Jet Force Twilight

It was a new beginning in many ways for Twilight, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Apple Jack and Rainbow Dash. So far on their space journey they had come across many new friends, three of these being Vela, Juno and Lupus - Two humans and a war dog. These were widely known across universe as the Jet Force Gemini, the inter-galactic heroes that once brought down the evil robot Mizar. The ponies had also gotten the luxury of meeting Jeff, king of the Tribals and the misfortune of meeting his brother Barry, the former and now reprimanding builder of Mizar. But as fun as meeting new friends had been, it had not gone entirely smoothly. Why? - Because Twilight Sparkle carries a heavy burden in her stomach: She is single hoofily responsible for the return of Mizar. This came to be after his mainframe chip had been seamlessly floating in space for years. After landing on the planet of Equestria it was found by Twilight Sparkle when she was still the Princess of Friendship.

Hearing Twilight introduce herself, Mizar had within seconds devised a plan that would melt the young heart of the alicorn while at the same time mock one of his most cowardly deserters. Mizar cleverly took the identity of Floyd, the small, flying robot that helped Juno bring him to an end, the same flying robot sacrificed himself to save the humans home planet Earth. When Twilight introduced herself, Mizar remembered the sacrifice that Floyd made. Why? - Because when Juno defeated Mizar he shot of his head, the same head where Mizar’s puppet Barry had seated himself with the intention of piloting Mizar, unbeknownst that his creation would end up controlling him.

After Mizar had been brought down by Juno, panic had quickly befallen the Jet Force warriors when they realized that there was no way of stopping the asteroid now when Mizar was gone, an asteroid that was heading for earth with an increasing speed. It was then that Floyd had volunteered to fly into the core of the asteroid and save mankind. Vela, Juno, Barry and Jeff had all cried tears for this brave robot while they helped tie a particle bomb under him. They were completely unbeknownst that Mizar was watching them the whole time, being only a giant disembodied head on the dusty asteroid ground.

Indeed. After Landing in Equestria as a computer chip, remembering the martyr ways of his traitor servant, Mizar took on Floyd’s identity to make himself seem brave, innocent and afraid.

Twilight swallowed everything.

In fact, the lie had worked so well and the idiotic princess had become so snooty and sad about his “sacrifice” that she even infused an ordinary rock with her alicorn powers and installed it into the new body, the same flying robot body that Floyd had before he died. This ensured that Mizar would have power for decades. Twilight had even casted a spell on it that allowed Mizar to rebuild himself magically if he was ever blown up. Twilight thought she was giving the brave Floyd a new chance. Instead she ended up giving the most ruthless dictator in the universe the perfect mean to get his revenge.

Yes, Mizar had been awed by the foolishness of the alicorn. But Mizar’s feelings for Twilight was doomed to turn sour, for years after his re-building, after Mizar used Twilight’s powers to dominate the universe once again, it was only a matter of time before Jet Force Gemini found out about Twilight’s magic rock and her ability to take it away from him. This had sealed Twilight’s fate, or so had been the plan. But Mizar’s murder attempt was thwarted by Twilight’s former student. Instead, his gun merely scraped the side of the alicorn’s face before Mizar used it to kill Starlight Glimmer.

This even chain, of which the lavender unicorn had discussed in detail with Juno earlier, went through her head right now. The dark-red scar streaked across Twilight’s beautiful face. It was iluminated by the giant lights that ran outside of the big window in front of her. The window belonged to cruiser SS Anubis. Beside her she had her friends. They all looked out, feeling the wideness of space overtake their imaginations.

“It’s just so beautiful.” Rarity awed.

Rainbow Dash spread her wings. “It’s a shame that there’s no gravity. Otherwise, it would be awesome to just fly out there and see what’s beyond the stars.”

“Then you have to be careful not to get lost.” Fluttershy teased. The yellow pegasus looked around. She saw that the others had their attention riveted out the window. Fluttershy took the opportunity. As for Rainbow Dash, she didn’t know what to feel when she felt Fluttershy’s muzzle streak the side of her face. She turned her head but was stopped when Fluttershy bumped her. “Don’t let me stop your dreaming.”

“Didn’t you hear Vela earlier, Rainbow Dash? Even if you made a sonic Rainboom it would take you million years just to reach one of them.” Rarity said.

