Our Equestria

Chapters

The Place Where the Cliffs Used to Be
Battle 2: Bullwhip
The Journey Home
The Following Morning (II)
The Head of the Table
Battle 3: Cricket
Aftermath
Midnight Meetings
That One Time In Front Of The Park
Battle 4: Dream
Open Secrets
The Story According To Shining Armour
The Fields of Elysium
Battle 5: Enemy (and notice of cancellation)
Training Days (with Dawn Flower)
Battle 6: Fireball (with Braininthejar)
Battle 1: Arachnid
The Following Morning (I)
Lord Cruelty's Indestructible Magika Tank (with Dawn Flower)

The Place Where the Cliffs Used to Be

Sleep came with difficulty that night, when it came at all.

Apple Bloom tossed and turned beneath her sheets. The bed she shared with her two friends was soft, far softer than the one at home. She wondered how anypony was meant to sleep like this, constantly sinking into their own bed without the comforting weight of a straw mattress beneath them. She was plenty tired, too; after lunch Cheerilee had taken the group on a proper trip to the beach, ostensibly to help sweep up debris but mostly to let them finally play in the surf. It might have been the highlight of the trip, if it hadn’t been tainted by the shadow of anticipation and dread that had been hanging over them all since that morning.

She sighed for the umpteenth time, glancing to her left and right. Sweetie Belle seemed perfectly at home on a feather bed, dozing contentedly, while Scootaloo curled up with her wings spread and a smile on her face. With a little reminder of her friends' warmth, like carrying a piece of home on either side of her, Apple Bloom laid back on her pillow and willed herself to relax.

Rest wasn't easy to find. A dark weight hung in the pit of Apple Bloom's stomach, and whichever way she twisted it hung against her insides, taunting her. But as her sister had reminded her a number of times before, "Ain't no use losing sleep over something you can't help. Heck, if help is what you want to do, you're best to get all the rest you can."

But every time she closed her eyes, every time she started to drift into an escape from the doubting fears of the past day, all she could see was the one red eye of the great black unicorn...

Apple Bloom woke up with a start, shivering. Her heart fluttered rapidly before slowing down as the darkness and warmth of the night came back to her. Groaning, she rolled over again and stretched as she yawned, her left forehoof brushing against Sweetie Belle's mane. Her right, however, met only air.

The filly blinked in the darkness. She reached around sleepily, feeling only a slight depression on Scootaloo's side of the bed. Realization struck and she bolted upright. The covers had been thrown back, and Scootaloo was gone. A knot rising in her throat, Apple Bloom shook the pony on her left. "Sweetie Belle! Wake up!"

Groggily, Sweetie Belle began to stir. At the same time, another voice called out softly from the other side of the room. "What is it?" Archer sat up and turned on the lamp next to the other bed in the room, lighting up the chamber. "Is it an emergency?"

Instead of answering, Apple Bloom waited for Sweetie Belle to open her eyes before continuing. "Scootaloo's missing!" she said. "What do we do?"

Archer shrugged. "She probably just went for a walk or something."

"Turn off the light!" Peachy Pie moaned beside her, putting her head under her pillow. On the far side, Tornado Bolt continued to sleep like a log.

"What if Cicada took her?" Apple Bloom asked, raising her voice a little.

"He didn't. I heard her walk out of here like twenty minutes ago." Archer gestured to the door, which sure enough hung slightly open.

"And you didn't stop her?"

Archer shrugged. "If she wants to get herself in trouble, that's her problem."

The light clicked off. Sweetie Belle shivered, looking around nervously. "Should we tell Cheerilee?" she whispered.

Apple Bloom considered this. She hopped down from the bed and trotted over to the window, peering out between the thick curtains. They were on the top floor of the hotel, one of the only buildings in Seaddle that rose above three stories, and she could see most of the town stretching out before her. Moonlight covered everything, glinting off the distant ocean. "Nah," Apple Bloom decided. "We don't have to get her in trouble. Ah think Ah know where she's gone."

Confidently, Apple Bloom crossed the room and walked out into the hall. Sweetie Belle followed, more slowly. They waited to see if the others would follow, but Archer only turned out the bedside light and rolled over.

Everything, even the most familiar of settings, was more frightening in the dark. Both fillies instinctively tensed up as they entered the hallway. It was after the town’s curfew and all the hotel’s lights were out, only a faint haze of cloud-covered moonlight guiding them towards the stairs. They crept across carpets that hadn’t made a sound during the day but seemed as if they might now, breaths held, their tortured pace making the path seem several times longer than it was hours earlier.

They were almost to the stairs when there was a sound from behind them: the faint click of a door being shut. Sweetie squeaked and pressed herself against the wall, while Apple Bloom looked back and searched for another shape in the darkness. There was none. Their own door still hung open by a few inches. “Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea,” Sweetie Belle whispered.

“Don’t matter,” Apple Bloom whispered back. “Scoots is our friend. We gotta find her.”

“But... what if we get caught?”

Apple Bloom sighed. “Ah don’t think that’s really our biggest worry any more.” They continued down the stairs and weren’t stopped as they left the hotel.

Seaddle’s main street was quiet and empty. The carnival ponies were mostly packed up, just a line of carts filled with tent fabric showing signs of their continued presence. A cold breeze blew in from the ocean, clearing the fillies’ heads as they cantered in the direction of what had once been the cliffs. It wasn’t long before Apple Bloom caught sight of a figure in the distance, sitting in the middle of the road. She called out and charged ahead, Sweetie Belle close behind.

In a sense, the cliffs of Seaddle hadn't been destroyed, only pushed back. The path to the ocean ended with a sheer dropoff where the side of Pollinia's robot had broken through the stone like a knife, resulting in an irregularly-shaped coastline that dropped down sharply into shallow and foaming waters. Scootaloo sat on the edge of what had once been the road up to the lighthouse, watching the ocean surge and roll over the rocks below. She didn't look back as she heard two sets of hoofsteps gallop up behind her, but she did break into a smile. "Hey, guys!" she called over her shoulder. "Check out this view."

"Scootaloo..." Apple Bloom panted, drawing to a halt. “We were worried about you.”

Sweetie Belle let out a deafening yawn before speaking as well. “What are you doing out this late?” she asked, flopping down on the grass beside her.

“Just... thinking,” Scootaloo answered. “About tomorrow. I didn’t think you were going to wake up.”

Apple Bloom joined her at the road’s end, careful to stay a safe distance away from the edge. “Are you really gonna go through with it?” she asked. “With the battle?”

“Well, duh,” Scootaloo answered with an eye roll. “I’d be crazy not to. And you guys are gonna do it too, right?” She looked back to her left and right when her friends didn’t immediately answer. “Right?”

Sweetie Belle rolled onto her back. She seemed about to fall back to sleep, but still managed to keep her eyes partly open. “I don’t know,” she murmured. “I really think we should have told Cheerilee about this. All of this feels really, really dangerous.”

“She’s right,” Apple Bloom continued. “Ah don’t care what Cicada says, this doesn’t feel like a game. What if it’s real?”

After a pause, Scootaloo shrugged. “So?”

The others stared at her. “Whaddaya mean, so?” Apple Bloom all but yelled. “You could be in real danger! We all could!”

“I know, but... so what?” Scootaloo shrugged again. “You heard what Cicada said. We all signed the contracts. We’re all going to fight, no matter what. So why does it matter if it’s real or not? I’ll try to win just as hard either way. Besides...” She smiled, and a faint blush came to her cheeks. “I kind of want it to be real. Because if it is, then we get to save the world.”

“Us?” Sweetie squeaked. “But we’re not ready for that kind of responsibility! We don’t even have our cutie marks yet!”

“I know, right?” Scootaloo exclaimed, her smile widening. “We get to save Equestria from destruction before we even have our cutie marks! Well... our real ones, anyway,” she added, looking back at her circle-spotted flank.

“What’d you tell Cheerilee that was for, again?” Apple Bloom asked.

“I forget. Spinning, or something. But I know what it means to me.” She grinned fondly at the indecipherable whiteness attached to her. “I know that when the next monster comes, I’m going to fight it. And no matter if this is a game or not, I’m going to fight like the whole world depends on it. And who knows? Maybe this can become my destiny after all.”

She stood up, stretching her stubby wings to the sky. “This could be the start of something big. What if my special talent is saving the world? Scootaloo, professional monster-slayer and world-saver. I like the sound of that. And some day, when I’m older and my wings have grown out, I’ll come back here and fly out over the place where the cliffs used to be, and I’ll think back to where this all started. Right here, and right now. And...” She looked towards her friends. “You guys are gonna be with me the whole way. Right?”

“Right!” Sweetie Belle chirped.

“Uh... right.” Apple Bloom gulped. “But Scoots... what if you lose?”

“Come on, guys.” Scootaloo laughed. “Do you really think I’m going to lose?”

The others looked at each other. Before they could answer, another voice boomed from behind them. "It's good to hear you're enthusiastic."

The three fillies jumped. Scootaloo's hoof hit the edge of the dropoff, and she flinched away from the edge. "Cicada!" she yelled, turning around to see the enigmatic mouse floating nearby. "Could you not do that while we're on the edge of a cliff?"

"If you asked, I would catch you if you fell." Cicada drifted closer. "That is beside the point, of course. You seem enthusiastic. Are you ready for your battle?"

"Am I?" Scootaloo dropped into a fighting crouch and stomped menacingly. "I'll take on anything you can throw at me."

"Good." For a second the sky seemed to light up. "Because it's time."

Battle 2: Bullwhip

There was a flash, and a sound like tearing paper.

The three ponies who'd been on the cliff found themselves instantly in the robot's cockpit, standing or slumped awkwardly in their respective chairs. They settled into a proper seating position as one by one, the other members of the group arrived. Almost all of them were asleep, either rapidly waking up or just curling up tightly in whatever seat they'd landed in. Gradually, loud groans started to fill the cockpit, ponies protesting before they fully woke up to where they were. Diamond Tiara fell out of her chair.

"Hey, everyone!" Scootaloo yelled, flapping her wings excitedly. "Wake up! It's time!"

Spike opened his eyes. "What do you mean... oh no." He bolted upright, clinging tightly to his chair. "Oh no. What are we doing here?"

Cicada floated down from somewhere near the ceiling. "Were you not paying attention?" he said. "It's time. Round one begins in less than a minute."

"Why now?" Piña Colada complained. Cicada had warped her to her chosen spot on Silver Spoon's loveseat, and she was unsuccessfully trying to poke the other pony on it awake. "It's the middle of the night!"

"I don't control when the enemies arrive. Battles happen when they happen. It's your job to be ready." Cicada twirled in a circle, looking around the room. Most of the foals were looking up in sleepy confusion. Diamond Tiara hesitantly got back into her seat. Satisfied, he drifted down in front of Scootaloo. His voice seemed softer than before. "Now, little pony. Are you ready?"

The pegasus grinned cockily. "You know it."

"Very well." The mouse rose up again. "Let's get this show on the road."

There was a terrible noise, like a mighty beast groaning to life, and a spot of blackness appeared on the wall behind Scootaloo's head. This expanded to fill the room, surrounding the group with darkness. Those who hadn't been awake before certainly were now. The chairs simultaneously rose into the air, eliciting a few shrieks, but nopony dared to move. All at once, Scootaloo twitched. She stiffened, her body glued to her cloud, eyes wide, then closed. The others stared at her, breaths held.

After a while, she spoke. "...I can feel it," she said. "Somewhere..." She looked around. Everything was still blackness. "Where are we? I know it wasn't this dark a minute ago."

"Underwater," Cicada answered. "Between battles, I hid the robot way off the coast of the town you're in. Normally I'll transport you straight to your opponent when it's your turn, but since it's your first time as a group, I left you down here to figure out the controls." He drifted almost to the floor, angling his face downwards. "You're down there. You can climb up whenever you're ready."

Scootaloo peered down. Within what she now recognized as murky depths, she could see the outline of an even darker shape on the ocean floor. "It's too dark," she muttered. "If I could just..." She closed her eyes and focused.

As if responding to her thoughts, the robot lit up. Orange magic rolled in lines across the giant's surface, brightening the waters around it and illuminating the massive shape from all sides. Scootaloo grinned. Tilting her head, she moved the projection on the walls of the cockpit around the robot in a circle, examining it from all sides. Apple Bloom gulped. "Scoots?" she asked. "How are you doin' that?"

"I don't know," Scootaloo said gleefully, returning her field of vision to its normal place above the giant. "I just am." She looked at Cicada, who was now floating close above her, as he'd done with Pollinia. "Hey, Cicada?" she asked. "What's this robot's name?"

"Name?" The mouse tilted slightly, as though confused. "It doesn't have a name."

"It's gotta have a name," she argued. "Anything this important should have a name. Can't you give it one?"

"Not my job." He turned away. "But if you want to call it something for your convenience, that's up to you."

Scootaloo looked back to the rest of the group. "What do you think, guys?"

Almost immediately, Dinky Doo piped up. "Unicron!" she yelled.

"That's a dumb name," Diamond Tiara huffed. "It sounds like something a little kid would make up."

Dinky frowned. "But... look," she said, pointing down. "It's a unicorn."

"Not all of us are unicorns, Dinky," Peachy Pie said. "We should give it a name that's fair to everypony."

"Everyone," Spike added.

Snips spoke next, followed by others. “Mega-mare?”

“Z-Pony?”

“Colossus?”

“Ponyville Prime?”

“Black Thnooty?”

“Equus?”

Scootaloo shook her head. As pilot, it was mutually understood that she would have the last say. "No, no... wait." She paused. "What was that last one?"

Everyone looked towards Berry Pinch, who'd been the last to speak. "Oh, um... I said Equus." She shrank a little in her seat, smiling shyly at the unexpected attention. "Like the giant horses from old legends. And I just thought, since we're fighting for Equestria, and we're all Equestrians, ponies or not... I just thought it fit."

There was a pause. "Ah like it," Apple Bloom said. "Equus it is!"

There were nods of agreement, some hesitant, most genuine. "All right," Scootaloo said. "Now we're ready." She raised herself up in her seat and pointed skyward. "Equus... Go!"

Nothing happened.

A few ponies looked at each other. "Shouldn't something be happening?" offered Rumble.

"Um... hang on." Scootaloo shuffled uncomfortably. She refused to look towards Cicada, whom she could feel staring at her. Experimentally, she raised one of her legs, trying to encourage the robot below to do the same. Part of it moved, but not enough to shift the titanic structure. "Come on," she muttered. She closed her eyes again and focused, trying to tap into the part of herself that had known how to turn on the lights. All I gotta do is...

Suddenly, something clicked.

The giant's leg moved. Scootaloo's eyes sprang open. "I get it," she said, then bounced and flapped excitedly. "I get it!"

"What?" Sweetie Belle asked, chewing a hoof nervously. "What do you get?"

"I... I can feel it," Scootaloo explained. "I'm not... controlling the robot. I'm not moving the robot. I... I am the robot!"

A world opened up inside her head. She saw through a hundred new eyes; she flexed muscles she'd never known she had. With newfound strength, she lifted up her metal legs and took her first, stumbling steps as Equus, orienting herself against the angle of the slope and beginning the climb to her first battle.

It took only a few strides for her to get used to the giant’s pace, and only a few after that before light started to become visible on the surface. She shut off the lights on her sides and marched on. Close to the shore was a dropoff where the ground rose up sharply, right at the point where the top of her horn was leaving the water. She stopped and raised herself up carefully, twice almost stumbling before she managed to get her enormous front hooves over what was, to her, a step. “You sure you’re okay, Scoots?” Apple Bloom asked.

“Yeah, I got this,” she answered confidently. “Just getting used to balancing.” As she pulled herself up her head breached the water, followed by the rest of her. Water sprayed off in all directions as the titan emerged, rivers running down its sides in the moonlight. They were still a considerable distance from the shore, but the water only came up to Equus’ knees. It marched forward and then stood proudly, needlessly turning its head from side to side as Scootaloo scoured the night horizon for signs of her opponent.

When she saw it, she summed up the thoughts of everyone present in a single word. “Huh?”

Coiled up near the base of the former cliffs of Seaddle was a long, ropelike mass. Like Equus, it seemed to be made from plates of armour, but unlike the massive unicorn it was a faintly glowing white, rounded all over without any hard lines to be seen. It was wrapped around itself like a serpent, but without an obvious head; a metallic dome topped the pile, a small green patch glowing up towards the sky.

"That's my opponent?" Scootaloo said incredulously. "What even is that? How am I supposed to fight it?"

"You're the pilot," Cicada said, orbiting around her lazily. "Figure it out. It doesn't matter what strategies you use, so long as you manage to destroy its vital spot."

"Right." She eyed the pale mass warily. "I don't think it's noticed us yet. I'm gonna try a beam!"

Nothing happened. Frowning angrily, Scootaloo looked around at the unicorns of the group. "Hey, guys? How do you use magic?"

Those with horns looked at one another and made various shrugging motions. Sweetie Belle winced. "Um... it just kinda comes naturally?"

"Never mind, I got it." The robot's horn began to glow, amassing a ball of orange energy at the tip of its horn. Scootaloo grinned and pointed. "Equus... Fire!"

A beam of light rocketed out, leaving with enough force to send Equus sliding back slightly through the water. It scored a direct hit on the enemy's side, but was deflected off, shooting out over the ocean. Somewhere near the horizon, an explosion shot a plume of water and stone hundreds of feet into the air, leaving a swirling cloud of steam behind.

Tornado Bolt turned pale. "That was... too much," she said. "If that had bounced the other way..."

"I know," Scootaloo said, slightly shaken herself. At the edge of hearing, she could detect Seaddle's earthquake sirens going off again. The enemy robot's side was scorched, but not so much as dented. "I don't think I'll try that again." She livened up and settled into a fighting stance, preparing to charge. "Guess we'll just have to do this the hard way."

"Careful," Archer cautioned, looking over her shoulder. "It definitely knows you're here now."

The enemy was starting to uncoil. The dome on its head rose into the air, revealing a cluster of barbed tentacles dangling down behind it, centered around one large one. Seemingly unencumbered by gravity, it rapidly untangled itself and rose into the sky, swimming through the air like an eel. Its main tail was easily twice the length of Equus, snaking spastically back and forth in the air, while the smaller tentacles that surrounded it pulsed in and out from the center in unison. The combined motions resembled a snake/jellyfish hybrid, circling far out of reach over Equus' head as the assembled foals looked on in bafflement.

"...No fair," Scootaloo croaked.

Before she could figure out what to do about this new development, the serpentine robot abruptly changed its course and dropped out of the sky, rapidly picking up speed. "Look out, it's coming!" Peachy Pie squeaked, covering her head with her hooves.

Scootaloo tried to dodge to avoid the charge, but only ended up stumbling and barely moved. The falling robot continued, aiming directly for her head, but at the last second turned sharply upwards. Its tail, however, continued on, cracking against Equus' face like a whip. The impact was enough to severely dent the unicorn's face-plate, as well as sending it toppling over to the side. Scootaloo reeled back as though she'd been struck herself. She threw out one metal hoof and barely managed to catch herself before she fell, but before she could rally a counterattack her opponent had already sped off into the sky, picking up speed for another strike.

"Augh!" Scootaloo yelled in frustration. She lit up her horn again and fired off three shots in quick succession, two missing completely, the third only glancing off the serpent's domed head and blasting a hole in the clouds above. This slowed but didn't stop it as it charged down again, this time from the side, and landed another denting crack on Equus' neck before shooting straight up into the sky again.

"What are you waiting for, loser?" Diamond Tiara yelled. "Just kick it or something!"

"Hey, this is hard!" Scootaloo shouted back, trying to keep her temper. She followed the pale serpent with her eyes, counting down the seconds until it struck again. The moment its path changed, she reared up and turned to face it, readying her front hooves. It dove towards her, not stopping. As it got closer, she swung, and missed; the robot was too fast, dodging out of the way seemingly without trying and cracking another blow directly to her underbelly.

"Ah!" She clutched at her own belly and tried another swipe at the serpent, managing to catch the tip of its tail but only managing to knock it aside. The serpent didn't bother rising all the way up into the sky this time, circling just above the unicorn and twisting every few turns to snap its tail downwards, landing lash after lash onto Equus' unprotected back.

Scootaloo tried to rear up again, swiping at the tauntingly close enemy, but its tentacles sailed overhead just out of reach. A crack across the back of her head was all it took to smack her back into the ground. Another blow landed right across her horn, bending it sharply downwards and almost ripping it from her face.

"Oh, come on!" Scootaloo yelled. "This isn't fair!" She looked towards Cicada furiously, but the mouse seemed to be ignoring her. "How can that thing fly when I can't? How do you expect me to beat this thing?"

Cicada stayed silent, staring down at the tortured sight below. The enemy had turned its attention from Equus' head and was starting to slam against the dark robot's side, putting a widening crack in the armour. Scootaloo turned furiously and swung at it, managing to score a direct punch on the middle of the descending tail. There was an ear-splitting crash of metal smashing against metal, and the two giants were thrown away from each other. The serpent sprung back into the air, the lower half of its main tail now branching off at a strange angle. Scootaloo, however, had come out of it the worst; half of her right forehoof had been torn off, leaving a jagged stump that slowly bled metallic debris.

"No, no, no!" Scootaloo stomped on her cloud, and her giant did the same, sending up shockwaves at it slammed the remaining half of its hoof into the ground. "This is impossible!"

"Don't give up!" Dinky Doo reassured her, though she trembled in fear as the serpent swung around and started to circle again. "We believe in you!"

“I think I’ve figured out your cutie mark,” Rumble added from across the circle. “It’s your opponent’s tails, eight small and one big. If you looked at it directly from behind—”

"I don’t care, Rumble!" Scootaloo yelled. “What do I do?” She snorted and pawed at the ground. "Fine. If that's how it wants to play... I'm gonna charge it!"

"Scootaloo, wait," Archer spoke up. She tracked the serpent's movements carefully as it circled above them. It was rising up high again, trying to regain its lost speed. "The most flexible joints on the tails seem to be right behind the head. If you can land just one hit on the back of the dome, you might be able to disable the entire body!"

"Really? Awesome!" Scootaloo grinned, but her anger was diminished only slightly. But how do I reach it? she argued. The only part of it I can reach is its tail. It always keeps its head out of reach, and to hit it I'd have to attack from above. If I could... just... fly!

But amidst a pit of old resentment and burning frustration, a newer, somehow calmer part of herself made itself known. But I can't fly. Like it or not, this is what I have to work with. So what can I do?

Slowly, another grin started to appear on her face, a real one this time. "Hang on, guys," she said. "I've got an idea." Keeping her face turned towards the circling serpent, she maneuvered away and started to back towards the ocean, into the deeper, darker waters.

Seeming to sense her intent, the serpent changed course, abandoning its circles and diving out of the sky towards her. The others tried to edge away in their seats. "Scoots, whatever you're doin', can you do it fast?" Apple Bloom requested.

"Don't worry," Scootaloo said calmly. Her rear hoof hit the edge of the dropoff. She laughed. "It's funny... I always do my best thinking on the edge of cliffs." A second before the serpent struck, she jumped backwards.

The twirling tail swished harmlessly overhead as Scootaloo sank into the ocean, darkness concealing her. She crouched down, keeping the last of her head under the water and hiding her from view altogether. "That's a nice move," Cicada finally said, a glimmer of grudging respect in his voice. "But it's not going to help you. You can't win battles by hiding."

"I'm not done yet," Scootaloo said proudly. "Watch this!" She called up the barest glimmer of light into her bent horn and fired a pencil-thin beam into the ground in front of her. Even this was enough to blow a small crater into the ocean floor, shaking the ground and sending up a plume of dark bubbles. Satisfied, she fired off a second beam, then a third, each a little bit further away, forming a trail down the slope leading deeper into the waters. After the fifth beam, she stopped and tensed up. She did not have to wait long.

Barely a second later, the white robot crashed its way down into the water above where the fifth beam had landed, its tail swinging around to meet an opponent who wasn't there. Instantly, Scootaloo leaped. Bright lights sprung up along her sides as she smashed into the full body of the serpent, getting one leg over it and dragging it down into the darkness. Together they hit the ocean floor with an explosion of dust and a boom that shook the cockpit, the robot on the bottom wedged partially into the soft ground.

The serpent's smaller tentacles now made their purpose known as they reached and impaled themselves in both the ground and the unicorn, trying to pry itself free while the main tail thrashed wildly. Scootaloo, however, did not give up in her assault. She pulled away and stomped her front hooves down, pinning the thick tail to the floor with one hoof and crushing the back of the dome with the remains of the other. She reared up and stomped down again and again, laughing and shouting in exhilaration, as the twitching of the serpent’s tails got weaker and then stopped completely.

"You can stop now," Cicada said eventually, unaffected by her enthusiasm. "You've crushed its vital spot. The battle is over."

As he said this, Scootaloo cracked one last stomp onto the serpent and then stopped. The faint glow from her opponent, as well as the bright green plate on its head, had both gone out. She leaned back as the lights from her own robot went out as well, accompanied by the fading whirring sound as the power drained out of it. "Whew," she said, wiping her forehead. She hadn't realized she'd been sweating.

Gently, the circle of chairs lowered themselves to the floor, and the darkness around them was replaced by the familiar brown of the cockpit's walls. The group was silent for only a second more before Apple Bloom started cheering. "Woo hoo! Scootaloo, you did it!" She leaped up from her chair and ran towards her friend, stomping in applause the whole way. Others got up and joined her, standing and stomping in a circle around Scootaloo's cloud. "Ah knew you could do it," Apple Bloom continued, tears of pride in her eyes. "Ah believed in you the whole time."

"You really are a professional monster slayer!" Sweetie Belle added.

"That was so awesome!" Snips shouted, practically bouncing.

"Nicely done," Archer said, nodding in approval.

"Good job, loser," Silver Spoon added, not quite looking at her.

"Thanks, guys," Scootaloo replied, breathing heavily. "But I couldn't have done it without—"

There was a pop, and her friends vanished. Scootaloo froze, glaring up at Cicada, who was floating in the middle of the room. "Hey, what gives?" she yelled. "Where did they go?"

"Back to the hotel. Now that the danger's passed, your teacher will be checking on them any second." He drifted closer, but seemed hesitant, lacking the usual directness in his movements. "Good job, kid," he said haltingly. "To be honest, I didn't think you had it in you. You've far exceeded my expectations... which weren't high to begin with, true, but still. Well done."

"Uh... thanks?" Scootaloo replied, uncertain whether she'd just been complimented or not. "So why am I still here? Can I go back to my friends now?"

"Not yet," Cicada answered. "You've earned a reward. There's something I thought you'd like to see."

With a flash, Scootaloo disappeared. She instinctively closed her eyes, but when she opened them again, they went wide with shock.

She was flying over what had once been the cliffs of Seaddle. Or, more accurately, she was falling over what had once been the cliffs of Seaddle. She was high up in the air, higher than she'd ever been on her own, and her stubby wings were utterly failing to keep her aloft. She started to scream, but then stopped when two facts came to her attention. The first was that, even though she could feel herself moving downwards, the air wasn't rushing upwards past her like it should have been; the second that, despite the same, the ground didn't seem to be moving any closer. She stopped her flailing and looked around, confused, as a flash of whiteness passed in front of her eyes. Cicada was floating nearby, keeping her afloat. Once every half-second, he would teleport her back up to her initial height, causing her to fall through the same patch of sky over and over again. "Enjoying the view?" he said.

"Uh..." Now that her heart had stopped trying to burst through her chest, she took a moment to look around. She could see the whole of Seaddle stretching out in one direction, and the endless ocean falling away in the other. She could trace the pattern where Pollinia had fallen into the cliffs, and even make out an imprint of the dark unicorn in the stone. "Yeah," she said breathlessly. "This is..." She broke out into a grin. "This is incredible!"

With a whoop, she started flapping again and angled herself into a dive. Cicada reduced the frequency of his warps and let her fall, simulating her soaring over the destroyed cliffs. He let her "fly" back and forth until she located the spot where the lighthouse had once been, gently correcting her until she was hovering in the exact spot where she and her friends had stood together just a day before, looking over the ocean.

"Thanks, Cicada," Scootaloo said, flapping her wings contentedly. "You're not such a bad guy after all." She looked up at him wearily. Despite having done little of the work herself, she was finding herself out of breath, her little heart pumping faster and faster.

Cicada sighed. "Don't mention it," he said. He turned away, staring out over the ocean as well. "So, tell me," he said, speaking slowly. "When Pollinia was with you, she didn't tell you... anything about what was going to happen? Anything at all?"

"No. But hey, look at us! It's not like we needed her help, right?" She rolled over onto her back and looked at Cicada, who was still staring out over the water. "Why?" she asked. "Is there something I should know?"

Cicada was silent for a while. Eventually, he spoke. "Nothing that can't wait until morning."

They floated there for a minute more, the mouse and the pegasus filly side by side. Then, at the same time, they vanished.

The Journey Home

By the time Apple Bloom woke up that morning, Scootaloo still had not returned.

She rolled over and sat up quickly, shielding her eyes from a sudden ray of sunlight. Although she was the first one to wake, the curtains had already been drawn, blasting light from the dawn directly down onto her. Floating silently in the middle of the beam was a small, familiar shape. “Cicada!” she yelled.

The shout woke up Sweetie Belle, as well as the three fillies in the bed opposite. As they roused themselves with varying degrees of urgency, Apple Bloom jumped down from the bed and stomped towards Cicada with eyes narrowed. “What have you done with Scootaloo?” she demanded.

The mouse’s answer was calm. “I sent her home.”

There was a pause. “...Oh.” Apple Bloom stepped back a little, kicking at the ground guiltily. “What’d you go and do that for?”

“It’s standard procedure. Once a pilot’s battle is concluded, unless they’ve made prior arrangements with me about where they should be sent, I jump them back to their home. Another thing Pollinia was supposed to have told you.”

There was something off-putting about the way Cicada spoke. His voice lacked the dynamic quality it had had on previous encounters; now, he sounded as though he was just reading lines. His tone was more dull, more wooden, more — Apple Bloom considered the word — robotic. “Well,” she continued, “it woulda been nice to know. We were all startin’ to get worried.”

“It is not my job to inform you of the rules,” Cicada repeated. “Merely to enforce them.” He turned away. “If you call for me, I will return. However, it would be best if we did not speak outside of battles.”

Before anypony else could say anything, he disappeared.

“Wow,” Archer muttered, lifting up her head. “What’s eating him?”

Sweetie Belle sleepily crawled to the edge of the bed and looked up at the space where the mouse had been. “He sounded like he was mad about something,” she offered. “Do you think Scootaloo maybe said something he didn’t like after we left?”

“Maybe he’s still annoyed we’re all just foals,” Tornado Bolt added with a shrug.

“Five more minutes!” Peachy Pie groaned, rolling over underneath the sheets.

The hotel’s dining room was livelier than it had been a day earlier. The carnival folk, now twice-delayed by unexplained tremors, had crowded together in the hotel for a last meal before they finally finished packing and moved on. Despite the losses and inconveniences they'd suffered in the past two days, almost all were laughing and smiling, mostly clustered around two large tables as they devoured everything that the kitchen had had left.

Cheerilee's group, however, was strangely quiet. They cast furtive glances at one another while anxiety claimed space in their stomachs, making the meal a slow one. Cheerilee herself had been near hysterics since sunrise. Archer had stuck to her story about Scootaloo leaving the hotel during the night, which was, technically, the truth. Ever since, the teacher couldn't sit still for more than a few seconds, endlessly stirring a now cold cup of coffee, only pausing to give her students the most reassuring smiles she could manage before disappearing off to talk to the mayor or another of the carnival ponies again.

About halfway through breakfast, Dinky Doo as well as a few others slipped back into their seats. Cheerilee hadn't noticed that they'd left. "A lot of them went out and saw us fight last night," the little unicorn told the group, passing whispers in both directions around the table. "Some of them took pictures, but they're not sure what to do with them. They don't think anypony's going to believe them."

"What about Pollinia?" Piña Colada hissed back directly. "Did you find her?"

Tornado Bolt, who'd been in charge of this question, shook her head. "None of the ponies I asked knew who she was. But they say that ponies join and leave the group all the time, and not all of them are here right now. Maybe she just left early."

Twist shook her head sadly. "I don't think we're ever going to thee her again. You guyth, I'm tho thorry—"

"We get it, Twist," Archer groaned. "We know you didn't mean it. Can you just drop it already?"

Twist's face fell yet further. Seeing this, Apple Bloom reached out and held her hoof under the tablecloth, not saying anything. "Cheerilee's asked a lot of them about Scootaloo already,” Rumble added. “They said they'd keep their eyes open, but..." He tightened his lips and looked at his plate.

Spike wrung his claws, for once without an appetite. “Shouldn’t we tell her?” he said, uncomfortably loudly. “Now that there’s proof, she’d have to believe us. It’s wrong to stress her out like this for no reason.”

“I wouldn’t,” Piña Colada broke in quickly. “When somepony’s mega-stressed is the worst time to give them news. If we go up to her now and start talking about robot battles and magic flying mice, she’ll just say to stop making up stories and yell at us for not taking Scootaloo being missing seriously.”

“What? No.” Spike stared at her hard. “She wouldn’t do that. Cheerilee’s not like that.”

The discussion screeched to a halt when they heard their teacher shouting from a few tables over. “That’s not good enough!”

Everypony turned to stare, including a fair number of the carnival ponies. Cheerilee stood seething in front of a table near the corner of the room, where Mayor Ocean Breeze and an impressively mustached pegasus pony were both sitting. "Cheerilee, please, calm down," the mayor was saying.

"I'll calm down when I know that Scootaloo is safe!" Cheerilee yelled back. She turned her glare towards the other pony at the table. "How can you be short-staffed? I thought Seaddle was supposed to be famous for its safety!"

The pegasus shifted uncomfortably. "We're built to outlast just about anything, true," he said in a dull, dusty voice, "but most of our residents are, ahem, older, and have the, ahem, sense not to wander off during earthquakes..." He shrank in his seat as Cheerilee's glare intensified. "Of course, we'll double shifts as soon as everypony gets together," he added quickly. "It shouldn't take long to sweep the town, and we'll do a thorough search around the cliffs, but if she made it to the ocean..."

Ocean Breeze's frantic zip-it gestures didn't come quickly enough. Cheerilee's lower lip trembled, and suppressed sobs began to spill out of her. She grabbed for a chair and fell into it, biting back tears. The mayor stood up and cautiously rested a hoof on her shoulder. "There there, dear," she said, shooting a filthy look at the mustached pony. "I'm sure it hasn't come to that. She's probably just fast asleep in a corner somewhere, safe and sound, waiting for us to wake her up and bring her some breakfast, mm-hm?"

Cheerilee nodded, though her muffled whimpers didn't stop. "Our train home leaves this afternoon, and there won't be another for days. We don't have the money to stay that long. You have to find her soon."

"If it comes to it," Ocean Breeze said gently, "I'll put you up myself."

"No... no, I couldn't do that." She gestured back to her own table, where a dozen foals suddenly pretended to be very interested in their breakfasts. "My other little ones have families to go back to. I couldn't to that to them."

"Well then," the mustached pony huffed, "it seems you have a choice to make. Stay here and fuss, or leave and trust us to get your filly back to you safely." He started to move towards her as well, but at a sharp look from Ocean Breeze sat back down.

"I don't know," Cheerilee mumbled shakily. "Please, just find her."

Piña Colada looked back at Spike triumphantly. "See?" she said. "Do you want to start bugging her with what sounds like fairy tales now? Or do you want to let her get back to Ponyville, see that Scootaloo is safe with her own eyes, and then blow her mind?"

Spike glowered indecisively at the table, folding up his arms. Apple Bloom lifted herself up in her seat. "Cicada?" she called hopefully. Despite his promise, the little mouse failed to appear.

The train ride home was a quiet one.

The journey from Seaddle to Ponyville took about six hours, first going up, then down. Cheerilee spent most of it in her own compartment, staring out the window into space. The others settled in for the long haul, reading, playing in the aisles, or simply waiting, watching the high-speed landscape roll by.

Around the three-hour mark, a sharp turn of the tracks at the top of one of the steeper hills brought Seaddle into view once again, far in the distance. Those who could be bothered roused themselves and gathered around the windows on one side of the train, peering back at the brownish blob on the horizon and the endless blue beyond. This spot had marked their first view of both Seaddle and the ocean on the journey there, and would be their last on the return journey. "Do you think we'll ever go back there?" Tornado Bolt asked.

"Ah know we will," Apple Bloom yelled back from two windows over. "Scootaloo's started makin' plans already."

"It lookth tho pretty from high up," Twist sighed from the middle window.

"I just hope the other battles happen far away," Archer said. "We got lucky that the last one started so far away from the coast. If one of those robots ever landed right in the middle of town..."

"That would be so cool!" Snips piped up.

The others looked back. The two unicorn colts were sprawled out in the middle of the aisle, a selection of papers splayed around them, pencil crayons rolling back and forth around them with the gentle rocking of the train. "Yeah," Snails joined in, his eyes lighting up. "Giant robots fighting in the middle of a city!"

"Town," Snips automatically corrected him. "Right where everypony can see! Lasers flying everywhere! Giant hoofsteps shaking the ground!"

"Punching and kicking!"

"Flying magnificently through the air!"

"The greatest and most powerful monsters in Equestria!"

"Crushed houses," Archer broke in flatly. "Streets torn up everywhere they go. Ponies getting stepped on. Families ruined. Blood everywhere."

Snips and Snails looked at her, then back at each other. Their grins only widened. They spoke in unison. "That sounds—"

"Not. Cool." The filly jumped down and walked over to them. "What are you drawing, anyway?"

"We're drawing what we think the next robots are gonna look like!" Snips held his sketch up proudly. “I call this one Mega-Bear! It’s got a fur coat made from molten moonlight and claws that can cut through anything!”

Snails followed suit and lifted up his drawing, which looked suspiciously like his own cutie mark with beams of light shooting out of it. “Mine’s called Super Snail,” he said. “It’s got... uh... laser eyes!”

“I’m drawing a squirrel!” Dinky Doo added from further on, only half-listening.

Archer wrinkled her nose at the former two. "You're both idiots," she snapped, swatting the page out of Snails' mouth. "This isn't a game, okay? You can't treat it like one! We've been lucky so far, but if one of us slips up, lots of ponies could really die!"

A new voice spoke up from across the aisle. "Aw, lighten up, Scootablue."

Archer glared. Diamond Tiara flipped her mane at her, turning back to look out the window. Silver Spoon was close by her side, giggling. "Let the dummies have their fun," Diamond Tiara continued. “They’re not hurting anypony.”

"Not yet. Don't you get it?" Archer bared her teeth. "This isn't a game!"

"Oh, now it isn't a game?" Diamond Tiara now looked at her, a smirk on her face. "You let Scootaloo walk off on her own last night, but now that giant monsters are involved suddenly you take things seriously? Come on, Scootablue. Everypony knows you're just the weird filly who spends all her time at the arcade because she doesn't have her own life. I think maybe it's you who can't tell the difference between games and reality."

Silver Spoon giggled. "Maybe that's where she got Scootaloo's face from, too. She had to steal one for herself because she's such a freak she doesn't have one of her own."

Archer facehoofed. She could sense everypony else staring at her, none brave enough to come to her aid. "That... that doesn't even make sense!" she protested.

"You don't make sense," Diamond Tiara retorted. "And stop trying to put yourself in charge. You'll get your turn like everypony else."

"Then who should be in charge?" Archer snapped. "You?"

Diamond Tiara shrugged. "Better than some friendless loser."

That was the last straw. Archer started to stomp forward, growling. Sensing her intent, Tornado Bolt jumped down from her seat and held her back. "Don't do it," she hissed. "I'm your friend, okay? We all are. Don't let them get to you like that."

After a few tense moments, Archer relaxed. Tornado Bolt sighed. She carefully moved around Archer, careful not to step on either of the colts or their drawings still on the floor. She gently pushed her friend back, smiled in relief, and then turned around and leaped at Diamond Tiara with a screech.

The sound of scuffling and yelps of pain reached Cheerilee's ears like cannonfire and drew her impulsively to them, flinging the door open within seconds and dashing over to the fighting pair. Silver Spoon had elected to hide under the seat while Tornado Bolt held Diamond Tiara down and yanked on her mane, the pink filly flailing at her from underneath. Cheerilee quickly pulled them away from each other, staring hard at them both. "Tornado Bolt, we've discussed this," she said sternly. "No fighting."

The pegasus let herself be pushed to the far side of the seat, while Diamond Tiara willingly shrank to the corner near the window. "She started it," they both said in unison.

"It doesn't matter who started it," Cheerilee sighed. "It takes two to start a fight. Now apologise to each other."

The two glowered at each other. "I'm sorry I let your words get to me like that," Tornado Bolt said coldly. "I shouldn't have overreacted. I won't do it again."

Diamond Tiara stuck her nose in the air. "I'm sorry I didn't explain myself more clearly," she said, matching the other filly's tone. "Then maybe you wouldn't have gotten so mad over nothing."

This didn't seem to entirely satisfy Cheerilee, but she looked as though she didn't have the energy to press the issue. "Just don't do it again," she said. "I know you're all worried about Scootaloo, so I'll let it slide this time, but if it happens again then I'll have to tell your parents. Understand?" They both nodded. "Good. Now, I think I'll spend the rest of the trip in here." She turned away as the two fillies glared daggers at each other again and Tornado Bolt hopped down to rejoin her friends. The teacher took a moment to collect herself before smiling down at the colts on the floor. "What are you drawing?" she asked.

"A squirrel!" Dinky Doo yelled, waving her paper in the air.

No one had been looking as the train had turned again, and Seaddle disappeared completely from view.

The sun was setting when the train pulled into Ponyville. Spike roused the ponies who had fallen asleep and helped Cheerilee to herd them towards the doors. This became markedly easier when the walls of the train opened up and the assembled foals saw who was waiting for them outside. "Mommy!" Dinky Doo shouted first, charging ahead and leaping into the embrace of a wall-eyed pegasus.

The others came out in small bunches, sometimes pushing each other to be the first off the train. Peachy Pie ran up to a cluster of yellow ponies and immediately clapped hooves with her sister; Tornado Bolt submitted to her mother’s nuzzling. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon both slid up to their respective fathers, smirked at each other, and immediately started to lead the way home.

Piña Colada and Berry Pinch were among the last to leave. They approached a thin, frail-looking earth pony near the back of the platform and stopped a short distance away. "Hey mom," Piña Colada said briskly. "Is Berry Punch coming?"

The older pony shook her head. "She's... tired," she answered in a voice that sounded like it could be carried off in a stiff breeze. "I'll walk you home."

"Okay grandmom," Berry Pinch said, smiling up at her. As they started to leave the platform, she noticed Rumble walking off all on his own. "Hey, Rumble?" she called. "Don't you have somepony to pick you up?"

"Huh?" Rumble looked back. "Nah, I'm fine," he answered when he saw who was talking. "My family's up in Cloudsdale right now. They trust me to get home on my own."

"Oh." She smiled shyly at him. "Do you... do you want to come with us?"

