not take Twilight's heed. She turned backward and bucked the Titan's side of the head with her back hoof, knocking it off of the Rogue Titan. Rainbow quickly flew away from the Titans so that they couldn't attack or grab her.
"You see?" Rainbow yelled with pride. "These things are not so tough."
Unbeknownst to her, a fifteen-meter titan with blond hair and a square jaw walked right behind her, ready to swat the pegasus like a fly.
"Rainbow! Look out!" Starlight screamed.
The moment Rainbow Dash turned around to see what Starlight was warning her about, the Titan swiped its hand. The force of the impact caused Rainbow Dash to crash directly into the side of a building.
"Rainbow Dash!", cried Starlight along with the rest of the ponies.
The Rogue Titan took a glimpse at the Titan that attacked Rainbow Dash and looked to where the pegasus crashed. Twilight and Fluttershy flew towards the unconscious pony to help her out. Meanwhile, Armin took a better look at the titan that assaulted the pegasus and instantly recognized it.
"That's..." he exclaimed. "the abnormal that ate Thomas!"
"Ah, I recognize it too!" Starlight proclaimed. "We saw that Titan before we came here!"
All of a sudden, the Rogue Titan lunged away from the titans still tearing away its flesh from its body while roaring viciously in the process. Although the other Titans tried to hold it back, its fury and anger were too much for the Rogue Titan. One of the Titans that were knocked of managed to tear the Rogue Titan's right arm off of its body. As the Rogue Titan dashed towards the abnormal one, it manages to shake off the other Titan still latched onto him at the cost of his other arm. It aimed straight for the abnormal's nape and clenched its Teeth hard into it. The soldiers and ponies were shocked and terrified to see this Titan's fury press on, despite its status.
The Rogue Titan lifted the abnormal up in the air with its head high up, causing some of its ribs to crackle. Noticing the Titan behind it getting on its knees, the Rogue Titan whipped it down with the Titan still in its mouth, ending its life. The abnormal's lower waist was torn off right after the impact. Another Titan tried to attack while the Rogue Titan's body was turned away; however, the Rogue Titan's reflexes were too quick as it whipped the abnormal's body once again tearing off its head and slamming its decapitated body into the other Titan straight into a nearby building, killing them both instantly.
"Hey..." murmured Jean, astounded by the sheer strength of this Titan as it dropped the abnormal's severed head.
The Rogue Titan made another tremendous roar of victory.
"You all want to save that ?" asked Jean.
Without any strength left, the Rogue Titan fell to its knees and landed face first on the ground. The rest of its body started to evaporate into thin air, shocking the others.
"Looks like it finally ran out of gas," Jean deduced. "We're done here, right? Time to go!"
"No, we ain't!" Applejack argued. "We gotta help that there Titan! It may help us win in this here fight!"
"There's no way that monster could be an ally," Jean retorted back. "Once a Titan, always a Titan."
"But I wanted to throw it a 'thank you' party," Pinkie Pie moaned. "Do you think titans enjoy cake as much as I do?"
Reiner, Bertholdt, and Annie just face-palmed themselves after hearing Pinkie Pie's ridiculous, rhetoric question. Jean looked back to the others and noticed that they were still staring at the decomposing Titan body.
"Jean, look!" Starlight said in surprise.
"What is it now?" Jean groaned.
Everyone looked at the Rogue Titan's nape and couldn't believe what they were witnessing. Twilight and Fluttershy managed to get Rainbow Dash out to the building. She was still dizzy, but only got a few bumps and scratches.
"So Spitfire drank all of the liquid cabbage," Rainbow said wobbly.
Twilight and Fluttershy glanced at the Rogue Titan's body and saw what the others were seeing as well. A young man popped out of the nape of the decomposing Titan. Mikasa's eyes widened in total disbelief after recognizing the man. Twilight, Fluttershy, the other ponies, and the rest of the soldiers gasped concurrently as they realized who it was. The ponies saw that boy yank Armin out of the bearded titan's mouth sacrificing his life to save him. The ponies, along with everyone else knew exactly who it was. It was Eren in the flesh.
Mikasa quickly grappled onto a building with one of her hooks and swung down to the streets to run towards Eren, who was still bending on his knees with his face facing the sky.
"Mikasa!" Armin cried out.
Mikasa didn't even listen to Armin. She continued to run towards Eren until she reached him, wrapping her arms around his chest and waist. Twilight and Fluttershy placed Rainbow Dash onto the roof where the others were still standing, with Rainbow Dash regaining consciousness.
"Is she okay?!" Starlight said with deep concern and worry.
"She's alright. Just a few bumps and scratches," Twilight answered.
"We should say the same for him," Reiner replied, pointing down at Eren.
"Wait," Rainbow murmured. "Isn't that..."
Mikasa suddenly placed her left ear on Eren's chest to make out a heartbeat just to be certain that he was still alive. Sure enough, she heard a thump followed by a few other bumps in his chest. Knowing all she had to know, tears began to flow out and Mikasa started to wail loudly in immense joy. The soldiers and ponies came down to Mikasa and Eren to help them to safety. Twilight flew down to them and used her magic to lift them up to the balcony of the headquarters. The soldiers used their gear to follow Twilight with Rainbow Dash being held by Reiner, Applejack by Bertholdt, Rarity held by Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie grabbed by Armin, and Starlight by Jean.
They all looked down at Eren and Mikasa as the girl continued to cry for Eren's well-being and presence.
"Sweet Celestia!" Rarity panted in total shock.
"It can't be!" Fluttershy whispered.
"It's..." Starlight began to say.
It's Eren, Armin said in is mind.
He saw that his left leg and left arm that were previously bitten off grew back past his ripped sleeve and legging.
His severed arm and leg are still there, he continued. Back then, Eren was devoured by a Titan. Back then...
Armin finally began to produce tears of his own. He knelt down and grasped Eren's rejuvinated arm by his hand.
"What... in the world...?" whimpered Armin.
Jean, one of the speechless witnesses, realized something and turned around towards the disintegrating Titans. Reiner, Bertholdt, Annie, Rarity, Starlight, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy looked back doing the same.
"Does that mean Eren did all of this?", Jean speculated skeptically.
My Little Pony: Fight Against the Titans
5 Whereabouts of His Left Arm
Further south of the city of Trost, other soldiers named the Scout Regiment were sent out on an expedition outside of the walls into Titan territory. The soldiers assigned to these missions were humanity's best and brightest soldiers. Despite this, about thirty percent of them do not make it back alive once they set out into Titan territory. The gap in strength between Titans and humans was just too great.
During the expedition, a titan about fifteen meters Tall was nibbling on a soldier with light brown hair that was bleeding around his waist where the titan was gnawing and out of his mouth.
"Just...watch...you bastards...", the soldier stammered weakly. "Mankind will eradicate you. In the end, we'll be the ones who survive!"
The soldier jabbed the Titan's left cheek using his blade. The Titan looked down at the soldier and shut its mouth entirely, severing off the man's lower body. The soldier screamed in great agony and pain.
"You bastards... will be destroyed... by Captain Levi!", he cried.
Suddenly, a steel hook flew right behind the Titan's nape into the side of a nearby tower. A soldier slices swiftly into the Titan's vital and lands safely onto the rooftops. The wounded soldier gasped after witnessing the man perform a clean kill, realizing that it was Levi. The Titan fell directly on its face while dropping the soldier in its mouth at the same time. The soldier that ended its life had short, straight black hair with an undercut, as well as narrow, frightening blue eyes and well-developed physique. He wore a light gray, buttoned shirt underneath his uniform and cloak along with a trademark ascot.
He surveyed the abandoned town and spotted a fifteen-meter Titan in his right.
"One to the right," Levi said to himself.
He turned to his left and spotted two more Titans about the same height as the other one.
"Another two to the left," he continued.
A soldier with light-ginger hair and amber eyes landed next to him on his left along with three other soldiers. One with long, blond hair that was folded and tied by a bun along with a small beard. The other with short, brown hair kept to a point at the back of his head and slightly darker skin tone.
"Captain," the female soldier informed. "I've gathered reinforcements!"
"Petra," Levi responded turning his head to her. "you go free the injured soldier below. Everyone else, attack the one on the right. I'll take care of the ones on the left."
Levi jumped off the roof and fired a look at a tower, flying towards the two titans.
"Captain!" Petra shouted.
Levi completely ignored Petra's cry and continued onwards. Two soldiers fighting the Titan on the right saw it lunge towards them. One shot his hooks at a nearby structure away from the titan, while the other dashed away on the other side. The Titan smashed its face right into the building where the two soldiers were previously.
A female soldier with medium-length, brown hair kept in a ponytail, broad, light brown eyes, and square, thick-rimmed glasses strapped around her head with bands flew between the buildings adjacent to each other approaching the titan with glee.
"Yahoo!" she exclaimed with joy.
The Titan looked behind and saw the female soldier land on the roof in front of it.
"Don't worry!" she yelled at the Titan raising her arms confronting it. "I'm not trying to hurt you."
The Titan raised its left arm and readied itself to grab the soldier. However, the soldier instantly flew away by shooting her grappling hooks at a nearby structure.
"Too slow!" she replied swinging around the Titan to get a clear shot for the nape. "Now's my turn!"
She performed a clean slash at the nape, causing blood to splatter out of the Titan's neck as it fell to the ground.
"See? Didn't feel a thing, did you?"
Little further ways where the other two titans were, Levi swooped above the town and landed expertly on the roof of another building, walking slowly towards the two Titans.
"Ripe for the picking," Levi said quietly to himself. "You all look ridiculous."
One of the Titans opened its mouth agape at Levi to take a bite of him. Levi reacted by firing a hook at a tower behind the Titan moving towards him. He swings around the Titan to the right, wrapping the wire around the Titan's neck. Levi reeled the wire into his device, charging for the Titan's nape and killing it with a blade spin. He quickly lands on the balcony of a building and springs into the air right in front of the other Titan.
Levi detaches the blades while swaying his handles down, launching the swords deep into the Titan's eyes. The Titan cried in pain and covered his eyes as it was robbed of its sight. Meanwhile, Levi lands on top of its head, preparing to replenish new blades.
"Quit moving," Levi groaned. "You're making it difficult for me to get a clean cut."
Once he had a fresh new pair of blades, he jumped off of the Titan's head and fell towards its nape while spinning rapidly, resulting in a successful kill. While the Titan tumbled to the ground, Levi quickly fired a hook at another tower to land gently onto a nearby rooftop. He looked at his left hand where he held his handle and saw Titan blood evaporating from it.
"Tch!" he sounded in disgust. "Disgusting."
He took out a small cleaning cloth out of his pockets and wiped off the blood from his hand. Afterwards, he went to the wounded soldier from earlier with Petra trying to stop the excessive bleeding from his waist.
"Captian," Petra whimpered. "I can't stop the bleeding."
Levi looked down at the dying soldier with pity, even though he did not seem to express it. The soldier started to say something to him with his last dying breath.
"Captain...Levi," the soldier muttered.
Levi bent down to his knees to hear him more clearly.
"What?" he asked.
"W-was I... useful to... mankind?" the dying soldier questioned, raising his bloody right hand. "Or am I... going to die... having achieved nothing?"
Levi gave his answer by grabbing his hand, encouraging him.
"You've contributed more than enough," Levi answered. "And you'll continue to do so. I'll carry you on your will, and it will grant me strength! I swear to you, I shall exterminate the Titans no matter the cost!"
"Captain," Petra interrupted. "he's no longer..."
Levi looked at the soldier's face and realized that he wasn't breathing anymore and was devoid of all life.
"Did he hear everything I said?" Levi asked, hoping that the soldier died in peace.
"Yes," Petra responded. "I'm sure he did. He's resting so peacefully, after all."
"That's good," Levi replied while standing up.
"Levi!" called a male voice.
Levi turned around to see a tall man with blond hair kept neatly panted on his left side. He had a calm expression with icy blue eyes and thick, bushy eyebrows. The clothing he wore was a small, emerald bolo tie around his neck under his uniform and cloak to signify him as the commander of the Scout Regiment. He was riding a white-coated horse along with a few other soldiers on horseback.
"We're withdrawing," he declared.
"Huh?" Petra responded in question.
"Withdrawing?" Levi questioned. "There's still more we can accomplish here. Did my men die for nothing?"
"The Titans are all heading north toward the city," he answered.
Petra gasped while Levi made a small grimacing look. The commander peered to the north where Trost laid.
"It's the same as five years ago. Something's happening in the city. The wall may no longer be intact."
Damn it... Eren hissed in his mind as he perilously tried to reach for Armin while he was halfway inside the bearded Titan's mouth. Damn it!
Before he could reach Armin, the Titan's mouth closed shut, cutting his upper left arm clean off. Eren lost consciousness as he was swallowed by the Titan. He could faintly hear Armin's screaming in agony before he was out cold. A few minutes later, Eren wakes up inside the stomach of the Titan surrounded by dead bodies and limbs floating above the hot, bloody stomach acid, screaming in horror. As he backed away from the gruesome scene, he bumped into a soldier behind him and saw a soldier's body spin upward, with its face devoid of all life.
This... this wasn't supposed to... Eren thought on the threshold of tears. We're no longer the weaklings that we were five years ago. We trained to become soldiers. We believed we were soldiers. All so we could beat them. All so we can survive and protect.
"It's hot," faintly murmured a female voice who barely had any life left in her, causing Eren to turn towards her. "It's so hot. Help me. Mom... Mom!"
The word 'mom' caused Eren to be reminded of his own mother, remembering back in his childhood how he used to play peek-a-boo underneath a pair of sheet his mother hung up to dry in the sun, making her laugh almost every time. Eren also remembered how joyful and safe her humor made him feel. The dying soldier was a grim reminder of how everything he held dear was being taken away from him.
Mom... Eren remembered in his mind. Mom...
"Help," the soldier whimpered before sinking into the acidic liquid.
Why did this happen?Eren continued remaining in his own thoughts. Why are we robbed of everything? Our lives and our dreams...
Eren suddenly remembered his mother being devoured by that Smiling Titan and also the book Armin showed him about the wonders of the outside world, causing him to hold his tears no longer.
"Why?" Eren spoke shedding tears.
He tried to resist the struggle of sinking deeper inside the bloody pool of acid to no avail.
"Damn it," Eren groaned reaching his bitten arm up towards the entrance to the titan's stomach. "Damn it. Damn it all!"
"Hell if I'm gonna give up!" he screamed keeping his head above the acidic liquid. "I'll exterminate them! I won't spare a single one! I'll kill them with my bare hands!"
Suddenly, a large hand shot out of the bearded Titan's mouth, tearing its throat and dislocating its jaw. The Bearded Titan's insides began to swell up to the point where his torso would explode. Its back exploded spraying blood and organ all over the streets and buildings. Out of its stomach appeared the Rogue Titan, breathing hot steam from its mouth followed by a massive roar.
Across the street was a seven-meter Titan crawling towards the Rogue Titan very slowly. The Rogue Titan noticed it and seething with vengeance walked towards it, stomping on the Bearded Titan's nape in the process.
I'll exterminate them... Eren thought while he was inside the Titan body. from this world...
The smaller Titan hopped in the air like a frog lunging at the Rogue Titan. The Rogue Titan readied itself by wounding its right arm and thrusting his fist straight into the other Titan's mouth. The back of its head exploded with blood and bone spraying above the streets.
I won't spare a single one!
The smaller Titan fell onto the streets, leaving the Rogue Titan to squash its vital point with its foot several times until it was satisfied with his bloodlust for Titans was quenched.
More! More! I'll kill more! I want to kill more! More! Way more!
"I'll kill you all," Eren murmured in a dreamy coma and sinister grin.
Armin, who crouched right next to him with Eren's right arm wrapped around him, widened his eyes after hearing his closest friend mutter to himself waking back to reality.
"Eren?" Armin said in a concerned tone.
Eren widened his eyes to see in front of him more clearly, snapping out of his daydreaming. He gasped abruptly when he saw all of the soldiers surrounding him in two rows on stone stairs with their blades drawn cornering them in the sides of a corner of the outside wall of Trost. He also noticed Mikasa standing in front of him protecting him with her swords ready.
"Eren!" Mikasa exclaimed, turning to him with a worried expression.
Eren looked in front of Mikasa and saw seven ponies with various colors of fur, manes, and tails as well standing in front of her, creating a small barrier in front of him. He widened his eyes further and gasped again when he noticed that some of them had horns, while a few others had wings.
What the... Eren thought to himself. What the hell are those things?! Are those horses? Who are they and why are they protecting me? Mikasa and Armin don't look like they're scared of them at all. They look more scared of the soldiers. Are those soldiers scared of these weird-looking horses?
He noticed that the soldiers were more fixated on him rather than the ponies guarding him.
No. They're looking at me. Why are they looking at me like that? Why aren't they more frightened of me rather than these horses?
"Eren, can you move?" Armin shouted. "Are you back to yourself now? Tell us everything that happened! I'm sure they'll understand!"
"Armin?" Eren wondered.
"Hear that?" said a soldier in the formation, alarming Eren. "He said, 'I'll kill you all.'"
"Yeah, no doubt about it," replied another male soldier. "He wants to devour us all."
"No, he doesn't!" Starlight argued with reason. "He has no purpose to-"
"Shut up, you mule!" shouted another soldier. "How could you side with that monster?!"
"He wants to eat us! How can you not see that?!" yelled another.
Eren was totally stunned after hearing clear and concise words come out of one of the ponies.
They can talk? Eren continued to wonder. Where did they even come from? And why are these soldiers calling me a monster? They even have their swords pointed towards us. Aren't those swords used for killing titans?! What happened? What have I missed? What's... going on?
Within Wall Rose outside the inner gate of Trost, there were many recruits and survivors waiting around for further orders from their superiors. During that time, Conny was explaining to a young, shorter girl with long, golden hair and large, blue eyes and a taller woman with freckles, long brown hair styled in a ponytail, tan skin, and intimidating eyes how he and the others managed to escape in one peace.
"Recruits are to maintain their equipment and wait for orders!" stated a man with a jacket that was imprinted with a rose-crested symbol.
The soldiers followed orders and re-equipped themselves with their maneuvering gear.
"So that's how we refilled our gas tanks and got out of Trost District."
"Really?" wondered the little, golden-haired girl.
"That is complete bullshit!" the tan girl responded in an implausible tone. "There is no way a bunch of talking, colorful horses came to save your asses! Not in your wildest dreams!"
"Actually, Ymir, they're ponies," Conny corrected.
"Whatever!" Ymir sneered.
"I'm really sorry," apologized the smaller girl. "We requested supply support for you guys multiple times, but..."
"We finally got our hands on some too," Ymir interfered in a calmer voice placing her hand behind her head.
"S-so the people that aren't here are all..."
Conny's brief moment of silence was enough to tell her the answer.
"Yeah," Conny answered in grief. "I'm sorry, Christa."
"Even Mikasa?" wondered Ymir.
"N-no," Conny replied. "I thought she came back later with Jean and the others."
"Jean!" Ymir called to him. "Don't tell me Mikasa is injured."
Jean didn't even respond as he sat on a picnic table, completely bewildered after his recent experience.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Conny asked.
Jean took a quick chug of water from a water canteen he had in his hand. He assessed that after he, his friends, and the ponies helped Eren onto the wall, they brought him safely on the other side of the wall of Trost, only to be greeted by many fearful soldiers towards the ponies, but mostly Eren.
"We were ordered to keep that confidential," answered Jean. 'I can't say."
"Confidential?" Conny questioned.
"Seriously?" Ymir pressured. "And those so-called ponies aren't?"
"Although it's not something they can keep under wraps for long," Jean argued. "Especially those ponies. It's only a matter of time before everyone finds out. That is, assuming people live to hear it."
Jean took another chug of water while peering to where Eren, Mikasa, Armin, and the ponies were right now.
I just hope they make it out alive, he pondered in his mind.
At the interior gate of Trost, there was a massive horde of titans gathered close to the bottom of the enormous wall. The gate, however, was guarded by a tremendous net with large spikes placed on every single plate where the ropes crossed each other. The Titans were unsuccessful reaching the soldiers on top of the wall and resulted in them getting trapped on the net like flies on flypaper. More Titans continued to gather around the wall only to join them in the same dilemma.
On top of the wall were about a dozen cannons pointed down directly at the horde in the event that anything may happen. More nets were spread around the interior just for good measure. The soldiers responsible for protecting people from the titans surrounding the walls and maintain order within them called themselves the Garrison Regiment. They continued to keep a good eye on the crowd of titans below the wall. Among them was the unit captain, who was a man in his mid-thirties with well-built physique, short, blond hair, a thin mustache, and hazel eyes.
"A defensive wall of flesh using the Titans themselves," uttered the captain. "The engineering squad has outdone itself. But we still can't let our guard down. This is the front line between us and the Titans, as well as the edge of a cliff."
He looked at one of the soldiers standing next to him and noticed a grim expression.
"What's wrong?" the man asked with concern.
"Nothing," answered the male soldier. "Our mission is proceeding smoothly, but I'm worried about the safety of my comrades in the vanguard. A messenger headed to HQ earlier with a deathly pale expression."
"Right," replied the blond man. "but we need to devote ourselves to interception, just like we've been trained to."
The soldier nodded slightly after hearing the captain's statement.
"I heard the three kids you rescued five years ago have all become recruits. They're also in the vanguard."
"Yes," the captain acknowledged.
The younger soldier looked back at the captain with more anxiousness in his face. He looked down with regret knowing that those kids were putting their lives at stake, even though he felt that they were the captain's responsibility.
"My apologies, Hannes," the soldier confessed. "I shouldn't have brought that up."
"They're safe," Hannes claimed, setting his sight towards the horizon. "They're strong kids, and each one has their own means of survival. One has advanced combat skills, another has a tenacious strength of will, and the last has a sharp mind. They're safe. Alive and well for sure."
"Recruit Jaeger," shouted the alto voice of the captain at the center of the human formation surrounding Eren, his friends, and the ponies. "as well as Recruits Ackerman and Arlelt! Your present actions are treason! What do you have to say in your defense?"
All of the ponies, except Fluttershy, cringed in anger at the likelihood of being put to death just for the sake of protecting their new friends. Regardless of this idea, they all stood their ground. Eren still looked at the captain of the vanguard in confusion.
"Any attempts to mislead or escape will be met with a bombardment of high-explosive shells!", he continued. "This is no bluff!"
Eren and the ponies glanced at the cannon on top of the wall extended at the end aimed right at the group, realizing that the captain was not lying.
"Let me be frank!" spoke the captain. "What are you? A human or a titan?"
"He's human!" yelled Rainbow Dash, flying a few feet up in the air. "Don't you see-"
"Silence!" retorted the captain, pointing at the blue pegasus. "I was not speaking to you, you dumb animal! If you or any of your accomplices outburst again without a lick of permission, I will shoot you right where you stand! No exceptions!"
Twilight and the others stuttered at this man's lack of reasoning due to him being overwhelmed with fear. Rainbow Dash landed back on the ground and grunted in return, starting to share hate towards this man. Eren looked at Rainbow Dash and noticed something very familiar about this pony.
Wait! Why does that horse look so familiar? Eren thought. I feel like I've seen her in a dream.
Twilight tried to think of the best scenario to make it out of this dilemma.
What are we gonna do? she pondered deeply. I could easily protect ourselves with a protection spell, but if we do resist in any manner, he'll shoot us down to oblivion with that cannon. Because of this world's scarcity of magic, I'm low on options here! Even combining magic with other unicorns like Starlight or Rarity won't really do us any good.
Meanwhile, Eren was dumbfounded by the captain's questioning of his species.
What kind of question is that? he wondered. Why are they glaring? It's as if they're looking at a monster. Is that what they see me as?
"I don't understand that question!" Eren responded to them.
His response peeved the captain as a frown came upon his face.
"Feigning ignorance?" the captain grumbled to himself. "Damn monster, I dare you to try that again! We'll blast you to pieces in an instant! We won't even give you time to show your true colors!"
"True colors?" Eren questioned.
"There are plenty of witnesses!" the captain declared. "We all saw the moment you emerged from within a Titan! Mankind has allowed strange creatures like you to get past Wall Rose! Even if you're part of the Training Corps, which is under the King's authority, the risk you present is too serious to ignore! I can say the same for these ponies! We have the faintest idea as to where they came from or what their goal is, but their affiliation with you proves that they are possibly a threat to humanity as well!"
The ponies backed a little closer protecting Eren even further. They began to wince in terror seeing that the captain was accusing them of being a threat towards humanity.
"No doubt about it! There's a chance the Armored Titan that broke through Wall Maria could appear once again! Humanity once again stands on the brink of extinction! Understand? We cannot afford to waste further troops or time on you! We'll just bombard you lot with high-explosive shells!" he finished while pointing at the group.
"True," a female soldier with shaggy, platinum blond hair and a small pair of glasses. "their defiance is all but subtle. Furthermore, I doubt they'll give us any useful information. As you said, this is a waste of troops and time."
"Captain," called a male soldier in the formation. "now's our best chance!"
"We can kill him now while he's still in his human form," another one yelled.
The ponies readied themselves as the human soldiers drew slightly closer to them. Eren was astounded by these ponies as they didn't cower away in fear like any ordinary animal would as he still did not understand why they were protecting him to the bitter end. However, Mikasa passed the ponies to confront all of the soldiers that stood against them with her blades drawn out of her sheaths. The soldiers suddenly paused in their advancement and the ponies were shocked by Mikasa's conduct.
"My strength lies in slicing off flesh," Mikasa established with a sinister expression. "If I'm forced to demonstrate, I'll show no hesitation. If any of you wish to experience this personally, please feel free to approach me."
Her threatenings gave all of the soldiers and ponies goosebumps, especially Fluttershy and the captain of the vanguard. The ponies knew very well Mikasa's skill and strength after the recent events in Trost.
"My magic may not be as powerful back in our world," Twilight added. "but I'll make sure we'll use everything at our disposal to keep you from harming Eren in any way."
Huh? Did she say 'magic'? Eren thought in puzzlement.
"The same goes for me too!" spoke Starlight.
"Me three!" Rarity joined in.
"Ah'll knock all of ya upside the head if any of y'all take another step," Applejack warned.
"We dare any of you to try and take us on!" Rainbow Dash provoked.
Although Eren was surprised by their intimidating quarrels, he was for some strange reason elevated by their support. Armin feared for his newest friends' safety as he was uncertain what the outcome may be.
"Captain," said a male soldier with golden eyes and straight, dark blond hair. "These ponies helped many of our soldiers escape from the city, not to mention carry them to the headquarters. They may have abilities that could turn the tide in this war against the Titans. Not only that, that girl is Mikasa Ackerman, one of our elites in the rear guard. Her skills alone make her as valuable as a hundred soldiers. Losing her would be a devastating loss for mankind."
"Let's just talk about this without doing anything rash!" Starlight pleaded. "Nopony has to get hurt!"
"Hey, Mikasa, Armin!" Eren called out to them. "What's going on?"
"Mikasa," Armin interrupted standing on his feet. "what's the point in fighting with them? Where can we escape within the confines of these walls?!"
"Regardless of who it might be, I won't let anyone kill Eren," replied Mikasa. "That's reason enough."
"We need to convince them!" Armin exclaimed. "None of them understand the situation, so they're being controlled by fear!"
"If some of our fellow soldiers can accept these ponies, then I'm sure they can show some reasoning for Eren. Either way, we won't let them kill Eren."
Eren glanced at Mikasa’s stern and steadfast expression, Armin’s apprehensive face, and the ponies’ protective stances with dismay. He was completely lost as to what the soldiers were accusing him of committing. Eren slumped down on his fist on all fours.
Am I the only one who sees me as a human? he thought deeply. Damn, I can't remember what happened before I was here! I feel so sluggish that I can't stand. Is this it for me? Killed by humans? What's this about anyway? I emerged from within a Titan? What are they talking about? Why is no one making any sense? Wasn't that all a dream?
Eren looked at his left arm where part of his sleeve was torn off.
But if it wasn't, that means the arm I lost before grew back! Just like a Titan's! That's impossible. Why did this happen? Why?
"I'll ask you once again!" shouted the captain, catching Eren's full attention. "Just what are you?!"
Eren hissed through his teeth in fright, hoping that he can give them a straight and feasible answer. Armin, Mikasa, and all of the ponies looked back to him, expecting the right answer from him.
In any case, I can't afford to answer wrong. Eren pondered. It's not only my life that's on the line. That's right. I've always been... one of you.
"I'm human!" Eren affirmed in a high and loud voice.
Once Eren gave everyone his answer, there was a long period of silence among everyone, including the ponies. Eren, Armin, Mikasa, and the ponies looked at the captain with nervous expressions on all of their faces to see the captain's response.
"I see," the captain responded bowing his head. "Don't think ill of me."
The captain started to slowly raise his right hand to give the signal to the soldiers on the wall to fire the cannon. Armin, Eren, and the ponies dispirited to see their hopes of survival shatter into bits. Mikasa's mouth was slightly ajar after perceiving the captain's final decision. The ponies had lost all of their self-confidence and courage and switched to terror and panic. Fluttershy quickly flew to Rarity and hugged her tight as tears welled in her eyes.
"There's no other way," he continued. "No man can prove... that he's not a monster, after all."
With the captain's arm raised entirely upward, one of the soldiers holding a telescope signaled back to signify the order to fire when ready. The other soldier prepared the rope trigger to fire at the humans and ponies down below. Mikasa sprang into action by dropping the blades from her handles and running towards Eren to grab and carry him in his weak state.
"Eren, Armin, Ponies, we're going up!" Mikasa declared.
"Stop!" Eren retorted.
Eren's command fell on deaf ears as Mikasa grabbed Eren and put him on her shoulder. The ponies followed Mikasa and looked up at the top of the wall, only to see several other soldiers cornering them as well.
"You gotta be kidding!" Rainbow Dash grunted. "Twilight! You and Fluttershy have to help save everyone!"
"Rainbow, we don't have enough wingpower to carry everyone over the wall. Not only that, but we can't cast a spell great enough to carry or teleport all of us at the same time, let alone protect us from cannon fire."
Rainbow Dash knew that Twilight was right. She could not possibly abandon her friends to die like this.
"So then..." Rainbow Dash stuttered. "That mean's we're..."
Twilight grimaced in sorrow and her eyes started to produce tears knowing that she and all of her friends were doomed. There was nothing left for them to do now but hold each other one last time.
I'm so sorry, Celestia, Twilight thought to herself. Please forgive me.
As Eren tried to escape Mikasa's grasp, he witnesses a key tied around his neck slip out from his shirt. Looking at it, he instantly recalls his past.
"Eren," said a well-groomed man that flashed inside Eren's mind. This man had brown hair, brown eyes, a mustache with a goatee, circular glasses and was dressed in a brown suit with a white cravat and a white shirt with ruffled sleeves. Eren was remembering his farewell with his own father back at his original home before the fall of Wall Maria. "When I return, I'll show you the basement that I've always kept a secret," the man established, showing Eren the key around his neck.
Another flashback instantly crossed Eren's mind of him being in the woods with his last encounter with his father.
"Keep this key with you and never let it out of your sight," Eren's father ordered.
Eren looked at the bronze key on the palm of his hand that was attached to a string.
"And when you look at it, remember. Remember that you must go to that basement!"
Eren felt a sudden headache as memories of his past as a child began to spark with one another.
Eren's father saw him extracting a strange liquid from a tiny bottle into a needle to give Eren an injection of some sort.
"Your memories will be affected by these injections," explained Eren's father with tears pouring out of his eyes. "So it's pointless for me to explain now. Listen. Recapture Wall Maria and go to that basement! This power should prove useful then! Their memories should teach you how to use it!"
Eren backed away slightly when his father drew closer to give him the strange serum.
"Eren!"
With full vigilance and adrenaline, Eren knocked Mikasa off her shoulder and grabbed her arm. He darted towards Armin and the ponies that were huddled up against each other.
"Upon reaching that basement, you'll discover the truth! It'll be a hard and unforgiving journey, but you must succeed!"
Eren grabbed Armin's jacket and pulled him closer to his body and moved into the center of the ponies that were still holding each other. The ponies looked at Eren with disturbance as to what Eren was planning to do. The captain hastily lowered his arm to give the command to fire the cannon. The soldiers manning the cannon on the wall responded and fired away, shooting a large metal ball at the group with immense speed. The ponies heard the cannonshot and closed their eyes in dread to prepare themselves so that they don't see it coming.
"If you want to save Mikasa, Armin, and everyone else, you must learn to master this power!"
With his dad's final words recalled to him, Eren instinctively bites down hard on his left hand, spraying some blood and crushing bone. Instantaneously, a ball of light flashed from within the group where Eren was standing and steam expelled out of them at the soldiers. The soldiers and captain cover their eyes and protected their faces from the steam as a giant ribcage and arm formed out of thin air covering Mikasa, Armin, and the ponies from the cannonball. With a muscular arm instantly formed, it pointed at where the cannonball was coming from ready to brace for impact. The cannonball made contact with the giant hand and exploded it into pieces, creating more steam and dust to erupt at the soldiers.
Hannes and his fellow soldiers heard an explosion east of them and turned to see a cloud of smoke rise over the wall outside of the city.
The soldiers that were assigned to wait for further orders heard the sound of the blast as well and looked to see a pillar of smoke tower over them where Eren, Mikasa, Armin, and the ponies were cornered. Jean quivered in fear knowing that his friends and Fluttershy were caught in that blast and assumed the worst.
The captain and soldiers in the blockade coughed out the smoke and dust and glanced back to where the three soldiers and ponies were standing, waiting for the smoke to clear up.
"Did that do it?" the captain queried.
As the smoke partially cleared up, the soldiers gasped at an irrefutable sight.
"Dear Lord..." the captain whispered in horror.
Mikasa, Armin, and all of the ponies were also terrified to see themselves crowded in a massive ribcage of a partially formed Titan above the torso. However, the skeleton had some muscles formed around the left side of the body where the arm was extended before, the shoulders, neck, and left eye. The appearance of the skeletal Titan body terrified everyone to the extent of screaming. The two humans and ponies scanned around themselves and inspected the skeleton with overwhelming wonder and dread.
"What in Celestia?" Starlight murmured.
"W-where did this skeleton even come from?" Rainbow Dash questioned in total confusion and shock.
"Talk about a bombezzie!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed with a goofy smile on her face.
The humans and ponies couldn't even respond to Pinkie's whacky comment. They were too fixated about what just occurred around them.
Author's Note
Hey everyone,
If you haven't noticed, I added some background music for some of you to enjoy while reading. I'm going to try and implement background music in this story the best way possible for all of you readers to better enjoy this story.
See ya!
My Little Pony: Fight Against the Titans
Inside the town just outside the city of Trost, a soldier that was frantic and crying was being comforted and reassured by Marco. The other soldier had a short crop of spiky, gray hair with an elongated, rounded face and light brown eyes.
"Marco, I've had enough," the soldier wept. "I can't fight the Titans anymore!"
"What's wrong?" Marco asked.
"My comrades were devoured right in front of me!" blurted the soldier. "I didn't even feel sad or angry seeing them die like that. I was just thankful from the bottom of my heart that it wasn't me!"
The sadness the cowardly soldier felt was beginning to get to Sasha while she was sitting on a pair of stone stairs with a basket of loaves of bread right next to her.
"But it must be my turn next. I finally realized. Our job is to keep fighting until the Titans devour us, isn't it?!" the soldier questioned in absolute fear. "If that's all I have to live for, I'd rather-"
Marco saw him draw out one of his blades from his sheath and restrained the soldier from killing himself by wrapping his arms around the soldier.
"Calm down and get ahold of yourself!" forced Marco. "You're not alone in this, Daz! Everyone is battling with fear! Look at Sasha!"
The moment Marco mentioned the young girl, she jumped slightly from her seat and sat straight up.
"Even after everything that's happened, she's still a noble soldier."
Unable to handle the pressure a minute longer, Sasha wailed in pain and agony leaning downwards.
"Um, my stomach is hurting, so can I please go to the infirmary?" Sasha grumbled.
After witnessing the 'noble soldier' break down in a stomachache showing that her hesitation to fight once again, Daz pulled his blade out even further.
"That's it!" Daz clamored.
"Stop!", begged Marco. "Stop it!"
Some of the other soldiers that were still awaiting orders heard the commotion that Marco and Daz were in, putting them on edge. Jean took another slurp of water from his canteen and wiped off the drops of water from his chin.
"Keeping it confidential really was necessary," muttered Jean. "With things as they are now, if word about Eren spreads..."
Standing up straight and leaning with his hands on the wooden table, Jean wrenched with apprehension over the horrible situation. Suddenly, he heard a massive cannon blast, followed by an explosion. The other soldiers also followed the sound of the explosions and looked over the buildings to see a large pillar of steam rise from where the blast took place. Jean, Reiner, Bertholdt, and Annie walked towards the street to get a better view and saw the smoke as well. The commotion began to outset as the cadets looked at the smoke rising above them.
"Cannon fire?" a soldier wondered.
"But why only one shot?" questioned Jean.
"Look, there's smoke!" a soldier shouted pointing at the pillar. "It's coming from within the wall!"
All of the soldiers glanced over the buildings and clamored in worry and terror.
"What's that?" another cried.
"What's happening? Was the floodgate broken through?"
"It's the strongest part of the wall. There's no way!" answered a different soldier.
"A high explosion shell must've accidentally been dropped," another soldier replied.
"But then why's there so much smoke?" another muttered in question.
Reiner's face started to become stiff after staring at the smoke. Taking action, he grabbed his handles stocked on his sides to use his maneuvering gear.
"Could it be steam from a Titan?" Jean asked.
Reiner shot both of the hooks from his maneuvering gear and flew over the rooftops towards the blast.
"Hey!" Jean exclaimed.
Jean quickly noticed Annie and Bertholdt doing the same and went with Reiner to investigate.
"Hey!" he shouted again, using his gear to follow them to see what happened as well.
Jean ran across the roofs on various buildings in pursuit of Reiner, Bertholdt, and Annie towards the smoke cloud, wanting to find out exactly what was going on.
The captain and soldiers surrounding the three humans and ponies were petrified in awe and intimidation to see a partially formed titan, with Mikasa, Armin, and the ponies inside of its ribcage. Anxiety started to overwhelm the captain and soldiers to the point of no return. Meanwhile, Armin was still in trauma after the near-death experience and being caged inside a Titan's skeleton. Mikasa kept a stern and relaxed expression while the ponies looked at the skeleton with surprise and wonder of their extraordinary safeguard. Once Reiner, Bertholdt, Annie, and Jean reached the roof of a structure for a much better view of what just occurred earlier, they all gasped to see the incomplete titan form Eren created.
"What the hell's going on here?" asked Reiner.
Mikasa, Armin, and the ponies silently watch as the titan attempted to move. The soldiers heard the creaking and grating coming from the Titan.
"It's alive!" said a soldier in the formation.
"Captain Felman!" the gray-haired exclaimed, awaiting further instructions.
Captain Felman gasped once he saw the left eye of the Titan stare directly at him, paralyzing Felman in fear. He instantly backed away a few feet in perplexity.
"W-we're on standby!" the captain answered. "It's too dangerous to approach! All units are to stand by on full alert! Stand by! Have the cannoneers ready another round!"
Eren's Titan eye began to twitch as Eren tried to open is real eye inside the Titan body. Eren's actual body was surrounded by bone and muscle holding him tightly inside with his arms, legs, and face attached to the muscle fibers. Eren's eyes shot wide open once he got to his senses and realized he was inside the Titan he formed to protect his friends and the ponies. He gasped and began to pull away from the muscle attached to his limbs and face.
Outside of the Titan's nape, the nape shot open with steam pouring out allowing Eren to gasp for air. As he tried to lean back out of his Titan form, he was still linked to the Titan where his left hand was, exactly where he bit himself to transform. He held onto the spine with his right hand and pulled his left one, tearing it out of the Titan flesh. Eren took a few deep breaths while looking around the Titan he conjured before.
"What is this?" he said to himself.
More steam continued to produce as the Titan body started to deteriorate and evaporate into thin air. Mikasa, Armin, and the ponies began to deliberate the circumstances that just took place.
"W-what is going on?" Starlight murmured to her friends.
"My goodness," Fluttershy exhaled, fanning her face with her hoof to cool her from the immense heat. "It's so hot in here."
"And this heat is ruining my mane," Rarity complained.
"All I remember is the sound of cannon fire," Armin whispered. "Then there was a tremendous crash, impact, and heat. We're inside a titan's skeleton right-"
"Eren protected us," spoke Mikasa. "That's all that matters now."
Armin looked down at the ground and noticed a tiny patch of violet flowers sprouting from the ground that wasn't previously there before.
"Flowers, inside here?" wondered Armin.
"Hey!" called Eren walking around the skeleton to meet up with his friends and the ponies. "You guys okay?"
"I think so," Twilight answered. "We're safe now thanks to you."
"Eren, what is this?" Armin queried.
"How the hay is this even possible?" Applejack questioned.
"No idea," answered Eren. "But it's evaporating already. Just like a Titan's corpse. Let's back away a bit."
"With pleasure!" Rarity responded as she galloped outside the ribcage just to keep her mane in better condition.
Mikasa, Armin, and the rest of the ponies did the same to make sure that they would not be crushed by the collapsing skeleton. Eren looked through the mist to see the figures of soldiers still waiting to attack.
"Whatever they're figuring out what to do or just distracted, the Garrison can't see what we're doing now," Eren theorized. "But in the end, they'll probably continue attacking. I don't have the confidence to talk them down after showing this."
Eren put his hand on the top of his shirt to reach the key around his neck that he noticed earlier, bringing interest to Mikasa, Armin, and the ponies.
"It reminded me of something though. The basement. The basement of my house. My dad said I'd understand everything if I went there. He's also the one that turned me into this."
Eren turned his attention to the decaying Titan skeleton he produced earlier.
"If I get to that basement, I'll probably learn the truth about the Titans."
Realizing this fact, Eren emotions switched from revelation directly to anger.
"Damn it!" he cursed slamming his fist on the rib of the crumbling Titan skeleton.
"What's wrong?" Starlight asked with unease.
'Why did he keep it all a secret?" pondered Eren. "The Scout Regiment searched for that information at the cost of thousands of lives. It's mankind's only hope! And you're telling me it was locked away in my basement? Just what was going through his mind? Come to think of it, where did he disappear to for five years-"
"Eren!" Twilight spoke. "We're not so sure either, but we have more important things to worry about. Our lives are still at stake here."
"She's right, Eren," Mikasa replied, putting her hand on his left shoulder. "We have other things to discuss."
Eren nodded in agreement and followed his friends and the ponies away from the Titan skeleton.
The soldiers outside the smoke continued to observe as it started to fade away.
"The smoke is clearing," A soldier noticed.
"We'll attack immediately on sight!" replied another soldier.
"Let's finish this quickly!"
"Remain on standby!" Captain Felman ordered the soldiers.
The skull of the Titan skeleton snapped from the spine, falling to the ground with a giant cloud of debris covering the area. The soldiers were blinded as they covered their eyes to protect themselves from the dust. Inside of the steam, Eren, Mikasa, Armin, and the ponies squatted down among one another to hear Eren's plan to make it out of this terrible ordeal.
"I'm... leaving this place," Eren told his friends.
They all looked at Eren with puzzlement.
"Where to?" asked Armin. "How?"
"Anywhere will do for now," replied Eren. "I'll climb the wall from there and head to my basement. But I'll turn into a Titan first."
"Turn into a Titan?!" Rainbow Dash asked.
"How are you able to do that?" Starlight wondered.
"I'm not too sure how to do it myself, but I think I can. Just like how a person can't explain how they move their arms," explained Eren, looking down at his hand. "Earlier, I unconsciously focused on blocking the cannon. That's why the body had no other function and easily fell apart."
Twilight and Armin began to ponder on the masterminding of Eren's Titan powers.
This is incredible! , thought Twilight. Think about what we could do with his powers; combining it with our pony strength could really be a turning point in this war!
"This time, I'll go for something stronger," Eren panted. "The 15-meter-class that I kicked around all of those Titans with should suffice!"
Mikasa, Armin, and the ponies noticed some blood that was dripping from his nose, and his face started to look pale along with his breath becoming raspy.
"Eren, your nose is bleeding," Mikasa uttered.
Eren wiped his nose with his index finger and looked down at it to see some blood smeared on his finger, bringing him to caution.
"And your face is starting to look pale," added Twilight.
"Twilight's right," agreed Armin. "Not only that, your breathing's heavy too. You're not in good condition, Eren!"
"Transforming into a Titan is taking a toll on your body," Twilight surmised.
Despite knowing this fact, he disregarded it and expunged the rest of the blood off of his face.
"I couldn't care less for my well-being," Eren responded. "Listen. I've got two ideas in mind."
"Well, what is your plan?" questioned Twilight.
"If you guys don't try to cover for me, you'll be spared at the least," Eren continued. "I've already gotten you guys in a real mess, so I'll be moving solo from here on out."
Armin and the ponies gasped slightly.
"No, I-" Armin opposed.
"Eren," spoke Mikasa. 'I'm coming too."
"Count us in, too!" Rainbow Dash stated.
"You can't," Eren quipped. "You guys are staying here, and the same goes for you freaks!"
"Forget it!" Rainbow Dash retorted. "You're not gonna let you fight alone. We're in this together!"
"Rainbow's right," Applejack agreed. "Ain't no way we're gonna leave you by yer lonesome."
"If I can't keep up, you can just abandon me," Mikasa said. "But I don't have to listen to what you say."
"I'm telling you to cut it out already!" Eren disputed. "I'm neither your little brother nor a kid!"
"You're right!" answered Rainbow Dash. "But we are friends; and as friends, we stick together, no matter what!"
"Shut up!" Eren yelled. "I don't even know you guys, or know what you are for that matter!"
"True," Applejack interjected. "But we know that yer in quite a pickle, and we ain't just gonna let those goons put ya down like a wild animal."
"Why are you horses even trying to help us?" Eren questioned in anger.
As they continued to quarrel, Armin remains silent knowing that they were running out of time if they don't think of something soon. The other ponies didn't do anything other than watch Eren, Mikasa, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash go out on each other. Meanwhile, the captain and the soldiers outside the steam were still positioned around Eren, Mikasa, Armin, and the seven ponies in defense against any assaults.
"Captain," spoke the grey-haired, female soldier standing next to the captain. "The high-explosive shell is almost loaded. How shall we proceed?"
"Await my signal!", Captain Felman ordered.
"Sir," the woman accepted.