“The last time I checked the instruments here, three million and one hundred and forty-three exactly if you aim for the Gamma G system.” Twilight lectured.

“Don’t you have a quest for revenge to get to Twilight!?” Rainbow Dash asked incredulously.

Twilight laughed. She had been so focused on finding Mizar that she had almost forgotten the overflowing amount of science to discover out here. Rainbow Dash wasn’t the most patient of ponies and often ended up rolling her eyes at Twilight’s informative endeavors. The former princess still remember the first time she came to Ponyville and met Rainbow Dash. She recalled the pegasus crashing into her. After hearing her bolster about her flying Twilight made a bet that she couldn’t make the sky free of clouds in ten seconds flat – Twilight lost the bet – The happy memory quickly reformed in Twilight’s head. She now recalled when Rainbow Dash was dragged inside that hangar filled with hostile ant drones. It was lucky that Lupus had saved her in the end, but if those ant drones hadn’t decided to have fun with her before he got to her?

“I’m sorry girls that I put you through so much danger.”

“Mizar lied to you darling. He put you in danger for his own gaining. It’s all on him, not you.” Rarity was proud of Twilight. She was pretty sure that she too would have headed out for revenge after what Mizar put her through.

“We’ll see this through Twili.” Apple Jack promised while laying her hoof on her back.

“All the way till the end.” Pinkie Pie added.

Twilight still recognized the love for the ponies she cared about, but her mind was not in sync with her heart - Mizar was to die for what he had done - Twilight knew this as well as she knew her own hooves, of which she would use to pin Mizar to the ground. Twilight’s eyebrows flickered when she imagined him break under them…Slowly. Twilight’s hatred for Mizar mushed with the love for her friends. It put her in a state of catharsis.

“Why are you following me girls? I resigned from my duties. It’s death that I’m after, not friendship.”

Pinkie Pie did not answer. She simply walked up to Twilight and hugged her. Soon, the silhouette of six ponies hugging each other shaped in front of the endless number of shining stars, colored galaxies and planets.

It was a long way to go before they would reach Eschebone. Vela told Twilight earlier that Diamond Geezer had a base there and would probably be surrounded by ants on his payroll. They would need to come up with a plan to get Twilight alone with Geezer, something that Mizar would probably want to avoid at all cost. It wasn’t going to be easy. But Apple Jack was sure that, as long as they stuck together, they would come through like they always did. She was now making her way through the cruiser depository level. Steel boxes of different sizes towered on top of each other. There were the sound of metal hitting the floor, like someone was walking with metal shoes. Apple Jack turned around.

“Lupus? What in tarnation do you have on your paws doggie?”

“Wraff!” Lupus barked happily. Apple Jack studied the metal shoes that the dog wore. The treads were of a ridiculous height, looking as heavy as the frying pan Apple Jack used to make pancakes with home at the farm.

“Can you even get around with those?”

“Wraff, Wo!” Lupus jumped forward. The bottom of his shoes spurted rocket fire. It sent the dog airborne, allowing him to ascend far above the earth pony and land on top of a layer of craters. Apple Jack’s mouth dropped.

“What in…?”

“Wraff!” Lupus disappeared around the corner. When he came back he had something in his mouth. He tossed it down. The wrench landed beside Apple Jack.

“What do you want me to do with…? Oh, you want to play?” Apple Jack asked enthusiastically. Lupus answered with a bark. The earth pony picked up the wrench with her mouth and tossed it. Lupus rocket shoes made small bursts as he sailed above the ground in an arch. He caught the wrench midair before landing on another crater. He threw the wrench back to Apple Jack.

“Wa raf wraff!”

“Nice catch doggie! How about this?”

Apple Jack kept throwing the wrench. Every time the dog caught it before ascending again. Apple Jack couldn’t believe how accurate Lupus was with his rocket shoes.

Several smaller rooms connected with the depository, aside from a much larger storage area. Connecting to it was the Landing Zone where Vela’s transport ship was parked. Also connecting to it was the generator room. This gigantic area hosted six massive circle generators that towered, ending in a pointy top. Further away came the allocator room. This area had a large hole in the middle with a large plasma distributor that sparkled with energy.

After the allocator room came a second storage room with a giant conveyor belt that ran diagonally, allowing for boxes to be transported and stored along the way. Below the giant belt one would find the door that lead to the holding block, where energy shielded prisons could store unlucky offenders of whoever controlled SS Anubis.