Rumble blushed. "Thanks, but, uh... I think I'm going the other way," he said quickly. "See you tomorrow, okay?" He turned and quickly scurried in the direction of Ponyville's outskirts.

By this point, Piña Colada and her mother had already walked some distance away. "Pinchy, don't waste time!" the pink filly shouted back.

Berry Pinch scrambled after them. "Sorry, Aunt Piña."

Back on the platform, Sweetie Belle was still being fussed over by her parents. "And how was the ocean?" her mother was asking while her father continually ruffled her mane. "Was it big? Was it really, really big?"

"Um... yeah. It really was." While she tried to make conversation, Sweetie's eyes searched the platform, searching for a trace of orange. Her eyes met those of Apple Bloom, who was being similarly fussed over by her family, then they both looked towards the one pony at the station who was still standing on her own.

Neither of them had ever seen Scootaloo's mother before. She was a surprisingly short pegasus mare, looking for all the world like a blown-up version of her daughter, save for the miniature rainstorm printed on her flank. Her expression was an impatient one, the face of a mare who had more important places to be, but it was slowly falling away as Cheerilee got off the train at the back of the line. She made her way up to the teacher, a flicker of uncertainty crossing her, as though she were only seeing the station for the first time. "Cheerilee?" she asked. "Where is Scootaloo?"

There was a long pause as Cheerilee stood in place, trembling, unable to speak.

Shining Armour strode through the hospital with no small degree of urgency. Despite the late hour, he was still in his full uniform, and had been ever since reading the message that had arrived that morning. Even so, he started to worry as he rushed down dusty corridors; although the main wing of Canterlot General had been bustling as usual, he hadn't seen another soul since his arrival on the top floor.

Arriving at the correct door, a pair of gold-plated guards briskly saluted and stepped aside. Even so, the guard captain double-checked the piece of paper he'd tucked behind his ear and then knocked. "It's not locked!" a distant voice rang out.

Gulping, Shining Armour opened the door into a wide, dark chamber. The air in here was cold and tasted like soap. "Over here," the voice called again, coming from the light of a sole lantern in the far corner of the room. A white pony in a lab coat waved him over, hunched at a desk in front of a covered operating table. “You made excellent time from the Crystal Empire,” he continued as Shining Armour approached. “I was half-expecting one of your subordinates to turn up in your stead... your Highness.”

“You requested me by name,” Shining Armour stated. “Until Watchtower is officially sworn in, I’m still the head of Equestrian security. Any threats made against us are my responsibility.” He looked around. “This isn’t exactly the reception I was expecting either, though.”

“These aren’t exactly average circumstances,” the doctor shrugged. He was a large yet wiry earth pony with the beginnings of an unkempt beard sprouting from his chin, a perpetually distracted smile fixed just above it. His eyes were grey and his mane was a faded pink, but white roots could be seen growing up around his skull; he was an albino. Shining Armour tried to catch a glimpse of his cutie mark as he turned away, but his lab coat covered it up. “But since you’re here now,” he continued, “why don’t we see what you make of this?” He drew back the sheet on the table with a flourish.

Shining Armour took a step back. He gagged, turning a pale shade of green. “Is this an autopsy?” he demanded. “You could have warned me that this was an autopsy!”

“Was the room not warning enough?” The doctor’s smile didn’t waver. “I’m sorry. When you’re ready, then.”

Allowing himself a glare, Shining Armour moved forward. No matter what horrors he’d seen, he reflected, either in training or in service, nothing could ever prepare anypony for the sight of a foal lying still and partly cut open on a table. “Wait a minute,” he said, staring at her intact, still-smiling face. “I know her. This is one of my sister’s friends. She... she was a flower filly at my wedding.” He held in a shudder and turned sharply towards the doctor. “All right, what’s going on here? Who are you?”

“Red Cross,” the doctor said, introducing himself with a shallow bow. “Assistant head of the Canterlot Medical Board, and as of now, your new assistant.”

Shining Armour glared suspiciously. “I wasn’t aware that even the Board had the authority to conduct autopsies in secret,” he said. “Or to send letters to me personally about secret threats to Equestria.”

“We don’t. Nor do I have the authority to section off an unused part of a central hospital for myself, elect some of your guard as my temporary staff, or own or operate some of the equipment that brought this crisis to my attention. And yet,” he gestured around, “by the grace of Celestia, here we are. Suffice to say, I’m... somepony our Princess trusts to get things done. And since we’ve reached the point in this investigation where I need your help as much as you need mine, what say we skip the legalities and I simply, as you’re about to put it, start talking?”

Red Cross offered him a chair, but Shining Armour remained standing. “All right,” the captain said, not able to catch himself in time. “Start talking.”

“Excellent.” The doctor picked up some notes from his desk, but didn’t look at them as he started talking. “Two days ago, we began picking up a strange energy signature from somewhere in the vicinity of Seaddle. Until a more appropriate descriptor can be found, it has been categorized simply as Identity Thirty-Three. It would appear in seemingly random bursts of size and intensity, but as no urgent news came out of the town, we decided that the signal was benign... until last night. A small burst of Identity Thirty-Three appeared in nearby Ponyville, close enough that we were able to pinpoint its exact point of origin. And right in the middle of it...” He nodded to the table. “Was her. Curled up on her own doorstep, looking like she was only asleep, with... that on her flank.”

Red Cross grabbed a medical prong and gently lifted her leg, bringing her cutie mark into view. A set of white circles was emblazoned onto her side. Shining Armour took note of this, a dull anger burning in him. “So you... just went down there and snatched her away in the night?”

“Not me personally, but yes.” Red Cross took note of the guard’s expression. “Don’t worry, we’ll patch her up before we send her back. We’re not monsters. But this does not change the fact that a filly has been murdered on Equestrian soil, by an entity or entities unknown. That’s why we’ve brought in the best of the best to solve this case and stop it from ever happening again.” He saluted. “Sir.”

Shining Armour straightened up; now these were words he understood. He moved towards the desk and looked over the notes again, this time with a more critical eye. “What do we have so far?” he asked.

“Only what I’ve told you. My own resources are, I’m afraid, somewhat limited.” He drew the captain’s eye to a list he’d made earlier. “This is where you come in. We need seasoned guards to go to Seaddle and report on everything that’s happened within the past few days. We need all the information you can find on this filly and her connection to said events. And we need someone with access to the family archives to see if that abstract cutie mark has ever been seen on ponies before now.”

“All right.” Shining Armour nodded, familiarity returning to him. “And while I’m doing that, I need you to give me everything you’ve got on Identity Thirty-Three. When it appeared, on what frequencies, and exactly what you used to track it. Don’t hide anything from me. We’re turning this conspiracy into an investigation.”

“Exactly what I was hoping to hear,” Red Cross said, snapping off another salute. “When would you like it by?”

“As soon as possible.” Shining Armour walked up to the autopsy table, squashing the queasiness in his stomach to stare determinedly down at her smiling face. “If we’re going to avenge poor Scooteroll, we need to know everything possible about what killed her.”

Red Cross coughed. “Ah, actually, that’s the interesting part. Identity Thirty-Three didn’t kill her.”

“What?” Shining Armour looked back in confusion. “Then what did?”

“Nopony knows.” Red Cross walked up beside him. “I’ve had three doctors in here today besides me, and we’ve all agreed on the same thing. She’s clean. Not only is there no Identity Thirty-Three in her, she’s suffered no tissue damage, ingested no toxins, and has none of the interior burns or discoloration that would indicate a magical attack. The only trace of any magic in her is the standard preservation spell we used to keep her from decomposing. No, we’re not dealing with any weapon Equestria’s ever seen,” he concluded, shaking his head. “It’s as if something reached right past her body... and plucked out her soul.”

The Following Morning (II)

School was cancelled that morning. Sweetie Belle found herself wandering Ponyville alone.

Life had returned to normal with almost alarming speed. Apple Bloom, as she'd discovered, was catching up on missed chores; Spike was stuck doing the same, as Twilight Sparkle had been called to Canterlot for something just before he’d arrived home. Scootaloo’s house was suspended slightly above the ground in the cloud neighborhood just west of Ponyville, but one stepladder later, a misty-eyed pegasus mare informed her that Scootaloo hadn’t come home yet.

Outside of them, Sweetie Belle was starting to realize just how little she knew about her classmates outside of school. Small as Ponyville was, she had no idea where most of them lived, and was even less certain whether any of them could reliably be found there. Her other options for companionship were looking limited as well. Rarity was in the middle of another project for a big client, and Mom and Dad were... well, they were nice, but they were Mom and Dad. There were some things you just couldn’t go to Mom and Dad about. There was always Cheerilee’s house – the teacher had invited her students to stop by if they ever had anything personal they wanted to talk about – but Sweetie didn’t feel brave enough to go there on her own.

On a hunch, she made her way to the arcade, which she was delighted to see was open for business. A few ponies were playing on the machines that had been set up inside, including Archer, who was perched in front of Wonder Force Three. The stool she was sitting on was identical to the one inside of Equus. “Hey!” Sweetie Belle called, hopping over.

Archer didn’t respond. Her eyes were fixed to the screen in front of her, where a blocky and brightly-coloured alicorn hovered on one side of a red, alien skyline. Parts of the stained glass changed colour as grotesque bat-creatures flew in from the right, which Archer used the controls to dodge and weave around. Sweetie Belle looked on in fascination. “What are you playing?” she asked.

Archer sighed. “What do you want?” she asked, grunting out of the corner of her mouth.

“I’m trying to get everypony together. Want to come with me?”

“Why?”

The question gave Sweetie Belle pause. She’d never thought that one needed a reason to spend time with others. “Just because,” she answered with a shrug. “We’re all in this together. I thought we should spent time together, and... you know.”

“Why bother?” Archer’s eyes narrowed, but this seemed to be directed at the game rather than at Sweetie Belle. “We’ll all see each other at the next battle anyway. Besides, there’s only one pilot at a time.”

“I know,” Sweetie Belle said, kicking uncomfortably at the ground. “But I still think we should be together.”

There was a pause, and Archer shrugged. “Suit yourself,” she said. “I know Tornado’s going to be busy now, but you might have some luck with Peachy Pie.”

Peachy Pie’s house was hard to miss. Even in Ponyville’s upper-class district, if such a thing could be said to exist, it dwarfed its neighbors on all sides. The building was plain but broad, and stunned Sweetie Belle into immobility for a few seconds as she came up to it. Archer had said it would be big, but she hadn’t prepared her for just how big it was. Bubbling up in excitement, she skipped over to the door and knocked.

A few seconds later, the door was opened by a burly earth pony in a thin brown sweater. “Hello, little pony,” he said, smiling down at her. “You must be... Sun Glimmer?”

“I’m Sweetie Belle,” she corrected him. “Is Peachy Pie home?”

“Let me check.” He disappeared into the house, and Sweetie Belle heard a yell. “Sunny! Can you see if your sister’s home?”

A minute later, Peachy Pie appeared in the doorway. “Hey Sweetie Belle,” she said, stopping about halfway outside. “What’s up?”

“I’m trying to get everyone together,” Sweetie answered. “Wanna hang out?”

“Um... sure.” Peachy Pie glanced over her shoulder. A near-identical version of her with a platinum blond mane was standing near the stairs, watching them with an almost pleading expression. “Just give me a sec, okay?”

The door closed again. Sweetie Belle waited patiently, expecting both sisters to emerge, but after a short pause Peachy Pie reappeared on her own with purple roller skates on all four hooves. “Let’s go,” she said.

They set off down the road, Peachy Pie leading the way. The dirt road wasn’t the best surface for wheels, but it had been flattened enough by hundreds of passing hooves that Peachy Pie met barely any resistance as she glided over the ground. She sped ahead fast enough that Sweetie Belle had to run to catch up, sometimes stopping to twirl in place when the unicorn wasn’t being quick enough. “That’s a neat trick,” Sweetie Belle said once they’d worked out a pace that they both could stick to. “Can your sister do that, too?”

“Yeah.”

“Why didn’t you invite her along?”

“Because...” Peachy Pie sighed. She looped around Sweetie Belle and twirled around, drifting along backwards. “Because I thought you’d wanna talk about Equus and stuff, and I don’t want her to know about it yet.”

Sweetie blinked. “Why not?”

“Come on. Have you told your family yet?”

Visions of shouting Rarity flashed through her head. “Well, no,” Sweetie Belle admitted. “I thought they’d worry about me, and I wouldn’t know how to make it better.”

“I’ve got the opposite problem,” Peachy Pie explained. She whirled away and turned in a wide arc, leading them towards Ponyville’s park. “My parents would worry too. They’d probably flip out. But they already don’t let Sunny out that much. If they found out I’d got caught up in something like this, she’ll never get to do anything fun again.” She rolled her eyes. “She’s their favorite.”

This puzzled Sweetie Belle. She was dimly aware that Sunny Days was the older of the two sisters, but knew nothing more. “Huh? But if she’s the favorite, then why are you the one who can do whatever you want?”

“Because they don’t care about what happens to me.” They entered into a round area with a fountain just in front of the park, and Peachy Pie slid to a halt. “It started right here, a couple of years ago,” she continued. “Right over there.” She pointed. Sweetie Belle followed her outstretched hoof and saw a bench, the same one that had been inside of Equus. “Sunny and I were messing around with our roller skates and a jump rope, and... we got into an accident. I just got some cuts, but Sunny fell and bumped her head on that bench. Badly.”

“How badly?” Sweetie Belle asked, dreading the answer.

“Badly enough that she couldn’t go outside for two months. Mom and Dad stayed with her practically the whole time. Even after she got better, it was ages before they even let her put on roller skates again. Ever since, she’s never been allowed out on any adventures. I go out all the time, and sometimes I get scraped up, but they don’t even care. But they practically keep Sunny locked in a box in case she gets even a tiny little scratch on her.”

The pair started to walk and skate towards the bench. “That’s the reason she wasn’t allowed to come to Seaddle with us,” Peachy concluded. “They were too afraid that something was going to happen to her. And if I tell them, that’ll just prove them right.”

“That’s really sad,” Sweetie Belle sympathized. “But can’t Sunny know?”

“That would just feel like I’m rubbing it in her face. I don’t want her to feel like she’s being left out again.” Peachy reached the bench and hopped onto it, breaking into a brief giggle when Sweetie Belle hesitated. “It’s just a bench, silly. It’s not gonna bite you.”

Sweetie Belle bit the inside of her cheek, her inner Rarity warning her not to touch the head-bumping bench, but she forced the thought back and jumped up as well. “So you’re not gonna tell them ever?” she asked.

“Maybe someday. But... maybe not.” Peachy Pie smiled. “Maybe after my battle. If I can just prove to my parents that a pony my age can get into a fight with a monster that size and come out okay, maybe they’ll believe that my big sister can come out skating again.”

Sweetie Belle’s ears drooped. “Do you really think we’ll all win?” she asked in a quieter voice.

“Obviously.” Peachy Pie slid down and leaned to the side, resting her head against the bench’s back. “Pollinia wouldn’t have started this game if she thought it was impossible.” She grinned and looked up wistfully, her imagination beginning to drift.

There was a flash, and a sound like tearing paper.

Sweetie Belle vanished, along with the rest of the world. Everything but Peachy Pie and the bench turned to static, then reappeared as a dull brown. “Huh?” Peachy Pie sat up sharply in panic, slipping on her skates and almost falling off of the bench.

She heard a voice. “Great, another loser.”

Peachy Pie looked around. She’d somehow ended up in Equus’ cockpit; her first thought was that it was time for another battle, but all the other chairs were empty. The only other ponies were Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, who were playing pattycake in the middle of the floor and looking around contemptuously. When they saw just which seat had been filled, however, their sneers turned into overly-wide smiles. “Hey, Peachy Pie,” Silver Spoon said with a wave. “Want to come into our clubhouse?”

Peachy Pie steadied herself. She raised herself up carefully and lowered herself to the floor, almost sliding away on the nearly frictionless surface. “Your clubhouse?” she asked.

“That’s right,” Diamond Tiara said. She bopped Silver Spoon’s hoof and they resumed their game, minus the chanting. “There were a couple others here too, Rumble and Snips and that girl with the lisp, but we kicked them out. It’s our place now.”

“Kicked... what?” Peachy Pie looked around in confusion. “Kicked them out how? How did I even get here?”

“It’s really simple,” Diamond Tiara told her, almost succeeding in not sounding condescending. “If you sit in your chair and think about the robot, you get sent here. Silver Spoon and I figured it out almost as soon as we got home.”

“We found it first, so it’s ours!” Silver Spoon added in a sing-song voice.

Peachy Pie stared at them both. “Um, no,” she said eventually. “This place belongs to all of us. We should share it.” As the others’ faces soured, she turned and skated away, marveling at the smoothness of the floor beneath her. If we could just get these chairs out of here, she thought, this would be a perfect place to practice tricks.

She came to a halt at the wall and knocked her hoof against it. It made almost no sound. “Do you think we’re still underwater?” she asked. “If we are, why’s there no pressure difference between here and the surface? And where’s Cicada if he isn’t here?”

“I don’t understand why you hang out with those losers,” Diamond Tiara huffed, ignoring the questions. “You’re so much better than them. Why don’t you just stay with us?”

Peachy Pie rolled her eyes. “There’s more to ponies than money, Diamond,” she called back.

Cicada spoke from above. “No, there isn’t.”

All three ponies flinched as Cicada made his presence known from the top of the room. He slowly descended towards the center. “Money is influence,” he continued, his calm voice somehow booming in the rounded room. “Influence is power. All that matters, all that you are capable of accomplishing, is inflicting your own patterns on one another. A pony may live but a few centuries, but a memory may survive through civilizations and even to the end of your world, when the sun ashens and there are no more to remember. All three of you have been granted material influence, the power to go where you please, the power to do as you please, the power to give and take as you please.” He dropped down in between Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, causing them to jump away from each other. Although he looked at none of them, each of the three felt as if his words were directed at her. “What have you done with this power?” he asked. “What memories have you created?”

After a long pause, Diamond Tiara put her hooves down and backed away in disgust. “What is your problem, weirdo?” she asked.

Peachy Pie came to her senses with another question. “Where’s Scootaloo?” she demanded. “You told us you sent her home!”

Cicada didn’t answer. The walls around him began to hum. Noiselessly, the circle of chairs began to turn.

Peachy Pie clung to the wall of the room, while the two fillies in the middle backed towards each other. The chairs rapidly picked up speed, turning in seconds into a whirring vortex of furniture. Another glowing symbol appeared on the floor, this one smaller than the last, with one tendril stretching out to the place where the next pilot would be. The spinning continued for five seconds, then ten, before it began to slow. The chairs wound down, completing circle after slower circle, until they finally slid to a halt.

In the middle of the symbol’s grip was a high-backed dining chair.

Diamond Tiara stiffened. At the same time, Silver Spoon took a step back from her, shaking slightly. “DT,” she gasped. “Your...”

Needing no further prompting, Diamond Tiara looked down at her flank. She’d been marked with four curved triangles, two large, two small, all pointing down and bent inwards. This new cutie mark hadn’t replaced her old one but seemed to have been stamped on top of it, so that the four spikes hung from the top of her silver tiara like fangs.

She stared at this alien branding for several long, quiet seconds. Then she laughed. A quick chuckle grew into a side-shaking cackle, and then she threw back her head and almost howled, the noise echoing and magnifying off the walls and filling the room until even Silver Spoon began to inch away from her. Then she stopped, a cold, toothy grin on her face, and shot Peachy Pie a look of triumph.

“This place belongs to me. Now get out.”

The Head of the Table

Unlike with Cicada’s apparently bubble-based form of teleportation, there was no noise as Diamond Tiara reappeared in her original chair in her home. They had decided to split around noon, as lunch would soon be ready for them both, and Silver Spoon had her piano lesson in half an hour. Diamond Tiara had shut her eyes during the jump - teleporting had always scared her a little, but of course she would never admit this to the losers she had to share Equus with - and she kept them closed for a few seconds longer, savoring the different silence of home and the invisible feel of a new purpose burned onto her flanks. Then she opened her eyes and called out in a sing-song voice. “Daddy! I’m home!”

There was no answer.

Diamond Tiara scowled and looked around. She had turned up in her family’s spacious dining room, with its pink walls and its constantly empty mantelpiece; she had always pestered her daddy to find nice things to put on top of it or at least turn it on once in a while, like they did in Silver Spoon’s house, but he had always just laughed it off. The sturdy table was built for six but currently set for only one, with a purely cosmetic fork and knife laid out in front of her. She was, of course, at the head of the table. Frowning in irritation, she jumped down from her chair and stomped over to the kitchen.

“Mom?” she called, sticking her head through the doorway. For most of her life her mother had been simply a voice calling through this entrance, only coming out to eat or walk all the way to the door for her strolls. Today, however, her carefree singing couldn’t be heard from the thin room, and she was nowhere to be seen as Diamond Tiara entered. A plate and a note had been left high on the counter, which the pink filly climbed up onto a stool to read.

Your mother and I have been called out of town for some very important business. If you get hungry before we get back there’s leftover spaghetti in the fridge. Love you sweetheart.

Underneath the note was a sandwich. Diamond Tiara slipped the plate onto her back and, with practiced, balanced movements, dropped to the floor and made her way to the stairs.

She made it all the way to her bedroom without spilling a crumb and slid the plate onto the floor, taking the sandwich in her mouth and jumping onto her bed. Her room was as pretty and frilly as she was sure any princess’ would be, and almost completely but not uniformly pink. Most of its space was taken up by drawers of her once-worn dresses, topped with sparkling tiaras and untouched stuffed animals, and a desk scattered with newspaper articles and pictures of herself. Her absurdly plush bed was a four-poster one, which she’d demanded because she’d read about one in a book she liked but hadn’t fully understood its purpose. Its curtains, purple as the darker parts of her mane, hung loose around the four posts. She arranged herself daintily in the middle and pulled one of Daddy’s business magazines out from under her pillow, leafing through it while she ate.

One sandwich later, the reading stopped. Diamond Tiara brushed the last crumbs from her chin and slowly rolled over, careful not to dislodge her namesake from her head, and held the magazine high above her. The words of an article on the grain market blurred and started to repeat. She groaned and tossed the useless paper aside, crossing her forelegs grumpily in front of her.

This wasn't enough. She needed more.

Rolling over again and tumbling off the bed, she held her head high and trotted downstairs, then out the door. She could already hear the tinkle of music from Silver Spoon's house next door, and she stuck her tongue out at Peachy Pie's mansion down the street. She turned and started to trot away when Peachy Pie herself skated around the corner, Sweetie Belle in tow. She didn't need the attention of those kinds of ponies.

It wasn't market day, but a few ponies had still set up their stalls in a nearby square. She sauntered through, pretending to browse, waiting for somepony to comment on the new additions to her cutie mark. She found herself waiting a long time.

Eventually, pride gave way to impatience and she swaggered up to the nearest cart she saw. The makeshift stand was being manned by the big sister of one of the blank-flanks from school; not the kind of pony she would normally associate with, but who better to lord her status over now that she had a new purpose? "Mornin', Diamond Tiara," Applejack said, giving her a wary smile. "What can Ah get you?"

Diamond Tiara was a little taken aback by the question. She prepared a comeback, but a dull tug at the back of her stomach convinced her that the sandwich from earlier hadn't been quite enough to satisfy her superior appetite. "You're going to get me the best of whatever you've got in that cart," she said with a smile. "And make it snappy."

Applejack's eyes narrowed just a little, but her smile widened by the same margin. "All right, sugarcube," she said, reaching around to the back of her cart and hesitating with her hoof over several different fruits before selecting one. The apple she drew out was almost perfectly spherical and a shining, slightly golden red, the stem intact with a green leaf proudly extended. "The very best," the farmer said proudly, holding the fruit out. "All the convincing you'll need to put some apples on your table regularly. Top of the crop, and the leaf's free. All that for just one bit."

Diamond Tiara swiped the apple and bit into it, staring into Applejack's eyes the whole time. The fruit cracked loudly as her teeth broke the skin, and succulent juice dripped onto the ground. Applejack seemed only to be waiting expectantly. Diamond Tiara chewed and swallowed, telling herself that her grin came from the words she was about to speak. "Soon, I'm going to be the most important pony in Equestria."

Applejack stared blankly. "That's nice, DT," she said. "That's still one bit."

Diamond Tiara scowled. "Don't call me that," she scolded, flicking her mane back. "You don't get to call me that. Don't you know what this means?" She twisted around, showing off her new and improved cutie mark.

The farmer regarded her impassively. "Ah'd say that's one heck of a rash you've got there," she said. "You might wanna get that checked out. In the meantime, that's still one bit."

You little fool, Diamond Tiara grumbled inwardly, her eyes narrowing. Don't you know your life depends on me? "It means that soon, I'll be deciding who lives and who dies," she said, starting to raise her voice. "So you should be thinking about trying to get on my good side."

"Is there a problem?" a stallion asked, walking over. He stood by Diamond Tiara's side, and she delightfully recognized him as one of her daddy's friends.

Applejack sighed. "No, no problem, Axle," she said, using an altogether different tone of voice than the one she'd spoken to Diamond Tiara with. "Just one filly who's bein' a little reluctant to pay, that's all."

Oak Axle looked down. Diamond Tiara didn't try to hide the apple in her hoof, still dripping from the massive bite mark in its side. "Now, that can't have cost more than a single bit there," he said in a softer voice, infuriatingly switching sides. "Surely it wouldn't hurt your purse to pay a single bit, right?"

"I'm... I don't have any money," Diamond Tiara replied, feeling the situation starting to slip away from her. "But that doesn't matter!" she yelled as Oak Axle started to sigh. "I'm going to be a hero soon. You owe me!"

Although blessed with a lot more of it than most ponies, Applejack was starting to lose patience. "What are you talking about?"

"This!" She pointed back at her flank, tracing the fangs burned onto her sides. "That's what this means! Soon, I'm going to control a robot as big as a mountain and use it to save Equestria from destruction. You should all be thanking me!"

Repeatedly blinking, Oak Axle started to edge away from her. Applejack's response was more direct. "A what now?"

"A robot!" By now, other ponies were staring. Diamond Tiara glared back, daring them to look further. "You'll see!" she shouted. "Soon you'll see I'm right!"

Oak Axle closed his eyes and slowly rested his hoof in between them. "Little lady, maybe you should just go home," he said quietly. Then he turned back to Applejack and resumed his normal speaking voice. "I'll pay. How much was it?"

"Don't worry about it," Applejack answered with a sigh. "It's just one apple."

Diamond Tiara reddened. Unbelievable, she seethed. Soon, I'm going to be the most important pony in all of Equestria, and these fools are treating me like a common foal! "Stop ignoring me!" she shouted, throwing her apple in Applejack's face, then immediately running off before catching sight of her reaction. "My father will hear about this!" she yelled over her shoulder.

"Darn tootin' he will!" Applejack yelled back.

Once the market was a few streets away and ponies had stopped giving her baffled looks as she passed, she slowed down. "Ungrateful jerks," she grumbled. "But they'll see who they're dealing with soon. Then they'll be sorry." She kept walking, her legs finding a new destination almost before she knew it herself. Grating as their company was, she knew a couple of ponies who would at least appreciate her for who she was.

Though it wasn't as well known as that of the blank-flanks, Snips and Snails had a clubhouse of their own, or at least a structure that they referred to as such. It had been built in the grove behind the schoolhouse out of pieces of Snails' old shed, which the pair had inadvertently knocked down after trying to set up their base of operations there. What they'd eventually come up with was little more than several pieces of wood siding forming three walls and a roof, held together more by the surrounding trees than the pieces themselves. Despite its rickety appearance, Cheerilee had deemed the structure safe, and had allowed the colts to move two of the spare chairs and a table out of their basements and into their little alcove. When not at school they could usually be found in here, playing cards or some stupid game of pretend. It was, Diamond Tiara had decided, embarrassing.

When she rounded the schoolhouse and approached the structure, however, she was surprised to find only one of the two colts waiting for her. “Hey, Diamond Tiara!” Snips yelled, waving, then stopped. “I mean... Hello, my lady,” he continued in what he probably thought a Canterlot accent sounded like, complimenting it with a low bow. “Welcome to Chateau de Snips.”

Diamond Tiara approached cautiously. “Where is Snails?” she demanded.

“Huh? Oh, I dunno.” He shrugged and pulled out a chair for her, one of the identical pair from Equus. “Want to take a seat?”

Against her better judgement, Diamond Tiara sat down. A set of extremely mismatched cups and a beaten kettle had been laid out on the table already. “Doesn’t that bother you?” she asked.

“Huh? Oh, nah.” Snips shrugged again. “He just said he was busy. Want some tea?”

Diamond Tiara stared at him in incomprehension; she couldn’t imagine a world where she didn’t know where Silver Spoon was at all times. Even the thought gave her a strange sense of unease. She was so lost in this thought that she barely noticed the chipped mug being passed her way until it was practically under her nose. To his credit, Snips had managed to summon the magical strength to heat the water until it was at least lukewarm, but the leaf floating on the surface had clearly been pulled from one of the surrounding trees. Diamond Tiara accepted it, if only to make sure he didn’t start fussing like a baby, though she resolved to only pretend to drink from it if she had to.

A long pause followed, during which the earth pony glowered impatiently. Seemingly oblivious to this, Snips took an exaggeratedly delicate sip of his own drink and smiled back with the same infuriatingly chipper grin. “So, what brings you here?” he asked.

Diamond Tiara answered bluntly. “I’m the next pilot.”

Snips’ eyes widened. “No way.”

In response, Diamond Tiara stood up in her chair and turned to the side, showing off her new and improved cutie mark. Snips all but fell over in awe. “That is so cool,” he said.

“Thank you,” Diamond Tiara said with a sigh, throwing her mane back dramatically. “At least somepony appreciates it.”

Snips missed the tone of this, more absorbed in bouncing up and down in his seat. “When do you think it’s gonna be?” he asked. “What do you think you’ll fight? Do you think you’ll win?”

“Of course I’ll win,” she replied, rolling her eyes. “If that puny blank-flank Scootaloo can do it, obviously I can do even better. I just hope we don’t get sent all the way back to Seaddle this time. That place is old news.” She looked towards Ponyville’s limited skyline. “I want it to happen here. I want to win where everypony can see.” Without thinking, she took a sip of the ‘tea’. It tasted bitter. It actually wasn’t bad. “I’m going to prove I’m the best.”

They sat a moment in silence. It slowly began to dawn on both that they were, for the first time in their lives, alone with one another. “Hey, Diamond Tiara?” Snips said, seizing the opportunity. “You’re real pretty.”

Diamond Tiara crimsoned magnificently. “Why, you little– How dare y– Stupid colt...” She glared at the ground. “Shut up.”

No matter how many years went by, the path to Princess Celestia’s chambers never felt any shorter.

Red Cross was already waiting in front of the ornate doors as Shining Armour approached. He cut off the guard captain’s greeting with a curt nod and knocked heavily, signalling for the guards inside to open the way; it was not well known that they alone knew the magical frequency that would allow each side of the door to be moved. The two white ponies walked in side by side, though Shining Armour noticed Red Cross staying back slightly, always remaining a fraction of a step behind him.

Princess Celestia had been expecting them. She waited alertly on her throne, one of her trusted scribes at her side, as the pair stopped at a safe distance and simultaneously saluted. “Hello, my trusted protectors,” she greeted them, smiling at each in turn. “It is good to see you both again.”

Shining Armour couldn’t help but give Red Cross a surprised glance. “You do know this pony, Princess?” he asked. “I was beginning to have my doubts.”

Celestia gave the doctor a stare, choosing her words carefully. “He is... one of my favored researchers. He specializes in defenses against unknown or alien threats.”

“No need to dress me up, Princess,” Red Cross said, still with his characteristic smile. “I’m aware that the only good news from me is no news. Right now, however, it’s not myself who has news to bring. Shining Armour will deliver the update to our earlier report.” He bowed and stepped back.

Shining Armour took a second to mull this information over, but then stored it for later consideration and went on with his report. “My fastest scouts returned from Seaddle half an hour ago,” he began. “From their reports, the locals spoke of two unusual occurrences during the time when unusual energy signatures began to radiate from their town. The first was a carnival that appeared at approximately the same that the first instance of Identity Thirty-Three was detected. Their leaving two days later also coincided with the energy bursts stopping. The remainder of the scouts are tracking them down, and should be able to locate them soon. The other event was a set of two irregular earthquakes lasting several minutes each, both at night and during the times when the output of Identity Thirty-Three was at its highest.”

“Earthquakes?” Celestia asked, giving Red Cross a puzzled look. “Why didn’t you detect this before now?”

“A fluke of mechanics, my lady,” Red Cross answered with an apologetic bow. “For greatest precision, my seismographs are based on the energy running through the ley lines buried under Equestria. The fact that these quakes appeared as merely a blip on my radar tells us that they were not caused by pressure deep under the ground, but by enormous force high on the surface.”

Although she already had a dreaded suspicion, Celestia asked the next obvious question. “How is that possible?”

“We may know.” Shining Armour reached into a pocket in his barding and pulled out a photograph. “Seaddle’s mayor was able to provide us with a photograph that the carnival ponies sold her just before they left town. They claimed that it was taken on the night of the second earthquake.” He knelt down and extended his magic as far as he could, offering the picture.

Celestia took the photo and steeled herself before looking at it. The creatures it depicted were not, as she had feared, any of the ocean’s Titans, but this turned out to be little comfort. A dark unicorn towered over the ocean, the featureless waters giving no clue as to its actual size, while the tail of something even larger circled overhead. “The two beasts in this picture were reported to be fighting,” Shining Armour elaborated. “They vanished back into the ocean, so it’s not clear which won, if either. I’m afraid that the sources for this are unreliable, but right now, it’s the only lead we have.”

He was interrupted by a loud beeping noise from Red Cross. The doctor reached into his coat and produced a small wooden cube with a different colour of gemstone set into each side, of which the ruby was flashing and producing magical sparks. A panicked look came over his face as he waved this around, producing no results. “Uh-oh.”

“What is that?” Shining Armour demanded, leaping back to his hooves and backing away. “What’s happening? Tell me!”

The guards near the door looked nervously at one another, and Celestia’s aide, who had been taking notes, took the opportunity to hide behind the throne. Only the princess herself kept her composure. With a wave of golden light she turned the stained glass windows around her transparent, looking down upon her city for signs of the box’s distress. What she saw was much further away. “Shining Armour?” she said, her voice stilted. “I want you to turn around. And when you do, I want you to not panic.”

Shining Armour obeyed. He looked out the window nearest to him, at first looking down at Canterlot as she had done, but then slowly raising his gaze in the direction of Ponyville. It was only his Princess’s order that kept him from crying out. Visible even from this distance, a pair of dark shapes were descending over the town. One seemed to be nearly half-complete, its form impossible to make out; on the other, he believed he could make out the slowly emerging head and shoulders of the dark unicorn. “Shining Armour!” Celestia snapped, drawing him out of his stupor. “You know what to do.”

“At... at once, your highness!” He paused for only long enough to turn and snap off a salute before whirling away and galloping out of the room, barely clearing the doors as the two guards struggled to throw them open.

“Red Cross...” Celestia turned her gaze back to the other pony in front of her, whose grin had returned as quickly as it had left. She spoke more slowly. “You... know what to do.”

“At once, your highness.” The doctor saluted as well, then, at a much more leisurely pace, trotted out of the room.

Battle 3: Cricket

A series of cracks snapped the world back into focus as the fourteen pilots – plus Piña Colada – appeared in the cockpit. "But maybe not until next year," Apple Bloom finished saying, then stopped short. She glared at Cicada, who was drifting at an angle through the middle of the chamber. "What the hay? Ah was talkin' to mah sister!"

"Time flies," Cicada answered. "I don't choose when the battles are. Get used to it."

As one the group looked around in confusion, then down to the floor, and followed the glowing symbol all the way to where Diamond Tiara was sitting smugly in her dining chair. "You're the next pilot?" Spike asked in surprise. "I didn't know we'd even chosen one yet."

"That's right, losers." Diamond Tiara stuck her tongue out at the rest of the group. "I'm in charge now. I'll show you what a grown-up pony can do with this kind of power."

Archer rolled her eyes and put her head in her hooves. "That's it," she moaned. "Game over. We lose."

Silver Spoon glowered at her; Tornado Bolt raised her wings in kind. Before another fight could break out, Equus came to life with its usual hum and the chairs rose into the air. A dot of light appeared behind Diamond Tiara's head, spreading to cover the walls and floor, until the group found themselves floating high over Ponyville.

The enemy robot had already finished its appearance, but that wasn't what immediately caught the group's attention. Equus had apparently activated itself the very moment that the teleporting ring of light had vanished, leaving them resting not comfortably on the ground, but suspended the height of several houses into the air. A second was all it took for the dark unicorn to come crashing down, making craters in the road with its front hooves. Multiple foals screamed and covered their eyes. "It's okay!" Spike yelled, waving his arms to calm everyone down. "I was there helping everypony get to safety as soon as the monster sirens started. Everything directly under the robots has been evacuated."

This was a little comfort to the group, but not much. Equus was large enough that its back half stuck completely out of Ponyville, landing harmlessly in the empty fields on the east side, but its larger front hooves barely fit within the wide streets. One had come down with relative safety in the middle of a market square, but the other had flattened no less than four houses, as well as clipping a few others on all sides. More ponies could be seen running away from the wreckage, from this height no larger than ants.

Diamond Tiara noticed none of this. While the others looked down, her gaze was focused only forward, drawing her field of view closer to her opponent on the town's far side. The other robot was, surprisingly, only half Equus' size, hanging low with its belly almost scraping the houses below it. Most of its mass was taken up by a pair of curved dark legs, bent up and backwards like a jumping insect's, while the small and segmented body was held up by a set of four much shorter limbs. Instead of a head there was only a set of four enormous mandibles, the outer set enclosing the inner, with a red, triangular plate set into the "face" just above them.

"Another bug?" Silver Spoon cried in dismay.

"Weird." Tornado Bolt took a second to look the enemy up and down before fixing Diamond Tiara with a stern glare. "Now listen, DT. We're right in the middle of a populated area, so you need to be really careful how you move. Whatever you do, don't-"

"Don't tell me what to do," Diamond Tiara spat. She took a moment to orient herself, experimentally shrugged her massive, robotic shoulders, and then lifted a hoof and put it directly through the town hall.

"Diamond!" several ponies cried, though Sweetie Belle's voice was the loudest. "My sister worked really hard on decorating for this weekend..."

"I'm sorry, what?" Diamond Tiara shot her a nasty look. "Do you want to be the one fighting? I don't see you doing any better!"

Absurd as the statement was, Sweetie Belle still found herself shrinking under Diamond Tiara's gaze. "I'm sorry," she mumbled. "Just please, watch where you're going?"

“Yeah, whatever.” She rested her hoof on the town hall’s remains and tried to take another, exaggeratedly careful step across town, but only managed to kick over another cluster of houses. By her third step she managed to land a hoof harmlessly in the middle of a main street, but was less cautious with her hind legs, which had now reached the town’s edge and were trampling Ponyville’s outskirts.

Spike winced; in the fraction of a second before his mind had forced him to look away, he thought he’d seen bodies in the rubble. “DT, stop!” he cried. “You’re destroying the town!”

“Shut up!” Diamond Tiara shouted back. “You’re ruining my concentration! Tell them, Silver Spoon.”

The bespectacled pony nodded shakily, unable to tear her eyes away from what was unfolding below. “Y-you’re doing great,” she mumbled. “Keep it-” She shrieked and grabbed at Piña Colada. “Look out!”

It was too late. A stray pony had waited too long before running for cover and had stumbled directly beneath one of Equus’ descending hooves. There was no sound other than the usual thud when the metal leg landed, and when it lifted there was no sign amongst the debris of where the pony had once been.

A sickly silence fell. “Is... is she dead?” Snips asked, frozen to the spot. Ignoring him, Diamond Tiara hesitated only a second before continuing her advance. The enemy had by this point begun moving as well, lifting up its massive rear legs and crawling cautiously backwards on the shorter four, keeping its head low.

“You squished Daisy,” Dinky Doo said quietly, as though she needed to hear the words said aloud before they became real. “My mom used to buy flowers from her on weekends. And you squished her. You squished her!” Now crying, she turned her face towards the ceiling. “Cicada, make her stop!”

“Not my problem,” Cicada responded casually, drifting around the top of the cockpit on his back. “She’s the pilot. Whatever she says goes.”

Diamond Tiara’s smile returned. Although looking slightly shaken herself, she determinedly shrugged it off. “You see?” she said. “You can’t tell me what to do. Besides, all of Equestria’s at stake, right? What’s one little pony next to the lives of everypony?”

“That ain’t right and you know it,” Apple Bloom argued. “Savin’ Equestria ain’t worth it if you’re just gonna destroy Equestria doin’ it!”

Diamond Tiara came to a halt. She slowly turned and glared at Apple Bloom, baring her teeth. “And what would you know about it, you snot-nosed little blank-flank?” she growled.

Apple Bloom paled. “What?”

“What’s Equestria to you?” the pink filly continued. “Just a couple acres of the same boring fruit over and over again? When all this is over, I’ll be the one going on tours of Equestria, and you are just going to go back to your boring little farm and stay there for the rest of your boring little life, so don’t lecture me about perspective! Face it, you’re just jealous that I have all this power and you don’t.”

Apple Bloom was too stunned to respond, so Tornado Bolt answered for her. “What are you talking about? Stop talking and just finish the fight before you hurt somepony else!”

“No, somepony needs to be taught a lesson.” Now grinning again, Diamond Tiara abandoned her pursuit of her opponent and turned around, managing to do minimal damage to an area that she’d already walked over once. “Oh look,” she said, raising a hoof to point, “Daisy’s flower stall survived.”

Sweetie Belle trembled. “What are you-”

The hoof descended.

Diamond Tiara laughed at the horrified expressions of the ponies around her. “Come on, lighten up,” she said. “It’s just a cart. My daddy can buy her another one, no sweat. He can buy her two, if she wants, or four, or ten.”

“She’s dead,” Archer said flatly.

Rumble looked over his shoulder. Now that Equus had turned away, the enemy robot had stopped retreating. In fact it was now creeping forward, edging around diagonally on its thin legs to come at them from the side. “Uh, guys?” he said, buzzing his wings nervously.

“And thothe were thomeponyth’ hometh,” Twist spat, summoning all her courage. “Mithter Rich can’t replathe all thothe.”

“No, but the Princesses can. We’re working for them too, right?” Diamond Tiara replied casually, flicking over another house to prove her point. “In fact, I bet there’s a reward for this. Do you think I’ll get an award ceremony in my honour?”

“Diamond, that’s enough!” From the seat beside her, Peachy Pie threw her hooves over the edge of her bench and leaned out as far as she dared, snarling at her new nemesis. “You haven’t done a thing to help Ponyville all the time you’ve been up here! You’ve practically proved that money doesn’t make you a good pony, so shut up and start fighting!”

Diamond Tiara only rolled her eyes, turning to face her almost nose-to-nose. “Yeah,” she hissed back calmly, “and I bet your friends only hang out with you because of your winning personality.”