Armin looked hopeless as his friends pursued to argue amongst each other. He knew that it wouldn't be long until all of the smoke cleared up and the soldiers would be fully prepared once again.
There's no sign of the Garrison planning to launch a close-quarters attack just yet, Armin pondered in his head. If there was, Mikasa would've picked up on it faster than a stray cat. Even if they loaded the cannon as fast as possible, it should take at least another 20 seconds. Eren will probably act within that time and depart from here.
Armin's childhood memories started to come back to him.
Eren and Mikasa, both at a younger age, fought back against three other kids that appeared to be local bullies. Eren was struggling with two of them as one of the kids held him back by his jacket, yet he managed to shove one of them onto the ground; whereas Mikasa restrained one of them with his arm behind his back and restricting his movement on a wall.
The memories haunting Armin brought an expression of sorrow on his face.
Why am I remembering that now? he asked himself in thought. Is it because this is the end for us?
Armin whimpered in the corner made by the wall of a building and a large crate as he witnessed Eren and Mikasa fight against the local bullies. All he could do was cower in fear by covering his face with his arms and shed some tears.
So even up to the very end... I was nothing more than a coward after all. , Armin continued.
Once Mikasa and Armin chased of the bullies they walked to the fearful Armin with warm smiles with Eren offering Armin a free hand. After Armin was lifted to his feet, they walked through the alleyway with Eren still escorting Armin to safety. Using his free hand, Armin wiped off the tears from his face, showing gratitude for his closest friends once again.
They've saved me countless times already. But I've yet to return the favor even once.
During his training days, he jogged in the rain with a poncho over him and a heavy backpack on his shoulders. As he became tired, we watched his comrades jog further away from him, leaving him in the dust.
How could I consider myself a friend who's on equal terms with them? How can I say, 'I'm coming too?' I don't even have the confidence to keep up.
Eren, Armin, and Mikasa read a book describing the wonders of the outside world. They both read it with astonishment and wonder. Mikasa, however, looked at it with hardly any emotion.
With time running short, Armin fell to his knees and looked down with contempt and then closed his eyes.
After... all this... he thought. the three of us will never be together again.
"Say what you want!" Rainbow Dash squabbled. "Titan or not, I can outfly you without breaking a sweat!"
"Eren, I-" Mikasa spoke.
"Wait, you guys," Eren interrupted. "I said I had two ideas in mind, didn't I?"
Mikasa, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash stopped themselves from arguing at Eren and waited for him to reveal his plans. Eren turned his attention towards Armin with determination on his face.
"Armin, I'll leave everything for you to decide," he stated, bringing Armin out of his discouragement and his full attention at Eren. "I'm well aware of just how unrealistic my plan is. It would be the most effective to use this titan power systematically under the army's command. I know this is a lot to ask, but if you think you can convince the Garrison that I'm not a threat, I'll put my trust in you and stay. That's my second idea. If you think you can't, then I'll have to resort to the first idea."
Armin was left in confusion as to why Eren would put such responsibility on someone as weak as himself. During that time, the cannoneers were aiming the cannon precisely at him, his friends and everyone else, readying another high-explosive round.
"You have fifteen seconds to decide," Eren pointed out. "Whether you can do it or not, I'll respect any opinion you have."
The cannoneers positioned the cannon into place and were just about ready to fire another round at the humans and ponies.
"Eren," Armin said in a low voice. "Why would you entrust me with such a decision?"
"The worse a situation is, the better your decisions are, you know?" Eren replied with a reassuring smile. "I'm willing to bet on that."
"When did I ever..." Armin stumbled.
"Lots of times," Eren answered.
"Yeah," Rainbow Dash acknowledged with her own smile. "It was your idea to use Eren's Titan form and take back the HQ."
"Plus," Starlight budded in. "You were the one who formulated the plan to kill all of those Titans in the storage room."
"Not only that," Eren counted. "Five years ago, if you didn't call Hannes, Mikasa and I would've been devoured by a Titan."
The moment Armin realized that fact, the entire decomposing Titan skeleton snapped and crumbled, causing more steam and smoke to form. Armin was in trauma and realization to know that he was not a liability after all.
It was just me convincing myself, he thought to himself. Convincing myself that I was powerless and a burden.
Armin glanced at Eren, Mikasa, and all of the ponies and noticed that they all looked at him with confidence and assurance.
That thought didn't cross their minds at all! Armin thought. And these ponies, even though we hardly know each other, they're still okay with me to take responsibility for their lives.
"Armin," Eren called out. "We're out of time."
"Well," Twilight spoke. "What's it gonna be, Armin? Do you think you can do it?"
One of the cannoneers on the wall manned the rope to fire the cannon after they finished loading the next round. A female soldier standing next to him raised her arm signaling that they were ready to fire.
"The cannon's been loaded," the gray-haired soldier responded to the captain. "Ready to fire at any time."
Eren, Mikasa, and the ponies entrusting their lives to me now are the people I trust most in this world. , Armin told himself in his mind. How could I possibly doubt myself now?
Armin stood up on his feet with a scowl on his face and a flame burning inside his spirit, knowing precisely what to do. Eren, Mikasa, and the ponies looked at him hoping for his final decision.
'I'll convince them no matter what," Armin announced. "Do anything you guys can to show that you're not a threat."
Eren, Mikasa, and the ponies nodded in approval with warm expressions on their faces.
"Woohoo!" Pinkie Pie cheered. "Go get 'em, Armin!"
Armin turned around and began to walk out of the steam towards the captain and other soldiers. The smoke started to fade away entirely.
Something's been on my mind since I saw Eren fighting as a Titan. , wondered Armin. I still haven't figured it out, but I'll pull this off. I'll think while talking if I have to!
As Armin got closer, he unbuckled his maneuvering gear around his waist, causing it to fall on the ground with a massive bang and clacking sound. The sound followed by Armin coming out of the smoke caused the surrounding soldiers to become tenser.
"Halt!" the captain ordered in anxiety.
The two soldiers standing right next to the captain aimed their rifles at Armin in self-defense. Armin slid to a halt and raised his arms in the air to use as his only approach necessary.
"So you've finally revealed your true colors, monster!" Captain Felman disregarded. "I'll signal... I'll signal the cannon!"
"He is not the threat of mankind!" Armin shouted while shuddering slightly. "We're willing to share any and all information that we have!"
"I have no intention of hearing your pleas!" the captain claimed, clenching his fist. "We've seen everything we need to know! There's no room for discussion! If you claim he's not our enemy, then prove it! If you can't, we'll simply eliminate the threat!"
"There's no need for proof!" Armin declared.
That's right, Armin analyzed. It's unnecessary!
"Besides, how we see him is not an issue!"
"What?!" the captain yelled in rage.
"I've heard that many have seen him in action!" Armin continued. "If that's true, they must've also seen him fighting the Titans! And that includes the sight of the surrounding Titans swarming him!"
This fact Armin brought up made the other soldiers realize that this case would possibly make Eren an ally to mankind.
"In other words," Armin concluded. "the Titans saw him as a target of predation, just like the rest of mankind. No matter how we go about it, that fact cannot be denied!"
Everyone, including the ponies, was amazed, shocked, and motivated by Armin's words. The soldiers began to stand down after hearing Armin's reasoning of Eren's innocence, except for Captain Felman.
"He has a point," whispered a nearby soldier.
"A titan as an ally," muttered another.
"That's ridiculous," breathed yet another soldier.
The soldiers aiming their rifles at Armin stood down as well. The captain, realizing that he was losing support from his troopers, was unwilling to believe these facts and then fumed in anger while clenching his teeth.
"Prepare to attack!" the captain ordered in a loud voice. "Don't be fooled his cunning lies!"
Armin gasped in fear as he did not understand the position he and his friends were in right now. Eren and Mikasa grunted for the captain's unreasoning while the ponies simultaneously gasped.
"Their actions have always been beyond our comprehension," the captain shouted. "It must be possible for them to imitate our form and speech to delude us! We cannot allow them to do as they please any longer!"
With full determination, Captain Felman silenced his derogators while the soldiers alerted themselves to attack the three humans and ponies. Armin just stood in front of everyone with fear overwhelming him once again.
It's no good, thought Armin. He's abandoned all reason. He's too scared to think.
He looked back at his friends and the ponies for one last time.
Eren... Mikasa... Everyone!
Regardless of their final moments together, Eren and Mikasa looked directly at Armin with full devotion, knowing for certain that he can still fight. The ponies looked at Armin with gleaming smiles telling him that they were proud of him standing up to the captain and soldiers, despite the outcome. With their spirits remaining strong, Armin's spirit began to arise with dedication and courage that he had never experienced in his entire life. Clutching his teeth, Armin quickly faced the captain and soldiers, clenched both of his fists, and placed his left arm behind his back. He then struck his chest where his heart was with his right fist, giving out a heartfelt salute.
"I am a soldier that has long since offered his life for the revival of mankind!" he declared in a roaring voice. "To perish while obeying that conviction would be my life's greatest glory! If we were to utilize his titan powers in addition to our remaining forces plus the abilities of these ponies, recapturing this town would no longer be impossible! Praying for the glory of mankind, I shall elaborate on his strategic worth with all the time I have left!"
Eren and Mikasa were flabberghasted by Armin's passionate and touching speech. The ponies were far bewildered and spiritually touched by Armin's powerful words to even cheer, even for Pinkie Pie. Some of the ponies even started to shed tears in astonishment. Jean, Reiner, Annie, and Bertholdt were also stunned by Armin's speech and were too immobilized to do anything. The captain, however, suppressed his emotions since he was still holding Eren as a menace to make sure his enemies would not defeat him.
"Captain Felman," the blond-haired soldier spoke. "perhaps we should consider his-"
"Silence!" the captain rebutted at the soldier, silencing him.
No matter how they plea, they're still rebels! the captain thought, raising his arm to signal the cannoneers. Those who transgress must be eliminated. That's the duty of a soldier!
Armin's eyes widened in terror knowing that the captain was too ignorant and fearful to comply with Armin's reasoning. Eren and Mikasa were about to put their second plan into play. Mikasa was about to ready her blades and Eren was about to bite his left hand to transform into a Titan again. The ponies stood to attack any soldier that was about to advance on Eren and the others. The tension became so high that no one noticed an old, bald man with a distinguished mustache grab Captain Felman's arm right before he could give the command to fire the cannon.
"That's enough," the man said in a groveling voice. "As always, despite having a large body, you're as feeble as a fawn."
Felman looked at him to see who grabbed his arm and gasped in total surprise. His eyes were golden with wrinkles under them and light skin. The man wore a white-collared shirt under his jacket with a purple bolo tie around the collar. He also had a broad, red sash with gold trim around it since he was the highest ranking officer in the Garrison Regiment. Behind him were several more soldiers with rifles around their shoulders.
"C-Commander Pyxis?" Captain Felman stumbled.
Pyxis had a relaxing smile while he lowered Felman's arm down and passed by him to get a better view of Eren, Mikasa, Armin, and the ponies.
"Are you blind to the brilliance of that salute?" he giggled. "I just arrived, but a messenger filled me in earlier. Go take command of the reinforcements. I think it'd be best to hear what they have to say."
With that being said from the commander, Armin fell to his knees and breathed heavily knowing that their death sentence was spared. Eren, Mikasa, and the ponies stared at the commander with astoundment and sighed in relief, and the pressure from their bodies faded away.
According to the Scout Regiment's reports, the Titans were predicted to approach from the south. Specifically, Shiganshina, the southernmost district of Wall Maria, was attacked. Therefore, the town that was the most likely to be attacked next was the southernmost district of Wall Rose, Trost.
On the wall around the inner gate of Trost District, Commander Pyxis walked along the edge of the interior wall of the city to look down at a dozen Titans that were trying to reach him to no avail. While doing so, he took out a small, metal flask from his jacket to take a quick sip of the contents inside. Meanwhile, Eren, Mikasa, Armin, and the ponies were right behind him as they checked Eren while he was squatting down to see if he was in better condition after transforming into a titan twice already.
"I guess I won't find one, after all," Pyxis murmured. "I wouldn't mind being devoured if it's by an exquisitely beautiful female."
Starlight and Twilight looked at each other with raised eyebrows in slight confusion.
"Who is this fella, anyway?" Applejack questioned in a quiet voice at Armin and Mikasa.
"His name is Commander Dot Pyxis," answered Armin. "He's the chief executive in charge of all the southern territories including Trost District, the city we are in now. He's also the man given full authority over the defense of mankind's most important districts, and he's uh... quite eccentric."
"Yeah," Starlight replied. "I think we gathered that already."
"Anyway," Armin continued. "he's given authority to protect the southern districts after the Titans were more likely to attack the southernmost district of Wall Rose ever since the titans attacked Shiganshina five years ago."
"Shiganshina?" Rarity asked.
"Shiganshina was our hometown until the Colossal Titan appeared and destroyed the outer gate. Another titan called the Armored Titan destroyed the inner gate, and we had no choice but to give up the lands held behind Wall Maria."
"Oh my," Fluttershy exclaimed. "I'm so sorry to hear that."
"It's fine," Eren said in agony. "But I'm going to put a stop to this."
The ponies looked at Eren wondering what he meant by that exactly.
"I swore to exterminate every last Titan from this world!"
"Well," Rainbow Dash spoke. "we'll make sure we'll help you guys fight back and win this war!"
Eren was suddenly reminded that he had no clue as to what these strange creatures were, especially the blue, rainbow-maned pegasus. He had a strange feeling that he had seen her before.
"I'm sorry, but who or what are you guys?" Eren asked.
"I am curious to know as well," Pyxis said, walking towards them. "Who are you strange equines anyhow?"
Below the wall, where hundreds of soldiers were lined up in formation to await further orders, Captain Felman looked up to where the commander, the three humans, and ponies were, still bristled how he was unable to execute them.
"What's the commander thinking?!" he raved. "How could he accompany such suspicious people up there?"
"Well," responded the gray-haired soldier. "the commander's thoughts are beyond the comprehension of average people."
"Captain," called the blond-haired soldier. "the soldiers are in formation."
"Right. Good work," the captain replied.
He took a quick glance at many of the soldiers, only to see grim and squeamish expressions on their faces.
"Well, now that we know your names, would you care to tell us where you came from exactly?" Pyxis asked the ponies.
"Certainly," Twilight responded. "We came from another world far from yours, but the land that we came from is known as Equestria. We ponies are the dominant species of that land ranging from earth ponies like Applejack or Pinkie Pie, unicorns like Starlight Glimmer and Rarity, pegasi like Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, and alicorns like myself."
"Extraordinary," Pyxis replied. "I would like to know more about this place and you folk."
"Well, we do have books regarding useful information about Equestria, but we left them in our saddlebags inside the headquarters," Twilight informed the commander.
"I see," Pyxis answered. "I'll make sure to take note of this that way you can reclaim your belongings."
"Anyhow," Twilight continued. "our rulers, Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and my sister-in-law Princess Cadence discovered this world of yours while they were searching the cosmos for signs of life. After seeing the horror and state that this world is going through, the princesses asked my closest friends and me to step forward into this world and help your species fight against these Titans."
"The only thing on my mind right now is why your rulers would send you ponies here, let alone have any passion for learning about this world."
"I asked myself the same question," Twilight replied. "They were so ambitious to know about your kind and your advanced technology, such as your omni-directional mobility gear."
"Well, how touching. So how were you able to arrive here in this world?" Pyxis asked in wonder.
"The princesses used a magic spell to teleport us into this world. We even have contact with the princess, but the scroll that I need to contact her is in the HQ. Mikasa was the first to accept us and lend us a hoof, or in your case, a hand."
Pyxis responded by nodding once and giving a grunting sound of agreement.
"Commander Pyxis," Twilight asked. "If there is anything we can do to help, we'll gladly accept."
The other ponies gave a confident 'Mmhm' in response. After getting an answer, Pyxis looked at Eren to ask him something.
"So, Eren was it?" Pyxis inquired. "You were looking at the key wrapped around your neck when we were escorted up the wall. What is it for exactly?"
Eren took out the key from under his shirt to examine it again. The ponies also looked at the key Eren was holding.
"I don't remember much," he replied. "But I do know that this key unlocks the basement of my home back in Shiganshina. My dad told me that all of the answers are there once we reclaim Wall Maria. I'm also not sure how I became a Titan, but I think my dad had something to do with it. When that day comes, once we finally learn the truth about the Titans, we could finally end this nightmare."
Pyxis stayed silent for a moment evaluating Eren's words as he looked over the city.
"I see," Pyxis responded. "So you say that all of the answers lie in that basement?"
"Yes," answered Eren. "Do you believe me?"
"As long as you yourself aren't certain, I'd say I can only keep it in mind at best," noted Pyxis tapping the side of his head with his index finger. "However, I believe myself capable of seeing the truth of things. I shall guarantee your safety."
Everyone gave a sigh of relief after hearing the commander's promise to protect them. Pyxis turned his attention to Armin.
"Recruit Arlert, was it?" asked Pyxis.
"Sir!" Armin replied while saluting him.
"Earlier, you said that if we utilize this 'Titan power', it'd be possible to recapture this town, did you not? Did you truly believe that, or was it a vain act of desperation?"
"It was..." Armin tried to answer correctly. "both! What I was trying to say back then was that Eren could carry the large boulder to seal the destroyed gate in his Titan form. It's an idea that I came up with on the spot, but I hoped the possibility to break out of this deadlock could be seen in Eren's power."
Eren, Mikasa, and the ponies looked at Armin to determine if this plan was insane, or crazy enough to work. Pyxis turned around to look back in the city at the boulder Armin was talking about.
"Of course," Armin continued. "it was all a genuine attempt to survive."
"A genuine attempt to survive..." Pyxis mused taking his flask out of his jacket. "The most trustworthy words I'll ever hear."
While Pyxis was having another drink, Eren and Mikasa waited for any advice Pyxis would tell them. Pyxis walked to Eren and crouched down to his level, looking at him straight in the eyes.
"Well, Recruit Jaeger?" he spoke in a relaxing voice.
"Sir?" Eren questioned.
"Can you seal that gate?" Pyxis asked.
Eren was not so sure how to answer that since he was still new to his Titan powers and all.
"I..." he hesitated to answer while looking away in shame. "Well... I don't know. I'm just as clueless as the rest of us present here. So, regardless of whether I can do it or not, I can't answer half-heartedly."
"Oh, that's true, I apoligize," atoned Pyxis. "That was the wrong question."
Eren looked back at Pyxis and waited for the real question.
"Will you do it or not - which is it?" the commander asked.
Eren jumped up slightly knowing that the answer was more blunt and outright. Pyxis glanced at the land behind Eren where the territory of Wall Rose was protecting. Eren looked out at the land behind him and realized that losing the territory behind Wall Rose would be yet another major blow of humanity, only worse that five years ago. The ponies also looked at the land guarded by Wall Rose, knowing that losing such beautiful land would not be tolerated. Eren turned back at the commander to give him his answer.
"I'll do it," he answered. "I'll do it! I'm not sure whether I can or not, but I'll do it!"
With determination, Eren, Mikasa, Armin, and the ponies looked at the breach of the outer gate in high hopes that Armin's plan would be a success. There was no turning back now.
My Little Pony: Fight Against the Titans
"I'll do it," Eren answered. "I'll do it! I'm not sure whether I can or not, but I'll do it!"
Pyxis changed his expression from a serious look to a reassuring smile.
"Well said," Pyxis praised patting Eren's shoulders. 'You're quite the man."
Pyxis got up to his feet and walked north of the city, hoping to arrange a meeting with the rest of the soldiers.
"Staff officers, assemble!" Pyxis called below to the officers below the wall. "Prepare to strategize!"
"What? Seriously?" Armin exclaimed, perplexed over the commander's anticipation. "Calling this plan 'optimistic' would be an understatement. How can we just go ahead with it?"
"I agree with you," Eren said. "but it's pointless to question his decision. I'm sure Commander Pyxis can see something we can't."
"Something we can't see?" wondered Armin.
"Besides," Eren continued to ponder. "there's probably a fundamental issue to deal with before executing the plan. I'm sure the commander is fully cognizant of that."
"Which means..."
"The Titans aren't our only enemies," Eren stated.
"Uh..." Armin gasped.
The ponies also looked at each other with worry and uncertainty speculating that there may be more to the Titans than meets the eye.
"Time is of the essence," intervened Pyxis.
Eren, Mikasa, Armin, and the ponies turned around to see the commander along with two soldiers at his side.
"We have a role for you to fulfill, young soldiers," Pyxis declared. "I also have a task for you, ponies."
Once Pyxis walked east of the wall towards the gateway, Rainbow Dash went to Eren's side to help him escort him in his weakened state. Applejack saw Rainbow Dash assisting Eren and went to the other side of him to help Rainbow Dash. The two ponies kneeled down and put Eren's arms on their backs to lift him up to his feet. Eren couldn't help himself get over the feeling of being adjacent to such strange beings.
"There ya go, sugarcube," Applejack said. "Ya must be tuckered out after turning into a titan twice on the same day."
"How are you feeling, Eren?" Rainbow Dash asked in concern.
"Better, I suppose," Eren replied. "Why do I have the feeling that I've seen you somewhere before?"
"What makes you say that?" Rainbow Dash responded.
"I'm not sure," Eren answered. "but I feel like I've seen you in a dream, like..."
Eren gasped suddenly after remembering the dreamy state that he was in during his time as a Titan. He recalled when a horde of Titans was swarming him, and he saw the Titan that ate his friend, Thomas, attack the blue pegasus.
"You're that pegasus that was attacked by that Titan who ate Thomas!", Eren yelled. "Now I remember!"
The ponies gasped after hearing Eren remember something important in his dreary state of being a Titan.
"So, I guess that's what made you more enraged when you were a Titan, huh?" Rainbow Dash presumed.
"That must be it," Eren agreed. "Seeing you get attacked made me feel upset and angry just like when Thomas got eaten."
"Hey," Starlight called out. "Wasn't Thomas that blond-haired boy that was swallowed whole by that abnormal titan?"
"Yeah," Eren replied. "How do you know?"
"My friends and I saw that titan eat your friend before we came to this world," Starlight answered.
"I'm so sorry about what happened to some of your friends," cooed Fluttershy. "They must've been good friends."
"It's okay," Eren acknowledged. "Hopefully, this plan to retake Trost will work out. I just hope I'll be able to have the strength to lift that boulder."
"Don't sweat it!" Rainbow Dash asserted. "If you can take out a bunch of titans, then I'm sure you can lift that boulder and seal the gate in no time!"
Eren smiled at the pegasus and petted her head in affection, messing her mane in the process.
"Awww," Pinkie Pie said while leaning on Rainbow Dash. "Eren likes you."
"Huh?" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, blushing slightly while turning her head away from her. "It's totally not what you think it is!"
"Well, you and Eren do have a lot of similarities," Twilight pointed out.
"Plus, the way Eren pummeled all of those Titans after seeing you get harmed must have been his way of showing appreciation," Rarity added.
"Whatever," groaned Rainbow Dash.
"Ponies!" shouted a soldier, grabbing all of the ponies' attention. "No time to talk. You are needed for this plan to work. Pyxis asks for your presence immediately. Mikasa and Armin will come with us, now go!"
"Yes, sir!" the ponies answered, galloping to where Pyxis was heading.
Down in the streets where the inner gate of Wall Rose was, the collected soldiers were murmuring amongst each other and talked loudly, knowing what was about to occur.
"Retake Trost?" a soldier blurted.
"That's insane!" proclaimed another. "We've got no way to block the hole!"
"What are the commanders thinking? We'd just be throwing our lives away if we went back!"
"We can't fix that hole, so all we can do is seal off Trost at Wall Rose's gate!"
"Dammit! Are they that hungry for glory?"
Daz was standing next to Marco and Sasha as they waited for the commander's announcement to retake Trost. However, Daz was less than thrilled, if anything, petrified about going back to fight the Titans.
"That hell again..." Daz whispered.
Unable to handle the pressure, Daz cried and grabbed his hair in panic.
"No! I don't wanna die!" he screamed. "Let me see my family!"
"Daz! Keep it down!" Marco clamored.
"You there!" called a soldier from up front of Daz, hearing the commotion and walking towards the mourning soldier. "I heard that! Do you intend to abandon your mission?!"
"Damn right!" wailed Daz. "Committing mass suicide won't accomplish anything!"
"How dare you flout discipline and forsake mankind?!" questioned the Garrison soldier, grabbing his handle ready to take out one of his blades. "I have the authority to execute you right where you stand!"
"Fine!" Daz replied, taking out his own blade to fight for his notion. "It's a hundred times better than being eaten by the Titans!"
"Stop it, Daz!" hollered Marco, grabbing Daz's shoulders in compliance.
"Piss off! Let me go!" howled Daz. "I don't wanna go back there!"
Most of the soldiers were listening to the turmoil, causing some of them to become discouraged.
"Did you hear that?" asked a soldier.
"It's not surprising in this situation," another responded.
"You think anyone here will desert?" a dark, brown-haired female soldier standing in front of Jean and Bertholdt wondered.
"At the least," replied a dark-blonded female soldier standing next to her. "even I want to choose how to die..."
"You there!" shouted a male Garrison soldier with a goatee, surprising the female soldier.
"I was just joking!" she cried, trying to look serious.
"Do it!" the male soldier told her with a sinister scowl.
"Huh?"
"Make a big scene!" he clarified. "The more people, the better!"
The female soldier started to shudder in fear, unbearing the idea of being executed. Jean looked at the revolting scene with a worried expression.
"A lot of us in the Garrison are unhappy with this situation!" the soldier continued. "We can use this chaos to get out of here!"
"Get out of here and go where?" Jean asked.
"I'm going to see my daughter!" he answered. "One way or another, they're gonna break this wall too!"
Pyxis, Eren, and the ponies continued to walk along the wall east towards the inner gate of Trost. Twilight, Starlight, and Rarity walked alongside Pyxis while Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy flew along Eren's side, and Applejack and Pinke Pie as well. Rainbow Dash was examining the maneuvering gear to know exactly how this device allowed the humans to fly in such a way, even without wings. Eren smirked as she saw the pegasus' curiosity get to him.
"It's said that before the Titans claimed dominance of the land," Pyxis explained to Eren and the ponies as well. "mankind was locked in endless bloody battles over differences in race and ideals."
Twilight, Starlight, and the rest of the ponies gasped at such a tale that was so familiar with a story that they have heard of back in their homeland.
"Supposedly someone then said, 'If something beyond man appeared before us as a powerful foe, mankind would take up arms together in unity.' What do you make of that?"
"There's a legend like that?", pondered Eren. "Well, it seems rather optimistic. Doesn't interest me, though."
Pyxis responded to Eren's comment by laughing in good humor.
"Your character's quite cynical, much like myself."
"Well, you see," spoke Twilight. "back in our home, there's a story quite similar to what you've just told us. Only it's not a legend; it is actual history."
"How so?" asked Pyxis.
"Before our land, Equestria was founded, the earth ponies, unicorns, and pegasi were separated into different tribes, only caring about themselves rather than others; and then, there was a massive blizzard that washed over the tribes, which only caused starvation amongst the three tribes. So the leaders of each tribe decided to search for a new land, a better one. Eventually, the three leaders arrived at the same place and began to argue over who should claim the land. Because of that, the blizzard followed them to their new home, and they were forced to take shelter in a cave.
"The blizzard trapped them inside the cave and eventually froze the leaders in ice, just like their hearts. The cause of the blizzard was discovered to be from creatures called Windigos, who feed off of hatred. However, the leaders' advisors saw everypony as peers and loved each other. As a result, the Windigos have driven away, and the leaders, along with the entrance to the cave was thawed out using their newfound friendship. So the three leaders unanimously agreed to unite the three tribes together as one to form our land, Equestria."
"That story sounds even more ludicrous than the other one," Eren commented plainly with a stony expression.
"It's true!" Pinkie Pie chipped in. "We celebrate that day during a holiday we call Hearth's Warming Eve. Heck, we even got to play in a show telling that story! You should totally come over during Hearth's Warming!"
"Uh, Pinkie," spoke Fluttershy. "Hearth's Warming doesn't happen again until about eight more months."
"Not only that," added Rarity. "but Eren and his friends live much, much farther away from our world."
"Well, I think that is a marvelous story," expressed Pyxis. "If something like that can happen in your world, then I'm sure that humanity can unite and win this war against the titan menace."
Eren's eyes widened in total disbelief after hearing the commander believe in such a fairytale. Even though he met such strange creatures, he had no clue what was fiction and non-fiction anymore. Glancing at all of the ponies, he could already tell that they were treating him like family, regardless of knowing him for less than an entire day.
"That's because even now," Eren said. "when that powerful foe has our backs against a wall, it's hard to say that humanity is united."
"True," Pyxis agreed. "that certainly needs to change. Otherwise, it'll be difficult to continue fighting."
"And it will," Twilight assured. "We'll make sure we help humanity come together as one to win this fight."
The ponies nodded their heads in agreement while simultaneously saying 'Mm-hmm.'
As they were nearing the inner gate below the wall, they started to walk past some Garrison soldiers where Hannes was organizing his group. When Hannes heard some footsteps, he looked to his left to see Eren and was relieved to know that he was okay.
"Eren?!" Hannes whispered. "So you're safe."
Unexpectedly, he saw Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie walk right next to him along with Twilight, Starlight, and Rarity walking alongside Pyxis, gasping slightly with widened eyes. The other soldiers stationed were quite as shocked as well.
What are those things? Where did they come from? Hannes thought. Why are they with Eren and the commander? What's going on here?
He then noticed Eren pointing to the ground with an annoyed expression, telling him to focus on the task at hand.
'Focus on the mission?' Hannes thought with a frown on his face. Really, is that how he should act toward his superior? It looks like Mikasa and Armin are safe too. Wait, why's Eren walking beside the commander?
As Hannes went back to work, Pyxis took out his flask to take another gulp of the contents inside. Afterward, he thought it would be generous to share some with Eren.
"Care for a swig?" Pyxis asked, giving the flask to Eren.
"Yes!" Eren answered, grabbing the flask that Pyxis was offering.
"Oooo, I want to have some, too!" Pinkie replied.
Eren put the spout of the flash in his mouth to drink the contents inside. Suddenly, he felt his tongue burning while he puffed up his cheeks in disgust. He quickly turned to where Rainbow Dash was flying and spat out the liquids, spraying them at the pegasus. The ponies did not find it entertaining in the slightest, especially Rainbow Dash.
"Dude!" Rainbow Dash retorted, trying to wipe off the liquids.
"Oops, sorry!" apologized Eren.
"Uh, nevermind," Pinkie replied.
Pyxis, Eren, and the ponies looked down to where the soldiers were stationed; but were less than thrilled after hearing the chaos of the terrified soldiers.
"Kill me!" Daz cried, being heard from Eren and the ponies. "If you're gonna execute me, do it quickly!"
'Fine, I'll do it!" warned the Garrison soldier.
Pyxis stood on the edge of the wall while he was also aware of the ruckus amongst the soldiers. He looked at Eren and the ponies with a slight nod, telling them to stand on the edge likewise. After that, he cleared his throat to clear his voice, placed both of his arms behind his back and inhaled deeply.
"ATTENTION!" Pyxis roared at the top of his lungs.
Twilight and her friends were caught off guard by the commander's loud voice, yet they remained where they stood. The soldiers down below stopped arguing and looked up on the wall where Pyxis was standing. Even Daz and the Garrison soldier he was fighting with paused from their ranting. Eren placed his arms behind him too while the ponies widened their legs marginally, even though they couldn't stand on all fours as the humans could. Some of the ponies were amazed to be standing among the many soldiers down below, mainly Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie.
"I will now elaborate on the plan to recapture Trost District!" Pyxis declared with a blaring voice. "The objective of this plan is to seal the hole in the destroyed gate!"
The soldiers were flabberghasted over this plan, unsure of how it was going to be executed.
"Huh?" exhaled Marco. "Seal? Is that even possible?"
"I will now explain how we intend to seal the hole!" Pyxis continued, directing his left hand at the ponies. "First, allow me to introduce these seven ponies!"
The soldiers looked left to where Commander Pyxis was standing and were wholly stunned and awed by the presence of such unusual equines. Jean, Marco, Conny, Sasha, Reiner, and Bertholdt were relieved to see them in one peace while Ymir and Christa were dismayed by their bare existence.
"Well, I rest my case," mumbled Ymir.
"Do not let looks deceive you!" Pyxis assured. "Although they may seem strange, there's much more to them than meets the eye! They come from another world far from ours and are here to help us win this war against the Titans. They are also capable of magic and flight, and above all, intellectual values. With that being said, I ask that you treat all of them with fairness as our peers!"
Pinkie Pie waved to all of the soldiers down below but was instantly halted by Starlight as she planted her hoof back on the ground.
"Not the time," Starlight whispered.
"What's going on here?" Daz muttered in uneasiness.
"Next," Pyxis continued, now directing his right hand at Eren. "belonging to the Cadet Corps, this is Eren Jaeger!"
Eren stepped forward and placed his left arm behind him while putting his right fist on his heart, giving out a military salute. The soldiers were shocked to see him alive, especially Jean, Marco, Conny, and Sasha.
"E-Eren?!", uttered Conny.
"He is the product of successful top-secret titan transformation research," Pyxis explained. "He is capable of generating a titan's body and moving it according to his will!"
Conny was nervous by this statement and gulped anxiously.
"Is the commander making absolutely no sense right now or am I just stupid?" Conny questioned Ymir.
"Shut up for a bit, stupid," Ymir responded coldly.
"In his Titan form," Pyxis pressed on. "he'll lift the large boulder in the vicinity of the front gate, carry it to the destroyed gate, and seal the gate! Your duty is... to protect him from other Titans until he's moved the boulder!"
On the other side of the wall, Armin explains his plan in better detail to the two elite Garrison soldiers using a map of Trost while Mikasa listens to Pyxis' speech.
"There's no need to fight the Titans?" one of the elites with brown hair asked.
"I-I'm sorry," Armin said in response. "It's not my place as a recruit to say anything."
"Forget that," the elite soldier returned. "Continue explaining."
"R-Right," Armin replied. "Titans generally attack in response to larger groups of people, so if we could take advantage of that and act as bait to group them close to the wall, I believe we could keep them away from Eren with minimal contact overall. Furthermore, the baited Titans can later be taken care of with cannons, preventing any unnecessary casualties. However, we can't just leave Eren unguarded, so I believe we should have a small, elite squad escort him. All that being said, we cannot avoid fighting the titans that enter through the hole. It'll be up to the abilities of the elite squad at that point."
"Okay, understood," the elite soldier settled. "Let's replan using that as a basis."
"But this plan assumes that Eren can reliably carry the boulder and seal the hole," Armin noted. "I'm hesitant about carrying out the plan with that uncertainty in mind."
"True," the Garrison soldier agreed. "there's something to be said about putting soldiers at risk when the foundation of the plan is anything but reliable. But Commander Pyxis' reasoning is valid as well."
"Right," the female Garrison soldier spoke in concurrence. "We also need to worry about time. Even as we speak, the Titans continue to invade. As more make their way into the town, recapturing it will become impossible."
"Not to mention," the male Garrison soldier added. "the chance that Wall Rose is breached increases."
"And lastly," the female soldier concluded. "there's a limit to how long people can act with fear as their driving force."
Down below the town outside of Trost, the soldiers were mulling over Pyxis' plan to seal the gate with that boulder.
"Carry that large boulder?" a male soldier questioned. "That's just... Has humanity finally taken control of the Titans?"
"You're lying!" Daz cried out, unable to hear such ludicrous plans a minute longer. "I won't risk my life for a retarded reason like that! What do you think we are?! We're not disposable blades, you know!"
"'Human weapon' he says!" a soldier doubted.
"That's obviously a lie!" another soldier replied.
"Making fools of us..." a different soldier spoke.
"They're telling us to die here today," said the goateed Garrison soldier, turning away from the mission. "I'm out of here!"
The two female soldiers that were standing next to him nodded at each other and followed the Garrison soldier. Soon, Daz, along with several other soldiers began to walk away from the mission and their obligation as soldiers.
"Me too!" said another soldier, following the others.
"Same here!" spoke another.
"I've had enough of this!"
Sasha wanted to leave as well, but something profound inside of her told her to stay where she stood.
"Stop right there!" the Garrison soldier yelled at Daz. "You, that's a capital crime!"
Once the Garrison soldier grabbed Daz's shoulder, Daz swatted his arm away.
"I'll be spending the last moments of mankind with my family!" Daz sobbed.
On top of the walls, the ponies were startled with anguish to see many of the soldiers forsake all hope and walk away like cowards. Captain Felman looked at him to see the dismay unfold.
"This is bad," the blond-haired soldier whispered standing next to the captain.
"Yes," the grey-haired soldier responded. "order will fall apart at this rate."
Captain Felman was sick of the soldiers' cowardice.
"I hope you've said your prayers, traitors!" Felman shouted, drawing out one of his blades. "I will hack you down where you stand!"
Knowing that death was about to befall, Twilight and her friends gasped in horror.
"Pyxis!" Twilight cried to him. "You have to do something!"
Pyxis gritted his teeth and took a deep inhale.
"Heed my command!" Pyxis clamored. "Those who desert us now will all be pardoned!"
"What?!", the ponies shrieked in unison.
The soldiers were stunned after hearing this with Captain Felman gasping in complete surprise.
"Once a man surrenders to their fear of Titans, they are no longer fit for battle!", Pyxis stated. "Those who've experienced that fear are free to leave!"
Twilight did not understand what was going on in Pyxis' head, yet his serious scowl was telling her that Pyxis was not finished just yet.
"Furthermore, those of you who want your parents, siblings, and loved ones to experience that fear for themselves may also leave!"
The soldiers that were walking away stopped directly in their tracks after hearing Pyxis' declaration. Sasha even looked up at the commander with feelings boiling inside of her. Twilight began to understand were Pyxis was going with this as she saw the soldiers come to a halt. Nevertheless, the ponies' mouths remained wide open.
The goateed soldier started to imagine the thought of his daughter being devoured by a titan, welling up with tears. If he ran away now, there's a high possibility of losing his daughter and the rest of his family.
"I can't let that happen," he murmured. "My daughter is my... last hope."
After pondering deeply about this, he changed his mind and returned to his position. The other retreating soldiers did the same. Daz finally puts himself together and walked back into formation while being greeted by Marco with an upholding smile. The ponies were relieved and lifted by Pyxis' encouraging words as they saw the soldiers regain their courage seeing that they would still fight for their families and loves ones, just like them.
"Let us think back to four years ago," Pyxis continued. "Recall the plan to recapture Wall Maria. Though I presume you all know this without me having to say, the plan itself sounded glorious, but in essence, it was a way to rid ourselves of the unemployed that the government was unable to support!"
"What did ya say?!" Applejack asked in confoundment.
"Applejack, shh!" Starlight hushed.
"The only reason why everyone maintained their silence," Pyxis pressed on. "was because we managed to survive within these confined walls thanks to their sacrifices! All of mankind bears that sin, including myself!"
This story was heartbreaking for the ponies, but they knew that grieving for the ones that died out there in battle would not solve anything in the present.
"Because of the inhabitants of Wall Maria were few in number, the conflict did not escalate. But what about now?! If Wall Rose is breached, reducing the mouths to feed by a fifth won't suffice! Not even a half of the remaining population can be supported within only Wall Sina!"
This fact brought terror to the ponies as they were trembling of the idea of losing this battle along with Wall Rose. However, they glanced back at Eren who looked back at them as well with a serious expression. Eren nodded slightly at them with the ponies nodding in return, bringing them out of their petrified state.
"Should mankind cease to exist," Pyxis proceeded. "it would not be because we were all devoured by Titans! We humans would be our own end! We must not die within narrower walls. I implore you! Die where you stand!"
Although the soldiers were still bewildered by what the commander was asking for them to give up, they remained like a statue being sympathetic with Pyxis' premise. Eren stayed in his salute, standing proud and robust.
I don't know if I can carry the boulder with my Titan power. Still... I understand my role. , Eren thought to himself. I might be a fake, but even so, I have to make this succeed. I... have to become... everyone's hope! The same goes for the ponies too.
Several soldiers on the wall started to push the cannons along the tracks running across the walls far and wide with the cannons' barrels pointed downward. Other soldiers were using the lifts on the edges of the wall to transport crates and supplies onto the wall. Everything needed for this plan to work was being put into place.
On the wall above the inner gate, Pyxis was talking to three other Garrison soldiers. The grey-haired soldier with glasses from earlier, the golden-haired soldier with a broad face, and a taller man with short crop brown hair and a small beard. They all stood in formation in front of Commander Pyxis.
"It seems we're all here..." Pyxis stated. "You have just one mission. Act as Eren Yaeger's guards and eliminate any risks that present themselves along the way. It's the most dangerous, as well as the most difficult, mission of this plan. It would be no exaggeration to say the fate of mankind rests on your shoulders."
"Commander," said the grey-haired woman. "may I ask something?"
"What is it?"
"Is the supposed 'human weapon' truly capable of this?", she questioned.
"Stop, Rico," the blond-haired man whispered.
"You're doubtful too, aren't you?" Rico asked him.
"Commander," spoke the bearded soldier. "this plan is dependent on a clearly vague factor, Eren Jaeger. If he's not capable, many soldiers will die meaninglessly."
"Hmm," Pyxis responded, twirling his mustache. "How troubling. Are you all that fond of losing to the Titans?"
Slight gasps were evoked from the three soldiers after hearing Pyxis' question.
"I, for one, am not," the commander replied, turning north to see the land. "I hate losing more than anything. But contrary to that, I've continuously lost all my life."
The three elite soldiers glanced at each other with the complete understanding of Pyxis' words.
"I want to defeat the Titans," Pyxis declared. "Win against those blockheads. No matter what it takes."
"Th-the same goes for us," Rico admitted.
Pyxis turned around to face the elite soldiers.
"Then what choice do we have but to bet on him?" Pyxis challenged. "That clearly vague factor you spoke of is our sole chance of defeating the Titans, after all."
"Commander," broadcasted a Garrison soldier. "it's almost time to execute the luring plan."
"Right," Pyxis answered back to him, turning directly towards the elite soldiers facing them. "Ian Dietrich, Rico Brzenska, Mitabi Jarnach. You've all proven to be elites amongst the elites in the Garrison. I entrust mankind's future to you."
"Sir!", the three soldiers cried out simultaneously with their heartfelt salutes.
"Ian," Pyxis said to the blond-haired soldier. "take command of the squad. I leave all field decisions to you."
"Eh?" Ian said in confusion. "Are you sure?"
"No objections here," Rico responded with a small smirk.
"Likewise," Mitabi replied as well.
"But with my ability..." Ian disclosed.
"Fear not," Pyxis guaranteed. "You know your liquor. You can distinguish the high-quality from the cheap. I leave it to you."
Ian regained his composure and let all of his frets wash away.
"Sir!" he answered.
Eren looked back at Pyxis and the elite soldiers, now with a fresh new boot for his bare left foot and leg. Behind him, Armin, Mikasa, and the ponies looked at Eren with concern.
"Eren, I'm sorry," apologized Armin.
Eren looked back at Armin with confusion as to what Armin was apologizing for.
"In the end," Armin continued. "I made you bear all the responsibility."
"Don't be sorry, Armin," Twilight assured. "It's the only way to look at this ordeal, really."
"She's right," Eren complied to the alicorn. "Remember what I said? You have the ability to seek the right answers. I'll bet on that."
"So will we," Starlight agreed.
The other ponies nodded their heads and said 'Mm-hmm' in unison in agreement too.
"Eren," spoke Mikasa. "I should come-"
"Don't say that you're coming with me," Eren interrupted, surprising Mikasa. "You were assigned to the luring unit, right?"
"But... I can't leave you alone," Mikasa told him, walking towards him. "If you're alone, you'll-"
"Cut it out already!" Eren exclaimed vividly, pushing Mikasa back slightly. "I'm neither your little brother nor a kid! I've said this already!"
"And we've said that we are friends that'll stay together through thick and thin!" Applejack shot back to Eren.
"She's right," Ian budded in walking towards the group. "Which is why she'll be part of the elite squad guarding Jaeger."
With that being said, Mikasa's eyes glittered in delight.
"We need your skills," Ian stated. "The same goes for you ponies. You'll be joining them as well. Seeing that you ponies are capable of magic and flight, sending you seven to join us could give us the upper hand. Not only that, if the commander really does have faith in all of you, then I see no point in not letting you join our squad."
All of the ponies were ecstatic after hearing this.
"Alright!" shouted Rainbow Dash, backflipping in the air twice.
Rainbow Dash extended her hoof in the center of the group. Understanding the gesture, the ponies placed their front hooves on top of each other, Eren, Mikasa, Armin, and soon Ian joined the companionship by putting their hands on the center of the collected hooves as well.
"We do this together!" Twilight declared.
"TOGETHER!" everyone shouted lifting their hands and hooves back in harmony as allies and good friends.
"Enough chit-chat," Ian said facing the three humans and seven ponies. "Let's go. Time to move out!"
Ian, along with the other two elite soldiers, darted east of Wall Rose with Eren, Mikasa, and the ponies following their lead. Armin moved west of the wall since he was assigned to the decoy squadron.
"Adios, Armin!" Pinkie exclaimed waving her hoof. "We promise to make it back. Pinkie Promise!"
Armin nodded his head in affirmation.
"Thanks! Good luck you guys!" Armin replied.
After glancing into each other's eyes one last time, they went their separate ways. The ponies caught up with Eren, Mikasa, and the three elite garrison soldiers in no time.
See you, Armin. Eren said in his mind. Don't die.
Sensing the feeling that Eren told him not to be killed in his mind, Armin answered in his thoughts as well.
Yeah, you too.
Eren, Mikasa, Ian, Rico, Mitabi, and the seven ponies ran along the eastern side of the wall protecting Trost towards the massive boulder. Since the ponies were faster in terms of speed, they slowed their pace to run alongside the soldiers without leaving them in the dust.
"He called you a top-secret weapon," Ian spoke to Eren. "but sealing that hole is all I care about. I'll protect you with my life. It's up to you!"
"Sir!" Eren answered.
"Eren," called Mikasa, running next to him on his left side. "feeling okay?"
"Yeah," he responded.
"Eren-"
"I'm telling you I'm fine!" Eren answered again in irritation. "A lot better than when we were cornered earlier."
"Quit playing house, Jaeger," Rico budded in, running between Eren and Mikasa.
"I didn't mean to..."
"To think we have to entrust the fate of humanity to a spoiled kid like you..." Mitabi grumbled, only getting a fierce look at Mikasa.