One of these cells was occupied by Geraldine, a previously serving Gemini soldier that recently had been set on probation for an undecided amount of time. The words she roared about Twilight Sparkle before receiving her punishment seemed to hover in the air over every occupant of SS Anubis.

“She is Keshi! She is evil! She is in control of Mizar!”

Her outburst had come shortly after Twilight was accepted to stay inside the cruiser. Juno’s answer had been swift and consequent. He may be in need every soldier available to fight Mizar, but disobedience was something that he simply could not tolerate. Twilight thought about this as she followed the human leader. They were now passing through the allocator room. The catwalk they crossed made metallic sounds. Below them the round power distributor flashed repeatedly with the four pipes that connected it. Now Twilight felt like she had severed a couple of connections herself.

“I’m sorry if my presence is causing trouble for you.”

“Geraldine lost her brother in an ambush lead by Mizar himself. You’re sorry? I thought you said you were out of sorry.”

“I am, but you need every soldier you can get.”

“Listen, my little pony.” Juno stopped and turned to Twilight. “I made a decision to help you, and my decisions are always final. If I were you I wouldn’t second guess anything. Second guessers are the ones that end up in the ground, that is why you will answer every question that I ask before we decide to act.”

“I didn’t mean to second guess, I just don’t want to cause trouble for you and your sister. I heard you went through a lot together.”

Juno didn’t answer at first. He waited until he and Twilight had walked away from the others into the second storage room. He guided Twilight behind some barrels and turned to her.

“What do you know about me and Vela?”

Twilight gulped. She hoped she hadn’t made a mistake by mentioning her bounding with Vela.

“She told me what happened to your parents.”

“How much did she tell you?”

Twilight feared telling Juno that she knew about how their parents was trying to sell them. “She told me that your parents were killed by pirates.”

“She did. Huh?”

Twilight flung her eyes around nervously. “Yes.”

“Did she tell you what happened to the pirates?”

“She told me she killed them.”

Juno leaned against the crate behind him. He laid his palm over his face and sighed. Not only would he be forced to help Twilight now, he would have to treat her like a friend to the family as well. This was just getting better and better, that being badly timed sarcasm, but 34-year-old Juno was not too old for this shit, not yet anyways.

“It was either them or us. We would have been re-sold as labor to the greatest scumbags in the universe, but Vela was a tough girl and she passed the test.”

“Test?” Twilight’s eyeballs turned sideways with a slight grump. “I don’t know about you; don’t you think ‘test’ might be underselling it. She was just a girl, after all.”

Juno shrugged and grumped. “Try and tell that to her face. Could get interesting: Maybe she won’t punch a pony in the face that hard, who knows? She doesn’t like being called a girl Vela. She thinks its demeanor to her role as a fighter. She thinks its sexistic.”

“’Girl’ is sexistic?”

“Yea, you’re not alone with that reaction. But I guess she has a point: It’s an old word, used since before us humans mastered inter-galactic travel. The word was often used by men that wanted to make a lady look innocent.” Juno explained.

“Oh. in that case I can see why she would find it offensive. Us ponies don’t really have that stigma attached to the word.” Twilight’s voice sounded teacher like.

“But you don’t seem to have any problem with putting girls in charge?”

“In our world its the alicorns that occupy the highest positions and they have always been mares, as far as i know. To be perfectly honest, I don’t think us ponies give it much thought. I know Soarin have been in discussion regarding the Wonderbolt leadership, in case Spitfire ever choose to leave - I guess we never thought of it as a question of gender.”

“And still you manage to agree, maybe removing the stigma is the way of making it fair?”

“If it’s possible, I guess so, I still imagine it must be hard for Vela to be the only girl fighter in your group, apart from Geraldine.”

Juno felt hope of the political discussion keeping the subject away from his family being carried away by that huge conveyor belt.

“Yes.” Juno reply seemed lukewarm. Twilight’s face formed questioning.

“Are you sure you aren’t holding your sister back?”

“Am I sure I’m not second guessing my decision?” Juno threatened.

Nothing more was said from that point on. Twilight looked disapprovingly at Juno while they both walked toward the barracks.

After Juno had parted ways with the unicorn he went for the command room. When stepping inside he saw a dim shadow in the corner.

“I wanted to talk to you in private.”

“What is it sister?”