Blinking at the unexpected blow, Peachy Pie fell back over her bench. “Of... of course they do,” she mumbled. “They’re not like... they... guys?” She looked around the room. Archer and Tornado Bolt suddenly found they had much more important places to look. “Guys?” she pleaded.

The enemy was by now only a few of Equus’ steps away. Rumble rose up in his chair, flapping his wings urgently. "Look out, it's coming!"

Diamond Tiara ignored him, too busy gloating over the town. "What else can I do while I’m up here? Should I squish that ugly little boutique over there? Or maybe..." She turned and hovered her hoof over the square where, less than an hour ago, she'd tried and failed to fairly purchase an apple. A panicked mare froze in the middle of the square, her foal tugging desperately on her leg. "What about this cute little apple stand?" She grinned wickedly at Apple Bloom. "Your sister thought I was just making things up earlier. She must be feeling like a real moron right now."

Stony-faced, Apple Bloom shook her head. "Don't you dare," she said. "There's ponies down there. Don't you dare do it."

“Oh yeah?” Diamond Tiara taunted. Her eyes flashed triumphantly. “And what are you gonna do about it, blank flank?”

"Look out!" Rumble shouted.

Without warning, the enemy plunged its hind legs down and jumped, aiming directly for Equus' head. Diamond Tiara turned and blinked, reflexively trying to move out of the way. At the last second, she ducked, and the insect’s legs clattered against the back of her neck as it sailed overhead. This action caused her to lose her balance, and her suspended hoof plummeted towards the square. Apple Bloom only had time to gasp and close her eyes.

Amidst the sound of the distant crash there was a faint whoosh, and then cheering. Apple Bloom opened her eyes. A rainbow contrail extended from both sides of the dark hoof, rocketing away in one direction. A pair of ponies clung tightly to the cyan shape at the front of it. “Rainbow Dash!” Apple Bloom yelled, rising up to stomp and letting out a whoop on Scootaloo’s behalf.

The dark cricket bounced as it landed, knocking the roofs off half a neighborhood and scratching four parallel trenches into the ground as it skidded to a halt. A storm of debris followed it, coming dangerously close to falling upon a trail of escaping ponies until it was blocked by the passing of a strange contraption. Something like an armoured sailboat with wheels thundered down the street, shielding the fleeing ponies from raining clods of wood and stone with its thick sail, a contraption that would have been utterly inexplicable if not for its rider. “Pinkie Pie!” Sweetie Belle yelled in delight.

Sliding to a halt, the cricket began to turn again, but slowly; while its spring-loaded rear legs had launched it with the speed of an arrow, it didn’t seem able to change directions very quickly. The group used the pause to watch the sudden burst of activity around them. Now that hiding in houses was clearly no longer a safe option, ponies were bursting onto the streets again, rushing every which way in an attempt to escape the town. More Elements of Harmony could be seen in action; Applejack guided a panicked herd down one of the main streets, while Rarity lit the way with guiding beacons of light, and Fluttershy could be seen working with other pegasi to airlift unconscious ponies to safety. Something twinkled in the sky near Canterlot, unnoticed by all except those who’d been waiting for it. Tornado Bolt didn’t feel the need to shout out any names, but she did smile to herself.

The standard response to an attack from a giant beast was to send three Wonderbolts. On this occasion, Canterlot had sent eight. They broke formation as they neared Ponyville, not bothering with their introductory flyby, with several of their number looping into tight spirals around the remaining three. They flew faster and faster, dragging in stray clouds as they passed, until they'd formed an almost horizontal miniature tornado in the air. This living force of nature pulsed and exploded, the tunnel of air firing three Wonderbolts forward as if from a cannon, launching them with hooves extended towards the battlefield. This maneuver, recognized by Tornado Bolt as the Vortex Lightning Launcher, was known to knock the wind out of overgrown dragons... and it plinked harmlessly against the side of Equus' face without so much as a sound.

"What? Hey!" Diamond Tiara turned around, glaring at the three dazed Wonderbolts as they flew off. "Why are they attacking me?"

"Because you're the one who's been destroying the town!" Apple Bloom shouted back.

"Don't worry about it," Cicada reassured them from above. "The robot's a thousand times tougher than anything your puny ponies can throw at it. You're basically on your own either way."

Several of the group glared upwards. Before another argument could break out, Rumble directed their attention back to the enemy with a wave. The dark cricket sprung out and completed its turn in midair, landing for only a split second before launching itself at Equus from the front. Diamond Tiara snorted at it. "Stupid... bug!" she yelled, swinging a hoof at it and easily catching it in midair, knocking it away. The cricket landed on its side, throwing up another wave of destroyed houses, but bounced back with the flexible durability of an insect and sprung away again.

"We need to get out of Ponyville," Tornado Bolt advised. "Just being careful isn't going to be enough with an enemy who moves around that much."

Diamond Tiara glared at her. "For the last time, I'm in charge-"

"Diamond, will you quit it with this bein' in charge business!" Apple Bloom exploded at her. "We get it, you've got the power, but she's right! Even you can see that stayin' here is only gonna make things worse!"

The pink filly hesitated. As she did, the cricket sprung again, this time from behind. Scarcely needing to look back, Diamond Tiara leaned forward and bucked it out of the air. Even Apple Bloom nodded faintly in approval; even though Equus' armour was thinner there, only a fool would try to attack an earth pony from behind. "Diamond, please," she begged. "We'll give you whatever you want when this is over, but for now, can you please just take the fight outta Ponyville?"

Long seconds passed as Equus stood still and the enemy robot sprung around it, apparently looking for a good opening. It found one directly to the side and slid to a halt, shuffling into position. "Think fast," Rumble said, but Diamond Tiara was already turning to face it. "Here it-"

Between the combatants, there was a flash of light. A powerful voice echoed all around Ponyville, drawing everything and everyone into silence. "STOP!"

The light cleared. Princess Twilight Sparkle hovered in between the two robots, naked except for her Elemental tiara, flapping her wings to stay aloft. She looked back and forth between the pair, tears running down her face. "Please," she continued, loud enough through some enchantment that she could easily be heard even from this distance. "Whatever conflict the two of you have, there must be some way to settle it without fighting! We ponies are small, but no less deserving of life than you."

"She thinks we're from another world," Snails said. He was, as usual, ignored.

"Look around," Twilight continued, her voice growing stronger. "Look at the damage your fighting has caused. This kind of carnage is everything that our nation of Equestria was created to avoid! Whoever you are, you've come to a land of peace, where our conflicts are settled through-" Her eyes widened. "Uh-oh."

Apparently not having listened to a word of this, the dark cricket finished its turn and leaped again, heading straight for the Princess of Friendship. Twilight squeaked and disappeared in another flash of teleportation, but the robot hadn't been aiming for her at all, carrying on directly towards Equus. Diamond Tiara's reaction was slower this time, and she was barely able to dodge out of the way as the insect missed its target by mere metres, glancing off of Equus' breastplate with enough force to shake the whole body.

Glancing back only slightly, Diamond Tiara turned and started to stomp away in the direction of Ponyville's edge. The Wonderbolts began to circle again, slowing down and forming two parallel lines beside her. They slowly began to turn, and Diamond Tiara found herself turning with them until she realized what she was doing and forcefully twisted back in her original direction. "It's okay," Tornado Bolt reassured her, recognizing the move. "They're trying to corral you. They just want you to walk through the parts you've already stepped on, so you don't cause as much damage. You can trust them, they're experts."

Diamond Tiara submitted to this and allowed the Wonderbolts to escort her outside Ponyville's limits, turning sharply towards the foothills to the north. Her opponent followed in short hops, either not willing to take advantage of the distraction or simply unenthusiastic about trying to attack from behind again. Once they were a considerable distance away, the Wonderbolts broke off and tried to do the same with the other robot, only to find that it had followed without complaint.

Archer examined the terrain. Here the ground was broken up by rolling and rocky fields, with the low Everfree curving away to one side and the sharp inclines of the mountains close by. "This is a good spot," she muttered to herself. "Now the real battle begins."

With a steadying breath, Diamond Tiara turned back to where her opponent had been. It was no longer there. She looked around wildly, and it was only the cries of her classmates that alerted her to the robot already launching itself at her from the side. She reared up and flailed, knocking it to the ground by sheer chance but not following up with a stomp before it sprang away again. Now that the unicorn had no distractions, the cricket didn't try to turn on its four legs, instead leaping around in a wide circle before attacking from the front.

Diamond Tiara again knocked it down with ease. Now that she wasn't as concerned with watching her hooves she was starting to find her footing, and the dark unicorn was starting to move more and more like a natural pony. She spun around to follow each new arc, swatting away each successive attack with ease, only for the enemy to bounce away before she could follow up with a crushing blow. "Too easy," she gloated, noting with glee that one of her opponent's smaller legs was bent out of shape. "I don't see why Scootaloo had so much trouble with this."

This earned her a few more glares, but excitement was starting to grow in the group. "Maybe you could try shooting it?" Snips suggested meekly. "That might take it down more quickly."

"Maybe," Diamond responded with a roll of her eyes, but she still lit up her mechanical horn. Bright pink light swirled around it before shooting out in a wildly inaccurate beam, blasting a hole in one of the hills and coming nowhere near the enemy. "Stupid thing," she muttered, glaring at Snips, then looking back to her enemy. "Hey, where's it going?"

Instead of leaping around for another futile head-on assault, the other robot was taking a much wider route, going further on into the foothills. "Wait," Tornado Bolt ordered as Diamond Tiara started to follow, but the pilot ignored her and charged on. It wasn't long before they lost sight of the cricket behind the rapidly swelling hills, which were soon turning into full-fledged mountains.

After a minute without catching sight of the metallic insect, Diamond Tiara came to a halt. They were now right at the edge of the mountain range that led up to Canterlot, the nearly vertical stone ridges rising far higher even than Equus. "There's no way I can get up that without falling over," she groaned. "Cicada, what do I do now?"

"You're the pilot," Cicada answered calmly, still swimming around near the ceiling. "Figure it out."

"Ugh. What's even the point of you?" Diamond Tiara shook her head and looked around. It was conceivable that the smaller robot could have made its way through the range, but her more flat-footed steed would have a much more difficult time. "Here we go," she muttered, taking her first step onto the uneven surface.

A series of rocks landed right in front of her. Some of the group looked towards the source. "Up there!" Dinky Doo shrieked, covering her eyes.

Diamond Tiara looked up, too late. In leaps and bounds the dark cricket had made it to the top of one of the nearest mountains, and just as she realized what this meant it leaped. The powerful legs propelled it straight down the mountainside, working with gravity to launch it at a higher speed than any before. In a panic, Diamond Tiara reared up, which was enough to keep it from landing on her directly from above, but not enough to prevent the cricket from smashing right into the middle of Equus' breastplate.

The gonglike sound of metal on metal rang through the mountains; all around, avalanches began to rain down as Equus staggered backwards. The force of the landing had put a hefty dent in the unicorn's armour, but the cricket wasn't done. With a mechanical click the enormous rear legs seamlessly detached themselves from the rest of the body, falling to the ground and leaving only a four-legged, wormlike shape clinging to Equus' front. Suddenly, the quadruple mandibles on its face sparked and began to glow red-hot, and the robot began to dig and tear at the armour in front of it as easily as if it were biting into living flesh.

Diamond Tiara shrieked and flailed at the bug stuck onto her. She tried to tear it off, but the thick armour on her front prevented her hooves from actually reaching it, leaving her only flexible enough to bat uselessly at its dangling tail. In seconds the biting worm had created a hole large enough for it to stick its whole head into and began to crawl forward, its three functional legs clutching tightly to the larger robot's front.

Peachy Pie gasped in horror and clutched at her own belly. "It's gonna eat us from the inside!" she cried. "Diamond, do something!"

"I'm trying!" Diamond Tiara yelled, genuine panic in her voice. She scratched madly at what little of the bug she could reach before lowering her hooves and charging directly at the mountainside, throwing her head back. She slammed into the wall of stone with force, putting a dent in the landscape but barely slowing the crawling bug attached to her.

"Hey, Diamond?" Piña Colada said, surprisingly calm. "That bug detached part of itself so it could get to us more easily. Do you think that this robot can do something similar?"

Although her first instinct was to mock the idea, Diamond Tiara nodded frantically. She leaned back against the mountainside and started to push against her main breastplate, only to find that it popped off simply at a thought. It started to carry the enemy with it, but by now the worm had created enough space beyond the outer layer that it was able to hold on and slip the rest of its body through the hole it had created. Underneath the main plate was another, thinner layer of armour, which the enemy was already starting to eat through like paper. Now with more freedom to stretch, Diamond Tiara swatted at it, smashing her hoof against its lower half. Half of the enemy robot burst open in a mass of grey cables and inner metal structures, but the front and its remaining leg carried on unimpeded. She struck again, this time aiming for the hole in her chest, but it was too late. The enemy had vanished inside of her.

There was a short silence. Then a grinding sound started, the noise of something chewing and tearing, getting slowly but steadily louder. Diamond Tiara had gone pale. "I can feel it," she said, uncharacteristically quiet. "It's eating me. How can something so small..." Her face twisted in pain, then in fury. "Something so small..." She growled. "No!"

The dark unicorn began to thrash again. Diamond Tiara slid down the mountainside and landed on her back, both forehooves pounding mercilessly at her own chest. Equus' metal skin split open, exposing greyish innards to the sunlight, and still she pounded on. A flash of red could be seen somewhere in the coiling insides, but quickly vanished. "You're not getting away from me!" she roared. Stretching out her right foreleg, the entire lower part of the hoof slid off, as though she'd been wearing an oversized boot the entire time. What remained of the leg was about two-thirds the length and tapered to a sharp point. "Take... this!" she yelled, stabbing herself through the middle.

There was an almighty crash, and the grinding from outside the cockpit stopped.

Diamond Tiara paused, breathing heavily. She dug around inside her giant self a little more and withdrew her leg, the remains of the enemy robot skewered upon it. What little there was writhed against her, but she'd managed to crush one side of its head completely, rendering the red jaws all but useless. Clumsily, she got back onto her three intact legs, a mess of cables spilling out of the wound in her front. If she felt this, she gave no indication if it. "Stupid bugs," she muttered, glaring at the twitching shape in front of her. "Why don't you just..."

She hurled the broken robot at the ground, dislodging it from her spike, then reared up above it. "DIE!" she screamed as her left hoof came down.

One final crunch marked the battle's end.

With the sound of a spell winding down, the walls faded back to brown and the chairs lowered to the floor. The ponies on them stood up unsteadily, if they chose to stand up at all. "That was... close," said Spike, hugging his knees to his chest. "Way too close."

Diamond Tiara looked around expectantly. Even now that the danger had passed, she was having trouble catching her breath. "Well?" she said, glaring about. "You're welcome?"

Apple Bloom slowly climbed down from her chair. "That was a good finish," she said. "But that doesn't change what happened." She glared. "You squished Daisy for no reason."

“Ugh, are you still hung up on that?” Diamond Tiara rolled her eyes. “That was an accident! Any of you would have done the same thing.”

“Any of us would have cared,” Tornado Bolt added, jumping down from her cloud. “And none of us would have kicked more houses down afterwards just to be mean.”

In ones and twos, a semicircle started to form around Diamond Tiara, this one half the size and not nearly as congratulatory as Scootaloo’s had been. “Hey, leave her alone!” Silver Spoon said, but Piña Colada held her down when she tried to stand up.

At the front of the group, Tornado Bolt stepped forward, malice written onto her face. “You’re not gonna get a reward for this,” she said. “Everypony saw what you did, and you saw how they treated you. The enemy was just a fighting machine. But you... you were a monster.”

Diamond Tiara shuffled away, for once in her life finding herself being ganged up on. “That’s not true,” she said.

“It is,” Tornado Bolt continued. She advanced further, putting her hooves up on the edge of the pink filly’s seat, wearing an expression that made even the others in the group start to edge away from her. “As soon as we get back home, you’re gonna get locked away forever. And nopony, not even your parents, is going to care that you’re gone. In fact, they’ll be happy.”

“Stop it,” Diamond Tiara breathed, scrabbling away. “Stop it!”

“Hey, Bolt?” Archer said nervously, reaching out to her friend. “You’re kinda overdoing it...”

“Back off!” Tornado Bolt yelled, pushing Archer away. She turned back and tried to shove the dining chair over, only to find it completely immobile. Undeterred, the raised herself as high as she could and drew back one hoof. “You’re gonna get what’s coming to you, murderer.”

“Whoa, that’s enough!” In a bubble of light, Tornado Bolt vanished and reappeared on the far side of the cockpit, immediately falling over without a hoofhold. Cicada, whom most of the group had forgotten was still in the room, swooped down and took her place, hovering defensively in front of Diamond Tiara. “Let’s not be too hasty, all right?” he continued. “Personally, I thought she did really well.”

“You’re on her side?” Sweetie Belle asked in horror.

“Why not?” He swiveled around, looking the surprised Diamond Tiara right in the eye. “First off, I’ve known grown mares who would’ve tried to call the battle off at the first sight of blood. No matter what happened down below you, you never let it get to you, and that’s something that a few of these chumps could stand to learn from if they want to get through this. Second, you came within a hair of stabbing yourself in your own heart to win that battle, and that takes some of the most amazing guts I’ve ever seen - and coming from me, that means a lot. And third, if I was a pony your age and had been given power like this, I know I wouldn’t be able to resist the urge to treat the world like my playground a little, especially since... well. My point is, at the end of the day, you saved Equestria, so don’t let these jerks get to you, okay?” Somehow, his painted smile appeared to widen. “You’re my hero. Don’t you forget that.”

Little by little, the shock started to fade away, and to her surprise Diamond Tiara smiled. “Thanks,” she said.

Her breathing became weaker, and then stopped.

Not everypony realized what had happened at first. But as Cicada continued to watch, the colour began to drain from her face, and she slumped unceremoniously over. Her tiara, which for so long had seemed a permanent part of her, slipped from her head and tinkled on the ground below.

Silver Spoon was the first to move. “DT?” she cried, throwing off Piña Colada’s restraining hoof and running over, pushing other ponies aside. She grabbed Diamond Tiara just as the filly began to slide off her chair and shook her, then frantically checked for a pulse. “What happened?” she cried, tears starting to well up behind her glasses. “What did you do to her!?”

Cicada continued to watch impassively. “I swear she did this to spite me,” he said, much more quietly.

“What?” Shaking in grief and anger, Silver Spoon held tightly onto her friend and glared at the mouse with all the focus she could muster. “What did you do to her!?”

“Never trust a mare,” Cicada continued, rising up and drifting away from the group. “We go through so much together, we travel all this way, we give your world the one chance it has to defend itself, and what does she do? She leaves it in the hooves of children.” His voice, ever complacent, was starting to grow bitter. “She leaves me to clean up her messes.”

“Cicada.” Apple Bloom heard her voice shake, but she gathered all the sternness she could and stared at him. “What’s going on?”

The mouse paused. He spun around and turned back to Apple Bloom. Gone was his pleasant smile; now she could see bared, pointed teeth. “What, you think the robot is run on wishes and friendship magic?” he snarled. “You’re not just this thing’s pilots, you’re its power source. Kapish? The moment that you get into your chair, your soul is bound directly to the machine. That’s the reason it feels like an extension of your body. And when your battle ends, one way or another, when this machine shuts down, so do you.”

He did a slow turn in midair. Everyone was staring at him with the same wide-eyed expression, their young minds struggling to process this information. “You get it now?” he spat. “You see why I don’t want to have to deal with you? Once the process is started, it can’t be stopped. Even if by some miracle you all win, even if you do manage to save your world...” He halted.

“You’re all going to die.”

Aftermath

“You’re all going to die.”

The words echoed through Snips’ mind as he reappeared in the makeshift clubhouse. He sat perfectly still, silently shivering. Somewhere nearby, he could still hear the monster sirens and the sounds of shouting, screaming. From somewhere there was smoke. There were no other ponies to be seen. His and Diamond Tiara's mugs still rested on the table, untouched.

"You're all going to die."

The thought echoed. It didn't seem possible. Of course, it had always been possible; he'd always known, in the back of his head, that it was possible for ponies to die. Even young ponies. Even ponies who had a lot left to live for. But that wasn't how the world worked. Ponies didn't die. They just got really scared or got really hurt and then they got better, and they were always happier and wiser for it. They didn't... they didn't die. Even fighting a giant robot wasn't really dangerous. "Dangerous" had always just been a synonym for "awesome" in his mind. The bigger the danger, the more awesomeness when a pony inevitably escaped from it. That was the whole point. That was how it was supposed to go.

If fifteen giant robots threatened Equestria, then no matter what the odds, one giant robot could defeat them all. There had never been any question. There had never been any danger. Otherwise, there wouldn't be a story. And even if the situation looked bad, so bad that it seemed like the bad guys were going to win and things were never, ever going to get better, even then no one was supposed to... to...

"You're all going to die."

Diamond Tiara's empty chair grabbed his attention. He became subtly aware of his own breathing, in and out, conscious of the sucking noise he constantly made as air passed between his teeth. There was an absence. A gap where something should have been. A hole in the very fabric of the world. Less than an hour ago, Diamond Tiara had been there. Now she was nothing. No, less than nothing; she was gone.

Snips' staring eyes fell towards her mug of water with a leaf in it. It was still half-full. This unfinished drink was the image that chose to sear itself into his brain, and with it, the final, dawning realization that this - this painful emptiness, this task left unfinished, this gap on the far side of the table - was what was going to happen to him.

I'm going to die.

His breathing quickened. "No," he said, even though he knew it was too late. "That's... that's impossible!" He tried to scramble away and tipped his chair over backwards, tumbling over on the ground until he hit the wall. The structure above him creaked. He righted himself and continued to back away, still staring at the mug on the table. "That's impossible!" he yelled at the lukewarm cup. "It has to be! You're... you're lying!" When the tea set gave no answer, he turned and ran blindly away.

I'm going to die.

The world faded. Sounds and images melted away; debris and cries for help faded into a thick fog. He let his stubby legs carry him, galloping ungainly over suddenly uneven ground as he found his way along strangely unfamiliar streets. The world was crooked; the world was just. This wasn't- It couldn't-

"No!" he shouted again, for want of anything more coherent. He had a lot more things to say if he could: that him and Snails still had adventures they needed to go on, and his woodwork project for Cheerilee was almost finished, and Dad said that they were finally going to take that trip to Manehattan next month, and he still had so much more that he was going to do, and it wasn't fair-

He could hear screaming. Everyone was screaming. Everyone was crying out in protest. He ran on as the streets got narrower, a narrowness that hadn't been there an hour previously, until his legs brought him blindly to the only place where he knew he would be safe and he reached up to a door that, all of a sudden, wasn't there.

Snips blinked. "What?" he choked out. He retraced his steps in his head, making sure he had come the right way, but no... this was his house. Except there was no house. There was just a pile.

The already-frantic pony's tear-clouded eyes widened as they finally took in what was in front of him. A collection of splintered timbers and crumbled plaster sloped over backwards into the street opposite, topped by a hat of what had been a woven straw roof, smashed flat. In the foreground was a multicoloured mesh of fabric and furniture, fragments of glass and straw and all kinds of colours of wood, ground to a paste and mixed together with the powder of the front wall. There were indentations in the stone foundation where a doorframe had been, but of the door there was no sign. That part was simply gone.

Snips stood there for what seemed like several minutes before he heard his shaky voice start up again. "Mom?" he vocalized, finally lowering his hoof and taking a trembling step into the house. "Dad?"

Nothing. Just the distant screams and sirens.

"You're all going to die."

Fear burst in his chest like an explosion. He jolted forward, diving into the powder of the pancaked building, throwing debris aside and digging towards the greater lump in the middle. "Mom! Dad!" he screamed, tears running down his face as he worked. A torn piece of wood scratched down his leg, but he barely noticed. "Mom! Dad!" Something green slipped under his hoof - there was the plant from beside the door, still green, the leaves still flat - "Mom! Dad!"

The sound of wings. One member of a flock of pegasi broke away from a scouting party and swooped down to him, wrapping her hooves around his middle before he had a chance to protest. "Let's get you outta here," she hissed, effortlessly lifting him into the air and making a beeline for Ponyville's outskirts.

"No! Put me back!" Snips thrashed in her grip, almost making her drop him before she tightened her hold. It would only be much later, when his more rested mind was able to sort through the events of that day, that he would finally recognize her as Cloud Chaser. His struggles lessened as the wreckage passed out of sight, but he still strained as far as he could to reach out towards it. "Mom! Dad!" he bellowed, one last time.

As gently as she could without losing firmness, Cloud Chaser turned Snips around in her grasp. She cradled him with his head on her shoulder and wrapped him in a tight embrace, which he returned without thinking. Her mouth was set in a hard line, biting back tears as well.

Canterlot's "war room," located about halfway up the Royal Guard tower, was inaccurately named. That it had a circular table was about all the claim it had to the title; since its construction many hundreds of years ago, no actual wars had taken place that had necessitated its use. For centuries the maps along the walls had lain untouched, the table and chairs only seeing service when they were rented for board meetings and birthday parties.

Until now.

In a rare turn of events, all four Princesses were present, Cadance having flown in herself from the Crystal Empire. The four of them were side by side, crowns removed, looking more solemn than many of the ponies at the table had ever seen them. Shining Armour was there as well, along with a few other high-ranking guards, and Red Cross had brought a pair of guests from whatever department he hailed from. The remaining four came from Celestia and Luna’s board of advisors: one of each of the three pony races plus one griffin, who barely fit even into the alicorn-sized chairs the room provided. None of them said anything. Those who weren’t familiar with the room’s ancient, unused customs had picked up on them right away: from the moment they were all assembled, they began a period of two minutes of silence to calm their nerves and remember why they were fighting.

Judging by the echoing sound of breathing, the first of these objectives was by far the more difficult to achieve.

Without opening her eyes, Celestia spoke first. "How bad is it?" she asked.

With a gulp, Shining Armour flipped open the report in front of him. "We won't know for certain until tomorrow," he answered with a facade of calmness, "but our first headcount lists eighty ponies confirmed dead, with another forty still unaccounted for. The same number of homes were completely demolished, but thankfully the damage was mostly restricted to the town's east side. Any way you slice it... that's a third of Ponyville."

Twilight Sparkle shook and let out a sob. She'd been silently weeping since before arriving. Celestia extended a wing and wrapped it around her, while Shining Armour shuffled in his seat. He was now starting to regret taking the place next to his marginally calmer wife. "And what of the attacker?" Princess Luna asked, the most composed of the four of them. "How much do we know about this... this black behemoth?"

Red Cross opened his own report on the events of the disaster. "Very much and very little," he answered. His tone had lost none of its calm enthusiasm, which led to a few quick glares in his direction. "After the previous sightings, we had assumed that the creature was an overgrown beast wearing some kind of ultra-light armour, but as pictures from the battle's end show, its interiors are inorganic. By some miracle of science, the dark unicorn is mechanical all the way through, like some kind of..." He tapped the table with his hoof, grasping for the word. "Like a living machine."

This grabbed Twilight Sparkle's attention. She finally raised her head and blinked several times, seeming to be only now waking up. "You mean it's some kind of..." She struggled for the word as well, reaching far back into the recesses of her memory. "Robot?"

This brought some confused whispers around the far edge of the table, quickly silenced. Celestia withdrew her wing, while Luna regarded the youngest princess curiously. "That word has some familiarity to us," the Princess of the Night said, "but I do not know if I am able to place it. What is this 'robot' that you speak of?"

"It's something I read in one of my obscure unicorn history textbooks." Twilight bit her lip thoughtfully, jumping at the opportunity to put her mind to something other than remembering. She'd been one of the first to dive back into Ponyville after the dark creatures had left, using all her strength to pull the remains of houses apart looking for bodies. Nearly every mangled pony she'd lifted out had been one she'd recognized. "The concept of a mechanical life-form was first postulated by Copper Coil the Second during the Pre-Classical Era. Natural elements could be used to create and harness a unique form of magic that he called electricity, combining the intrinsic magics of all three pony races. He imagined that this energy could be used to create and power all kinds of new inventions, which he imagined would revolutionize the world. One of these was something he called a 'robot,' an autonomous creature made of metal that could move or even think on its own using a stored electrical vessel. But less than a year later, Star Swirl the Bearded founded the amniomorphic spell, and Equestria underwent a revolution in unicorn magic instead of physical science. These days, electricity isn’t used for much more than heating ovens and lighting bulbs."

Red Cross stroked his scraggly beard thoughtfully. "So you think that somepony out there is finishing Copper Coil's work?" he asked.

Twilight shook her head. "Not by a long shot. Copper Coil's writings were all hypothetical; while Star Swirl was providing immediate results, he was struggling to figure out how to to create even simple machines with his own technology. Plus, he never imagined that robots would be used for anything more than automating simple tasks, like farming or mining. But those monsters that have been appearing, their armour, their power source, the way they teleport around... Even if somepony did crack the code to using electricity in this way, it would take hundreds of years of research for us to even begin to catch up. For once, this isn’t the work of some madpony wielding dark magic. A robot with that level of power and ability could only have come from a culture that took a very different scientific path from our own."

"Preposterous!" the griffin on the other side of the table spat at her. He spoke with a strong but unplaceable accent, a mix of a little of everything from the various Griffin Kingdoms and more besides. "No such culture exists! Unless you mean to suggest that this behemoth comes from somewhere..." He made a hacking noise at the back of his throat, the griffin equivalent of an amused snort. "Beyond this world?"

Twilight withered under the implications. "I don't know," she said in a small voice. "I... I just don't know..."

She began to tremble again, but this time managed to compose herself. Celestia and Luna looked at one another. In their glances, a thousand thoughts seemed to pass between them; when they were alone, they seldom had the need to speak aloud. Unable to read their millenia-old expressions, Shining Armour cleared his throat uncomfortably. "The first sightings were near the ocean," he offered. "It's possible that these might be the inventions of the fabled seaponies."

"Don't be ridiculous," one of Red Cross' cohorts laughed. "Seapony technology is completely different!" Red Cross punched his shoulder, and he shut up.

The baffled silence that followed was broken by one of the guards accompanying Shining Armour. “It doesn’t matter where they came from,” an especially massive pegasus pony growled, grinding his front hooves together as he leaned over the table. “What matters is how we stop them. If they’re made of metal, they can be broken. If they teleport, they can be tracked. All we have to do is figure out how.”

The two larger princesses compressed another ten-minute conversation into a single glance, ending with Luna sighing and Celestia putting on a thin smile. “I hope that it will not come to that,” she said. “Diplomacy may still be our best option. From what we’ve seen, these robots exist to fight one another, and they may not realize that they’re doing any harm; from what I’ve heard, one of them willingly left Ponyville after Twilight told it that ponies were being hurt. If we’re lucky, the magics of love and friendship may be all we need to end this without any further bloodshed.”

Before anything else could be said, the discussion was interrupted by a pop. A swirl of dragonfire materialized above the table and transformed into a scroll, which gently floated down to rest in front of Twilight. She reached out to it hesitantly, holding in a gulp when she saw the seal. “I’m sorry, everyone,” she said, looking apologetically around, “but I need to take this.”

A few ponies waved her away as she left the table. While Shining Armour started a discussion on a new plan to improve evacuation routes, Twilight slipped into a seat in one of the darkened corners of the room and rolled the scroll open, her heart leaping into her throat. The message inscribed on it was a short one.

Twilight,

We need to talk.

Spike.

A lot of ponies had chosen to trickle back into Ponyville once the battle had stopped, either retreating to the safety of their homes or to aid in the rescue of those still trapped under the rubble, but many more stayed where they were. Some feared that the dark giants would return to finish what they’d started. Others had no homes to go back to.

The place, which had previously had no name but was now known as Evacuation Field, quickly became the site of the town’s biggest ever campout. As many tents as could be found were wheeled out in carts, but many contented themselves with sleeping under the stars. Even after the sun went down, ponies still slipped back and forth between campfires, singing calming songs, sharing makeshift meals, finding one another in the darkness... and shedding tears at who wasn’t there to be found.

Even amongst all this, Snips was still one of the last to fall asleep. He’d been brought back to an area reserved for foals without their parents, which had seen tearful comings and goings for several hours. Sweetie Belle had been there when he’d arrived, but she was immediately whisked away by a pair of loudly bawling unicorns. Snails had shown up not long after. Even if Snips had been able, he wouldn’t have needed to say anything; their homes were only a few houses away from each other. They sat together, Snails silent, Snips still coughing and sobbing, watching Scootaloo’s mom quietly tend to their fire pit.

The next few hours had passed with few interruptions. Twist arrived along with a few other foals, looking almost as if she were sleepwalking. She spent half an hour staring into the fire without noticing the two colts on the other side of it before a tan mare with a straight red mane came up to her and wordlessly dragged her away. Dinky Doo was brought in close to sunset, but she didn’t say anything to the pair either. Somepony with a cart stopped by and passed out bowls of soup. Most went untouched.

There were four or five other foals in the circle, some getting replaced by others as the night went on. Snips tried not to count them. He tried not to look at their faces. As the night went on he only kept staring into the dying fire, and it wasn’t until he heard Snails snoring by his side that he felt any inclination to let himself lie down and do the same.

He woke up to something being thrown over him. He started to bolt up, then relaxed when he realized that the attacker was just a fuzzy blanket. Snails’ gangly mom was standing over them, putting a pillow under her sleeping son’s head. She put a hoof to her lips and nestled down beside him, pulling part of the blanket over herself as well. In what felt like seconds, she too was asleep.

Before he could stop himself, Snips looked around the campfire. Dinky Doo had vanished, as had two others. There were three more foals there besides themselves. He thought he recognized one of them as a filly named Pluto before he clenched his eyes shut again. Don’t look.

He dreamed of a landscape overrun with titanic black ants.

The next time he awoke was in the morning, with Snails’ knee tapping his side. He squinted against the morning sun as he raised himself up, the itchy blanket falling away from him. The massive campsite was starting to come alive again; ponies were starting to roll up tents and put out fires. One of the fillies nearby had started crying and was clinging to Scootaloo’s mom, who was holding her as if she’d never been near a foal before. “Where’s my muh-mommy?” the filly was saying.

At this sound, several realizations came to Snips all at once:

If his parents hadn’t come for him by now, he would probably never see them again.
Even if he did see them again, the reunion would be short-lived, as he was going to die soon.
He hadn’t had anything to eat since lunch the previous day, and
he really needed to use the bathroom.

Words couldn’t articulate how much he hated that the last of these was the one rising to the top of his brain.

Nearby, Snails was still being fussed over by his mother, who looked like she’d slept less than either of them. He grinned sheepishly and directed Snips’ attention to the pony he’d woken him up for. Apple Bloom was going from campfire to campfire with a wagon of fruits and juice and had arrived at theirs, starting to pass out apples. When she arrived at Snips, she paused. “Can... can you meet us in the cockpit ‘round five tonight?” she asked quietly. “We’re all gonna try to get together and confront Cicada. We need to get some answers.”

Snips stared at her for a while. He started to speak, but his throat was dry. She darted to the cart and back and presented him with a glass of juice, which he gulped down quickly. “I... don’t know,” he answered. “I don’t know where I’m gonna go, or... anything.” He looked longingly back at Snails’ mom. “I don’t know anything.”

Apple Bloom looked at the ground. She swayed forward slightly, and Snips found himself wondering what her night had been like. “Will you try?” she asked.

The pain in her voice found an echo in Snips’ heart. Even if nothing else, they still had each other. It wasn’t much comfort, but he took it. “I’ll try.”

“Thanks.” She shuffled, unable to look at him. “Ah’m... sorry ‘bout your parents,” she said. “Ah... sorta know how that feels.”

Snips stared at her. “They’re really...?”

Apple Bloom’s eyes widened, and she put a hoof to her mouth. “Ah’m sorry!” she gasped. “Ah thought you knew. They found ‘em last night.”

He tried to process this. He couldn’t. Dimly, he was aware that his body was giving up precious fluids to leak tears down his face again, but he felt... nothing. Too many things had been ripped out of his life all at once, such that the tapestry of his being was now more hole than story, and he didn’t know how to feel about something that he could barely see any more. Interpreting his reaction in her own way, Apple Bloom started to move towards him. Hesitantly, perhaps afraid that he might try to squirm away from her as he would if she’d done this at any other time, she reached out and gave him a gentle hug. “It’s gonna be okay,” she said, pressing her warmth against him. “Ah promise, it’s all gonna be okay.”

Snips nodded vaguely. Even after the long night, her mane smelled sweet, like apples.

Still gentle, Apple Bloom let go of him and backed away. “Ah’ll see you soon,” she said with some glimmer of confidence. She delivered apples to Snails and his mom, then did another round of the circle for juice, before dragging her wagon away and leaving Snips to his thoughts.

Five o’clock was a long time coming. Sweetie Belle was more than an hour early, but there was no helping that; her link to Equus was her sister’s sewing stool, and after a long day of making blankets Rarity was about to close the boutique to help at the shelter Applejack was setting up. Sweetie held her breath as she disappeared from the workroom, hoping that Rarity would think she’d slipped by her out the front door and wouldn’t spend too long looking for her.

Cicada was already there when she arrived, high up and facing away from her. “-t like I want them to die,” he was saying. Sweetie Belle’s gasp cut him off. He paused and turned around, lowering himself to eye level. “You’re early,” he stated.

Sweetie Belle leaned back, trembling in fear. “You knew about that?” she asked.

“Of course. I like to keep an eye on you all.”

He said nothing more after that. Regaining some confidence, Sweetie Belle leaned forward. “Who were you talking to?” she asked.

“None of your business.” Cicada vanished.

The next hour was spent uncomfortably. The stool was really supposed to be a support while sewing; the pony using it was meant to have a table to lean on while they worked. Sweetie curled up on it as best she could, letting her tail hang off the end. She looked longingly at Twist’s bean bag and Silver Spoon’s loveseat, but wondered what would happen if somepony was sitting on a seat when somepony teleported onto it. She felt warm. The temperature never seemed to change, but the absolutely still air was stifling. She wondered why the air in the cockpit never seemed to run out. She wondered if teleporting for real would feel the same as it did when Cicada moved her. She wondered if anypony was going to bring food. She wondered a lot of things.

Peachy Pie arrived next, only a few minutes early. Then came Tornado Bolt, then Apple Bloom, almost exactly on the hour. Snips and Snails were a few minutes late, but arrived together. “Hey, everypony,” Snips said without enthusiasm, jumping down to join the circle forming in the middle of the room.

Apple Bloom looked around at the sorry six of them. “Is that everyone?” she asked, looking around at the far wider circle of chairs. “Ah thought there’d be more...”

“I was expecting fewer,” Peachy Pie said with a shrug. “I thought more of us would want to spend time with our families right now.” She caught the multiple flinches this produced and looked around in confusion, then crimsoned as realization set in. “Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry!-”

A final wop silenced them as Rumble appeared in his folding chair, immediately hopping down to join them. “Hey guys,” he said, sliding into the circle. “Sorry I’m late. My brother kept me talking for a while.”

Sweetie Belle blinked at him. “Isn’t your brother in Cloudsdale?”

Rumble blinked back at her. “Uh, yeah. He came back to check on me. You know, giant monsters? But he’s gone again now.” He rapidly turned to look at Snips and Snails. “I’m sorry about you guys’ houses. Where are you living now?”

Snips was unusually quiet, and Snails took his customary long time to answer. “At Sweet Apple Acres,” he said once he was finished gathering his thoughts. “They got everypony to work together and put up another barn for us to stay in. It’s nice. My mom’s there.”

Rumble smiled cautiously. “And... what about your dad?”

Snails shrugged. “Los Pegasus, I think. He’s with some other mare.”

The casualness of the answer gave the others pause. “Does your mom know you’re here?” Sweetie Belle asked, fearful that her own crime had been replicated. “She might be really worried about you.”

Another shrug. “I just told her we had to go somewhere. She said okay.”

“That’s all?” Tornado Bolt said in surprise. “I had to tell my mom I was checking on some friends.”

Apple Bloom stared at them in bafflement. “Really? Ah just told mah folks the truth.” She looked down as the others stared at her. “Okay, not... all of it.”

Having accidentally breached the central topic of the evening, Apple Bloom steeled herself and stood up. Nopony stopped her as she took a deep breath and turned her face upwards. “Cicada!” she yelled.

The mouse materialized overhead. Even though he’d been expecting them, he still managed to sound annoyed when he answered. “What do you want?”

Snips felt his heart seize up. His breath quickened; his skin felt flush. Unimposing as it was, the plastic toy loomed over them like the spectre of death. Others in the circle seemed to feel the same way, unconsciously drawing closer to one another, their words catching in their throats. Only Apple Bloom seemed unaffected, glaring up at their personal harbinger of doom. “We want answers.”

“Please. What more could you possibly need to know?” The mouse began to circle overhead. “You fight the enemies and destroy their vital spots. You save your world and then die for the privilege. What about that is hard to understand?”

Apple Bloom was rendered speechless, so Peachy Pie took over. “But that’s not what we were promised!” she protested. “If we’d been told that we were signing up to die, then none of us would have ever done it!”

“Which is, I surmise, precisely the reason you weren’t told,” Cicada said.

“But...” Peachy stood up and cried out. “But it’s not fair!”

Cicada halted. “Not fair?” he echoed. “Who said anything about fair?” He warped down and reappeared right in front of Peachy Pie, causing her to flinch away with a shriek. His smile was gone again, replaced by a snarl of sharpened teeth. “Do you think any death is fair?” he continued in a mocking voice. “Is it fair that your world is threatened to begin with? Would it have been fair if somepony else was chosen instead of you? Is that what you want, for me to take your registration away and give it to somepony else, so you can say ‘I want you to die instead of me, because it isn’t fair!’?”

Peachy Pie was near tears. “But... but didn’t want this!” she cried. “You forced us!”

“I didn’t force you to do anything. Nopony forced you to sign that contract. Nopony’s forcing you to fight. But do you know what’s going to happen if you don’t? Do you think fair is going to matter then?” He wiggled back and forth in midair. “Wah, I’m going to die so I’m going to make everyone else die with me because it’s not fair!”

“Enough!” Tornado Bolt leaped to her hooves, her wings snapping out reflexively. “Don’t talk to her that way! How can you trick us into giving our lives away and then act like we don’t have a right to be angry? Stop being so heartless and actually help, you... you bully!”

Cicada turned to face her. “Bully? Hm. That’s a new one. Although I don’t have internal organs, so heartlessness isn’t something I can help.” He tutted as her glare only intensified. “And really, I don’t have to be talking to you at all. My function is to move pilots around and perform repairs. Giving advice is really only something I do in my spare time, so whatever complaints you have, it’s not actually my problem.”

Tornado Bolt shook in fury. “It is your problem because you’re the one who brought this monster here! If you hadn’t shown up, none of this would have happened!” She pointed angrily. “How do we know you’re not the one who brought those other monsters here to attack us? You’re the one who keeps saying that all this is just a game!”

The mouse looked back blankly. “It is a game.”