"That's enough, all of you!" Ian disciplined them. "We're approaching the route to the boulder! From the looks of it, there are no titans. It seems like everyone successfully lured them off."
On the northwestern corner of Trost, dozens of Titans gathered around to catch any human they could feast upon. With hundreds of soldiers standing on the wall, some of them were hanging on the edge using their mobility gear to latch onto the wall without falling into the Titans' grasp.
"Listen up!" shouted Captain Felman. "We just need to guide them to the corner of the town! Avoid all combat!"
Among the soldiers hanging on the edge, Armin and Marco were doing the task they were assigned and lured as many titans as possible without fighting them head-on.
As Eren, Mikasa, the three elite Garrison soldiers, and seven ponies continued down the route that led to the boulder, Riko wanted to remind Eren about what they were risking for this operation to be a success.
"Let me tell you something, Jaeger," Rico said to him, bringing his attention to her "In all likelihood, no small number of soldiers will lose their lives executing this plan. All for your sake. They're our fellow comrades, seniors, and juniors. Naturally, as soldiers, we're all prepared to die anytime. But you know, they're not ignorant pawns. They have names, families, and all the emotions associated with them.
"Alyosha, Dominic, Phine, Isabel, Ludwig, Martina, Guido, Hans... They're all humans with blood running through their veins. There are also some whom I've been with since my Cadet Corps days. Today, many of them... will likely die for your sake. You have the responsibility to not let their sacrifices be wasted. No matter the odds. Carve that reality into your naive heart. And fulfill your duty with your life."
"Ma'am!" Eren answered, with his steadfastness becoming stronger.
"Don't worry, Rico," Twilight assured in favor of all of her friends. "We'll try our hardest to make sure we make it out of this nightmare alive."
"And that's another thing," Rico spoke further. "Why would you ponies leave the safety and security of your home and come to ours?"
"To save everypony from the titans by all means," Starlight answered.
"But I still don't understand," Rico rattled "Surely, you have families and loved ones back in your world. Fighting in this war won't let you ponies gain or lose anything, except for your own lives, so why risk that and come to this world?"
"You've heard of compassion and companionship, right?" Twilight asked. "We're not doing this just for our own gain or glory, we're doing this because it's the right thing to do. To be honest, we were terrified of seeing these Titans devour your kind helplessly and we were hesitant to come here; but we couldn't just sit back and watch all of you perish.
"So do not think that we're just tossing our own lives away since we do have families and loved ones back home, just like you said. Our rulers grieved for many of your losses and decided to help you humans by sending us. It wasn't our rulers' decision to send us here; my friends and I decided this together and we are not going to let this be for nothing!"
Rico thought about Twilight's reasoning for a moment, still slightly confused.
"I'm still a little puzzled about this," Rico answered. "but if you ponies are willingly risking your necks just for the sake of humanity, I won't argue any further."
While Twilight nodded with a smile, Eren looked at the boulder with a stern scowl as they were nearing the drop-off point.
I'll do it. he thought. I'll make sure we succeed!
As they were about to reach the boulder, Eren thought back to Pyxis' speech.
"Ever since the Titans appeared, mankind has not once claimed victory over them!" Pyxis stated. "For every inch the Titans advanced, we retreated in kind, continually giving up territory! However, when this plan succeeds, mankind will recapture territory from the Titans for the first time in history!"
"It's here," Ian told everyone as he shifted at the right edge of the massive wall. "Let's go!"
"That moment will mark the first time mankind has triumphed over the titans!
Ian, Mitabi, Eren, and Mikasa lept over the wall with their maneuvering gear ready to be used. Twilight grabbed Starlight with Pinke Pie in her magic grasp with the pink pony exclaiming 'Whee' as Twilight followed Eren and Ian. Rainbow Dash carried Applejack and Fluttershy carried Rarity while they followed Twilight's lead. Once the ponies got closer to the ground, they placed each other on the rooftops and darted for the huge boulder.
Rico stopped at the drop-off point and glanced at where Pyxis was stationed. Placing her left hand on her left ear and aiming a pistol at the sky, she pulled the trigger and a pillar of green smoke shot up several yards in the air.
Far at the northern side of the wall, a female Garrison soldier used a monocular to relay the message back to her superiors.
"Green signal confirmed," the female soldier passed on to the commander. "The elite squad has begun their mission."
Commander Pyxis looked over the town with full confidence that the mission would be a success.
"Compared to all of that mankind has lost thus far, it may be overwhelmingly insignificant."
Eren, Mikasa, Ian, and Mitabi flew and zipped over, through, and across the many buildings in the city with their 3D maneuvering gear while the ponies flew above or ran across the rooftops. Eren and Mikasa went straight for the boulder while Ian, Mitabi, and the ponies moved to either side of the boulder to allow Eren to transform.
"However, despite that, to mankind it will be a great advance."
Once Eren flew over the street that led to the boulder, there was a clearing big enough for him to transform into a Titan. As he neared the clearing, he placed his left hand in his mouth and bit down hard on it, squirting blood and crushing some bone. A light shined brightly from around him as bone, muscle, and all kinds of body tissue formed around Eren, crashing into a nearby building with dust and smoke erupting from it. Mikasa, the elite soldiers, the ponies, and the commander along with his fellow soldiers stared with awe as Eren's Titan form stood up and roared menacingly, ready to start the mission and lift the boulder.
Ian stood on the edge of the roof of a long tower while Mikasa and Mitabi stood on a building east of where the boulder was. The ponies arrived to where Mikasa and Mitabi were and looked at Eren's Titan form in brimming determination of Eren. Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Starlight, and Twilight went on the same roof Mikasa was standing on while Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie set themselves on a building north from where the boulder was at.
From a human's standpoint, thought Mikasa. it's unthinkable to carry a boulder of that size. But I'm sure Eren has a strong power that can guide us.
Eren's Titan walked towards the boulder and looked right at it according to plan. However, before he could lift it up, he glanced back at where Mikasa was positioned with frightining, glowing eyes. Eren began to walk slowly towards Mikasa, striking worry into her.
Eren? Mikasa wondered to herself.
Before she knew it, Eren wounded his right arm and punched his fist directly at Mikasa. Ian, Mitabi, and the ponies observed the scene with dismay and gasped as Eren's Titan form destroyed part of the roof.
"What the hay?!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed.
My Little Pony: Fight Against the Titans
Around the northwest corner of the city, over hundreds of Titans were cluttered together to catch any human that was hanging on the wall. Several cannons were pointed downward directly at the horde in preparation for firing at the Titans. Although everything was going according to plan, some soldiers were not so lucky to make it out alive or unharmed. There was one soldier that was being escorted by two other soldiers after they were shocked to see him without a lower arm and elbow. Pyxis and a few other soldiers were walking along Wall Rose as they were witnessing the scene unfold.
"We managed to lure most of the Titans to this distant corner of the town," spoke a soldier next to Pyxis. "but despite avoiding combat as much as possible, we lost a fifth of our men."
"We didn't lose them," Pyxis replied, causing the soldiers to release minor gasps. "The soldiers didn't just die on their own. I sent them to their deaths on my orders."
Pyxis halted for a moment to look at where Eren, Mikasa, the elite Garrison soldiers, and ponies were pulling off the mission.
"This is a critical point in mankind's survival. If it means mankind will live on, I don't mind being called a murderer."
Seeing Eren about to strike at her, Mikasa dove out of the way to her left barely dodging the Titan's blow. However, she felt a small cut come across her right cheek and gasped before tumbling on the side of a tiny tower. Ian, Mitabi, and the ponies were surprised to see Eren suddenly behave so rashly and that their plan was already going askew.
Eren's fist had been broken off after the impact, but it did not put him in dismay. Eren was more focused on Mikasa as he was readying to strike again with his left fist.
"Mikasa!" Starlight cried.
Mikasa quickly reacted and jumped away from Eren's blow and fired a hook at one of the adjacent structures. She reeled up in front of Eren's Titan's face and grabbed one of the many locks of hair on his head, staring directly into the titan's eyes.
"Cut it out, Ackerman!" Ian ordered. "Get away from him!"
"Eren, don't you recognize me?" Mikasa asked with deep concern. "I'm Mikasa! I'm your family! You must block the hole with that boulder!"
Rainbow joined Mikasa in her reasoning by flying up to Eren's titan face as well.
"Rainbow!" Twilight shouted.
"Eren!" yelled Rainbow Dash. "Look at us! I'm Rainbow Dash! We're your friends! You remember us, don't you?!"
Seeing the plan fail already, Rico set down a small case and opened it to get two smoke rounds, one red and the other yellow.
"The operation has failed," she said to herself, grabbing the red smoke round and placing it on the pistol. "It was obvious from the start that no secret weapon existed."
Rico pointed the barrel of the pistol at the sky, covered her left ear to block the noise and fired away, leaving a red smoke trail in the midst.
"Eren! We're your friends, your family!" Rainbow cried.
"Eren!", Mikasa kept reasoning to Eren. "You're human! You're-"
Ian saw Eren's Titan form ready to punch at Mikasa and Rainbow Dash with his fully healed right fist.
"Dodge, Ackerman, Rainbow Dash!" he warned.
Mikasa and Rainbow Dash saw Eren's fist ready to strike at them as Eren's Titan form hauled his arm. Mikasa jumped off of Eren's titan face towards the roof of a building while Rainbow Dash darted with her. Eren's fist collided with his face right into the left side of his head. Eren's Titan body collapsed back against the boulder and sat on it with steam pouring out of his wounds, staying almost perfectly still.
"What's up with him?" Mitabi inquired in a muffled tone. "He's just a stupid Titan like all the rest!"
"Eren!" grieved Mikasa.
"Mikasa!" Twilight cried, flying towards her. "Are you alright?!"
"I'm fine!" Mikasa shot back.
"What in tarnation has gotten into 'em?" Applejack asked running towards the elite soldiers along with everypony else. "He's starting to act like a blockhead!"
"Squad leader Ian!" shouted a soldier from behind. "Two approaching from ahead! One 10-meter and one 6-meter class! Another's coming from behind! It's a 12-meter class!"
Ian saw the Titans the soldier warned about coming for them and gasped in dread.
"Ian," spoke Mitabi. "we gotta pull out! That brat ain't gonna block no gates!"
"Yeah," Rico replied. "We've got no choice but to leave him here."
Mikasa turned to Riko and stared at her with menacing eyes. Ian backed away slightly after seeing the fury in her eyes, knowing that she did not want to abandon Eren. He turned to Rainbow Dash and had almost the same scowl as Mikasa. He looked away and pondered what they would do if he ordered a retreat.
Pyxis and several other soldiers saw red smoke being deployed by one of the elite soldiers where the boulder was positioned.
"Red signal flare from the elite team confirmed," relayed a male Garrison soldier. "A serious problem has interfered with the blocking operation."
One of the soldiers started to kneel down, placed his right hand on his head and sobbed in grief.
"My comrades died in vain!" he wept. "Was it all a waste?"
More soldiers from around the city spotted the red smoke likewise and began to wonder what happened during the operation. The soldiers distracting the Titans with gas canisters on their backs also noticed this. Armin stared at the smoke signal with an anxious look on his face.
"Hey, look at that!" shouted a male soldier.
"Look, what's that?" cried another.
"Did they... fail?" asked Marco.
"Why?" Armin whispered.
Armin gritted his teeth and hissed wondering what transpired and decided to take action by removing the gas canisters on his back and preparing his maneuvering gear. Once he was set, he sprinted towards the east side of Trost. Marco was the first to notice Armin abandoning his position.
"Huh?", said Marco in a baffled tone. "Hey! Armin! Where are you going?"
Armin ignored him and was too focused on helping his friends in such a dire circumstance.
"Commander Pyxis," said a soldier with a mustache. "we should fall back to defend the gate. Do you approve?"
"No," answered Pyxis.
"Order the elite team to retreat," asked the female soldier with the monocular.
"No need," Pyxis replied. "Keep luring the Titans to the corner of the town. As for the elite team, they have the authority to act as they see fit. They aren't merely just skilled soldiers. They are the elite among the elite that I entrusted with the future of mankind. Giving up so easily would be unforgivable. We cannot allow our comrades' deaths to be in vain. We must struggle to our very last breaths."
Mikasa, the elite soldiers, and the ponies regrouped and debated on taking the best course of action in this situation.
"Hey," yelled Mitabi towards the hesitant Ian. "what are you waiting for? You're in command! Ian, it's not your fault! This plan was dubious at best! Everyone knew that! It was not worth giving it a try, and we've already tried it, with no success! Listen, we're going up the wall!"
As Mitabi walked towards the wall, Rainbow Dash flew up and landed right in front of him to block his path.
"No way we're leaving Eren behind!" Rainbow Dash retorted. "If Eren doesn't plug up that hole, who else will?!"
"I don't know!" Mitabi replied pointing at Twilight, Starlight, and Rarity. "Maybe someone with magic like Twilight or Starlight that you ponies speak about! Why not use that instead?!"
"Our magic is not that strong here as it is in our world," Twilight answered. "let alone lift that massive boulder. We unicorns draw magic from the earth, but with the lack of magic in this world we just don't have enough power to lift that boulder."
"So then this mission just turned out to be a failure after all," Mitabi responded. "We're retreating up the wall and that's that!"
Mikasa gasped after hearing those words and readied her swords. The ponies noticed Mikasa's expression and very well knew her motives, looking at Mikasa with nervous looks.
"Mikasa," Applejack said in a worried tone. "Let's be reasonable now..."
Mikasa ignored Applejack and ran straight for Mitabi. However, Ian placed his right arm between them, separating the two soldiers.
"Wait," Ian spoke. "Wait. Calm down, Ackerman."
Although Mikasa stopped in her tracks, she glanced at Ian with threatening eyes. Ian turned his attention to Rico and Mitabi.
"Rico, take down the 12-meter class coming from behind! Mitabi's squad and mine will handle the two in front of us!"
The ponies were enlightened after hearing Ian's orders whereas the two elite soldiers were shocked.
"What?!" challenged Rico.
"I'm the one in command here!" Ian reminded them in a loud voice. "Be quiet and listen to my orders. We can't leave Jaeger defenseless."
Rico gasped as she became horrific of Ian's final orders. The ponies, however, were still joyful to know that Ian was not giving up so easily.
"We're changing our objectives," Ian declared. "Until Jaeger can be retrieved, we'll protect him from the Titans. He represents a precious possibility for mankind. We can't just abandon him. Unlike us, he can't be replaced."
Rico started to calm down while she was still hesitant about Ian's orders letting him fall into his demise.
"Hundreds have already died for that hulking failure of a human weapon!" Rico established pointing at Eren's Titan form. "Now you want to recover him, just for us to go through all that again?!"
"That's right!" Ian responded in a threatening voice. "No matter how many die, we must try again and again!"
Rico and Mitabi became stunned after hearing Ian's orders with dismayed expressions. The ponies were shocked likewise and then looked at each other with nods of affirmation.
Farther on the other side of the city, Jean launched himself upward using his maneuvering gear to join Conny and Marco. He looked around to see the horrific sight of dead or wounded soldiers.
"What happened to Eren?" Jean asked Conny and Marco.
"Armin's headed there alone," Marco replied. "I think... they'll be fine."
"You think ?" Jean countered.
"They'll be fine! I'm sure! Eren will do it."
Marco's answer brought disturbance to Jean.
"I can't help but think it's pointless to gather the titans in the corner of town," Conny uttered.
"Fighting the Titans always becomes a battle of attrition," Jean returned. "We can't let our soldiers perish at this stage."
Conny turned around and walked a few steps to examine the soldiers on the wall trying to overcome this ordeal.
"So those who already died, they perished in vain?" Conny questioned.
"This is bound to turn out into an all-out war sooner or later," Jean replied. "We must preserve our forces as much as possible until then. Keeping our casualties to a minimum is only natural!"
"Can you say the same about those ponies?" Conny further pondered. "Surely, they can turn the tide in this war against the Titans."
"They're still new to this world, and by the looks of them, they haven't seen this kind of hell before," Jean persisted. "Even they may not stand a chance fighting against titans, even with magic or flight. I am right."
"Are you sure?"
"I'm sure of it!"
"Then let's try not to become casualties ourselves," Conny responded, looking back at Jean and Marco with a brash smile.
"Ian, are you out of your mind?!" Rico yelled at him.
"How else can mankind win against the Titans?!" Ian shouted, scaring most of the ponies as they continued to watch the elite soldiers argue with each other. "Tell me, Rico! What other way is there to get through this?! How can we win against the Titans without more people dying, while staying humans ourselves?! What should we do?!"
The ponies were shocked to see the rage of Ian's justification, yet they were somewhat lifted. Rico sighed in defeat, unable to give a good answer.
"Of course I don't know a way to defeat the Titans," Rico returned in a much smoother voice.
"That's why this is all we have left," Ian concurred. "For that messed-up human weapon's sake, we must risk our lives and give it our all! Isn't it pitiful? That's all we can do as humans. I can even say the same for these ponies. They'll risk their own necks for humanity's glory. So what will you do? This is the only way we can fight. This is as much struggle as we can manage!"
Ian looked back at Mikasa and the ponies as they all looked at him with burning persistence in their eyes. Even though the ponies were just as scared of dying in the gullet of a titan, they knew that Eren was the only hope of saving all of humanity from the wrath of the Titans, even if it meant sacrificing their own lives. They all gave Ian a reassuring nod with driven expressions on their faces, letting Ian know that they were right behind him.
Rico gritted her teeth as she was still hesitant to rethink this scenario.
"I can't accept that," Rico rejected, walking away from Ian and the others in uneasiness.
The ponies were disappointed in Rico's decision to turn away as her duty to protect mankind.
"Rico!" Ian shouted.
"I will follow the plan," Rico acknowledged, stunning Ian and the ponies. "I think what you're saying is right. But while I struggle, I'll show them just how dreadful humans can be. I refuse to die a dog's death. Leave the 12-meter class behind us for me and my men."
With her final words, she fired her grappling hooks at a nearby building and zipped towards the 12-meter titan. Mitabi walked the opposite direction where the other two titans were approaching.
"Let's go," Mitabi said. "The two ahead of us are ours."
"Yeah," Ian settled as he watched Mitabi jog off the roof and fired his hooks at one of the structures to fight the other titans.
"Thank you, squad leader Ian," Mikasa appreciated.
"You are certainly eloquent with your words, darling," Rarity expressed.
"Ackerman, ponies," Ian said to them. "you shouldn't thank me. I almost shat myself because I had no clue what you were about to do."
Ian drew out one of his many blades using the handle of his omni-directional mobility gear.
"Move ahead on your own to execute the original plan. Your abilities are best utilized that way."
"Yes, sir," Mikasa confirmed.
"Defend your boyfriend."
"He's my family," Mikasa corrected while blushing.
"Oooh!", Rarity swooned, only receiving a menacing glare from Mikasa.
"Ponies," Ian called out to them. "You seven will help Mikasa defend Eren until we can move forward with the original plan to seal the hole. You'll still need to defend yourselves, even with the use of flight or magic."
Twilight put her right hoof under her chin to think of the best approach to fight back. Suddenly, she shot her head up and gasped once an idea popped into her head.
"Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy," Twilight called out to the two pegasi. "I need your help with something. Just follow me."
Twilight flew off the roof towards the headquarters with Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy behind her tail. Ian was puzzled as to what kind of idea Twilight had in mind. However, he couldn't just mosey around about it.
"Ackerman!" Ian shouted running off to join his fellow comrades. "You have your orders! Do what has to be done!"
Ian used his mobility gear to fly off down the streets. With Ian out of sight, Mikasa and the other ponies looked down at Eren's Titan body as it remained motionless. Mikasa realized that his wounds have not healed entirely and were still smoldering with steam, even though it had been several minutes and should have been all healed up by now.
Huh? Mikasa thought. His wounds aren't regenerating. Is it because of the damage he suffered before? What effects did that have on Eren? Is there any guarantee he can return to his normal form again at all?
"Mikasa!" Starlight shouted, bringing Mikasa out of her trance. "We can't just stay here! Those Titans will eat us like a dinner on a platter!"
"Besides, I'm more of a dessert!" Pinkie Pie mentioned, only getting raised eyebrows from the ponies.
Mikasa nodded her head in agreement and closed her eyes for a moment.
They're right. I should stop. Mikasa continued to think. It's not something I can figure out by thinking. Right now, I must do what I can.
Meanwhile, Armin was still running on top of the wall to come to Eren, Mikasa, and the ponies' aid. He was panting lavishly and was starting to feel exhausted for running so long, but regardless he had to keep going and cease from resting until he made it to his destination.
Eren! Mikasa! Armin said in his mind. What happened?!
Deep inside the nape of Eren's Titan body, Eren remained immobile and lifeless. His arms, legs, neck, and face were intertwined with the titan's muscle fibers inside. His real eyes were twitching as they remained open until his pupils began to enlarge, awakening Eren.
Huh? Eren thought. What... am I doing? Am I sitting? I can't see a thing. What day is it? Where am I?
Eren's vision started to clear up once he saw a bright light shine through his eyes. After adjusting his vision more clearly, he got a better look at his surroundings. He was now only ten years old. He was sitting on a bench with a blanket wrapped around him and a pillow behind his head. There was a large wooden table with four wooden chairs with his father sitting on one of them writing in a journal. Mikasa was washing dishes at a sink behind the table helping out an older woman that appeared to be Eren's mother.
She had long, black hair that was tied loosely to the side of her right shoulder with a red tie along with a few strands of hair around her ears and forehead. She had brown eyes and she wore a cream colored shirt with an apron tied around her waist. The sunlight shined through the window where the sink was, giving abundant light inside the kitchen.
Oh, I'm at home? he continued to say to himself while yawning enormously. I need sleep...
Eren shuffled a little in his blanket and closed his eyes to get some rest.
Armin used his maneuvering gear to swing over and through the city until he reached the boulder. With one last thrust, he landed on top of a roof of a building adjacent to where the boulder was. While he was catching his breath, he saw Eren sitting behind the boulder with his hands and face torn off. Needless to say, Armin was not happy in the slightest.
Eren! Armin thought with great concern for Eren.
"What are you doing, Eren?!" Armin shouted to him.
At the northwest corner of the city where the Titans were still swarming, Jean, Conny, and Annie, along with two trainee soldiers and a Garrison soldier were deliberating a plan to lure more Titans and let those titans join the other ones in the corner.
"Do you understand?", said a male Garrison soldier. "We musn't let the Titans leave this corner! Focus only on that goal, and lure them close enough! Do you understand? You won't have to fight. Cadets will form groups of three and run on the ground. Once you're under the wall, climb it up. Try not to die. If by some miniscule chance any Titans stray away, we'll crush them."
"Miniscule chance?", Jean grumbled in a quiet voice. "I'd say it's more likely than that."
"Are we free to act as we see fit in the case of emergency?", questioned Annie.
"If you can sort it out that way, sure," the Garrison soldier answered.
Out of nowhere, crashing wood and massive clouds of dust began to form over a nearby structure as a large titan was approaching the squad.
"Kirstein squad, move out!" the Garrison soldier ordered.
"Okay!" Jean confirmed.
Farther in the city, a titan fell on its back with its nape cut open by a soldier that killed it. Another Titan noticed Mitabi zip over to another rooftop where Ian was standing on and tried to reach for him. Before the titan could get the chance to do so, Mikasa flew from above and sliced its nape clean off, causing the Titan to tumble forward onto the building with its neck pouring out steam. Mikasa landed where Mitabi was sitting, trying to regain his composure after nearly being snatched by a Titan.
"This isn't good!" Ian shouted. "Behind us!"
Indisputably, a huge Titan already climbed on the rooftops to get to Eren a lot faster than the others, leaving many soldiers in terror.
"A thirteen-meter class is heading for Jaeger!" a male soldier declared.
"More titans are coming in through the gate!" Mitabi announced.
When Mikasa looked at the destroyed gate, she saw four more titans entering the city.
"Looks like four ten-meter class!" Mitabi presumed.
"Ackerman," Ian called out to her. "handle the ones behind us!"
"Roger!" she responded, heading towards Eren's current location.
"Don't let them reach Jaeger!" Ian added. "We'll stop them here!"
"Roger!" answered Mitabi.
As Mikasa ran across the rooftops towards the boulder Eren was stationed, she began to wonder to herself if the two squadrons would be able to handle so many of them until they became devoured themselves.
Even though they're the elite, she thought. just two squads can't handle four at once; the ponies may have flight or magical abilities, but it'll probably take more than that to actually kill a titan.
As she used her mobility gear to reach Eren, she saw some of the ponies trying to distract a Titan going for Eren by calling or mocking it, but to no avail. Mikasa fired a hook at the Titan's nape and reeled herself in for the kill. Once she was close enough, she slashed through the titan's neck, forcing the titan to drop on the roof as Mikasa ended its life. Afterwards, she met up with the ponies to see how they were all doing.
"Mikasa!" Rarity clamored, hugging Mikasa. "Are you doing alright fighting off those barbarians?"
"So far, so good," Mikasa responded. "But something's wrong."
"Whatever do you mean, darling?" Rarity asked.
"There are so many Titans in this area even though there are hardly any humans around here," Mikasa clarified. "Is it possible... that they're being drawn to Eren?"
Mikasa scanned some of the ponies and then realized that a few of them were missing, specifically Twilight, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash.
"Wait, where are the others?!" she queried.
"Right here!" Twilight called out.
Mikasa and the ponies looked at the direction where Twilight shouted and saw her and the two other pegasi return with several sheaths entirely filled with fresh, new blades. Twilight, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash placed them on the roof to allow everypony to grab a pair of swords. Mikasa was left in confusion as to what the ponies had in mind to defend Eren.
"Twilight, what are you guys planning to do with those blades?!" asked Mikasa.
"Well, duh," Rainbow Dash blurted. "We're gonna use them to fight back against those monsters! We'll all grab a pair and fight back! We can't just rely on wing power and magic alone!"
"Fight the Titans?" Mikasa murmured. "But how-"
"Mikasa! Twilight! Everyone!" Armin screamed, bringing Mikasa's and the ponies' attention to him. "What happened to the plan?"
When they saw where Armin was standing, they were all aghast to see him on Eren's immobile Titan form.
"Armin?" Mikasa cried to him.
"What's wrong with Eren?"
"Armin!" Starlight shouted. "It's far too dangerous! Get away from there! Something went wrong! Eren can't control that Titan!"
"Mikasa and Rainbow Dash even tried to reason with him, but he just attacked them out of the blue!" Twilight added.
"She's right!" Mikasa agreed. "There's no use in anyone else trying either!"
"And the plan?" Armin questioned in worry.
"It failed," Mikasa replied. "But we can't leave Eren behind, so everyone's fighting!"
"But at this rate, we'll all be wiped out before we can get Eren to regain his senses!" Twilight concluded. "You have to get out of there!"
Armin gasped after hearing them describe the state that Eren was in and the morbid position Mikasa, the ponies, and every soldier was in. Armin had to do something to wake Eren up since so many soldiers already perished for the sake of the mission. He turned around looking directly at the nape of the Titan where Eren's true body rested, remembering the first time Eren rose out of the Titan's nape. He had an idea in mind that would probably kill him in the process, but he had to pull it off if the mission was to succeed according to plan.
"From the back of the head to the nape of the neck..." Armin muttered to himself taking out one of his blades. "One meter long. Ten centimeters wide."
"Armin?!" Mikasa cried.
"Don't tell me he's doing what I think he's doing?!" Starlight said to Mikasa and the ponies.
"Armin!", Applejack shouted to him. "What in tarnation are ya tryin' to do?!"
"I'll get Eren out of here!" Armin clamored to them. "Mikasa! Everyone else! Protect us from the Titans!"
Mikasa and the ponies did not like where Armin's plan was heading one bit. Armin walked closer to the nape of Eren's Titan form to prepare himself to wake Eren up from his dreamy state. Fluttershy hid behind Rarity waiting for the inevitable to happen while Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Rarity bit their lips with nervous expressions.
"What are you..." mumbled Mikasa with a shocked look.
"Eren came out of the Titan's weak point before," Armin notified.
He pressed the triggers from the handles to fire both hooks at the Titan's shoulder pads to lock Armin in place for good measure.
"This has to be related to the mystery of the Titan's true nature," Armin continued. "It'll be fine. As long as I avoid the middle, it won't be fatal. It's just going to hurt a bit!"
"Looks like we're in for a terrible surprise," Pinkie Pie stated hiding on the other side of the roof.
Mikasa and the ponies gasped to see Armin about to thrust the blade into the titan's nape where Eren rested. Fluttershy, Starlight, and Rarity looked away as they couldn't bare to watch whereas Rainbow Dash tried to fly towards him to stop Armin from doing anything reckless and idiotic, only to be held back from her tail by Applejack.
"Don't do it!" Rainbow Dash cried.
"Armin, stop!" Twilight exclaimed.
"Armin!" Mikasa shrieked.
Ignoring them, Armin jabbed the blade into the Titan's flesh a few centimeters left away from Eren's back. Inside the Titan's nape, the blade stabbed right through Eren's left arm, causing Eren's eyes to shoot wide open from the sudden pain he felt in his arm. The Titan's upper body suddenly jerked wildly and roared rapidly in pain. Armin held on to the blade that was lodged inside the Titan's neck with both of his hands as Eren's upper body jerked and twitched back and forth.
"Have you lost your mind?!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed.
"Armin, don't be a fool!" Mikasa shouted.
"Mikasa! Twilight!" Armin yelled. "Right now, do what you can! If you all go now, there are lives you can save! Leave Eren to me and get going!"
As much as Mikasa and Twilight wanted to argue, they knew that there were people counting on them to seal the hole and reclaim the city of Trost. Once Mikasa groaned in defeat, Twilight walked to her and placed her hoof on her left side of her body.
"Don't worry," Twilight reassured. "We'll help you fight back those titans and keep the two of them safe. I'll go with you and join Ian and the others."
Twilight turned her attention to Starlight, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash to give the three of them a certain task.
"Starlight, Rainbow Dash, Applejack," she addressed. "You girls stay here and watch over Armin to make sure no Titans get to them. Use those blades we gathered at the best at your disposal."
"We won't let you down!" Rainbow Dash confirmed while giving Twilight a salute. "Let's go girls!"
"We're right behind ya, Rainbow!" Applejack replied with a quick nod.
The three ponies grabbed a pair of their own blades and then jumped onto a different roof to watch Armin's back from the other titans. Twilight then turned to face the rest of the ponies and Mikasa as they waited for further instructions.
"Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie Pie," addressed Twilight. "You three and I will join the elite squadron and save as many lives as possible. Fluttershy will be a diversion to keep the Titans distracted, Rarity and Pinkie Pie will help the other soldiers kill off the other Titans by cutting their tendons and crippling them for a short while. So make sure you grab a pair of blades; and if anypony needs help, just call me and I'll swoop in to stop the imminent. Understood?"
"Aye-aye, captain!" Pinkie Pie rooted, giving a salute by placing her hoof on her head.
The other ponies excluding Twilight did the same after knowing their roles in this battle. Afterwards, Mikasa and the other four ponies set out to regroup with the squadrons. Fluttershy carried Rarity in her hooves while Twilight carried Pinkie Pie along with Mikasa using her mobility gear to swing across the buildings. Meanwhile, Starlight, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash kept a close eye out for any Titans that were enticed to Eren.
"Eren," cried Armin. "can you hear me?! Get a grip man! If you don't come out of there, we're all dead!"
The three ponies looked back to see if Armin was making any progress of waking Eren up.
"Don't let a mere titan body control you!", he continued. "Hurry up and get out of that lump of flesh!"
Get out of here? Why? , Eren thought to himself. I'm so sleepy...
"Eren! Come out!" Armin shouted. "Hurry! Eren! Eren!"
Armin started to pant as his exasperation began to swell up since he was unable to influence Eren.
"What happened to avenging your mother?!" he yelled, slamming his right fist on the Titan's body. "Weren't you going to exterminate all the Titans?! Don't you hate those bastards for killing your mom?!"
Inside Eren's dream, he looked behind him where he was resting and saw Armin at a younger age banging on the window.
"What are you saying, Armin?" Eren asked, looking back at his family, specifically his mother. "My mom's right here."
"Eren! Wake up, please! Eren! I know you're in there, Eren!"
The ponies watched Armin with somber looks as Armin's attempt to snap Eren out of his coma was pointless.
"Did he mention something about Eren avenging his mother?" Rainbow Dash quietly asked with a discontented expression.
"Ah wonder whatever happened to his real family back then," Applejack replied.
"If you stay here, we'll be killed by the Titans!" Armin continued to argue. "Everything will end right here!"
Eren still didn't respond as his body became limper with Eren falling deeper in his dreamy state.
Inside Eren's fantasy, Armin kept on banging on the window to convince Eren to come outside. Eren, however, remained wrapped in his warm blanket not understanding what Armin was saying to him.
"I told you, you're making no sense, Armin," Eren answered back as he realized something. "Why should I go outside? That's right. Why should I... join the Scout Regiment?"
Outside where the three ponies were guarding Eren, Rainbow Dash smacked her face with her right hoof as she lost her patience.
"I had enough of this!" Rainbow exclaimed, flying towards Armin to wake Eren up as well before she could be stopped by Applejack or Starlight.
"Rainbow, stop!" called Applejack.
Once Rainbow Dash reached Eren, she lowered herself next to Armin and slammed her hoof on the Titan's back as well.
"Eren!" Rainbow Dash shouted. "Stop horsing around and get on your hooves!"
In Eren's dream, he gasped once he saw a multi-colored pegasus slam her hoof onto the window with Armin.
"What?!" Eren gasped. "Is that you, Rainbow Dash?! This cannot be real! You're not real!"
The Garrison soldier with wavy, blond hair was captured by a fifteen-meter Titan with a huge goatee. The soldier screamed in terror as his life was about to meet its end. Down in the streets, Jean, Conny, and Annie ran with three other titans on their tails with Jean witnessing the soldier's demise. Jean turned his head back forward where he was running in order to pull off the plan.
"I guess we'd better move on our own now!" Annie suggested.
The three soldiers could barely outrun the other titans in hopes that they would all survive the outcome of the battle.
Mikasa, Twilight, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Pinkie moved across the city to regroup with Ian and the other elite soldiers with Twilight and Fluttershy flying overhead carrying Rarity and Pinkie Pie whereas Mikasa ran on the rooftops to conserve the amount of gas left in her canisters. As they traversed above the buildings, Mikasa noticed a soldier caught in the hand of a Titan with a beard roughly fifteen meters in height. The soldier screamed in horror as the Titan drew him closer to its mouth ready to chop off its upper body. Mikasa was about to come to the soldier's rescue until she saw Twilight fly above with blades in her magical grasp swoop from behind down below into the streets and upward towards the Titan's nape.
"I don't think so!" Twilight yelled, cutting deep into the Titan's weak point.
The Titan fell onto the roof right before it could eat the defenseless soldier. The male soldier crawled out of the Titan's hand while he was still quivering over his end that could have taken place.
"Take that, you piece of shit!" mocked Mitabi in a loud voice.
Ian and Mitabi were suddenly caught off guard when they noticed a smaller Titan about to whack them with its right hand. The elite soldiers moved out of the way in time before they could be crushed by the Titan's massive hand while the Titan left a large hole in the roof. Once Ian regained control, he gave further orders to the other cadets.
"Keep your distance!" ordered Ian.
"Ackerman reporting in!" Mikasa called out. "I'll join Mitabi's squad!"
"Count me in too!" Rarity joined in while landing safely on the rooftops.
"Me three!" Pinkie exclaimed, popping below where Rarity was standing.
"Don't worry, Ian!" Twilight ensured. "We'll help you guys out by any means necessary!"
Ian was about to protest, but he knew as well as everyone else that there was no time to argue. Ian nodded in confirmation and readied himself for any other Titans coming their way.
Further, in the city, Jean, Conny, and Annie continued to escape from the Titans pursuing them. As they split up to confuse the Titans, Conny kept running away in the main streets with a massive Titan right behind him. The Titan readied itself to grab Conny, only for the bald soldier to jump up and dodge his arm. Conny fired a hook at one of the buildings, only for the hook to bounce off the brick wall.
"Huh?", blurted Conny in confusion.
He turned around to see the same Titan kneel down to lunge at him again. Before the titan was about to strike, a hook fired directly into its thumb, forcing the titan to turn his attention to the culprit. It looked at him to see Jean standing in the street, now enticed to him.
"Jean!" yelled Conny.
"Hurry the fuck up!" Jean commanded him, running the opposite direction.
The Titan slammed his hand where Jean was standing, only for the titan to miss his target.
I've had enough of people dying on my account! Jean settled in his mind.
Jean stooped at a T-intersection of the street to see the Titan get up onto its feet and trail him further. With full determination and a small smirk on his face, Jean pulled the firing triggers on his handles, causing nothing to happen. Jean tried several times to fire the hooks in his mobility gear but became timid one he realized there was a malfunction with his maneuvering gear.
"Shit," groaned Jean. "it just had to break right now?!"
Jean tried to fire his grappling hooks in desperation while a smaller titan approached him from behind. As the Titan raised its right arm to grab him, Jean dodged out of its reach and darted further into the streets to find a safe place to hide.
During that time, Conny and Annie latched onto the western side of the walls to land on top of them. Once they were in a safe haven, they waited for Jean to rally up with them. However, they noticed Jean running away from a Titan without the use of his mobility gear.
"Jean!" Conny shouted. "What's wrong? Why isn't he using his 3D Maneuver Gear?"
Conny gasped as he may have realized the problem Jean was in.
"Don't tell me it broke!"
Jean kept running as far as his legs could carry him to find a spot to rest and reassess the situation.
"I'll sort this out myself!" Jean shouted to himself.
He turned right into a different intersection and entered a building to hide. He slammed the door behind him and moved towards two windows on the left side of the room, sliding to the floor to catch his breath for a few minutes. He hoped that the Titan would be stupid enough to forget about him or look somewhere else.
"Dammit!" he huffed. "Now I'm holding other people back?"
He peeked through the left window to see the titan come closer to where he was hiding in hopes that he would not be noticed. Figuring out a way to escape, he glanced to his right to see the maneuvering gear of a fallen soldier crushed by a large rock that appeared to function properly. Jean gasped as he began to construct a plan to get out of the city alive.
"Will this really work out?" he wondered.
Ian, Mitabi, Rico, Mikasa, and some of the ponies tried their hardest to hold off the Titans as their strength began to dwindle down by the minute. The ponies noticed that the Titans tried to attack them as well, realizing that Fluttershy was right earlier about the Titans seeing them as a threat moreover. At the rate the Titans were coming in, it wouldn't be much longer until they were wiped out unless Armin gets through to Eren to help him carry out the mission.
"Eren! Eren!" Armin panted in exhaustion, seeing that his attempts to wake him up seemed futile.
However, Armin had one more idea in mind to convince Eren to lift the boulder and reclaim the city of Trost.
"Weren't we going to explore the outside world?" he asked Eren.
This question got Eren's full attention with his eyes widened in sudden realization.
"Far, far beyond these walls..." Armin reminded him. "To the burning water and the land of ice. To the snowfields of sand. To that world, my parents were always hoping to see... I thought you'd forgotten about it, but you'd just stopped bringing it up because you didn't want me to join the Scout Regiment."
Armin's words brought fascination to Eren.
"The outside world..." Eren muttered to himself.
"Yeah," Rainbow Dash replied through the window. "After this whole war is over, maybe someday you guys can see our world as well. There's a royal city on a cliffside of a large mountain, a city in the sky made of clouds, an empire far north made of crystals, and so much more. Our world, Equestria, is just as wondrous as your world says to be. We'll all take you to our home someday!"
Rainbow Dash's description of the ponies' homeworld brought Eren's wonder up higher as he stood on his feet letting the blanket wrapped around him fall to the floor.
"Eren, answer me!" Armin begged him. "Even though you knew hell was raging outside the walls... Even though we might end up dying horrible deaths like my parents... Why did you ever want to see the outside world?"
Eren was in full realization as he turned to face Armin and Rainbow Dash. The heads of his family in his dream turned to him to get an answer.
"Why, you ask?" replied Eren. "Isn't it obvious?"
Once Eren remembered his purpose, his rage had built up to give Armin and Rainbow Dash his final answer.
"Because I was born to this world!"
His dreamy environment and apparations of his family burst into flames as everything around him burned off his feelings of security and comfort.
Eren's Titan form began to heat up with steam while his previous wounds from earlier began to regenerate and heal themselves up. Eren's titan form got up to its feet and and let out an imtimidating roar while Armin and Rainbow Dash jumped off of him to join Applejack and Starlight as all of their hopes of reclaiming the city glimmered once again.
"We did it!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, hugging Armin in the process.
"It's not over yet!" Armin replied. "Eren still has to plug that hole! So let's go!"
"Yeehaw!" Applejack shouted. "Let's finish this once and fer all!"
"Let's go, everypony!" Starlight ordered. "We still have a chance!"
As they made their way towards the destroyed outer gate, Eren turned around towards the boulder ready to succeed on this mission and reclaim the city from the Titans this time for sure.
Author's Note
Sorry for the delay. My proofreader has been busy with other things. Anyways, stay tuned for more.
My Little Pony: Fight Against the Titans
The elite squadron, the ponies, and a few remaining soldiers were trying their hardest to hold back as many Titans as possible. Regardless of all of their struggles, the Titans' numbers continued to increase as long as the breach remained unplugged. Twilight and Fluttershy couldn't stay in the air for long and would eventually have to land to rest their wings. Twilight's magic would soon wear her down if she did not conserve her magic for grasping onto the blades she held. Rarity and Pinkie Pie were also losing stamina along with their swords starting to become dull with every slice of Titan flesh.
Rico landed on a rooftop to recover her strength as she watched as more titans were coming for Eren and the others. A female Garrison soldier fell next to her to relay the news.
"Squad leader," she spoke in a worrisome tone. "This is all we can handle! We're the only ones left!"
They watched as a Titan with a big nose gorging on a fallen soldier. As Rico became annexed with panic, she gritted her teeth and thought of the only course of action to protect Eren and the ponies that were fighting back.
"Let's fall back to the rock!" ordered Rico.
As Rico and the female soldier zipped across the buildings towards the boulder, Twilight looked back to see them retreating and back to where the titan was feeding on the deceased soldier. Twilight wanted to help him so badly, but she already knew that it was already too late to save him now. After sighing in defeat, her mind was set.
"Fluttershy!" she called to the trembling pegasus. "Let's move!"
As Twilight flew with Rico and the other soldier, Fluttershy glanced back at the soldier being devoured with pity one last time and followed Twilight's lead.
On another rooftop near the breach of the outer gateway, Mitabi, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie watched as five more Titans ranging from about eight meters to fifteen meters enter the city. From behind, Ian and Mikasa rejoined them for any information of the situation.
"Report!" Ian demanded.
"Five titans incoming from the gate," Mitabi relayed.
"Looks like we're gonna have to improvise," Pinkie said in a lively tone while taking out the cannon from earlier inside the HQ.
Ian and Mitabi looked at each other with great perplex and disturbance as to where Pinkie Pie got that cannon. They quickly turned their attention to Rarity for an answer.
"Don't ask," Rarity replied.
Back to where Jean was hiding, the Titan that was searching for him walked back towards the direction it came from to search elsewhere. Jean saw this as his only opportunity to take the mobility gear outside and replace it with the malfunctioning one that he had on. Without hesitation, Jean ran through the door outside towards the mobility gear of the fallen soldier, fell on his knees and began unstrapping the many buckles.
"I can't just sit around waiting for the Titans to piss off!" Jean said to himself.
On top of the wall, Conny and Annie watched Jean trying to remove the mobility gear of a deceased soldier.
"Jean!" Conny cried. "It must be his Maneuver Gear!"
"What?" asked Marco while joining Conny and Annie to see what they were witnessing.
Jean was struggling to unstrap the belts as they refused to unbuckle from the clips.
"C'mon, you bastard!" Jean groaned. "I'm in a hurry here!"
The same Titan from before came back to where it previously searched to spot Jean, walking towards him to eat him. Jean started to panic trying to remove the mobility gear as he heard the massive footsteps.
"Jean, calm down!" shouted Marco.
Jean looked behind and spotted Marco using his maneuvering gear to go around the Titan from its left side to grab its full attention.
"Marco," Jean yelled. "What are you doing?!"
Marco did not respond. He landed on the sidewalk and ran the opposite direction as the Titan was now focused on Marco rather than Jean. As the Titan moved away from him, Jean calmed down and went back to replacing his mobility gear. After a few more tugs, he successfully removed the mobility gear from the corpse.
Conny and Annie swung down to the rooftops and rushed in to join Marco's rescue.
"Jeez, what a drag!" Conny bellowed.
As they pushed on, Jean was running towards a Titan and was about to be cornered. With his brand new maneuvering gear, he fired both hooks at two different structures and moved up to the right over the Titan's left shoulder. However, before he could reshoot one of his retracted hooks to escape the titan, one of the triggers did not press down, causing Jean to lose his balance and fall hard on the street.
"Crap!" Jean choked, looking at the right handle. "Why is the trigger so stiff?"
He glanced behind and saw the titan he tried to evade about to lunge at him. Jean struggled to get up as the Titan drew closer to his prey.
"Jean!" Conny screamed, coming down from the roof off a building right of where the Titan was standing.
Conny fired his hooks to moved towards the Titan's head and bumped into it, dazing the Titan. Conny landed on the nearest roof to recover from such a foolish attempt to distract the Titan.
"What are you doing?!" questioned Jean.
"That's my line!" answered Conny. "Fly away already!"
The Titan raised his right arm to snatch Conny from the roof, only for him to run away from it and grab a pile of wood and brick instead. Seeing this as another opportunity, Jean ran a few feet and fired one of his hooks at another building right before he was about to be caught by a different Titan that dived straight for him.
As Jean glanced back at the titan that nearly caught him, he gasped in horror to see a Titan pouncing directly at him upside down. Just before the Titan was about to grab him in its mouth, Annie swept in and pushed the Titan down on its throat, prompting the Titan to miss its target and slide on the street. After avoiding so many dangers, Jean swung across the city directly above one of the rooftops, dragging his sheaths on the roof as he pushed forward to the wall. He shot the other hook straight at the wall and exhausted some gas to move up on the top for safety with the other right behind him.
Jean and Marco tumbled on the wall to steady themselves on their knees and feet to prevent from falling off on the other side of the wall. Conny and Annie, nonetheless, landed on their knees smoothly.