“See? Now you’re doing it again.” Agitation swam in Vela’s voice.

Juno put his hand over his face and sighed for the third time that day.

“Please, not this again.”

“When am I going to be equal with the others in your eyes?”

“You are equal.”

“You just called me sister and not soldier.”

“That is different, you’re confusing family and work sister. Did I not scold you like I would any other soldier back there?”

“Any other soldier you would have fired.”

Juno flung his arms in anger. “Is that what you want me to do, fire you?!”

Vela had no idea where she was going with this, all she felt was that boiling feeling in her throat. She swallowed it. There hadn’t been any crying from her in years, and this night would be no difference. No one would be having the luxury of witnessing that, especially not her brother. Vela passed him on her way to the barracks.

“See you later, squad general.”

Juno avoided looking at his sister. He knew very well why Vela was on the brink of breaking down. He hoped that it wasn’t too late to turn the tide.

It was always night in space, at least that was the logical conclusion to the fact that there was no atmosphere and planet rotation Twilight deduced. The stars gave flashing lights now and then as they seemed to infuse the dreams of the ponies that was asleep. Twilight knew she was inside one of them now, but that didn’t stop her from feeling creeped out as she watched the space pirates drop the bag of money on the floor beside her parents, again.

“You’re selling me!?” It felt more like a badly read acting-line, knowing she was having the same dream as before.

“I am so sorry sweetie, but we really need the money.” Night Light replied in exactly the same way as before.

“We too.”

Twilight knew what was coming, but that didn’t hinder her world from going blurry with tears. She heard the sound of the laser pistol followed by the bumping sound of her parents hitting the ground while she ran toward the stairs.

“What did you expect?” Twilight heard Mizar ask outside the main entrance. Twilight remember how the nightmare would go from now. Mizar would kill the pirates before chasing after her into her old childhood room, a room inside a house that somehow her parents had managed to build on this unknown planet with the help of Iron Will. Twilight’s old teddy bear would then come to life and say the exact same words with his colored button eyes that Mizar said to her.

Twilight turned her head to look at Mizar. The flying robot hovered midair while holding the pistol with his robot arm. A pink shape appeared behind him. Pinkie Pie bashed the Mizar piñata with a stick, causing him to explode into an inferno of flying candy.

“SURPRISE!”

Night Light and Twilight Velvet both stood up to join in on the celebration. The pirates had disappeared out of thin air. Velvet immediately looked regretful when she saw her daughter’s tears.

“Oh, I’m so sorry dear, we didn’t mean to scare you that much!”

“Are you alright dear?” Night Light asked worried. Sparkle’s father turned to Pinkie “You went too far this time, Pinkie Pie!” He scolded.

Twilight Sparkle recalled how this nightmare would have turned out if Pinkie Pie hadn’t crashed it. She felt her entire being fill with joy. She smiled, feeling her cheek water with tears of joy.

“It’s alright, mom and dad. Pinkie Pie?” Pinkie Pie’s eyes met Sparkle’s. “You turn my nightmares into dreams. I love you.”

Twilight was still seeing the happy blue eyes of Pinkie Pie as she walked into her childhood room. Just like the last time she dreamt about this place, the entire floor was covered in her old toys and furniture. Smarty Pants was sitting, just like the last time, on the bed with his legs spread. He turned to Twilight.

“What did you expect?” He asked. Twilight wasn’t scared of him this time. On the contrary, she felt like something exciting was about to happen.

“Hello, Smarty Pants.” Twilight greeted smiling.

Smarty Pants didn’t answer her. She heard hooves approach behind her. She felt something warm take hold of her, like if the cobalt disco lights in space was coming down to embracing her. Was it all happening inside her dream, or was it a memory from when she was still awake?

The answer came to Twilight like blood running through a sleeping muscle. She felt the head of her visitor move over her back. Her heart thumped while her breathing intensified, like her soul was becoming as big as space itself. Twilight felt hooves pull her flanks. The visitor mounted her. Twilight closed her eyes. She felt the breath of the mounting pony over her neck. Her slit ached. She felt something wet running down her back hoof. The world started moving. Twilight felt like she was soaring through space for every passing minute of fucking. Her hooves became limp and she crumbled to the floor. The toys around her toppled. Twilight rolled over and felt the weight of the earth pony over her belly. Pinkie Pie licked her over the face before putting her muzzle against hers.