The others took a step back as Tornado Bolt seethed, steam practically coming out of her ears. “Were all those deaths just a game?” she asked. “Was Ponyville getting destroyed just a game? Are our lives just little games to you!?” She stomped once, then leaped at Cicada with a hoof raised to swing. “We aren’t your toys!”

She disappeared in a flashing bubble just before reaching her target and reappeared near the wall, hitting nothing. She struggled to move, but the flashing bubble was keeping her suspended helplessly in the air, forcing her to fall through the same patch of air again and again. “You’d do well to not get on my bad side, little one,” he said over her outraged roars. “I’ve been patient with you so far, but even I have my limits. Whether you accept it or not, you need my help. Try to accept it soon.”

Sweetie Belle shuffled forward and looked up pleadingly. “Please let her go.”

“...Please? Ah, now we’re getting somewhere.” The warping momentarily switched directions, tossing Tornado repeatedly up in the air, which made her lose enough momentum that Cicada was able to let her go without her crashing into the floor. She fluttered the rest of the way down on her own, still glaring. Cicada drifted up to Sweetie Belle, his painted smile back to normal. “For polite little fillies,” he said, “I’ll answer any questions you have. What would you like to know?”

The filly only stared back in terror. Rumble quickly cleared his throat. “Could you... please just tell us one thing?” he asked. “If any of us loses our battle... what will happen?”

Cicada didn’t even look back. “Your world will be destroyed, and everypony who lives on it will die. Your energy will be harvested, and those responsible will move on to another world.”

“So... in other words, it’s an invasion?”

“That’s a less fun way of looking at it.”

“Okay.” Rumble started to speak again, but stopped twice before he found the words he was looking for. “We... ponies don’t think of that as a game. I’m sorry that we got confused.”

“It’s a game in the sense that there are rules, and there are winners and losers.”

“Then why are you here?” Tornado Bolt asked. She stepped closer, stopping near but not quite inside the circle. “Why are you ‘helping’ us?”

Cicada sighed, twirling away in the air. “Believe me, if it was up to me, I wouldn’t be, especially not with a crew like this. If you want the full answer for why you in particular, you’d have to talk to Pollinia, and she’s... not available any more.”

A sickly hush fell over the group. Apple Bloom keeled forward. A vile realization, which had been lurking in the back of her mind ever since yesterday, finally made itself known. “She’s dead,” she croaked out, bringing the thought to life. “She said it was her first time. It had to be. And that means that right after the battle...” A second realization filled her throat. “And Scootaloo...”

Cicada swirled around and stopped, tilting slightly to the side. “You must have figured that out by now.”

“Yeah.” Apple Bloom nodded, holding back a scream. “But Ah want to hear you say it.”

He watched a moment longer before answering. “Your friend is dead.”

It was Sweetie Belle who broke down first; a bubble of worry in her heart burst, releasing a flood of reserve tears down her face. Over the sudden wailing, Peachy Pie spoke in pain and anger. “You told us you sent her home!”

“I did.” Cicada performed a half-bob that might have been a shrug. “I can’t tell you why she wasn’t there when you returned. Maybe somepony else found her first.”

“So.” Rumble tightened his lips, his whole body weighed down. “We’re all going to...”

“Die, yes.”

Sweetie Belle started to cry harder. Several others were tempted to join in. “Okay.” Rumble gulped. “That thing you said earlier... about taking registration from one pony and giving it to another... can you do that?”

“Huh?” Cicada started to move closer, then stopped. “Oh, no. That was rhetorical. I can’t actually do that. Once you’re in, you’re in. And once you’re up...”

Snips finally found his voice. “What about the Elements of Harmony?”

Sweetie’s crying stopped. “Hey, yeah!” Apple Bloom exclaimed, lightening up. “The Elements of Harmony! They can banish any kinda evil magic. Why, one blast from those, and we’ll-”

“They won’t work.”

“Huh?” Apple Bloom frowned up at the mouse. “But you ain’t even seen them.”

Cicada circled away. “The contract is unbreakable. That’s the long and short of it. Your puny pony magic can’t even touch it.”

The filly was undeterred. “Are you absolutely positively sure?”

“Yes, I’m absolutely posit- Oh? Well, would you look at that.” Reacting to a signal the assembled foals couldn’t feel, he twirled back into the middle of the room and raised himself up. “Looks like you might have a chance to find out sooner than we thought.”

The circle of chairs began to move.

Snips couldn’t breathe. The whole past day had felt like one extended nightmare; now, with death bearing down on him, he was sure that he must be about to wake up. After all, all of this was impossible, right? It had to be. It had to be!

“You’re all going to die.”

There was a shrill whistle of magic as another roulette symbol appeared under their hooves. Sweetie Belle shrieked and clung to Apple Bloom. Peachy Pie shrieked and clung to Tornado Bolt. Snips clung to no one. He clamped his eyes shut as the roar of the chairs got louder and louder, then softer. “Not me,” he begged under his breath. “Not me. Anyone but me. Please, not me!”

The noise stopped. Snips opened his eyes.

The seat within the circle wasn’t his.

It was a bench.

He didn’t fully realize what this meant until Peachy Pie started screaming.

Cicada rose up to the top of the room and sighed. “I really hate foals,” he muttered.

Midnight Meetings

Peachy Pie lay in her bed and stared at the wall. Sunny Days slept soundly above her; she was older, so she got the top bunk of the bed they shared. Peachy was tempted to climb up and join her, as she’d sometimes used to do before the accident in the park, but she couldn’t seem to muster the nerve. The ladder was just that little bit too far away, the upper bunk too high. Everything seemed a little larger-than-life right now.

One third of Ponyville. She’d heard the statistic being passed around throughout the day, but she still had no idea what to do with it. How many houses was that? How many ponies? The most ponies she’d ever seen had been during one of their many annual gatherings at the town hall; was that all of Ponyville, or only part of it? If she gathered the spirits of all their victims in one place, what would that crowd look like? How high had the cost of their little romp across town been?

But no matter who she asked, nopony seemed willing to discuss exact numbers with her. She guessed that these were things that fillies her age weren’t supposed to think about. Death, it seemed, was an off-limits subject.

Instead, her unwilling mind focused on the few facts they did know. They’d made a tally, her and the other six who’d arrived in the cockpit, of what had been lost among their little group alone. The results had been echoing through her ever since. Twist had lost her father. Piña Colada had lost her mother; Berry Pinch, by extension, had lost her grandmother. Apple Bloom’s family was fine, but her brother was in the hospital after somehow shifting most of a house off of a trapped couple. Snails and Archer had both lost their homes. Snips... Snips had lost everything. Lost. As if it could be recovered. As if everypony were just out there hiding somewhere, waiting to be found. And these were just the losses they knew about, collected from Apple Bloom’s reconnaissance and gossip around town.

Diamond Tiara’s family had lost their daughter. Painful as it was, Peachy Pie hadn’t let them leave that out. Soon, she knew, her own family was going to lose her.

How was she supposed to respond to that? How was anypony supposed to respond to that?

She looked down. She hated how much light there was at night. No matter how thick the curtains were, moonlight always spilled into the room around the edges, so that within a matter of minutes her eyes had adjusted and she could see almost as clearly as if it was daytime. This was a problem that grown-ups never seemed to understand, no matter how many times she explained it: she couldn’t sleep at night because it wasn’t dark. Even her parents, who were supposed to be some of the smartest ponies in town, had only answered her complaints with faint smiles and nods and then replaced her curtains with a set half a shade darker, further cementing in her mind the fact that they never really listened to her at all.

Her room tormented her with ghostly light from all sides. Unwilling, she rolled over and let her eyes be swept over it yet another time. Every detail that she would normally pass over without a thought now grabbed at her, incessantly dragging her back to reality; every poster, every scuff on the rug, every logo and drawing that she and her sister had pinned to their twin posterboards in the far corners of the room. (She and Sunny were going to be famous one day, they’d agreed; they’d just yet to decide on how.) She had so many stories. She had so much life in her. How could a pony with so many stories just stop?

She’d pretended to be sick last night. She’d gone straight to bed as soon as she got home, still pale and trembling, and her parents had believed her without even looking. It was the only way she’d been able to hide the mark that glared up at her even through the night-time haze.

Printed on her flank, cruelly covering up her three cute little peaches, was a large white circle with a pattern of wavy lines running across it.

With another shiver, Peachy Pie looked up. She wondered if, if she told her the truth, Sunny Days would hang one of her sheets off the side of the bed and let her turn the lower bunk into a fort.

Restlessness shook her. The ladder loomed again, at once so inviting and so terrifying.

“How long?” she’d asked. These had been the only words she’d cared to direct at Cicada after she’d managed to stop screaming.

The mouse had performed another of his half-bob shrugs. “Depends when your opponent arrives. Could be as long as a few weeks. Could be as short as a few seconds. No way of knowing.”

No way of knowing. Dread gnawed at her incessantly, like a second hunger just behind her stomach. If she fell asleep now, would she wake up on the dreaded bench in the cockpit? If she didn’t tell her sister now, would she ever get a chance to again?

Her hooves moved on their own. She rolled off the bed and landed soundlessly on the floor. The ladder loomed closer and closer. All at once, Sunny Days’ snoring stopped.

Peachy Pie froze. The silence dragged on for close to a minute; she heard no movement from above. She stayed standing, her breath coming in shaky bursts, until her nerves finally failed. “I’m sorry, sis,” she whispered. Pretending it was where she’d been heading all along, she crept to the door and slipped silently outside.

This wasn’t the first time that Peachy Pie had crept around in the night. She knew where the floors creaked, but this was the first time she tried to avoid those spots. Steadying herself against every noise, she made her way down to the front door and tied on all four of her roller skates, then wheeled her way out the front door.

The night air was cool, but not cold. The distant noise of construction and deconstruction had been going on all evening, but now that it was close to midnight it sounded like everypony had finally gone to bed. Without so much as a glance behind her, she kicked off the doorstep and started to glide down the street, picking up speed.

Freedom. Tornado Bolt had explained this feeling of physical liberation to her once, after one of her training flights about a year back. It wasn’t the right word, but it was the closest one they had. In the air, her pegasus friend had explained, she felt like she could do anything. An invisible wall she’d never realized was there would drop away, and it would take everything else with it. You couldn’t be sad when you were going fast; you couldn’t feel tired, or angry, or even happy, only the exhilaration of speed. Flight was the cure to fix all wounds. It was, both literally and figuratively, what kept her going.

Peachy Pie knew that her pegasus friend had needed this revelation more than most ponies her age. Right now, however, she clung to it herself. The still air began to skim over her face as she found a hill and streaked down it, half-closing her eyes against the stinging wind. True to form, her mind was forced to let go of everything else to concentrate on movement. Albeit on wheels, she flew.

Time sped up and slowed down without pattern. The world blurred as she rocketed down streets and around corners, spinning or alternately lifting up hooves when she felt her mind wasn’t being given enough to do. She carried on through a circuit of Ponyville that she’d been perfecting ever since she’d picked up the hobby, whirling through tighter and tighter passages without ever losing speed. It was only when something unfamiliar loomed up in front of her that she realized the flaw in this plan: she was heading right for Ponyville’s destroyed sector.

She had two choices: she could skate on into a nightmarish landscape of almost certain injury or death, or she could stop moving.

A small path had been cleared at the edge of the street, just wide enough for a stretcher to be carried through. Peachy Pie sped down this and entered a world of rubble. Collapsed houses flowed onto the road from both sides, spilling uneven hills of wood and plaster ahead and forcing the narrow path to wind between them. The ground was suddenly not nearly as even as it had been; the moonlight, which earlier had seemed as bright as day, barely illuminated the obstacles ahead. Far from being kept calm, Peachy Pie’s mind went into overdrive. She veered sharply left as the first crumbling wall loomed up, then hopped over a collapsed beam, nearly tripping over the gravelly powder on the other side. A hundred different dangers assaulted her senses and she spun away all but on instinct.

It got easier, in time. Around the third twist in the obstacle course of Equus’ making, she stopped letting fear fight her actions and gave in completely to momentum. She twirled at every corner, carrying herself around bends that would have been impassable otherwise, and carried herself gracefully over the smaller debris that stood in her way. At some point she passed the crumbling mess where she knew Archer’s house had once been, but she made herself tune it out. She tuned out everything. Nothing could touch her as she danced through Ponyville’s remains, making familiar something as alien and heart-wrecking as death itself.

And then, all of a sudden, something did.

A different kind of obstacle made its way down the path in the opposite direction, emerging from behind a pile with almost equal speed to her own. Peachy Pie sped on for another half-second, her brain not fully registering what was coming, before she leaned back and tried to will herself to a stop. The two ponies shared a gasp before colliding with one another, inadvertently wrapping themselves around one another as the larger of the pair was bowled over. They tumbled over twice before the grown mare snapped out her wings and flapped hard, drawing them to a halt just before they crashed into the glittering remains of a smashed windowpane.

Despite having had the wind more thoroughly knocked out of her, it was the larger pony who recovered and managed to speak first. “Oh my goodness! Are you all right? I’m so sorry...”

Peachy Pie just whimpered at first. She slowly wriggled out of the mare’s grip and looked up, her head still spinning. The other victim in the crash had been, as she’d predicted from the silhouette and her touch, the animal caretaker called Fluttershy; she had an unbelievable softness to her, the kind that seemed to extend deep into her, all the way down to her bones. It was only slowly that Peachy realized she’d been asked a question. Experimentally, she twitched each of her legs, then her neck; nothing seemed broken. “I’m fine,” she lied; her head ached and she could feel a cut bubbling up behind her ear, but she didn’t want this pony to spend too long checking her over. The last thing she needed was for this to get back to her parents... or for anypony to notice her new cutie mark.

“Oh, thank goodness,” Fluttershy sighed. She smiled, even though she seemed to have come out of the encounter worse; her mane was covered in splinters and dust, and several light scratches ran down her flank. “I’m sorry I wasn’t looking where I was going. My friend Twilight called a meeting, so I was trying to take a shortcut... Oh, I hope I’m not late...”

“It’s fine,” Peachy Pie reassured her. “Thank you for watching out for me. You should get going.”

“Um... okay.” Fluttershy meekly started to move, then hesitated. “You know, if you’re going to go fast, you should really be wearing a helmet,” she said. “Do your parents know you’re out here?”

Uh-oh. Thinking fast, Peachy Pie put all her bits on a single lie. “I... don’t have parents any more,” she whimpered, tearing up a little.

This did the job magnificently. “Oh, I’m so sorry!” Fluttershy gasped, clasping a hoof over her mouth. “Is there... is there anything I can do?”

“No. There’s nothing anypony can do.” She skated a little ways away, ignoring a twinge as one of her knees suddenly really hurt. “You’re right. I’m sorry. I should get back... back to the farm. My friends might be wondering where I am.”

“Okay.” Fluttershy leaned closer, wearing a smile that gushed sympathy and kindness. “Is it all right if I walk you there?”

“No, it’s fine,” Peachy Pie said quickly. “I promise not to go fast again. You should hurry to your meeting. It might be important.”

“Oh... okay.” With surprising meekness, the mare backed away and started to trot in her original direction. “Stay safe, okay?” she called back as she left.

“You too!” Peachy Pie yelled back with a laugh. She waited until Fluttershy was out of sight before turning and starting to skate away. She immediately cried out in pain when she tried to put weight on her front left leg; her knee felt like it was being smashed by a rock. Whimpering through the pain, she lifted this up and skated away on her three good legs. Speed was still of the essence. She had a meeting to catch.

Now that she had a destination in mind, it didn’t take long to clear Ponyville’s wrecked area and loop towards the library. She quickly caught up with Fluttershy, who had slowed down greatly to avoid crashing into any more late-night orphans, and stayed a short ways behind her the rest of the way. Fluttershy seemed to have no fear of being followed, so the trip ran without a hitch. They eventually came to the library, the only building in what seemed all of Ponyville that still had its lights on, and Peachy came to a halt across the street as Fluttershy approached the resident Princess’ home and knocked. After a moment the door was answered, not by Twilight, but by her small, purple assistant.

Traitor. Peachy Pie glared at the little dragon, although she couldn’t find it in herself to fully blame him. His life was on the line too, just like the rest of them. As Fluttershy entered and the door started to close, she skated forward and perked up her ears, trying to catch as much of the conversation inside as she could. Just as she came to a halt in front, preparing to press her ear against the wood, the door creaked open again. Spike stuck his head out, and their eyes met.

They froze in place for several seconds. In the background could be heard several voices, at once familiar but always, up until now, distant. “Hi hi, Flutter- wow! What happened? Were you attacked by an iguanaphant?”

“Um...”

“Pinkie, what the heck is an iguanaphant?”

“Ooh, that’s a great story! See, a long, long time ago, there lived this teeny tiny...”

Tuning the voices of Equestria’s heroes out, Peachy Pie gulped and silently shook her head. To her horror, Spike was breaking into a nervous smile. With a creak, he opened the door a little wider and beckoned her inside.

A scream all but bursting from her, Peachy Pie turned and skated frantically away.

Spike stayed in the doorway a little longer, watching with disappointment. From behind him, Twilight Sparkle spoke. “Who was that, Spike?”

Spike withdrew his head. He glanced guiltily once more at the road, then shut the door. “Nopony,” he answered. “Must have been the wind.”

That One Time In Front Of The Park

Peachy Pie dreamed of bees. She found herself inside a vast hive, so big that it stretched across the sky, with a tiny planet of flowers drifting in the middle. Everything else was an endless pattern of hexagons and the sweet smell of honey. Fuzzy little bees flew all around, and she dreamed herself as one of them, buzzing back and forth between her hive and the flowers, gathering pollen in a little sack she wore around her neck. When she wasn’t working, she danced, joining her fellow bees in happy games of fancy footwork and aerial coordination. When she wasn’t dancing, she slept, curling up in a tiny little honeycomb of her very own. She was a busy little bee and she could not have been happier.

But then the dream changed. The hive that was her sky began to crack, then was torn open. The eternal daylight was sucked away into the impenetrable blackness beyond, leaving the world in shadows. Peachy clung to her fellow bees in terror as the darkness spread, and dark, metallic legs reached in to break the crack open wider. Clouds billowed in, clouds of acid with winds so cold that they cut right to the bone, and a wasp the size of time and space began to drag its massive frame inside the hive.

This was the signal to attack. Instincts that she’d never known she had compelled Peachy to dive towards the invading menace, with thousands of her brothers and sisters at her sides. They swarmed around the breaking wasp and pushed with all their might. It wasn’t enough. The wasp brushed them aside with no effort at all, lifting bee after helpless, squirming bee up to its dark maw and crunching greedily as it continued its slow climb towards the world of flowers ahead.

Peachy Pie had never felt more scared. Her head was full of the buzzing and the roaring and the frightened screaming of the bees, but she alone knew what she had to do. She flew up to the wasp’s head, narrowly avoiding a swinging leg that tried to sweep her towards the dark and mashing jaws, and landed on its night-black eye. With no time for a prayer or even to take a breath, she plunged her stinger into the soft flesh below her.

There was a deep, inner pain, like she’d been stung herself. In the middle of her chest, her pure little heart turned to poison and shot itself down through her tail, injecting the invader with all the killing power that a tiny little bee could muster. Her insides fell to pieces as the stinger was ripped out of her. She flopped away, resting on the hardness beneath her as the world grew dim.

Then she saw another eye. Then another, then another, thousands and thousands of them, stretching away across the dark wasp’s head in all directions. The last thing she saw before the darkness overtook her was that the invader had not even slowed down.

Tornado Bolt appeared in the cockpit and immediately jumped down from her cloud. She shivered, first with repulsion, and then with guilt; the seat, like most of the furniture in her house, had been a gift. She shook the unwelcome thoughts off and looked around.

The round room at first appeared to be empty, and she wondered if she’d been mistaken in coming until a flash of yellow caught her eye. Peachy Pie was curled up not on her bench but under it, staring wide-eyed into the middle of the room. “Hey, there you are,” she said, walking over. She balked when she saw her friend's beaten and dusted state. "Whoa! What happened to you?"

Peachy Pie stirred. She was dimly aware of being tired and hungry, but the sensations felt distant and unimportant. She hadn't bothered to take off her roller skates after collapsing under the bench to hide last night. Her head hurt and her knee was starting to swell up and turn purple. She thought she remembered crying, but she felt no trace of it. An unpleasant dampness between her legs told her that she'd wet herself sometime during the night, but the smooth floor beneath her was dry. The only explanation she could think of was that Cicada had turned up while she'd slept and cleaned it up, which only made her feel even worse. "It's not important," she mumbled after a while, not looking up.

Tornado Bolt gulped. She bent down and reached out, creeping forward. "Did... did somepony do this to you?" she asked.

"No. I just fell." Peachy coughed. The noise was making her head hurt worse. "What time is it?"

"Noon. Have you been in here all day? Your parents are kind of freaking out."

"Oh..." Peachy bit her lip and finally looked up. She felt a small amount of satisfaction from making her parents worry, but she didn't want her sister to fear for her as well. "I didn't realize. I'm sorry."

"It's okay." Tornado Bolt reached out further and helped her out from under the bench. "If I'd known you'd been here that long, I would have brought some lunch."

Peachy sat still. She could see Tornado trying not to look at her flank, the pegasus' eyes darting towards her new cutie mark and then back to her face, to the wall, to anywhere else. She sighed and faced her friend head-on. "How did you know I was here?" she asked.

"I didn't. Apple Bloom said you might be here, though. She'd have come with us if she didn't have... stuff to do."

"Apple Bloom..." This finally brought the smallest hint of a smile to Peachy's face. "She's really taking charge, huh?"

"Yeah." Tornado Bolt did her best to grin as well, but it quickly fell through. "She's... handling this the best, at least. I think we're gonna need her around for a while."

"Yeah." Peachy Pie looked at the ground. "I'm... glad it's me and not her."

An uncomfortable pause followed. Tornado Bolt twice opened her mouth to speak, but then stopped. The reality of her friend's impending doom hung over her like a shroud, cutting them off from one another. "Peachy..." she said at last.

"So who's 'us' then?" Peachy Pie asked, moving away. "Who else is coming?" She took some experimental strides across the floor, wincing when she tried to bend her leg. She hoped it wouldn't affect her too much during the battle.

"Well..." Tornado glanced around, not quite looking towards one seat in particular. "Archer said she'd try to come as well, but..."

"Oh. Right." Peachy Pie slid to a halt. She closed her eyes and sighed. "How much do you bet she's just playing Wonder Force Three again?" she asked in a small voice.

Tornado winced. "Hey, she's not... she wouldn't..." She finally looked towards Archer's arcade stool and sighed as well. "Yeah."

There was a wop, and suddenly the seat was filled. Archer and Piña Colada appeared together, clinging tightly to one another, but broke away as soon as the teleportation was complete. "Told you it would work," Piña Colada said smugly, brushing herself off.

"Shut up," Archer grumbled, pointedly facing away.

Peachy Pie nervously skated back to Tornado Bolt's side and sat down as the pink filly made her way towards them. "What are you doing here?" she asked, and found her voice shaking.

"What do you think? We're just here to make sure you're okay." Piña Colada finished her trot over and sat down, smiling cheerily. Archer joined her a few seconds later and finished the circle, not looking anypony in the eyes. "So how are you holding up?" Piña Colada asked, running a critical eye over Peachy's battered frame. "Did you get into a fight already?"

"She just fell," Tornado Bolt answered for her, stretching her wings out defensively. "And if you needed a ride here, why didn't you just ask your sister?"

"I keep telling you, she's my niece," Piña answered with a roll of her eyes. "And she's just being a big baby, like usual. Your friend here was a lot more cooperative."

"Hi, guys," Archer said, almost under her breath.

Tornado bared her teeth, but Peachy Pie subtly put a hoof on her leg to hold her back. "Thanks for being here," she said. "I kinda need the support right now."

“Anytime,” Archer answered without conviction. Peachy tried not to let her anguish show; while Tornado hadn’t been able to look at her flank, her other friend seemed unwilling to look at her at all.

“We’re all here for you,” Piña Colada added with a smile. “Woulda been easier if you hadn’t run off, though. What’s up with that? Trouble at home?”

Tornado Bolt bristled a second time at her insensitivity, but Peachy shrugged it off. “It’s fine,” she said, hearing her own voice become hollow. She wasn’t ready to face that side of the situation yet. “I just... panicked. I caught Spike at a meeting last night. I think he told Princess Twilight everything.”

“A meeting?” Tornado looked more alert. “When was this?”

“A little after midnight, I think. All the Elements were there. I don’t know who else was.”

“Oh.” The other three in the circle exchanged knowing looks. “That would explain what’s been going on,” Bolt offered.

“What?” Peachy looked around at them. “What do you mean?”

Archer answered. “We think the guards know.”

“Know what?” Peachy blinked and backtracked further. “What guards?”

“A whole bunch of guards turned up in Ponyville this morning,” Piña Colada explained. “Some of them were helping with the cleanup, but we could tell that others were looking for something. A couple of them started watching us on our way to the arcade; we had to pretend to be playing for a while before they were far enough away that we could jump here without being seen.”

“And ending a really good starting run,” Archer muttered under her breath.

“But I don’t think they know it’s us,” Tornado Bolt continued. “This morning I saw a couple of them watching Sweet Wheat the same way, so I guess Spike didn’t rat us out specifically. But if whoever’s in charge really wants to know, it’s only a matter of time until they figure out that they can ask Cheerilee which of us went to Seaddle, and then...” She looked at the floor, grinding her teeth.

Peachy Pie felt herself shrink towards the floor. “What are they gonna do to us?” she asked.

“I don’t think they can do anything to us,” Archer answered. “If Cicada’s right, then there’s no way they can keep us from fighting, even with the Elements. But they might try to put us in a lab somewhere so they can figure out how the robot works. And if nothing else...” She gulped. “They’ll probably tell our parents.”

Three of the fillies in the group shuddered, while the fourth didn’t react at all. “Don’t worry about your parents,” Piña Colada said calmly, reaching over and patting Peachy Pie’s hoof reassuringly. “Even if they find out, they’re not gonna do anything to you. If I have to, I’ll make sure they don’t do anything to you, okay? Besides, nothing they say is going to matter so long as you fight.” Her eyes lit up strangely. “You’re gonna fight, right?”

Peachy Pie stared back blankly. Archer sharply inhaled, and Tornado Bolt jolted upright. “Don’t say things like that!” she growled.

Piña Colada rolled her eyes. “Why not? It’s why we’re here, right?” She looked back to Peachy Pie. “Look, I know this is all going to be hard for you, but I’m just saying, we can’t have you getting scared and running away when your time’s actually up. The whole world’s kinda depending on it. So you’re going to fight, aren’t you?”

Peachy shrank under her gaze. “Well...”

“Aren’t you?” she pressed.

Peachy felt her mind drift away; she willed her body to sink into the floor. “Um...”

Piña Colada’s voice became threatening. “Aren’t you?”

“Shut up!” Tornado shouted. She stood up, punctuating every word with a stomp. “Just. Shut. Up! Don’t you get it? If she fights, she’ll die!”

A soft gasp from Peachy Pie silenced her, and she immediately paled and sat back down. The elephant in the room, now let loose, loomed over them and threatened to crush them all. Piña Colada, however, remained oblivious to it. “And if she doesn’t fight, we’ll all die,” she countered. “Are you saying I shouldn’t make sure the pony who’s supposed to save us all gets her butt in gear?”

“Easy for you to say,” Archer rumbled. “You’re not the one who’s giving her life.”

Piña Colada whirled on her. “Hey, my life is on the line just like everyone else’s,” she hissed. “And since no one else is around right now to supervise, it’s my responsibility to make sure you all stay in line. I’m trying to save the world just as much as you are. Right, Peachy?” Her innocent smile returned. “You get why we’re doing this, right?”

Tornado scraped at the ground. “This isn’t about-”

“Quiet.” Peachy Pie finally spoke again. Still low to the ground, her lower lip trembling, she looked around at the others in the group. “Is that what this is about?” she asked. “Are you only here because you need me to die for you?”

There was a painful pause. “Well, no-” Tornado started, but her throat closed up as her doomed friend looked at her. She fought back an unknowable fear and tried again. “Look, that’s... that’s part of it,” she tried. “But it’s not why we’re here. We’re your friends, Peachy. We just want you to be okay.”

“Okay?” She half laughed, choking on the dry air. “How can I be okay? I’m going to die!”

The other two flinched. “We mean... as close to okay as we can make it,” Archer offered. “We know how scared you are. We feel it too, just further away, so we know this isn’t going to make things better. But if there’s anything we can do, even a small thing... we’ve gotta try, right? We just...” She momentarily looked Peachy Pie in the eyes, then returned to staring at the ground. “We just want you to be okay.”

Peachy sat back. The picture was starting to become clear to her. “You mean for me to be okay with dying.”

“No!” Tornado blurted, then reconsidered. “Well... yeah, but...”

“So that’s what this is about.” Peachy Pie scooted a little ways back from them. “This isn’t about friendship. You just want me to die so you can save yourselves.”

“No! Come on, Peachy, you know that’s not it.” Tornado reached out to her. “We’re going to die too, remember?”

“Yeah, after me!” Peachy Pie snapped. Fresh tears welled up in her eyes, hotter and darker than the last. “Diamond Tiara was right about you two, wasn’t she?” she continued in a cold voice. “You do only hang out with me because I’m rich.”

Her friends paled. They looked at one another, then at Peachy Pie, then at the ground. At the same time, they spoke.

“Ever since my dad-”

“Gaming is really expensive-”

They both stopped. Peachy Pie’s accusing fury bored into them both. “Okay, maybe it started out that way,” Archer said frantically. “But things have changed! Once we got to know you, we changed. You’re not just a walking purse to us any more.”

“No,” Peachy countered. “I think I’m more that now than I ever was.” She turned away and clumsily stood up. Even wearing roller skates, she still managed to stomp as she made her way back to her bench, leaving the others speechlessly behind. “I’m going to fight,” she said as she clambered up. “Don’t worry about that. But I’m not going to do it for you.”

“I believe in you, Peachy,” Piña Colada said in the seconds before she vanished. She sounded smug. “Just remember, like it or not, everyone needs you now.”

Getting home was surprisingly easy. No one was in the park when Peachy Pie reappeared, and the streets were relatively empty as she skated back home on three legs. Only once did she see a pair of gold-plated guards marching through the streets, but their backs were to her and they didn’t turn her way as she zipped by. In practically no time at all she was sliding to a halt down a once-familiar street, up to a house that she once thought she’d never leave.

There was no point hesitating; no time to waste. As quietly as possible, she opened the door and slipped inside. She could hear voices coming from the direction of the kitchen, too quiet to make out. Grimacing, she kicked off her skates and slunk upstairs, making doubly sure to avoid the creaking patches on the floor before darting into the bathroom.

The shower had never felt warmer. Peachy sat on the floor of the tub and turned her face upwards, letting the water run over her and wash away some of the debris from last night. She stayed that way for as long as she dared, letting the water do the work, feeling her muscles finally relax as tension, if not stress, was ever so gently massaged out of them.

She tried to use what time she had to think. She couldn’t. What was there to think about? Her mind bounced off the concept the same way the Wonderbolts had bounced off the object itself; the whole thing was too big for a pony her size to understand. So she thought about nothing except for warmth, and aching, and a growing, resentful hunger.

After a while, she decided that she couldn’t risk the position any longer and started to move. The last thing she wanted was for Cicada to summon her while she was in the shower; it would be way too embarrassing to have to save the world while soaking wet. Moving efficiently, she plucked the last of the splinters from her mane and tail and washed the cut behind her ear. Ever so gently, she rubbed a little life back into her swollen knee, which had stopped hurting as much but still refused to bend properly. Once she was satisfied that no more could be done, she stopped the water and toweled herself off before creeping back out to the hall.

No sooner had her hooves touched the wooden floor than somepony her size grabbed her by the mane and yanked her off to the side. She put up no resistance as her sister dragged her into their bedroom and pushed the door shut behind them. She did, however, flinch away when Sunny Days pushed her roughly onto the rug in the middle of the room and she saw the anger on her sibling’s face. “Peachy, what did you do?” Sunny hissed, trying not to yell.

Peachy Pie blinked back. “What?”

“There are Royal Guards in the kitchen!” Sunny continued, jabbing her hoof towards the door. “They were waiting for you to come back! Mom is making them coffee!” She bit her lip as her voice rose on the last word, swiveling her ears nervously. “They won’t even tell us why. They just said it’s ‘classified’. What did you do that your own family doesn’t get to know about it?”

Faint voices from downstairs echoed as the pair stared at each other. Slowly, audibly, Peachy Pie gulped. “Sunny?” she asked. For all her worrying about this moment, now that the time was finally upon her, she felt like her body was moving all on its own. “Do you remember that one time in front of the park?”

Sunny took a step back. “Now?” she asked, both angry and despairing. “You’re doing this now?”

“I know.” They were both already paling at the memory. She didn’t have to explain; her sister knew as well as she did what it meant for her to bring the subject up. “Sunny, I promise, I Pinkie Pie promise, as soon as I can I’ll tell you everything about what’s happened and what those guards want. But right now, for me, can we please talk about this?”

There were a few more moments of hesitation for them both before Sunny turned slightly and scowled in the direction of the wall. She ran a hoof through her mane, brushing a lengthy scar hidden beneath glimmering hair. “I remember,” she said. “I wish I didn’t.”

Peachy nodded. “It was my fault.”

“Don’t be stupid. It was both our faults. We never should have tried the jump rope thing.”

“No.” Peachy shook her head, fumbling for words. She couldn’t explain how important it was that she got this right. “I mean... it wasn’t your fault.”

Sunny glanced back at her. “What are you...” One detail, which had been nagging at the corner of her mind for the past minute, finally caught her attention. Her eyes widened. “Your... your cutie mark!”

“I’ll explain later,” Peachy answered without looking back. “I just want you to remember that it wasn’t your fault. It wasn’t anypony’s fault. It was just a bad thing that happened.” Her gaze faltered and she looked at the rug. “And I want Mom and Dad to remember that, too.”

“What?” This was enough to drag her sister’s gaze away from her flank and back to her face. “Is that what this is about?”

“Well, no. And... kinda.” Peachy shuffled. “I just hate what they did to you. We used to be together all the time, until they said you couldn’t go out any more. I had to make new friends and come up with new games, and all I’ve ever wanted since then was just for us to go out skating together again. I felt like I lost you, all because of something that was an accident. And when I’m...” She couldn’t say it. “After this happens, I don’t want them to keep you locked up here forever. I can’t stop what’s coming, but if I can do one thing before I have to go, I just want to know that you’re not going to let them push you around any more. The last thing I want is for you to lose something we shared just because you’re their favorite.”

Sunny stared at her for a while. Peachy barely moved, uncertain of what to expect; she was hoping for a hug at best. What she definitely hadn’t expected was for her sister’s eyes to narrow and her lips to curl into a look of disdain. “Seriously?” Sunny asked. “You think I’m their favorite?”

Peachy blinked. She spoke in a small voice. “Wh... why else would they...”

“They didn’t do anything. Mom and Dad never said I couldn’t go out, okay? I made that up. I... I didn’t want you to be mad at me. But you think I’m their favorite?” Sunny pressed. “They’re always trying to make me more like you! Every time you leave the house, it’s ‘Remember when you used to skate?’ this and ‘There’s more to life than sitting around’ that. And every time you come home scratched up, Mom’s always nudging me and saying ‘See? She’s a big girl, she doesn’t mind a few scratches.’ It’s been driving me crazy!”

Peachy Pie felt like the rug had been pulled out from under her, and also that her insides were being strangled by it. “But... why?” she forced out, suddenly sounding half her age. “Why didn’t you want to go skating with me any more?”

“Because I was scared!” Sunny shouted. Seeing the pain on her sister’s face, she took a deep breath and dialed back her volume a little. “I do want to go skating with you,” she explained. “I really want that. But I almost died, Peachy. I could have died. And then I wouldn’t have been able to skate or do anything ever again. Do you even understand what that means?” Despite her efforts, she started to raise her voice again. “It took me weeks before I could even look at skates without getting shaky, and you kept dancing around and bugging me like nothing had happened! Like you didn’t even care that I could have died! So I told you that Mom and Dad said I couldn’t, just to get you off my back for a while.”

She was almost crying, but she didn’t let herself. Not in the middle of her rant. “But what would you know about it? Everypony loves that you don’t care about getting hurt. Nopony’s even noticed that I’ve been practicing acting on my own, or that all my test scores have been better than yours for the past four months. No, all you have to do is go out and throw yourself down a hill somewhere, and suddenly it’s yay, Peachy for princess! Don’t you get it?” She closed the distance between them, towering over her sister. “Every time you went out, I got scared that you were never coming back. I thought I was the only one in the whole world who cared that you might die. And this is the thanks I get?” She reared up and shoved Peachy Pie, accidentally knocking her to the floor. “Why can’t you just be more responsible!?”

She paused for a moment, taking more deep breaths. Now it was her turn to be surprised by her sister’s reaction. She’d been expecting a couple rounds of sisterly insults, or at least for Peachy to burst into tears. But instead, the younger filly lay limply where she’d fallen, staring at nothing. A sense of deep, primal wrongness gripped Sunny, and her rage drained out of her. “Peachy? I...”

“Sis?” Peachy answered. “If you could change things around... if you could make it so that it was me who hit my head on that bench, and not you... would you do it?”

There was a pause for thought, but not a very long one. “No,” Sunny answered, shaking her head. “I wouldn’t do that to you.”

“Thanks.” Peachy Pie smiled. Stiffly, wincing as she put weight on her swollen leg, she pulled herself to her hooves and then threw herself onto Sunny in a tight embrace. “I love you, sis,” she murmured into her mane.

“Uh... you too,” Sunny answered, slightly taken aback. She first patted Peachy on the back, then gave in and hugged her as well. “You promised you’d explain what’s going on, right?”

“I will. When it’s over. I promise.” With a last nuzzle, Peachy Pie let go of her sister and started limping towards the door.

“What are you doing?” Sunny asked her, almost dragging her back again.

She didn’t look back. “Being responsible.”

The two guards were still in the kitchen when Peachy made it there, sitting politely while her mother did very nearly all the work of making conversation. They immediately stood up as she poked her head into the room. “Miss Pie?” one of them asked.

“That’s me,” Peachy answered, feigning ignorance. “Were you looking for me?”

“We were,” the other answered. “We have already informed your parents that you are not in any trouble. There is simply somepony of importance who wishes to meet with you.”

“Okay.”

The guards walked calmly towards her, while her mother shrank in her seat with every step. She looked like she hadn’t brushed her mane that morning, an event which Peachy was fairly sure had never happened even during Discord’s temporary reign over Ponyville, and her voice had an all-new tremor in it when she spoke. “Peachy?” she asked. “What’s happened? Where have you been?”

Instead of answering, Peachy Pie flashed her a brisk and innocent smile. “Have you heard Sunny’s acting lately?” she asked. “You should ask her about it. She’s getting really good at monologues.” Then she turned away and let the guards escort her outside.

There was a chariot waiting, albeit quite some distance down the road; the ponies on this street had some very strict rules about unattended vehicles being left around, and Peachy had always suspected that her neighbors would raise a stink even if Princess Celestia herself tried to park outside. The three of them set off towards it, the guards adjusting to her slower, three-legged pace without comment. Although she could feel a couple sets of eyes on her from nearby, Peachy kept her head high and walked proudly.

Responsible.

I’m going to be responsible.

This thought swirled experimentally in her head, but was slowed down by the sound of many sets of hoofsteps. She at first tried to ignore them, but finally stopped when a familiar voice cried out desperately towards her. “Peachy, wait!”

She turned. The guards turned as well, one drawing tightly up to her side, the other leaping in front and throwing his wings open defensively. The wings hesitated and dropped, however, once the pair saw exactly what was coming their way. Peachy Pie’s eyes widened at the sight. A group of foals was galloping down the street towards them amidst what looked like a rolling cloud of streamers and glitter. Twist and Sweetie Belle wore party hats; most of the others were carrying balloons. Apple Bloom rumbled through the middle, pulling a cart holding a flat chocolate cake behind her. Archer and Tornado Bolt broke ahead at the front. Tornado had been the one who’d yelled, while Archer focused on balancing a poorly-wrapped present on her back as she charged ahead.

This peculiar sight lasted only a second or two. Then, in front of the guards’ startled eyes, every last one of the foals vanished, leaving only a few trailing streamers and a cart full of cake rolling down the middle of the road.

Battle 4: Dream

Whether by design or through some skillful teleporting on Cicada's part, the running foals lost all of their momentum as they reappeared in their respective chairs. This didn't stop several of them from continuing to dash in place for a few more paces, resulting in a few tumbling over and landing heavily on the cockpit's floor. Once the panic had died down, however, none of them showed any inclination to go back to their seats, instead running across the darkened room and crowding around Peachy Pie.

"Peachy, we're sorry!" Tornado Bolt started, as though oblivious to the change in location.

"We are," Archer added, nudging her way to the front of the group. She sat down and clung tightly to the package that she carried with her, relieved that it had made the journey alongside them.

"After you left, we felt really bad-" Tornado added.

"-and we know there's no way we can make things okay-" Archer continued for her.

"-so we got everyone together-"

"-at least, as many as we could find-"

"-and they agreed we had to do something-"

"-but they couldn't think of anything either-"

"-so I thought we should ask Pinkie Pie for advice-"

"-but then Sweetie Belle pointed out that we already knew she'd just tell us to throw a party-"

"-and we realized that none of us had any better ideas-"

"-so we got all the supplies we could-"

"-and the Cakes gave us a discount on a cake, 'cause it was an emergency-"

"-and then we came to get you-"

"-but the guards had already found you by then-"

"-so we started running, and then we... ended up..." Archer paused for breath and looked around, finally seeming to notice the room they were in. "Here," she finished.

Cicada floated in the middle of the room. He slowly rocked back and forth, tilting and bobbing his head slightly, as though to unheard music. As more and more pairs of eyes landed on him, he looked around and the rocking came to a stop. He coughed awkwardly. “You know what?” he said. “You’ve got another minute before the battle starts. I’ll let you have your moment.” He vanished.

Peachy Pie watched the spot where he’d been for a moment longer, then stared down at the others in numb surprise. The entire group was watching her, breaths held; meanwhile, those who'd remained in their seats - Spike, Silver Spoon, and Dinky Doo, the latter of whom had turned up wearing saddlebags - were looking at them in bafflement. Now!? her brain screamed. I could have had weeks! Why now? Why now!? Her body did nothing but turn pale and tremble, however, and she swallowed the thoughts by focusing on the offerings in front of her. "Why are you doing this?" she eventually croaked out. "I already said I'll fight."

"We... we know." Tornado gulped. "But this... isn't about that. We're not here because you're the pilot. We're here because you're our friend."

Archer started to mumble to herself. "Well, technically we're 'here' because Cicada..." She caught herself and shook her head, looking back at Peachy. "The point is, we know this isn't okay, and nothing we say is ever going to stop it being not okay. But this could be our last chance to do something nice for you, and..." She choked, and quickly wiped her eyes before continuing. "And we just wanted you to know that... even if we can't do anything... that we're here for you." She nodded and gestured around. "All of us."