"You guys are insane!" Jean ridiculed.
"My line again!" retorted Conny. "I think I just died like three times over!"
While they were all catching their breaths, Annie looked towards the south. The spectacle that she saw caused her to let out a small gasp along with an astonished look.
"Look at that!" she panted.
Jean and the others looked at where Annie was directing them, gasping in complete bewilderment.
Mikasa, Twilight, Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, the elite squadron, and a few other Garrison soldiers saw more Titans flooding into the city with Pinkie Pie aiming her party cannon at some of them. Suddenly, they heard heavy footsteps coming their way causing them to shake. They all faced at the direction of the steps and gasped in utter amazement to what they were witnessing. They all stared at Eren's Titan form carrying the massive boulder with large amounts of steam dispersing all over his body due to the boulder's overwhelming weight. With every step he took, it caused the ground to quake and left massive imprints on the ground.
"Wow!" Pinkie asserted. "If I knew Eren's titan form was that strong, I would've asked him to carry my family's sacred boulder out from that quarry after that whole incident."
As Mikasa watched Eren carry the boulder towards the gate, her eyes gleamed, and a smile broke out.
"Eren!" she whispered joyfully.
"Mikasa!" Armin's voice shouted out.
Armin, Starlight, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash traveled on top of the roofs of the buildings with Rainbow Dash flying overhead to meet with the others.
"Armin!" Mikasa replied.
"Eren won!" Armin told them. "He's trying to do his job now! If he can just make it to the gate, we win!"
Twilight and the other ponies saw this as the ultimate chance of this mission becoming a success. Ian realized this as well and gritted his teeth with his new determination.
"Listen well!" he roared. "We must defend Eren until he reaches the gate, even if it costs us our lives! Don't let any Titans get near him!"
"You heard him, girls!" Twilight shouted. "Let's finish this once and for all!"
"Alright!" exclaimed Rainbow Dash. "We got this!"
The other soldiers followed Ian's command and charged straight for the Titans. The five Titans that were entering the city had their eyes set for Eren and approached him.
Jean, Marco, Conny, and Annie continued to witness the impossible befall. Meanwhile, Jean saw this as a step forward towards mankind's first victory against the Titans and began to take action.
"Keep them all out of the way!" he ordered. "We must support Eren!"
They all jumped off the wall back into the city to act as a supporting team for Eren.
Ian turned his attention to Armin, Mikasa, and the ponies.
"Everyone, go to Eren!" he ordered them.
They all looked at Ian skeptically.
"This is an order! Got it?"
"Yes, sir!" all of them answered.
Before Ian was about to go into action himself, he stops and notices Mitabi and his squad trailing the Titans heading straight for Eren. Thier reckless actions caused Ian to gasp and widen his eyes in horror.
"Mitabi's squad?" Ian shouted. "What are they-?!"
Mitabi and his squad chased after the Titans as the Titans ignored them.
"The Titans aren't paying us any attention!" Mitabi yelled. "We've gotta get close enough that they can't ignore us!"
"Look! Over here!" one of the soldiers screamed.
"Turn around," Mitabi roared. "Or I'll shove my sword right up your stinkin' ass and bleed you to death!"
Two of the Titans heard their rude slandering and turned to face them. Mitabi and the others trembled in terror after seeing them give chase after the soldiers.
"Now!" one soldier cried, running back towards the buildings. "Two of them are after us!"
"Run!" Mitabi demanded. "Run to the buildings!"
Everyone on the rooftops observed the soldiers fleeing from some of the Titans in horror.
"No way!" Armin muttered. "Staying on the ground is suicide! Without horses or buildings, we can't fight!"
"No... It's the only way we've got left," Ian declared.
Ian along with his squad fired their hooks from their maneuvering gear towards some nearby structures and flew straight to the ground to follow Mitabi's plan to lure the Titans away from Eren.
"Everyone follow their lead!" Ian commanded the others.
"Armin, we're going too," Mikasa stated, following Ian's lead.
Armin trailed Mikasa to support the others while the ponies started to diverge a plan to dispatch the remaining Titans.
"So," Twilight asked her friends. "Does anypony have any ideas in mind? I'm open to suggestions."
"Ooo! Ooo! Ooo! Ooo! Pick me! Pick me! Pick me!" Pinkie Pie repeated, raising her hoof like a student in class.
"Yes, Pinkie?" Starlight asked with a dull expression.
"I got an idea, but I'll need everypony for this idea to work," Pinkie stated.
The other ponies glanced back at each other with unsure expressions as to what Pinkie had in mind. Regardless, they trusted her and followed her proposal.
"Alright," Twilight settled. "What is your plan?"
"Just follow me, everypony!" Pinkie answered, jumping off the roof into the streets.
The ponies carried one another off the rooftops and on the ground with a pair of their blades and ran in front of Eren to put Pinkie's plan into place. Armin and Mikasa saw the ponies engaging the titans and were worried about their safety.
"What are you guys doing?!" Armin questioned in a nervous tone.
"Just saving our friends from deep peril!" Pinkie Pie answered in a reassuring voice.
Out of nowhere, Pinkie Pie took out her party cannon and told Applejack to get inside the barrel of the cannon.
"Pinkie, Ah ain't so sure about this," Applejack said.
"Just roll with it, AJ!" Pinkie Pie answered.
As the ponies were fighting according to Pinkie Pie's plan, Ian distracts a Titan about eight meters in height before it could reach Eren. The Titan strikes Ian with its left hand, only for the soldier to evade it by jumping over and running towards the buildings for cover.
"This way!" he yelled. "Come over here!"
The Titan stands back on its feet and chases after Ian, allowing Eren a clear path towards the breached gateway. As Eren continues to carry the massive boulder, he watches his comrades fend him and use themselves as bait.
My body... Eren thought. It feels like I'm being crushed...
He looks down on the street and notices Armin and Mikasa defending him.
Mikasa? Armin? he pondered. What are you doing?
He then glanced to the right of him and noticed the ponies on the ground engaging the Titans.
Rainbow Dash? Starlight? How are you going to fight those Titans?
Pinkie Pie aimed her cannon at a Titan charging at a soldier distracting a different titan who was unaware of the Titan Pinkie was aiming at.
"Ready to slice and dice, Applejack?" Pinkie asked with Applejack still loaded inside Pinkie's cannon.
"Ready as Ah'll ever be!" Applejack answered with her blades held in her hooves.
"Hey!" the soldier yelled at the Titan running the opposite direction. "What are you waiting for? Come and get me!"
Before he could recover and use his mobility gear to escape, one of the other Titans got a hold of him and was about to feast on the defenseless soldier and kill him. Pinkie Pie acted fast and aimed the barrel at the Titan's nape in hopes that Applejack would kill it before the soldier would be devoured.
"Fire!" Pinkie shouted pressing the knob.
The cannon let out a massive boom sending Applejack flying towards the Titan's weak point. Once she was sent flying towards the Titan, she readied her blades for the kill and slashed deep into the Titan's nape, ending its life and saving the soldier from certain death. Mitabi turned to where Applejack successfully killed the Titan with a smirk on his face but was unaware of another Titan ready to slam him into the ground.
Luckily, Rarity and Starlight moved in as Rarity slashed one of the Titan's ankles, forcing the Titan to fall forward flat on its stomach. Starlight galloped straight for the Titan's weak spot with her blades held with her magic and jumped ahead, slashing the Titan's neck precisely on point. Mitabi was able to recuperate and join the others that survived to exterminate the Titans that still remained.
The other soldiers were stunned by the ponies' bravery and endurance against such monsters. It was thanks to the ponies that the others were still breathing and fighting until the bitter end. With Eren only being several yards away from the broken gateway, he remembered one of Armin's encouraging words back in his dream.
"Why did you ever want to see the outside world?" Armin asked.
Knowing the clear answer as to why, Eren's drive to finish the mission grew stronger by the minute.
When we're born, all of us are free,
Memories of his childhood started to come back, remembering the moments of peril and danger.
Back in Eren's childhood, the trafficker held his axe upwards ready to chomp Eren as he was about to stab him with a knife tied on the handle of a broom.
People who deny that, no matter how strong they are, don't matter.
Back in Shiganshina near the river, Armin and Eren read a book describing the wonders of the outside world.
The burning water, the land of ice, cities of clouds, an empire made of crystals... I don't care what! Anyone who saw such things would be the freest person in the entire world!
Ian noticed a soldier in the hands of a Titan ready to be eaten alive and made his way towards it.
Fight! Who would value their life over something like that?
Ian used his mobility gear to fly towards the Titan's mouth where the soldier was going to be devoured and pushed the soldier out in his place. Rainbow Dash spotted Ian rescuing the poor soldier and knew that she had to repay for his heroic actions by saving him in return.
However terrifying the world may be... It doesn't matter!
The Titan was about to push Ian further in its mouth to bite down on him until Rainbow Dash swooped in and cut off the fingers, allowing Ian to escape. Seething the opportunity, Rainbow Dash turned around towards the Titan's nape and slashed right through to kill it.
However cruel the world may be... It doesn't matter! Fight! Fight! Fight! FIGHT!
Meanwhile, Jean, Marco, Conny, and Annie were holding off the Titans deeper in the city as a diversion to keep them away from Eren. While Marco was keeping an eye out for any other Titans wandering in the city of Trost, he noticed two soldiers standing on a rooftop rising high above the city staring at where Eren was about to plug the breach.
Eren was only a few meters away from sealing the hole and reclaiming the city. With Armin and Mikasa were guiding Eren towards the gateway, another Titan made its way through and stood in their way. Mikasa and the two ponies spotted the Titan and had to kill it before it could attack Eren and ruin their chances of winning this battle. They all knew that they cannot lose after everything the humans have sacrificed.
"Watch out!" cried Armin. "A Titan!"
"I'll handle this!" Mikasa declared.
Before she could attack it, another soldier flew from above from the right of her and went straight for the Titan's face.
"Out of the way!" the female soldier screamed.
The voice of the soldier was none other than Rico. Once she landed on the Titan's cheek, she gouged out its left eye using her swords. The Titan cried in pain and then fell to its knees and tried to grab Rico, only for her to jump off with great agility. It was also unaware of the violet blur that flew right past its body.
"Twilight?!" Armin shouted.
She did not respond to Armin since she was more focused on getting rid of the Titan that blocked Eren's path. With blades in her magical grasp, she flew right for the Titan's weak spot with a battle cry and cut deep inside to deliver the finishing blow. With the Titan's life taken away, Twilight flew off to let Eren pass through and landed on the ground to take a quick breather. Rico was about to fall hard on the ground until Fluttershy flew to her, dropped her swords, and caught her in her hooves.
With no other threats to deal with, Eren was now in the home stretch just a few feet away from victory. The soldiers, as well as the ponies, looked to Eren walking straight for the breach and could not help but shed some tears. They saw that history was about to be made.
"Go Eren!" Armin and the ponies bellowed.
FIGHT! Eren screamed in his mind, forcing his Titan body to squat down and lean its body forwards, closing the breach with the boulder.
The impact of the boulder made a massive shockwave of wind and extensive cracks around the destroyed gateway. The soldiers and the ponies were too astonished to move or speak with agape mouths and tearful eyes. They were also stunned by the fact that the Titans would not be able to enter the city anymore. For the first time in human history, humanity has triumphed over the Titans and reclaimed territory from them too.
"We..." Rainbow Dash sputtered. "We won?"
"Yay!" Fluttershy shouted, hugging Rainbow Dash in midair while twirling. "We did it! I can't believe we did it!"
"Woohoo!" Pinkie screamed while jumping high in the air. "Humanity: 1! Titans: 0!"
The ponies let go of all of their weapons and applauded for success, hugging each other for their congratulations. The soldiers did the same and hugged one another. Jean and Conny looked over to where Eren sealed the hole and became stunned after witnessing humanity reclaim the city of Trost. Rico dropped down to her knees and let tears flow out as she sobbed in baffling joy.
"Everybody..." Rico mourned. "Didn't die in vain."
She reached out for her smoke pistol and placed a canister on the gun. Aiming towards the sky and covering her left ear, she pulled the trigger to let yellow smoke extend into the air to signify Pyxis and the other soldiers the mission's success.
"Today," she declared. "For the first time, mankind triumphed over the Titans."
Commander Pyxis and the accompanying soldiers spotted the yellow smoke from the outer gate.
"Yellow signal flare confirmed!" stated the female soldier using the monocular. "The operation was a success!"
The other soldiers suddenly gasped and muttered amongst each other as they began to prosper over their first victory against the Titans.
"Send in reinforcements now!" ordered Pyxis. "Rescue the elite troops!"
Some of the Titans outside the city tried to push the boulder, but it was stuck firmly in place. The Titans had no way to enter the city of Trost and wouldn't be able to ever again.
From inside Trost where the boulder was placed to seal the breach, Eren's Titan body finally exhausted and began to evaporate. Armin, using his mobility gear to reach the nape, cut through away from Eren's actual body to retrieve Eren and bring him to safety. From the north, two massive titans approached them.
"The remaining Titans are coming!" Rico yelled. "We have to climb the wall!"
"We'll withdraw as soon as we've recovered Eren!" Mikasa declared, running off towards Eren.
"You got that right!" Rainbow Dash replied, flying to where Eren and Armin were at. "No way we're leaving him behind!"
Mikasa and the other ponies ran up a few feet towards the deteriorating Titan body, but their bodies were exhausted to carry them much further. Even the pegasi had difficulty staying in the air after such a hard-felt battle. Rainbow Dash, Twilight, and Fluttershy reached Armin and tried to help him get Eren out. Ian and Mitabi looked at each other and nodded right before they used their maneuvering gear to climb the wall up to safety.
"Armin! Twilight!" Mikasa called out. "How's Eren?!"
"He's feverish from the unbelievable heat in here!" Armin answered in a loud voice trying to pull Eren out of the titan body. "We need to get him over the wall right away!"
Armin and Rainbow Dash proceeded in pulling Eren out, but the muscle wrapped around his arms and legs secured him inside, refusing to budge. Mikasa and the other ponies saw them struggling and decided to help out.
"Part of his body is still fused with the Titan," Armin said. "I can't pull him out!"
"Then we have no other choice but to cut off the flesh attached to him," Twilight stated with a penitent pinch.
"Hold on!" Mikasa halted while having concern for Eren.
Twilight levitated one of the blades using her magic and cut through the muscle tissue still attached to Eren. After doing so, Eren and Armin stumbled and fell behind them, just to be caught by Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy.
"Easy there, buddy!" Rainbow Dash blurted, setting them both down on the ground where all of the ponies were standing.
A large shadow suddenly cast over the few soldiers and the ponies. Once they looked up, they saw two massive Titans craving for human and pony flesh. Armin widened his eyes in horror, and the ponies folded their ears back while also expanding their eyes in fear. They knew that they were cornered and left defenseless without their blades, forcing the ponies to hug each other one last time before their time came to an end.
"Eren! Armin! Everyone!" Mikasa shouted.
Eren peeked through his eyes to see the Titans reach out for them and try to devour them. The ponies tensed up even more and shut their eyes for the inevitable to come.
Suddenly, a soldier wearing a green cloak flew from the other side of the wall and slashed the Titan's weak point from the left. With sudden speed, the soldier whirled around towards the titan on the right and spun his body with the blades in his grasp to cut off the nape of the other Titan. The two Titans went limp and tumbled towards the ground ceasing from any more movement.
The ponies could not believe what they have witnessed, especially Rainbow Dash. They wondered how someone was able to pull off two kills simultaneously and almost instantly. They saw the soldier that killed the Titans land on one of the corpses and stare north of where the city laid. They looked at the cloak that was swaying in the wind and noticed a symbol on the back that was different from that of the Garrison Regiment and the Cadet Corps. The emblem was comprised of two large bird wings flaring opposite of each other. The one flaring to the left was blue while the one on the right was white.
"Mikasa..." Armin whispered.
"That's..." Mikasa gasped.
Eren looked up to see something that gave him astonishment and hope.
"The wings... of freedom!" murmured Eren.
The man revealed himself to be Captain Levi as he glanced back at the soldiers and the ponies.
"Hey, you kids..." he spoke to them. "What's the situation here? And just who the hell are those mules there?"
After that, the Scout Regiment and the Garrison's engineers came rushing in, and Wall Rose was freed once again of the Titan threat. It took an entire day to eliminate all the Titans trapped inside Trost. During that time, the fixed artillery was constantly spitting fire. While the high-explosive shells eliminated most of the Titans, the Scout Regiment mopped up the leftovers. They even successfully captured a four-meter Titan and a seven-meter Titan. However, 207 soldiers were dead or missing in action, and 897 were wounded in battle. Though it was mankind's first victory against the Titans, far too many lives were paid in exchange.
Mikasa, Armin, and the remaining soldiers were given orders to clean the carnage from the aftermath of the entire battle the following day to prevent any widespread disease from occurring. Nevertheless, Eren and the ponies were unable to join them as they were being put into solitary confinement, much to Armin and Mikasa's dread and disappointment...
Ash continued to spread all over the city of Trost following the aftermath. The other soldiers were given orders to salvage any corpses of fallen soldiers and befallen citizens alike. The soldiers wore a cloth tied around their mouths and rubber gloves on their hands to prevent any ash or contamination from entering their bodies.
Jean walked down the street to find any dead bodies that were still unaccounted. He glances down at his gloves where some blood spread all over his palms. He looked to his right and spotted another corpse, but after getting a better look as to who it was, he gasped in complete shock, and his heart sank.
The fallen soldier's right side of his upper body was utterly mutilated and bloodied. The rest of the soldier's face that remained bore its teeth and appeared to be frozen in an exhausted state. Jean easily recognized the soldier by his hairstyle, facial structure, and the freckles on his cheeks.
"Hey..." Jean murmured. "Is that you... Marco?"
His hands began to tremble as sorrow was overwhelming throughout his body, seeing one of his closest friends be devoid of all life.
"Cadet!" a gray-haired nurse called out to him while holding a clipboard and a pen. "Do you know his name?"
"I wasn't going to look, but..." Jean whispered, still mourning over his friend's death. "I can't believe it. Not him. Marco... What happened?"
Jean turned away from the nurse and looked back at the other soldiers gathering the other bodies.
"Someone must've seen his last moments."
"Who is he?" the nurse asked. "If you know, tell me now."
Jean stopped in his tracks and took a quick glance back at the nurse.
"Don't you understand, Cadet? Two days have passed since the gate was blocked. Yet we're still collecting the corpses. There's a risk of an epidemic breaking out. We must prevent a secondary catastrophe. We don't have time to mourn our fallen comrades just yet. Do you understand?"
Jean understood fully the situation that could occur while looking back at the deceased body of Marco.
"The 104th Cadet Corps..." Jean classified. "Leader of Squad 19, Marco Bodt."
"Marco, huh?" the nurse replied, writing down the information on her clipboard. "Glad we know his name. Let's move on."
While the nurse moved on to the next bodies to account for, Jean continued to stare at his fallen friend, unsure of how exactly he died in the first place. He wished at that moment a certain pony would comfort him in grief.
In another section of the city, Sasha along with a few other soldiers gathered around what appeared to be an orange, spherical hairball stuck on the side of a building covered in sticky saliva with some flies feeding on it. Inside the hairball were several dead corpses that were hard to recognize as they appeared to be in screaming in torment.
"What... Is that?" asked Sasha.
"A Titan puked it up," replied a Garrison soldier holding an ice pick. "They have no digestive organs, so once they get their fill of humans, they regurgitate the remains."
"No way..." Sasha whispered in reply.
The sight of it was unnerving for Sasha and the other soldiers likewise.
"Shit..." the Garrison soldier groaned. "We'll never be able to identify anyone like this."
The soldier walked towards the spherical puke to tear it apart and dig out the half-digested bodies. Sasha wondered how Rarity would respond to something as revolting as this.
"I'm sorry," Annie apologized in a quiet voice down at a deceased soldier. "I'm sorry."
Reiner and Bertholdt walked to her while searching for more corpses.
"Apologizing won't fix anything," Reiner declared. "Let's hurry and put them to rest."
Reiner and Bertholdt carried more corpses towards the part of the city where the boulder once stood while Annie looked at the fallen soldier one last time. There, there was a massive fire burning the bodies to burn off any contaminants that were lingering in them. As Reiner, Bertholdt, and Annie threw more bodies inside the fire, they went back into the city to find any more that still remained.
Inside a small dungeon lit dimly by a few torches, Eren lied in a small bed inside a prison cell with shackles cuffed around his wrists. Keeping him company inside his cell were Twilight, Starlight, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie who were sleeping churlishly with shackles bound to their right forelegs. Rainbow Dash lied on Eren's left side, waiting for him to wake up. The wounds Eren previously had before healed up nicely thanks to his regenerative powers.
Suddenly, Eren woke up with his eyes wide open, bringing attention to the ponies held within the cell, specifically Rainbow Dash. Eren's vision was still fuzzy, but with a minor readjustment, he saw Rainbow Dash laying next to him. The next thing he knew, the pegasus jumped on him and wrapped her forelegs around his neck.
"You're okay!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed. "I was so worried!"
"Hey, you!" Levi said in a cold voice. "Get off of him. It's time we have a talk with him."
Rainbow Dash did as she was told and slid off of Eren and joined her pony friend. Eren and the ponies stirred awake and looked at the two men waiting outside the cell. After getting a better look at them, Eren gasped once he recognized them.
"Do any of you have any questions?" the blond-haired man asked with a stern look.
Commander Erwin, Eren thought staring at the man. the top leader of the Scout Regiment.
Eren looked to his right at the other soldier standing next to Erwin while the soldier looked the other direction with a blank expression.
And Captain Levi...
"Um..." Eren stammered. "Where... Am I?"
"As you can see, you and your friends are in an underground dungeon," Erwin answered. "You're all currently in custody of the Military Police, but we finally got permission to see all of you a little while ago."
"Wait!" Rainbow Dash interrupted. "I thought that Pyxis guy said we have protection and what not!"
"Your confinement is being authorized by a power that goes beyond Pyxis," Erwin replied. "They are only taking necessary precautions. Do you understand?"
Rainbow Dash grunted in response and sat on her haunches.
"Relax, Rainbow," Starlight assured. "We just have to do what they say, and they'll let us off the hook for sure."
"I would listen to her if I were you," Levi spoke. "Otherwise, I'll slaughter all of you like a bunch of wild animals."
Fluttershy quivered behind Rarity after hearing Levi's intimidation while Rainbow Dash backed up slightly with a grimacing expression and Starlight remained utterly silent. Twilight placed a hoof on Rainbow Dash's shoulders for reassurance letting her know that things will work out in the end. Erwin took out the key to Eren's home basement out of his jacket pocket and let everyone see it.
"That key!" proclaimed Eren.
"Yeah, it's yours," Erwin responded. "I'll give it back later. The basement of your house, Dr. Jaeger's house in Shiganshina, holds the secret of the Titans. Am I right?"
"Yes. Probably," Eren answered. "That's what my father said."
"You have amnesia and your father is missing..." Levi deduced. "Awfully convenient, don't you think?"
"Levi," Erwin reasoned. "We've already concluded he has no reason to lie, and these ponies do not appear to be a threat to humanity either. The reports we've read about the Trost invasion says that these ponies have the abilities of flight and magic. Is that right, Jaeger?"
"Yes, sir!" Eren replied.
"Would one of you care to demonstrate this magic of yours?" Erwin asked one of the unicorns.
"Certainly," Twilight answered.
"Careful, Erwin," Levi warned.
"It's alright, Levi," Erwin replied. "If they try to attack in any way, you have permission to do whatever you please to them."
Levi responded by huffing in approval. Focusing her magic, Twilight's horn began to glow a violet aura. Erwin noticed the key he held in his hand get caught in that same aura and let it go to see what would happen. He saw it being levitated in midair, slightly widening his eyes and keeping the same expression whereas Levi was somewhat bewildered by it, having the same sinister look. Twilight placed the key back in Erwin's hand after finishing the demonstration of her magic.
"You ponies appear to have some notable abilities that could help you escape, yet you all sit here patiently and obediently," Erwin speculated. "Further proof that you do not appear to be a threat to humanity. However, there is still so much we don't know yet, but for now, I think the most important thing to inquire about is your intentions."
"My... Intentions?" pondered Eren, slightly confused.
"To return to your house," Erwin clarified. "We must retake the Shiganshina District of Wall Maria. It would take drastic measures to seal the broken gate. We need your Titan strength. Our fate rides on a Titan, it seems. The Colossal Titan. The Armored Titan. They are probably just like you. Your intentions are the key here. The key to freeing mankind from this despair," he presumed, holding the key up for them to see again.
Eren gasped after realizing exactly what he had to do to finish this war.
"I'll..." he started to answer.
His memories started to come back to him, from being with his family, losing his mother to a Titan, and being injected with a serum by his own father.
"Exterminate them!" Eren declared at a younger age. "I'm going to kill them all. Every single fucking one..."
"Answer the man, scum," demanded Levi. "What do you want to do?"
Shuddering in enthusiasm and passion, he looked at Erwin and Levi with a sinister scowl.
"I want to join the Scout Regiment, and kill as many titans as I can, sir!" he finally answered with a cold voice.
"And what about you ponies?" Levi asked them. "What are your intentions?"
"Wherever Eren goes, we go with him," Rainbow Dash replied with a smirk. "Am I right, girls?"
"Mm-hmm," the ponies responded while nodding in unison.
"Oh? Not bad," Levi commented with the exact same expression while walking towards their cellar. "Erwin. I'll take responsibility for them. Tell that to the higher-ups. Don't get me wrong. It's not like I trust any of them. These ponies possess human intelligence that just can't be overlooked. Normally, I would be cautious of letting such creatures join the Scout Regiment and would see them as nothing more than steeds for our soldiers..."
After hearing a rude comment, the ponies gave him opposed expressions which didn't affect Levi in the slightest.
"But seeing that they have the ability to fly and use magic, you ponies would be a valuable addition to our cause. If any of them betrays us or Eren goes berserk, I'll put them down without hesitation."
Eren and the ponies gulped in fear from Levi's warning.
"Upstairs shouldn't have a problem with that..." Levi continued. "Nobody except me is suited for the job. I'll accept their application to the Scout Regiment."
Eren and the ponies glanced at one another, realizing that the battle has just begun and they were in for a real experience of what was out there.
My Little Pony: Fight Against the Titans
11 Special Operations Squad
North a few miles from the city of Trost, Eren was riding on horseback through the woods with the ponies walking alongside him carrying their own saddlebags to a special location previously used for the Scout Regiment. He was dressed in a dark green cloak made from the Scout Regiment that had the Wings of Freedom on the back of it. He had the hood worn on him to conceal the back of his head.
The soldiers riding alongside him on horseback were Petra, Levi and another person of Levi's squadron. He had slightly curled hair that was light brown and came with an undercut and wore a white-collared shirt along with a cravat under his Scout Regiment uniform, much like Levi's. His eyes were hazel and had more noticeable wrinkles around his square jaw.
As they made their way towards the clearing of the forest, Eren and the ponies beheld a massive castle with white walls. It also had blue-finished, triangular rooftops and many spires around the fortress. Eren was impressed by it while the ponies were more intrigued by it, primarily Twilight, Starlight, and Rarity.
"Ooo," the ponies proclaimed.
"The old Scout Regiment headquarters..." the man with the curly bangs said. "Just as you'd expect from a renovated old castle, it looks fancy and all."
"You can say that again," Rarity replied. "I'm glad we decided to join the Scout Regiment. It was generous for Levi to accept us into your organization."
"Sure," the man replied. "But being so far from the wall and river, it wound up being totally useless for the Scouts. That was back in the early days when everyone had high hopes. Still, to think that this oversized decoration would end up as the perfect holding place for you now..."
"Maybe we should lock you up in a cage and see how you feel," Rainbow Dash commented.
The man made a 'tsk' sound while Eren was slightly offended by the man's rude comment, he glanced back at Levi riding behind him. When he looked at him, he noticed Levi glaring at him with an ice-cold stare. This forced Eren to look ahead towards the path they were taking. The older man rode closer to Eren to whisper something to him, which was creeping Eren out.
"Don't get cocky, rookies," he informed.
"Come again?!" Eren questioned.
"I dunno if you're a titan or what and I certainly don't know where these horses came from or how they're able to use magic or wings, but don't assume Captain Levi's gonna stick with some wet-behind-the-ears brat like-"
Before he continued to babble on, his horse barely tripped on a small rock causing the man to bite down on his own tongue by mistake. Some blood squirted out of his mouth, startling Eren and the ponies. The man moaned in pain as he tried to cover his mouth to stop the bleeding. Rainbow Dash, however, snickered as she found it quite amusing to the man get instant karma after such a rude comment concerning Eren.
Rainbow Dash couldn't hold it in any longer and blurted out in laughter rolling on her back while the others passed by the humored pegasus. Levi and Petra rolled their eyes as they left Rainbow Dash behind until she recovered from her laughing fest.
At the castle near the stables in the courtyard, Eren and the ponies stood next to the stables while Eren was letting his horse rest for the time being. Petra was standing next to the man, who was sitting on a small pair of stone stairs that led to a well dabbing his tongue with a wet cloth to prevent his tongue from bleeding any further, while she criticized him for his rude behavior. Rainbow Dash finally caught up with everyone and rejoined Eren and the ponies.
"Talking on a horse is a guaranteed way to bite your tongue," Petra scolded.
"First impressions are important," the man replied. "I had those rookies scared stiff."
"Actually, I think they were shocked at how dumb you are."
"Whatever the case," he continued, wiping his chin with the cloth. "it went exactly as I planned."
"Hey. You didn't use to talk like that, you know," Petra reminded the man. "If, by some chance, you're trying to imitate Captain Levi, could you cut it out? You're nothing like him at all, actually."
"Heh. Are you trying to nag me, Petra?", he asked. "If you wanna act like you're my wife, there's more you need to do first."
"I wish you had bitten off your tongue off and died, bragging about how many titans you've killed."
"Don't worry," the man consoled. "I bragged about you too, while I was at it."
Eren and the ponies continued to watch the two soldiers argue while the man resumed dabbing his tongue to prevent the bleeding.
"Who are they, anyway?" Starlight asked Eren in a quiet voice.
"They're the members of the Scout Regiment's Special Operations Squad," Eren whispered back at the equines. "Also known as the 'Levi Squad.'"
"Sheesh, you're disgraceful!" Petra upbraided to the man.
"Petra Rall," Eren pointed at the young girl. "Ten Titans killed, and forty-eight kill assists."
"Oruo Bozard," Eren introduced, directing them to the man sitting next to the well. "Thirty-nine kills and nine assists. They're as elite as they come."
Eren and the ponies noticed two other men arrived at the castle. They had the same uniforms and cloaks dressed on them as they stood very tall. One man had blonde hair tied in a bun behind his head along with a middle parting. He also had a small beard and small brown eyes with a white shirt underneath his attire. Eren turned the ponies' attention to the blonde-haired soldier.
"Eld Gin," Eren included. "Fourteen kills, thirty-two assists."
He then pointed them to the other male soldier who had darker skin tone and short crop hair pointed at the back of his head. He had a light-colored shirt worn under his uniform and looked younger than Eld.
"Gunther Schultz. Seven kills, forty assists. Each is an accomplished Scout personally handpicked by Captain Levi. And... they're the people who'll end up killing me if I ever go out of control."
Eld and Gunther scanned the vegetation growing through the cracks of stone in the courtyard and saw a disaster after the castle was abandoned for so long. Eren and the ponies decided to leave Oruo and Petra to argue to tag along with Eld and Gunther.
"There are weeds everywhere," Gunther protested. "The place has really gone to hell. It hasn't been used in a long time. I bet it's plenty dusty on the inside too."
"That's a serious problem," Levi stated, walking past Eren and the ponies approaching Eld and Gunther. "Let's get to work at once."
Levi, now out of his uniform and wearing a cloth over his mouth and his head to prevent dust from entering his mouth or hair, opened a window on one of the lower floors of the castle to let out some air.
Oruo, Petra, and Pinkie Pie wore a cloth over their mouths as well while they were cleaning a display room with a suit of armor, a set of lances, and two large axes on both sides of the display. There were also spears above the display laid on the wall fanned from each other.
Petra swept the floors with a broom while Oruo stood on top of a small wooden table to fix the chains holding a mere chandelier. Pinkie, meanwhile, bounced onto the top of the display to clean the axes' sharp edges on the side.
"Careful, Pinkie," Oruo advised the pink pony. "Levi will have a fit if you cause a mess in this castle."
"Okie-dokie-lokie!", Pinkie peeped. "If that happens, I'll clean it right up before you could even say 'Cupcake!'"
Once Pinkie continued to clean up, Petra giggled at Pinkie's attitude while Oruo was perturbed from Pinkie annoyance.
"Ugh, so irritating," Oruo complained.
"Look who's talking," Petra shot back at Oruo.
Oruo only rolled his eyes as he continued to clean the chandelier.
Outside of the castle, Eld, Gunther, and Rainbow Dash were cleaning the outside windows as they wore cloths over their mouths too. Rainbow Dash used her flight to steady herself while cleaning the windows with a cloth, whereas Eld and Gunther used their mobility gear to hang from the roof to keep themselves from falling.
Gunther inspected the cloth he was using and saw that it needed to be wrung out with some water so that he can remove the dirt and dust to continue cleaning the windows. Before he was about to lower himself down on the ground, two birds, one a Blue Jay and the other a Cardinal, flew up to him while holding a bucket filled with some water for Gunther to use. Gunther gasped as he was shocked to see animals actually helping him without flying away in fear like any other animal.
"Is... that water for me?" he asked the two birds.
They both chirped and nodded in approval, shocking Gunther even further. Without another word, he soaked the cloth in the water-filled bucket and wrung out the dirt for him to reuse the cloth.
"Thank you?" Gunther replied in a bewildered tone.
Once the birds chirped merrily and flew over the castle, Gunther heard singing that sounded like an angel's voice. Desperate to know the source of that heavenly sound, he used his omni-directional mobility gear to climb up the wall onto the rooftops to check the other side of the castle. Gunther gasped again and widened his eyes, unable to believe what he was witnessing. A small flock of birds was helping Fluttershy clean the windows around the castle using rags and a few pales of water. What surprised him the most was that the pegasus was actually talking to the animals.
"You gave him some water?" Fluttershy asked the two birds.
The birds chirped in response.
"Well, how thoughtful of you two," Fluttershy replied. "I'm sure he was thankful for that."
They tweeted again.
"Good to know. I'll be sure to thank him later."
"Gunther!" Eld called from the other side of the castle. "What are you doing up there?"
"Uh..." Gunther wobbled. "Fluttershy's being helped by a flock of birds."
"Seriously, what are you doing?" Eld asked again as he approached him.
"I'm not joking around. She's actually talking to birds and they're cleaning the windows for her."
Eld walked over to see what Gunther was staring at.
"There is no possible way that birds are cleaning the-"
Once Eld saw the birds helping Fluttershy clean the castle, he got the same reaction Gunther had before.
"I stand corrected," Eld simply responded.
Twilight and Starlight, both muzzles covered with cloths, walked into a small room that had a bed, a window, a dresser, and a few boxes. The room was filled with cobwebs and dust bunnies, both of the ponies finding it repulsive.
"Gross," Twilight replied. "I got the window."
Twilight used her magic to open the window and let some fresh air inside and sweep out the dust. Afterwards, she lifted every object in the room while Starlight used a different spell to separate the dust and throw it out the window. They both strained a little as they used their magic due to the scarcity of magic in this world. Clearing up all of the dust, Twilight placed the objects back to their original places.
"Ugh," Twilight proclaimed. "What I would give to have the rest of our magic back at Equestria for us to use."
"I'm right there with you, Twilight," Starlight replied. "Let's move on to the next room."
Eren entered the room Levi was currently cleaning. He also had a cloth over his mouth and nose.
"I've finished cleaning upstairs!" Eren stated, taking off his cloth. "Where in this facility am I to sleep, sir?"
Levi took off the cloth covering his face to give Eren a clear answer.
"Your room's in the basement," Levi answered.
"The basement... again?"
"Of course. You don't have full control of yourself. Should you turn into a titan in your sleep, we can keep you restrained right there in the basement. That was one of the conditions I was given when I took custody of you. It's a rule we have to follow."
"What about the ponies?" Eren wondered. "It's not like they'll go berserk with their powers. They're just normal ponies aside from them having magic, wings and able to speak like us. I don't want to hurt any of them if I accidentally turn into a titan."
"Exactly," Levi agreed. "Which is why they're not sleeping in the basement."
"What?"
"It looks like your little speech back in the trial helped those ponies gain some benefits. After Twilight told me that their magic in this world is weakened, that makes them a lesser threat. And by the looks of them, they seem pretty fragile for any of our soldiers to take out easily if they decide to rebel against us, but I highly doubt that'll happen. To be honest, I would have put them in the stables with the other horses, but seeing that they have wings, magic, and intelligence, I think I'll allow them to use the lavatory."
Eren was surprised to know that his speech back at the trial help the ponies in such a way that they may even share their gratitude in the future someway.
"I'll go check your work," Levi declared, walking out of the room to inspect upstairs. "You take over here, Eren."
"Yes, sir," Eren answered.
Levi used the stairs up to the next level to review Eren's work. Once he reached the hallways where a few doors on each side of the hallway led into different rooms, he heard delightful humming coming from one of the rooms close by. A moment later, Rarity came out of the room on the upper-right side of the hallway while carrying a broom, cloth, duster, and dustpan using her magic as she was still humming in a lively tune.
"Rarity," Levi called to her, spooking her a little. "What are doing up here?"
"Oh, Levi", Rarity sighed. "You scared me half to death, darling. I was cleaning and dusting up these rooms in the hallway."
"Eren told me he just finished cleaning these rooms here."
"Is that so? These rooms are absolutely filthy if this is what Eren considers 'clean'!"
Levi was now perplexed by Rarity's comment without even expressing it in the slightest. As Rarity made her way to the next room across the hallway, Levi entered one of the other rooms Eren said that he finished cleaning. Self-evidently, the room was still messy with some dust and cobwebs still lingering. Levi huffed through his nose in disappointment to Eren's cleaning proficiency.
He then turned his attention to the room Rarity finished cleaning to compare her work with Eren's. Once he looked at the room, he couldn't help but gasp lightly. The room was nearly spotless without a single speck of dust or any cobweb in sight and the windows appeared to give a shining look, enough to tell Levi that the windows were clean as well. Even the crates left in the room were organized neatly.
"Well, color me surprised," Levi muttered. "Rarity!"
"Yes, Captain?" Rarity replied, poking her head out of the room she was cleaning.
"Excellent work in this room. Keep up the good work."
Rarity giggled to hear Levi complement her for the work she did out of all people.
"Also, leave the last two for Eren," Levi added.
"Are you quite sure about that?", Rarity questioned. "Seeing how Eren cleans up?"
"If Eren's going to do it, he's going to do it right."
Rarity shrugged and went back to cleaning with Levi heading back downstairs to scold Eren for his sloppy work.
While Eren was dusting off the room Levi assigned him for, he was discouraged to know that his idol back from his childhood vulgar and dull. Meanwhile, Petra entered the room with a broom in her hands.
"You look disappointed, Eren," Petra said.
"Huh?!" Eren blurted in surprise.
"Oh, I hope I you don't mind if I call you 'Eren' like Captain Levi does. He sets the rules here."
"I see," replied Eren. "I don't mind, but did I really look disappointed just now?"
'It's not an unusual reaction. He's not quite the great, perfect hero society makes him out to be, huh? The real Captain Levi is shorter than you'd expect, temperamental, crude, and unsociable."
"No," Eren answered. "what surprises me is how serious he is about adhering to the higher-ups' arrangement."
"You thought that because he's strong and skilled he didn't have to follow the rules like everyone else?"
"Right. I thought that he didn't take orders from anyone..."
"I don't really know the details myself, but I think he might've been like that at one time. They say before he joined the Scouts, Captain Levi was an infamous rogue in the capital's underground market."
Eren was quite shocked to hear about Levi's past.
"So how did he...?"
"Beats me," Petra responded. "I don't know what happened, but I hear he wound up with being dragged into the Scouts after giving in to Commander Erwin."
"The commander?" Eren wondered.
"Hey, Eren!" Levi called to him while entering the room.
Upon hearing his presence, Petra went to sweep the floors to appear busy while Eren froze in terror.
"Y-yes?!" Eren responded.
"It's completely unacceptable," Levi claimed in a harsh tone. "Do it all over again, and before you think you've done a better job, Rarity will inspect the work to make sure. That pony's a far better house cleaner than you."
Eren gulped in complete humiliation after hearing Levi's inspection of his work. Once Levi left the room to clean the rest of the castle, Petra giggled at Eren as she continued to sweep.
A few hours later in the afternoon, Erwin was in the commander's office sketching a map and relay formation for the next expedition outside the walls. Accompanying him was Miche, who was looking out the window watching the Scouts build a structure for the fortress.
"An expedition thirty days from now to establish a logistic base outside the wall..." Miche deduced. "and newly-graduated rookies will be participating too?"
"Assuming any rookies do join us," Erwin replied, drawing the sketch of the formation.
"Whatever the case," Miche said, turning his body to Erwin. "this all seems a bit too hasty if you ask me."
"Eren and the ponies' current treatment is only temporary. We need to demonstrate to the central powers as quickly as possible that their existence is beneficial for humankind. Otherwise, the Military Police or someone else will interfere again-"
"Are you using rhetoric on me too, Erwin?" Miche interrupted.
Erwin turned to look at Miche in the eyes, only for him look away. Erwin then smiled in return for Miche's insight.
"I see your nose is as sharp as ever, Miche," Erwin acknowledged.
Miche glanced back at Erwin while inhaling distinctly through his nose.
"Not as sharp as yours, though," Miche replied.
"I'll fill you in when the time is right."
Erwin turned back towards his desk to continue drawing the diagram for the upcoming expedition.
Once nighttime rolled around, Eren, Levi, the Special Operations Squad, and the ponies sat at two different sets of tables with tea. The Levi Squad sat with Eren on one end and Levi sitting across the other end whereas the ponies sat at another table. The tables were lit with candlesticks that had tall shafts and a teakettle to pour some fresh tea. As the ponies sat with each other at their own table drinking tea, they listened to the humans' discussion about the operation.
"I assume our orders to remain on standby will last for a few more days," Eld assumed. "but I hear they're planning a major expedition beyond the wall thirty days from now. And that fresh graduates are going to participate right off the bat too."
"Is that true, Eld?" Gunther asked. "That seems pretty sudden to me, especially since the rookies already had to endure this latest titan attack."
"I bet those brats were scared out of their wits," Oruo added before taking a sip of tea.
"Is that true, sir?" Petra asked Levi.
"I'm not in charge of coming up with missions," Levi answered. "But, knowing Erwin, he's put far more thought into this than we have."
"Indeed," Eld agreed. "there's never been a situation like this before. So many lives were lost establishing a route to reclaim Wall Maria. Just when it seemed like it went up in smoke, suddenly a completely different hope has presented itself."
Their attention was now placed on Eren and the ponies.
"It's still hard to believe," Eld said. "but how does this 'changing into a Titan' thing work anyway, Eren?"
"Yeah," Rainbow Dash spoke in enthusiasm. "Turning into a huge Titan and kicking some titan flank must be awesome!"
"My memories of it aren't very clear," explained Eren. "but it's like being in a trance... I set it off by inflicting self-harm, though. I take my hand like so and..."
Eren suddenly realized something strange about his knowledge about transforming into a titan.
Huh? he thought. Come to think of it, why is this the only thing I know?
"What about you ponies?" Gunther asked the equines. "How does it feel to fly or even use magic?"
"Are you joking?" Rainbow Dash replied. "Flying is like... the greatest sense of freedom!" she exclaimed while looping a few times in the air out of her seat. It's the greatest feeling in the entire world! Like what the Scout Regiment symbol stands for."
"You know what's funny?" Pinkie mentioned. "You guys have factions that almost represent each faction of ponies back in our world. You have the Wings of Freedom of the Scouts, like the pegasus, then you have the roses of the Garrison Regiment, like the earth ponies that tend the ground for gardening plants, and finally, you have the symbol of the Military Police that looks just like a unicorn. How ironic is that?!"
That case Pinkie Pie mentioned was quite unusual for everyone to find that a coincidence, including for Levi even though he didn't show it.
"As for magic," Twilight spoke. "We use our horns to cast many kinds of spells like levitation, teleportation, and many other types of magic. It's... kind of like when your hoof, or in your case, your hand or foot falls asleep. The stronger the magic, the greater the feeling."
"You guys know you can't get any more info out of them than what's in the reports," Levi mentioned to his squad. "Not that she won't try, of course," he stated, taking a quick sip of his tea. "Better hope you and those ponies don't end up dead when she tinkers with you, Eren."
"Huh?" Eren questioned. "Who's 'she'?!"
Before anyone could answer, a loud bang followed by a grunting sound came from behind the wooden door near where everyone was sitting with the wooden bar holding the door recoiling lightly in place. This startled the humans and ponies wondering who it was, but Levi could already guess the person behind the door. Petra walked out of her seat and lifted the bar holding the door to let the guest inside. The person slamming into the door was none other than Hange.
"Good evening," Hange greeted, rubbing her head and waving to everyone. "members of the Levi squad! How is castle life treating you?"
"You're early," Levi noted.
"I just couldn't help myself!" Hange said, standing next to Eren.
"Section Commander Hange..." Eren said.
"Sorry for the wait, Eren! I'm actually in charge of examining two Titans we caught in town. I'd like you to help with my experiments tomorrow, so I came to get your permission."
"Experiments?" Eren questioned. "What would I have to do?"
"Why..." Hange exclaimed, twitching her fingers while also sweating and blushing in excitement. "the most exhilarating thing of all, of course!"
Eren looked at Hange's anticipation in discomfort. The ponies looked at each other in confusion questioning Hange's enthusiasm.
"Golly" Applejack whispered to Twilight. "It's like you and Pinkie were mixed together."
"Ooo, I wonder what we taste like together," Pinkie wondered.
"As much as I want to know about these experiments," Twilight spoke. "I'm not so sure we can join you or not."
"She's right," Eren replied. "I'm not in a position to give permission myself. I don't have authority over myself, you see..."
"Levi!" Hange called to him. "What are Eren's and the ponies' plans for tomorrow?"
"Cleaning the garden," he answered.
"Great! It's decided!" Hange settled, holding Eren's hand zealously. "Eren! I look forward to tomorrow!"