Twilight opened her eyes. The bed was all ruffled up. Her slit was wet under the sheet. All questions about her friendship with Pinkie Pie circulated her mind, or at least for a short second, but suddenly it didn’t matter anymore. She had feelings for her, that was as clear as anything Twilight had known in her life, but she felt no pressure – It was just feelings - Nothing had happened yet. Twilight closed her eyes and felt the memory of the dream calm her heart and put her back to sleep.

The ponies had been traveling SS Anubis for two days now. Outside, the planet Eschebone rotated with its surface red and black. Before landing on the planet Juno filled the ponies in about their destination and mission.

Eschebone was a volcanic planet filled with hot air and fire, that being as much about its habitants as its atmosphere. The guy they were looking for went by the name of Diamond Geezer. He was a flying robot with a significantly older form of AI intelligence than Mizar. But this hadn’t stopped him from becoming the richest arms dealer in the universe with so powerful contacts that neither Mizar or Jet Force Gemini could touch him.

Diamond Geezer had a deal with the Mole Brothers. They both did their thing while making sure to benefit the other. After all - Where there were guns, there were wars, and where there were wars, there were creatures willing to work as slaves. Twilight heard Juno speak about the oligarchy of Diamond Geezer and Fernando. Her purple eyes sparkled with sadness while her throat ached in disgust. No wonder the universe was filling with misery. The transport ship was now leaving SS Anubis behind and was about to enter the volcanic atmosphere of Eschebone.

“Does everybody here know what to do?” Vela asked.

The royal guard and the Wonderbolts looked at the human Gemini warriors. There were nods of understanding. Twilight nodded at Rarity, who returned.

The ponies felt a hot gust of air hit them when the door of the transport ship opened. Rainbow Dash had to cover her face to avoid getting burned. “I know that I am all for chillaxing, but this is a little too much tan for me.”

The planet was like an alternate version of Rith Essa, which had been filled with green forests. The sky was covered with red clouds that sailed by five times the speed of the ones found in Equestria. Being a pegasus, Rainbow Dash had the ability to walk on clouds. She imagined hitching a ride on one of them and sight-seeing the planet from above. The ground was covered in red and gray smudge and rocks. Giant cliffs towered above, and the ground was dotted with patches of boiling lava. Pinkie Pie the party planner was happy.

“Look at all the boiling lava! Did somepony brought hay sausages!?”

“This is not the time for grilling Pinkie Pie! We have a bad guy to catch.” Rainbow Dash said.

Spitfire looked at all her Wonderbolt members. Soarin had his wing patched. He glanced at Spitfire and joined her in studying the group. High Winds used her wing to steady the laser pistol that was sheeted around her belly. Surprise walked beside her. She returned Spitfire’s look and nodded. Spitfire nodded back. Surprise then proceeded doing the same thing as High Winds.

Before the ponies left SS Anubis Juno had made sure that each pony received a gun sheet. The sheet had really been designed for war dogs like Lupus, but one handy member of the Gemini squad had gone to work and made them fit the ponies. The royal guard stallions had a special kind of sheet that allowed them to carry a laser rifle on their backs. The reason the Wonderbolts didn’t have one was due to their wings being in the way, plus they couldn’t use horn magic to un-sheet them. The royal guards had left their golden armors behind since they really didn’t offer much protection against plasma energy.

“We’ll make it through this Spitfire.”

Spitfire turned to Twilight’s brother. “I sure hope so Shining Armor. Be safe yourself, I don’t think Twilight would survive losing you.”

“We’re all in this together. I’m ready for anything.” Shining Armor replied Spitfire.

Spitfire still remember the emptiness when standing over Blaze’s body. “I wish I had the same optimism as you do.”

Shining Armor saw the eyes of the yellow pegasus dwindle. “Hey.” He jounced her flank. “Me and the boys got your back.”

Spitfire felt relief. “Thank you.”

“Hey.”

“Yes.”

Shining Armor’s eyes filled with empathy. A serious core swum inside them. “We need to prepare that not all of us might make it out alive.”

Spitfire closed her eyes. She sighed. “We discussed it before we left, I only hope that I could prepare their families home in Equestria.”

“We can’t, but you know as well as I do that we can’t focus on that.”

Spitfire gained posture. “You have my word Shining Armor. Me and my fliers will come through when it matters.”

“That’s what I wanted to hear, general.”