The others mumbled their assent, even the ones who weren't quite able to look Peachy in the eyes. Those who hadn't been in the party already slipped from their seats and joined them. They banded together, some holding hooves, other sitting in silence. Rumble blew a noisemaker. With shaky legs, Archer lifted up the present she'd been carrying towards Peachy Pie. "Here," she said. "This is from all of us."

Peachy took the gift. She started to unwrap it in silence, tearing off the shoddy taping in large sheets. Then she opened the box and looked inside. She had to look at the rounded objects within for a few seconds before their nature clicked. "Knee pads."

"Y-yeah." Archer put on a shaky smile. "We thought you might need them."

Peachy Pie looked down at her. Slowly and precisely, she put the box aside. They others all stared up at her, watching for her response. Watching her.

Responsible.

A few thoughts, which had been collecting in her mind as of late, made themselves known like pebbles in a jelly sandwich. Aside from maybe Spike, who seemed to age differently than ponies did, Peachy was fairly sure that she was the oldest in the group. Maybe it was only fair that she went first. But more importantly, she was first - not the first to die, but the first to go out knowing what was going to happen. They were all watching her, looking up to her for her reaction, and they all knew that someday soon, each of them was going to be where she was.

Except Piña Colada. Peachy mentally edited her out of the scene in front of her.

But intrusive as she was, the filly had been right. Everyone needed her now, in more ways than one. Her friends were watching her because they were scared, for themselves as well as her. Whatever became of her, it would happen to them as well. Whatever steps she took, they would follow. Being the first to walk down this path meant that it was her responsibility to light their way.

It was time for the winner of Ponyville’s “Best Dramatic Performance” award two years running to do her thing.

I'm going to be responsible.

Carefully as she could, she shuffled up to the edge of the bench. "You guys spent your own money on these, didn't you?" she asked.

"Yeah." Tornado Bolt looked down. "We... had to take up a collection, but... yeah."

Peachy watched a moment longer. All at once, she broke into a broad smile and threw herself forwards, knocking her two friends down and wrapping them in the tightest of hugs. "You guys are the best friends ever!" she yelled.

"Whoa." Bolt grinned as well. Careful not to dislodge Peachy's injured leg, she fluttered her wings and pushed them all back up to a sitting position.

Archer was more reserved. "We're sorry, Peachy," she said. "We're all really, really sorry."

"It's okay," Peachy said, nestling between them both. “I’m sorry too. I know you don’t think of me as a walking purse. I was just angry because I was scared. But that doesn’t matter now. All that matters is you’re here.”

Inside, she was screaming.

She felt a moment of panic as Archer pulled away from her. No, don’t go! she cried silently, tightening her unbending leg as one of the last sources of warmth in her life slipped out of her grasp. She was, however, only moving aside so that Apple Bloom could take her place. “We’re a family now,” the farm filly said, gently grasping her outstretched hoof. “All sixteen of us. We look out for each other.”

They crept in one by one, passing briefly by and then slipping away like ghosts. Peachy’s only constant was Tornado Bolt, who shifted for better access but remained by her side. “I wish we could’ve had more time,” Sweetie Belle whispered, her sweet voice sliding through the fog of bodies around her.

“You know any of us would trade places with you,” Rumble told her. She almost believed him.

Dinky Doo gave her the most painful little smile. “I hope I’m as brave as you,” she said.

Silver Spoon was the last in the makeshift line. She was perhaps the most hesitant, only reaching out far enough to tentatively shake Peachy’s hoof. She gulped and started to edge a little closer, but froze when Tornado Bolt shifted. The pegasus turned her head just enough to give Silver Spoon a glare, invisible to the ponies who stretched out behind her. There was a pause, and Silver Spoon spoke, almost too quietly to be heard. “I...”

Cicada reappeared overhead with a flash. “You’re still going?” he exclaimed. “Your enemy is waiting! Into your chairs, chop-chop!”

The herd dispersed. The crowd of bodies scattered back to their seats, eyes wide. Tornado Bolt started to pull away, but hesitated as Peachy Pie’s grip tightened around her. For a second, the pair locked eyes. Don’t go, Peachy pleaded silently, ever so subtly shaking her head. Tornado paused just a second longer before breaking away and galloping back to her cloud on the far side.

Peachy was on her own. Feeling impossibly heavy, she reached back and started to pull herself up into her bench, but stopped halfway. “Cicada?” she said, looking back. “One more thing before I start.”

“What?” the mouse tsked.

“When this is over... don’t send me back to my family.” She looked down. “I can’t do that to them. Just... make me disappear. Put me somewhere they can’t find me. At least until all this is over.”

“Easily done,” Cicada said briskly. “This robot has a lot of hidden spaces in it. I’ll just stuff you in a little corner somewhere. A pony could search a hundred years and never find you.” Peachy winced. “Anything else?”

“Yeah,” she said flatly. “I want you to leave. And I never want to see you again.”

Without so much as a goodbye, Cicada vanished. Peachy glanced up at the place where he’d been once more before finishing her climb and settling into her spot on the bench. Almost as soon as she was stable, the circle lifted and the walls changed colour.

Their location wasn’t Ponyville. A dark snowscape stretched out in all directions, covering the uneven landscape in unbroken whiteness. In the distance on all sides were steep, toothlike mountains that a few of the foals guessed belonged to the Crystal Empire. Snow was falling; dark clouds obscured the sky as far as the eye could see, and rivers of white whipped around the dark robot that had appeared in their midst. Peachy could already feel the negligible weight of the snow build up on her metal back, could see the dusting of whiteness collecting in the grooves in her armour. Then she raised her head and looked her death in the face.

Her opponent was a pony, like her, but that was about as far as the similarities went. This robot lacked a horn and was made from rounded white armour, almost as pale as the snow that swirled around it. Unlike Equus’ sleek, bladed design, the large, curved plates that made up this enemy bulged out along its legs and sides, as though it was packed with muscles. While the unicorn had seemed bulky compared to their previous opponents, the earth pony they faced now was massive.

Peachy Pie took a few deep, shaky breaths. The white pony didn’t move. “Don’t freak out,” Piña Colada said, unhelpfully. “Remember, all the friends in the world won’t mean anything if you can’t win now.”

“I get that,” Peachy snapped. She eyed the white pony up and down, searching for any potential weaknesses or any signs of movement. She came up blank on both. “What’s it doing?” she muttered to herself. “What’s it waiting for? The others did this too. Do they wait for us to make the first move?”

Rumble squinted into the storm. “I think that’s your cutie mark,” he said, pointing towards the opponent’s sides. In the air, he traced the shape of one of the larger plates near its shoulder, puffed and rounded like a hoofball player’s jersey. “You see those grooves? I think that pattern runs all along the sides.”

“Is this like your thing now?” Archer asked. “Just pointing out what everyone’s cutie mark means?”

“It can be,” Rumble muttered defensively, shifting in his seat.

“Quiet,” Peachy Pie ordered. To her surprise, the others obeyed; nopony seemed as keen on battle chatter as before. Steadying herself one last time, she forced herself to glare at her opponent and settled her gaze on its single, lidless blue eye. It’s not here for me, she reminded herself. It’s after Equestria. It’s here for my world of flowers.

This was all the prompting she needed. “So, you wanna take our world?” she muttered under her breath. “You wanna crush our homes? You wanna break our mountains?” All coldness left her; her breath ran hot. She continued, growing louder with every word. “You wanna kill my friends? You wanna steal our souls?” She sat bolt upright, shouting. “You wanna break our spirits? You wanna see us in chains? You wanna make us your toys? You want Equestria?”

She screamed. “BRING IT ON, MONSTER!”

With a roar of metal scraping against metal, Equus reared up. It kicked threateningly at the air, and an orb of searing yellow light appeared at the tip of its horn before bursting apart into snaking tendrils that lit up the sky. She stayed in this position for as long as she could before bringing both hooves down onto the permafrost with a crash that sent plumes of ice and snow into the air and echoed around the valley like the thunder of the gods.

The white pony stared on impassively. Then, once the last vestiges of the noise had died away, it raised a leg and stomped as well. A much lower, meatier thud sounded. Then it raised both front hooves and stomped again, easily doubling its own volume, before rearing up to its full height – even taller than Equus had been – and bringing the full weight of its legs down.

The crash that followed made Peachy’s attempt sound like the popping of a balloon. The group had to cover their ears as a shockwave of force and sound rattled Equus and an explosion of snow momentarily obscured the battlefield. The ground beneath the earth pony cracked and split, leaving a chasm where once there had been ice and stone. Having made its point, the robot lowered its head and settled into a fighting stance, ready to charge.

Peachy Pie let out a low growl. Matching its cue, she pointed her horn towards it and pawed at the ground. The wind whipped between them for a few seconds more. Simultaneously, both robots lunged at each other.

Apple Bloom let out a small gasp. “Peachy, wait!” she cried, raising a hoof in warning. “Don’t charge it!”

It was too late. The two ponies met in the middle of the valley with another explosion of snow, but not with equal force. As their breastplates collided Peachy Pie was thrown back like a leaf, her dark frame being flung fully into the air and landing heavily on her back. She groaned in pain and rolled onto her side, accidentally skidding out of the way mere seconds before the pale robot’s continuing charge nearly trampled her into the dirt. As it slid to a halt and quickly turned, she clambered to her hooves and charged again, managing to hit it at an angle and pierce the back of its neck with her horn. Without hesitating, it raised a hoof and punched her away.

Now too close to each other to build up speed, the two robots circled around each other, rapidly trading blows. Peachy Pie was marginally faster, but the earth pony was much stronger; while she managed to land a lot more echoing kicks on its puffy armour, each of its retaliatory strikes left a visible dent on hers. Whenever she side-stepped and tried to raise up her hind legs for a buck, it would do the same, and she immediately jumped back into closer quarters, afraid of what a fully-powered kick from this monster would do to her. Faster and faster they went, trading blow for blow, only one side making any visible progress.

In a flurry of movement, both robots reared up and boxed at each other simultaneously, their forelegs fighting for dominance in the air. Peachy Pie finally managed to break through its defenses and knock loose two of the bulging scales that made up its breastplate. A second later, however, its head dropped down and butted her with enough force to make her stumble back and nearly topple over again.

“This isn’t working!” Archer yelled, clutching onto her stool tightly. “It’s got us beat at close range. You’ve got to try something else!”

“Yeah? Then what- am I supposed- to do?” Peachy grunted, dodging out of the way of two consecutive punches and a headbutt.

“Use your horn,” Snips blurted, sounding surprised that he’d spoken. “It’s the only thing you’ve got that it doesn’t. That’s gotta be its weakness!”

“Fine,” Peachy Pie said. She darted backwards, charging energy through herself, then fired a thick yellow beam point-blank at the opposing robot. Instead of punching right through its armour as she’d hoped, the magic bounced right off its front and hit her in her own face, throwing her even further back across the ice. “What?” she gasped, shaking her head clear and looking in horror at the small singe mark on the advancing enemy’s front. “Why didn’t it work?”

Before anyone could answer, the earth pony charged again. Peachy Pie darted to the side, then ducked as it passed her and bucked out with its hind legs, missing her by metres. “Maybe it’s the colour?” Dinky Doo offered as Peachy’s dodging continued. She gingerly touched the tip of her own horn. “Scootaloo’s opponent could reflect magic, too. Do you think it’s white armour that lets it do that?”

“Rrg...” Peachy was too busy to offer a response. The earth pony was now attacking relentlessly, swinging with its front hooves and lunging forward every time she dodged away. She had to put all her energy into blocking or dodging each blow, only with partial success; the front of her armour was starting to look like it had been through a threshing machine.

“That makes sense,” Archer answered for her, tapping her chin thoughtfully. “Both the white robots we’ve seen have been focused on physical attacks; it makes sense that they’d want to put ranged fighters at a disadvantage. It wants us to get as close as possible-”

“Hey, that’s real clever,” Piña Colada cut in, “but would you quit your yapping and say something that’s actually gonna help?”

“Will you all shut up!” Putting on a burst of agility, Peachy Pie launched herself into an uppercut that snapped the white robot’s head upwards and stunned it long enough for her to take a couple of safe leaps backwards. She was breathing heavily; even though she wasn’t herself physically moving, controlling Equus for even a few minutes was exhausting. “So you’re saying I can’t fight it from up close or far away?”

Spike gulped. “I think... I think that’s what we’re saying, yeah.”

Peachy growled again, but it died inside her throat. The enemy was already moving towards her, picking up speed, but in her mind it slowed down to a halt. It looked barely even scratched. The image of the pale pony unstoppably bearing down on her burned itself into her brain, plunging past her facade of bravado and into the depths of the dark things she stored at the back of her mind. One tiny spark of hopelessness was all it took to bring the inky flood of despair rushing forth, filling her up with the one thought that she had never been able to fully comprehend until now:

I’m going to die.

And all she had left, the only thing that kept the paralyzing fear from taking over her completely, was one last outpost of red in the front of her brain that simply said:

No I’m not.

This same redness filled her vision. The white robot thundered back up to full speed. Somepony was screaming, and Peachy only gradually realized it was her. All her energy flooded to her hooves and the middle of her forehead, and with one scrape and a quick sidestep, she lunged.

Once, twice, three times her horn slashed against the enemy’s shoulder before it was able to stop and face her. Unlike her hooves, her horn cut through the puffy armour like butter, leaving wide gashes that bled milky white liquid. She didn’t slow down as a white hoof rattled against her side. They were too close together; neither side was able to get a good swing going as they spun around one another, their breastplates rubbing together as they butted heads. The ear-splitting noise of metal scraping against metal filled the room.

“This ain’t good,” Apple Bloom whispered, wide-eyed. “That’s too close!” she yelled over the noise. “You gotta calm down! Peachy, you gotta calm down!”

NoI'mnotnoI'mnotnoI'mnot.

Her horn flashed again, and she sheared off the enemy’s right ear with another scream before their faces slammed together. The other robot kept reaching up and towards her sides, but her constant movement prevented it from getting a solid hold. Peachy didn’t even know where her forelegs were any more; all she could do was keep punching, and keep screaming. If she stopped moving, the pale pony would get her. If she stopped moving, she would die.

Up close, the enemy’s blue eye wasn’t an eye at all, but a seemingly random cluster of individual lights set onto a sky-blue circle. She momentarily wondered whether Equus’ red eye looked the same before the tide of fury pulled her back under again.

Others were starting to shout as well. “Peachy, listen!” Tornado Bolt yelled in between her friend’s incoherent shrieks. “We’ll figure something out. We can beat this thing. But you have to get out of range!”

An opening presented itself. The white robot pushed itself far enough away to rear up, raising its front half into the air. Seeing the enemy’s exposed belly, Peachy let out a mad screech and dove for it. Everyone else gasped, and several things happened at once.

The tip of Peachy Pie’s horn pierced the white robot’s stomach. Tornado Bolt leaped from her cloud, her short wings extending to their fullest. The white robot’s front hooves landed heavily on the back of Equus’ neck.

A crash shook the cockpit like nothing that had ever shaken it before. The entire world lurched violently as Equus was flung downwards, its forelegs splaying out in front of it. Tornado Bolt rocketed upwards and hit the ceiling; Sweetie Belle fell out of her stool. Peachy Pie screamed again, this time in pain, as she felt metal plates cracking apart behind her head. The pain increased as she hit the ice, her body being driven into the landscape. The most resounding boom of all echoed across the mountains.

For a second or two, all was calm. Then the white pony started to rear up again. It moved slowly, perhaps taking its time, perhaps simply seeing if its prey would try to get away. Peachy couldn’t. Numbness overtook her and she simply stared upwards, open-mouthed, watching the unimaginably massive shape rise even higher above her.

Something struck her, and she thought the stomp had landed a second early before she realized Tornado Bolt had tackled her from above. “Peachy, listen to me,” her friend hissed, shaking her roughly. “You’ve gotta stay with us. You’ve gotta-”

The hooves descended. This time, when the larger robot landed on the smaller one, the dark armour gave way completely. Plates of thick black metal sheared away in all directions, exposing Equus’ grey, coiling innards. Tornado Bolt winced. With a series of glares and rapid head movements, she motioned to Archer, who took the hint and jumped over to Twist’s beanbag, then over onto the far side of the bench. “Listen,” Tornado continued to Peachy as they both embraced her, “we need you now. I know this is the hardest thing you’ve ever done, but you’ve gotta stay focused. You’re the only one who can save us now.”

“The Peachy Pie we know wouldn’t let herself get trampled on,” Archer added to no effect. Overhead, the white robot was starting to rise again, having to pry one of its hooves out of the indentation. Peachy Pie only continued to stare.

Tornado Bolt gritted her teeth. “Peachy Pie, look at me,” she ordered. This earned the faintest flicker of movement. “I said - look at me!” She roughly grabbed her friend’s head and twisted it towards her, glaring into her awestruck eyes. “We love you!” she yelled furiously. “And we are never, ever going to stop believing in you, understand? So you are not going to give up now! You’re going to get back up! You’re going to-” She pointed upwards, then winced as the robot reached the peak of its height. “Do something!”

Something sparked.

Peachy Pie could feel her friends’ heartbeats. She could sense the life energy of every pony in this room; every pony but herself. She felt the fire in them, the fire that soothed instead of seared, that healed instead of burned. They were at once outside and inside of her, warming her heart, holding her tightly. There was no darkness any more; there was no red. There was only...

Light.

One second left. She couldn’t move; her legs were splayed. As the white robot began to descend, she did the only thing she could think of and fired a beam of light upwards. It bounced off of the enemy’s armoured underside, slowing it only a little, and then passed between her forelegs and into the ice beneath her.

The ground exploded, hurling both robots away from each other and sending Equus bouncing and skidding over the ice. A rain of slush and snow fell down on her as she came to a halt, stunning her momentarily even further. In the middle distance, the enemy had landed on its back, flailing its legs as it tried to get its bulky form to roll over. “Wow,” Peachy Pie breathed, startling herself with the sound of her own voice.

Archer had tightly shut her eyes. “Are we dead?” she whispered.

“No,” Peachy answered. “No, we’re not.” She took a deep breath, feeling her heart rate start to slow. That, at least, she could still feel. Her eyes settled on the spot where she had been moments ago; her shot had blown a crater in the ground at least half her length and deeper than she could see from this angle. “You guys?” she said. “I think I have an idea.”

Experimentally, she flexed Equus’ legs and stood up. Her back had definitely been cracked open, but fortunately Equus didn’t seem to have a spine, and the rest of her seemed to be holding herself together. The joints in her legs felt looser, as though they’d been stretched out of place. With a faint crunch she popped her battered front breastplate off, as well as some of the smaller plates that ran along her side. The armour underneath was lighter and thinner, and already seemed to have taken a beating as well.

“What, are you crazy?” Spike yelled, breaking out of his stupor. “If we get hit without armour, we’re dead for sure!”

“We’re not gonna get hit again,” Peachy Pie answered confidently. “You can trust me on that. Besides...” She reached down beside her. Pressed against her flank, and slightly squashed by Archer accidentally landing on it, was her box. “I already have all the armour I need.”

She lifted the knee pads out of their casing and held them out. Taking their cue, her friends took one each and wrapped them onto her forelegs. She stretched; they fit perfectly. “You guys really are the best friends ever,” she said, and this time she meant it.

“We know you’d do the same for us,” Archer answered calmly. “But what’s the plan?”

“The plan is we go back in there and cut that beast to ribbons. But this time, we’re all gonna do it together.” She looked around. “Right?”

“Right!” Apple Bloom immediately piped up. The others joined in in twos and threes, but Peachy had stopped listening by that point. She’d heard enough. She held onto her friends’ hooves, Archer on her right, Tornado Bolt on her left, and looked ahead.

By this point, the larger robot had managed to pick itself up and was advancing again. It moved more cautiously, going around the new crater in the ground rather than charging directly ahead. Peachy Pie smiled at it. “You wanna dance, big guy?” she asked. “Let’s dance.” No longer as one soul, but as a vessel containing many, she charged once more.

Right away, the change was noticeable. Without its armour Equus was lighter, and noticeably faster. The enemy rounded the crater and galloped directly towards her again, but this time Peachy was ready. Staying nimble, she leaped to the side moments before they collided and slashed her horn along its side, gouging a deep wound in its armour and dodging away before its hind legs could swing around for a kick. She did this a second time as it turned towards her, slicing off half of one large shoulder pad and leaping away just as its foreleg swung up. Instead of immediately advancing again, the enemy stood still, taking a defensive stance as it recalculated its strategy. Rivers of white mixed with the snow as they ran down its sides. “Oh, you think that’s bad?” Peachy mocked. “Let’s see how you handle this!”

She twirled away and galloped across the battlefield, her horn lighting up. Raising her head high, she gathered a ball of energy at the tip of her horn and then released it in a dozen different directions at once. Magic struck the ground around her again and again as she ran, throwing up clusters of debris in all directions. Once she was around the same distance as she’d been when the battle had started, she turned back and fired off a few more shots in quick succession to fill in any gaps. What had once been a broad, flat field was now covered in rubble and unevenly-sized potholes, each around twice the width of a robot leg, already starting to be obscured by the snow.

The white robot started to move forward again, but hesitated, stopping just before its front hoof fell into a newly-created crevasse. It proceeded slowly, checking each of its clumsy hoofsteps before lurching on. Peachy Pie had no such inhibitions. She leaped right back into the field of traps she had created, sliding and weaving around every hole that came her way. She picked up speed rapidly, getting almost up to a full gallop as she angled across the valley, looping around before diving right for the sluggish earth pony from the side.

It almost worked. The enemy turned at the last second, not sluggish at all but simply waiting, and swung both forelegs up together as though swinging a bat. This two-hooved assault collided heavily with Equus’ cheek, knocking the unicorn to the side. Peachy reacted quickly, though, and swung her hind legs around as she fell, lashing out and catching a crack on the earth pony’s chin that knocked it off-balance as well. This gave her just enough time to slide back and get back to her hooves a second before a powerful stomp landed where her head had been.

The brawl continued, finally seeming evenly matched. The earth pony gave no ground, lunging forward and swinging high, aiming for Equus’ horn. Peachy Pie darted around it, always striking from the sides, ducking in to leave more nicks and scratches but never staying in range long enough to get hit. They danced in circles around the battlefield, avoiding holes and one another, getting closer and farther as the snow fell thicker. “Come on, come on,” Peachy mumbled. Exhaustion was starting to claim her again; she could feel her breath getting heavier. The grips of her friends tightened around her ankles. “Fall, you dumb beast,” she begged. “Fall!”

Seeming to sense her tiredness, the enemy turned and reared up, preparing a shove. Peachy’s eyes widened. Its rear right hoof was partially hanging over one of the holes she’d made. With what felt like instinct, she shot out another beam of light that glanced off its neck and to the side, blowing off the top of a distant mountain. This did no damage, but provided just enough force to slide the robot those last few crucial metres back and land it in the hole.

The robot lost its balance as one of its legs abruptly shot downwards. It flailed in the air, its other hind leg shooting out across the ice. Peachy Pie pushed the advantage and rammed it, sending it tumbling over backwards. Its hoof still trapped, it leaned forward, managing to only land on its haunches instead of its back, but all this did was aid Peachy Pie as she lunged forward a second time and, with a final scream, drove her horn deep into its exposed belly.

There was a resounding crunch; she could feel that she had finally pierced all the way through the white armour to the grey insides. The earth pony froze, as though realizing what was about to happen. Peachy Pie grinned. “Gotcha.” Then she built up energy in her horn and fired.

The enemy shook and spasmed. The beam of yellow light bounced around inside of it, wreaking havoc on its insides as the armour reflected it back and forth. Peachy Pie fired again, and again, until the sound of tearing and melting metal filled the cockpit. The enemy seemed to swell up even further, concussive blasts denting it from the inside, and searing yellow light shone through the cracks in its armour. The pressure built and built until the robot blew apart across the chest, sending multiple beams shooting up and blasting away the storm above. A ray of multi-hued sunlight shone down, illuminating the pair as Peachy Pie withdrew her horn, letting the enemy’s remains finish their tumble and crash backwards onto the ice. By this point, the lights on its face had already gone out.

Equus began to wind down. The brown walls returned, and the circle of chairs descended back to the ground. Sweetie Belle, who had spent the latter portion of the battle unable to return to her stool, was the first to run up to the bench and form the now customary semi-circle around the victor. The others joined her, but this time nopony said anything. Words lingered on their tongues, but none was willing to be the first to speak.

Peachy Pie rested her head on Tornado Bolt’s shoulder. Her heart was still beating rapidly, and even though the danger had passed, it didn’t seem to be slowing. Her eyes were closed; she wondered if the others thought she was already dead. She opened them, to faint gasps of relief. They were all watching her. Watching to see what she would do next. Her friends.

“Guys?” she said. She thought her voice sounded faint, but everypony seemed to hear her just fine. “I figured something out... back there.” She straightened up. “Equestria... it’s too big to fight for. And I’m too small. None of us can do this on our own. So instead of thinking of this as something we have to do... let’s all fight for each other.”

They nodded, both at her, and to one another. Inwardly, Peachy Pie breathed a sigh of relief. She’d done it. She’d saved Equestria, and by uniting the other pilots, had ensured that they would be able to hold themselves up in the battles to come. Everything was as it should be.

All she had to do now was...

was...

Her mind hit a wall.

Equestria was too big. She was too small. But friends - and birthday parties, and schoolyards, and makeup sessions, and jump ropes, and sleepovers, and karaoke, and conspiring to cheat on quizzes, and fighting, and adventures, and being a little sister - those were things she understood. And now she was acutely, agonizingly aware of exactly what she was about to lose. Forever.

The pale pony hadn’t vanished. It was still there, burned into her mind, and closer than ever. But now, when she closed her eyes, it bore the impish and unrepentant grin of Cicada.

She shivered. “No...” she mumbled.

Archer leaned closer. “Peachy?”

“No... I’m not ready.” She lifted her head up and screamed it, feeling herself start to cry again. “I’m not ready!”

Tornado Bolt let go of her hoof. Peachy swiped at her in desperation, but the pegasus shrank away to the edge of the bench. Instead she clung tightly to Archer, who fearfully squirmed under her touch. “Peachy, you’re hurting me,” she gasped.

“I don’t wanna die,” Peachy shakily said, unheeding of her friend’s words. “I wanna go home. I don’t wanna die. I wanna go home. I don’t wanna die. Cicada, you pig!” she shouted at the ceiling. “I don’t wanna die!” There was no answer.

Apple Bloom gently touched her leg. Fear was visibly starting to fill her as well. “Peachy, it’s-”

“No!”

The room lurched. The bench shuddered, and the walls flickered. In the distance there was a groaning and grinding, like confused gears clashing together, and some hidden part of Equus stirred itself out of sleep. Peachy felt it inside herself, felt the conflicted churning as what little energy she had left burned itself out even faster in an effort to make that time matter.

“I wanna go home,” she ordered, ignoring how childish her quivering voice sounded. “I wanna see my sister again. Take me home!” Nothing happened. Somepony was trying to comfort her again, but she swatted them away, this one need driving everything else out. All that mattered was that she could go home, and she could be with her sister again, and everything would be okay. “I wanna see Sunny!” she wailed, thrashing. The others gasped. She opened her eyes; she hadn’t realized they’d been closed.

Filling the room were stars. Lights flickered across the walls, some near, some far, all equally bright. Except they weren’t lights, Peachy slowly realized, but ponies. When she touched one with her mind, she could feel that pony’s thoughts, and sense their presence as though they were right there in the room with her. She ignored these first few touches and moved on. She couldn’t feel her legs any more, but she could feel Sunny somewhere out there, and her mind dragged her on to the place where she knew she must be. The cascade of stars bent and swirled, and her view of the world zoomed in and in until finally, an image crackled on the wall in front of her.

Sunny Days was lying in the middle of their room, drawing in one of her sketchbooks. Her mane was messy; there was a faint smile on her face. “Sunny!” Peachy Pie screamed, reaching out.

Sunny Days looked up.

The light went out.

And everything went dark.

Open Secrets

As quickly as they'd vanished, ten teary-eyed foals reappeared in the middle of the street, in almost the same place that they'd left. They immediately drew together, holding and comforting one another. The two guards rushed towards them from their station by their chariot, hurriedly brushing cake crumbs off their lips, and came to a halt in front of the group. "Tiny citizens!" one of them barked. "We have orders to collect..." He checked a note pinned to the inside of his barding and looked between it and the foals several times. "...all of you, by order of-"

"Shut up!" one of the foals yelled. She was the one who'd been carting the cake, a loud filly with a bow in her mane. She was currently holding on to a white unicorn, who was clinging to her and sobbing loudly. "This ain't the best time!" she continued, throwing glares in the guards' directions. "Can't ya just leave us alone?"

The first guard cleared his throat uncomfortably and glanced towards his partner. The second was counting the colts and fillies in front of him, moving his lips silently. "Where is Peachy Pie?" he asked.

This prompted a low growl from the filly with the bow, and a tear welled up in the corner of her eye. A grey pegasus colt near the edge of the edge of the group answered for her. "She's dead." He looked up at them morosely. "And we're all gonna die, too."

Both guards stared. Eventually, the first one shuffled and cleared his throat again. "I'm afraid we do have our orders," he stated. "In the name of the Princesses, I'm going to have to ask you all to come with us."

"Oh yeah?" the one with the bow countered. She helped her friend straighten up, looked her in the eye for a second, and then turned and glared at the guards again. "Sure, we'll come with you... if you can catch us!"

That was the cue for the group to scatter. Acting on youthful impulses even under the circumstances, nearly all of them bolted in all directions, leaving just a couple sprawled on the street. The guards sprang forward with equal initiative, the first of them managing to scoop up the ringleader and her unicorn friend under each foreleg. Looking back, he saw that his partner had only managed to collect one, a pudgy unicorn who squirmed uselessly in his grasp.

They reconvened back at the chariot, easily herding the prone pair who had remained behind. "Sledge, what the hay is going on here?" the first of them whispered as he dropped his prisoners off, dropping his needlessly deep guard voice.

"I don't know," Sledge whispered back. He tried to avoid looking at the foals; something about their faces made his stomach drop. "Look, you go on ahead with these ones. I'll get help and start tracking the others. And..." He hesitated. "Be careful with them. Something's not right here."

Twist stopped and panted for breath as she reached her home. She leaned against the wall, trying to make herself smaller, and listened. She hadn't been followed.

It's my fault.

The weight of it was impossibly heavy. Peachy Pie was dead. It had been one thing when Diamond Tiara had died; no one had seen it coming, and it was over so fast that no one had had time to think about it. But Peachy...

The thought pulsed inside her like a second, jagged heart. One minute she'd been alive, and so full of happiness and energy, and the next... nothing. And Apple Bloom was going to die too, and Sweetie Belle, and Snips and Snails, and Dinky Doo, and all the others, and herself too, and for what? All because she'd wanted to play a stupid game.

Peachy was dead because of her.

She bit her lip, holding in further sobs. She was glad Apple Bloom had given the order to run; she couldn't handle guards right now. She couldn't handle anything right now. All she wanted was to curl up into a little ball in a corner somewhere and never, ever come out. Even so, once she'd caught her breath she forced herself to keep putting one hoof in front of the next and walked herself up to the front door.

The house was quiet. The flowers out front hadn't been watered in awhile; the pipes for their neighborhood had gotten crunched during Diamond Tiara's fight, but she was sure that at least their taps were working now. Most of the curtains were drawn, too, casting thin shadows over the inside. "Momma?" she called weakly, sticking her head inside. There was no answer.

Things brightened up a little as Twist made her way inside. A window at the back of the house was open, and she crept towards the light, making as little noise as possible. "Momma?" she called again, plaintively. Still nothing. It wasn't until she rounded the corner and entered the kitchen that she saw her mother on the floor.

Mom was lying flat-out in the middle of the room, her long, orange mane splayed out around her and covering her face. Twist froze until she saw her breathing faintly, her sides rising and falling in what looked like slow motion. A couple of bottles lay empty beside her, which Twist recognized as having once been full of milk. She moved forward hesitantly, afraid to wake her, but also afraid of being alone. “Momma?” she called a third time, almost too quietly to be heard, and reached out to touch out to touch her mother’s hoof.

The mare stirred. She didn’t open her eyes, but she spoke, her voice icy, crystal clear, with no trace of sleep in it. “Where were you?”

Twist didn’t answer. She moved closer, trying to nestle herself against her mother’s side, only for a hoof to gently push her away. “I said, where were you?” she repeated.

Twist gulped. “I wath... at a party,” she half-lied in a half-whisper. “We were trying to cheer thomepony up.”

“A party,” the mare said flatly. “Your father’s dead... and you were out... partying.”

Twist shrank against the ground. That was another thing that she’d been trying and failing to forget. “It wathn’t like that,” she mumbled. “Momma, pleathe...” She tried to move in for a hug again, but again got pushed away.

“I see.” The mare rolled partway over, slumping against a cabinet. “And when Ponyville was being crushed by that black monster... were you partying then, too?”

“No!” Twist protested. “I wath... I wath with my... friendth...”

“Were you.” The flatness continued. “We made it to safety, your father and I. We both made it to the field by the time the fighting started. But you weren’t with us.” She coughed and licked her lips. “I told him you weren’t in your room. I told him I called you a dozen times. But that wasn’t enough. He went charging back into Ponyville, looking for you. He went in. And he never came out.”

Twist’s legs shook. “I’m thorry,” she croaked out.

“Are you.” She finally creaked open one amber, bloodshot eye. “No lies,” she said. “I’ve seen you sneaking about when you think I’m not looking. I know you’re not just off playing with your little friends. So tell me the truth. Where were you?”

Shakily, the same answer came out. “I wath with my frien-”

“I said no lies!” she screeched, abruptly slamming a hoof onto the floor. She jolted upright, one foreleg reaching out to grab Twist roughly by her mane, the other encircling one of the bottles beside her. “What was so important your father had to die for it?” she yelled into Twist’s ear, yanking on her mane and knocking her glasses askew. “Where were you?”

“I wath... I really wath...” She was struggling to form words. “You’re hurting me...”

“Liar!” She pulled on her daughter’s mane again, lifting her off her front hooves. She began to raise the bottle as well. “You’re a filthy little-”

The window behind her crashed open, and a gold-plated pegasus burst through in a shower of glass. Before the shards had even stopped falling, Twist found herself rolling away in somepony else’s grasp while her mother was shoved to the side, bouncing heavily against the cabinets. When the world stopped spinning, Twist’s glasses were no longer on her nose, but she could still see the distinct white shape of a foreleg jutting out accusingly towards the pale shape in the corner. “If you ever lay a hoof on her again,” an implausibly deep voice growled, “it will be the last thing that hoof ever does. Do you understand?”

The shape didn’t move. The hoof descended, and Twist felt her glasses being gently placed back on her. The last she saw of her mother was her face staring at them in numb shock before she was lifted over the guard’s back and carried outside.

“Hold on tight,” the guard ordered once they were in the middle of the street. “We’re not flying far.” Twist obediently straightened out and held on, but the guard hesitated before taking off. “I’m sorry,” the same gravelly voice said, then dissipated and was replaced by a much softer one. “I’m so sorry.”

It was only then that she realised that the guard carrying her was a lady.

The long room had once been ugly. Even looking at it now, it was easy to imagine a cold, sterile environment of nothing but two rows of beds against windowless walls, separated by curtains the same nausea-green colour that pervaded the rest of the hospital. Time, however, had been kind to this place. Although there were still beds and curtains, they were decked out in every colour of the rainbow, and paintings yet more vibrant looked out over bright and cheery landscapes. At the far end of the room, a play area had been set up for the more mobile foals, with a range of toys from varnished blocks to adventure books. It was there on the plastic-covered rug, rather than their individual cots, that the group had reassembled.

They didn’t speak much. Sweetie Belle still occasionally broke into sniffles, but she and Apple Bloom had begun humming out a tune together, which at least filled the room with something soothing. Snips and Snails juggled some of the blocks between them, throwing nervous grins towards a totally unimpressed Archer. Silver Spoon sat by herself in the corner, dressing a doll in all the pink and purple she could find.

At the end of the room, a decorative cuckoo clock chimed the hour. As she’d been doing every fifteen minutes since her arrival, Pina Colada let out a loud sigh. “And that’s two hours now,” she groaned, lifting up her head and leaving a brush stuck in her niece’s mane. “What are they doing out there?”

Tornado Bolt, who’d been here even longer, shrugged. She was lying on her back with a book open over her face, sometimes flapping her wings against the rug. “They’re guards,” she answered. “They do what they want.”

Pina sneered at her. “That’s not true. This is illegal.”

“Guards do what they want!” Tornado snapped back. That put an end to it.

It was only a few minutes more before they could hear hoofsteps outside. The doors at the far end of the room opened and Twist walked in, led by a plump unicorn in a nurse’s bonnet. “There you go, sweetheart,” the nurse said, pointing towards the others. “And if you ever need to talk, don’t ever hesitate to come see me, okay?”

“Thank you,” Twist mumbled. She started to walk away, then turned around and gave the nurse a hug, sinking a little into her warm coat. This lasted a few seconds before she broke away, walking towards her friends and speeding up a little as some of them waved her over while the nurse retreated and locked the door behind her. “Hey guyth,” she said hesitantly as she came to a stop.

This was met with smiles, mostly. Snails looked up for just a second, then quickly turned back to Snips when a block bumped against his cheek. “So, how much did you tell her?” Pina Colada asked matter-of-factly, ceasing her brushing and nudging Berry Pinch off to the side.

Twist’s face fell. “N-nothing,” she answered. “Thhe thaid I didn’t have to thay anything.” She looked like she’d been crying recently, and was glad to see she wasn’t the only one.

“She said the same thing to all of us,” Apple Bloom confirmed. “But Ah couldn’t say anything unless we all agreed. It just didn’t feel right.”

Tornado Bolt sighed from under her book. “What’s even the point? They know it’s us, and I bet Spike’s told them everything already. They’re just gonna keep us locked in here forever.”

During this, Twist had been looking around at the others, counting. “There’th only nine of you,” she said. “Where’th everypony elthe?”

“We... we dunno,” Apple Bloom answered with a shrug. “We were startin’ to think you weren’t comin’, neither.”

“Spike’s probably with whoever brought us here,” Archer said. “So that just leaves Dinky and Rumble. Probably hiding somewhere. They seem like they’d be good at it.”

Silver Spoon felt a smile coming to her lips. “Hey,” she said in a familiar gossipy tone, “do you think they’re...” She blushed and giggled, but when she looked up at the others she saw only blank stares pointed back. “Never mind,” she said quietly, turning back to the corner.

“Why are we here, anyway?” Snips asked, distractedly floating a cube towards Snails. “Why a hospital? I thought we’d be going to some super-cool military base or something.”

“The usual reason, I guess,” Pina Colada said. By this point she was lying down while Berry Pinch brushed her mane in turn. “They probably just wanna cut you open.”

A rain of blocks hit the floor. “What?” Snips gasped, echoed by a chorus of others.

“You know, like they do.” She shrugged. “Whenever somepony gets super sick or finds a weird animal or any other stuff the government doesn’t understand, they bring them to some hospital in the middle of nowhere and take their insides out to see what’s going on.”

A flurry of nervous looks were passed around. Sweetie Belle whimpered and clutched her stomach. “But this isn’t the middle of nowhere,” Apple Bloom argued, putting on a brave face for her. “This is Ponyville General.”

Pina shrugged again. “Same diff.”

This time without warning, the doors at the far end of the room opened. Spike stuck his head through, watching for the reactions of the others. When he saw questioning and accusing looks but nothing openly hostile, he stepped fully into the room.

A procession of adult ponies followed. A lanky albino in a lab coat was the first, trotting ahead with a stand and several covered placards slung across his back. Right behind him was the more recognizable figure of Shining Armour, decked out in his full formal gear. More guards of almost uniform size and shape could be seen moving outside, forming ranks in the far hallway. “I’m sorry, guys,” Spike said when he was near enough to be heard. “I had to.”

“We understand,” Apple Bloom answered gently.

She was interrupted by a set of gasps. Entering at the far end of the room was Her Radiance, Princess Celestia herself, strolling between the beds with as much elegance as if it was the Grand Hall. This stunned the group into silence, and with good reason; most of them had never seen her close up before. Tornado Bolt snapped upright with enough force to send her book hurtling against the wall and snapped off a salute. Snips and Archer haltingly copied her.

Instead of stopping a regal distance away, Princess Celestia stepped onto the mat and settled down amongst them, looking around as they shuffled to accommodate her. Apple Bloom remembered her manners and started to bow, but Celestia reached out and lifted up her chin. “Good afternoon, my little ponies,” she said, calmly and kindly. “How are you feeling?”

“Are you gonna cut us open?” Sweetie Belle blurted, far too loudly.

Celestia blinked. After a moment of hesitation, she put on a smile and looked towards the earth pony who’d entered first, who was setting up his stand beside the nearest bed. “Red Cross, you weren’t planning on cutting anypony open today, were you?” she said in a joking tone.

“Hm?” Red Cross glanced back at her. “No, I shouldn’t think so. One specimen was enough.”

Judging from her expression, this was not the answer that the Princess had been looking for. Behind her, Shining Armour facehoofed. “What he means is no,” Celestia said quickly before any of the foals could register his meaning. “We have brought you here because we would like to run some simple tests, but you do not have to participate if you don’t wish to. You have my solemn promise that nopony under my command will ever do anything to hurt you.”

This provided some relief. Archer spoke next, in a much less formal tone than the situation seemed to call for. “How much do you know?”

“More than you might think. We’ve been following you for some time.” She nodded to Red Cross, who unveiled the board on his stand with a flourish. The foals stared. A precise timeline had been drawn out across the top of it, with photographs and notes pinned underneath. While the first marker only sported a rough sketch of a spider, and the second only a single picture of Scootaloo’s battle, the third node carried enough detailed, aerial photographs of both the robots who’d appeared over Ponyville to cover half the board.

“We first started tracking you here,” Red Cross explained, gesturing to the first node on the board with a flexible pointer, “when our sensors began to pick up traces of what we call Identity Thirty-Three in the atmosphere. As near as we can tell, based on what your reptilian companion has told us, this is a disruptive energy that’s released when the robot activates its unique form of teleportation. Harmless, but it shows up as empty waves on our scans. For our files, based on scattered eyewitness descriptions, we named the first of these invaders Arachnid.”

He paused for a second, perhaps to see if there would be any objections, but then shortly continued. “The second and third instances followed the same pattern. Due to its tail, we named the second invader Bullwhip, after the ancient instrument of tor...” A nuanced look from Celestia cut him short. “...ment,” he concluded, only slightly improving the meaning. “The third, for obvious reasons, we named Cricket.”

“They’re in alphabetical order!” Berry Pinch gasped.