"Um... right!" Eren approved, still taken back by Hange's personality.
"The same goes for you ponies!" Hange declared, walking over and shaking everyponies' hooves. "It will be a pleasure having you in the Scout Regiment."
When Hange went to shake Pinkie's hoof, the pink pony grabbed Hange's hand and shook it vigorously, nearly catching Hange off guard by the pony's ecstatic behavior. Despite this, she was happy to know someone shared the same enthusiasm as her.
"Oh, you're a feisty one," Hange said with a smile. "I like this pony already!"
Pinkie Pie squealed in delight to earn her friendship so fast while the soldiers just didn't seem to care that much.
"I have to ask though," Eren said to Hange. "but what kind of titan experiments are we talking about here?"
"Hmm?" Hange exclaimed with her eyes gleaming as she looked at Eren.
The other soldiers widened their eyes in fear and what would transpire if Eren did not shut his mouth. Eren wasn't quite sure if Hange heard him the first time and asked her again.
"Err, as I said, what kind of experiments are we..."
"Hey, stop!" Oruo whispered to him. "Don't ask that!"
"Why?" Starlight asked. "There's no harm in asking her, right?"
"Ah... I knew it..." Hange murmured with enlightenment. "I thought you all might be curious enough to ask..."
Knowing what was to come, Levi and his squad got up from their seats and walked out of the room.
"Hey, where are you going?!" Pinkie yelled at them. "You're gonna miss on all the fun!"
The soldiers did not listen to Pinkie's plea and left the room and wouldn't return anytime soon.
"Maybe they all had to go to the bathroom," Pinkie thought.
"All at the same time, Pinkie?" Rainbow Dash asked with a raised eyebrow.
"It could happen," Pinkie answered with the other ponies rolling their eyes.
"You all want to know that badly, don't you?" Hange asked, taking an empty seat. "Well, if you insist, then I guess I'd better tell you all about the little ones we recently caught..."
The ponies took some of the seats from their table to sit at where Eren and Hange were currently sitting. Twilight and Starlight were certainly interested to listen to Hange's experiments on her 'test subjects'. With everypony taking their seats, they all listened closely to hear her results that she collected thus far.
"Hello!" Hange greeted with a subdued titan.
The Titan Hange was speaking to had short, blonde hair and was about three meters in height. It had its arms and legs nailed to the ground and in its shoulders with huge nails. Its neck was restrained by several ropes tied to metal bars stuck to the ground. The Titan was staring directly at Hange with a bloodthirsty smile on its face as it tried to bite at her, only to be out of reach by several feet and wheezing from the ropes wrapped around its neck.
Instead of glasses, she wore her goggles for the expeditions she embarks on with the Scout Regiment. Several other soldiers holding spears were there to make sure nothing went wrong during Hange's tests. Hange steeped a little closer to the titan's face to ask a few questions.
"How are you feeling?" she asked. "What's your name? Are you in pain?"
S-Section Commander!" a nearby male soldier warned. "You're too close!"
"Hello!" Hange greeted the other titan.
It was seven meters in height with brown hair and a slim face. The Titan was appended down to its stomach with nails fastened to the ground through its body, restricting it from any movements. Ropes were wrapped around its neck just like the other captured titan to prevent it from shifting its head at Hange.
Hange squatted down slightly to get closer to its head.
"Nice weather, isn't it?" she asked. "Are you hungry?"
All of a sudden, the Titan lunged its head at Hange's ankles, forcing Hange to step back in shock. The other soldiers gasped from the titan's sudden attempt to bite Hange.
"Whoa!" she uttered. "That was close!"
"That's dangerous, Section Commander!" shouted the same soldier from before.
Hange took a few small steps closer to the Titan, only for it to lunge at her again. Hange bounced back from it in surprise.
"I began by repeating the same experiment that we've conducted during five previous captures," Hange explained to everyone. "First was an attempt at communication. Unfortunately, I had to conclude that there's no hope of communicating with these ones either. However, my time spent interacting with the Titans was fulfilling enough to make me forget my daily exhaustion."
"Huh," Starlight said sarcastically. "Studying so much to forget about sleeping. Sounds familiar."
Twilight only shot back a dirty look at Starlight.
A few hours later, Hange paced back and forth in front of both Titans telling them a story with her goggles on her forehead.
"Once upon a time," Hange said to them. "there existed a clan that ate humans. And I don't mean you Titans. I'm talking about a clan of people. They would hide in caves on the mountainsides and attack any travelers who passed by. They would steal their valuables, kill them, and eat their flesh."
Two Garrison soldiers holding spears stared at Hange with absent-minded expressions.
"Here we go again," a nearby soldier with black hair whispered to another with brown hair. " another of her naming ceremonies."
"Yeah," the other soldier replied quietly. "What'd she call the last ones again?"
"Chikatiloni and Albert," he answered.
"Ultimately," Hange continued. "they kept this up for twenty-five years, during which time they supposedly preyed upon over 500 people. Probably more humans than you've eaten, in fact. They also tried eating them in all sorts of ways. Making steaks out of rump meat... Dicing up leg meat and adding it to a stew... Grinding tough meat into patties and frying it... Making sausages from blood clots and innards..."
Some of the soldiers were repulsed by the way Hange was describing the culinary arts of the cannibal tribe in her story. Some of the soldiers tried their hardest not to puke while one of them had a weak stomach and hurled vomit in the back while being patted on the back by another soldier.
"Indeed," declared Hange, bending forward at the Titans. "they possessed the concept of 'cooking'! That's where they differ from you. However, this clan of cannibals was caught and executed after making one single mistake. That's where you're just like them. You guys made the mistake of attacking humankind and wound up caught."
She began to walk between the two Titans and made sure to keep a safe distance from them.
"So I'm going to name you two after the man who was the leader of this clan. You're 'Sawney,'," Hange announced, pointing at the four-meter Titan to her left. "You're 'Beane'," she declared, pointing at the seven-meter Titan to her right. "But don't worry. I'm not going to execute you."
Hange walked to 'Sawney's' pinned right hand and placed her hand on its ring finger.
"Nice to meet you, Sawney," she greeted right before walking to 'Beane' and placing her hand on the Titan's ring finger. "And you too, Beane. Let's all be friends!"
"And that's how I named the seven-meter Titan 'Beane' and the four-meter Titan 'Sawney,'" Hange established to Eren and the ponies.
"Ooo, I want my own Titan!" Pinkie exclaimed.
"Well Pinkie," Hange chuckled. "Sawney and Beane are more of test subject rather than pets. But next time we capture a Titan, I think I'll let you have the pleasure of naming one."
"Alright! What should I name the next one we catch?! How about Bartholomew, or how about Stephany?"
"Pinkie," Starlight spoke. "How about we wait until we actually catch another Titan? And let's also not get ahead of ourselves. It's not like you'll be able to make friends with one when they're constantly trying to bite you."
"To continue," Hange said. "next, I tested blocking them from sunlight. From the fact that Titans become less active as the night progresses, this experiment corroborates that they somehow use sunlight for energy."
Inside a thick tent set up over the two titans by Hange and the soldiers, Hange checked on Sawney using a lantern as her only source of light to see any signs of exhaustion or drowsiness. Sure enough, Sawney's eyes were listless, hardly able to stay awake.
"Mm," Hange sounded, checking the time using a pocket watch. "You did great, Sawney. Good night. I'll see you tomorrow."
"It was from this that I found a substantial difference between the two. While Sawney became sluggish only one hour out of sunlight..."
Hange sat in the other tent hugging her legs with her lantern right between her and Beane. She continued to observe the titan as it remained awake a few hours after sunset. Beane would occasionally try to bite on Hange with the ropes around its neck holding him back.
"You sure love to stay up late, don't you, Beane?", Hange asked, checking her watch. "That's okay. I'll hang out with you as long as you'd like."
"...Beane was still his energetic self three hours later," Hange told them. "It came as another shock to me. They don't require food or water, and even though they have vocal organs, they don't need to breathe. The only thing they need is sunlight."
"So," Twilight analyzed. "you're telling us that titans are purely photosynthetic creatures?"
"You mean like plants?" questioned Fluttershy.
"Right," Twilight answered. "but Titans only require sunlight as their main energy source to stay active and healthy, unlike plants that also need water and nutrients found in the ground in order to grow and thrive. This is unbelievable! This goes beyond the boundaries of possibility!"
"I know, right?!" Hange agreed, patting her hands together. "Hey, Twilight! Would it be okay if you help me conduct these experiments with me to help us better understand the Titans and their true nature?"
Twilight eyes glimmered with excitement hoping that Hange would allow her to conduct tests on the Titans, and maybe even send these results to her mentor, Princess Celestia.
"Would I?!" Twilight shouted. "I gladly accept! You're just as enthusiastic as Pinkie Pie so you'll be fun to be around."
Hange chuckled to hear that someone would actually assist her in running some tests and hypothesize some ideas about titan physiology. The alicorn's excitement and scope of learning almost reflected on Hange's, making the soldier shudder in eagerness to bond with a bookworm.
"I sure hope Sawney and Beane would like to know you more and your kind as well," Hange appended.
Twilight made a timid smile, unsure of how Titans would enjoy talking to an alicorn when all they would think about is eating someone.
"Nevertheless," Hange replied. "I'm still curious to know what happens after prolonged sunlight withdrawal, but I can't risk having them die, y'know? We've accidentally killed previous ones we've caught. We tried decapitating some as an experiment but accidentally cut the napes of their necks too. Their names were Chikatiloni and Albert. They had such cute smiles. I did something truly terrible to them."
Her remark made Eren gasp softly.
"I never wanted that to happen again..."
"Mrs. Hange..." Eren muttered.
Without warning, Hange threw her body on the table in front of everyone and stared intensely into the eyes of Eren and the ponies with an expression of agony and torment. This brought discomfort to everyone as this caught them off guard, causing them to lean back.
"After that...!" Hange shouted. "The next step was physical contact with the Titans! I tested to see if they felt pain!"
Hange had tears streaming from her eyes and cried in anguish while she stabbed Beane's right eye with an incredibly long spear. The Titan wailed loudly from the pain in its steam-pouring eye and dug into the ground with its fingers, despite keeping its firm smile on its face. The soldiers were frightened and confused as to why Hange was crying like she was the one being tortured.
"Section Commander!" pleaded the blonde-haired soldier from before. "There's no need for you to scream!"
"I can't do this and not scream!" Hange yelled back at him. "Beane is in so much pain!"
Yanking the spear out of Beane's wounded eye, Hange grimaced in distress as she readied herself to stab Beane's other good eye.
"Beane! Hang in there!" she mourned. "Stay strong!"
Beane let out another roar of pain the moment Hange stabbed him in his good eye, forcing Hange to wail again as if they shared the same pain.
Eren and the ponies stared at Hange with amazement yet despair for her regret of the two Titans. Rainbow Dash turned to Fluttershy and twirled her hoof around the side of her head, telling her that Hange was insane. Twilight saw Rainbow Dash's rude remark and used her magic to pull in her ear to criticize her.
"Rainbow Dash!" she whispered in Rainbow's ear in an earnest tone. "Be nice and show your respect, or so help me...!"
"It's alright, Twilight," Hange reassured bringing attention to Twilight. "I'm pretty sure other soldiers think the same of me. It's not a first for someone to look at me during the tests and think that I'm some sort of psychopath."
Despite this, Twilight let go of Rainbow's ear but made sure that Rainbow Dash didn't make any more rude comments about Hange and her ways of experimentation. In an unusual way, the other ponies understood the emotions Hange went through tormenting the two test subjects, even though they were monsters. Twilight rested her head on her right hoof and sighed in shame for Hange's feelings.
"Sorry if this disturbs you ponies," Hange apologized. "But I needed to determine if Titans have any weaknesses besides their napes, you see. It was an agonizing task."
Though after explaining her experimentation about Beane, she wiped the tears from her eyes and started to calm down.
"Compared to Beane, Sawney seemed more introverted and didn't respond much at all."
Hange, holding a spear, stabbed Sawney in his chest cavity where his heart was and twisted the spear at the same time. With steam pouring out of Sawney's chest, he didn't appear to be affected in the slightest as he was still staring at Hange with a craving for human flesh. Even though it was painful of a task for Hange to perform, it was less traumatizing for her due to Sawney's lack of response.
"Sawney..." Hange said in a calmer tone. "Hey... I stabbed you in the heart. Does it not hurt? How does it feel?"
Surprisingly, Sawney tried to lean forward and opened his mouth, starting to moan as if it was trying to speak human language. This made Hange more eager to see what would happen next, making her lean a little closer to Sawney.
"Hmm? What?" Hange asked. "What is it?"
However, the Titan was about to bite off Hange's head. Seeing it as a trick, Hange gasped and jumped back from Sawney right before it clamped its mouth shut. Luckily, Hange dodged his bite just in time and was unharmed. The other soldiers gasped to see Hange almost be made out of a snack.
"Section Commander!" yelled the same blonde-haired soldier. "Please step back!"
Surprisingly, Hange blurted into laughter after that near-death experience, surprising and confusing the other soldiers.
"Almost got me that time, Sawney!" she chuckled.
"You're seriously gonna die!" the soldier argued.
Hange didn't listen as she was still too humored.
"So Sawney's not very good at expressing himself," Hange stated. "He just keeps trying to chomp my head off."
The ponies were perturbed by Hange's response. They felt like she was treating them like her children that were being punished. Starlight leaned over to Twilight to quietly tell her something.
"You know," Starlight whispered. "I think Rainbow Dash may be right for once. She's nuts."
Twilight gave Starlight a sinister glare before she leaned back in her seat, pursing her lips and not saying another word.
"Umm... Mrs. Hange," Eren said looking down at the table. "How can you be so lighthearted when dealing with titans?"
"Yeah," Rainbow Dash agreed. "How could you be so chill after a Titan nearly chopped your head off? You treat them as if they're your kids who are in a time-out."
"She's right," Eren responded. "I mean... they're our natural enemy; they've driven humanity to the verge of extinction. Surely you experienced the threat they pose countless times yourself..."
"I have," Hange simply answered. "I've watched Titans kill friend after friend right before my very eyes. When I first joined the Scouts, I fought the Titans out of hate."
Eren and the ponies looked down sorrowfully to hear Hange's tragic backstory of watching her friends perish in the hands of Titans.
"But one day," Hange continued, grabbing their attention once again. "I made a realization. after I kicked the severed head of a three-meter Titan. It was light. Unusually light. The Titan's body, I mean."
Eren and the ponies were amazed by this strange aspect of the lightness of a creature with such size.
"Well, yeah," Twilight stated. "There's no way a creature that size can stand on two legs. Their entire bodies would collapse under the intense weight."
"Exactly," Hange approved. "Every Titan was the same. Severed limbs weren't nearly as heavy as they should have been. And when you transformed, I'm told your Titan body appeared out of nowhere. It's my belief that how they appear to us is nothing like what they really are."
Hange kindly refilled Eren's cup with more tea as well as the ponies' cups.
"For decades we've tried an offensive approach that feeds off of hate. I want to try to view the Titans from a different angle than the existing one. It might end as a waste of time... but I'm going to do it."
Silence entered the room for a moment. Eren and the ponies saw the determination of Hange's approach to study the Titans and better understand them in a way that's more logical rather than malice. Eren grabbed his teacup and took a sip of it to ease his mind a little before placing it back on the plate.
"Everyone," Hange spoke to the ponies. "With your help and abilities, you along with Eren may be our only hope in winning this fight for the survival of mankind. It won't be pleasant, I know, but everyone is pinning their hopes on you ponies."
Before Hange could continue to speak her mind, a flash of light appeared on the table near where Twilight was sitting. Eren gasped and stepped out of the table in shock while Hange screamed, spilling her tea on the table and stumbling off her chair backward. The ponies, however, were the only ones that weren't startled since they knew it was a message from none other than Princess Celestia.
Once the light faded, it uncovered a scroll tied in a red ribbon and gold seal. Eren and Hange couldn't believe their own eyes, even though they witnessed the concept of magic from the unicorns.
"What is that?!" Eren asked in wonder.
"It's just a letter from Princess Celestia," Twilight replied grabbing the scroll using her magic.
"Wait," Hange interjected. "Did you say... the princess?"
"Yeah," Starlight answered. "She's the one that sent us here, along with Princess Luna and Princess Cadence."
"You mean... you still have contact with the princesses?"
"Yes," Twilight answered, seeing the ecstatic expression on Hange's face. "Are you okay, Hange?"
Judging by the look of Hange's face along with her body quivering, everyone can tell that she was hysterical.
"I must tell Commander Erwin about this!" she shouted, running across the room and barging through the door upstairs.
Eren and the ponies were left in silence after Hange's crazy antics and behavior.
"I said it once, I'll say it again," Rainbow Dash spoke, flying off the table. "She's crazy."
"You can say that again," Eren replied.
"She just did," Pinkie corrected.
"Rainbow Dash, sit down!" ordered Twilight.
Rainbow Dash did as she was told, crossing her forelegs with a pout on her face.
"So, what does it say, darling?" Rarity asked.
Twilight cleared her throat and read the message out loud.
My Little Ponies,
I have not heard from you for a few days now. Are you ponies alright? Please respond to this message when you see fit.
Sincerely, Princess Celestia
"Oh, jeez," Twilight said with worry. "I totally forgot to write a letter to the princess after everything we went through. Starlight, could you please get me a few sheets of paper and a quill from my bag?"
"Sure, Twilight," answered Starlight, leaving her seat and trotting to where Twilight's bag was at.
Once she got a few sheets of paper with a quill, some ink, and the spell to send back the message, Twilight grabbed the items and began to write a message back to the princess.
Dear Princess Celestia,
My friends and I are perfectly safe right now. It looks like our appearance in this world has caused quite a stir up here. We were even put on trial to see if we would be beneficial for mankind or not. Thankfully, the Scout Regiment, one of the military factions in this world, accepted us into their organization in their favor and granted us residence with them.
Here are a few things you, Luna, and Cadence should know. These small bipedal, intelligent creatures are called humans, and the giant ones that they are fighting against are known as Titans. Their history dates back a hundred and seven years ago where the Titans nearly wiped out all of humanity. So the remnants of humanity built three giant walls to protect their lands that they still had left. The outer wall is called Wall Maria, which was breached and abandoned about five years ago, Wall Rose, the one we are currently in, and Wall Sina, the innermost wall which protects the kingdom where the king resides.
The three factions of the military: the Cadet Corps, who are new recruits in training and education before they could join one of the other factions. The Scout Regiment, who are tasked to venture out into Titan territory to reclaim the lands from the Titans. The Garrison Regiment, who are responsible for patrolling and protecting the walls, and the Military Police, who serve under the king and keep order inside the walls where only the top ten graduates can apply for.
I'm so sorry that we did not respond earlier. We left our belongings inside the HQ of Trost, the southern district of Wall Rose. The Military Police confiscated our things, but we were able to reclaim our belongings with the help of the Scout Regiment. I'm sure you'll understand and I hope this answers so many questions that you have about this world. So rest assured, we are safe thanks to the good people of the Scout Regiment.
I should also inform you that we also made some new friends along the way and would gladly like to introduce you to them. I hope you respond soon.
Your Prized Pupil, Twilight Sparkle
Once Twilight finally finished writing her letter, she handed a piece of paper and her quill to Eren for him to write a message to the princess.
"Huh?" Eren wondered. "You actually want me to write a letter to your rulers?"
"Go ahead!" coaxed Twilight. "Tell the princess about yourself! I'm sure she'll want to get to know you!"
"Well, what should I say?"
"Anythin' ya want, sugarcube," Applejack responded.
Eren wasn't sure what to write at first since he was very anxious about writing to a ruler from another world far from his; but when he glanced at the ponies, he saw them giving reassuring expressions telling him that it's perfectly fine. After thinking for a moment, he started to write his letter.
Dear Celestia,
My name is Eren Jaeger. Just like the ponies that you sent here, I was put on trial for whether I would be placed in the hands of the Scout Regiment or the Military Police. However, just like the ponies, I was able to join the Scout Regiment. What's more is that I discovered that I have the power to transform into a fifteen-meter titan with incredible strength and was put on trial because of that. Using my powers plus the forces of these ponies and our soldiers, we were able to seal the breach of Trost with a boulder big enough to seal it. So the Scout Regiment plans to use my powers along with the abilities of these ponies to reclaim Wall Maria.
Although these ponies appear to be strange in appearance, they are great friends that I had the pleasure to meet, especially the rainbow-haired pegasus, Rainbow Dash. She is very loyal and cares greatly for me, and so do I. Even though they are aware of my titan powers, they treat me as if I'm normal and not a monster.
The closest friends that I have before meeting these ponies are Armin Arlet and my adoptive sister Mikasa Ackerman. Although they aren't with me at the moment, I last saw them at the trial that was held and I hope to see them again. I have several other friends that I haven't seen after the invasion of Trost, so I hope that they join in the Scout Regiment with us as promised.
Finally, I want to thank you for sending these ponies to help us in this fight. They are great fighters, talented, and above all, good friends.
From, Eren
Once Eren finished his letter, he handed it to Twilight for her to send. Before she was about to sent the letters, Hange came storming in the room with Commander Erwin still dressed in his military apparel.
"Commander!", Hange yelled. "You have to see this! I promise you won't be disappointed"
"May I ask why you interrupted me from my work at this hour?", Erwin asked.
"Twilight has contact with the rulers of her world! She has a spell that can actually send letters between our worlds. It's unbelievable!"
Erwin was very interested by this, even though his expression remained unchanged. He walked to the table and read the scroll sent to Twilight.
"Interesting," he replied. "This was from your ruler that sent you here?"
"Indeed," Twilight answered, handing him a paper and quill. "If you want, you can write a message to her yourself."
"And what should I write to her?"
"Tell her about the Scout Regiment and about us. I'm sure she'd love to know the leader in command of such a strong organization."
Erwin grabbed the paper and quill from Twilight's magical grasp to write a message of his own. Hange look disappointed as she felt betrayed for not getting a chance to write to a powerful ruler of another world. Twilight saw Hange's grim look and giggled before handing her another sheet of paper and another quill.
"Alright, Hange," Twilight said. "You can respond to the princess, too."
Hange grew a big smile and snatched the items from Twilight's magical aura like being offered some free candy. The moment she had her paper and quill, she immediately started to write her message for the princess.
"Hange," Starlight called. "Do us a favor and don't write your memoir."
Hange was too busy writing her letter to even answer Starlight.
Dear Celestia,
My name is Hange Zoë. I'm a squad commander of the Scout Regiment. I just want to start off saying that it is an honor writing to someone as noble as yourself. I enjoy having these ponies around for company and I especially like the pink one. I am also looking forward to spend some time with Twilight, she seems to be very smart and is very interested in my experiments I've been administering the past few days.
I hope to meet you in person some day and if you'd like, I would gladly share any information about the Titans I've been experimenting on.
Sincerely, Hange Zoë
Unlike Hange, Erwin was very considerate about what to write in his letter to the princess.
Dear Princess Celestia,
My name is Erwin Smith and I am the commander of the Scout Regiment. I just want to be direct and let you know that these ponies are in very good hands. Our organization has the best soldiers here and will teach the ponies everything they need to know.
I have no idea how long you have known about this world, but do know that these ponies will be risking their lives for the sake of humanity. If this bothers you in any way, feel free to send them back. However, I will say that they are a worthy addition to our cause and I look forward to working with all of them.
The person in charge of them is named Captain Levi and he is responsible for training and watching over the ponies. Although he is known to be cold and merciless, he is the strongest soldier at our disposal and I know he is fit for the task at hand.
I hope to hear from your reply soon.
Signed, Erwin Smith
"Oy!" Levi shouted coldly while entering the room "Some of us are trying to get our beauty sleep, you know."
"Levi!" Twilight cried in joy. "Perfect timing! Our ruler from our world just sent us a letter! Perhaps there's something you'd like to say?"
As much as Levi wanted to return to his quarters to sleep, writing a message to a foreign ruler of another world was something he could not abstain from.
"Guess it's something I can't pass up, huh?" Levi replied.
Once Erwin finished his letter, he handed him the quill while Twilight handed Levi a sheet of paper. After getting the items, Levi knew exactly what to write to the princess.
Dear Celestia,
Although I am grateful for you sending us reinforcements, they will be going through hell just to ensure that they are prepared to fight for everyone's lives. Because what's out there will surely break them piece by piece. To me, they are nothing more than just steeds for our soldiers until they can prove me wrong as valuable soldiers in the Scout Regiment.
I won't hesitate to hurt them, I won't hesitate to insult them, and I won't hesitate to crush their mind and soul. During the trial, I even beat up Rainbow Dash just to save them and Eren from being executed in the courtroom.
These ponies will be very lucky if they pass all of their training before the next expedition outside the walls in the next month. So if they can't handle the pressure, you might as well send them back home, because I have no room for cowards or weaklings.
Respond at your earliest convenience, Levi.
After finishing his letter, Levi handed him his message for Twilight to send back to the princess along with Eren's, Erwin's, and Hange's letters. She wrapped them all together and read the magic spell quickly before using her magic to send the letters back. In an instant flash, the letters disappeared into thin air, much to Eren's and Hange's surprise.
"I assume this is how the letters are sent back to your world?" Erwin presumed.
"Yes, sir," Twilight answered. "I doubt that she'll be able to respond quickly given how many letters I sent her. You can return to sleep now."
"Good," Levi replied, walking out of the room. "Don't make me come back down here, understand?"
"Will do," Starlight responded.
"I'll be taking my leave to," Erwin said leaving the room along with Levi. "You may all rest whenever you wish to do so. Hange, be sure to send Eren to the basement when he is ready to retire."
"Yes, sir!" Hange responded with a heartfelt salute.
Erwin and Levi left the room, leaving Eren, Hange, and the ponies behind. Once they both left, Hange couldn't hold her excitement, knowing the fact that she wrote to the ponies' leader of a magical world.
"Yahoo!" Hange cheered.
"Hange!" Starlight ridiculed. "Shush! Levi will hear you!"
"This is amazing!"
"Hange!" Pinkie shushed. "Ix-nay on the Levi-nay!"
Sure enough, Levi heard the commotion coming from Hange as he walked down one of the hallways, but he ignored it and went straight to bed.
"Why do I even bother?" he moaned.
Eren watched Hange cheer with joy for the magical capabilities of the ponies' world while Twilight, Starlight, and Rarity tried to muffle her with their hooves on their pursed lips. Pinkie tried to cover Hange's mouth with both of her hooves as she hopped on her shoulders and Fluttershy hid under the table waiting for the inevitable if Levi showed up.
Joining the Scouts has been nothing but surprise after surprise, Eren thought to himself, witnessing the fracas unfold as Hange pulled Pinkie off of her face. It's not just Mrs. Hange. Everyone is strange, especially these colorful, talking ponies. It's practically a haven of oddballs. Still... A group of people that seeks change... That's what the Scouts are all about!
"Mrs. Hange!" Eren called to her, grabbing Hange's attention.
The ponies also looked at Eren and wondered what he was about to ask her for as they sat back down in their seats.
"Would you mind telling us even more about your experiments?!"
"Huh?" Hange exclaimed, surprised at Eren's curiosity. "Are you sure?!"
"Yes! I think it would be good to know as much as possible before tomorrow's experiments!"
"I couldn't agree more," Twilight spoke. "I'm fairly interested to know what data you've collected after spending time with your test subjects."
"G-Good point!" Hange chuckled in anticipation. "Mm. I did gloss over a lot of thins just now. I should go into further detail! This could take a while-"
"That's okay!" Eren proclaimed.
"I'll start off with the hypothesis I had the first time we caught a Titan!"
The sun was already shining through the windows of the castle as morning came. Hange was still blabbering about her experiments and didn't seem exhausted in the slightest. Eren was half asleep and appeared to be possessed thanks to his lack of sleep. Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy already fell asleep after getting bored of Hange's rambling with Rainbow Dash drooling on the table. Rarity and Starlight were trying their hardest to stay awake and listen, only for them to wear down in exhaustion by the minute.
Although, Twilight and Pinkie Pie were the only ones that were still wide awake as they listened to what Hange shared about her experiments. Hange continued to discuss her findings of her test subjects, regardless of the various responses from Eren or the ponies.
"As such," Hange concluded. "that experiment provided no new information! I'm sure they teach everyone this stuff during cadet training. You knew about this, right?"
"Yes..." Eren murmured in his dreary state. "I already knew it all..."
"So now I'll explain things further by going over everything again with my own theories!"
"Huh?!" Eren blurted as he stirred awake. 'Um... I'm..."
"First is how Titans-"
A soldier barged through the doors, waking everyone from their quick nap. Everyone looked up to see a Scout with a serious look.
"Is Section Commander Hange here?!" he asked. "The test subjects... Both of the Titans have been killed!"
Hange widened her eyes in shock and jumped out of her seat to check on her two test subjects. Eren and the ponies looked at each other with worried expressions to wonder who would do such a thing.
"Now ah know why the others told us not to ask Hange 'bout her experiments," Applejack muttered to Rainbow Dash.
The soldiers ride their horses into the city of Trost to arrive at the sight where Sawney and Beane were being held captive with the ponies running alongside them. Once they arrived, all they saw was the decomposing skeletons of the two Titans. Hange cried at the top of her lungs with eyes flooded in tears to see Sawney and Beane slaughtered right in front of her.
"Sawney! Beane!" she wailed, falling to her knees. "No... Tell me this isn't happening!"
From behind, Eren who was covered in a cloak, the ponies, Levi with his squad, and several other soldiers watched the horrible sight.
"They were such valuable test subjects..." Gunther whispered to Eld. "Did soldiers do this?"
"Yeah," Eld answered. "They haven't yet found who's responsible. Apparently, both were killed at the same time just before dawn. By the time the guards noticed, whoever did it had used ODM to get away."
"So a team of at least two people planned this, huh?" Gunther asked.
"Sawney!" Hange cried, pulling her hair in despair and sorrow.
"Just look," Oruo said to Petra with a smirk. "Section Commander Hange is raving mad."
Petra had enough of Oruo's indifference and elbowed him on the side of his ribcage with Ouro grunted in pain in response.
"Darn," Twilight muttered. "I was really looking forward on running experiments with Hange."
"How did this happen...?" Eren murmured.
"Let's go," Levi ordered, walking out of the sight. "The rest is the Military Police's job."
"Y-Yes, sir..." Eren answered.
Eren and Twilight continued to watch Hange cry over her loss one last time before leaving, until Erwin caught both of them.
"Commander...?" Twilight asked in confusion.
'What do you see here?" Erwin asked both of them with his right hand on Eren's right shoulder and his other one on Twilight's back. "What do you think the enemy is?"
"Huh?" Eren and Twilight replied, unable to give him a straight answer.
"Sorry," Erwin apologized. "That was a strange thing to ask."
Eren and Twilight were frozen in confusion as to why Erwin would ask such a strange question. Afterwards, Eren, Erwin, Levi, the Levi Squad, and the ponies left the scene.
My Little Pony: Fight Against the Titans
12 What Needs to be Done Now
As Hange sat down on a couch alone in one of the Scout Regiment headquarters, she was still lamenting over the death of Sawney and Beane. She hung her head low, sniffled a few times, and continued to let some tears drop from her face. She would have to wait for another chance to capture brand new specimens for further experimentation, but it was not a total loss since she was able to learn a few new things from Sawney and Beane before they were killed.
She heard the sound of a door opening and when she looked up, she saw Twilight walk into the room with her saddlebag on her carrying a few things inside.
"Hey, Hange," Twilight greeted with concern. "I was just wondering how you were holding up."
"Not very well," Hange sobbed. "Sawney and Beane were completely defenseless and were massacred like... a bunch of caged animals. I had so much more planned for them, but now... I won't be able to run more experiments now that they're gone."
"I'm so sorry about what happened," Twilight apologized. "but I'm sure we'll find whoever did this. In the meantime, I brought you something that I'm sure will make you feel better."
Hange lifted her head up and wondered what it was Twilight wanted to give her. When she saw the books Twilight brought with her from Equestria along with a scroll wrapped in a red ribbon and gold seal, she gasped and ceased her crying while also wiping her tears away.
"Are those...?" Hange stumbled.
"Mhmm," Twilight hummed. "The books that I brought with me from Equestria, and a message from the princess herself."
Hange gasped when she heard Twilight say that the princess replied back to her. Twilight gladly gave Hange the scroll to let her read the princess' response. Hange did not hesitate to grab the scroll and untied the ribbon to read the message.
Dear Hange,
It's nice to know you along with everyone in the Scout Regiment and I'm glad you're getting acquainted with my pupil, Twilight Sparkle. I just wanted to say that I am truly grateful for the good people for keeping my little ponies safe from any harm. Though I am quite interested in these experiments you've been working on, I have my own duties back in Equestria. I'm sure you have more important tasks at hand as well.
I hope we meet personally someday, Princess Celestia
Hange's anguish melted away completely and shuddered in joy after reading through the scroll that was signed by the princess of Equestria herself.
"Thank you, Twilight!" Hange yelled, hugging the alicorn tightly in surprise. "I don't know how to repay you."
"You could start by letting me breathe, maybe?" Twilight chocked.
Hange blushed and let the pony go from her hug to give her some air. Afterwards, she looked at one of the books describing Equestria and scrolled through a few pages.
"I don't even know where to start!" Hange said in excitement. "Should I start at the founding of your land, or maybe I should read special traditions celebrated annually, or maybe I-"
Hange was disrupted once Twilight pressed her right hoof on Hange's lips to cease her babbling.
"One thing at a time, Hange," Twilight stated with a slight giggle. "What matters now is finding the culprit responsible for killing Sawney and Beane."
Hange nodded in agreement, yet she could hardly wait to read what knowledge those books held.
"Fair enough," Hange answered with a smile.
Meanwhile, Levi stood in the courtyard to see the fine work of a certain earth pony. He saw that there was no weed in sight thanks to Applejack's help around the castle yesterday. Afterwards, he inhaled deeply and exhaled to relax for a while until dinner came tonight. However, his peace and tranquility was short lived when he heard the sound of hooves clopping on the ground.
"Excuse me, Levi?" asked Starlight's voice.
Levi turned his head slightly to see Starlight Glimmer walking his way to ask him a few questions.
"What is it?" Levi said firmly. "I'm trying to have some peace and quiet, you know?"
"Sorry, I just needed to ask. When do we start training? Don't we need our very own special gear? Plus, how are we gonna be equipped with ODM gear meant to be used for bipedal creatures like you guys?"
"Mmm..." Levi hummed, looking back at Starlight brightening up his glare slightly. "You're a perceptive one, are you?"
"I learned from the best," Starlight replied, implying about Twilight.
"I'll answer all of your questions at dinner tonight. Now leave me in peace."
"Yes, sir," Starlight responded.
As Starlight trotted back inside the castle, she couldn't help but have a strange feeling for Levi, as if they shared something in common. She remembered Eren telling her something about Levi being a criminal in an underground city he used to like before the Scout Regiment, specifically Commander Erwin, found him. She snapped out of her thoughts to meet up with her pony friends.
As the evening came, the members of the Scout Regiment helped themselves with unseasoned potato cheese soup and a sliced half of loafed bread. While the soldiers sat with their friends discussing the next expedition and the culprit behind the killing of the test subjects, Eren, Hange, and the ponies sat with each other. Levi, Petra, Oruo, Eld, and Gunther sat on their own table thankful that the ponies talked to Hange to avoid her constant chattering.
"They could at least add some salt in this soup," Rarity murmured, taking a few small sips of her soup.
"Sorry, Rarity," confessed Hange. "Food supplies are low thanks to the land that we lost during the fall of Wall Maria; and with salt being a valuable affluence, this is all we can afford."
"It's fine, Hange," Applejack replied, glaring at Rarity. "The fact that we're all bein' served with food is mighty kind of y'all of the Scouts."
"Well," Rarity defended. "It is quite generous of you all, but still..."
"This soup is actually yummy!" Pinkie declared, slurping the entire soup clean off the bowl. "If only we could have seconds."
"These meals are rations, Pinkie," Applejack mentioned. "There are no more helpings here, luckily Erwin gave me the approval to plant apple seeds right outside the castle in the back. So we'll have more to eat soon."
"Huh?" Hange asked. "Trees take years to become fully-grown trees, and maybe more to bear any fruit to eat."
"Well, these seeds are kinda' special. They're enchanted so that they grow much quicker than an ordinary apple tree. So we'll have fresh new apples in less than a few days."
"Really?! If only you guys could do that for the rest of what crops we have left..."
"Oy!" Levi shouted, bringing their attention to the captain as he took a seat next to Eren. "I have to explain something to you ponies."
The ponies stopped talking amongst each other and listened closely to what Levi had to say.
"As you already know," he proclaimed. "You'll all be training to become proper soldiers in the Scout Regiment, however, you'll be traveling to Yarckel District west of Wall Sina."
"What's there exactly?", Rainbow asked with a raised eyebrow.
"If you'd stop interrupting me, I'll explain."
Rainbow Dash crossed her forelegs and huffed in reply.
"Starting tomorrow, you ponies will be properly fitted into your Scout Regiment garments and harnesses. Considering the fact that some of you have wings, you won't need mobility gear since you can fly on your own so you'll only need the sheaths for your blades. The rest of you without wings will be tested on your aptitude to determine if you're qualified to be soldiers or not like any other cadets."
The ponies gave each other concerned looks hoping that they were qualified to become soldiers in the Scout Regiment. Eren thought back to how he almost failed to become a soldier when he first started his aptitude test with a ridged brow on his face.
"However," Levi continued with a more dread expression. "This test requires all of you to stand on your hind legs, which is a problem for quadrupedal creatures such as yourselves. Not only that, but the earth ponies who can't use magic like unicorns only have the stumps on your hooves to use, so we need to find a way to modify your gear for you to properly use your ODM gear."
"And how are we gonna do that?" Rainbow questioned.
"Dolphus," Levi simply answered.
"Who now?" asked Starlight.
"How's a sea animal gonna help us?" Pinkie asked, greatly puzzled.
Levi gave the pink pony a sinister look in annoyance before coming to his point.
"Dolphus Spannagel," Levi clarified. "He's the main developer of Omni-Directional Mobility Gear manufacturing and modifications in Yarckel District. He'll help equip you ponies with ODM gear and adjust them for your needs. We sent him a message ahead of time right after the verdict during the trial and he's honored to work with all of you and better train you to fight against titans. Afterwards, you'll be sent to the Cadet Core Training Grounds where Eren and the other soldiers of the 104th Cadet Core trained to become soldiers."
"Cool!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed. "I can't wait to see Eren's old days where he used to train."
"That is if some of you can pass your aptitude test"
"Huh?" Rarity, Starlight, Applejack, and Pinkie said simultaneously.
"I see no point in wasting a trip to Yarckel if you ponies can't learn how to use your gear correctly. Not only that, we'll need some time to take proper measurements for your apparel-"
"I can help with that!" Rarity interjected while raising her hoof.
"Hm? You know how to sew?" Levi asked without changing his expression.
"I'm a fashionista back in Equestria, darling," Rarity revealed. "I can acquire those measurements and have those uniforms done in no time."
Judging by the look on the unicorn's face, Levi can already tell that she wasn't bluffing. Due to the fact that she had magic on her side, it didn't cross his mind that he would be obligated to give such a task to someone as neat as himself.
"Alright then, Hange!"
"Yes?" Hange replied.
"Tomorrow morning, bring Rarity to the tailoring room and give her specific instructions on what to make and how to make it. Understood?"
"Yes, sir!" Hange replied, saluting the captain with her fist on her heart.
"If anyone needs me, I'll be back with my peers enjoying dinner," Levi concluded, walking back to the other table with his squad.
The ponies looked at each other with worry and excitement for the day ahead of them tomorrow. Hange walked to where Rarity was sitting and placed her left hand on the table.
"So tell me, Rarity," Hange said. "Do you believe you can make seven Scout Regiment uniforms in one day?"
"Without a doubt, darling," Rarity responded with confidence. "Creating seven of the exact same kind of outfit should be a walk in the park. It's nothing compared to what I had to design back in our world."
"Yeah!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed, appearing right next to Hange. "She owns three boutiques in three different parts of Equestria. She also made us seven dresses for the Grand Galloping Gala!"
"Grand Galloping Gala?" wondered Hange. "Isn't that some special kind of ball?"
"Totally! We celebrate it pretty much every year in Canterlot!'
"Canterlot is the capital of Equestria, right?"
"You're right," Twilight replied. "Looks like somepony's putting those books to good use."
"I just can't seem to put them down! They have so many interesting things to share about your world! I wonder what else those books have in store?!"
Levi, Oruo, Petra, Eld, and Gunther heard the excitement of Hange's reading of the books Twilight gave her.
"Well," Oruo spoke. "at least she isn't bothering us anymore with her chattering over her experiments."
Later that night, Twilight relaxed in her bedroom with Starlight entering the room. Twilight had an amble candlelight on the small table next to her bed as she was writing a message to the princess.
Dear Princess Celestia,
Tomorrow my friends and I are going to train for the next expedition outside the walls. Rarity will be making our uniforms and have us suited up before then. There is also an aptitude test that Starlight, Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie will be tested on to determine if they are suited to be soldiers or not. Although we are probably light years away from each other, I just wanted to send some words of reassurance.
One more thing, I ask that you send us 105 bits; 15 bits for each of us. We will be traveling to one of the districts of Wall Sina that contains the upper class of humanity. They will expect us to wear a shirt underneath our harnesses that will better suit us. Also, this may sound strange, but I'd also ask that you send fifteen pounds of salt. From what I have heard, salt in this world is an indulgence and the Scout Regiment would really appreciate it as a gift from us.
Thank you so much, and tell Spike and the others I said hello,
Your pupil, Twilight Sparkle
Twilight rolled the scroll and wrapped it in a red ribbon. Using the spell the princess gave her, she sent it back to Equestria for Celestia to respond sometime tomorrow.
"Hey, Twilight?" Starlight called to her. "Do you think Levi likes or respects any of us?"
"Huh?" baffled Twilight. "What do you mean by that?"
"Well, he's always acting like a brute to us even though we try to get on his good side. Not even Pinkie Pie can get him to smirk even a little. We do everything he tells us to do and he doesn't seem to express his gratitude."
"True," Twilight nodded in agreement. "He never does show any feelings, kind of like Pinkie's sister, Maud."
"Exactly, but he did acknowledge the cleaning Rarity did around the castle. So do you think that maybe he even sees us as friends?"
"Of course, he does have very high criteria and expectations for us so I wouldn't say that he's a bad guy. He didn't become the captain of the Scout Regiment for nothing. The best thing we can do to get on his good side is to obey his orders and not question them and maybe one day, he'll see us as true friends."
"Yeah, I suppose. It's kind of funny though."
"What is?" Twilight asked with a raised eyebrow.
"From what I've heard from Eren, Levi used to be a criminal in an underground city and listened to nopony. Then the Scout Regiment found him and Erwin said they would grant him citizenship to live on the surface. In a weird way, he and I are the same. We both had some dark history in the past and chose to do things for our selfish desires."
"Wow," Twilight exclaimed in a quiet tone. "I had no idea Levi was a convicted criminal, and living in an underground city sounds pretty cool."
"It does," Starlight agreed. "But from what Eren told me, living underground too long without sunlight can result in your legs becoming unhealthy and not working properly and paying your way to the surface or even buying medicine is expensive, which is no wonder he chose the path of a criminal."
"I see," Twilight mused. "I wonder if he had friends that he cared about just as much as we care for each other?"
Starlight yawned while placing her right hoof over her mouth. Twilight yawned in response to seeing Starlight's tired state.
"Starlight," Twilight said trying to sound angry. "You gave me yawn."
Twilight and Starlight giggled in response to Twilight joking around. Seeing that they had a long day tomorrow, both of them went straight to bed to get a good night's sleep.
"Goodnight, Starlight," Twilight said before blowing out the candle to darken the room.
They both tuckered in their blankets to stay warm and drifted off to sleep.
Rainbow Dash and Applejack went to the room that they were sharing and settled there for the night. Rainbow Dash grabbed one of the books she brought with her from Equestria to read before going to sleep. However, remembering that Eren was forced to sleep in the dungeon down in the basement, she couldn't help but feel bad for him being left down there alone with no pony to talk to. After glancing down at the book she held, she tucked it under her right wing and started to walk out of the bedroom.
"Rainbow?" Applejack spoke in her bed. "Where are ya going?"
"I think I'm gonna bunk with Eren tonight," Rainbow Dash replied. "I feel bad for him that he has to be treated like a prisoner."
"But, aren't ya afraid that he may turn into a titan in his sleep?"
"I think I'll take my chances," Rainbow responded with a smirk. "If the girls ask, tell them I'm sleeping with Eren."
"Uh, alright then."
"Thanks, AJ," Rainbow Dash appreciated.
Once Rainbow Dash left the room, Applejack turned to where the candle was lit and blew it out to darken the room. Applejack tuckered in her blanket and smiled to know that Rainbow Dash was getting along with someone new, even though Eren had such dangerous powers that many people feared. Applejack could see that Rainbow Dash's loyalty wouldn't stop her from connecting to someone who had been accused of being a monstrosity.
Miche was guiding Eren to his cell down in the basement where a few torches were lit. However, Eren did not have his hands cuffed, seeing that he was slowly gaining the Scouts' trust with his titan powers. Once they reached Eren's cell, Miche grabbed a key out of his pocket to unlock the cell and allowed Eren inside. Eren gladly let himself inside the cell and went straight to bed to rest up for tomorrow. He didn't care if he slept in a cold dungeon since he was exhausted after Hange's constant ranting last night.
"We saw no point in cuffing you since you may turn into a titan in your sleep and that wouldn't have proven useful," Miche said.
Eren nodded in agreement as he settled himself in bed.
"We'll see you tomorrow morning, so get plenty of rest," Miche stated.
As Miche went back upstairs to rest for the night, Eren made himself comfortable and wanted some much-needed rest. Before he could drift asleep, he heard someone else enter the dungeon and talk to Miche from upstairs before he could leave the dungeon. The voice sounded female and gravelly that was just too familiar and easy to identify.
"Rainbow Dash?" Eren exclaimed.
Their discussion did not go for much longer as Eren heard them heading back downstairs to his cell. Miche came back with Rainbow Dash right beside him with a book held in her right wing.
"Well, it appears you have a roommate for tonight, Eren," Miche declared opening his cell to let the pegasus inside. "Goodnight you two."
"Night, Miche," Rainbow Dash replied.