Once the ponies and the humans got close to Diamond Geezer’s base they split up. Twilight went with Shining Armor and the royal guard, the Wonderbolts and the Gemini squadron while her Ponyville friends proceeded toward the base. Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Apple Jack, Pinkie Pie and Rarity walked through the tight canyon passage. The stone walls were streaked with lava streams and showed glowing niches here and there, probably formed by raining lava. The pony up front was a white unicorn mare with a beautiful blue mane.

Rarity had her entire speech in her head, with a giant ant head covering most of it. The white unicorn fashionista felt her throat fill with fear, even before they started seeing Diamond Geezer’s ant soldiers. Unlike Mizar’s blue drones, these ones were red. They looked down at the ponies while they stood guard on the outcropping rocks.

“I wonder if…”

“SHHH!” Rarity hushed Apple Jack.

Rarity had started her carrier as a clothing designer when she was just a foal, making clothes for the school play. After that she had discovered diamonds, found her purpose in life and opened Carousel Boutique in Ponyville. Ever since then she had been the cover mare for many magazines, opened two more shops, designed clothes for pop stars and princesses. Rarity had come to far on the glamorous red-carpet stairs and chatting amongst sophisticated ponies - She was not going to die in this burning gutter!

But Rarity was the perfect pony for this job, she knew it as well as the others, and she was not about to let her friends down. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy was carrying heavy coffins filled with dresses and hair styling gear. These chests were crucial for their ruse to work. – Still, the blue pegasus pony had grumped before they entered this canyon.

“Did you really need to pack these coffins to the rim Rarity? We only need to make the impression that you need these things.”

“If we are to fool the enemy we need to sell this act one hundred percent, that means not leaving any cracks in our stage props.”

“Are you sure you don’t want to wear them instead?!” Rainbow Dash asked sarcastically.

Rarity smiled before replying hoity toity. “You know what, that blue hoof ribbon dress you have in there sure would look good on me.”

“Argh, never mind!”

The canyon now widened. A large building seemed to have been built into the mountain. A checkpoint lead into a sealed area that enclosed the entrance to the main building. Large boxes contained weapons that Diamond Geezer was selling. A metal wall fenced the base yard and military defense positions offered covers for Diamond Geezer’s ant drones. One of them walked up. His giant antlers twitched and his gurgling voice made Rarity’s throat jump.

“Gruuul, gruuuuuu.” A necklace the creature wore lit up. “This is a sealed of area. You picked a bad time to get lost.”

Luckily, Rarity’s social experience from her line of work functioned without her calm mind.

“Hello darling, my name is Rarity. Nice to meet you. I saw this establishment from afar and I come here with a business opportunity.”

“Gruuu. Grulearrl?” The necklace lit up. “And who are those?”

Pinkie Pie looked at the drone ant. She felt the party smile lay just behind her lips. The firm words of 00 agent Pinkie Pie went on repeat inside her head.

If you try to make these mercenary drones smile down there – I swear, the last thing I will do before we die is that I will make you shove your own party cannon up your confetti pipe!

Rarity knew she couldn’t mention Twilight to Diamond Geezer. It was their hope that Geezer only knew about the former alicorn princess and not her friends.

“Those are my assistants darling, for my fabulous boutique in Ponyville.” Rarity then gave her friends fake names. She told the ant about her other boutiques in Canterlot and Manehattan. The ant squeaked like a pig.

“Griiiiiirl!”

“Well, that is very kind of you Mr. Bug, thank you for the compliment. Now, where are the leader of this fancy establishment you have here? “Rarity looked around the base. Her diva voice flowed gently as she hoity toityed. “My rich friends are waiting for me in Equestria to return with a deal. There is a war brewing, after all.”

The ant soldier scratched his head as he watched clueless diva. He looked again at her friends, whom he had actually started to feel sorry for. The white unicorn fashionista looked like a big snowball in the middle of the volcanic landscape and harsh climate. Her voice was annoying enough for him to shoot her here and now. Still, he did recognize her as an Equestrian pony, which meant that she probably knew about Twilight Sparkle. The ant soldier left the ponies waiting. Rarity’s heart thumped.

If Diamond Geezer suspects a trap – We’re done.

Rarity was about to get even more nervous, for Diamond Geezer was a fast robot. In a flash he rocketed out from the base entrance and hovered his blue chassis in front of the ponies. Rarity was startled.