A quick pinch from her aunt silenced her, but she couldn’t help but grin shyly when Celestia smiled down at her. “That’s right,” the Princess confirmed. “We felt that they would be easier to remember than boring technical names. I’ve heard that you call your own robot Equus. It is a good name; I think that it will serve you well.” She looked back towards the board as Berry blushed and beamed. “We have heard tales of your fourth battle,” Celestia continued, “but it took place far beyond the reach of our sensors. Because the Guard have been unable to confirm its existence, we named the fourth invader Dream.”

She looked back towards the foals, her expression becoming more solemn. “That is what we know of your adventures so far,” she said. “And if what we have heard is true, then all of Equestria is already in your debt. Although it was not your intent, thanks to you we have already been saved several times over, and for that you have my deepest gratitude.”

“Are you gonna tell our families?” Tornado Bolt interrupted. She seemed to wince at her own rudeness, but her eyes were wide and her still-raised foreleg was visibly trembling.

Celestia looked at her calmly. “No,” she answered after a longer pause than usual. “We do not wish to force any of you into that situation. Some of your friends and family,” she looked at Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle in turn, “may have already been informed that there are foals connected to the battles, but that is the limit of what they have been told. The decision of what to or not to reveal is up to you.” Her gaze dimmed. “However...”

She looked towards Spike, who had been fidgeting beside her throughout this. “While Spike has told me almost all of your story,” she continued, “he has not told us everything. I believe he meant no harm by this, and was simply protecting his friends. Even so... we must know for sure.” Celestia sighed deeply. “I do not ask this of you lightly,” she said. “My nurse tells me that each of you has recently experienced trauma, and it pains me to ask you to speak of it so soon. But we have already begun putting the pieces together, and there are absences in this gathering that cannot be overlooked any longer. To prevent this tragedy from striking again, we must know.” She looked around, and at no pony in particular. “What, exactly, happens to a pilot after they fight?”

For a short time there was silence, filled only by small, staggered breaths. Eventually, it was Silver Spoon who spoke. “We’re its power source,” she said quietly. “Equus uses our energy to move. When the battle’s over, nothing’s left.”

“...I see.” It would have taken somepony very close to Celestia to see the changes that came over her; the faint shadows under her eyes, the slight resettling of her wings, the tension that rippled along her back like a wave. The foals were, however, able to hear a new, subtle hardness in her voice when she spoke again. “Then as well as my thanks, you also have my apologies. This should never have been allowed to happen. I promise, we will do everything in our power to remove the curse that Pollinia has placed upon you and prevent this tragedy from ever taking place again.”

This provoked a few hopeful gasps, and brief smiles of relief were passed around. “But then who’s gonna save Equestria?” Pina Colada asked with a frown.

“That can be decided later,” Celestia answered her. “What’s important is that they be allowed to choose.”

It was at that moment that a new set of loud hoofsteps could be heard outside, as well as muffled shouting. The doors opened and a new royal guard strode in carrying a squirming Rumble by the scruff of his neck, who stopped struggling as soon as he saw who was waiting. The guard passed through the rows of beds uninterrupted and put the colt down beside his friends, then stepped back and smartly saluted Celestia. Twist recognized her as the one who’d delivered her to the hospital, although it was only the faintest curve of her muzzle that gave this away. “We found this colt attempting to sneak in through the back entrance, your Highness,” the guard said in her deep, formal voice. “We believe he may have been attempting a rescue operation.”

This earned a chuckle from Celestia. “That was very brave of you, little one,” she said to Rumble, “but there was no need. Your friends are safe.” The colt merely kicked at the ground, looking at no one. Celestia turned back to the guard. “Thank you, Watchtower. You may return to your duties.”

Watchtower remained where she was. “Your Highness,” she continued, more slowly, “I should also inform you that... we have been unable to locate Dinky Doo.”

“Keep searching,” Celestia replied briskly. “I’m certain that she will turn up.”

“Um... no, your Majesty.” Watchtower coughed, reddening. “What I mean to say is... no one has been able to locate Dinky Doo. She’s on the list of those missing after the attack on Ponyville.”

“What?” Shining Armour cut in. He broke formation and rushed up to Watchtower’s side. “This must be a mistake,” he said.

“No mistake, sir,” Watchtower answered, putting slightly too much emphasis on the last word. “We’ve asked around, and she hasn’t been seen in days. Her mother is near hysterics. She’s gone.”

“That... that can’t be right,” Snips said, standing up. “I saw her in the field, after the fight. I saw her!”

“We all saw her,” Apple Bloom added. “She was with us with Peachy Pie just a few hours ago!”

Rumble felt several sets of eyes on him. “What are you all looking at me for?” he snapped. “I haven’t seen her. I just ran, like everyone else.”

There was a pause while the group mulled this over. “In other words, she’s skipped town,” Shining Armour concluded. He sighed, rubbing his forehead with a hoof. “Great. Just what we don’t need right now.”

“Aw come on, guys,” Pina Colada said. “Why don’t we just ask Cicada where she is?”

A few of the foals paled. Seeing this, Celestia was careful with her response. “The creature from the robot?” she asked. “Would he know such a thing?”

“We can meet him?” Red Cross interjected, leaning forward with interest.

“Sure, I guess.” Pina shrugged. “He said he’d keep an eye on us, and he comes when we call him. Sometimes, anyway.”

“Please don’t,” Sweetie Belle whimpered, shrinking against the floor.

Snails put on a puzzled look. “Wait a minute. I thought only us could hear him?”

“What? That’s dumb,” Pina chided. She took a deep breath, hesitating when Berry Pinch flinched away from her. “Oh, don’t be such babies,” she said. “He’s just a mouse.” Then she turned her face upwards and shouted. “Cicada!”

The word echoed across the high ceiling. Red Cross put on an excited grin, and the two guards tensed up in unison. Celestia simply watched, holding her breath. Five, ten, fifteen seconds passed in silence. The mouse failed to appear.

Tornado Bolt sighed with relief. “No offense,” she said, tapping Pina on the shoulder, “but I think the one who calls him has to be one of... you know, us.”

“Hey, shut up!” Pina Colada pushed Tornado’s hoof away and shouted at the ceiling again. “Hey, Cicada! Cicada! Cic-”

Cicada materialized overhead, at a sharp angle and facing the wrong way. “All right, all right!” he yelled, not turning around. “I’m busy, okay? Call me back in like, thirty seconds.” Then he vanished.

Shining Armour blinked at the empty space, a reflexive spell dying inside his horn. “Well, that was... informative,” he muttered.

Sweetie Belle raised herself up from the floor. “Maybe he’s talking to his friend?” she suggested.

“What friend?” Apple Bloom asked.

“Um... I don’t know,” Sweetie admitted. “But one time in the cockpit, I caught him talking to someone I couldn’t...” She stiffened.

Cicada appeared again, this time facing the right way and with an unnecessary sparkle of light. “All right, done. Now let’s get this over with,” he said. “Good afternoon, your highness.” He rotated into what may or may not have been a sincere bow and then held that angle as he zipped over to the middle of the group. “Tough luck, kiddo,” he said in a quieter tone.

One by one, all sets of eyes were drawn to Sweetie Belle. The filly sat still, her eyes focused on a point just next to Celestia’s hoof. Bit by bit, she started to shiver. “No,” Twist moaned, staggering back. “No!”

Red Cross whipped out a notepad and began scribbling furiously. Shining Armour’s horn glowed; Watchtower spread her wings. “What’s happened?” the captain demanded, stepping forward. “What have you done to her?”

Celestia examined the filly closely, trying to remain calm, but even she let out a gasp when she saw the critical change. “Your cutie mark!-”

Sweetie Belle let out small whimper. Cicada drifted back. “You might want to cover your ears for this part,” he remarked.

But Sweetie Belle didn’t cry. She just stayed still, making tiny, kittenlike noises, feeling the eyes of her friends burn her new cutie mark into her sides.

The Story According To Shining Armour

Sweetie Belle had only seen the Elements of Harmony once before. Even from a distance, the sight and sound of them had seared into her mind. The rainbow of light had brought a shine into her mind that she had thought Chaos had stripped away, its brightness filling her world, the aura of the sheer brilliance of friendship righting every wrong in all the world. On that day, she had sworn to herself that she would learn to be a better pony, and that she would use what she had learned to strengthen the bonds of love between her and all the ponies that she cared for. The day when Harmony returned at last was the most powerful feeling she had felt in her life.

And it was nothing, nothing compared to when that beam of light was now directed at her.

Beams of light filled her vision, one by one, until a spark of every colour in the rainbow and more united them in an explosion across her soul. Love wove into every crevice within her, filling her with song, with joy, with the beauty of a connection far, far bigger than herself. It seemed impossible that her mind could hold so much, until she realized that she wasn’t just her own mind any more, but six others. She felt herself being lifted off the ground as they held her, embraced her, becoming her and letting her become them. She wanted to cry for joy. She wanted to hug every single person in the world and tell them that they didn’t have to fight any more. She had found perfection, and she wanted to share it, but she understood then and there that the perfection had been inside herself all along.

The magic faded, but it didn’t really fade. The Elements of Harmony didn’t really do anything. The bonds of truth and light were inside of all ponies, acting as the strings of fate binding each and every one of them together; all anyone ever needed was a little reminder of who they were really meant to be. She gently dropped to the library floor, her little hooves finding their purchase with ease, and breathed a sweetness that had always been around her. For a few seconds, all was right in the world.

“What?” Twilight Sparkle cried.

Sweetie opened her eyes. The world faded back into view, depositing her back into the middle of Twilight Sparkle’s bedroom. The bearers of the Elements of Harmony surrounded her, Princess Celestia and her two helpers overseeing. The smiles from seconds ago had vanished. Dread dropped like an anvil. With a heavy heart, she looked back at her own flank.

Even after all that had happened, she still bore the moss-green outline of a spiralling, wickedly sharp three-pronged claw.

“I told you,” Cicada said, drifting overhead. “Those cheap tricks aren’t going to work here. You’re in way over your heads, and it’s time you accept that.”

Twilight glowered at him. However, it was Rainbow Dash who spoke up first. “What are you calling cheap tricks?” she yelled, leaping into the air. “The Elements of Harmony are the most-”

“Most powerful force in the world, defeated Discord, undo any evil magic, yadda, yadda, yadda,” Cicada groaned. “Spare me the lecture. Your sparkly doodads are nice, and I’m sure they’ve got a whole boatload of uses that you’re just itching to tell me about. It just doesn’t apply here. Whether she knew what she was getting into or not, our little pony here signed a contract with me of her own free will. No amount of friendship is ever going to change that.”

Rarity whimpered. “Oh, Sweetie Belle,” she whinnied, rushing forward to embrace her sister again, this time physically.

Sweetie barely reacted. “I think I want to be alone now,” she said, looking at the floor.

“I’ll take you home,” Pinkie Pie offered quickly. She’d been strangely quiet all day, suffering from powerful twitches that rustled all the way down the length of her spine. With a look towards Rarity that was presumably meant to be nuanced but was, in reality, entirely unreadable, she scooped Sweetie Belle up and hopped, skipped and jumped out the door and down the stairs.

Princess Celestia sighed deeply. To her right, Shining Armour glared up at the circling mouse; to her left, Red Cross rapidly scribbled notes. “Is there anything that may be done?” she asked.

“No.” Cicada answered quickly and sharply. “There are rules that must be followed. They can not be broken, not by me, not by anyone. Otherwise, the game is pointless.”

“You’re still callin’ this a game?” Applejack growled.

“Applejack, please.” Twilight Sparkle calmed herself. “Please, Cicada. There must be something we can do. Isn’t there anything you can think of that might help?”

“Not my purpose, not my problem. Ask what you want, but same rules as before.”

Twilight clenched her teeth, holding back a retort. Her first meeting with the mouse had not gone well. Cicada’s one rule was that he would only answer questions that were strictly related to the fights themselves, which was the exactly one aspect of this situation that held no interest for her. Even simple queries such as “Where do you come from?” “How does the robot work?” and “Why are you being so difficult?” were met with dismissive non-answers and occasional bursts of sarcasm. Worse, she was almost certain that Celestia was hiding something from her. The Princess had been unusually tight-lipped about what she’d learned, especially after Rarity had arrived, and she seemed to be keeping a tight watch on the albino pony who was following her around.

She didn’t want to speculate about what this secret might be, but the wheels in her head seemed incapable of not turning, and the fact that they’d yet to speak with any pony who’d already piloted the machine was weighing heavily on her. She swallowed back thoughts of Spike and soldiered on.

“Um,” Fluttershy said, coming to her rescue. “I’m sorry, but... couldn’t we just not fight? Isn’t there a way we can convince the robots to not attack us?”

Applejack shook her head. “Knowin’ this bunch, they’ve probably set it up so that’s not allowed. Am Ah right?”

“On the nose,” Cicada answered. “Remember, the enemy isn’t just coming here to roughhouse with you. They’re here to eat you alive. Another robot’s presence slows it down, but even if your pilot doesn’t show up, you’ve got two days at most before it overloads and your whole planet goes boom.” It was hard to tell, but his painted face seemed to grow a tiny smirk. “Besides, you’ve seen the kind of damage they can cause without even trying. Would you really want to let one of these rampage around your world for two days unopposed?”

Fluttershy paled. “Then why are there fifteen rounds?” Shining Armour asked, having approached the issue with a slightly different mindset to her. “Why such an arbitrary number? If your masters want our energy so badly, why don’t they send two or three robots at a time to destroy us?”

“Who are you calling my masters?” Cicada snapped, warping up to him. “How dare you! Pollinia and I came here of our own free will, and if you don’t like it, I can leave the lot of you to fend for yourselves! How would you like that?”

Shining wrinkled his nose, then backed down. “I apologize,” he said. “I didn’t mean to imply anything.”

“Darn right you didn’t.” The mouse floated back to the middle of the room. “As to the question, do you have any idea how much energy it takes to transport one of these robots across worlds? Don’t answer that. Even if you knew, the number wouldn’t mean anything to you. But if you did know, you’d know that there’s only so many times you’d want to do it until you declare a world a lost cause. And given how unstable they get when just two of them are near each other, you don’t even want to think about what would happen with three of them on the same planet.”

Shining seemed to accept this, although he gave Cicada a suspicious glare. Twilight coughed, drawing attention away from him. “There’s something else that I’ve been wondering about,” she said. “Do the battles necessarily have to be one-on-one? Since we’re all fighting for the future of our world, can other ponies help the pilot in their fight?”

“Ah, now we’re getting somewhere,” Cicada said, slowing down. “That’s a yes and a no. The contracted pilot is the only one who has power over the robot, but other creatures can interfere with the battle as much as they like. There aren’t any rules against it. And there aren’t any rules against it because there don’t need to be. You’ve already seen that your strongest weapons do absolutely nothing. What are you hoping to accomplish?”

“The what is insignificant,” Rarity growled, teary-eyed. “You cannot mean for us to simply sit idly by while my baby sister battles one of those monstrosities all by herself!”

“Oh, don’t be such a drama queen,” Cicada said with a slow flip. “She’ll have the other pilots with her. Besides, she’ll be piloting one of the most potent engines of destruction this universe has ever seen. Why is it so difficult for you to grasp that you’re dealing with a power you can’t possibly comprehend?”

Red Cross broke in quickly. “And what power is that, perchance?”

Cicada halted in midair and slowly swiveled towards him. Red Cross smiled pleasantly. “Just for clarification,” he said. “You go on and on about the immense powers behind the events that we’ve been witnessing, but we’ve yet to see any conclusive proof that you really are as powerful as you claim. Every system has its flaws, after all. Can you really expect a culture so predisposed to kindness to accept that they have no other options when you’ve left them so completely in the dark?”

The mouse didn’t move. Red Cross took a few steps forward. “Why not give us a few hours to study the robot, just to see what we can see?” he said. “Surely, if we are as powerless as you claim, there can be no harm in us seeing the evidence of that for ourselves. It would save you having to answer our rather inane questions, I’m sure.” This earned him a scowl from Twilight, but he continued. “How about it? Let us cower like insects before a monster whose true form we can’t grasp, and once we’ve had our fill, we’ll retreat in shame and let you carry on your machinations uninterrupted.” He bared his teeth cheerfully. “What do you say?”

There was no answer. Cicada hung in place, for once utterly motionless, just staring. Red Cross didn’t flinch. “Is there something on my face?” he said.

After a few seconds more, Cicada whirled away. “No,” he said stiffly, circling again. “There will be no investigation. You will not meddle in forces you were not meant to touch. No good will come of it.”

“Nothing?” Twilight Sparkle cried, flaring out her wings.

“There must be something we can do to help,” Shining Armour said quickly. He pondered rapidly for a moment. “How about a compromise?” he asked. “If we can’t study the robot, will you at least allow us to observe the battles from inside the cockpit?”

“Out of the question,” Cicada snapped. “Pilots only.”

“Really?” Shining pushed his luck. “You’ve already allowed Pina Colada to spectate.”

Cicada stopped again, though this time it was for only a second. “Fine,” he sighed. “If it will keep you satisfied. I’ll allow three... no, two additional spectators each round. Who goes up is up to you. But any funny business, and you’ll be back on the ground faster than you can say stop wasting my time. Got it?”

“Understood,” Shining Armour said. To the surprise of several, he bowed. “Thank you, Cicada.”

“You’re thanking him?” Rainbow Dash spat. “For what, being a jerk?”

“He’s right, Rainbow,” Twilight said, though it pained her. “Right now, he has all the cards. All we can do is make requests.” She sighed, and bowed shallowly as well. “Thank you, Cicada.”

A few others followed suit, but it was only when Princess Celestia bowed her head that this garnered any sort of reaction. “All right, that’s enough,” Cicada coughed, floating to the far corner. “You’re going to make me blush. Do you want to decide this now, or will you give me a call?”

“We’ll decide now,” Twilight said quickly. The group merged together, with no small amount of whispering, but it didn’t take long for them to break apart again. “We’ve decided,” Twilight announced. “The first spectator will be Shining Armour; as captain of the Guard, he’ll be able to tell the foals how to fight.” Shining nodded solemnly. “The other will be Red Cross, who can-”

Cicada moved so quickly that he almost appeared to teleport, stopping just inches in front of Red Cross’ face. “Not you,” he deadpanned.

Red Cross tilted his head a fraction of an inch to the side. “No?”

“No.” Cicada floated up and began to drift around again. “Pick another.”

Twilight unstuck her tongue from the roof of her mouth, looking around helplessly. “Oh. Well, um...”

“Why don’t we let Sweetie Belle decide?” Fluttershy offered. “It’s her fight, after all.”

“You’re right,” Twilight agreed, relieved. “We’ll ask her when we can.”

“Good. Are there any more inane questions?” There were not, at least within the seconds-long pause that Cicada left for them. “Then I’ll leave you be. I still have repairs to make. Don’t call me unless it’s important.”

Cicada vanished, taking the sterile atmosphere of the room with him. Several ponies visibly relaxed. “That little creep weirds me out,” Rainbow Dash muttered, finally settling back onto the ground.

“Watch yer’ mouth, Rainbow,” Applejack cautioned. “He might still be listening.”

This caused the rest of the room to still their tongues. At last, Celestia sighed. “It seems that for now, at least,” she concluded, “we must put our trust in Sweetie Belle. We will do for her what we can.”

“What will we tell the public?” Twilight asked, approaching her. “We can’t tell them that there are foals driving the dark unicorn. Everypony’s in shock already; we can’t let that turn to panic.”

“Especially after the battle with Cricket,” Shining Armour added solemnly. “A lot of ponies lost friends and family thanks to Diamond Tiara’s actions. If any mourners were to learn that these children were partly responsible for what happened...”

“It will not come to that,” Celestia assured them. “We will find a compromise between the truth and necessity. But that is a matter for another time.” She resettled her wings, starting a precise march towards the door. “Come, Twilight. We have preparations to make.”

“...Oh,” Twilight sighed, remembering. “I guess so. Come on, girls,” she said to her friends. “We need to get ready.”

The six mares formed a procession out the door, each lost in their own thoughts. Shining Armour and Red Cross held back. “Well?” Shining whispered once the others were out of earshot. “What do you think of him?”

Red Cross pulled a gem-studded cube from an inner pocket in his coat. None of the crystals had lit up. “Well, I can tell you what energy types he’s not using,” he said. “Certainly a fascinating specimen. The way he floats may be related to how the robots can hold themselves up despite their mass; he doesn’t seem to be acting against gravity in any way, but rather, simply ignoring it.” He paused. “But you were asking whether I trust him, weren’t you?”

“Do you?”

“That’s hardly relevant, is it?” He pocketed his device, then raised an eyebrow. “Do you trust him?”

“I thought I did. Now I’m not so sure.” Shining looked around, uselessly; he could already hear that his sister and her friends had left, but he wasn’t sure that what he was looking for could even be detected. “It seems like such a simple story,” he said. “From what we know, Cicada and his robot were built by a race of planet harvesters somewhere out in space. But one of them, Pollinia, took pity on us and stole one of their robots, reprogramming it to defend us instead of destroy us, and got stuck with the helper robot that came with it. She came here disguised as a pony before the first attacker arrived, chose the first willing group of defenders she could find, and gave her life demonstrating how to defend ourselves.”

Shining Armour trailed off. Red Cross raised an eyebrow. “But?” he prompted.

“But if that’s all there is to it, then why wouldn’t Cicada tell us this?” Shining said. “Even if he doesn’t like us, he has no reason not to get us on his side. And you were right when you asked him about his technology, too. If we really are as powerless as he says, then why won’t he let us see that for ourselves? What is he afraid of us finding out?”

“What are you proposing?”

“I think there is a way to break the children out of their contract. And for whatever reason, Cicada doesn’t want us to find it.” He looked around again, this time conspiratorially. “Just because Pollinia sent him here doesn’t mean he’s on our side. I wouldn’t put it past him to be deliberately sabotaging our fights just so he can get back home. I’m going to need you bring me all the information you can about him. And no matter what, he must not find out.”

“This was my plan as well,” Red Cross said. “I may have to make some minor alterations to your armour before you go up to the cockpit - in the middle of the night and without your knowledge, of course.”

“Of course.”

“Of course. Though I do wonder...” Red Cross started for the door as well, a thoughtful look coming to him. “You’re not a botanist, are you? No, I thought not,” he said when this produced only a dumbfounded look. He left slowly, descending the stairs. “Pollinia,” he mused to himself, almost silently. “What a beautiful name.”

Author's Note

Why yes, the Month of Our Equestria 2 is going just fine, thanks. There definitely haven't been a series of minor disasters and setbacks all along the way so far. I also most certainly did not get distracted for several days creating some totally sweet custom prestige classes for the campaign I'm running. No sir/ma'am.
Also, bonus points to anyone who can tell me what Red Cross is talking about at the end there.

The Fields of Elysium

The funeral was, despite its scale, a short and simple one. There was no time for a drawn-out affair; there was rubble to clear and homes to build, pipes to lay and streets to sweep, crushed farmland to plough up and fresh grains to put down. A town as practical as Ponyville was not about to shell out on festivities when there were still dozens of families without homes. But in light of the recent events, some words did need to be said, so for just a few, short hours, the town gathered.

The event was held in the town hall, or what remained of it. Cleaning up this section of town had not been a priority, so much of it remained rubble, open to the sky with a fraction of the curved wall swaying in the breeze. Bleachers of a sort were made of the larger piles as the crowd arrived and spread out, taking advantage of the extra space. Much-needed rain began to fall in the far fields as everypony drew towards the center of town, leaving the sky overcast.

As the herd amassed, smaller shapes began to dart between the larger ones, slipping away from their parents’ sides, finding each other. The pilots assembled near the back of the room, individual groups merging like raindrops swallowing each other. “Are we all here?” Apple Bloom asked once they’d settled in. Sweetie Belle was wordlessly excluded; she’d said she was ‘busy’ with something. For her, under the circumstances, they were willing to make exceptions.

“No!” Pina Colada complained, rising up on her hind legs to look around. “Has anypony seen Pinchy? She keeps running away from me.”

The others took vague looks around. “There she is,” Rumble said, pointing.

A pink shape parted the crowd. Berry Pinch emerged shyly, another pony in tow. Cheerilee approached the group with a tear-stroked expression that could chill sunlight. She looked over them with a shattered sympathy that could only have meant one thing. “My little ponies,” she said, barely audible. “I’m so sorry.”

Pina Colada was the first to put it together. “You told her?” she yelled, barging forward.

“Aunt Pina, I had to,” Berry Pinch whimpered. She clung to Cheerilee’s leg.

“How could you?” Pina fumed. “This was our secret! Do you have any idea what’s going to happen to you if ponies find out what you’ve done?”

A few foals bristled at the irony; several adults were starting to look their way. “It’s all right, Pina,” Cheerilee consoled her, slipping into an automatic teaching tone. “I’m your teacher. I won’t tell a soul, I promise.”

This wasn’t enough to satisfy the pink filly, who continued to glare at them both. Apple Bloom stepped up to her side. “She was there, too,” she said. “She deserves to know.”

“But you don’t deserve to tell her.” Pina swatted a reaching hoof away. “None of you deserve anything.”

The others were left staring as she stalked away. “Are we gonna have problems with her?” Tornado Bolt whispered. “She’s getting picky about being in charge. It’s not like she’s one of us, either.”

“Isn’t she?” Silver Spoon asked.

“It doesn’t matter,” Cheerilee cut in, sensing a fight about to start. “All of us are in this together, and I want you to know that I’m here for each and every one of you.”

A regal glow covered them as, without warning, Princess Celestia crested the nearest hill, flanked by guards on each side. “It is good to hear that, Cheerilee,” she said warmly. “I am certain that with you, our new protectors are in safe hooves.”

“Princess!” Cheerilee gasped. She dropped sharply into a bow, prompting a cluster of bows and salutes from the others. “Princess, these children were my responsibility,” she said. “What happened to them is my fault. Please, let any punishment for them fall on me instead.”

“Hey, that’s not fair!” Spike shouted in her defense. Needlessly, as it turned out.

“There will be no punishment,” Celestia reassured her. “These children have had the weight of the world placed upon them already. I know that they did all that they could to limit the destruction of Ponyville, and I trust that they will show equal judgement in the future. I would not wish to punish them further.”

This was met with relief, although it did spark a few guilty looks. “Thank you,” Cheerilee breathed. “But I still feel that all of this is my fault. It was my carelessness that let these children be taken. If there is anything that I can do...”

Celestia leaned towards her. “If this is the way that things were meant to be,” she said more quietly, “then there is nothing that could have been done to prevent it. Sometimes, even for the most powerful of us, all that we can do is watch and listen... and sometimes, for those with the power to change the world, knowing that someone is watching and listening is all the help that they need. Even if there was a mistake to be made, you have already atoned for it, just by being here. Do not forget that.”

Cheerilee nodded, tears coming to her eyes again. “Thank you,” she whispered.

Behind her, the Mayor was approaching her podium, moving much more slowly than usual. “It’s time,” Celestia sighed. “Children, you do not have to stay here if you do not wish to.”

There were a few squirms in place of responses. “No, we oughta,” Apple Bloom answered for them all. “Even if it weren’t us... we should remember.”

“Very well.” The mayor cleared her throat, silencing the collapsed chamber. However, Celestia imparted one last piece of advice before the service began. “And remember, just for today, do not feel that you have to be strong.”

The list of the dead was long. Terrifyingly long. Each name blurred into the next, a collection of stones becoming an avalanche of fear and guilt that threatened to crush the town a second time. But they survived.

Scootaloo’s name was on the list. So was Diamond Tiara’s. After each of these was read out, each of the foals, plus Spike, stomped in unison, just once. They had not discussed or rehearsed this previously. It had just felt, in the moment, like the right thing to do. Peachy Pie’s name was not on the list. Dinky Doo’s was. They did not stomp for her.

Speeches were made, by the Mayor, by Princess Twilight, and by a few select ponies from the crowd. Snacks were distributed. A wall of plaques and photographs was assembled. Everypony had a goodbye to say, or often several, and it was only careful organization that kept the event running smoothly.

It was hard to tell when the funeral ended. The speeches stopped and some ponies began to drift away, but others stayed and would stay all night, searching for the plaques of their loved ones. The pilots stayed together, mostly silent, determined not to leave until their families dragged them away from each other. Berry Pinch had stayed by Cheerilee’s side the entire time, not letting go of her. Cheerilee periodically stroked her mane. “How are you doing?” she asked as things began to wind down.

“Bad,” Berry sniffed. “If we’d just done something... if we’d just said something...”

“Hush, now. Hush.” Cheerilee held her close. “It’s all in the past now. Our world is safe because of you. Focus on that.”

Berry just shook. “Cheerilee?” she asked, choking. “Where do ponies go when they die?”

Cheerilee froze. All her years as an educator, all her time dealing with every little problem a house full of foals could come up with, hadn’t prepared her for this. She glanced around subtly, and realized that all of her students were staring at her, listening expectantly. For the first time since she had seen them, it finally sunk in that none of them had much time left. These tiny lives, so vibrant, would soon be following their friends into nothingness. Behind her, she could still see the glow of the living Goddess, Princess Celestia, but the princess said nothing. Berry hadn’t been asking the princess. She had been asking her.

Cheerilee gulped. She took a deep breath, wet her lips, and then answered very, very carefully. “They... they go to Elysium,” she lied. “It’s a vast field far, far beyond the stars, where no living pony has ever been. The plains are made of light, and everypony there is good and noble. And all ponies live there forever in peace and happiness.”

“All ponies?”

“Yes. Well... most.” She gulped, trying to recollect the fairy tales her old teacher had once told to her. “If a pony was bad in life, they have to pass through Tartarus first. The worse they were, the deeper they find themselves, and the longer a journey it will take. Some never make it out. But if they persevere, and if they truly wish to become good, then anypony can reach the land beyond the stars eventually.”

Their eyes were searing her. Cheerilee tried to keep her voice level, like it was just another lecture; she had no idea if they could tell that she was lying through her teeth. Maybe some had had different conversations with their parents already. Some, perhaps, had never thought to ask. Either way, they were all silent, letting Berry Pinch shift against her leg and speak for them. “When I die... will I go to Elysium?”

The question was an icy dagger, pressed against her heart. Answering it was sliding it in another inch. “Yes,” Cheerilee said, nodding to hold back tears. “Yes you will.”

“Even if I’ve been a bad pony?”

“You aren’t a bad pony.” Cheerilee knelt down and held her close. She could feel a tiny heartbeat, counting down the seconds, so close - too close - to its end. “You will go to the good place,” she insisted. “You’ll never have to hurt again.”

“Will Scootaloo be there?”

“Yes.”

“And Peachy Pie?”

“Yes.”

“And Diamond Tiara?”

“Yes.” Cheerilee hesitated for only a second. “Yes, I know she will be. Even if it takes a little longer for her to get there. You will see her again.”

Silver Spoon looked like she was about to say something, but glanced at Tornado Bolt and quickly shut her mouth. Berry Pinch was still. “Okay,” she whispered, and craned her neck around Cheerilee’s.

A light left them. Princess Celestia, having overseen all of this and said nothing, was turning away. “I’m sorry,” Cheerilee said, putting Berry down. “I need to...” She trailed off and quickly trailed after the princess, leaving her students watching in silence.

The streets quickly emptied of stragglers. Despite her graceful, regal pace, Princess Celestia was already some distance away by the time Cheerilee had rounded the rubble pile. The clouds were pinkening as the sun neared the horizon, and the distant rain was getting closer. Cheerilee ran, stumbling as she nearly lost sight of her beloved ruler. “Celestia!” she cried out.

Celestia stopped, though only slowly. “It’s all right,” she said quietly, and at first Cheerilee thought she was addressing her until a pair of guards emerged from the side streets and launched themselves into the sky, leaving the pair of them properly alone. Celestia waited as Cheerilee caught up, then simply looked at her expectantly.

Cheerilee shivered as she caught her breath. She had never before imagined that she would one day have an audience with a Princess, and certainly not under these circumstances. The faint tilt of Celestia’s head told her that, unlike in her idle fantasies, it would be better to skip any pomp or preamble. “Did I do the right thing?” she demanded.

The response wasn’t quite an answer. “I will not fault you for telling your students what you want them to believe,” Celestia said. “But that does not mean that it was what they need to believe. That is something that every pony must discover for him or herself.”

“Then was I wrong?” Cheerilee’s breath quickened again. “What should I have told them? Princess, those children are dying. Was I wrong to give them hope?” She almost shrieked. “What should I say?”

Celestia moved. She slowly walked around Cheerilee, as though examining her. “I would say,” she said, “to tell them what is truly in your heart.” She sighed. “But I see that it is too late for that now.”

Cheerilee felt a chill. “You knew that I was lying?”

“You believe that you were?”

“I...” Her throat felt at once tight and hollow. “I don’t know.” She looked at the ground. “I was raised to believe that you were the highest power in our world. Anything that surpassed you wasn’t important to us. We could see you and understand you, and we knew that you were looking after us. That was all we needed.”

Celestia was stoic, but Cheerilee could tell that something had shifted. “Do you feel that I have betrayed your trust?” she asked.

“No! Ye- no.” Cheerilee rapidly shook her head. “This isn’t your fault. You never asked us to place our faith in you.”

“Perhaps not.” Celestia looked to the side. “That story. Where did you hear it?”

“My old teacher told it to me. She was dying of the Feather Flu, and wanted us to know that she would be safe.”

“I see.” Celestia smiled vaguely. “When in doubt, all ponies repeat the words of the ones they call their teachers. That is why ponies like you and I must be very careful with the stories that we tell. I am glad to see that you know this well.”

The comparison was flattering, but it was not enough to distract the teacher. “Princess,” she pressed, “is the story true?”

Celestia halted. The sound of the storm grew louder as she contemplated. “Do you need to know?” she asked.

“Yes!” Cheerilee yelled. She dropped into a pleading bow. “My students are dying. I need to know that they will be safe.” She sniffed. “I need to know that I will see them again.”

There was a long pause. There was a loud crunch. Cheerilee looked up and saw that Celestia had knelt down in front of her. The diarch whispered. “I do not know.”

Cheerilee gaped. “Y- you...”

“I am sorry, Cheerilee. But I cannot answer your question.” Celestia moved away. She looked up to the sky, perhaps in contemplation, perhaps in sorrow. “There are many things in this world that are not within my knowledge,” she said, “and many more beyond. Even now, a force from beyond the stars is moving to destroy us, and my power to stop or understand it is even less than yours.” She smiled, briefly. “But there is not all fear and darkness in what lies beyond. I have seen wonders in this world that I cannot account for, and goodness even in the grimmest of places. I have seen the lives of the dead spelled out in the stars, and heard their whispers in my dreams. And while I cannot know that the ones I love are waiting for me on the plains of Elysium-” Her voice cracked slightly. “-I do not believe that nothing lies beyond the veil of death. I must wait patiently until I know.”

She turned back to Cheerilee. “But that is not what you need to hear,” she said. “Cheerilee, understand that I wish that I could tell you that you will see your students again. But I can not. Because whatever comes after, what I need you to believe is that you need to make the very most of what time you have left with them. Because if you do not, it may not be only your friendship that dies with them. It will be all of us.”

Stitch, restitch. Stitch, restitch. Restitch again for good measure. Stitch? Restitch.

Sweetie Belle was getting tired. She had been at work on her new project all afternoon, now turning into evening, and her hooves were moving slower and slower. She had by this point proved too slow for the sewing machine, and her magic faltered as she tried to move the needle herself over and over, fixing her mistakes more often than she made progress. She’d barely eaten any dinner. She was starting to ache, both from sitting so still and working so long. Her head hurt and she needed to go to bed. And, as usual, her big sister was not helping.

Rarity fussed around her, making all kinds of dumb faces. “Are you all right, Sweetie Belle?” she asked. “Do you need another glass of water?”

“I’m fine,” Sweetie grunted, not looking up.

“Well, if you’re sure.” Rarity took a step backwards and cast a carefully tempered eye over the younger pony’s handiwork. No doubt she was inwardly criticizing every mismatched cut and uneven stitch, but she said nothing of this. Instead she stood uncharacteristically still for just a moment and then darted forward again. “Do you need another cushion? That one must be flat by now.”

“I’m fine,” Sweetie repeated, then she sighed. Of all the times for Rarity to turn into Mom, this was not the time. Where was the Rarity who would righteously yell at her for making a mess and wasting so much fabric? Where was the sister who would fret around the edges of the room, subtly tsk-ing every time the desk scraped or another spool dropped? Where was the one who would pull her new creation out of her hooves after the second failed attempt, huffing No Sweetie, just let me do it over her feeble protests? That was the Rarity that she wanted to see right now, not whoever this was.

Rain rattled the windows. A strong wind was picking up, whispering around the edges of the building. Sweetie Belle looked up as the windowpane shook, once again dropping her needle on the desk. Right away Rarity was there, picking up after her. “It’s getting very late,” the older pony stated gently. “Why don’t you pick this up in the morning?”

“Can’t,” Sweetie mumbled sleepily. “I gotta get this done.”

As if on cue, the filly slid off of the stool, almost collapsing until Rarity caught her. “Is that what I look like when I stay up late?” Rarity muttered to herself, but quickly refocused. “Darling, you’re clearly beyond your limits. You must get some rest.”

“I can’t.” She was getting tired of repeating herself. She roughly shoved Rarity away, hoping for a stern look, a word of condemnation, anything. But all she saw was concern and pride. “This isn’t just for me,” Sweetie argued. “This is for all of us. I don’t even care if I get to wear it.”

“Then why are you pushing yourself so hard?” To her growing frustration, Rarity put a hoof on her forehead. “Sweetie, you already have the weight of all of Equestria put on you. This is hardly the time to be making even more demands of yourself.”

“But I have to! My fight could be any minute now!”

“All the more reason you should be resting!” With a shriek of rage from Sweetie, Rarity lifted her sister up and began to carry her away from the table. “Enough of this,” Rarity snapped, finally letting some testiness come into her voice. “I will not have my sister saving all of Equestria in such a haggard state. You are going to go to bed, and in the morning you and I are going to the spa, and you are going to relax and forget all about this dreadful business until your time comes. And then afterwards, once you’re safe, you can continue working on your other projects. Do you understand?”

“No!” Sweetie Belle struggled in her sister’s grasp. “Put me down! You don’t understand!”

“What don’t I understand? That I want my sister to survive?” Rarity lifted Sweetie Belle up and dangled her in front of her with magic. “You need to be in tip-top form when your turn comes, and those beastly aliens won’t care what it is you’re wearing. You aren’t on anypony’s deadline but the ones you set for yourself.”

“You don’t understand,” Sweetie snarled. In that moment, she didn’t care about sisterhood. She just wanted to hurt her. “I’m going to die.”

Rarity stopped. Her eyes widened. “Sweetie,” she started, then rapidly dropped and embraced her sister. “You are not going to die.”

Sweetie Belle sat stiffly, her jaw loosening, as sniffles emerged from her sister - sniffles which must have been held in all day. “You’re going to be very strong,” Rarity continued, as though trying to convince herself, “and very brave. And it’s going to be very scary, but every one of us is going to be there with you. And you’re going to beat whatever creature comes your way and send it packing right back to where it came from, and then you’re going to come home to us safe and sound. Do you know why?” She kissed Sweetie Belle on her forehead. “Because you have a sister who loves you very much. And as you’ve taught me many times, when you have one of those waiting for you at home, there’s nothing that you cannot accomplish.”

Rarity drew back, forcing a smile onto her face. “So no more talk of dying, all right? Get some sleep. When this is over, you’ll have all the time in the world to finish your cape.”

It took a moment for Sweetie Belle to collect herself. Her mouth started moving before this moment was up. “You don’t understand. Even if I win... I’ll still die.”

Rarity flickered as she froze, like a reflection shattering. “What?”

“That’s how it works.” Sweetie Belle kept her eyes on the ground. Her heart screamed at her to stop, but her mouth kept moving. “Equus runs on life energy. Even if I win the battle, when it’s over, I’ll die.” She looked up at her. “Scootaloo’s already dead. So are Diamond Tiara and Peachy Pie. And now... I’m next.”

She waited a long time for a response. There was none. Rarity’s face didn’t change, but slowly, ever so slowly, she lifted one hoof off of the ground and held it over her mouth. In an unnaturally (for her) jerky, uncoordinated motion, she took a stumbling step backwards, then another more rapidly when Sweetie Belle reached out to her. Then she turned tail and fled, covering her face. “Rarity!” Sweetie yelled after her, chasing on leaden legs. She very nearly fell down the stairs and had to slow down, and could only watch helplessly as Rarity opened the Boutique’s door and galloped out into the rain. Desperation filled her. “Rarity!” she cried again, rushing outside, only to immediately trip over the steps and fall into a mud puddle. She lay there, too tired to move, letting the rain beat down on her as night fell.

Battle 5: Enemy (and notice of cancellation)

Sweetie Belle didn't know why she'd woken at first. She blinked awake, all tiredness falling away in an instant, and breathed in sharply. Her panic quickly subsided; she was still in her bed. Without fully knowing why, she pulled the covers back and trotted out into the hallway.

Rarity's room was empty. Her door was open, and the bed hadn't been slept in. Sweetie stared at this for a moment before moving on. The design room was empty as well. It had been cleared out during the night, leaving no trace of her work from the previous evening. Rarity, or at least someone, must have come back to check on her. Come to think of it, while she dimly recalled cleaning herself up last night, she wasn't sure how she'd made it into bed.

The hour was very early. It was still dark outside, but a red haze was starting to appear on the horizon. Sweetie wasn't sure that she'd ever actually seen a sunrise before. Something caught her ear and she walked downstairs, still in an early-morning haze, finally catching sight of what had woken her. There was a faint knocking at the door. Politeness made her open it before she had time to think. As soon as she did, Apple Bloom was upon her.

"C'mon, Sweetie Belle," her friend said. "We gotta hurry."

An apple was shoved into her mouth, and a comb into her mane. "Ah got you some breakfast," Apple Bloom continued, still whispering. She was probably under the impression that there was a big pony eavesdropping from upstairs. "And you can do your mane while we run. We got a lot to cover today."

Sweetie swallowed and spat the remains of the apple into her hoof. "What's going on?" she asked.

"We're gonna get you your cutie mark. And we're gonna do it today." With a flourish, Apple Bloom produced a long list that she'd had tucked behind her ear. Large sections of it had been crossed out, and large arrows pointed from the remaining parts to others. "This was Scootaloo's list," she said, running a hoof over the listed activities, "but I know she'd want us to keep usin' it. Ah've crossed out all the things we've already done'n can't do today, but your special talent's gotta be one of the rest of these, right? So Ah figured if we just run through everythin' on this list in this order..."

"Apple Bloom..." Sweetie Belle tried to interrupt.

"No, listen," Apple Bloom said, a little more desperately. "Ah've worked it out. If we go through all these things in the mornin' and use these ones to get lunch and then walk just a little way to do these, then we'll be able to find your special talent by this time tomorrow!"

"Apple Bloom..." Sweetie tried again.

"C'mon!" Apple Bloom cried. She started to tug Sweetie towards the door. "We've gotta try everything! We've got counting and teaching and fruit-eating and apple-bucking and hatmaking and creek-jumping and karaoke and violin lessons and-"

"Apple Bloom, stop!" Sweetie yelled.