Miche let himself out and walked back upstairs to sleep in his bedroom. After wishing Miche a good night sleep, Rainbow Dash hopped on the left side of Eren's bed with a smile on her face.
"Rainbow, what are you doing here?" Eren asked in confusion.
"I'm bunking with you tonight, Eren," she answered. "No way I'm gonna let you sleep in a cold dungeon all by yourself."
"But what if I turn into a Titan in my sleep?" Eren questioned in worry. "Aren't you afraid that I might kill you by accident?"
"Don't worry about it," Rainbow answered without a hint of anxiety. "I doubt that'll happen. Besides, I think I'll take my chances. Some people may say that you're a monster, but I think you're just misunderstood. No matter what everyone thinks of you, I'll always be at your side, Eren."
Eren was totally surprised by the pony's loyalty towards him. He was shocked to hear Rainbow Dash say that she saw him as a normal human being, even though she knew about his Titan powers. Rainbow Dash opened her right wing and then tossed the book she brought with her in the middle of Eren's bed. He grabbed the book and read the title with it written 'Daring Do and the Quest for the Saffire Stone.'
The artwork of the book had a pegasus with a light gold coat and mane with a grayscale rainbow color. She also had a compass on her flank as her cutie mark with moderate rose eyes and wore a green collared shirt and a dark olivine helmet with a dark olive band. She appeared to be swinging on a red vine while carrying a blue crystal in her left hoof while also avoiding the jaws of a crocodile.
"Is this a novel?" Eren asked the pegasus.
"Yeah," Rainbow said in excitement. "Her name's Daring Do! She's like one of the coolest ponies ever known, aside from me, obviously."
Eren shared a small giggle to see the pony's enthusiasm. Even though her character was similar to Oruo's, her loyalty and compassion compensated it.
"Is she a real pony back in your world?" Eren asked.
"I didn't think so at first," Rainbow answered. "but it turns out that the author, A. K. Yearling, is actually Daring Do herself and she writes about her adventures! We even have a bond with each other and sees me as a good friend!"
"No kidding!" Eren replied in astonishment.
Eren grabbed the book to start reading only to be halted by Rainbow's hoof before he could read the first page.
"Not so fast," Rainbow said, grabbing the book with her hooves. "I'll be the one reading the story. No one does a better impression of Daring Do than me."
"Oh...", Eren responded. "Okay then."
Afterwards, Rainbow Dash opened the book to start on the first chapter of the story and cleared her throat before she read out loud.
"Daring Do and the Quest for the Saffire Stone, Chapter One," Rainbow read to Eren. "As Daring Do tread through the tropical jungle, the wet heat sapped her energy and slowed her every step. If only she could escape this oppressive atmosphere and fly up into the blue, cool sky, but her crash landing in the jungle had injured her wing and she was grounded for a few days..."
Even though Eren was exhausted, he couldn't fall asleep after hearing Rainbow Dash read an exciting book that had intrigued Rainbow Dash so much to make her love the series.
"...and so with Ahuizotl defeated and the Saphire Statue secured, the world was safe and sound once again, thanks to Daring Do!"
After finishing the last chapter of the book, she closed the book in a dramatic way as a kind of climax for the story. Eren was smiling at the fact that such an adventurer back in the ponies' world that traveled to many exotic places to save the world from villains such as Ahuizotl. Saying that the story wasn't gripping would be an incredible misconception.
"Well?" Rainbow requested. "Pretty cool story, huh?"
"Totally!" Eren confessed. "And you know what? Maybe someday my friends and I will be just like her! Travelling to places around the world to see exotic places!"
Eren was talking about the places he remembered Armin mentioning in his book about the outside world.
"Mountains of ice, snowfields of sand, burning water. One day we'll get to see the outside world after we defeat the titans."
"Yeah," Rainbow agreed. "Like I said, my friends and I will help you guys win this fight. It's sad to see some of your friends gone after being eaten by titans, but one day we'll help you guys rise out of the ashes and help you reclaim your rightful place in this world."
"Thanks, Rainbow Dash," Eren acknowledged, petting Rainbow Dash on the head while messing her hair.
Afterwards, Rainbow Dash yawned audibly as she forgot how exhausted she was from today. She tuckered in bed beside Eren and rolled on her side while placing her leg over Eren's torso like a massive stuffed animal.
"Night, Eren," she whispered, shutting her eyes. "Got a long day ahead of us tomorrow."
Eren placed his left arm under Rainbow's neck to let her use his shoulder as a makeshift pillow for the pegasus. He then placed his hand and forearm on Rainbow's back to comfort her and nestle her closer to his side.
"Yeah, you too," Eren replied.
Thanks to Rainbow Dash's presence, Eren wasn't as cold as he thought he would be while sleeping in his cell. Not only that, the ponies softness and warmth lulled him to sleep more peacefully.
The next day inside the mess hall for the cadets, the soldiers were lined up with the main housing of their ODM gear set on different tables along with documents laid in front of them for inspection after the titan subjects were killed. Many soldiers from the Military Police were inspecting every soldier to see if their maneuvering gear was in check. Most of the soldiers were on edge during the procedures since the ceremony to choose which branch to join will happen tonight.
Two Military Police soldiers were currently examining Sasha's gear and asked her some questions. One of the soldiers reading the document was male with short, dark grey hair and a grey T-shirt underneath his uniform. The other soldier was female with fairly long brown hair and wore a beige turtleneck underneath her uniform. She held a clipboard and took notes of Sasha's answers to confirm if she was responsible for killing the test subjects or not.
"When did you last replace your shaft?" the male soldier queried.
"Six days ago," Sasha answered. "after the mop-up operation."
"Records confirm," the female soldier declared.
"All right," said the male soldier, turning to Christa. "You're next."
"Christa Lenz of Squad 42!" she clarified.
"Equipment check," he said to the female soldier.
Two male soldiers lined up for inspection muttered amongst each other about the events that unfolded after the test subjects were killed.
"So killing Titans can actually get you in trouble, huh?" said a male soldier with short black hair.
"Yeah," replied a male soldier with gold hair. "it's crazy, but they were valuable test subjects."
"Even so, why are they searching for the culprits among us cadets?"
"Yeah, we're worn out enough as it is, cleaning up the battlefield all this time..."
Armin stood in line waiting for his gear to be inspected as well. Conny was standing on his left side while Annie was on his right both of them with their maneuvering gears as well. They were all void of sensibility with the circumstances happening now and later for the ceremony.
"Whoever it was really hates Titans," Conny spoke.
"Mm..." admitted Armin. "But they pretty much helped the Titans, if anything. Maybe it helped quench their thirst for revenge, but it was also a big setback for humanity."
"I'm not too bright, so I think I can relate. Before I actually saw a Titan, I seriously planned on joining the Scouts. Now I never want to see another one again. But today's the day we hafta pick a regiment to join..."
Conny glanced to his left where Jean was standing next to him. He looked down and saw him clenching his fist meaning that something was getting to him.
Is Jean seriously going to...? Conny thought.
The night after the clean-up operation at one of the plazas in Trost, there were three square bonfires burning the last corpses to destroy any bacteria or contaminants that could infect anyone. Everyone stared at the fires in despair as they saw their deceased comrades be devoured by the flames. Jean, Reiner, Bertholdt, and Annie stood on the left side of the bonfires while Conny, Sasha, Ymir, and Christa stood on the right side.
Conny sat down on the hard courtyard unlike everyone else with his hands on the side of his head. He sobbed over the loss of his dear friends with tears flowing from his eyes. Jean looked at him with pity as everyone else felt the same way, even though they didn't show it.
Everyone's having regrets... Jean said in his head. They never would've chosen to be soldiers if they knew this hell awaited them... Now that they're utterly drained, that's the only thing they can think about...
Jean walked closer to the bonfires to grab one of the many burnt pieces of bones that flew away from the flames on the ground. He went down on his knees and picked up a piece and looked down at it.
"Marco..." he muttered to himself. "I don't know which bones are yours anymore..."
The memories of seeing Marco's lifeless body crawled through his mind. He then remembered some encouraging words Eren said to him before the invasion of Trost telling him that he planned to join the Scout Regiment to eradicate the titans.
"If I hadn't become a soldier, I never would've had to worry about who's next..."
Jean and the graduated soldiers were looking at Eren while he shot back some remarks about joining the Military Police opposed to the Scout Regiment.
"Are we just going to throw away all the advances in fighting techniques that costs us tens of thousands of lives so we can be titan fodder?!", Eren criticized.
I know I have to fight, Jean thought. But not everyone can be a suicidal maniac like you...
Suddenly, he heard the sound of footsteps approaching him on his right. He also noticed a bright light that he imagined in his head which no one else seemed to notice. When he looked to his right, he saw an apparition of Marco smiling down at him with confidence and reassurance.
"You might be mad, but listen," Marco said, bringing back a memory of Jean's back in the HQ of Trost. "You're not a strong person, Jean, so you can't sympathize with the feelings of the weak. Nevertheless, you excel at looking at things objectively. So you have a clever idea of what needs to be done, don't you? Like when you comforted Fluttershy when she was witnessing people being devoured by Titans?"
After hearing those words of encouragement, he then noticed Fluttershy standing on his left with tears in her eyes expressing a happy smile as she walked closer to Jean. Relieved to see her in one peace, Jean opened his arms to embrace the pegasus in a warm hug.
"Thanks for saving us, Jean," wept Fluttershy. "I'm so happy I met-"
Right before he was about to hug Fluttershy, the illusions of Marco and Fluttershy vanished right before him. Jean opened his eyes as he was put back into reality kneeling in front of the bonfires with the piece of burnt bone in the palm of his hand. With Marco's and Fluttershy's words still flowing in his mind, he clenched the burnt piece of bone in his palm right before standing on his feet. He finally realized his intention.
What needs to be done now..., Jean concluded.
"Hey, guys," Jean called to his friends bringing their attention to him. "Have you decided which regiment you're going to join? I have."
Conny was slightly stunned to see Jean in this case as he looked up at him.
"I'm..." Jean stammered clenching his right fist and grabbing his wrist with his other hand. "I'm... going to join the Scouts!"
Once he finally made his decision, Jean began to choke and weep to himself since he missed Marco and hoped deep in his heart to see Fluttershy once again.
After remembering the declaration Jean made that night, Conny knew that Jean must be terrified over the idea of joining the Scout Regiment once the ceremony came.
"Damn..." Conny whispered. "Hey, Annie. What do you think? Jean says he's gonna join the Scouts."
"Huh?", Armin quietly uttered. "Jean is?"
"Don't really care," replied Annie.
"Yeah," Conny recognized."you're joining the Military Police. Maybe I should too after all?"
Annie did not even glance at him before asking him something.
"Tell me," Annie asked him. "if someone told you to die, would you?"
"What? No," Conny answered.
"Then do what matters most to you . What about you , Armin?"
"Huh?" Armin wondered. "I... I think I might, if the situation called for it and I understood the reason why. Not that I'd want to."
"I see," Annie responded. "So you've decided."
"Mm. Although it was always my plan anyway."
"Oh, man," Conny asserted quietly. "Not you too, Armin?"
"For as weak as someone as you," Annie admitted. "you've got guts."
"Th-Thanks," Armin replied, somewhat surprised by Annie's words. 'You, know, you're actually pretty nice, Annie."
"Huh?" she said while looking at him.
"I mean, you seem apprehensive about us joining the Scouts, plus I assume you have a reason for joining the Military Police, right?"
"Not really," Annie answered, looking away. "I just want to stay alive."
While Armin looked down in slight disappointment, he noticed something odd about Annie's maneuvering gear like he saw it somewhere before.
At the Scout Regiment headquarters' stables and courtyard, Eld and Gunther were having a mug of water to quench their thirst while they were discussing who the culprit was for killing Sawney and Beane. At the same time, Eren was feeding the horses with a bucket filled with oats. Twilight and her friends were standing near him to accompany him. Eren, Eld, and Gunther were dressed in their uniforms and gear.
"Ugh," Rarity scoffed in disgust. "To think that this is how equines eat in this world. So revolting."
"In the end, it seems they never found whoever used the ODM gear without permission," Gunther told Eld. "Who could it have been?"
"Beats me," Eld replied after taking a sip of water. "Right now, I'm more worried about the upcoming rookie solicitation. How many rookies will be willing to join us just for the hell of it?"
"Hey, Eren," called Gunther. "Is there anyone in your class who's thinking of joining us?"
"There are," he answered until he wasn't entirely sure if his friends made their final decisions. "Well, there were . I'm not sure about now."
"I sure wish that Jean joins the Scouts," said Fluttershy. "I actually like him."
"I wouldn't get your hopes up," Eren gravely replied. "Besides, you should have seen him back in our trainee days."
Fluttershy was genuinely interested in Jean's past as how he behaved towards his friends before graduating. At the moment, Levi arrived on the back of a dark-grey horse with his gear and apparel equipped. Gunther and Eld saw him arrive and took declaration.
"Assemble!" Eld ordered.
Without hesitation, Gunther and Eld placed their mugs down and gave the captain their salute.
"Make ready at once!" ordered Levi. "We're going on patrol!"
"Yes, sir!" they both answered.
Eren came running next to Gunther and Eld to give out his salute likewise.
"Good morning, Captain Levi!" Eren greeted.
"Listen, Eren," Levi informed. "Don't fall more than two lengths behind. You're only allowed to wander because I'm watching you. Don't forget that."
Out of nowhere, a bright flash appeared in the middle of the courtyard. Eren, Gunther, and Eld ducked for cover while the ponies covered their eyes from the blinding light. The flash spooked Levi's horse as it tossed its forelegs. Regardless of the unexpected shock, Levi calmed his steed down eventually and maintained emotional balance. Eren, Eld, and Gunther readied themselves by drawing out their blades for the worst to befall.
"What the hell was that?!" Eld shouted. "A Titan?!"
"No," Twilight reassured before walking to where the flash occurred. "they're just supplies I ordered from the princess back in our world."
Sure enough, there was a small wooden crate placed in the center of the courtyard. The four soldiers were left certainly confused, lightly from Levi, to see that the flash did not cause any burnt marks on the patio. After Twilight reached the chest, she opened the lid with her magic to see a small sack and a few rolls of bits wrapped together.
"Looks like they arrived!" Twilight declared joyfully.
"And what are those things that 'arrived' exactly?!" Levi demanded skeptically.
"Just a few things that I thought my friends and I needed before we left for Yarckel."
The doors leading out to the courtyard slammed open with Hange running out the doors along with Petra and Oruo right behind her. Erwin and Miche looked from inside the castle out the doorway to see what had transpired just now.
"What was that sound?" Hange exclaimed. "Did Eren turn into a Titan or something?"
"No," Levi answered while glaring at Twilight. "Apparently, Twilight ordered a few things from her world without a lick of permission from us."
"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!" Rainbow objected. "I thought that bearded guy from the trial said we had the privilege to do whatever we want!"
"He did, and although you ponies have much more rights than Eren does, you're all still soldiers in the Scout Regiment that heed my orders."
"I'm sorry," apologized Twilight. "Since you're allowing me to send letters back to Princess Celestia, I thought-"
"Sending something as simple as letters are more tolerable rather than ordering an entire package of supplies. This is my only warning: anything sent from your world besides letters must be approved by me or Erwin."
"My apologies, sir," Twilight replied. "I'll let the princess know as soon as possible."
"Good. Now, what is it that you ordered?"
"Well," Twilight clarified, taking out the sack and rolls of bits. "Since we're going to Yarckel in Wall Sina, I thought maybe we could buy a few things while we're there to make ourselves more orderly in our garments. So Princess Celestia gave us fifteen bits for each pony."
Everyone excluding the ponies was in utter shock to see the ponies have such an abundance of gold from their world. All of the soldiers' eyes and mouths were agape aside from Erwin and Levi who barely made a shift in appearance, even though they were about as shocked as everyone else. It was a breath of fresh air for everyone except the ponies, of course.
"Uh...", Starlight sounded. "Are you guys okay? It's only fifteen bits for each of us. It shouldn't be that much, right?"
"Starlight," Hange quivered. "gold is an immensely precious valuable here within the walls. With all of those coins combined, you guys can buy yourselves part of an entire district within Wall Sina!"
The ponies were now as appalled as everyone else.
"Oohoohoohoohoo!", Rarity squealed in delighted. "Think of all of the clothing and jewelry I can buy!"
"And what about the sack?", Eld asked.
"I heard Hange's story about salt being a luxury here in this world," Twilight mentioned. "So I asked the princess for some salt as a gift for the Scout Regiment. Is fifteen pounds enough?"
Now there was silence between all of the soldiers. With the exception of Erwin and Levi, they all remained unmovable with profoundly dumbfounded expressions.
"Miche," Erwin said from outside the entrance with a smirk on his face. "Put that salt in the kitchen immediately."
"Yes, sir!", Miche replied.
Miche ran towards Twilight as the alicorn gave him the sack of salt. He then opened the sack to test it to see how fresh it was by dabbing a tiny amount on his index finger, sniffing it, and placing it on his tongue. Once he got the taste, his eyes widened in jubilance from the taste.
"Authentic, sir!", Miche acknowledged.
"Brilliant!", Erwin responded.
Miche walked back inside the castle to place the salt somewhere safe in the kitchen.
"Is that everything?", Erwin asked Twilight.
"Yes, sir!", Twilight answered.
"Good. Hange, Petra. Remember that we depart for the induction ceremony at noon."
"Yes, sir!", the two female soldiers responded.
With full confirmation, Erwin and Miche walked back inside the castle.
"As I was saying," Levi spoke, returning his gaze towards Eren. "you have the privilege to wander around only because I'm keeping a close eye on you."
"Yes, sir!", Eren acknowledged.
"Hange, while I'm gone, be sure to have the ponies fitted with their harnesses and uniforms. Rarity, be sure that you finish those harnesses before we return this afternoon above all else. Once we return, we'll begin your aptitude test and determine if you ponies are qualified to become soldiers, understood?"
"Yes, sir!", Hange and the ponies answered.
"Let's go!"
Levi, Eren, Eld, and Gunther rode on horseback from the castle on patrol out in the fields. Hange and the ponies waved them goodbye while Petra and Oruo rested inside the castle until then.
"Alright, everyone," Hange declared to the ponies. "Follow me. Rarity, I'll be showing you your workspace."
"Ooo! I can't wait!", Rarity cried in excitement.
After walking down a few hallways inside the castle, Hange stopped at a set of wooden doors. Once she opened them for Rarity to examine the tailoring room, she gasped in utter delight. There was a wooden table long enough for her to work on, a desk with outlines and blueprints was presented on a separate desk, and there was yarn, sewing needles, measuring tape, and all the materials needed to make the jackets, cloaks, harnesses, patches, and boots. Everything she needed to work on the uniforms and harnesses was granted to the unicorn.
"This is- I am utterly speechless!", Rarity stumbled to speak.
"I'm not so sure what you have back in your world," Hange said. "But everything you need to make those uniforms and harnesses is right here. I just hope this isn't too much for you to-"
"Oh! No! No! No! This is foolproof, without a doubt! I'm absolutely certain to get those uniforms done in no time!"
Rarity prepared herself by grabbing a pair of glasses with her magic that she brought from her home.
"And you said I didn't need these glasses, Applejack," Rarity taunted to the earth pony while chuckling. "Don't you feel ridiculous?"
Applejack just rolled her eyes in response to Rarity's comeback. Once Rarity put her glasses on, she grabbed the measuring tape from the table using her magic to measure and take note of the lengths and sizes of everypony. Straightening it out, she started with Twilight and scanned around her neck, legs, and waist. Afterwards, she moved on to Starlight and did the same. Hange was trying to keep up as the unicorn moved to each and every pony by looking at the tape as well, but fell short of Rarity's years of experience as a fashionista.
After getting all of the measurements, Rarity placed the tape back on the table and dotted the measurements of everypony.
"Done," declared Rarity.
"There is no way you were able to get all of the measurements that fast," Hange responded.
"I beg to differ, darling," Rarity exclaimed, tapping the side of her head with her hoof. "Steel trap! Many years of experience as a fashionista. Now, please leave me! I must work on these uniforms at once!"
Doing as they were told, Hange and the other ponies left the tailoring room with Rarity closing the doors with her magic, starting her work on the Scout Regiment uniforms for the ponies.
"Well," Hange said. "Someone's got their work cut out for them."
"Don't worry," Starlight reassured. "Making seven exact uniforms with instructions will be as easy as pie for her."
"Then I won't question it any further."
"So," Rainbow Dash questioned. "What do we do in the meantime? Don't you have to go to this ceremony or whatever?"
"I still have several hours until then," Hange answered. "So I have some time to kill."
"Alright then," Twilight noted. "I'm going to write another letter to the princess so that she knows about Levi's rules that way he doesn't have another fit."
"Okay, I need to get ready for tonight so you ponies relax until Levi returns, understood?"
"Okie Dokie Lokie!" , Pinkie Pie exclaimed, bouncing down the hallways.
Everypony else went to their own rooms to enjoy themselves for a bit while Rarity continued to work on the uniforms.
Elsewhere, at the stage with a large open field where the ceremony would commence for tonight, several soldiers were having their own discussion as to which faction they would join. Among those soldiers were Reiner, Bertholdt, Ymir, and Christa waiting in the yard. Furthermore, Armin, Annie, and Sasha laid onto a stone wall of a nearby building whereas Conny sat on the ground while laying on the wall unlike everyone else. While waiting, Jean walked towards the four soldiers to state his presence.
"Jean!", Armin exclaimed. "Are you really joining the Scouts?"
"Yeah," he simply answered with a stern expression.
"Why the sudden change of heart?", asked Sasha. "I mean... aren't you afraid?"
"Huh?", Jean puffed, almost as if he was offended. "Of course I don't like the lousy Scouts."
"Huh?", Conny blurted in confusion. "Then, why are you...?"
"It's not 'cause I'm not scared of the titans or anything like that. Nor am I gonna say that capable people should join the Scouts. I'm not like that suicidal maniac."
"Eren, huh?", Conny clarified, feeling a little down under the weather. "He's already been a Scout for a while now. So have those ponies I'm guessing."
Jean and Sasha suddenly remembered this case and gasped in shock. They realized that joining the Scout Regiment also meant seeing their pony friends again.
"Cadets!", shouted a male soldier in the area. "Fall in! Face the platform! Face the platform!"
All of the soldiers stopped talking amongst themselves and walked closer to the stage as ordered.
"No one's persuaded me into risking my life, either," Jean told his friends. "This is one time where the decision has to be all mine."
With that being said, Jean turned away to walk towards the stage along with everyone else including Reiner, Bertholdt, Ymir, and Christa. Conny stood on his feet to join them for the upcoming ceremony.
With the sun setting on the horizon and the ceremony about to start, Levi, Eren, Eld, and Gunther returned on horseback with Levi leading the way. After crossing a stone bridge over a canal, they reached the courtyard to meet up with the ponies. Sure enough, they were all outside in the courtyard standing in formation next to each other to Levi's respect.
Upon Eren's delight, he saw all of them in their uniforms designed specifically for them. They wore the Scout Regiment cloaks, jackets, and boots made for them in a unique way that fits the ponies. The harnesses around them were altered differently for them to properly equip, plus the cloaks and jackets that Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy wore had slips on both sides for their wings with buttoned straps to keep them in comfortably.
Eren and the others were truly impressed by Rarity's handiwork, even Levi seemed impressed even though he didn't express it. They all looked like true soldiers now that were ready to offer their hearts for humanity. Levi dismounted his horse and walked to the center of the formation to check on their uniforms.
"Looks like you all have your uniforms now," Levi said.
"Yes, sir!", all of the ponies answered.
"Rarity," Levi called to the unicorn. "let me see your cloak, jacket, and boots."
"Yes, captain!", Rarity answered, taking off her apparel using her magic.
Levi first inspected the cloak and saw it as an exact model of the Scout Regiment cloak that the soldiers used. Next was the jacket as he gave it a few tugs to test its sturdiness. Sure enough, the jacket held even against Levi's strength. Lastly, he analyzed the boots and noticed that they were changed differently to fit the ponies' rear hooves and legs. After seeing all of Rarity's design, he nodded in approval.
"This jacket is very sturdy, even with my strength," Levi commented. "So I assume that the other uniforms are just about as firm. Nice work on these uniforms, Rarity."
"Much obliged, sir!", Rarity answered, placing her right hoof on her heart to give her salute.
"Now, we begin you're aptitude test that shall determine your fate."
Eren gulped down nervously as he knew what was in store for the ponies. He hoped deep inside that they would pass this test, otherwise, he or his other friends wouldn't see them again.
On the back side of the castle, there was a triangular structure made of three wooden pillars with a bowed, metallic bar along with two pulleys on the top that had wires hung down on both sides of the pulleys. Levi, Eren, Eld, Gunther, Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy stood next to each other while Starlight Glimmer, Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie stood in front of the strange contraption. Their belts wrapped around their wastes were now equipped with two small metal boxes with latches attached to them.
"This device will determine your aptitude and determine if you ponies are qualified to become soldiers or not," Levi declared. "Due to the fact that Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy have wings and do not require omni-directional mobility gear, they are absolved from the test. The rest of you, however, do not possess the ability to fly and shall be tested on your aptitude right here and now.
"If you pass, then you're certified soldiers of the Scout Regiment. If not, pack up your bags and go home. Another thing that remains is the fact that you ponies are four-legged creatures, which may prove more difficult to pass this test; but I can care less about this. So you either pass this test or this trip of yours wll be all in vain, understand?"
"Yes, sir!", the four ponies answered.
"Good. You each get only two turns if you fail on your first try. Fail the second time, and you're done."
"Uh...?", Rainbow Dash interrupted. "Isn't it three strikes, and you're out?"
"I'm the captain here, so I make the rules," Levi responded harshly while Rainbow Dash shrugged her shoulders in response. "We'll start with Applejack."
"Yes, sir!", the earth pony replied.
Applejack trotted to the structure in the center with Eld readying the latches for him to latch the wires on her sides. Once she was in place, Eld fastened the wires on Applejack's sides where her belt was fastened. Eld stepped away a few paces to give her some room while Gunther waited at the back of the pillar where the crank was attached.
"On your hind legs, Applejack," Levi instructed.
Not needed to be told twice, she stood on her hind legs as ordered with her front legs in the air. She lost some of her balance and wobbled slightly but was able to regain her balance. Despite that, this did not go unnoticed by Levi.
"Not so nimble on your hind legs, huh?", Levi asked.
"No, sir!", Applejack replied, shaking her head.
"You can always give up and go home. Is that what you want?"
"No, sir!", Applejack objected with full confidence.
"Gunther, lift her up!"
Gunther nodded in response and used the crank to pull up the wires. Applejack gulped in anxiety to the idea of failing this test. Regardless, she steadied herself and focused the moment she felt herself being lifted off the ground. The other ponies gave each other nervous expressions to see if Applejack would have enough balance to use ODM gear.
Applejack was now off the ground and in midair. She appeared to be doing fine for one moment, only for her to lose balance, falling forwards and falling on her head. Eren cringed and hissed through his teeth, seeing the pony hit her head brought back some bad memories during his aptitude test. The ponies gasped simultaneously in horror to witness their friend drop. A small injury was the least of Applejack's worries since she only had one shot left to readjust and steady herself in order to pass.
Levi walked up to Applejack and squatted down while the pony tried to straighten herself.
"Set her down, Gunther," ordered Levi.
Gunther used the crank to reel the wires down to let Applejack back on the ground.
"Pitiful," he murmured to the earth pony. "Not that I expected anything else, really. And don't blame your harnesses either. Back in Eren's trainee days, he almost failed his test due to defective fixtures which we had to repair. You lost your balance because you lack the aptitude to do so. This is your final chance, so stand up and do it right this time!"
"Yes, sir!", Applejack grumbled before getting back on her hooves.
"Sheesh!", Rainbow exclaimed quietly to Twilight and the others. "And I thought Spitfire was tough back at the academy."
With Applejack back on her hind legs, Levi backed away into the line.
"Gunther, begin!", ordered Levi.
Gunther turned the crank again, lifting the wires along with Applejack's harness.
C'mon, Applejack, she thought. If y'all can host something as big as an Apple Family Reunion, then y'all can sure pass this here test.
With the wires pulling Applejack up, she was being lifted in the air once again. Now knowing where to shift her balance, she leaned back slightly to better straighten herself up. The ponies watched her in dread with Pinkie Pie biting her hoof nails in suspense as Applejack twitched a little. However, she calmed her mind and was able to steady herself. Levi expected her to fail, yet she remained almost perfectly steady as Applejack found the sweet spot to remain upright.
Eren and the ponies noticed this and smiled to see Applejack keep herself together. The earth pony gave Levi a smirk to tell him that she did it. After about fifteen seconds, Levi saw everything he needed to see.
"Gunther, set her down," he commanded.
Obeying the captain's orders, he used the crank to lower the wires and place Applejack on the ground. Applejack stood back on her feet and waited for Levi's response.
"Well?", Applejack asked. "Did ah pass?"
"You're good to go," Levi answered. "You can join the Scouts."
"Yeehaw!", exclaimed Applejack while kicking her front legs.
She galloped towards Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy to give them welcoming hugs for succeeding.
"Who's next?", Levi asked, glaring coldly at Rarity, Starlight, and Pinkie Pie.
"Me! Me! Me, me, me, me, me!", Pinkie shouted repeatedly while raising her right hoof.
"You seem so confident," Levi commented without expressing himself. "Then you shouldn't have a problem doing this test. You're up!"
"Woohoo!", Pinkie exclaimed before bouncing to the center of the structure.
Eld set up the hooks around Pinkie's waist to fasten her to the device and was ready to take the test.
"You saw how Applejack did it, so stand up!", Levi ordered the pink pony.
"Okie Dokie Lokie, sir!", Pinkie replied, now standing on her hind legs.
Opposed to Applejack's balance, Pinkie's balance was far better opposed to Applejack as if she had been practicing beforehand.
"Gunther, begin."
With a nod of approval, Gunther cranked the device to lift Pinkie Pie off of the ground. Pinkie was now in the air and did not appear to be affected by the shift of balance. Twilight and her friends already knew that she nailed the test with a sigh of relief. As much as Pinkie wanted to do some loops or swings, Levi's piercing stare told her not to do so. After about ten seconds, Levi saw enough to give the green light.
"Gunther, put her down," he ordered.
Gunther used the crank to set the pink pony back on the ground, although she wanted to do more. After setting down on four hooves, Pinkie grinned and waited for a response from Levi.
"That's about as close as perfect as one can get, even for human criteria. You passed."
"Yippee! Totally nailed it!", Pinkie shouted, jumping in the air.
After being detached from the device, she ran to meet up with Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Fluttershy to welcome her to the Scout Regiment with a group hug. But they couldn't celebrate just yet, that is if Rarity and Starlight could pass. Levi glared at Rarity and wondered how she would manage with a deep examination. He wanted to see if someone as elegant and neat as the unicorn had the obligations to become a Scout, especially with such genteel attitude.
"Rarity! Your turn!", Levi ordered.
"Yes, sir!", Rarity answered, trotting to the device.
Eld strapped her in and she was ready to test herself. Levi was most keen to see Rarity, out of all ponies, to partake in this test. She had the same work integrity as him, but he believed that she may fall short in fighting against giant beings that ate humans. If she did pass this test without a problem, he may even see his peer right in front of him. Rarity was now strapped and Gunther was ready to crank up the wires.
"Gunther, begin!", Levi called to him.
Rarity smiled in confidence and flicked her hair by swinging her head. Afterwards, she turned her attention towards Applejack.
"You see, Applejack," Rarity said. "You accuse me of being a fussy pony, but even a lady such as myself must keep her balance and elegance perfect."
As Levi analyzed the unicorn, he saw her balance upright perfectly like a well-qualified expert. She even raveled her hips back and forth to further prove her point to Applejack, maintaining perfect balance. She was surely fitted to pass the test.
"You just can't seem to stop impressing me, huh?", Levi acclaimed with the same stern look. "You pass."
Rarity responded by giving Levi a bow to acknowledge him with recognition as Gunther set her back on the ground. Once Eld unstrapped her, she trotted to her pony friends with warm hugs excluding Starlight Glimmer. Applejack even frowned in complete embarrassment of Rarity's remark and seeing her do far better on the aptitude test than her, giving Rarity a few pats on her back. All who remained was Starlight Glimmer as she looked at the aptitude device with an anxious expression while biting her lip.
"Last but not least is you Starlight," Levi declared. "Get on."
"Yes, sir!", Starlight answered, trotting over to the device.
"I expect you to pass too since everyone else managed to succeed, but I wouldn't be so confident if I were you."
"Don't worry," Starlight replied. "I still have a lot to learn from them due to my past choices."
"Then I'll take it that what you've learned from them so far will ensure your place in the Scout Regiment, so are you ready?"
"Yes, sir!", Starlight said with her newfound determination.
"Gunther, lift her up!"
"Yes, sir!", Gunther answered, cranking the device.
Rotating the crank, Gunther pulled up the wires latched onto Starlight's harness. After a few more cranks, Starlight was off the ground and into the air. She seemed fine with her balance at first; however, she fell short and fell backward while screaming, hitting the back of her head on the dirt with her hind legs in the air. The ponies gasped seeing their reformed friend stumble to stay poised.
"Put her down, Gunther!", Levi ordered.
Starlight's confidence was slimming down knowing that she only had one shot left to prove herself a soldier in the Scout Regiment. Levi walked to her and squatted down to look at her face to face with a menacing look. This scared Starlight to the point of fainting.
"I'm not really surprised," Levi commented. "If you can't stay straight like everyone else did, you might as well go back home."
"No sir!", Starlight pleaded. "I just need a little more time to readjust, that's all."
"Most soldiers are able to pass this test without needing to 'readjust.' If you want to join your friends in the Scouts so badly, you better pass this test for your own sake, and perhaps even the sake of humanity."
"I won't fail you this time," Starlight returned, standing back on her hooves.
"Then let's go again. Gunther, begin!"
With Levi walking back to give Starlight some room, Starlight stood back on her hind legs to try again. With Gunther winding the crank to raise the wires, she calmed her mind to ready herself this time. Eren looked at Starlight with uneasiness to imagine her fail. He saw Starlight as a nice pony, even though her past indifferences was obscuring the unicorn's focus. Starlight shut her eyes and exhaled slowly to calm her mental state.
I know you can do this, Starlight, she said in her mind. You're a different pony than you were before, and what's in the past won't change who you are now.
The wires attached to her harness began to pull her off the ground. Starlight's sorrow turned into fierce determination.
It's time to prove to your friends that you're a changed pony!
Starlight was no longer touching the ground and was in the air once again with her focusing on nothing but passing this test.
It's time to show everypony what you're really made of!
With her full concentration, she was able to steady herself without tumbling over despite her slight wobbling. Levi expected her to fall again, yet she remained in the air as steady as possible. Starlight glanced over at Eren and Twilight, both of them giving her encouraging nods and smiles, giving her the courage to succeed. The other ponies smiled with joy to see their friend stay upright without falling. Eren now realized that all of his Equestrian friends will be able to fight on his side along with the Scout Regiment.
After fifteen seconds, Levi recognized her ability and nodded in approval.
"Set her down, Gunther!", Levi said.
Gunther lowered the wires to gently put Starlight back on the ground. Starlight used her magic to unhook the wires attached to her harness. She then looked at Levi to get his final answer.
"You passed!" Levi answered. "You've all shown to be official members of the Scout Regiment!"
The ponies cheered with joy and excitement knowing that they were qualified to be members of the Scouts and go out on expeditions together as friends to help humanity fight back from the titans. Levi offered a handshake to Starlight now that she was an official member.
"Welcome to the Scouts, Starlight," Levi addressed rightly.
Starlight's eyes glimmered to see that she had earned Levi's respect while getting her handshake from the captain. Afterwards, she hugged Levi, catching him by surprise. Levi pushed her off by placing his hands on her chest, placing Starlight on the ground.
"Never... do that again," Levi forewarned harshly.
"Sorry," Starlight apologized. "Guess you have a practice for personal space, huh? Anyway, thank you so much!"
"No problem, you all did well," Levi addressed to the ponies. "Tomorrow, the real work begins."
With Eld and Gunther meeting up with Levi, Starlight ran to her pony friends and they all shared a group hug with tears in their eyes. Eren smiled at the warming scene with compassion. He was happy to know that they would fight alongside him, no matter what comes their way. Now he hoped that his human friends would decide to join the Scout Regiment likewise.
"Hey, Eren!", Rainbow Dash called to him, releasing her hug around her friends only to hug him around his neck. "Guess we're all soldiers now, huh?"
"Yeah, seems like it," replied Eren, returning the hug.
Twilight trotted over to Eren to give him a hug too on his left side. Applejack joined them hugging Eren's right side with Fluttershy hugging his waist, Starlight hugging him around his chest and Pinkie Pie on his back. Rarity joined the hug between Applejack and Fluttershy to wrap around the two of them. Eren couldn't be happier to have all of this tenderness from such strange friends.
"Ponies!", Levi called to them, grabbing their full attention. "No time for cutsies! Tomorrow, you ponies will be traveling to Yarckel with Hange to meet Dolphus. You leave at sunrise and no later, understand?"
"Yes, sir!", the ponies answered, placing their right hooves on their hearts to give their salutes.
"Good. As for you Eren, you and the rest of us, along with any new recruits will be studying the formation layout for next month's expedition, got it?"
"Yes, sir!", replied Eren, Eld, and Gunther, giving their salutes as well.
"Excellent. You're all dismissed!"
Levi went back inside the castle with Eld and Gunther following him. Eren and his newly minted pony friends went their separate ways to go into their own bedrooms and get plenty of well-deserved rest. The ponies were excited for what tomorrow will bring.
The sun had already set in the horizon, bringing night time on the stage. Torches were lit on both sides of the stage as many soldiers gathered around for the opening ceremony. The person standing on the podium about to give his speech was the Commander of the Scout Regiment, Erwin Smith. Hange, Ouro, Petra, Miche and a few other Scouts were present off the right of the stage for any necessary obligations. With everyone's attention, Erwin began his motivational speech.
"I am Commander Erwin Smith of the Scout Regiment," he greeted to the soldiers. "Today, you choose a regiment to join. To put it bluntly, this is my invitation for you to join the Scouts. I am sure that, after this recent titan attack, you've already come to know their horror, as well as the limits of your own abilities.
"However! Through this battle, humanity has gained an unprecedented advancement toward victory. I'm referring to Eren Jaeger. He has proven, by risking life and limb, that he is unquestionably on our side. What's more, he has helped us not only foil the titans' invasion, but given us a way to learn the truth behind the titans as well!"
Combined gasps were made upon the soldiers in the ranks after hearing such uplifting news. Erwin saw them being enticed to such facts after opening the can of worms and squinted in reply.
"We have reason to believe that the basement of his home in Shiganshina houses a secret of the titans that even he is aware of. If we can just reach this basement, we may be able to obtain information that will help us break free from the titans' century-long tyranny."
The gasps were even more intense than before. In the back, even Bertholdt gasped at this case as he was standing next to Reiner.
"Basement?", Reiner muttered.
"Things have already progressed this far?", whispered a nearby soldier.
"If we can figure out what the titans are," murmured another. "we can turn the tables on them!"
Armin was uncertain about Erwin's plans as he looked at the commander inherently.
However badly he wants new recruits, Armin thought. going public with this is too much... Or is this part of some sort of plan? Just what is he looking for?!
Erwin saw many of the soldiers intrigued by his speech, but he already knew that he couldn't hide the true danger of working in the Scout Regiment any longer. He knew that hiding the truth wouldn't gain him anything in the end, so he decied to be straightforward with the new recruits. After making up his mind, he continued his speech.
"We will head for the basement in Shiganshina District. However, doing so will require taking back Wall Maria. In other words, our goal is the same as it's always been..."
Miche and Petra walked on the stage to open up a huge sheet of paper that was held by Petra and show it to the audience. Erwin looked back at the two soldiers to see them unravel an indecent, yet tolerable map of the walls and districts. A large, red X was placed over Trost District with an arrow that was pointed from the eastern district of Wall Rose to Shiganshina: the southern district of Wall Maria.
"...but now that Trost's gate is unusable, we've no choice but to depart from Calaneth District, further to the east."
Erwin turned back to face the crowd as Petra and Miche rolled the paper back up and walked away from the stage.
"The entire battalion route we spent four years establishing is now useless. During those four years, over 60% of the Scouts died. Sixty percent in four years. Truly unbelievable numbers. In one month there will be an outside scouting mission. New recruits from your class will take part in it, of which I estimate 30% will die, which may include the ponies as well."
The soldiers gasped quietly by this fact and began to tremble in fear. Erwin expected this to happen, but he didn't change his expression and continued from there.
"And in four years, most will be dead. However, whoever prevails will have become a highly skilled soldier who can survive anything."
Seeing that he was digging his own grave, most of the soldiers were reconsidering about joining the Scouts. Clearly, the cadets were horrified by the casualty levels of working in the Scout Regiment, but it did not matter. Erwin had to do what he could if some soldiers were still risking that chance and remained steadfast.
"Knowing this dismal state of affairs," Erwin continued. "whoever still wishes to put their life on the line, remain here. Ask yourself... if you can give your heart for the sake of humankind!"
The cadets were thrown off by surprise once again. Erwin's words were indeed moving and compelling, but they were fiercely true and serious at the same time.
"That is all," Erwin closed. "Those who wish to join other regiments may leave."
A soldier with tan skin and short, black hair walked closer to Erwin from the backstage to speak to Erwin.
"Sir!", he said. "Don't you think that was overly intimidating?! No one's going to stay behind now!"
Erwin didn't even answer him and sure enough, a few soldiers began to walk away from the stage, followed by two more, then three, four, five and much more depart to join the Garrison Regiment.
"But what about those ponies?", asked a male soldier to another. "We'll at least get the privilege to work with them, right?"
"I'm not joining the Scout Regiment with that percentage rate," the other soldier replied. "Even if that means not getting to work with those horses."
The soldier left to join the Garrison, prompting the other to do the same. Annie also decided to leave to join the Military Police instead. Bertholdt, who stayed where he stood, looked back in disappointment to see Annie go. As much as Bertholdt wanted to join her, his decision was final since he was working with Reiner at the very least, who also decided to join the Scouts.
As more soldiers continued to leave, Jean was still standing where he was forcing himself to join the Scouts if it meant seeing Fluttershy again opposed to living a luxurious life within Wall Sina. He looked up to see more and more soldiers leave the area along with Conny and Sasha. Mikasa and Armin weren't prompted to leave for anything else in the world. Since Eren and the ponies were in the Scout Regiment, they had to stay and join the Scouts if they ever wanted to be there with them and protect them no matter what may come their way.
Damn... , thought Jean, grimacing over his position. Please... I've already decided! Don't make me hate myself any more than this...!
Sasha was having the same feeling as she was giving up a comfortable life for a chance to die in the hands of a titan, but deep down in her heart, she wanted to see her friends again, specifically Rarity.
If I don't walk away now, she thought. I'll have to go through that again!
Although Conny was put under great pressure, he remained still while thinking about his early decision back at his hometown.
I originally left my village to join the Military Police... , Conny said to himself. And if I join the Military Police, everyone will finally respect me too...
They still had a chance to leave before it was too late, yet they stayed where they stood while they further evaluated the circumstances.
But now we know it... , Jean thought. Now we've seen it...
How the titans... , thought Sasha, cringing timidly on the verge of tears.
...eat people! , Conny concluded.
They all imagined the same thing happening to them once they stepped outside the walls, being devoured by titans. Sasha having her leg being bitten off, Conny being torn apart by two other titans, and Jean witnessing his friends being devoured while wounded in the process.
In spite of this, they were suddenly reminded of the events that took place during the invasion of Trost, where they first met the ponies as if it was a reminder from God.
"Applejack, hold on!", Conny shouted.
Applejack looked behind and saw Conny about to grab her. She jumped up into the air to allow Conny to catch her successfully. Once Conny got a hold of the pony, he zipped up straight through the window Mikasa broke to get inside and landed safely with Applejack.
"Thanks for the lift, partner," Applejack said, removing her saddlebag and placing it with the others.
"The pleasure's all mine," Conny replied.
"Not today, you ruffian!", Rarity bellowed.
Rarity spun swiftly with the blades in her grasp, matching the movement of her body with the blades. She performed a clean strike directly into the titan's nape, ending its life and sparing Sasha's life. Rarity skidded to a sudden halt on all fours and magically dropped the blades onto the floor. The frantic Sasha jogged towards the pony and hugged her around her neck, weeping in Rarity's mane.
"Rarity!", Sasha cried. "You saved me!"
"Jean, no!", Fluttershy yelled.
She dove straight down towards Jean head first as fast as her wings could carry her. She flipped her body and stretched her right leg, bucking the titan's arm with the back of her hoof. The titan was caught off-guard and lost its grip, allowing Jean to escape and continue towards the HQ. Fluttershy followed him in pursuit before the titan could grab her.
"-somepony like you!", whimpered Fluttershy, wrapping her front legs around his neck, embracing him in a warm hug.
Jean let out a massive cry to release all of his tension and agitations into the starry sky. After hearing no more footsteps, Jean looked to see who remained in the area. Upon the very few soldiers, he saw Mikasa, Armin, Reiner, Bertholdt, Conny, Sasha, Ymir, and Christa plus a few other soldiers he hardly knew. He counted all the soldiers, including himself, and saw a total of two dozen soldiers left.
Erwin scanned the scant number of soldiers that remained with the same conviction he had after his speech.
"If you cadets were told to die," Erwin asked them. "could you?"
"We don't wish to die, sir!", yelled Jean from the tiny crowd.
Erwin saw the conviction in their eyes and smirked in recognition.
"I see," he replied. "You each have an outstanding look about you."
Taking a deep inhale, Erwin made his proper acclamation to the new recruits.
"All of you here are hereby accepted as new members of the Scout Regiment!", he announced, offering a Military salute. "This is a genuine salute! Give your hearts!"
Concurrently, the soldiers placed their left arms behind their backs with their right fists on their hearts.
"Yes, sir!", all of them cried.
Armin looked around him and smiled to see that most of his friends decided to stay.
"Everyone...", he whispered.
"Joining the Scouts...", Jean murmered, looking at the gound below. "Man, this sucks..."
Sasha could hardly hold back her tears whereas Conny was relieved that he stayed, knowing that this was not an easy decision for all of them to make.
"I'm scared!", Sasha squealed. "I wanna go home!"
"I don't care anymore...", Conny exhaled in relief.