“Wah! Get away from me you horrible thing!”

Diamond Geezer had two artificial eyes that were mended into one window-like eyeball. It blinked while his small rockets held him airborne. For some reason he seemed unmoved by Rarity’s outburst.

“Are you from Equestria?”

The robot had a stereotypical robot voice, static and devoid of emotions. It showed that Diamond Geezer was an older AI than Mizar, who had the ability to converse with the shifting vocal tones of a civilized creature.

“My name is Rarity darling, nice to meet you. Are you the leader of this party house?” Rarity hoped that her diva roleplay - more diva than she already was - would make her come off as clueless.

Diamond Geezer had no idea how this white biological creature had made its way ten billion lightyears from Equestria to Eschebone with those heavy chests, but for whatever reason, it must be a good one. Of course, the robot knew that they were probably sent by Twilight Sparkle. Diamond Geezer had always seen Mizar as a robot that was to power-hungry for his own good. It made him sloppy and easy to out-maneuver when it came down to money and contacts.

Still – Diamond Geezer had a bad feeling about this new Mizar that Twilight had re-built. This one wasn’t just power-hungry and ruthless, he was a psychopath. The bare notion what Mizar would do to him if he suspected that sensitive information was being shared between him and Twilight made Diamond Geezers circuits shudder with overloaded electricity from his internal plasma reactor. No, he could not take any chances. He had to kill these ponies now, bury them and hope that Mizar’s spies hadn’t seen any of this.

Rarity saw the contemplating artificial eyes of Diamond Geezer stare like they were looking at walking corpses. Rarity had no choice. She had to act immediately if she wanted to save her friends.

“Urh, I can’t stand this heat. Oh, what happened to my mane!?” She turned to Rainbow Dash. “Did you bring the fan, tell me you did!” Rainbow Dash never had time to get confused. Rarity’s eyes filled with tears. “My beautiful mane, ruined! It took me all day to make it and look, now it’s all slobby!” Rarity ran her hoof through her sweaty mane.

Diamond Geezer made beeping sounds of confusion.

“What am I going to do!? What am I…?” Rarity turned to Diamond Geezer. “Please, if you would be so kind to take me indoors. I really don’t want this to be ruined in case my fiancé Fancy Pants shows up.”

Your fiancé! Rainbow Dash thought incredulously to herself. Rarity broke out in full crying.

“On top of that I have to tell him that I failed to find an arms dealer for the Equestrian army! Oh on, I even revealed my secret mission! I’m worthless! WORTHLESS!”

Rarity crumbled to the ground in an inferno of sobbing. Apple Jack was in on the game. “It’s okay Rarity, I’m sure Fancy Pants won’t mind your hair, and nopony back home needs to know about this.”

“But I had a job to do! Fancy Pants trusted me with his money!”

“Stop blabbing Rarity!” Rainbow Dash played along.

Diamond Geezer wasn’t sure what to do. This fact alone should seal the fate of these ponies, and yet – Maybe this Fancy Pants, which Diamond Geezer recognized as an Equestrian name for a pony, could be a way for Geezer to arm the ponies of Equestria in case all-out war broke out between them and Mizar, or maybe even the humans? After all, Fernando had gone and screwed up the relationship with the latter. Maybe having a pony contact in Equestria wasn’t such a bad idea?

“I know the warm air must be hard on your complexion.” Diamond Geezer said in the most robot way possible.

“Oh, please. Tell me again darling!” Rarity played.

“I might have a scientific way of making that right for you. Please, come inside.”

Rainbow Dash laughed. She leaned closer to Pinkie Pie.

“Spoken like Twilight.”

“Twilight?” Diamond Geezer looked coldly at the pegasus. The silence laid itself over the canyon. Rainbow Dash’s garnet red pupils turned small like breadcrumbs.

“I mean… I…”

Diamond Geezer extended his two ear-like counter weights on the top of his head. A robot arm came out from underneath him. It had a pointing metal finger ready to pierce the sky and signal the drone guards. The eyes of the pegasus turned shallow.

“I’m sorry girls.” She said out loud.

Pinkie Pie’s party smile widened, dedicated that she would at least have that put on when she died in just a second. Apple Jack looked at Rainbow Dash in complete disbelief. There was a bumping sound when Fluttershy’s fainting body hit the ground.