They both froze, Apple Bloom's face a look of panicked incomprehension. Sweetie looked at the ground and sighed. "There's no point," she said. "I'm not going to get my cutie mark."

"Don't talk like that!" Apple Bloom started to tear up. "Sure you will! We just gotta try everything really fast, so you'll know for sure what you're good at when..."

She stumbled over herself, pausing. Sweetie sighed again. "There's no time," she said. "It doesn't make a difference. What's the point of having a special talent if I'm never going to get to use it?"

Apple Bloom remained defiant, not letting her friend's lethargy hold her back. "But we're the Cutie Mark Crusaders!" she cried, stomping. "Crusadin' for cutie marks is what we do! Don't you wanna know what your destiny is?"

"I know what my destiny is." Sweetie Belle looked down at her flank. "I'm going to die."

Apple Bloom ground her teeth. "Sweetie..."

"It's too late. I'm sorry, but it's too late. I can't go crusading with you any more."

Apple Bloom stared at her a moment more, finally perceiving the veil that had fallen over her. "It ain't fair," she said hollowly, then threw her list on the floor and bucked the door in frustration, leaving a dent. "It ain't fair!"

Sweetie watched this calmly. She felt a little better about it. Rarity had run away from her; Rarity thought she was a monster. If her sister had stayed, she would only have hurt her. Maybe it would be better if Apple Bloom ran away too. Everyone would be happier if she wasn't Sweetie Belle any more.

Apple Bloom didn't run, though. She finished stomping and threw a foreleg around Sweetie Belle, quietly weeping into her mane. "Can Ah at least spend the day with you?" she asked.

Sweetie didn't answer right away. "I..."

At that moment, the sun rose.

A beam of light lanced across the sky, widening to fill the day with light. It fell across scattered clouds, brightening the world with grey as well as blue. A beam of it fell through the window, lighting up the two fillies. A burst of rainbow light momentarily filled the room, then was snuffed out as the shadow of a massive, three-pronged claw fell across them.

The two looked up. Silhouetted against the morning sun was a shape that sent tendrils of shadow across the whole town. Its body was small, at least by the standards of the robots, but the enormous tentacles that sprouted from it in every direction made it seem as though it had been woven all the way across the sky. "No," Apple Bloom moaned, breaking away. "Noooo!"

There was a flash, and a sound like tearing paper.

"Come in, Celestia. Celestia, come in," Twilight Sparkle spoke into a small crystal that she held in her hoof. She held it up against the wall of the cockpit, speaking louder and more clearly. "Celestia, can you hear me?"

"What is that?" Tornado Bolt asked, more to break the monotony than out of actual interest.

"It's a crystal communicator." She held it up proudly. "The most advanced technology we have to offer. Genuine Crystal Empire imports combined with the latest soundstones from Canterlot, allowing messages to be sent two ways over any distance. This is just a prototype; Celestia gave it to me so that we can give status reports from inside the robot." Then her face scrunched up and she banged it several times against the wall. "And it doesn't... freaking... work!" she concluded, giving up. "It looks like as long as we're in here, we're completely cut off."

"That's about the size of it," Cicada confirmed, drifting overhead. "You're in my world now. Get used to it."

Twilight resisted the urge to glare at him. In a motionless circle, the foals and Spike were groggily waking up. Those who were fully conscious were very still, waiting for the hum of the robot to begin any second. Shining Armour stood in the middle; even at this early hour, he'd been brought to the cockpit in full ceremonial armour, freshly polished. "What's the holdup?" he demanded. "The battle should have begun by now."

"Give me a minute. I'm hunting down our last pilot." Cicada floated over to Dinky Doo's seat and stared at it intently. "She's a troublesome one. Something's been interfering with my ability to track her."

Shining's ears pricked up. "So you're not all-powerful," he said.

"Oh, hush. I assure you, this is a very, very minor inconvenience." The mouse spun to look at him, hovering upside-down. "And don't fret about it. The clock may be ticking, but the battle won't start until you're all here."

"So the enemy's just going to sit there and wait for us?" Shining raised an eyebrow. "That's strangely chivalrous for a race of planet-destroyers."

"Hey, protocol cuts both ways. Do you think they'd be happy if you started up first and smashed them before they were ready?"

Shining grunted and looked away, stony-faced. Twilight made her way around the outside of the circle, keeping an eye on him, but stopped at the stool that sat within the symbol on the floor. "Sweetie Belle, are you ready?" she whispered.

"I'm okay," Sweetie whispered back without moving. She wasn't. She looked hollow. She felt hollow. But she was going to fight. That was what mattered.

Twilight bit her lip. She found herself glancing at Spike, who was still half-asleep, and pictured him where Sweetie was now, wearing the same empty expression. No. She forced herself to look back. "Are you sure I'm the one you wanted to be here?" she asked. "There's still time to change your mind. Wouldn't you want Rarity to be here instead?"

"No."

"Are you sure?"

"She doesn't want to see me."

Painful as it was, Twilight knew better than to argue with her now. "All right," she said. "But just remember, if you want her, she's there for you."

"Gotcha, you little rascal!" Cicada announced. In a swift bubble of light, Dinky Doo appeared on her cloud-stool, curled up and still wearing her saddlebags from the last battle. Like many of the others, she turned up asleep; she startled awake, yelping and nearly falling off her stool as she took in her surroundings, looking around fearfully at the others.

"Dinky!" Twist yelled from across the circle.

"About time you showed up," Pina Colada added from three chairs away, leaning over the loveseat's side. "Where have you been?"

Dinky just cowered. Her attention was fully focused on the two adult ponies in the middle of the cockpit, one of whom was smiling encouragingly, the other giving her a hard stare. "What are they doing here?" she whispered to Tornado Bolt on her right.

"Cicada's letting them spectate," Tornado whispered back. "It's cool. They're not gonna do anything."

"Well, no time to waste!" Cicada said loudly, circling around to hover behind Sweetie Belle. "Took us long enough. What say we get this show on the road?" Amidst feeble protests, the robot stirred to life.

The chairs rose into the air. Twilight gasped as a familiar pinprick expanded to illuminate Ponyville around them, and both she and her brother flinched as they found themselves standing in midair. "Unbelievable..." she gasped. "I know you said it was a projection, but I never thought..." She tapped a hoof against the floor, gaping at the illusion of floating, and was by a large margin the last to notice what everyone else was already staring at.

Equus had appeared in almost exactly the same place that it had during Diamond Tiara's battle, although facing the other way. The sun had fully risen to the east, silhouetting their opponent from behind. Its main body was an angular, geometric shape which Twilight Sparkle (and no one else) recognized as an icosahedron, around the size of Equus' head. Each triangular face was coated in gleaming, mirrored armour that made its exact shape difficult to make out. From each vertex erupted a thick tentacle made from more familiar black armour, barbed all the way along and ending in spiraling, three-pronged claws. A total of twelve of these spread in all directions, bent and curved and disconcertingly still, as though frozen mid-wave. Five were currently being used as legs, stretching all the way from Ponyville's lake to the edge of the Everfree. A few of the claws came to life and snapped loudly as the two robots warmed up, but it otherwise remained completely still.

"So that's our enemy," Shining Armour said grimly. "They get uglier with each battle." He squinted into the distance at it, his frown deepening. "Hang on," he said. "Something's wrong. Sweetie Belle, can you get us a closer look?"

"O-okay," Sweetie said. She scrunched up her face in concentration, preparing to harness the vast energies that she felt flowing through her, but changing her field of view turned out to be completely effortless. All she had to do was think it and the world moved around her, propelling the circle of chairs to hover over the other robot instead of her own. Up close, what Shining Armour had seen was much more obvious. Several plates of mirrored armour were completely missing; nearly half the triangular faces were empty, exposing a surprisingly hollow interior. Hanging in the exact center, suspended from all directions by just a few grey cables, was a white sphere.

"The enemy's vital point is exposed!" Shining Armour exclaimed. "Cicada! What's the meaning of this?"

"Beats me," the mouse answered. "Even I don't have a complete record of all robot designs. But I can tell you this, though." He wheeled around them, grinning. "In simulations, all robots are built to be exactly as powerful as one another. So if this one skimped out on putting any points at all into its armour, you can make a safe bet that it's got some serious firepower backing it up."

Sweetie Belle shuddered. She moved her field of view back to her side of the battlefield, far away from the nightmarish machine. Just looking at those claws made her skin crawl, and the thought of getting any closer to that thing was terrifying in itself. Thought of the fight itself had never really registered before now, but now she finally started to wonder if she could win this battle after all.

"Hey, we didn't crash this time," Apple Bloom noted on a more positive note, looking down. "Are we still floatin'?"

"No," Cicada answered. "As the battles go on, I'll be able to get a more accurate fix on your location. I might even be able to target specific spots to land, once my scans are finished. But the bad news: the enemy is making the same scans as well."

"Right." Shining Armour took a deep breath. He marched around and took a position beside Sweetie Belle, while Twilight stood off to the side, near Spike. "All right, Sweetie Belle," he said sharply. Sweetie had never seen him like this before; on the few occasions she'd met him, the guard had always been cheerful and light-hearted, keeping an informal touch even in the uniform. Now, on the field of battle, he was all soldier. "Here's what you need to do," he ordered. "As soon as the fight starts, hit it with all you've got. Attack hard and strong and break through its defenses before it has time to get ready. Don't stop attacking. If you let it get the upper hand, it'll be able to overwhelm you."

Sweetie nodded, trying not to let her terror show. Remembering how Scootaloo had described it, she focused on her new body and lowered her head, aiming her dark horn. In response, the enemy's tentacles began to move, gently weaving back and forth like seaweed. The free claws rhythmically snapped, creating clacking noises that echoed over the town. "Watch out for those," Rumble advised. "If they're on your cutie mark they must be important."

"Be quiet," Shining ordered. Rumble obediently closed his mouth, though a few other foals in the circle began to scowl.

Suddenly, the rear tentacles began to crash down. "Look out, it's moving!" Twilight cried, then stopped and blinked. "It's... running away?"

As tentacles on the far side hit the ground, those nearer lifted up; in this manner the robot "rolled" in the other direction, away from Equus and Ponyville and towards the Everfree Forest. "It... doesn't want to fight?" Spike said, scratching his head.

Shining just glared. "It's a trick," he said. "Sweetie Belle, shoot it now."

Sweetie started to build energy in herself, but hesitated. The rolling enemy was picking up speed, trying to get away from her. "But-" she said.

"Shoot it now!"

With a squeak, Sweetie Belle hunched down and shut her eyes, cracked one just slightly open to aim, and fired her horn. A mix of white and green light swirled around her and shot out in a searing blast. Her aim was good, but not good enough; the beam hit one of the mirrored plates and bounced off, only seeming to grow in power as it tore almost horizontally across the landscape. "Oh my gosh!" Twilight gasped, putting a hoof over her mouth. "That kind of power output is off the charts! How did it..."

Somewhere on the horizon, there was an explosion. As the stones fell, one of the spires in the Foal Mountain range was no longer there. "Do not do that again," Pina Colada ordered.

"Wow, it didn't even leave a mark," Tornado Bolt added, squinting after the retreating robot. "Mirror armour must be like a kind of hyper white armour. Maybe it's not as badly defended as we thought."

"I said be quiet!" Shining yelled. He sighed; the enemy robot was now well out of range for another try. "What are you waiting for?" he said. "Go after it!"

"Um." Sweetie Belle shifted uncomfortably. She looked down; to her horror, the force of the blast had slid her back several yards, throwing up more scattered debris and encroaching on more houses. Around her, ponies were evacuating the town at a more controlled pace, although she made out a few simply standing still and gawking. She carefully lifted a hoof, but found herself unsure of where she was supposed to put it. Looking down at her broad, clumsy leg, she had an idea. "I think... I think I want to try something Diamond Tiara did," she said. She looked nervously at Shining Armour. "Is that okay?"

"You're the pilot, Sweetie," Twilight said before her brother could answer. "You decide what to do. Remember, we're just here to spectate. You don't have to ask our permission for anything." She gave her brother a reproachful look.

"Right." A little more confidently, Sweetie nodded. She placed her hoof back down in its original position and, with concentration and a small click, lifted it again. The lower portion of her leg detached, allowing her to withdraw a shorter, thinner part that tapered to a sharp point. Like stepping out of a set of boots, she repeated this will all her legs, stepping away to stand on pinpricks. She had lost nearly a quarter of her height and had to adjust her pace accordingly, but her new, daintier hoofsteps allowed her to stride out of Ponyville and across the farmland without leaving house-crushing prints in her wake.

Archer snorted. "You look ridiculous," she said. "I guess we can call this Foal Form?"

"That's dumb," Silver Spoon shot back.

"You're dumb," Archer retorted. For once, the silver filly was without an answer.

Twilight was, once again, frozen with her eyes pointed downward. "This doesn't make sense!" she cried. "Legs ending in spikes should be driven into the ground by the weight. You shouldn't be able to stand, let alone walk!"

"Is she going to be like this the whole time?" Snips whispered to Spike.

"Most likely," the dragon answered.

It didn't take long to catch up with the rolling enemy, which was still moving away. In a matter of minutes they had cleared the Everfree completely and emerged on a flat, rocky plain on the far side. Once they were both clear the enemy finally halted, spinning in place and adopting what was unmistakably a fighting stance. "I guess it wants to fight here?" Twilight said, looking more and more miserably confused. She looked around. "This is... actually a really good spot. We must be miles away from any towns. There aren't even any crops to ruin."

"Are they trying to avoid collateral damage?" Archer wondered aloud. "Or are they... learning?"

There was no more time for discussion. In a flurry of motion, the enemy whirled its tentacles in the air and charged forward, no longer rolling but bounding on six limbs like an insect. "It's coming!" Twilight yelled.

"Friggin' finally!" Pina Colada exclaimed.

Sweetie Belle screamed.

Before she even knew what she was doing, she'd leaped sideways, bounding out of the enemy's path. The tentacled robot followed, barely slowing as it changed directions, its claws snapping at the air behind her. She ran and jumped in a broad circle around the field, gaining ground as the enemy treaded after her. Even with her shortened legs, she barely seemed to have lost any speed. In fact, she felt more comfortable this way; the robot's proportions now more closely matched her own stubby foal shape.

As the chase went on, Sweetie used the opportunity to catch her breath. Calming herself, she risked a glance backwards. The sight of the perpetually snapping claws still caused her shivers, but knowing that she was at least faster than it made it a little less scary. "Scootaloo was brave enough to fight her monster," she told herself, not really caring who was listening. "I can be too." All at once she stopped and spun around, putting on her bravest, angriest face and charging her horn. "Get away from me!" she yelled.

To her surprise, the enemy obeyed. The moment her horn lit up it slid to a halt, throwing up its front tentacles defensively. Its core twisted, putting a mirrored panel directly between her and the vital point. "Huh?" Sweetie said. As she moved her head to the side, the enemy twisted further, following the point of her horn to keep itself defended.

Twilight Sparkle released a breath. "Phew," she said. "I was afraid it was going to overrun us for a second there. It looks like it's not willing to risk its core up close."

The two robots stood there for several long seconds, barely moving. Sweetie could see just taunting flashes of its vital point through the forest of tentacles, like the monster was peeking at her from behind its claws. She kept her horn charged, edging diagonally away. The tentacles on the enemy's back began to wave back and forth, once again like they were underwater. "It's doing something," Archer said.

"What?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"I don't know. But that's a boss monster's tell if I've ever seen one."

Twilight Sparkle sighed, but smiled sympathetically. "Scootablue, you can't just apply arcade game principles to real life and expect them to-"

Without warning, the enemy smacked two of its claws into the ground and flipped over backwards, unfurling four tentacles that it had kept hidden behind its back. Each of them held a small, crackling sphere of blue energy, rapidly expanding. It hurled two of these as it finished its flip, sending them whistling past either side of Equus' head, and immediately took a defensive stance again.

"Watch ou-" Shining Armour yelled, but found his gaze being drawn away as the spheres exploded harmlessly in the sky behind them. "It missed?"

"That's not my name!" Archer shouted, not letting the point drop.

Sweetie Belle kept her eyes forward. The enemy was crawling forward, raising up its two remaining bombs like horns, all while keeping several of its claws raised defensively. It snapped with every step, slowly approaching. When it suddenly darted towards her, she shrieked and released the energy in her horn, blasting one of the claws. That tentacle was thrown powerfully back, but the rest of the monster took its chance and surged forward. In an instant, it was upon her.

Having those claws touching her was even worse than she'd thought it would be. The first touch made her scream in pain and fear, and every strike afterwards was even worse. As she thrashed in their grip the claws ripped into her armour, working together to grab and tear unpredictably, growing in number as the enemy effectively mounted her from the front. Even though the robot itself couldn't feel pain, the feeling of having "her" outer shell ripped away made her feel bloodied and nauseous. It was like being covered in cockroaches, all of then slicing and eating into her, with all the terror that went with it. "Sweetie Belle, do something!" Apple Bloom yelled.

She tried to, she tried. She kicked and thrashed, fighting against the weight to rear up and throw this nightmare off of her. She threw her head back and forth, and felt one of the tentacles fall away as her horn accidentally stabbed straight through it, severing it completely. But without her broad front hooves, she couldn't push, only stab pathetically at the tangle surrounding her. There was a flash of light as one of the remaining blue bombs was tossed from claw to claw, then roughly slammed against her shoulder. There was a bang and what looked like an explosion, but the armour was undamaged. No one was sure what had happened until Equus lurched to the side.

Sweetie Belle fought to control herself, only keeping herself from falling over by dropping the rest of her legs to the ground. "I can't feel my leg!" she cried, trying to move the one that had been struck. It felt like it had seized up completely. "It's stuck!"

Twilight backed up until she hit the wall. This close, it was like the enemy was looming over them directly, with the screaming of twisting metal all around them. "Shining?" she asked nervously.

"...okay," Shining Armour said, trying to steady himself. "It's okay. All we have to do is..." He winced as a particularly loud crash filled the chamber, this time from a claw ripping deep into Equus' neck. He hoped he wasn't visibly sweating. He was. "Your horn," he stated, grasping for an answer. "That's what it's going for. You have to shoot it while it's close!"

"No, don't!" Archer yelled back before Sweetie Belle could make up her mind. "If a reflected beam hits us, it could destroy us!"

"We don't have a choice!" Shining Armour snapped, whirling on her. "Do you have any better suggestions?"

"Well..." She glared back defiantly for a second, then slumped. "No."

Rumble, who had been keeping his eyes skyward, mouthed the answer to himself and had to repeat it more loudly for the others. "The bomb!"

"What?" Apple Bloom said.

"The bomb!" He pointed. "Shoot the bomb!"

The others looked up. Held safely out of reach was the final stun bomb, glowing like a miniature sun, presumably being kept in reserve. "Would that do anything?" Spike asked.

"It's better than nothing," Rumble said. "Sweetie, shoot it!"

"O-okay," Sweetie Belle whimpered. More and more claws were plunging into her head and neck; it felt like the enemy was trying to rip it clean off. She thrashed as best she could and charged energy. Three of the claws immediately retreated to protect the core, letting her take a clear shot and shoot a beam of light straight into the unprotected bomb.

The orb of light exploded, showering both robots in crackling blue energy. Sweetie felt her entire front go numb, while more than half of the enemy's tentacles went limp. It tore a last chunk off her face as it crashed down, unable to hold itself up. The two giants dragged themselves away from each other, mostly immobilized. Collectively, the group took a deep breath. "Now what do we do?" Spike asked. "Neither of us can fight like this."

When the enemy was a safe distance away, it stopped. A deep blue light filled its core, then burst outward in a wave stretching all the way to the horizon. Immediately it leaped back up again, all eleven remaining tentacles swaying freely. As soon as the wave hit her, Sweetie Belle felt her legs and chest unclench. She flexed, now fully mobile. "So, it's got a reset switch," Shining Armour murmured. "We'll have to keep that in mind."

Restored, the enemy started moving forward again. Sweetie Belle immediately lowered her head and charged her horn. In response, the enemy entered its defensive stance again, standing still. "If you give it time it'll just charge more stun bombs," Archer warned. "And I don't think it'll fall for the same trick twice."

"I know," Sweetie wheezed. "I just... can't."

Everyone stared at her. In light of the robotic brawl going on all around them, no one had thought to look at Sweetie Belle herself. The filly looked sick and trembling, now more than ever a scared little girl. Her eyes were leaking and her nose had started to run. Her breath was a barely-controlled whimper; she was terrified, not without reason, that if she made another noise she would be hurt again. Her leg shook; slowly, her robotic leg took a stumbling step backwards. "Sweetie, don't run," Twilight cautioned. Another step. "If you run, it will catch you. Please, don't run."

The steps stopped. The enemy started to clack its claws, filling the air with thundering crashes. Sweetie Belle shivered. "I can't," she repeated, shaking her head. "I can't..."

"Hm?" Suddenly, Cicada buzzed to the side, twitching irritably. "Hey! Cut that out!"

Everyone looked at him, but he didn't seem to be speaking to any of them. "Cut what out?" Snips asked.

"Not you! Stupid... doesn't work that way! Ugh. Someone wants up. Hey, kiddo, can you focus on your chair at home for me?"

Sweetie was in no position to be making sense of things, but the request was simple enough that she obliged without a thought. A flat bubble appeared on the surface of the dome, like a window to another part of the world. Through it, Rarity could be seen in her design room, repeatedly banging her sewing stool against the wall. She was wearing her designer saddlebags and looked like she hadn't slept. "Let me see her!" she shouted at the stool. "Take me to her now, you little fiend!"

Sweetie Belle's eyes lit up. "Rarity? Rarity!"

"She can't hear you, kid," Cicada said. "And you're at your maximum number of spectators already. If you want to get her off my back, someone's going to have to step out."

"She can take my place," Twilight Sparkle said quickly. She blushed. "To be honest, I'm... not being a lot of use here. I'll be more use coordinating things outside."

"As you wish."

Twilight disappeared in a bubble of light. At the same time, Rarity appeared in the middle of the cockpit. She stumbled and then shrieked as she found herself floating in midair, but quickly recovered. She made quick note of the current stalemate between Equus and the tentacled enemy, then turned her attention to what was really important. "Sweetie Belle!" She rushed up to her sister, taking in her withdrawn and shivering frame. "What has that horrid beast been doing to you?"

Sweetie Belle blinked at her, then took a deep breath, as though emerging from underwater. "Rarity!" she cried, throwing herself from her stool and landing heavily in Rarity's grasp. "I thought I'd never ever see you again!" Shining Armour tensed up as she left her seat, but the images on the walls didn't fade and Equus stayed in place, horn still charged with energy.

Sensing the captain's unease, Rarity glanced up at him. "I'm sorry. Is this a bad time?"

"No, it's fine," he said, trying to reassure himself as much as her. "We're in the middle of a standoff now. The battle could still go either way."

Sweetie Belle buried herself in her sister's mane, desperate for any touch that wasn't wood or cold metal. "Why did you run away?" she sobbed. "I thought you hated me."

"Never. I would never." Rarity put on a brave face, smiling as though nothing were the matter. "I simply didn't want you to have to see your big sister crying and fussing like an old mare before your fight. I thought that was what was best for you. But I can see now that I was only panicking. I promise, I will never run away from you ever again." She paused to squeeze her gently, then lifted up the flap of her bag. "I brought something for you. I know you said you wanted to do it, but I found your designs and finished one of them for you... just in case."

Out of the bag emerged a cape. It was red, like the capes that Sweetie Belle was used to making and repairing, but wider and longer across all sides. In place of the usual CMC logo was a black unicorn, standing proudly over a blue sphere, with fifteen smaller circles of various colours surrounding it. Rarity lifted it up and tied it around Sweetie's neck, briefly exposing a silver-lined interior. For a moment Sweetie felt swallowed by it, and worried that she'd made it too big, but when it fell around her and its weight caressed her like a blanket she knew that she'd been right. This wasn't a cape for adventuring in. This was the kind of wear for a Princess or somepony equally important, sitting high on their throne while they decided the fate of the world. "It's perfect," she said, hugging Rarity once again.

"You designed that?" Silver Spoon said incredulously.

"Yeah." Sweetie Belle sniffed, smiling. "I wanted to make one for everyone. But maybe we can all share this one. So when it's our turn, we can hide our fake cutie marks and show that we're still... us."

Pina Colada rolled her eyes. "Yeah, because the black unicorn doesn't give it away at all," she muttered.

"...Wow." Apple Bloom stared, awed. "You were thinkin' of us, the whole time."

"Of course." Sweetie Belle smiled at her. "This place isn't my destiny. You guys are."

She looked to Rarity. "I'm ready to fight now."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure."

With one last nuzzle of her mane, Rarity lifted Sweetie Belle up and used magic to give her a gentle push back onto her stool. "I believe in you," she said. She maintained her smile, but brushed a tear out of her eye. "Now you show that wicked beast what for, all right?"

"I will. I promise."

The promise felt empty, but somehow rang true. Taking a deep breath, Sweetie Belle steadied herself and tried to assess the situation. She still had no idea how she was going to fight the monster in front of her, but she was now more sure than ever that she had to try. The cape around her clothed her in a tangible softness, and she knew that if the enemy sunk its claws into her again, this time she wouldn't panic. She would fight.

For a moment she closed her eyes, listening to the rhythmic clacking of the claws. "So what's the plan?" Snips said, nearly breaking her concentration.

"We have to find a way to break past those claws," Shining Armour said. "Sweetie Belle, if you charge it first this time and take it by surprise, then maybe..." She laughed, interrupting him. "What's funny?"

"I just realized." She opened her eyes, smirking. "It's fighting in 4/4 time."

For those who knew what this meant, once it was heard it could not be unheard. The dark claws snapped and waved on an even beat, unbroken, the limbs unpredictable but the rhythm never changing. Thinking back, Sweetie realized that it had been following the same pattern even while attacking her, with the strongest blows landing every fourth beat. "It ith!" Twist gasped.

Sweetie Belle started to tap her hoof against her stool. As she did, Equus began to move again, clawing a groove into the earth as it prepared to charge. In response, the enemy unfolded, revealing four new stun bombs that it weaved back and forth overhead, cautious of any horn blast. Sweetie began to hum, still tapping and bobbing her head in time with the enemy's snapping. She took a step forward, keeping the energy in her horn charged. The two robots circled each other, warily keeping their defensive poses.

She closed her eyes again. She didn't need them to see, anyway. Her humming grew louder and more focused, using the snapping claws and footsteps as her metronome, and then broke off into a sweet, pure voice. "Each one of us has something special... that makes us different, that makes us rare..."

She broke into a gallop, charging. On exactly the fourth beat, the enemy whirled around and hurled one of its bombs at lightning speed, but she had already leaped out of the way, dodging nimbly to the side. A few of the pilots gasped in realization. Apple Bloom beamed and added her voice. "We have a light that shines within us..."

"That we were always meant to share," Dinky Doo added.

With each addition, the colour of Equus' magic changed slightly, gaining streaks of tan, then grey. Shining Armour opened his mouth, but Rarity put a hoof over it and shook her head, smiling joyously. A second bomb whistled past them, and suddenly they were in combat range again. The remaining missiles were held safely back and claws began to shoot out, but only in ones and twos, and always on the same beat. Perfectly-timed dodges and slices prevented any from landing more than a scratch.

"And when we come together..." Spike picked up, joined by others.

"Combine the light that shines within..."

"There ith nothing we can't do..."

"There is no battle we can't win!"

A deft claw managed to wrap itself around Equus' horn, but with a quick swipe from her pointed hoof the offending tentacle was torn off. The mirrored center twitched, providing a too-fast clear shot right to the core. Suddenly it was the enemy that was scrambling to get away, abandoning its rhythm to roll away, the tentacles almost tripping over each other in their haste.

"When we come together," Snips parroted.

"There'll be a star to guide the way..."

As the enemy gained ground it spun around, whipping another bomb. There was no time to dodge this one. It crashed directly against Equus' main breastplate, freezing both front legs mid-stride. "We're hit!" Berry Pinch squeaked, covering her eyes.

"It's inside us every day," Silver Spoon sang out, much to her own surprise. A band of silver joined the maelstrom of colours around the horn.

"See it now," Sweetie Belle called, seeming unfazed. The brilliant lights shone with greater intensity. "See it now!" She lowered her head one last time and fired - not forward, but down and between her legs, releasing a dozen different colours into the ground directly beneath her.

The earth exploded, launching the massive robot into the air. The force of it shook the cockpit, but didn't unsettle any of the foals. The two adults gasped. Equus spun in the air, rising to what seemed an impossible height, then angled its horn as it fell straight towards the escaping enemy. The foals sang as one. "Let the rainbow remind you that together we will always shine!" The last bomb was thrown and hit its mark, locking the unicorn's neck in place, but this did nothing to slow its descent. The enemy made no attempt to flee, only cowered with nearly all of its tentacles raised up in defense.

"Let the rainbow remind you that forever this will be our time!"

Equus crashed through the tangle of black armour, the sheer force blowing them aside. The core was crushed down to the ground. The mirrors shattered, reflecting hundreds of angles of the same image as the immense black horn pierced the vital point right through its middle.

"Let the rainbow remind you... that together we will always shine."

Sweetie Belle collapsed in Rarity's grip, pressing tight against her. She felt some relief at the knowledge that she would never have to feel anything sharp or cold ever again.

Cicada performed a small loop that may have been meant to simulate an eye roll. "That has to be the single sappiest conclusion to a fight I've ever seen," he sighed.

"But it worked, didn't it?" Tornado Bolt countered.

"It did," Rarity agreed, brimming with pride. "That was absolutely marvelous."

Sweetie smiled back weakly. "It wasn't that hard," she said. She felt sleepy. "It... it was scared too."

"That was incredible," Shining Armour added, still openly awed. "I had no idea this machine could jump like that. I'm almost glad Twilight left; I don't know if she could handle it."

"She probably saw that clear from Ponyville," Spike said, "so I guess we'll find out soon."

"Yeah, these things are just full of surprises," Cicada muttered grumpily.

Sweetie Belle looked up at him. "Cicada?" she said. "Can I ask you something?"

"You know my rules, kid-"

"Why is this happening?" She choked. "Who is doing this to us?"

There was a firm pause. "Not your place to ask, and not my place to answer," he said briskly. "You've already fulfilled your purpose, so-"

"Cicada!" Apple Bloom shouted. She stormed over and held her friend's hoof, glaring up at the mouse. "She's dyin'," she said sharply. "Tell her the truth."

Cicada turned and drifted away. It almost seemed like he was once again refusing to answer until he finally spoke. "They're called the Masterminds," he said. "That's all you need to know."

Something shifted. It was like a noise that had been present and unnoticed all her life had stopped, and was dragging all other sounds after it. Rapidly, everything began to fade. Rarity gasped and held her tightly. "Sweetie?" she whispered.

It wasn't a lot of comfort.

But it was enough.

Author's Note

Yup. That's it. That's the end.

Well, not necessarily.

This is the last call for guest writers to fill in and finish the story. Details are here. No qualifications are necessary, and there are no obligations to do more than a single chapter if you don't want to. The story ends otherwise; what do I have to lose?

Anyone interested has until OCTOBER 1ST to volunteer. After that, I will release a "the rest of the story" chapter, detailing a blow-by-blow summary of the rest of the story. And I don't just mean a basic recap, I mean the whole dang thing, scene for scene, with scraps and drafts of the actual story interspersed. It's hella long and I've been having a ton of fun putting it together. And if you volunteer to guest write, you get to read it before anyone else. How about that?

Seriously, I do love this story, and I love the support that it's gotten. But life moves on, and I need to simplify some things. It's time to move on. But for helping me get this far, thank you all. It means a lot.

-9

Training Days (with Dawn Flower)

Shining Armor stood in one of the Canterlot castle hallways, at the intersection just before the final, small turn that led out into the courtyard of the Canterlot training grounds. He was alone in the corridor at the moment, and the atmosphere was eerily silent. Even being this close to the guards’ training grounds, which was usually bustling with energy from veterans and recruits alike, where he would be able to hear everything, the entire area was still completely silent. Hopefully not a sign of things to come, he thought.

He steadily took in a deep breath to try and calm himself, and then exhaled again, using the same technique that his wife and sister used. This small, insignificant action showed just how nervous the normally calm and collected Guard Captain was about what was going to happen. As a Royal Guard, Shining Armor was trained to always keep a straight face and to remain strong and resilient, even in the hardest of times, and as the Captain of the Royal Guard, he was especially good, and had to be the best at it, though even he still got unsure at times. After all, at the end of the day, even with all of his strength and maturity, he was still just a little pony, like everyone else. He knew what he had to do, and that it was for the good of all of Equestria, but even still, it didn’t automatically make this any easier for him. Despite what those fillies and colts had been through already, they were all still just kids. It just didn’t feel right, what they were about to do, but at the same time, it was what had to be done; and the worst part was, he knew it.

Taking another breath in, deeper this time, and taking a moment to put on the Royal Guard’s trademarked stoic expression, of strength and determination, he started walking forward again, made that final turn, and stepped out into the courtyard.

The Canterlot guard training grounds was a large courtyard of stone, located in a corner of the guard barracks, adjacent to Canterlot castle, for quick access for the guards coming and going between the castle and barracks.

The courtyard was open to the outside air, with the clouds above parted out overhead, allowing Celestia’s Sun to shine down on everypony present. The courtyard was easily large enough to hold several dozen full-grown ponies comfortably. There were several wooden training dummies lined up along the farther wall, in both equine and bipedal shapes, with bulls-eye targets around the head and torso. There were also several small, metal, bucket-like containers full of swords and spears, lined up in a row, spaced out in regular intervals, directly across from the training dummies, a few feet away from bulls-eye targets lined up at the intersecting wall.

However, instead of the usual sight that greeted him whenever he entered the training grounds: of new guard recruits learning the basics of fighting, proper sword work, armor maintenance, and royal duty; or experienced guards, training and brushing up on their skills to keep themselves in tip-top shape, Shining Armor instead saw the assembled group of nine young and nervous-looking foals and one baby dragon; fillies and colts alike, each one being shadowed by a Royal Guard escort.

At the moment that Shining Armor had entered the courtyard, one of the other foals called to be here, a pegasus colt with a grey coat and black mane, was being forcibly dragged to his place by his tail. It was clear from the colt’s actions and the grumpy expression on his face that he didn’t want to be here. He tried to dig into the ground with his forehooves as he was being dragged in the opposite direction by his guard escort, but there was simply no surface for the colt to grab on to, and he was no match for the guard’s brute strength. All it accomplished him was kicking up a small pile of dust alongside him as he was dragged along.

The guard dragging him was obviously annoyed at the colt’s reluctance to be here, even with the given circumstances, which were understandable at least, but orders were orders, and he certainly wasn’t going to disobey them, especially after being informed of the situation. The guard was a very large unicorn stallion, standing a foot taller than Shining Armor, and a foot shorter than Princess Celestia. He had a grey coat that was just the slightest bit darker than the pegasus colt that he was dragging along. He also had a professionally kept brown mane, and his golden guard armor cut off just above his cutie mark, showing a single, well-cut diamond.

Once he had dragged the colt up to the side of the assembled group of foals, he simply spat his tail out and stood on his other side, trapping the colt between one guard, and nine other guards of similar builds and their assigned foals, to keep him from just running off again, which, judging from the colt’s attitude, he figured he just might.

Picking his head up off the ground and looking around at all of the ponies gathered around him, foals and guards alike, on both sides, still with an annoyed look on his face, the grey pegasus colt silently gave in and huffed in annoyance. With his fate decided, he then simply picked himself up and stood alongside the rest of the gathered foals in an awkward silence.

Taking note of Rumble’s attitude and adding it to his growing list of concerns, Shining Armor then shifted his gaze across the rest of the assembled group of foals gathered, eyeing each of them carefully, noting their moods and attitude from their expressions, all of which seemed to be the same: worry, fear, and the intense pressure that had been placed on their shoulders. Sure, some of them hid it well, under stoic expressions that would make even the most experienced royal guards proud, but Shining Armor was an expert at noticing the true emotions that lay hidden just under the surface of those looks. And the worst part was, Shining Armor wasn’t even surprised. This was the natural reaction to the situation that these foals had been thrust into, yet they were handling it better than most full-grown ponies could have. He couldn’t help but feel just a little proud of them for that. If they could handle this kind of pressure, then maybe they could make it through all of this.

As he scanned across the group, his gaze eventually fell on his sister, Twilight, on the far side of the group, who was clinging to her dragon assistant tightly, reluctant to hand him over, with tears forming in her eyes. The sight in front of him almost brought the stallion to tears; however, being Captain of the Royal Guard, he was trained to keep a level head in these types of situations. So, simply shutting his eyes for a moment and breathing in deeply once again, to try to avoid losing his composure, Shining Armor took one last breath to calm himself before continuing.

That was the purpose of bringing the foals here today, after all. To put them through combat training, to ensure that they would be prepared for their fights in the future, and also to keep a level head and to remain calm and focused, with all of the pressure put on them.

In total, there were nine of the remaining fifteen contracted ponies in the courtyard right now, including Spike. Piña Colada was also here, insisting that she remain in the loop, despite not being contracted like the others.

There was still no sign of Dinky or Archer.

Deciding to start now anyway, and not wanting to delay this any longer, Shining Armor walked towards the centre of the courtyard in full view of the gathered ponies. Despite the tense air in the courtyard today, all of the assembled ponies noticed the Guard Captain approach, and they all stopped what they were doing and turned towards him. There wasn’t any sudden silence because the courtyard had already been completely silent since before anypony got here.

Raising his hoof up to clear his throat, Shining Armor started to speak. “Alright, now I’m sure you’re all probably wondering why you were called here today.” There wasn’t any response from anypony, or dragon, in the crowd, so Shining Armor just continued with his speech, uninterrupted. “First off, you’ll have all noticed that you all had a guard meet you here when you first showed up here today, and who have taken steps in staying near each of you personally.” He then threw a quick glance at Rumble. “Some more than others,” he added, in the exact same tone.

None of the foals said anything in response to this, though a few did take a moment to look at the guard next to them more closely.

“Due to the clear difficulty of getting all of you together in case of an emergency,” Shining Armor continued, “each of you will be getting a bodyguard to serve as an escort, who will watch over you at all times.”

This seemed to cause somewhat of an uproar amongst some of the gathered pilots, not liking the idea of being watched 24/7. However, before this could lead to a big commotion, Shining Armor simply waved his hoof at them in order to quiet them down and get their attention again. “Do not worry. I assure you, that this arrangement is simply to ensure your own safety and to make sure that we can rally everyone together quickly in case of an emergency.” He spoke very calmly and professionally, with an air of regalness, befitting of a Prince, though with a few meaningful glances, it was clear that there are other reasons as well. “I can also assure you that the guards will keep at a respectable distance, will not eavesdrop, and will not watch you while you are in the bathroom or while you are sleeping, or during any personal matters, and will generally be invisible unless there is trouble.”

This seemed to calm down most of the objecting foals, though some of them still wore expressions of disdain, like they were still unhappy with the arrangement, and none of them spoke up about it; some feeling a little awkward about it, and some just plain not in the mood.

Once that little caveat had been cleared up, Shining Armor started introducing each of the guards that would essentially be serving as their shadow for what would be the rest of their suddenly shortened lives.

Twist was relieved that Watchtower, the female guard from before had volunteered to be her guardian.

Tornado Bolt was also happy with who her assigned bodyguard would be. She stood close by the imposing bulk of her assigned guard, showing none of the discomfort that the others felt. Though stoic, he seemed closer to cracking a grin than any of the other guards, while the filly looked outright smug. It was only when his name was announced - Straw Bolt - that the others began to put together why Tornado was wearing the first real smile she’d shown in a long time.

Rumble shifted uncomfortably next to his enormous pony of a guardian, trailing only his eyes upward towards the large unicorn stallion towering over him, without turning his head towards him, to try and get a good look at his guardian, without making it look like he was looking at him. You could say that he was just glancing ‘casually’ at him. His guard, however, didn’t even glance at the pegasus beside him, and kept his gaze forward on his commanding officer at all times.

Piña Colada, not being contracted like the rest of them, wasn’t assigned a guardian, though she stayed near Berry Pinch like she was hers. She didn’t seem as fazed by this situation like the others were; maybe it was because she was more mature and handling things better, or maybe it was because she wasn’t directly a part of this. Whatever the reason, a part of her simply wasn’t worried, or at least, not visually.

The older, but shyer unicorn filly, however, wasn’t as brave. It was clear from her expression and her shivering that she was not taking the situation well. Turning her head to look up at her guardian, she wilted a bit under the large frame of the armored pegasus stallion beside her. Her aunt noticed this, however, and simply stepped in closer to her niece, to try and calm her nerves.

Spike had been assigned the new-ish enough, Knight Poppy Seed as his bodyguard. Shining Armor wished that he could have been the one assigned to protect Spike instead. While he was growing up alongside his sister, the baby dragon was almost like a little brother to him, and yet, he had never spent as much time with the baby dragon as he would have liked. He had always secretly wished that he got to spend more time with the young drake, though now, due to recent developments, it looked like that would never happen. At that thought, he briefly allowed himself to be selfish at wishing that things could be different, at least, alongside the many other reasons that he wished that things could be different.

After all of the foals had taken a moment to introduce themselves, or in some cases, just look at their assigned bodyguards, everypony faced forward again.

Shrugging off his thoughts, only shaking his head the tiniest bit, that only someone with incredible perception would notice, Shining Armor again continued with what he had to say.

“Anyway,” he said with a half sigh. “Now that introductions and basic run-through are over with, we can get to the real heart of the matter, and why this training is so important.” The collected foals, who were previously only barely listening, while thinking about everything else that was going on, now all piped up and gave the guard captain their full attention.

“The fact of the matter is, that because you’re all so young, you’re inexperienced when it comes to proper combat and military grade tactics, and with the consequences of what losing even a single battle entails, we cannot afford to have you continue fighting blindly. You will all need to be much better prepared in the future.”

The group of foals suddenly almost unanimously stirred at this, taking what was just said as an insult. Many of them were just about to respond verbally to this statement; however, without changing his expression, the Guard Captain simply raised his hoof up again, between him and the foals, to silence them again.

“Please try not to take what I am saying as an insult to your abilities,” Shining Armor continued. “You have all proven yourselves capable with how you have adapted to this situation, and how you have battled your enemies so far. We have been incredibly fortunate that you have survived this long against your opponents with the limited combat abilities that you possess. However,” he added, his expression changing ever so slightly. “The reason that Sweetie Belle struggled so much in her own fight is that she wasn’t psychologically ready for this level of combat. The fact is, that even with Equus granting her enormous power, her instincts kept telling her to flinch and run away instead of fighting, because her nerves kept getting the better of her.”

Apple Bloom was able to handle the first maybe-insult; however, she would not stand for any such words against her friend. Not able to keep herself back this time, she lifted up her right foreleg and brought it down in a hard stomp, intentionally drawing the attention of everypony in the area, to show just how mad she was.

“How dare you?!” she spoke angrily to Shining Armor. It wasn’t a particularly loud shout, but still held ground, nonetheless.