Reiner and Bertholdt stood proudly before Erwin offering their hearts, even though Bertholdt was sweating profusely over the idea of losing his life. Christa was also on the verge of tears, which didn't go unnoticed by Ymir as she looked down at her in displeasure.
"If you're gonna cry, then don't stay," Ymir told her.
Erwin was now able to give his ending proclamation to the new recruits.
"You've done well to endure your fear," he said. "You're all brave soldiers. I respect you from the bottom of my heart."
Despite them signing up for a brutal and dangerous task, they knew that they'll see Eren and their pony friends once again. No matter how strong they were or how qualified they are, they were now officialy members of the adventurous and fortified Scout Regiment.
My Little Pony: Fight Against the Titans
Once the morning came, Hange and the ponies woke up early with Rainbow Dash still dreary and lethargic. However, Applejack forced her out of bed and blamed the pegasus for reading the Daring Do books so late. Now Rainbow Dash was suffering the consequences of not listening to Applejack last night. The moment everypony was out of bed, Hange went to each and every one of their rooms to lead them to Yarckel District of Wall Sina to properly equip them with brand new mobility gear.
The trip was lengthy and exhausting. The ponies were nearly beaten to the point of collapsing on the ground after about three hours of prolonged walking. Hange wasn't as drained from stamina as the ponies since she was riding on her own horse, but the ceremony from last night did not give her enough time for rest. After that time of traveling down a route to Yarckel from the headquarters, the ponies' legs were aching for a break, notably since their harnesses were troublesome around their muscles.
The scenery of the great plains wasn't even captivating to the ponies anymore, even though the blue, clear skies reflects over the plains so nicely. The only thing in their minds right now was finally arriving at Yarckel. The ponies and Hange had their cloaks and uniforms on them as well with the ponies carrying their saddlebags. The only pony that wasn't as fatigued by the long, exhausting trip was Pinkie Pie.
"Are we there yet?" Pinkie asked in a cheerful tone.
"Pinkie," Rainbow Dash replied in annoyance. "I swear to Celestia, if you ask that one more time..."
"Don't worry girls," Hange answered. "We're nearly there now. Once we move over this next plain, Yarckel should be right before us."
"I most certainly hope so," Rarity replied. "If only there was a strong, handsome gentlecolt to help us with our luggage at least."
"You should get used to it, though," Hange replied with a smirk. "Once we get you fitted with your ODM gear, we'll be going to the training grounds for new recruits."
All of the ponies grunted in aggravation knowing that they had to do more hiking and walking afterward.
"Relax," Hange encouraged. "It's not that far from Yarckel. Not only that, you'll be getting to visit the same training grounds your new friends use to exercise. There you'll be learning how to kill titans the professional way here in the walls."
"Heh," Rainbow Dash responded with confidence. "I'll definitely blow away those test in ten seconds flat! Maybe even eight if I'm lucky."
"First things first, Rainbow," Applejack butted in. "Let's just get to Yarckel and find somethin' to eat first. Ah'm could eat the north end of a south-bound polecat."
"Gosh," Fluttershy spoke with a dry throat. "I'm so thirsty, I can probably drink a whole lake."
"And I sure hope we can at least get some clothing to look more ravishing in this world," added Rarity.
"We'll get food and water there too," Hange replied. "There's a river down at Yarckel for us to stop at real quick to refill our canteens, then we can stop for lunch and buy you ponies some shirts. After all, Wall Sina has the best marketplaces for clothing and other merchandise."
"Sounds like a plan," Starlight replied, trying to sound enthusiastic.
"We didn't necessarily have the right fabric or the time for you ponies to make your own shirts back at the headquarters, so it shouldn't be difficult for you to pick out clothing suitable for you ponies, knowing the fact that you have plenty of gold to spare or more if your rulers are that generous. We only have a week maximum to finish getting your maneuvering gear ready and your proper training as well, and time is money."
"Perfectly understandable, Hange," Twilight answered.
"I just hope that they have something suitable to wear that would go nice with our uniforms," Rarity responded.
"Oh, you won't be disappointed, Rarity," Hange declared with a smile.
Once everyone finally reached over the plain, the ponies gasped to see the district of Yarckel right before their very eyes. Outside the walls of the district was a river flowing out of a large grate in the wall to prevent flooding and several buildings moreover. Hange smiled to see them arrive at Yarckel District to negotiate with Dolphus so that he can give the ponies their ODM gear.
"Looks like we finally made it," Hange announced.
Afterwards, she flicked the reins of her horse and kicked the horse's sides with her heels to get the horse to gallop towards the outer gate of the city. The ponies followed in pursuit with overjoyed expressions and started galloping behind Hange. Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy, however, flew up in the air to reach Yarckel faster and stretch their wings. The exhaustion in their muscles withered away as they were about to reach the city of Yarckel.
As they entered the city, the ponies were amazed to see the citizens in a higher class opposed to Trost. The buildings had greater architecture and the citizens had more suitable clothing than that of Trost District. The ponies felt like they were going from Ponyville to the city of Canterlot, despite being in a different world.
The ponies galloped down to the river to get a quick drink before entering the main city. The sight of the glistening water made the ponies wheezed in delight, especially Rainbow Dash. Hange tied her horse to a nearby fence and walked down stone stairs leading to the riverbed. Rainbow Dash was the first to reach the river and dunked her entire head without hesitation while laying on her stomach as she drank several cups of water. After being quenched, she took her head out to take a breather.
"Never in my whole life has water tasted this good!" Rainbow Dash cried.
The pegasus didn't see the act Pinkie Pie was about to pull. Pinkie bounced from the platform and tucked her legs in to perform a cannonball near Rainbow Dash. Once she made contact with the water, the splash got all over Rainbow Dash, soaking her in water. Although Rainbow was annoyed by this, she at least was cooled off by the heat of the sun. Hange couldn't help but snicker at the ponies' childish behavior while she was refilling her water canteen. Pinkie then surfaced and spat out some water that got in her mouth.
"You can say that again!" Pinkie replied while backstroking in the river.
"Pinkie!" Rainbow yelled. "Get out of there! Save some for everyone else!"
"It's fine, Rainbow," Hange reassured before screwing the cap back on her canteen. "We have plenty of fresh water for everyone."
As the rest of the ponies went to get a drink, Pinkie jumped out of the river and landed back on the platform before shaking off the water like a dog, getting the rest of the ponies a little drenched. The other ponies ignored Pinkie's antics and went straight to the river to relieve themselves after their long trip. Once Twilight was quenched, she went back with Hange to wait for the others to be finished.
"Look, mommy!" cried a young female voice from behind Twilight and Hange across the platform, prompting the two of them to look behind them. "Those are the ponies everyone's been talking about!"
Twilight looked to find the source of that voice and saw a young girl wearing a light blue and white dress with brown hair tied in a bow being held from her right hand by an older woman with a white apron and beige dress. The little girl kept pulling her mother closer to the ponies, begging to see them in person while pointing at them. Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Starlight went to see the little girl as well whereas Pinkie and Rainbow were still drinking tons of water.
"Can I look at them, mom?" the girl pleaded with her mother. "Please?"
"Alright," the woman answered calmly. "Just be careful, Sofia."
The girl rushed to the ponies and giggled in expectation. Twilight and the others couldn't help but smile, attempting to make a great first impression. The girl went up to Twilight and smiled in joy to see a real live alicorn.
"Oh my gosh!" she cried. "I can't believe I'm looking at a real unicorn! Or are you a pegasus?"
The girl saw Twilight's horn and her wings in confusion and didn't know exactly what her kind was called.
"It's alright," chuckled Twilight. "I'm what's known as an alicorn."
"Cool! They also said you can do magic with those horns."
"Why, yes we can," Twilight said before giving her a demonstration by holding Hange's canteen with a levitation spell.
The girl stared at the floating canteen with awe, seeing the display of magic right before her very eyes.
"That's so amazing!" the girl exclaimed. "My name's Sofia. What's yours?"
"Twilight Sparkle," the alicorn said introducing herself. "And these are my friends: Starlight Glimmer, Fluttershy, Rarity, Applejack, and down at the river are Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie."
"So you're all in the Scout Regiment now? That's incredible! There's no way those Titans stand a chance against you!"
"Sofia!" the girl's mother called. "Come on! It's time to go!"
"Okay, mom!" Sofia replied back. "I have to go. I hope we meet each other again soon."
"Me too," Twilight returned. "It was nice to meet you, Sofia."
Unexpectedly, the girl gave Twilight a warm hug right before skipping back to her mother. Twilight blushed and smiled in happiness to be gained from such a stranger while the other ponies were relished by the scene.
"Have a nice day, Sofia!" Hange called, waving her goodbye.
Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie joined their friends with soaked muzzles. They both looked at Twilight in confusion when they noticed her blushing.
"Hey, Twilight?" Rainbow queried with a raised eyebrow. "What's with the face?"
"Oh, nothing really," Twilight answered modestly. "We're just saying 'Hi' to some of our new fans, that's all."
"Fans?!" Rainbow exclaimed in shock. "Aw, and I missed it?!"
Hange and the other six ponies laughed at Rainbow's decline before leaving the river.
Hange and the ponies were now in the main area of Yarckel District, walking down some busy roads with some people actually staring at them for a bit. This brought discomfort to the ponies, mainly Fluttershy since she doesn't like all the attention. They stopped at a stall to buy food after their long, tedious journey by ordering some bread and sweet potatoes. Luckily, they brought some apples with them thanks to the trees that grew so quickly after Applejack planted them.
After filling their stomachs, they went to a nearby store that sold apparel and clothing to the public. Inside the store, there were tables filled with shirts, pants, dresses, hats, shoes, and almost everything. The shirts were similar to what Hange and their other friends wore, even though a lot of them were white in color. Since the clothing fitted humans conversely from the ponies, the only thing they could buy that would fit them snugly were the shirts.
"Well," Starlight spoke. "I'm sure we can find something here that'll suit our needs."
"If you can pay, of course," said a large, male clerk with a gravelly voice wearing brown pants and a gray shirt.
"Oh, come on!" opposed Rainbow Dash. "Can you at least cut us a deal?! Do you have any idea who we are?!"
"Yeah, who doesn't know about you ponies? Nevertheless, I have a business to run and I don't just give free wares to anyone. Especially a bunch of weirdos."
The ponies were slightly offended for being called 'weirdos', but they couldn't argue since they were from another world far different from this world. Rarity smirked and walked up to the clerk while reaching for something in her saddlebag.
"Well, sir," Rarity said, taking out three gold bits with her magic. "Will this satisfy your needs?"
The clerk gasped and widened his eyes upon seeing three golden coins laid before him. After counting them quickly, he laughed in joy as he was too ecstatic by his fortune.
"You can all take any shirt you want!" the clerk replied, sweeping the coins into his hand and in one of his pockets.
"Thank you kindly, sir," Rarity said, walking around to see which shirt to take. "Keep the change."
The merchant bowed in absolute gratefulness of Rarity's generosity. The ponies window-shopped the many shirts until they were satisfied with their pick. Hange witnessed the ponies going all over town with finding the right shirt and smiled over Rarity's generosity to give to someone as stingy as the merchant.
An hour later, Hange led the ponies to a different part deeper in Yarckel now that the ponies found a shirt for each of them. The area they were in appeared to look like an industrial factory. There were massive chimneys spewing out smoke, large pipes leading into several buildings, and metal infrastructure.The ponies could already guess that this is where they manufacture the omni-directional mobility gear for the many soldiers fighting out there. This industrial region has most likely Dolphus' place of operation.
"So, I'm guessing this is where Dolphus works, huh?" Starlight presumed.
"Indeed," Hange replied. "These are the industrial towns where metal is smelted to make the mobility gear and the blades used to kill titans. It's also the place where Dolphus is making your ODM gear."
"I sure hope he isn't terrifying," Fluttershy said timidly.
"I wouldn't worry too much," Hange replied. "He may look threatening, but I assure you he's very sweet to the people, especially his friends. If anything, I think he'll take a liking for you ponies."
"Oh, alright then," responded Fluttershy, still uncertain.
As they walked through the enterprise, they stopped at a building two stories high around the center of the industrial area. Hange approached the two front doors leading inside and knocked on one of them. However, there was no response from anyone, prompting her to knock once again.
"Get out of here!" yelled a male voice with a husky voice. "Today's not the day for a tour! We're too busy right now!"
"Is that any way to say 'Hello' to one of your old pals?" Hange responded.
A few seconds later, the doors opened instantly without warning, revealing a well-built man that seemed to be in his mid-twenties. He had long, blond hair parted on both sides of his head reaching down to his chin while wearing a bandana tied around his head. His eyes were narrow and dark green with a noticeable scar that ran down on his right cheek. His skin was a light tan and he wore gray long sleeve shirt, a dirty white apron, blue jeans, and black boots. His expression was that of shock and wistfulness rather than his bothered felling from before.
"Hange!" the man exclaimed, walking up to Hange and hugging her in affection. "It's been so long!"
"Nice to see you too, Dolphus," Hange replied, separating herself from Dolphus to present the ponies. "I like you to meet our newest soldiers and friends: Twilight Sparkle, Starlight Glimmer, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie."
"Oh," Dolphus sighed before shaking everyponies' hooves in greeting. "I didn't want to believe what I read on the letter I received a few days ago. Even after reading the headline in the newspaper, I still refused to believe it. Now, it appears I was wrong. It's such a pleasure to meet all of you in person."
"The pleasure's all mine," Rainbow replied in self-esteem.
"Ya mean ours, Rainbow," Applejack corrected, raising an eyebrow.
"Right, ours."
"Anyway," Twilight spoke. "We were sent here to help you with creating our omni-directional mobility gear and we don't have much time."
"Of course," agreed Dolphus. "Come inside and I'll show you what I got."
Dolphus gave Hange and the ponies permission to enter the warehouse while holding the door to let them inside and stretch his arm out in a hospitable manner. The ponies saw that the place was massive as they followed Dolphus to wherever he was taking them. There were many blacksmiths dressed similarly to Dolphus working with blast furnaces to smelter steel, various tools for many specific purposes, and anvils to shape certain metal parts to craft ODM gear. Some of the workers glanced at the ponies in minor shock before going back to work on their own projects.
"Wow," Starlight spoke, amazed by the craftsmanship of the blacksmiths. "Business must be rough here with so many workers here."
"You can say that again," Dolphus responded. "Since ODM gear is an official weapon used by every soldier, we blacksmiths work tediously to meet up with supply and demand, yet it's still not enough."
"So, uh..." Applejack said. "How d'you and Hange know each other exactly?"
"We were friends back in our days as cadets in training," Dolphus answered.
"Really?!" Pinkie exclaimed, staring directly at Dolphus up close, startling him a bit. "You two were roommates?!"
"You could say that. We graduated from the 98th Trainee Squad. We had such pleasure learning from each other, right Hange?"
"Without a doubt," Hange agreed in response. "Until graduation day came, that is."
"What happened?" Fluttershy asked.
"We both set out on different paths. I made the decision to join the Scout Regiment while Dolphus here decided to join the Military Police."
"You mean," Starlight assumed. "Hange didn't make it in the top ten. Joining the Military Police is only possible if you rank tenth or higher before graduation, right?"
"No," Dolphus answered. "She ranked fifth whereas I scored fourth. Puny, little Hange was one step behind me," he said in an insulting voice while rubbing her head.
"Okay!" Hange replied, swatting away Dolphus' arm. "And I'm doing great working with the Scouts, thanks for asking!"
"So am I! I've been giving it my all in the Military Police, and then I ended up here."
"Why's that?" questioned Rarity.
"Believe me, I didn't want to join the Military Police because I wanted a life of luxury. I wanted to join because I was so fascinated by 'the device.'"
"You mean the ODM gear?" Twilight suggested.
"Yeah. When a weapon-smith was trying to create ODM gear, it was originally called 'The Device.' The omni-directional mobility gear was just so captivating," Dolphus described. "Although they seemed bulky, there were pretty lightweight in reality. It gave us humans the experience of flight for the very first time. So I wanted to learn about the device and maybe make some improvements during that time.
"Once I became a cadet, I met Hange when we were both struggling to keep up. We helped each other out with our flaws so that together we could overcome our own weaknesses. After quite some time, we became close friends despite us having different ambitions in mind. She wanted to kill Titans. I wanted to learn about ODM gear.
"After graduation day, I joined the Military Police while Hange went with the Scouts. It was disappointing to discover that the Military Police was only allowed to use their mobility gear with permission from the superiors. However, I did have undisclosed goals before joining them."
"And what would that be exactly?" Rainbow queried.
"Since the Military Police is always looking for vastly strategic soldiers, they would ask some of them to help out with the development of the ODM gear; and since I lived here in Yarckel, I knew damn well how inadequate the Military Police truly are."
"Inadequate?" asked Rarity. "From what we've been told, the Military Police are supposed to be quite intricate of the entire branch."
"True, but the fact is that the Military Police get to live deeper in the walls, away from the Titans. So they don't really do much and are a disgrace to the people, even though they're seen as the royal crown of the three factions most cadets want to become."
"So why join them in the first place?" Twilight questioned.
Dolphus then smirked in pleasure.
"It's probably due to the fact that I would outrank them," he answered.
The ponies were confused while looking at each other, waiting for Dolphus to explain himself more clearly.
"After the former developer died several months ago after I joined the MP, the king ordered his men to recruit the best soldiers willing to partake in the development of creating omni-directional mobility gear. Since soldiers were the only ones capable of managing them, they started to search among the soldiers; and since the Military Police are composed of the best soldiers we have, they offer us first above anyone else.
"Back in the earlier days when ODM gear was first being developed, we originally had regular swords that were placed in a sheath where rubber stoppers would hold them in place. The only flaw with that idea was that the rubber straps would wear out over time, which meant that the sword would slide right out of the sheath.
"However, I took care of that problem. The blades you see are made out of a ultrahard steel that is made from a flexible and strong material, good enough to cut through titan flesh. This metal is actually made out of a magnetic metal called iron and I was able to use that to my advantage.
Dolphus walked next to Hange while pointing at the end of one of the sheaths she was wearing.
"Inside the back of the sheath is a small magnet that holds the blades firmly in place without falling out. The magnets are strong enough to keep the blades inside no matter the circumstances, whether it's running, riding a horse, or even moving in three dimensions using your ODM gear. The only way it can be taken out is by using the latch on the handle to hold the blade securely in your grasp."
Hange then gave the ponies a demonstration by taking out one of the blades with one of her control handles to hold it firmly inside the handle. The ponies were intrigued by the design of this widely-used weapon.
"But if by any chance the blade were to jiggle out even a little..."
Hange then placed her blade back inside without sheathing it entirely. However, the blade slid in deeper all by itself and was now secured by the magnet, making a clanging sound the moment it touched the end.
"...gravity will do the rest for you."
"So fascinating!" Twilight proclaimed.
"That's exactly what the superiors said," Dolphus commented. "When they saw my handiwork, they officially made me the CEO of the Omni-directional Mobility Gear Manufacturing Unit. Perhaps someone in the Scout or Garrison Regiment could've had something better in mind, but it's already too late for that. Hehe...
"Once I moved the workshop here in Yarckel, my magnets became part of the official manufacturing line for every ODM gear made. So there you have it. That's my story."
"What a super duper aleioper story!", Pinkie replied in delight. "It must have been a loooooooong time since you last saw Hange."
"Not quite," Hange pointed out.
"Really?" Applejack asked. "How come?"
"Once Dolphus became the new lead developer, any new improvements in the ODM gear were shipped to the three factions to be implemented in their current equipment. He would also send the blueprints required for the soldiers to do maintenance on their mobility gear, if necessary. I happened to be one of those soldiers."
"Whoa," all the ponies exclaimed.
"How did that happen exactly?" Starlight questioned.
"It didn't take much," Dolphus replied with confidence. "I already knew Hange was working with the Scouts, so I sent her out directly. The Scout Regiment would always put good use with the ODM gear with every expedition they go on. Not only that, their equipment was more likely to have malfunctions and such, so they would send them to me that way I can fix the knick-knacks and make improvements at the same time. Even Hange had problems with her gear after using it so much in combat."
"I was pretty reckless with my mobility gear," Hange admitted.
"Was?" questioned Dolphus with a blank expression.
Hange giggled, hearing one of her closest friends question her over her irresponsibility. After walking down the warehouse past many busy workers, Dolphus stopped at a large special room that was locked in a doorway. The door had a message on it saying 'Dolphus' Work Area.'
"This is my special storage area," Dolphus declared, reaching in his pocket from his pants taking out a set of keys. "It's also the place where I kept your ODM gears that I was ordered to make."
Once he inserted the right key in the lock, the door made a clicking sound, unlocking the door and opening it to let everyone inside. The ponies peeked inside with curiosity and enthusiasm to see the handiwork Dolphus did for them.
"Ladies first," Dolphus said, gesturing through the doorway.
Outside of the Scout Regiment headquarters in the stables, the new recruits of the Scout Regiment were lined up in formation in front of a Scout. In the line were Mikasa and Armin as they looked around for any sign of Eren or the ponies. Sadly, they where nowhere to be found. They were abruptly summoned by a Scout standing in front of the line.
"Salute!" he demanded with the cadets following his order by giving their salutes.
The scout had a white bandana on his head that concealed his bald spot with brown hair and a thin mustache and stubble around his jawline. He had an average build with a welcoming face. He was standing next to a healthy, brown horse. The horse only reminded Mikasa and Armin of their dear friends, wanting to see them even more than ever.
"I'm Section Commander Ness," the man declared before petting his horse on the side of its head. "And this is my horse, Charrette. Charrette likes to pull mair, so watch out if you don't wanna go bald. It's nice to meet you."
Abruptly, Charrette bit on Ness' bandana and tried to tug it off his head. Ness tried to keep it on as Charrette continued to pull.
"You idiot!" Ness yelled. "Stop that, Charrette! Someone do something! Hey!"
The soldiers just stood where they were with their salutes, not even trying to help the Scout.
Hange, the ponies, and Dolphus went inside the room to see a workshop with plenty of room that was used only by Dolphus himself. It was lit with a few torches on the walls and some candles set on a few tables. The left side of the room had a shelf full of more than a dozen of sheaths and gas canisters while the right side had shelves with three dozen main bodies of the ODM gear.
There were two long tables in the middle of the room for Hange and the ponies to walk around easily and one larger table
"Amazing!" Twilight gasped. "This is your workspace?"
"Mine and mine alone," Dolphus answered while smirking in pride.
"Are these our maneuvering gears?" asked Starlight, pointing at the ODM gears on the tables.
"Indeed they are. It's the only thing you'll need to kill titans. Everyone gather around and see what I devised to come up with for you ponies."
The ponies gathered close together to analyze the ODM gears Dolphus crafted for them to see what modifications he made that were different from ordinary maneuvering gears. Dolphus stood next to the table in the center of the room to present three ODM gears.
"These maneuvering gears are for Starlight and Rarity," he explained. "After hearing about you unicorns use magic for simple levitating spells, I left the handheld devices the exact same way. The ones for Twilight, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash were much easier since they are capable of flight, so I completely removed the main housing and gas canisters just for the sheaths to make you pegasi even lighter during combat.
"However, the biggest obstacle for this project are for those without magic or wings. I am specifically talking about Applejack and Pinkie Pie. Which is exactly why all of you are here. You'll be assisting me in finishing your maneuvering gears before you all start your training. I'll be working with you with what short amount of time we have in our hands, or hooves in your case."
"Alright!" cried Pinkie Pie. "I can't wait to try mine out!"
"Then perhaps we should start with you, Pinkie."
"I was just about to ask you that! Hehe!"
"I have a few ideas in mind, I just need to get some measurements from all of you first. Hopefully, in the next few days, I'll have your Omni-directional Mobility Gears ready before then, so let's get started then!"
Inside a large classroom, the recruits were sitting on separate wooden desks jotting down the information Ness was giving them for the next expedition. Ness displayed on a large board a huge paper of the scouting formation Erwin devised and pointed out specific details with a long pole in his hand. The new recruits wrote down notes of surviving outside the walls, even though today's class was focused less on combat and more on long-range scouting formation.
The formation appeared to be a spherical design of different squadrons with them displayed as vertical crosses with the bottom removed and dashed lines displaying the type of formations. Oddly enough, although it was a precise, calculated formation, Eren Jaeger's position was nowhere to be found.
"You rookies will be here," Ness declared, pointing at a group symbol on the upper right side and then towards the center back. "between the wagon defense squad and the scout support squad. Here, you will run alongside spare horses and relay signals."
Armin wrote down notes of the formation to get every possible detail in order to gain as much knowledge as he could.
Down in Yarckel District, Hange, Dolphus, and the ponies were eating dinner at a restaurant a few blocks from the industrial area. They all sat down on two large rectangular tables with seasoned potato soup and a small loaf of bread on the side. Twilight, Starlight, and Rarity used their utensils with their magic while the other ponies just ate in a dog-like fashion. Hange and Dolphus simply held their spoons with their own hands.
"I must say," spoke Rarity. "This potato soup is divine."
"Living within Wall Sina does have its perks," Dolphus replied with pride. "But now it's more expensive thanks to the loss of Wall Maria."
"Well," Starlight said. "be thankful we brought our own currency with us. We only had to give three bits just to pay one meal for all of us."
"And don't worry too much about our maneuvering gears," Twilight said to Dolphus. "I'm sure you'll come up with something to make our devices work, so rest and enjoy dinner."
"You don't have to tell me twice!" Pinkie exclaimed, picking up the bowl with her hooves. "The soup that they have here is delish!"
Pinkie tilted both her head and the bowl to eat the last of the broth and vegetables inside her mouth. While doing so, Dolphus stared at Pinkie's hooves with fascination as to how she could hold a bowl with something as hard and flat as her hooves without it slipping from her grasp. There had to be some explanation.
"Pinkie," Dolphus asked. "Let me see your hooves real quick."
"Uh, okay," the pink pony answered, placing the bowl down on the table and presenting one of her hooves in front of him.
Once she held out a hoof towards Dolphus, he inspected the base of the hoof to see how Pinkie held the bowl with such ease. While examining them, Pinkie began to giggle and flick her wrist around in a playful way. Even though Dolphus looked at here with an earnest expression, that didn't stop her from laughing in joy.
"Pinkie," Dolphus questioned in a rigid voice. "How were you able to hold that bowl?"
"I just used my hooves, silly," she simply answered.
"No, I mean how come it didn't slip out of your hooves. There's no possible way you can hold a bowl with the smooth surface of your hooves. There has to be a better explanation."
Dolphus continued to fondle with Pinkie hoof by poking the underside. In doing so, he was making Pinkie laugh in the tingly sensation.
"Stop that! Hehehe!" Pinkie chuckled. "That tickles!"
Unexpectedly, Dolphus felt a tiny poke form Pinkie's hoof, causing him to jolt in surprise and shift out of his seat.
"Wow! I didn't know you can be surprised that easily."
"Pinkie!" Dolphus asserted. "What was that you just poked me with a second ago?"
"You mean these?" Pinkie asked, wiggling five tiny, thin bumps inside her hooves.
"Yes, those things!" Dolphus panted.
"They're called pony phalanges, or digits for short," Twilight stated. "All ponies have digits in their hooves, but unicorns tend to use magic a lot so unicorns don't use them that often than pegasi or earth ponies. We use them to hold books, utensils, pebbles and stuff like that."
"You mean... you can hold the devices in your hooves?"
"Unfortunately, no. They only extend to about a few centimeters and don't allow for much grabbing so we wrap our hooves with our wrists. They're mainly used for stable holds if ponies can't fit items in their mouths or find it uncomfortable."
Dolphus remained perfectly still with a dumbfounded expression and didn't even breathe after hearing what Twilight said. The ponies were left confused and worried while Hange knew exactly what was going on in Dolphus' head.
"Uh, Dolphus?" Applejack asked. "Ya alright there?"
Snapping back into reality, Dolphus ate the last of his soup and bread as quickly as possible. Once the contents were all gone, he placed the bowl back on the table and darted back to the industrial area to finish his work.
"Hey, where are you going?!" yelled Rainbow Dash.
"You're gonna get a tummy ache if you keep running like that!" Pinkie stated.
"Let him go, girls," Hange said to them. "I think he figured out a way to finish your maneuvering gears."
"By the look on his face, then we trust that he'll have them ready by tomorrow," Starlight replied.
"Let's finish dinner and then I'll take you ponies to where we'll be sleeping tonight," Hange closed.
In the late afternoon in a wide open range, Levi was tending his horse by letting it lick his hand before petting it on his muzzle. Meanwhile, Gunther was explaining to Eren Erwin's formation on the ground with Eld, Oruo, and Petra. Eren, Gunther, and Eld sat around a map, Petra stood right beside him, and Oruo was standing next to his horse.
"Our special operations squad will be positioned here," Gunther said, pointing at the center unit second to the rear. "on standby in the rear of the center rank."
"That's pretty far back," Eren commented.
"This is the safest position in the formation. Not even the supply wagons get this level of treatment. Our goal this time is simply to leave and come back, though."
Oruo yawned from behind as he grew bored of the discussion the others were having.
"This expedition is meant to be short, as it's also a test run to see if we can get you all the way to Shiganshina or not."
"Umm..." Eren hesitated to say. "I still don't really know what to do with this ability of mine..."
"Do you understand what the commander asked you back then?", asked Gunther.
"Huh?" Eren replied, flashing back to the day where he saw the two captured Titans, Sawney and Beane, got murdered.
"What do you think the enemy is?" Erwin asked him and Twilight.
"Do any of you know what he meant?" he asked them.
"Nope," Eld answered.
Once Eren turned to Petra, she shook her head in response.
"I'd be lying if I said I understand it all," Oruo spoke "But I-"
"It's possible there's another goal to this operation," Gunther interrupted, rolling the map. "But the commander decided it doesn't need to be explained to the soldiers. In which case, leaving and coming back is all we should focus on."
"So what about the ponies?" Eren questioned. "Where will they be positioned now that there members of the Scout Regiment?"
"Erwin can already tell that you and Rainbow Dash share a connection, so she'll be riding with you and our squadron. The commander will later decide where he'll place the rest of the ponies once he knows the recruits furthermore."
"Do you think those ponies will be ready before the expedition?"
"Time should be the least of their worries. They've already proven themselves as competent soldiers and have less than a month for proper training rather than three whole years like you and your comrades. They'll be able to handle themselves better than you or your other friends did."
Gunther then stood on his feet, still looking at Eren.
"Have faith in the commander."
'Yes, sir," Eren responded.
"That's all for today's training," Gunther settled before walking to his horse. "Prepare to head back."
Later that night back in Yarckel, Hange led the ponies to a different building a few blocks away from the restaurant they ate at earlier. The building was made out of wood and stone and stood four stories high. There was also a canopy with stone columns below it and a pair of large wooden doors that lead inside.
"This is the local inn of Yarckel," Hange stated before entering the building along with the ponies. "We'll be sleeping here for the night. Hopefully, Dolphus will have your ODM gears ready by then."
"It's pretty late to work on those gears of ours, isn't it?" Starlight queried.
"Dolphus is a hard worker and he'll stay up late if he has to," Hange returned. "But it's nothing to worry about."
As they entered the inn, Hange walked up to the front counter where a tall man with short brown hair wearing a brown apron and white shirt was busy writing down some information in a notebook. He heard footsteps and clops on the wooden floor and looked up to see the soldier and the ponies.
"Welcome to Geibler Inn," said the innkeeper. "Are all of you here sleeping for the night?"
"Correct, sir," Hange replied with a smile. "We'll be sharing a few rooms if that's okay."
"Alright then," the innkeeper replied. "You'll need to pay for your rooms, of course."
"Twilight," Hange said, turning to the alicorn. "if you'd please."
"Certainly," Twilight replied, smiling and taking out three golden bits and giving it to the innkeeper.
The innkeeper was shocked to see three golden coins given to him, much like the merchant from the clothing store. He laughed in pleasure after earning his jackpot and gave them the keys to their rooms.
"You all just made my day!" the innkeeper acknowledged. "Your rooms are on the third floor. Numbers 304, 305, and 306."
"Thank you, sir," Hange replied before grabbing the keys and leading the ponies to their rooms.
Once they walked up to the third floor of the building, Hange and the ponies walked down a long hallway and went into their separate rooms. Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie went into room 305, Fluttershy and Rarity into room 306, and Hange, Twilight, and Starlight into room 304. They were all exhausted after the wearisome trip to Yarckel and went straight to their beds.
Before Twilight went to sleep, she lit a candle on a small table next to her, took out a quill and piece of paper with her magic to write a quick letter the Princess Celestia.
Dear Princess Celestia,
I just wanted to let you know that me and my friends have succeeded in passing the aptitude test, which means we are officialy members of the Scout Regiment. A blacksmith named Dolphus Spannagel is currently crafting our ODM gears for us to use for tommorow's training while we're trying to help him modify our gears. We'll be travelling to some training grounds not too far from Yarckel, the district we're in right now. Me and my friends will try our hardest to prove how strong we truly are since we faced many threats back in Equestria.
We will not let you down.
Sincerely, Twilight Sparkle
Once she finished writing her letter, she used the same spell the last time to send it back to the princess. Afterwards, she blew out the candle and tucked herself in bed and drifted to sleep to rest up for the big day tomorrow.
My Little Pony: Fight Against the Titans
1 The Adventure of a Lifetime
One day in a fertile, beautiful land known as Equestria, there were seven ponies and a young dragon traveling along the streets of a vibrant and prosperous city known well as Canterlot by order of their loving and cherishing ruler named Princess Celestia. It has been several months since the defeat of Queen Chrysalis - after she captured them along with a few of their other friends and family. Thankfully, their newest friends Starlight Glimmer, Trixie, Discord, and Thorax came to their rescue and saved them all from what could have been a complete catastrophe.
As they traveled to this prosperous city, they talked to each other as to what the princess had in store for them. Twilight and Starlight Glimmer, in particular, was the most excited out of all of them. However, the rest of them seemed anxious as to what the princesses needed with the Elements of Harmony, and a few of them were not so excited to be away from home for quite some time.
“Ah wonder what the princesses need us for at a time like this,” asked Applejack.
“I’m not quite sure either,” answered Twilight. “but if it’s a task that the princesses know we can handle, then I’m sure it’s nothing to worry about.”
“You got that right,” replied Rainbow Dash. “There hasn’t been one problem that the seven of us can’t solve together.”
“Ooo, this is so exciting that I can hardly breathe!” exclaimed Pinkie Pie.
“Try to hold your excitement until we arrive, Pinkie,” Spike replied.
“Well, I sure hope that it won’t take us too long,” said Fluttershy. “I’m just so nervous about all of my animal friends back at home, especially Angel.”
“Ah, don’t worry Fluttershy,” Applejack responded. “Ahm sure that Zecora will take good care of all of your little critters.”
“The only thing that I think is strange is that the princesses also asked us to pack up with some necessities for our summoning, almost like we're going on an outing,” said Starlight.
“Well, thank Celestia I came prepared for this sort of thing,” declared Rarity as she carried a larger saddlebag than everyone else.
“Uh, Rarity, ya’ do remember that she told us to pack lightly and judging the size of those bags, ah wouldn’t consider that ‘packing lightly’ to be honest,” retorted Applejack.
“Relax girls,” Twilight said calmly. “Whatever the princesses need with all of us, I’m sure it’s nothing to worry about really.”
“Yeah,” replied Starlight. “I mean, what could go wrong?”
Everypony except Starlight looked at each other with nervous glances, knowing that they have gone through many tribulations fighting evil across Equestria. Despite this, they were determined to get the job done.
Inside a long, tall room in the stronghold with various stained glass art, where a white alicorn named Princess Celestia paced back and forth - waiting patiently for the ponies that she had summoned. As she remained, she stooped walking only to look up at a particular stained glass window. This window portrayed Twilight crowned as the Princess of Friendship. Celestia couldn’t help but smile, knowing that that alicorn has come a long way to earn such a brilliant title.
Once she heard the sound of the hallway doors opening, she immediately turned her head towards a group of ponies and a young dragon.
“Princess Celesta, it’s so good to see you again!” praised Twilight as she galloped close to her presence.
“My prized pupil,” called Celestia. “It’s always a pleasure to see you, as well as all of your closest friends.”
“Well, of course,” exclaimed Rainbow Dash, “I mean who wouldn’t accept a request from one of the princesses of all of Equestria.”
“You got that right, Rainbow Dash!” replied Pinkie Pie in a bubbly attitude. “You would have to be a big party pooper to do that!”
“Well, though I’m glad you’re all here, what I am about to tell you is something of uttermost importance,” stated Celestia.
“So, what is it that you need all of us for?” asked Starlight.
“Twilight,” Celestia said as she faced Twilight with a serious expression. “You know about the possibility of multiple worlds far beyond ours, right?”
“Well, yeah,” Twilight answered. “I have traveled a few times to this one world through that magic mirror to stop and reform Sunset Shimmer.”
“Yes,” replied Celestia. “but I’m sure that this world is different than the one that you have traveled to before.”
“Really, how so?” Twilight asked.
“Quite,” Celestia responded. “However, this world that I’m about to show you is one that is in great jeopardy.”
“What do you mean by that?” Starlight questioned.
“Come, I will show you.”
As they followed Celestia, the seven ponies and young dragon all looked at each other with uncertain expressions as to what the princess was about to show to them.
Two other alicorns named Princess Luna and Princess Cadence stood in a large, circular room made of marble and stone. On the other side of the room was a large window that seemed to reflect what looked like another world. The two alicorns stared into the mirror, examining the world that lay on the other side.
Their ears perked up once they heard the doors open. Behind the doors, they saw Celestia, Twilight, and all of her closest friends.
“Princess Luna, Cadence!” cheered Twilight.
“Twilight, ” called Cadence. “It’s so good to see you again.”
“What’s going on?”
“Wait, is that a mirror?” Starlight questioned.
“Yes,” Luna responded. “This mirror allows us to see through the rifts of time and space to view worlds far beyond ours.”
“You mean like the one Twilight used to chase after Sunset Shimmer?” Rainbow questioned.
“Yes,” Cadence added. “The only difference is that this mirror allows us to see across many other worlds different from the one Twilight used to go to; and there is one world, in particular, that seems to be in such great danger.”
“But what kind of danger?” Starlight asked.
“Look.”
Everypony looked into the mirror on the stone wall to see the image more clearly, observing another world somewhat similar to theirs. The picture was slightly blurry, but they could see what appeared to be massive stone walls, which seemed to protect what looked like a giant village built with large homes and structures made of stone and wood. On one side of the barrier, there appeared to be a gateway which had a massive hole blown off. Coming through that hole were giant, hideous, bipedal creatures that had no clothing of any sort. They seemed to be wandering around the village where smaller bipedal creatures similar to them were fleeing in fear.
“Wha-What are those things?” Twilight wondered.
“It’s unlike anything we’ve ever seen before; just what is this place?” Starlight thought out loud.
“At the moment, we are not entirely certain,” Luna replied.
“But what in tarnation are those varmints?” Applejack asked.
“We’re not quite sure,” Cadence responded. “but whatever they are, they’re up to no good at all.”
“Whatever do you mean?” asked Rarity.
“Look down there.”
All of the ponies including the young dragon looked into the mirror to see one of those creatures that was roughly ten meters tall was staring at some other creatures that greatly resembled those giants. The only difference was that they were much smaller in size, they wore clothing, and appeared to have intelligence- unlike the giants that tried to catch them. They also had different haircuts and facial structures. What fascinated the ponies the most was not the look of these remarkable creatures, but what they were wearing around their waists.
They examined one of the creature’s thighs; there were long, slim, metal boxes with four slots at the front ends of them and a metal canister bolted above it that connected to a metallic, hourglass-shaped device affixed to the lower back via a pair of wires on both sides. There were also handles with triggers and cables attached to the hourglass-shaped machine where a pair of swords with diagonal stripes ran down into the blade.
As the small creatures began to run across the rooftops, wires shot out of the strange device on the side of their waists towards other parts of the buildings and structures with a stream of gas escaping from the back of the machine. The creatures continued to swing and fly through, over, and across several buildings of the town until they started to reach the giants that seemed to be after them.
“I know these creatures,” Twilight said. “Those are humans, like back in the other world that I traveled to before.”
“So that’s what they look like.” Rarity responded. “Well, I must say, those uniforms look quite ravishing.”
“Oh,” Pinkie exclaimed. “That looks super duper fun!”
“Ah don’t know Pinkie,” Applejack responded. “Ah’m pretty sure they’re not trying to have fun.”
“You’re right Applejack; they’re not,” Cadence said.
“Really,” Fluttershy asked. “Then, what are they trying to do?”
“Continue watching,” Celestia said.
As they all looked back in the mirror, they saw a giant pounce at the humans. The humans quickly reacted and evaded by pulling back with their gadgets. They landed on the rooftops of a building far from the giant’s grasp with one of them just hanging on the edge. They thought they were all safe for the moment- but when the humans looked at each other, they realized that one of them was missing. When they looked back at the giant, they saw one of their allies held in the giant’s mouth.
“Wh-what is it…” Starlight said in trembling fear.
Before anypony could respond, the giant swallowed the human right into its gullet down into its stomach.
Everypony’s eyes widened in terror and dread as to what they had just witnessed. Fluttershy, Pinkie, and Starlight screamed at the brutal and gruesome act; Rarity fainted almost in an instant, Twilight, Applejack, Celestia, Luna, and Cadence covered their mouths with their hooves with tears starting to fall from their eyes.
“D-did that thing just...” Applejack trembling in absolute fear.
“It just ate that poor human!” Rainbow shouted. “That is so not cool!”
“What in Equestria is this place?” Twilight whimpered.
“This place,” Luna spoke. “is a whole nother world that is suffering dearly from these monstrosities.”
Once Rarity regained full consciousness, they looked back at the mirror to continue watching the scene. They saw a human with brown hair and a sinister scowl cry in anger at the giant while it started to use the device to chase after it. The other humans saw the boy go after the giant and chased after him, urging him to stop. The human did not listen. It continued to swing and fly through the town towards the giant that ate the other human. As the human was about to slash it with his swords, another giant from below lunged at him and bit his left leg clean off. The others gasped again in terror as they saw the deprived human tumble across the rooftops at high speeds until he finally came to an abrupt stop.
“Why… Why are they doing this?”, Spike asked in great horror and confusion.
“We are not entirely certain,” Celestia answered.
“But, what’s the point of showing us to all of this?” Starlight asked.
“What we are about to ask all of you will be a surprise, especially after the horror you have all seen, but I truly believe that you and your friends are capable of handling it.”
Twilight and all of her friends waited for an answer as to what the princesses asked them here.
“What I need all of you to do, is to travel to this world and fight alongside these humans.”
“WHAT?!” exclaimed Twilight and all of her friends, including Spike.
“You want us to go and fight those things?!” Rainbow yelled pointing a hoof at the mirror towards one of the giants.
“Now, why in tarnation would we do that?” Applejack added.
“What if we meet the same fate as them?” Rarity cried.
“Please,” Cadence pleaded. “Let us explain. We’ve known about this world for several weeks now, and we wanted to know how this world operated; after weeks of observing, it seems that these humans are in great jeopardy and despair. They are losing family and loved ones left and right, and we couldn’t help but feel grief and distress. So maybe with your knowledge of friendship can help give these humans a glimmer of hope against these abominations.”
“Not only that,” Luna added, “but these large creatures may not be a threat to you ponies because we believe that these giants mainly prey on humans; after perceiving that they only feast on humans and humans alone. After weeks of observation, this led us to conclude that these monstrosities do not eat humans for nourishment, but for killing for sport instead. Can you not see that these poor humans are fighting with their lives on the line for the sake of their survival? They still fight alongside each other with a burden of hope, despite them being drawn to the brink of extinction.”
Twilight and all of her friends gasped in fear as to hear what Luna stated about those monsters. Killing for the sake of sport was no doubt an evil thing to commit, no matter what the reason. However, watching all of these humans perish would assuredly break their hearts.
“I still don’t understand though,” Starlight wondered. “Why would you ask us to go in such a terrible place?”
“Because I believe that together you ponies can do the impossible by coming together as friends to face against all the odds, as you have done several times over, by defeating many evil beings and dark forces with the magic of friendship. Plus, contacting this world would no doubt give us a chance to learn so much about their functions and beliefs. Imagine what we can learn from them and what they can learn from us.”
Fluttershy noticed something in the mirror and gasped so suddenly.
“Look!” she cried.
Everypony turned back to the mirror to see the human that had his leg bitten off swing towards a giant with a massive beard. The ponies were astonished to see the boy still trying to fight, despite losing his leg. He zipped right into the giant’s mouth and tried to reach for something. All of the ponies wondered why he was trying to go into the giant’s mouth. With all of his strength, he yanked a human that appeared to be shorter along with long blond hair out of the giant's mouth onto the roof of a nearby building. Rainbow Dash, in particular, was astounded to see the boy’s courage.
The other human tried to pry the giant’s mouth open with his right hand and whole right leg and then reached out to the blonde-haired human with his left. The blonde-haired human made a desperate attempt to save his friend, only for the giant to bite down, causing the human’s left arm to be severed off from the giant's mouth as it swallowed him whole.
The ponies were yet again horrified to see the blond-haired human wail in utter despair for his lost ally, completely helpless to do anything. They felt the pain and torment that the human was going through, causing tears to flood their eyes. The image in the mirror faded away quickly.
“My little ponies,” Celestia spoke. “I will ask all of you to look deep down into your hearts, are you willing to go to this world and restore peace and tranquility?”
“Heck yeah!” Rainbow exclaimed. “Let's do it!”
“Rainbow Dash, let's not make any rash decisions. We don’t even know if these humans will let us help them,” Twilight said.
“So how about we earn their trust if that’s what it takes.”, Rainbow replied. “No way am I gonna let those monsters win! I want to help them no matter what. After all, I am the Element of Loyalty, not to mention an official Wonderbolt.”
“Count me in too!” Applejack interjected.
“Me three!” shouted Pinkie Pie. “I wanna celebrate with all of them after their big victory, yippee!”
“I shall go as well,” Rarity said. “I want to learn about their taste in fashion.”
"Well, I guess I’ll go to, even though I’m terrified, but I’m still going to help them regardless,” Fluttershy said softly.
“I’m going too,” Starlight shouted. “If there’s anything you ponies have taught me, it’s doing the right thing for a friend in dire circumstances.”
“Well them, I guessed it’s decided. We accept your request, Princess Celestia,” Twilight declared.
“Eeeee! This adventure is going to be so exciting! I can hardly wait!” Pinkie screamed.
Celestia and the other princesses smiled at them with great appreciation for their service.
“Very well,” Celestia answered. “Before we send you, there are a few things I need to tell all of you.”
Twilight and her friends listened carefully as to what information Celestia had to tell them all.
“Once we use the transporting spell, it will take time to use that spell once again. If you feel the need to come back here in Equestria, it will take time until we can send you back home. So we are talking about several days or even weeks. Twilight, Starlight, and Rarity, the magic in this world appears to be very low on energy, so casting spells there will not be as easy as it is here in Equestria. So using advanced spells like teleporting and such will require you to use almost all of your power.”
“Understood,” Twilight answered with a gentle nod.
“Spike,” Celestia said facing towards him. “I ask of you to stay here with my sister and me. I know you truly want to help Twilight and all of her friends for this mission; however, we need a way to communicate to them while they remain in this world. They will have to stay until they help the humans rise from the giants’ wrath.”
Spike looked very disappointed knowing that he will not be able to join Twilight and his friends of this epic journey that they were about to embark. Twilight walked towards Spike and gave him a gentle hug. Spike hugged Twilight in return.
“Don’t worry, Spike,” Twilight reassured. “We won’t forget about you. We’ll return home eventually. Just listen to the princesses and stay safe, okay?”
“Okay, Twilight,” Spike whispered.
“Here, Twilight,” Celestia said, giving Twilight a scroll using her magic. “This spell will let you send a message between these two worlds. Once you write a letter and use this spell, the message will return to this world through Spike, much like when I return a message to you. So if you need anything, do not hesitate to ask.”
“Thank you, Princess,” Twilight responded, putting the scroll in her saddlebag.
“I trust that you brought the things I requested for you to bring?” Cadence asked.
“Indeed I did,” Twilight answered.
She used her magic to bring out a few books titled ‘History of Equestria,' ‘Anatomy of Ponies,' and ‘Equestrian Geography.'
“Brilliant, Rarity?”
“Yes, princess?” Rarity answered.
“I would ask that you bring only one of your bags with you that you think is the most important, I apologize.”
Rarity moaned in displeasure, fearing that she would be allowed to bring only one case with her from the beginning. She was unsure about which case to take with her until she picked an overly packed suitcase. After she finally pulled one, Celestia turned to Applejack.
“Applejack, take these with you,” Celestia said, giving Applejack a small sack.
Applejack looked inside to see many seeds.
“Uh, are these apple seeds?” asked Applejack. “Ah don’t think I’ll be able to grow apple trees that fast.”
“That’s true,” Celestia replied. “However, these seeds are something special. They are enhanced with magic so that they can grow within a week rather than a few years.”
“Wow, these oughta be mighty helpful given the situation these poor fellas are going through. Thank you kindly, princess.”
“Alright then, I believe you ponies have everything you’ll need for this journey.”
“Are you entirely certain that you want to do this?” Luna questions in a solemn tone.
“Do know that you girls are putting your lives on the line for the sake of helping these humans survive this menace,” Cadence added.
Twilight and her friends all looked at each other with stern faces, and all nodded simultaneously.
“Yes, we accept,” Twilight declared.
“Very well, everypony stand next to the mirror and we shall transport you,” Celestia directed.
Twilight and all of her friends walked towards the mirror with their saddlebags with them and awaited further instructions from the princesses. Spike stood behind Celestia waiting for her to cast the spell.
“Now to bring the world back into focus,” Luna stated.
Celestia, Luna, and Cadence brought their magic together and shot towards the mirror, bringing back the image of the city.
“Ready sister?” Celestia asked in a high tone.
“Ready as I’ll ever be!” Luna declared.
The three princesses closed their eyes and focused their magic creating a bright glow from inside the room. They conjured a large sphere engulfing the seven ponies, causing them to shield their eyes from the shining light. The three princesses then used their magic to push the luminous orb through the mirror, transporting the mane seven into the other world. Once they have finally finished the transporting spell, the princesses sealed away their magic. They saw the image of the different world disappear from their sights.
“I have faith in all of you, my little ponies,” Celestia said.
“I just hope that they come back in one piece,” Cadence wished.
“They will. I’m sure of it.”
Dark storm clouds started to form over the city, causing rain to pour down on the district of Trost. The city was in utter chaos, with humans running for their lives from the massive titans. The other soldiers were having trouble keeping the town and its citizens safe. Despite the rain having ended moments ago, their wet clothes were now bogging them down, making them even more vulnerable to those giants. A bell from a nearby tower started to ring, signaling that the evacuation of all of the citizens is complete. The inner gate of the city began to close shut, preventing any other giants from passing through.
A soldier with long, black hair, a physically, well-toned, fit body and a regal complexion with calm, black eyes stood on top of a building. She wore a white blouse and a red scarf around her neck along with her military jacket which had a symbol on both the back, the shoulders, and the left breast pocket. The emblem had a shield-shaped crest divided into four equal spaces with two swords crossing each other. She saw the giants that she had killed evaporate into thin air.
She stood next to another soldier who was tall with a slightly, muscular build. He also had gold eyes and straight, dark blond hair separated down the middle and placed behind his ears. His face was notably slim with distinct cheekbones and light skin.
“We’re withdrawing, Ackerman,” the dark-blonded hair man stated. “Climb up the wall now.”
“I’ll support the vanguard’s withdrawal,” the girl said.
She turned away from him and started to fire a hook towards another building and traveled deeper into the city.
“Hey, Ackerman!” the man yelled, reaching his left hand towards her.
The girl did not listen. She continued to fly across the city, hoping that she will reunite with someone in particular. As she zip-lined through some buildings, she noticed a faint glow from another alley. She quickly recovered by retracting her hooks and landing safely on a different structure.
What was that? she wondered.
Curious as to what that flash was, she moved towards the direction where the light came from exactly. She readied her blades if she would come across one of those giants. Once she reached the alley, she jumped off the roof firing both her grappling hooks on the side of a building to softly land on the street. She hid behind the corner peeking into the alley hearing coughing from what sounded like several girls.
“Hello, is anyone there?” the woman called.
She stopped hiding and went into the alleyway to see if there were still civilians trapped in the city. When she got a better look, her eyes widened, and she instantly gasped in utter shock and surprise. She saw seven creatures that appeared to be colorful, small horses with horns and wings.
“It’s okay, it’s just us, but we’re fine really,” spoke a purple winged unicorn.
“Wha-what are you?” she asked in confusion.
The purple alicorn walked out amongst the group.
“Well, you see, we’re ponies,” the purple one stated.
“Huh?”
My Little Pony: Fight Against the Titans
10 Can't Look Into His Eyes Yet
News about the Trost invasion spread like wildfire. The printers could hardly keep up with such high demand from the public. The citizens of the aristocratic districts of the inner walls known as Wall Sina would not stop talking about the main article. Some were exceedingly confused while others were high in doubt.
"Hey, is it true?" a man dressed in a suit wearing a top hat asked while reading the article in the newspaper. "Is there really a Titan and on our side?"
"It's obviously just a rumor," replied another citizen wearing a beige suit and a red neckerchief. "The recapture could've failed, so we might see a horde of people from Wall Rose any minute now."
"If that happens, wouldn't there be a food shortage?" the man with the top hat asked.
As the man with the beige suit flipped the next page of the article, he could not believe what he was reading.
"Hey!" he exclaimed. "What is this they're talking about?!"
The other citizens standing next to him were curious as to what the man was so shocked about and flipped to the next page where the man was skimming. They also responded with skepticism and confusion.
"The success of the recapture is also thanks to the assistance of seven... magical... ponies?!" he read out loud.
"They actually want us to believe a made-up story like that?!" the man in the top hat replied. "Do they take all of us for fools?!"
Most of the nobles refused to believe the article while a few others were astonished about this case. The citizens living within Wall Rose, though, thought of Eren and the ponies as a savior from the Titan scourge. They were hugely excited after reading the article taped on the column of a building.
"This is amazing news!" cried a partially bald man wearing a red shirt. "We have a Titan and magical ponies on our side now! We might even be able to recapture Wall Maria! It's like our saviors have appeared."
The citizens reading the article gasped in delight after hearing such a pleasant outlook. Some of them cried in joy while others cheered in happiness. They thought that a Titan along with magical ponies could be a resurgence in this war.
Outside a massive courthouse where an incoming trial was about to take place, there stood a group of soldiers with both arms and legs held together carrying rifles on their backs. The jackets they wore had a symbol similar to that of the Garrison or the Cadet Corps; only the emblem was embellished with a green unicorn head with a white mane. Within the group was a man with an average height and build as well as short, thin, black hair cut short. He also had a light mustache and a goatee with a red bolo tie similar to what Commander Pyxis wore, meaning that he was chief of the particular branch.
"'Saviors,' huh?" he thought out loud while tapping his foot. "The masses are so simple-minded, no matter the era."
"It sounds like something the rebels could use against Central though," a soldier with short, blonde hair theorized.
"We of the Military Police Brigade will get rid of Eren Jaeger and those so-called ponies before that," the chief replied. "The Scout Regiment eccentrics won't get them either."
The chief was interrupted by the sound of a carriage rolling across the streets along with the hooves of horses clopping. Knowing exactly who was arriving, the chief of the Military Police became much more solemn.
"Attention!" he roared.
The other soldiers stood in attention as ordered with the carriage arriving at the courthouse. One of the soldiers jogged towards the carriage to open the side door for the person inside. The person stepping out of the carriage was an old man with light gray hair, a scruffy beard, mustache, and glasses. He wore a plain white shirt with normal, dark colored pants, a sash and a bolo tie similar to Commander Pyxis', and a brown trench coat that bore a black shield emblem with a white border and cross.
"Salute the Supreme Commander!" the chief ordered.
Doing as they were told, the soldiers gave out a heartfelt salute in respect for the Supreme Commander.
"It's hot today," the Commander stated, tugging his white shirt to cool off a bit.
Back at the Trost district on top of the wall protecting the city, Erwin and Pyxis were walking along the borders having their own discussion during a bright, sunny day.
"Commander Pyxis," Erwin said. "there are those who won't be too fond of you, the Commander of the Garrison, meeting privately with me, the Commander of the Scout Regiment."
"Well," Pyxis puffed. "it seems you're as straight-laced as they say. Why fret? We just happened to meet during a morning stroll. As such, this is nothing more than idle talk, but... are you aware that the Military Police Brigade wants to keep custody of Eren Jaeger and the ponies too?"
"Yes," Erwin answered. "I received word of it yesterday. Apparently, a trial will be held."
"Hmm...", Pyxis responded. "The Scout Regiment or the Military Police Brigade... Zachary has been entrusted with deciding which of them Eren will go to."
"Zachary?", Erwin questioned. "Supreme Commander Dhalis Zachary?"
"The Military Police Brigade, the Garrison, and the Scout Regiment. He's the man in charge of those three factions. He has only one judging criteria: Pros vs. cons - whether something is beneficial or not to mankind. If he's convinced of the latter, he'll dispose of Eren and the ponies without hesitation, right then and there.
"I don't want to let him kill Eren or those ponies," he said, bringing more attention to Erwin. "But unfortunately, there are many amongst the Garrison that fear Eren's powers. The most I can do is withhold my approval for the Military Police Brigade."
Pyxis reached into his jacket to take out his flask containing the liquids inside.
"Think you have a shot?" Pyxis asked while taking a guzzle.
"No," Erwin answered solemnly, looking down. "However, I have a proposal I can make."
Pyxis stopped drinking to look back at Erwin.
"Its viability will depend on the trial's progression."
"In other words," Pyxis speculated. "it'll be a game of chance?"
"It's a game my men and I are well-acquainted with as we mainly engage in expeditions," answered Erwin.
"Ha!" Pyxis blurted, pleased by Erwin's statement. "It appears there's more to you than I thought."
Pyxis walked away from Erwin as he was left behind.
"This has been an enjoyable stroll, Commander Smith," Pyxis commented, waving goodbye.
In the city of Trost inside a large dining hall, many of the soldiers were sitting on benches having an adequate breakfast of water and edible porridge. Among those soldiers were Armin and Mikasa as they were talking about the upcoming trial. They felt lonely without their friends, especially Eren and the ponies.
"A trial for Eren and the ponies?" Mikasa asked. "Why?"
"I'm not entirely sure," Armin responded. "but I think it's about their intentions with them."
"What do you mean?"
"About... whether they live or die," Armin concluded.
Mikasa stood up from the table and gasped, much to her shock about the idea of seeing their friends being executed. Adding more pressure between the two, three Military Police soldiers, one appearing to be a captain holding a clipboard and two of them being escorts with rifles, entered into the dining hall.
"Mikasa Ackerman! Armin Arlert!" the captain called. "Are you here?!"
"Sir!" answered Mikasa.
"You've been ordered to serve as witnesses for the trial this afternoon."
Armin and Mikasa were confused, wondering why they were being summoned to be witnesses for the trial. Nevertheless, they knew that they would see Eren and the ponies again and hope for the best during the trial.
Back inside the dungeon where Eren and the ponies were imprisoned, Eren sat on his bed with an exhausted look while the ponies laid down with discontented and frightful expressions. Pinkie Pie played a shady tune with a harmonica she got out of nowhere. The guards actually found it rather pleasant and did not care and let the strange pony play her instrument.
While they were waiting, Eren felt an urge inside of him and had to let nature take its course. He turned to one of the guards outside his cell for permission.
"Excuse me," Eren asked politely. "I need to take a leak."
"You just went," the soldier replied.
"Can I have some water?"
"Hey!" called the other guard peeking behind the right side of the cell. "Get ahold of your situation, you monster."
Despite being offended, he didn't dare lash back at the guards as it would only make his and the ponies' situation even worse. Rainbow Dash laid right next to Eren with a sad expression due to the fact that she didn't have any sunlight, flight, or any kind of freedom for some time. Eren still couldn't believe that the rainbow-colored pony was the first to defend him on his behalf out of all of the other ponies.
Eren petted Rainbow Dash to comfort her in any way, but the pegasus still was not uplifted by him. Nonetheless, Eren found it relaxing as his muscles started to relax.
Monster? he thought, looking at his cuffs holding him. While I can't argue with that... is there really a need to cuff me like this? Then again, it's reasonable. I don't get any of this either. Maybe I should be glad that I'm still alive.
Felman and the soldiers surrounded Eren, his closest friends, and the ponies as they accused him of being a 'demon'.
That reminds me...
Mikasa, Armin, and the ponies protecting Eren tried their best to reason with Felman and the soldiers that he is not a monster but fell on deaf ears.
They weren't scared of me at all. I wonder what they're doing now.
He thought of his friends that were probably enjoying themselves as he spoke. He imagined Conny and Sasha eating a potato that they were peeling, much to his irritation. Christa argued with them to stop eating and get back to peeling the potatoes. Jean and Marco were busy carrying a pile of dirty dishes to wash passing Annie, while she poured herself a small cup of soup.
What happened to everyone else?
"Please bear with us for a little longer," Erwin told Eren and the ponies while Levi was accompanying the Commander. "We'll try to sort things out somehow."
How many days has it been since then? What's going on outside? Don't tell me... Am I stuck here for good? And what about these ponies? he continued to ponder looking at all of the ponies. Will they stay imprisoned with me as well? Or will they just be killed on the spot? It's not like they've done anything but help us in this fight. How can they not see that?
His thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the sound of a door opening and closing along with two sets of footsteps approaching their cell. This alerted Eren and the ponies by shooting their heads up and looking through the metal bars waiting to see who it was that was going to meet them. Pinkie Pie placed her harmonica inside her poofy mane as she expected for someone to talk to them.
When the footsteps ceased and they saw no one else through the bars, they all tilted their heads in confusion. Out of the blue, a woman with brown hair wearing glasses flashed right in front of the bars with her face pressed between one of the gaps of the bars along with a startling look, startling everyone in the cell, mainly Fluttershy. The yellow pegasus hid behind Twilight after having such an unexpected welcome.
The man following her was tall and well-built with long blonde hair that had bangs parted down the middle. He also had a small, dark mustache and beard with a serious, calm expression.
After the woman saw Eren and the ponies, her appearance changed into a warm smile.
"So you're Eren, huh?" she claimed. "And the rest of you must be the ponies from many worlds away I've been hearing about, huh? Are all of you okay? Feeling well?"
Eren and the ponies were thrown off guard by the woman's cocky response.
"Sorry to keep all of you waiting," the woman apologized with an encouraging smile. "You're all free to come out of there now."
Eren and the ponies were uplifted after hearing the news as they were finally about to see the light of day again.
"That's assuming you wear these though, Eren," she added, pulling out a pair of cuffs and showing it to him.
Eren and the ponies, with Eren being cuffed in place behind his back, were being escorted by the strange woman and a few other soldiers down a stone hallway with a barred, glass ceiling of an unrevealed location. Two of the soldiers were taking extra precautions by carrying rifles in the event Eren or the ponies may strike back. Despite that, the ponies did not have any cuffs or restraints unlike Eren since they appeared to be more in control of their abilities.
"I'm Hange Zoë," the woman introduced herself. "a Squad Leader in the Scout Regiment."
Eren was uncomfortable with the man sniffing on the left side of his neck.
"He's Miche Zacharius," Hange introduced. "The same goes for him."
"Um..." Eren uttered.
"Oh..." Hange chuckled in humor. "He has a habit of smelling people he's met for the first time and snorting afterward. But I'm sure it's nothing more than just that. Mind you, his skills have earned him his position."
Eren and the ponies found this habit very unusual. Afterwards, Miche leaned over to smell Starlight, who also found it uncomfortable like Eren thought by leaning away slightly from Miche.
"Uh... personal space, please?" asked Starlight.
Afterwards, he leaned over to Pinkie Pie to do the same while the pony found it amusing rather than odd. The pink pony giggled and hoped that the whiff of cotton candy or any kind of sweet.
"Do I smell good, huh?" Pinkie questioned in a peppy tone.
Miche answered by nodding in approval, causing Pinkie Pie to squeal with joy. Hange found Pinkie's attitude very amusing while the other soldiers thought it was just as awkward as Miche's weird habit of sniffing new people.
"Oh man," Hange exclaimed as they all reached a set of two wooden doors. "sorry for wasting all our time. We're here already. Well, no worries. In fact, going in clueless is better."
Once Hange opened the doorway, the two guards forced Eren and the ponies inside the room by pushing them in. They all looked back at Hange and Miche in perturbed sensitivity.
"Wait!" yelled Eren.
"It's selfish of us," Hange said. "but we can only put our faith in all of you. Best of luck."
Hange closed the doors shut, leaving Eren, the ponies, and two guards inside the room. They now realized they were in an extensive courtroom. There were also large glass windows that allowed lots of sunlight to peer through into the courtroom. On the ceiling was a painting of soldiers fighting to the bitter end in a bloody battle, which was found frightening to Eren and the ponies.
There were several soldiers from the Scout and the Garrison Regiment standing behind a court table on the left side while soldiers of the Military Police and many citizens of the wealthy class were standing on the right side. Right where Eren and the ponies were standing, a huge audience attending the trial ready to take place on both sides. On the other end of the courtroom was a massive bench with three chairs arranged formally with the emblems of every faction on the walls high above them. The center composed of an extensive, wooden, square pen with a square platform and metal bar in the center of it.
As the crowd looked at them, they all remained silent from their own conversations. For some of the citizens, seeing Eren and the ponies for the first time made some of them timid while others were amazed by the ponies' presence. Twilight, Starlight, and Rarity looked at the interior design with fascination whereas Fluttershy quivered by the many eyes staring at the poor pegasus. Pinkie Pie waved at some of them with a goofy smile just to be halted by Applejack shaking her head telling her not to do anything foolish. Rainbow Dash tried to ease her mind telling herself to do what they say and things would work out in the end.
A courthouse? pondered Eren. We were under a courthouse?
"Get a move on!" one of the guards ordered.
Doing as they were told, Eren and the ponies walked to the center of the courtroom inside the pen. The two escorts walked on the platform as one of them removed the metal pole in the center by lifting it out of the marble floor.
"Kneel down," demanded the soldier.
Eren obeyed his orders and fell to his knees if he wanted to be proven innocent. The soldier holding the pole locked it between Eren's cuffs through the chains tied together inserting the pole back in place, holding Eren firmly where he was positioned.
"The rest of you," the soldier called out to the ponies while pointing at the pen behind them. "Over here!"
The ponies followed his order and walked to their own place. Twilight, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash were placed on the left side of the banister while Starlight, Rarity, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie were positioned on the right side. The soldiers escorting them from before restricted the ponies by their necks with metal collars attached to the banisters one after the other. Since the chains attached between the railings and the collars were only about five inches, the ponies had to sit on their haunches to restrain them from any further movement.
The soldiers took additional safety measures by binding the pegasus' wings with harnesses. Twilight and Rainbow Dash let the soldiers restrain them calmly whereas Fluttershy was more hesitant and afraid to oppose them. With Eren and the ponies now pinned from further movement, waiting for the trial to commence.
Eren examined the people around him to see who was attending the trial. On the right side, he saw the captain of the Military Police, who held a sheet of paper in his hand with several other Military Police soldiers, with one of them equipped with a rifle. Glancing to his left, he saw Commander Pyxis dressed in his casual uniform garb accompanied by several Garrison soldiers. Afterwards, he noticed Commander Erwin with Captain Levi behind him where Erwin was standing in the front of the assembly where the Scout Regiment was situated.
Why are these people here? thought Eren. What's going to be decided anyway?
When he scanned the audience to his left, he caught Mikasa and Armin standing next to Rico, Ian, and Mitabi from the Garrison Regiment gasping in surprise. He noticed that they still looked anxious for him and the ponies.
You guys...
The sound of a door creaking open caught Eren's and the ponies attention. They saw Dhalis Zachary enter the courthouse in the massive bench for the officials. Sitting in the center chair, he took off his coat and placed it on the table with a small jug of water on his left side. Zachary was now only dressed in his white-buttoned shirt with suspenders. Court was now in session.
"Now then," he spoke in a dried voice. "let us begin."
Eren and the ponies, for some strange reason, couldn't help but respect the gentleman.
"Eren Jaeger, correct?" Zachary presumed as he adjusted his glasses to read the document in his hand. "You are a soldier who has offered his life for mankind. Is that accurate?"
"Yes," Eren answered.
"And the seven of you," Zachary said to the ponies. "are the ponies that appeared from another world far from ours better known as 'Equestria' who came in this world to help humanity fight against the titan menace. Is that also correct?"
"Yes, sir," Twilight spoke.
"I will call out all of your names for the ponies being held in trial today," Zachary explained. "Once I call your name, please respond. Twilight Sparkle."
"Present," Twilight answered.
"Starlight Glimmer."
"Here," called Starlight.
"Applejack."
"Eeyup," said Applejack.
"Rainbow Dash."
"Here," Rainbow Dash said.
"Rarity."
"Present," Rarity responded.
"Fluttershy."
"Um... here," Fluttershy said nervously.
"And lastly, Pinkie Pie."
"In the flesh," Pinkie answered. "After this whole trial, is it okay if-"
Zachary's hand was held up, telling Pinkie Pie to silence herself, almost as if it was Celestia's hoof. After Zachary received all of their names, he continued to read down at the document.
"This is an unprecedented case," Zachary acclaimed. "The trial will be a special court-martial in which common law does not apply, with the final decision left entirely to me. We shall also decide whether all of you live or die."
I knew it, Armin said in his mind.
"Do any of you have any objections?" Zachary questioned them.
"I don't," Eren replied.
"No objections, sir," Twilight answered.
"None here, either," Starlight declared.
"No, sir," Rainbow Dash said cautiously.
"None here, sir," Applejack calmly answered.
"No objections, sir," Rarity answered.
"Object, I do not!" Pinkie said in a strange, honest expression.
Armin gulped as he hoped that Pinkie Pie's shenanigans would not hurt Eren's cause more than what it was now. Much to his relief, Zachary ignored Pinkie's confirmation to continue with the case. On a balcony on the right side of the courtroom where other soldiers were listening to Zachary's declaration, Hange and Miche arrived to witness the trial unfold.
"I'm glad you're all quick on the uptake," Zachary replied. "I'll be blunt. As expected, hiding all of you from the public was impossible. Unless we declare your existence in some manner, we may be faced with a threat other than the Titans. Through this trial, we shall decide which military faction will be in charge with your custody - the Military Police Brigade or the Scout Regiment."
Eren and the ponies stared at the Commander in Chief with his honest opinion about Eren being fair-minded. Twilight and Starlight shared a smile seeing that there were at least some people in this world with a good sense of justice, unlike Captain Felman when he had them cornered with Eren and the others. Eren was still on edge as he hoped to answer Zachary's questions in the best possible way to help his case.
"Let us begin with the Military Police Brigade's opening statement," Zachary pronounced.
Everyone's attention was now towards the Military Police, more specifically the commander in charge. Twilight and the others hoped in their hearts that they would be reasonable and just like Zachary. Eren, however, probably knew their answer already seeing how they treated him earlier.
"Your honor," the commander spoke. "as Commander of the Military Police Brigade, I, Nile Dawk, propose: After conducting a thorough examination of Eren's body, we dispose of him in a prompt manner."
The ponies' eyes widened as they heard Nile's outrageous proposal. Eren figured that the Military Police would be unfair and was discouraged with their decision as Erwin, Levi, Armin, and Mikasa did the same.
"It cannot be denied that his Titan power, along with the assistance of these magical ponies, allowed us to repel the latest attack," Nile continued. "However, their existence is also a source of discord that can incite rebellion. Therefore, after having them impart all the information they can provide, we'll have them die as heroes of mankind."
The ponies glanced back at each other about the idea of being put to death with fearful expressions even though they were tolerant ever since they arrived in this world. Eren looked at Nile Dawk with a disturbed look as he also couldn't believe that even though his death was understandable, that he would also decide to execute the ponies as well just for their own engagement in this war.
"There is no need for that!" spoke an old man standing next to Nile.
The man was very tall with some noticeable wrinkles on his forehead and around his eyes. He had short, brown hair combed to the left side and was also much shorter on the back and sides. He was dressed in a black cassock with three golden bands around his shoulders that represented the three Great Walls along with the crests of three crowned women on them.
"They're vermin that undermined the sacred walls by intruding our lands," the man accused. "You must kill them all now!"
The ponies didn't quite understand what the pastor meant by 'undermined the sacred walls', but they knew that the man wanted them gone by execution. Meanwhile, Eren realized who that man was.
He's that Wall preacher, Eren realized in his mind. Five years ago, no one bothered to listen to him. He seems to have support now.
"Pastor Nick," Zachary interrupted. "quiet please."
Pastor Nick obeyed his command and remained silent. Zachary then turned his attention to the Scout Regiment to hear their proposal opposed to the Military's.
"Now then, let us hear the Scout Regiment's opening statement."
"Your honor," Erwin spoke. "as the Thirteenth Commander of the Scout Regiment, I, Erwin Smith, propose: We of the Scout Regiment will accept Eren and the ponies as official members and use Eren's Titan power and the ponies' abilities to recapture Wall Maria. That is all."
Eren and the ponies were now greatly confused. There was no possible way that such a short proposal would help their situation. The ponies even shared baffled looks over a little statement.
"Hmm?" Zachary pondered. "Is that it?"
"Yes," Erwin answered plainly. "If we utilize their powers, we can recapture Wall Maria. I believe it's clear what needs to be prioritized."
"I see," Zachary responded. "On that note, where do you plan to begin such an operation? Pyxis," he said to the commander. "the gate at Trost District has been completely sealed, no?"
"Yes," Pyxis responded. "I doubt it'll ever be opened again."
"We intend to go through Karanese District in the east instead," Erwin answered Zachary's previous question. "From there, we'll head to Shiganshina District. We'll plot out the route as we go."
"Wait a second!" cried a citizen standing next to Pastor Nick wearing a red jacket and white shirt. "Wouldn't it be best to seal all the gates for good now? The only parts of the wall the Colossal Titan can destroy are the gates! If we seal them up, they won't be able to attack us anymore!"
"Silence, you cur from the companies!" retorted another citizen from the left side of the courtroom. "If we can have his titan powers, we can return to Wall Maria!"
"We're sick and tired of you morons playing hero!" the citizen replied in a rough manner.
Erwin and Levi did not change their expressions in the slightest as they stood their ground.
"You've got a big mouth, swine," Levi established.
Eren, the few citizens, and the ponies looked back at Levi with surprised looks after hearing Levi's backlash.
"Who's to say the Titans will sit by and wait for the gates to be sealed?" he questioned him. "The 'we' you're talking about only refers to the friends you grow fat with, no? Are you saying you swine haven't noticed the people suffering from the hunger due to the lack of land?"
The merchant began to stutter as he replied back to Levi.
"All we're saying is that we'll be saved if the walls are sealed-"
"Enough already, you boor!" Pastor Nick yelled at the vendor. "You want mere humans to tamper with Wall Rose, a gift from God?! You gaze upon the walls that defy human understanding and still don't understand?! You think we have the right to lay hands on it?!"
The audience only stared at Nick arguing with the merchant with grim looks as he went on with his preaching nonsense. Eren's rage only grew stronger by the minute.
"Their beliefs are what caused the aiming of the walls to take so long," Armin mentioned to Mikasa in a quiet voice.
"They have plenty of support and influence, after all," Rico added. "A real handful."
Nick and the merchant continued to argue about the walls being sacred or not, being a resentment to Eren and the ponies.
"What irreverence!" Pastor Nick shot back.
"That's enough out of you, priest!" the merchant gnarled back.
"What?!" exclaimed Pastor Nick.
Their arguing was interrupted by the sound of a hand tapping on a wooden bench from Dhalis Zachary, tapping harder on the last bang.
"Order in the court!" Zachary demanded. "You may argue about the differences in principles elsewhere. Jaeger, allow me to confirm: Can you continue to contribute to mankind as you have thus far and utilize your Titan power to that same end?"
"Yes!" Eren answered in a loud voice. "I can!"
"Really?" Zachary replied indifferently. "But in the report for the Battle of Trost District, it said: 'After transforming into a Titan, he swung his fist at Mikasa Ackerman and the rainbow pegasus Rainbow Dash.'"
Eren gasped after hearing what was written in the report and glanced at Mikasa. The ponies gave each other apprehensive looks in grief as they figured that incident would be brought up. Mikasa tried to cover the scar on her cheek with her own hair so that Eren would not notice what he did to her.
He doesn't remember anything from where he lost control, Armin thought.
Mikasa made a ticking sound and gave a cold stare at Rico for writing the incident in that report.
"What," Rico replied silently. "you wanted me to lie in a report? Hiding that wouldn't have benefited anyone."
"Is Mikasa Ackerman here?" Zachary asked the court.
"Yes, that's me," Mikasa responded to him.
"You, huh? Is it true that Jaeger attacked you in his Titan from?"
Mikasa looked back at Eren and tried to put a stern face as she wanted to help Eren's case so badly. Rainbow Dash began to produce a few tears since she was very loyal to Eren and did not want to lose him if she came out and said it. The ponies witnessed what Eren tried to do to Mikasa and Rainbow Dash, quivering by the idea of what would happen to Eren.
"If you don't answer truthfully," Rico mentioned in a quiet tone. "it'll only hurt Eren."
Mikasa hesitated for a moment to consider the circumstances of Eren's fate quickly before giving her final answer.
"Yes, it is," she confessed achingly.
A loud commotion began to flood the courtroom by the many citizens and soldiers. The ponies bowed their heads in anguish as they thought Eren's execution was more likely to happen. Eren was shocked to hear that he tried to kill his adoptive sister, for what reason he did not know.
"Rainbow Dash," Zachary called to her, bringing attention to the multi-colored pegasus with tears flooding in her eyes. "Is it true that Eren Jaeger tried to attack you in like manner?"
Rainbow Dash looked at Eren as he turned to his left to glance at the pegasus to hear her answer as well. As much as she wanted to defend Eren, she was unnerved about what Eren did as a titan back in Trost. Rainbow Dash needed some wisdom and turned her attention towards Applejack. The earth pony only gave her a small nod, telling Rainbow Dash what she had to do in order to help Eren's case. Looking back at Zachary, she gave him her honest answer.
"Yes, he did," Rainbow Dash answered choking in fear.
The outcries from the crowd only grew stronger with terror and disgrace.
"He's just like the rest of them, after all," the merchant concluded.
I tried to kill Mikasa and Rainbow Dash?! Eren thought. Me?
"However," Mikasa continued, bringing attention to Eren and lifting the ponies' heads for them to listen. "Eren has saved me and the ponies' lives twice while he was in his Titan form. The first time, when Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and I were about to fall prey to a Titan, he fought it off and saved us. The second time, he shielded me, Armin, and the ponies from a cannon. I'd like you to take these facts into consideration as well."
The ponies' eyes glimmered with hope after hearing Mikasa's statement, especially for Rainbow Dash. The pegasus thanked her by giving Mikasa a quick nod, who nodded back in response as if she was saying 'You're welcome.'
"Objection," Nile opposed, bringing all attention to him. "I believe her testimony contains too much bias to be considered."
The ponies were confused, wondering where Nile was going with this as Nile was trying to destroy Eren's innocence.
"Mikasa Ackerman lost her parents at a young age and was taken in by the Jaeger family."
Mikasa grunted in defeat as she saw Nile Dawk shatter Eren's probity to bits. The ponies were surprised to the point of gasping greatly. Regardless, they remained silent so that it would not fuel Eren's current position further. Applejack was completely shocked, realizing that she and Mikasa may have more in common than she thought.
"Furthermore," Nile continued. "through our investigations, we have uncovered some shocking events that took place during that time. At the age of nine, Eren Jaeger and Mikasa Ackerman stabbed to death three men who were wanted for robbery and kidnapping."
The ponies couldn't hold it any longer and gasped in revelation. The thought of killing men at such a young age was unthinkable to them. The audience began to make a small ruckus once they heard the report Nile read aloud.
"Though this falls under legitimate self-defense, I feel their basic human nature needs to be questioned. Should we really invest mankind's fate, men, and resources to him or those ponies?"
The citizens talked between each other to consider that question.
"That's right!" said one of them. "He must be a Titan that's been hiding amongst us in the form of a child!"
"Her too," the merchant accused Mikasa, pointing at her. "I wouldn't be surprised if she wasn't human!"
"Yeah!" replied a man in the audience. "We should dissect her just in case!"
Eren, Mikasa, and the ponies were startled by their ridiculous denunciation just for the sake of surrendering to their own fear.
"Wait!" Eren shouted back towards the crowd. "I might be a monster, but that has nothing to do with her! Nothing at all!"
"As if we could trust you!" the man yelled.
"It's the truth!"
"He's covering for her because it's true!" another man accused.
"No!" Eren screamed.
He banged the shackles that held him, forcing everyone into silence.
"I mean... you're wrong," he said to the audience. "So far, all you've been doing is blurting out convenient speculations."
"Wh-What did you say?!" Nile asked tensely.
I should stop, Eren thought as he spoke.
"To begin with," Eren continued. "you've never seen a Titan before, so what are you so afraid of?"
I can't say any more. No, I'll keep at it. I'll make my stand here!
"Plus, why are you people accusing these poor, innocent ponies of committing a crime?" he asked the crowd while they glanced at the ponies. "They helped us reclaim Trost and saved many soldiers fighting for the sake of humanity and this is how you repay them? By locking them up in chains like a bunch of savages? How can we afford to not let those with power fight? If you're scared of fighting to survive, then lend me your strength! You... damn cowards."
"What?" muttered Pastor Nick.
"Just shut up and bet everything on us!"
The courtroom was silent, and so were the ponies. They could not believe how Eren was defending them to the point of tears. Even Rainbow Dash saw the bravery and loyalty in him and shed a few tears herself. However, they soon realized that he may have sealed his own fate.
"Take aim!" Nile ordered the soldier standing next to him.
"Sir!" the soldier answered, aiming his rifle directly towards Eren.
The ponies' eyes were widened and gasped in terror, pleading in their minds to tell Nick to stop. Before the soldier could fire, Levi stepped in and kicked Eren's left cheek with his boot, forcing Eren to spit some blood along with a bloody tooth to bounce on the marble floor.
Huh? Eren thought as he saw the tooth fly out of his mouth.
The ponies looked back at Eren to see who it was that struck him. When Eren looked back at Levi, he only got a kick on his stomach, letting Rainbow Dash's rage to swell even more. Levi then grabbed Eren's hair and shirt to deliver a knee thrust into his face.
The audience was dumbfounded by Levi's reckless actions and were too paralyzed to say a word. Rainbow Dash even tried to pull towards Levi to try and stop him, only to be held back by her restraints. Mikasa was startled as well as she saw Eren getting pummeled by the Captain and decided to put a stop to it while she clenched her teeth and scowled in anger. Before she could advance, Armin grabbed her arm forcing Mikasa to halt.
"Wait, Mikasa!" Armin bellowed.
Mikasa looked at Armin and asked herself why he was stopping her. She glanced back at Eren as Levi continued to batter Eren to a pulp with his mouth and nose bleeding profusely. Levi stomped his foot on Eren's head to restrict him from any further useless struggle. Rainbow Dash gazed at Levi, seething furiously as she was still locked in chains.
"This is just my pet theory," Levi spoke. " but I think pain and discipline go hand-in-hand. What you need now isn't a lecture, but training. You're in a good position for me to kick too."
Levi continued his onslaught by kicking Eren's head once again, followed by a few stomps. Erwin, Hange, and Miche only watched Levi deliver the most efficient way to perform obedience through Eren. Rainbow Dash shook violently as she couldn't bare to watch any further.
"Leave him alone!" she cried.
Levi turned his attention to the blue pegasus without the slightest change in his expression as he had another idea in mind. Levi walked away from Eren to let him gag on his own blood spilling from his face.
"Perhaps she could be an example too," Levi stated.
Once he was close enough to Rainbow Dash, he glared at him viciously while Rainbow Dash tried her hardest to keep a brave face on. Levi performed and uppercut with his foot right below Rainbow's chin, causing her to slam the back of her head on the railing of the banister. The ponies winced as they saw one of their friends receive the same treatment as Eren. Fluttershy whimpered in horror, hoping she or any of her other pony friends would not be disciplined as such.
Rainbow Dash panted in pain while she got a blow from Levi's kick on the side of her face, followed by a boot straight into her chest. The force of Levi's last hit focrced her back into the banister. Rainbow Dash looked up at Levi with shivering lips, which was enough for Levi to let her know her place.
"Alright, where was I?" Levi asked himself while walking back to Eren.
Eren hissed through his teeth in anger seeing Rainbow Dash's beaten condition. This caused Nile to have concern for Levi's well-being.
"Stop, Levi..." Nile warned as Levi placed his foot right on Eren's face pushing him back on the pole.
"What?" Questioned Levi.
"That's dangerous," Nile stated. "What'll you do if he gets angry and transforms?"
Levi delivered one last kick at Eren before responding to Nile's question.
"What are you saying?" he asked while lifting Eren's head by the locks of his hair. "You guys are gonna dissect him, right?"
This caught Nile off guard. Trying to deal with Eren in such a way would no doubt cause problems for the Military Police and the citizens likewise. Levi dropped Eren to discuss with the audience accordingly.
"In his Titan form, he apparently killed 20 other Titans before he ran out of gas," Levi verified. "As an enemy, his intellect could pose a problem for us. He still wouldn't be a match for me though. How about you lot? Those of you speaking against him should really think it through. Can you really kill him?"
"Supreme Commander," Erwin said to Zachary, raising his hand. "I have a proposal."
"Yes?" Zachary asked.
"Eren's Ttitan power has many uncertain points to it, furthermore the existence of these unique equines are perplexing, which poses a constant threat. So I propose they be entrusted to Captain Levi and taken out on an expedition."
"You'll bring Eren outside?" questioned Zachary.
"Yes," Erwin replied. "I'd like Eren's control over his Titan power and his worth to mankind to be judged based on the results of that expedition. As for these ponies, I'd ask that you allow them the freedom to do as they wish since they have more control of their powers than Eren does."
"Handling Eren Jaeger..." Zachary considered. "Can you do it, Levi?"
"I'm certain I could kill him," Levi responded. "The problem is that there'll be no alternative."
"Sir," Pyxis spoke to Zachary. "I have one last thing to say before we postpone this trial."
"Hmm, and what reason do you have to delay my final verdict?" Zachary queried.
"After successfully recapturing Trost, Twilight and her friends told me that she and her friends left some baggage that they brought from their world. We were able to recover their bags and held onto them for safekeeping."
"Yes," Nile replied. "We also confiscated them to check the contents inside to make sure that there wasn't anything dangerous."
"And what did you find, may I ask?" Zachary questioned Nile.
"Of course," Nile responded, taking out a sheet of paper that listed the items inside the ponies' saddlebags. "In the bags that were labled 'Twilight Sparke', there were three books titled ‘History of Equestria,' ‘Anatomy of Ponies,' and ‘Equestrian Geography.' There were also several sheets of paper, two large quills, and two bottles of ink. Also, there was a scroll with inscribing that was hard to understand."
Hange, standing on the balcony, rubbed her hand together, anxious to read those books.
"'Starlight's' bag contained a few books that the same kind of inscribing for what appears to be simple spell casting. 'Applejack's' bag contained a pouch full of seeds labeled 'Apple Seeds'. The bag labeled 'Rainbow Dash' carried two books titled 'Daring Do and the Quest for the Sapphire Stone' and 'Daring Do and the Griffon's Goblet'. Nothing more than just children novels."
Rainbow Dash snarled at Nile's accusation of the Daring Do series for children to read. Nile continued to read the list.
"'Fluttershy's bag carried a brush and a few bags of bird feed. 'Rarity's' bag contained a brush, hair rollers, a pair of glasses, two bottles labeled 'Shampoo' and 'Conditioner', and facial makeup."
Applejack gave Rarity an irritated scowl, only to be ignored by the fashionista as she pointed her head up towards the ceiling and closed her eyes.
"Lastly," Nile concluded. "The bags labeled 'Pinkie Pie' had a large number of colorful pieces of paper and rubber pouches with open ends, that for which purpose I do not know."
Pinkie Pie tilted her head to the side as she did not understand how the humans never heard of confetti or balloons.
"So after a thorough examination," Nile settled. "Their belongings appear to be perfectly harmless and are still in custody by the Military Police."
"I see," Zachary responded. "After this trial is over, make sure to have the bags along with the contents sent to the Scout Regiment so that they can be returned to their rightful owners."
"Yes, sir!" Nile answered.
"Is that all, Commander Pyxis?" Zachary asked him.
"Yes, that is all," Pyxis returned.
"Very well," Zachary approved. "I've made my decision."
Inside a small room consisting of a wooden desk with a wooden chair, a couch, two windows, a fireplace, and a dresser. Hange tended to Eren's and Rainbow Dash's wounds that Levi inflicted on them before. Levi leaned against the wall with Erwin standing next to him while Miche stared out one of the windows in deep thought. The ponies excluding Twilight and Starlight gathered around Eren and Rainbow Dash to comfort them while Hange dabbed their wounds using a cotton ball and tweezers. Rainbow Dash only had a noticeable bump on her forehead and bruised cheek.
"Honestly," Hange said as she dapped the cotton ball on Eren's cheek. "he went overboard. Does it hurt?"
"A bit," Eren replied, holding a small cloth on his face.
"So, in what way does it hurt?" Hange asked, only confusing Eren slightly.
Twilight and Starlight entered the room with two cloths filled with small blocks of ice held with their magic, giving them to Eren and Rainbow Dash to soothe their wounds more easily.
"Thanks, Twi," Rainbow Dash replied, putting the cloth of ice on her forehead.
"Huh?", blurted Eren. "Where did you get that ice from?"
"Just a freezing spell Starlight and I used to freeze some water," the alicorn answered.
"It's disappointing you guys don't have the technology to make your own ice," Starlight admitted. "so we made our own to help you two with your wounds and all."
"Wow!" Hange exclaimed. "That's amazing!"
"Oh, you've seen nothing yet," Pinkie replied in a cheery tone.
"I apologize," Erwin said to them as he approached Eren and Rainbow Dash. "But thanks to that, we gained custody of you."
"Yes," Eren answered.
"We couldn't have made that proposal go through without your tolerance. You both have my respect," he announced while giving them his hand for a proper handshake. "Eren, we'll be counting on you."
"Yes," Eren answered enthusiastically, shaking the commander's hand. "I'll do my best!"
"The same goes for you ponies as well," Erwin said to the equines as he shook Rainbow Dash's hoof. "I look forward to working with all of you."
"We won't let you down, Commander Erwin," Twilight ensured him.
Afterwards, Levi walked through the crowd of ponies and sat down on the same couch right next to Rainbow Dash while crossing his legs and placing his right arm on the back, alarming Eren and the blue pegasus.
"Hey, Eren," Levi called to him.
"Yes?" he replied.
"Do you hate me?"
"N-No," Eren answered. "I understand what you did was necessary."
"Good to know," Levi acknowledged. "What about you, Rainbow Dash?"
As much as Rainbow wanted to get revenge, she knew that if it weren't for him, Eren, along with her friends, could have fallen into the hands of the Military Police who could have just ended them without hesitation. She gave a small smirk of gratitude.
"No biggie," she replied, pawing with her right hoof. "Thanks to you, we were able to get out of that mess. I can't thank you enough."
"Glad you get it."
"But don't think I won't get back at you after that little brawl you had with me," Rainbow appended. "You were lucky I was chained up, but you should be careful when I'm not tied up. So, I'll even the score with you eventually."
"I look forward to it," Levi answered with a smirk on his face, knowing that he could take anything she could possibly throw at him since he fought against Titans.
"But you took it too far," Hange argued, holding a cloth to unviel a tooth inside. "You broke a tooth, you know? See?"
"Don't pick that up," Levi ridiculed. "It's disgusting."
"But it's a valuable sample."
Eren and the ponies looked at the knocked-out tooth from earlier.
"Eren," Levi called to him. "Aren't you glad you didn't end up getting dissected by her kind?"
"Don't bunch me together with those guys. I wouldn't kill Eren."
Hange wanted to check something of Eren real quick.
"Say, Eren," asked Hange. "Let me take a peek inside your mouth."
Eren opened his mouth agape to let Hange see where the tooth flew out of his mouth. Suprisingly, she was mystified to see the gap where the tooth was knocked off have a white surface sticking out of his gums.
"It... already grew back," Hange stated.
Everyone's attention was drawn to Eren to see his regeneration capabilities in spectacle, though Levi was more repulsive about it.
"Bizzare," Starlight whispered.