All of the other foals, guards, dragon, and Princess, in addition to the Guard Captain stared at Apple Bloom as she spoke up, with a fuming expression on her face. There were some parts of her face that were now as red as her mane.

“Ah won’t hear another bad word against my friend, ya hear?” She spoke again, in a lighter tone of voice this time, showing that her earlier anger had died down a little.

Everyone in the middle of the courtyard then turned back to look at Shining Armor, who still had a calm expression on his face, to hear his response to this. He then simply held his hoof out towards the group again, though mostly towards Apple Bloom this time. “I assure you, I didn’t mean any offense,” he spoke calmly. Apple Bloom calmed down a bit more again, though she still felt angry, and held her glare on him.

Lowering his hoof again, Shining Armor moved to continue. Letting out a small sigh, and giving a reassuring smile, Shining Armor continued. “Don’t get me wrong, though. She performed very well, beyond what anyone could have expected of her.” He then added a tiny laugh to try and relieve some tension in the group. “She would have had to, to succeed in destroying the enemy,” Shining Armor clarified.

Apple Bloom could again only hear him insulting her friend, and was about to retort again, but, seeing what she was about to do, Shining simply raised his hoof to stop her again. Knowing what that meant, and getting used to it, her words died on her lips and she stepped back into the group again. Her angry expression was now only a slight step up from the worried look that she had on when she first got here.

Shining Armor then stood up straighter, as he continued speaking. His little quirk didn’t really have the effect he was hoping for. Coughing once to himself, he continued. “My point is that no one knows how they’ll react in a fight until it happens.” He then quickly swept his gaze over every child in the group. “Especially children,” he added in a deeper tone.

The foals again thought about speaking up against his seemingly condescending attitude, but they all quickly suppressed the urge and just continued listening.

“Which is why,” Shining continued, “my hope for you today is to train, in order to get used to combat, so that the experience will seem more familiar, and help you to fight more effectively in the future.”

He then let out a worried sigh. This was the part he had been dreading. “We are all just as concerned about the current state of things, but until we find some way to free you from your contracts, you’re the only hope that our world has. So we need to make sure that you are all performing at the top of your potential.”

The foals all collectively flinched, as the full weight of the pressure that was on them was once again brought to the forefront of their minds.

This was the worst part that Shining Armor had to do now: Forcing small children into military grade training. It just felt wrong, essentially taking their childhoods away from them, and that wasn’t even considering the fact that they would die even if they won their battle. And the worst part was that this was the right thing to do. As inconsiderate as it sounded, there was much more on the line right now than the well-being of several foals.

Taking another moment to breathe again and steady his thoughts, Shining Armor spoke up. “Now then,” he started. “How many of you have ever been in a fight before?”

At this, after a bit of reluctance, several hooves were raised in the air. Most of them they didn’t find too surprising, like Snips, Snails, Rumble, Apple Bloom, and Piña Colada. Others they were actually pretty surprised by, like Silver Spoon and Berry Pinch. Piña Colada gave her niece a sharp look when she saw her put her hoof in the air.

From her spot beside Spike, Twilight was actually surprised that so many of the foals had put their hooves up. Looking back down towards Spike, who she still had one hoof around herself, she suddenly pulled him in close and nuzzled his cheek, warmly. She was glad that he hadn’t raised his hand.

Looking over all of the raised hooves in front of him, Shining Armor then gestured to them again to put them down. “Yes, well, these kinds of fights will be a bit different, and much more intense.” Putting his hoof to his chest and breathing through his nose in order to keep himself calm and maintain his cool disposition, which seemed to be getting progressively harder, he continued speaking. “Alright, we’re going to have you do some simple training exercises to start you off, so everyone partner up. This is just going to be a friendly sparring session at first, no winners, no losers. We’re all friends here. For now, just get used to the idea of facing off against somepony.”

At his words, the guards standing beside the foals all stepped away from them and walked off to the edge of the courtyard, to give them some space, but still observe them. One of the guards grabbed Twilight as she was moving and pulled her off of Spike while her guard was down and dragged her away as well.

With their next task given to them, and knowing what they had to do, the ten kids all looked between each other for a moment, trying to decide who to partner with. Snips and Snails were the first to pair up together, and then walked back towards their guards to start their training. Piña Colada wrapped her hoof around her niece’s shoulder quickly, not willing to let anyone else fight with her.

As more and more of them paired off, Silver Spoon just stood there, looking around, trying to find a partner. Seeing everyone else around her partnered up already, her lips contorted into a slight frown. If Diamond Tiara was still here, they would have been the first to partner up.

As she hung her head down, her eyes suddenly widened quickly as she felt herself being grabbed from behind as a pony bit down on her tail, hard. Said pony then reared their head back and opened their mouth again, sending the spectacled earth pony stumbling backwards.

Silver Spoon wobbled on all four legs as she was thrown backwards. She struggled to keep her balance, but ultimately failed to remain upright, falling on her rump.

Quickly shaking off her confusion, and shaking her head to regain her sight, which had blurred a little after her dizzy experience, she faced forward again to see who had grabbed her and thrown her backwards so harshly. While she was annoyed at this pony for the uncouth way they had treated her, and she was going to take great pride in telling them so in great detail afterwards, a small bit of her also felt relieved that she hadn’t been forgotten about.

Finally looking forward again, with a snarky expression on her face, this quickly bled away when she saw Tornado Bolt standing in front of her. She was smiling, yes, but it wasn't with the camaraderie that Shining Armour had spoken of. There was just a fiery eagerness, broken up by scratches and misaligned teeth. "You're dead," Tornado mouthed.

Before Silver Spoon could properly process exactly what was going on, the grey pegasus filly reared back on her hind legs and pounced on her.

The two fillies rolled on the ground, forward for about ten feet, and then Silver Spoon was sent flying a further five feet away from the force of Tornado Bolt’s attack. Still in a daze, and with a pounding headache, Silver Spoon slowly got back to her hooves, while wincing from getting back up too quickly. Despite her inherent earth pony strength, she was clearly not built for fighting.

Rubbing her head with her hoof to try and calm her still aching head, Silver Spoon turned back around to face Tornado Bolt, with her eyes closed and not looking at the pegasus filly directly, like she was talking down to her with her actions. “What’s the big deal, Tornado?” she said in a condescending tone, the likes of which only a smug child could pull off. “I wasn’t rea…”

However, the rest of what she was going to say was cut off, as Tornado Bolt quickly shot her hoof right into the smug filly’s face, shattering one of the lenses on her glasses.

Silver Spoon was knocked back by the force of the blow again and she fell back on her rump. “OW!” She screamed out, her eyes still closed from before. “That hurt!” Bringing her hoof up to her face to gently rub the pained area, the grey filly finally opened her eyes again, which now had tears starting to form in them, and looked over at Tornado Bolt standing in front of her, glaring at her.

As Silver Spoon took her hoof away from her face again, she looked down at it for a second, and her eyes widened when she saw blood. Now looking even more shocked, she brought her hoof back to her nose and checked again to discover that she did in fact have a bloody nose.

Shifting to an angry expression this time, she looked back at Tornado Bolt, trying to match the pegasus’ glare. “What the heck was that for?! Didn’t you hear the Captain?! This is supposed to be a friendly sparring session. Why are you being so rough?”

Tornado Bolt didn’t answer her, however. She just bore down again and pounced towards her.

Seeing Tornado Bolt coming towards her, Silver Spoon suddenly got a burst of adrenaline flowing through her body and backed up quickly. She placed her front hooves down on the ground right in front of her and pushed down hard, pushing her away just as the grey pegasus filly came down on where she would have been.

Seeing Tornado Bolt come down just inches from her face, Silver Spoon let out a gasp. She was scared. She knew that this was just a practice session, but Tornado Bolt was taking it way too far. But it was still just practice, and she was scared. “I can’t believe I’m scared for my life now, and I’m only facing a filly barely any bigger or tougher than me.” Silver Spoon thought to herself, letting out a sigh. “I’m going to be one who blows it, aren’t I?”

Quickly pulling herself out of her slump, not allowing herself to dwell on that thought for long, she quickly got back to her hooves, though not as quickly as she shook her head to get rid of those thoughts, then turned around and started running away as fast as she could in the opposite direction to this crazy pony. Her whipping her head around so quickly caused her already-damaged glasses to fall off her muzzle completely. She didn’t have the time to pick them up and put them back on before Tornado Bolt would be upon her again, so she just left them where they fell and kept running.

She was now almost completely blind, but she didn’t care. She just had to get away from that crazy filly.

As Tornado Bolt chased her around the courtyard like a madman, their antics started to attract the attention of the other groups. The other foals stopped with their own training and turned to see what they were doing. The Royal Guards had also been drawn out of their own conversations, and turned to see what was going on. A stern glance traveled its way around the outer wall, landing at the end; of the two guards who were supposed to be supervising the pair, one was holding the other back.

Some of them thought that Tornado Bolt was taking things too far. Straw Bolt, however, was not one of them. As the others watched the pegasus chase the earth pony around the courtyard, Straw Bolt just looked on with a proud smile on his face, seeing that his niece was just as strong and battle hardy as him. “She’s a natural,” he commented, not interrupting them, perfectly happy to just cheer his niece on.

Gift Wrap, Silver Spoon’s guardian, however, did not see things that way. “She’s taking this way too far,” she snapped at the Sub-Captain, struggling to get past his casually outstretched leg. “They’re just kids,” she added.

To this, Straw Bolt dropped his proud smile, and his gaze drifted to Gift Wrap, while keeping his face forward. “True, but they also hold the fate of Equestria in their hooves. They need to be viciously decisive in the days to come. We can’t have them being too scared to fight when the fate of the world is at stake,” he countered.

Gift Wrap glared back at her superior officer at this remark, regulations be damned. She knew her Sub-Captain well; she knew what methods he preferred - attack your enemy relentlessly until they’re too broken to move - but also that he was very intelligent, deserving of his rank, and fully capable of fully capable of being more than dumb muscle if he chose to be. He’d even made a good point. Even still, she wasn’t about to let anypony, even him, to encourage young ponies to be so brutal to each other during a practice match.

Before she could respond, however; Shining Armor walked in between the two of them and made his way over to the rampaging pegasus and earth pony. “Alright, time-out!” he called out to them, making a ‘T’ symbol with his front hooves.

Tornado Bolt, who by now had been able to pin Silver Spoon down and was lying on top of her, glaring down into her worried face, simply ignored the Guard Captain’s words. She then raised her hoof up above her head; however, before she could bring it back down on to the whimpering filly beneath her, she suddenly found herself engulfed in a purple, magical aura, and lifted up into the air.

Shining Armor, whose horn was lit up in the same colour aura, had a disappointed frown on his face. He then gently levitated the angry-looking filly over to the other foals, who had come back together, into another large group. Shining Armor dropped her into the middle of the group, where the other kids then kept her from immediately rushing back over to Silver Spoon.

Once that had been taken care of, the Captain of the Royal Guard then turned back and gestured for Straw Bolt to follow him off to the side for a talk.

Straw Bolt understood right away and simply nodded back to his superior officer in affirmation. The two of them then walked off to the side.

While the two guards were walking off to talk, and the foals were holding back Tornado Bolt, who by now, was starting to calm down a little, Piña Colada walked over towards Silver Spoon, who was picking herself up and snivelling quietly to herself. As the pink earth pony walked, she picked up the other filly’s glasses.

Silver Spoon sat on her rump, her legs still tired from all the running away she did, and the beating that she took from Tornado Bolt. “I really am pathetic,” she whispered to herself as she rubbed her shoulder.

“Yeah, you really are,” Piña Colada said snidely as she approached her.

Silver Spoon shifted only her eyes to look at her when she heard her approach, only sure of the direction because of what she could hear, but keeping her head facing forward. She sat there with a pout on her face, and was about to retort with a snide comment of her own, but she just couldn’t think of one at the moment, and turned away. “Who asked you?” she said with a sigh, looking away immediately again.

Piña Colada stopped just in front of the grey filly, staring down at her, letting out a sigh of her own. “Look,” she started, with exasperation in her voice. “You got beaten pretty badly. Well, really badly,” she corrected, in a snarky tone.

At this, Silver Spoon just looked away again and let out another sigh.

“But,” Piña Colada continued, “at least now that you know what you’re bad at, and you are really bad at it,” she added again. This caused Silver Spoon to look at her again, wondering if she was actually trying to help her, or just insult her. The irony of her actions was completely lost on her, however.

“But at least now that you know what it is that you’re bad at, you can work on improving it, to be ready when the time comes,” Piña Colada continued, ending with a smile and putting Spoon’s glasses back on her face, pushing them up her muzzle until they were properly in place.

Now that Silver Spoon could see properly again, she looked back at Piña Colada more closely, thinking about what she had just told her. Her snarky comments aside, it was actually pretty useful advice. She just hoped that she could properly apply it to become stronger. “Thanks,” she said in reply.

Piña Colada just gave her a little smirk and held her hoof out to the grey filly, to help her up. “No problem,” she responded. Smiling back at her, Silver Spoon took her outstretched hoof and got back to her hooves. When they then started walking back over to the others again, Piña Colada then stuck up her nose at her and said, “But seriously, you were really pathetic. Even with training, you better hope that you’re the last one to go.”

Silver Spoon simply narrowed her eyes, crinkled her nose, and grumbled at this.

When the two guards had reached a quiet corner, Shining Armor turned to face Straw Bolt, completely silent, with a stoic but piercing expression on his face. Straw Bolt had known Shining Armor for a long time, and had grown to know what all of his expressions and actions meant.

Raising his head up high, in a confident tone, but then immediately having to tilt his head back down again in order to look the Captain in the eye, Straw Bolt said, “May I ask what is the call for this little interruption, Captain?” he said, making sure to hide his condescending attitude from his superior officer.

Shining Armor kept a dignified look on his face as he responded. “I would simply like for you to remain professional during this training, and not act like one of the foals that we are training.”

At this, Straw Bolt raised his head up to his full height again, now looking down at his Captain. “Well, with all due respect, Sir. I believe that training these foals in military tactics is a complete waste of time.”

“I completely agree.” Shining Armor responded immediately.

“Well regardless of what you think, I….” Straw Bolt continued with his rant on autopilot. However, as soon as his mind had caught up with him and he realised what the Captain had just said, his eyes suddenly snapped open and he looked back at Shining Armor, confusedly. “Wait, what?”

“I agree that training these foals to fight is a waste. After all, we’ve already seen what a completely untrained and inexperienced pilot can do in a fight,” Shining Armor responded.

Straw Bolt’s mouth hung open for a split second, in confusion, before he started speaking again. “Well then, if you feel that way, then why are we wasting our time? We should be focusing our efforts on repairs and fortifications. Just leave these foals at their new home with one or two guards and let the rest of us get some actual work done,” the Sub-Captain reasoned.

After hearing Straw Bolt’s suggestion, Shining Armor raised an eyebrow. “Their new home?” he questioned.

Straw Bolt raised an eyebrow as well, but gave up when he could not lift it as far. “Yes, of course,” he said. “It’s not as if they can stay in Ponyville. That is why you brought them here, isn’t it?”

“No.” Shining Armour shook his head. “We’re only making use of these facilities until we’ve cleared an appropriate space in Ponyville. As soon as the day ends, these foals will be going right back to their families and caretakers.”

For a moment, Straw Bolt could only splutter incoherently. “You can not be serious,” he stated. “The first time a monster landed there, it cost a third of the town! These foals need to be sequestered, for their own safety and the safety of Equestria.”

Shining Armour didn’t back down. “Yes, that happened,” he admitted, “and we know better now, and that’s not the point. Bolt...” He put a hoof on the larger guard’s shoulder and gently turned him around. “Look at her.”

Silver Spoon sat curled up against the wall, staring at the ground. Gift Wrap shooed the other foals away and fussed over her, daubing her with bits of cotton. The grey filly seemed sunken into herself, looking even less certain of her abilities than she’d been when she walked in. “That is who we’re depending on to save this world,” Shining Armour said. “If we had five years to train her, or better yet, ten, then maybe we would have time for tough love. But we don’t have time. Any one of these foals could be called on to save this world as early as tomorrow, and no one can turn somepony into a soldier that quickly. The only thing we can do is give them hope.”

Saying it aloud didn’t make Shining Armour feel any better. The actual combat training may not have been the real purpose of this meeting, but he wasn’t going to tell the foals that, so it still felt wrong. “Like I said, the purpose of this training isn’t to give these foals combat experience. The fate of Equestria right now depends on these foals believing that they can win. Their state of mind is more important than their skills.”

Straw Bolt didn’t have a response to his Captain’s explanation. Seeing the white pegasus’ confusion, Shining Armor decided to elaborate. “From what we’ve seen, Equus responds at least partly to a pilot’s emotional state,” he explained. “It was friendship and confidence that turned the tide of the last battle more than tactics. Those are the things we need to cultivate. So when that little girl’s turn comes up to believe in herself and save Equestria...” He nodded gravely at Silver Spoon again. “Do you really want her to get into her chair after never seeing her family after today?”

After taking a moment to take that in, Straw Bolt moved to interject. However, before he could, the Captain and Sub-Captain were then interrupted when they heard the sounds of hoofsteps over by the entrance to the courtyard, where Shining Armor had entered from earlier.

Turning to see who it was, Shining Armor recognised the approaching pony as the guard that he had chosen to watch Archer. Looking down at her side, he then also spotted a particularly sullen Archer.

The Captain and Sub-Captain weren’t the only ones that had stopped what they were doing to look at them, however, as all of the foals in the area also looked at the blue earth pony, and their eyes all widened when they did. It was immediately clear to all of them just why the blue filly had hidden that day.

It was stamped right there on her flank: A set of straight, diagonal black lines.

Author's Note

Jeez. School's only been out for so long and I'm only now starting to have those waking-up-in-the-middle-of-the-night-"Oh-shit-that-really-important-thing!" moments. I've been sitting on this chapter for several months now, because apparently I suck at my hobby. Uh. Sorry.

95% of this chapter was written by Dawn Flower, with only minor tweaks from me. A huge thank you for not rendering me totally dead.

Battle 6: Fireball (with Braininthejar)

The next morning started with a small drizzle. It was a cool, gloomy morning and anypony who could afford to sleep in opted to stay in bed. However, the peace was not destined to last. Just before noon, a bright flash illuminated the sky over Ponyville.

The Rich manor, dominating the wealthier part of Ponyville, had stood abandoned since its owner moved out following his daughter’s death. Since then it had been commandeered as the temporary headquarters of the Ponyville Emergency Response.

Right now, the corridors were filled with the sound of running hooves. Shining Armour and Twilight Sparkle nearly collided as they ran in from opposite directions, both trying to get to their destinations while dodging the running adjutants.

“As we feared, it’s here again,” stated Shining, stopping to look at his sister’s face. There were hairs out of place in her mane and she looked as if she had missed a couple hours of sleep. “I wish it had appeared somewhere in the wastelands instead… I hope this doesn’t mean it follows the pilots...”

“Evacuation?” asked Twilight.

“Progressing,” responded Shining. “It’s fewer and fewer ponies each time. Many have abandoned their houses and moved to families in the country. The ones that stayed know the drill already. But there are some sick and wounded we need to move and some hospital patients shouldn’t be moved at all.”

As they talked, the two walked onto a small balcony that offered a good view of the situation. Both war machines were already half materialized, their shapes looming over opposite sides of the town. The enemy robot was a huge dome, ribbed and spiked like a giant, dark temple.

Twilight groaned in frustration. “If only Discord was here, we could get everypony out. We could… fold the houses and pack them away for the battle, or something.”

Shining sighed. “Still no sign of him?”

“Nothing,” responded Twilight. “I examined the last place he was seen. Red Cross found some strange energy readings. I mean strange even for him. And then nothing.”

“Figures he would abandon us. We free him from the stone, endure his craziness, and the one time he could finally be useful, he turns tail and runs,” said Shining, staring into the distance at the slowly appearing machines.

“You know,” answered Twilight. “We don’t know what happened to him. Perhaps he really did run away, and that’s a really bad sign. But it might be that it wasn’t his choice… and that’s much, much worse.”

recommended soundtrack

The cockpit slowly came to life, the chairs filling one by one as the pilots were pulled in from all over Ponyville. Cicada floated over the central chair, turning from one kid to another.

“Hmpf… where is she this time…” he murmured. “Give me a moment.”

The ponies looked at each other, then to the conspicuously empty cloud stool.

“How does she do it?” whispered Apple Bloom.

“Doesn’t matter,” grumbled Silver Spoon. “She can’t avoid her turn anyway.”

“Quite right,” said Cicada, bobbing slightly. “Aaaaaand… there she is.”

With a sound of ripping paper, Dinky appeared on her stool. She was dirty and unkept and her bags, noticeably less full, were still on her sides.

“So…” started Cicada. “We’re ready. You have the right to choose two spectators. Who will it be this time?”

Archer scrunched her face, thinking. “Shining Armor,” she said. Immediately, the white stallion appeared by her side, already clad in armor and fully prepared, as it had been the last time.

The filly hesitated. She was silent for a few seconds before finally saying the second name. “Miss Cheerilee.”

There was a murmur of surprise inside the cockpit. Then a fuchsia mare appeared on the other side of Archer. She screamed in surprise and flailed comically for a second before looking around in confusion. “Am… I where I think I am?”

“I’m afraid so, miss,” said Shining Armor.

The rest of the ponies gave Archer some odd looks. “Why… Miss Cheerilee?” asked Rumble eventually.

Archer shrugged. “Who else was I supposed to bring? You guys are all here already. And she’s our teacher.”

The mare processed the situation. “If I’m here, does that mean…”

“On the contrary,” answered Cicada. “It’s the most impenetrable place in the world right now. And if she loses the battle, the whole world will go anyway. There is nowhere you’d be safer.”

Cheerilee gave him a stare that could wilt flowers. “That’s not what I was about to say! How can you…”

“Enough,” said Cicada, and in an instant, the walls disappeared. Cheerilee was once again startled as the floor disappeared from under her hooves. “The enemy is ready,” finished the voice bug.

Everypony turned away from the pilot’s chair and towards the bird’s eye view of Ponyville. Equus had appeared on the outskirts of town, but the other robot was sitting dead in the center of it, covering a large space of nothing but rubble where Diamond Tiara had fought days before.

“So, this is our enemy?” asked Snips, turning towards the monster in the distance. His eyes widened. “If it starts rolling at us... the whole town will be flattened…”

Everypony stared at the alien robot with worried expressions, except for Cicada, who was unreadable, and Archer, who was calmly focused. “It won’t roll,” she said. “That’s not a shell.”

Her friends turned to look at her in surprise. In response, she shifted on her stool, pulling away a part of her cape, and pointed at the lines over her cutie mark. “See those ribs on the outside? It’ll fly.”

Now that she'd pointed it out, the details of the shape became obvious. There were soft gasps of understanding. Right then, the giant dome twitched and started unfolding.

“Wings,” whispered Tornado Bolt.

Everypony watched the robot come to life, except Cheerilee, who choose that moment to rush towards Dinky’s seat, trying to check if the little girl was ok.

With the membranous wings opened, the enemy robot resembled a dragon, although one with no legs, only a long neck ending in a fanged maw and an even longer, coiled tail it was sitting on. It opened its jaws and roared, a horrible low screech, like tearing metal, so loud it left the ponies in the town beneath diving for cover. Then the tail uncoiled rapidly, launching the mechanical monster into the air.

“Here it comes!” shouted Snips, shrinking as if he wanted to hide under his seat.

“It’s barely armored,” noticed Shining Armor. “Shoot its wings.”

“Not here,” responded Archer. Equus moved backwards, stepping into the fields surrounding the town. “It would drop on the town.”

The monster didn’t seem to have any qualms about that. The maw opened again and a bright ball of energy was launched at Equus. Those in the cockpit found themselves instinctively shifting their weight to move out of the way, all except for Archer, who didn’t even twitch, her face showing nothing but tense focus.

Equus sidestepped to the left, its hooves throwing up huge mounds of soft earth as it pushed against the ground. The projectile flew past it, striking the field behind it and exploding in bright flame.

“Huh?” said Piña Colada, looking at the effect of the shot. “It makes a bigger boom when we do it…”

“No, look!” yelled Twist, pointing.

Around the point of impact, there was an expanding ring of a shockwave, the crops in the field disintegrating into cinders under its touch. When it washed over Equus’ legs, its pasterns briefly turned red hot.

“It doesn’t blow things up, it burns them,” said Shining Armor, looking towards the monster, only to see its head pull back again. “Another one!” he shouted, but Archer was already on the move, shifting Equus’ aside to avoid the blast.

Beneath them, the farmland turned ablaze, the wave setting things on fire as it lost its initial, incinerating heat. Apple Bloom looked down and paled as a large farmhouse on a hill beside the field exploded into a conflagration.

“Wasn’t that…” said Snails hesitantly, pointing at the giant bonfire the house had turned into.

Apple Bloom looked around in panic, then at Archer. “That was the Carrots’ home! You can’t fight it here! Our orchard is on the next hill! My family is there!”

“Don’t distract me,” growled Archer, but she turned Equus slightly, now moving away from the treeline. Equus bowed its head and a beam of light erupted from its horn, towards the flying robot. It went above its shoulders and disappeared in the clouds.

Archer grunted as several pairs of eyes looked to her in surprise. As far as anyone knew, this was the first time she had missed anything in years. “This magic is weird," she grunted defensively. "Give me a second to get it.” She then turned entirely away from the mechanical dragon and took a deep breath. “Foal Form!” she shouted, raising one hoof.

The next fireball struck where Equus had stood a moment before, but only burned the empty leg armor standing there. The rest of the machine was moving forward, much faster after losing a large part of its weight. The ponies watched as it ran, a trail of fire spreading behind it as more and more energy blasts landed in its wake. Their dragonlike foe kept a steady distance behind them, coiling and flapping irregularly, looking more like a kite in a strong breeze than a living creature.

Shining Armor looked at the fire with worry. There were already pegasi swarming above it, trying to push together some clouds to quickly bring in water. “If it spreads to the Everfree, we won’t be able to put it out. Everything from Ponyville to Appleloosa will burn.”

“I’ll pull the enemy to the mountains,” said Archer, without turning her head. “Tiara fought there. Nothing’s left there anypony would care about.”

Shining Armor nodded. “Good idea. There are fewer trees there too. Could you send me back for a moment, so I can explain the situation to the rescue teams? They’ll need to relocate to cut the fire off prope…”

“There,” responded Cicada as the stallion disappeared.

Equus took a sharp turn to the right, another blast detonating right where it would have been standing if it had kept going straight. It charged another horn blast, but the shot went way below the target, merely grazing its tail and doing no actual harm.

“You need to aim higher,” said Snips.

Archer actually paused and turned to give the pudgy unicorn a dirty look. “I’ve never had a horn before, ok? I can’t get how far I’m supposed to lean to point it on target.”

“Isn’t your special talent supposed to be great aim?” scolded Piña Colada from her seat.

Cheerilee left Dinky’s side to stand next to the pilot. She looked around at her students. “Please don’t distract her. You’re doing fine, Archer.”

“I’m not,” responded the filly. “That thing just has bad aim too. It can spit fire all day, but if I don’t slip…” she paused to dodge another explosion. “It won’t burn me enough to slow me down for a killing blow.”

Equus turned around and stepped over the top on another hill, walking into a rocky canyon that extended into mountain slopes on both sides. Archer looked around and when she was satisfied that the rocks would leave her enough space not to slow her movement, she turned Equus around.

“Okay, show me what you’ve got,” she said with a smirk.

She shot another blast. And another. She missed both times. The enemy robot returned fire, its neck swinging back and forth as it launched two energy balls for each shot from Equus. Archer made her machine jump and dodge, dancing between the explosions, the rock beginning to glow like lava around it.

“We won’t beat it like this,” whispered Tornado Bolt.

Rumble shot her a dirty look. “Like you’d do better. I’ve never seen anypony make Equus dodge like that. If it weren’t Archer, we’d all be…”

“I can’t use this darned horn!” hissed Archer through clenched teeth. “I need something else to hit it with.”

“Archer, language!” said Cheerilee before catching herself. She looked around the battlefield. “Would a rock do?”

Archer looked aside towards a pile of rubble, where Tiara’s fight with Cricket had collapsed a mountain slope. She made Equus run in that direction and as it got close, kick into the pile, pulling out a boulder the size of a small house and balancing it on its foreleg.

“Let’s see how you like this,” she said as Equus reared up, a fiery blast exploding right in front of it. The robot swung its foreleg above the fiery haze, throwing the boulder forward. The eyes of the entire crew followed the piece of rock as it sailed through the air, through the sky, further than any of them had thought it could have been thrown, before colliding with the mechanical dragon’s face plate.

“Ha!” shouted Spike, rising from his seat. “Direct hit!” More cheers followed.

“You do know it did absolutely nothing?” said Cicada. Silence fell in the cockpit as all saw that he was correct; the falling cloud of rubble dissipated as the mechanical dragon blasted another ball through it, utterly unfazed.

“Rocks can’t hurt it,” said Berry Pinch silently. “Only the robot can…”

“Then what am I supposed to do?” asked Archer. She was about to say something more, but instead she looked up. “It’s flying away.”

And indeed, the enemy robot was moving away from the canyon, quickly gaining altitude until it disappeared into the clouds. Then another fireball fell down towards Equus.

Cheerilee looked up with worry. “It can still shoot at us from afar. You didn’t hurt it, but now it knows you could.”

“And now I can’t see it in those clouds,” said Archer. “It looks like a storm’s coming." Above them, the clouds were only getting thicker and darker. All around, the drizzling rain was turning into plumes of steam on patches of superheated stone, reducing visibility on the battlefield even further. "This is bad. Cicada, is Shining Armour done talking to the rescue teams? Perhaps there’s somepony up there who knows what’s going on with those clouds?”

The voice bug wobbled, which might have been a substitute for rolling its eyes. “So, I allow you spectators and you turn me into a liftboy? Some gratitude that is. Why don’t you do it yourself?”

The filly raised her eyes to look at Cicada. “I can do that?”

“Now you can,” answered the voice bug. “I’ve unlocked your privileges. You can teleport ponies in or out, including yourself. And you can even do it without sitting in your chair.”

"You're trusting us with that?" Archer said, raising an eyebrow.

"Sure, why not? Unlike those grown-ups, I can trust you not to misuse it." Cicada flew closer. "Just be sure that you've got a clear focus on the target and the destination at the same time. You'll get the hang of it quickly. Oh, and whatever you do, make sure that you keep their entire body within the bubble, okay? You’ll make a horrible mess if you bring only half of it in."

The room full of horrified stares spoke louder than any words. "Alright, fine," he groaned. "Teleportation privileges reactivated in safe mode. Happy now?"

"All right." Archer looked around. She was still dodging the dragon's fireballs every few seconds, but seemed to be doing this on autopilot, without really needing to look at what she was doing. “How do I find Shining Armor?”

Cicada turned in the direction of Ponyville. “The same way I locate you before the fights. Just get a mental image of him and think in that general direction. The robot’s systems will home in on his life force automatically.”

The dragon’s head poked out of the clouds above them, spitting down again. Archer responded by shooting with Equus’ horn. It once again missed, but the enemy went into hiding for a moment.

Archer used the short break to close her eyes and focus. “I see him,” she said. Then she looked at Cicada in surprise. “I see everypony. They’re like little stars. Could I always do that?”

“Yes,” answered Cicada.

“Why didn’t you tell us earlier?”

“It would distract you.”

“But I could have had some ponies right under my hooves and not seen them!” shouted the filly.

Cicada lowered himself towards her face. “Exactly. If you tip-toe, trying not to step on anypony, you’re an easy target. If you crush somepony and break down crying in the middle of the fight, you lose. And if you lose, they die, all of them. It was better that you didn’t see too much.”

“Well, thanks very much,” said Archer, glaring at the voice bug. She squinted and Shining Armor appeared next to her seat.

“What’s the situation?” asked Archer. Shining Armor looked around, his gaze slipping over the blazing hot landscape.

“The Canterlot Weather Team has been mobilized, and we’ve stopped the fire from spreading towards Ponyville. Emergency clouds have been pulled in from nearby regions, which should be enough to-"

"It backfired," Archer interrupted. "The enemy is using our own clouds as cover. That might have been its plan from the beginning." As if to demonstrate, another fireball came hurtling down from above, coming dangerously close to hitting Equus' flank. "We can't flight like this. We need to disperse those clouds, at least for long enough for us to bring that thing down."

Apple Bloom stomped. "If you take those clouds away, Ponyville's gonna burn!"

"Do you have any better ideas?" Archer snapped.

Shining Armour coughed. "That's not happening. Because of the heat, these clouds have become too dangerous to handle. There's nothing we can do but wait for it to burn out."

"Rrg..." Archer looked up, biting her lip. The sky was now completely black and bolts of lightning could be seen snaking through it. "Fine. I can work with this. For now... I think I have an idea."

“Look out!” shouted Spike, breaking her train of thought. The next fireball missed Equus wildly, so far away that Archer didn’t even bother to dodge it, embedding itself in the mountain slope. When it exploded, the slope burst with streams of lava, the suddenly liquified stone giving way to tons of rock above it. With a low rumble, the whole side of the mountain slid down towards the spot where Equus was standing.

“That was on purpose,” said Shining Armor, as Archer did her best to evade the rockslide. “It’s trying to trip us.”

“It worked, too,” said Archer through clenched teeth. Equus jumped up before the rolling mass could knock the legs from underneath it, but for a moment, it had no stable ground to land on. It swayed as the legs repositioned, trying to maintain balance on uneven terrain.

That’s when another shot came. This one was aimed straight at Equus. The machine couldn’t fight to keep balance and move away at the same time. Everypony instinctively braced for impact, with Cheerilee, who had never been in a robot fight before, dropping behind the pilot’s chair.

“Disengage!” shouted Archer, just as the fireball collided with Equus’ chest. The robot stepped back, the heavy chest plate dropping off and falling to the ground even as the explosion turned it from black to red, to white, to a shapeless mass that hit the ground in a shower of sparks.

Cicada looked down on the prone teacher. “I told you, this is unnecessary.”

“That was close,” said Shining Armor, as Equus regained its balance at last. “If it hits us again…”

“We can still afford to lose the head,” Archer cut him off. “And I’m lighter now. I’ll be faster. Perfect for what I have in mind.” She then took a deep breath and smiled. Equus turned to the right, extending one foreleg. A giant armored hoof flew towards it, fitting itself on like a long glove.

All gasped. "Is that our hoof?" Snips exclaimed.

"It worked!" Archer finally let her composure break, grinning and almost dancing on her stool. This vanished instantly as another fireball came and she was forced to do a three-legged hop backwards to avoid it. "I felt them while I was reaching out to Shining Armour. It looks like they're still part of my body even when they're detached, and I can sort of control them as long as I concentrate. Now these should pack more of a punch."

“You're going to throw your own hooves? Can you even balance like this?” asked Shining incredulously.

Archer did not respond, staring at the clouds above. As soon as the dragon’s head poked through the clouds, Equus reared and then turned, swinging its leg as it fell forward, the heavy metal hoof flying off into the sky. It pierced the storm cloud and then fell back out, causing a small landslide as it landed.

Archer sent her machine leaping forward, the enemy fireball exploding behind it. It dodged another one, then turned around, catching her second front hoof as it flew towards across the battlefield and reattached. This time, the whole group was staring upward, waiting for the enemy to appear. Lightning struck, illuminating the battlefield. The Sun was high in the sky, but you couldn’t tell from looking into the canyon; the sky above was filled with black clouds, the air full of black smoke from the sparse trees burning around the mountain tops and the steam from the rain now falling onto the red hot rock below. Shining Armor pointed at the sky and Archer had Equus swing again, sending another hoof flying towards her airborne foe. Once again, the throw missed and once more, Equus was forced to dodge the fiery bombardment.

“Come on!” whispered Spike, clenching his fists. “Just one good hit.”

“I’m not missing,” said Archer. “I’m too slow. It’s not there when I reach it and I can’t see it sooner. I need to see it before it attacks.” She chewed her lip. "Maybe magic could blast those clouds away..."

Piña Colada groaned dramatically. "That wouldn't work anyway, dummy," she explained. "If you can see it better, then it can see you better. Can't you just, like, magic your eyes up to where it is? It's not like they're attached to your head."

"You think I didn't think of that?" Archer snapped, starting to lose her tempter. In a disconcerting blur, the circle of chairs soared skyward, piercing through the clouds. The view from here was entirely opposed to the chaotic battlefield below; the mechanical dragon lazily circled over an unbroken platform of fluffy clouds, the Sun glinting majestically on its grey scales. "Now I can't see where it is relative to me, and I can't see myself to be able to dodge. It's not enough to know where it is, I have to be able to look straight at it. That's how aiming works."

The dragon's head dipped through the clouds, so Archer pulled her field of view back down to be able to move herself aside. She winced as the fireball blew up another hill and edged closer to the treeline, trying to find another spot where the ground wasn't melting. Piña Colada huffed. "So you can pinpoint Shining Armour from all the way in Ponyville, but you can't lock on to a freaking huge robot?"

"No, because the robot doesn't have any life force!"

Hesitantly, Rumble raised his hoof. "But what if..." he said carefully. "What if it did have a life force?"

All eyes turned to him. "What are you suggesting?" Archer said.

Rumble gestured to Shining Armour. "The weather team is still on standby, right? They could fly up to the dragon and hold onto it. Then we'd always know where it is."

Shining armor looked pensively at the sky. Another fireball was falling from it, but all Equus could do was get out of the way; it didn’t yet have a hoof ready to throw. “You can sense them up there?” he asked. “They’re fast fliers. If they can keep up with this thing, they could outline it for us. But…”

“They'll get crushed, won’t they?” asked Tornado Bolt, growing slightly pale.

Cheerilee stared at Rumble, then Shining, then Tornado Bolt, and finally Archer. It was obvious she was about to say something, but couldn’t quite find the words. Her face expressed mostly shock at seeing what her students were going through.

“They’ll all die anyway if we can’t beat it,” said Piña Colada.

“We only need one good hit,” said Apple Bloom, glaring at her. “We just need to keep throwing till we get lucky.”

“It will get lucky first,” said Snails with a sigh. “It fires more shots than we do.”

“You can’t just…” started Dinky, but Shining Armor silenced her by stomping his hoof.

“Enough,” he said. “This is our best shot at saving Equestria and those pegasi are already risking their lives fighting for it. Send me to the headquarters. I’ll ask for volunteers.”

Archer looked at him and he disappeared, gone with a sound of tearing paper. Cicada looked at her from above. “Now this is unorthodox. Let’s see if it works… if you can keep dodging 'til then.”

Archer didn’t answer. Closing her eyes, she tuned out the cockpit. It was no time for doubts. No time for deliberation. Just the giant enemy war machine hiding high among the clouds and the constant rain of fire. Left, forward, grab a hoof, wait, throw, dodge.

The enemy tried to hit her with another rockslide, but without her armor, she could get away from it without breaking pace. Then it shot at one of the discarded hooves, melting it to slag. There were shouts in the cockpit, but Archer let them fade into the background. She wasn’t one of the kids now; she was Equus, and the battle was all that mattered. The enemy melted another hoof, but once she was left with just two, she could keep them safe, launching one and pulling the other to herself, moving it before it could get shot.

There!

Her enhanced senses found something alive high in the sky, a small group of pegasi flying towards the storm clouds above. There were others there already, struggling against the storm winds, while trying to move the giant mass of water. As she was forced to dodge another fireball, she saw the two groups gather together inside the storm. She heard some questions around her and realized that Cicada must have done something again, or perhaps she had done it herself, without realizing; the lives she could see were now visible to everypony in the cockpit, a cluster of shining points resembling twinkling stars.

Maybe these were professionals, the Canterlot Weather Team Shining Armour had mentioned. Maybe they were just volunteers, ponies she passed on the street every day. Maybe they were Wonderbolts. If she looked just a little bit closer, she would be able to see.

She did not look any closer.

It took them another minute to start moving and spread out, many of them flying away. About a dozen were left, flying away further and further. Without warning, three of the lights went out. The remaining nine changed their flight patterns rapidly; they weren’t just fighting against the wind now, but trying to move around an obstacle. Archer summoned a hoof to her right front leg and held her breath.

There wasn’t much she could see; four lights far on both sides, the rest forming a suggestion of chest and shoulders, with one light some distance in front of the others, hinting at the position of the head. The points moved fast, the sides getting closer to the middle and the head shifting slightly back…

Got you!

There was a brief moment, halfway through the swing, when she remembered the blinking points of light were ponies. She pushed the thought away, all her focus on one light at the front, where a living creature’s sternum would be. Just a target she had to hit, a weak spot. The hoof left her front leg and flew, Equus’ body falling sideways with the force of its own throw before rolling over to get up.

The clouds opened as the dragon poked its head through them, a blazing ball of energy ready in its maw. It had enough time to see the flying mass of metal, but not enough to move away. It spat straight at it, but the fiery blast didn’t have enough force to stop it. All it achieved was turning the hoof white hot as it struck through the dragon’s chest, breaking through the thin black armor, into the mass of cables underneath, the heat only increasing the damage as everything fused together in a shower of molten metal. The monster leaned backwards, letting out another earth-shaking screech as its innards collapsed. It flared out its wings and tail, scattering the boiling clouds in a final, majestic inferno. Then it went still and fell like a stone.

Archer looked at the damage she had done. The dragon was falling, the torso too broken to move the titanic wings. Around it, seven points of light remained, flying off in all directions, some in a controlled manner, others clearly thrown with great force. One point of light, which had until now been sitting on the dragon’s head, now flew down with astounding speed, turning just above the raging inferno below to catch a falling comrade.

As the enemy machine hit the ground with a mighty crash, the lights of its faceplate fading before the whole thing started to disintegrate, there was a feeling of something switching off and suddenly Archer was once again just a pony, the images of the battlefield fading into the walls of the cockpit. Around her, she saw the faces of the other pilots, their expressions a blurred mix of sadness, relief and pride.

Tornado Bolt stood first, already walking forward, her eyes filled with pride and awe. "You did it," she said.

"No." Archer clutched at her pounding chest, waving the others off as they tried to draw near. "Stay back. Don't come near me."

Tornado Bolt planted her hooves squarely. "Archer-"

"No! Listen to me. You have to understand. This isn't my choice." Her breath was becoming harsh. "I'm not sacrificing my life for you like those guys out there. My life is being taken. That's what I want you to remember. Maybe some of you can find it in you to make that choice, but I can't, and I won't. I won't let that thing turn me into something I'm not. I'm not going out a hero. I'm going out as me."

Cicada drifted closer. "Kid, you're already a hero, whether you accept it or-"

"Shut up!" Archer snapped. "None of that means anything when it comes from you. You think I haven't noticed you're only nice to us when we're about to die?" She glared fiercely. "Just go away and let me burn out in peace."

With barely a pause, Cicada blipped away. Archer steadied herself against her stool. The others had risen as well to surround her, but were at least keeping their distance. She stared hard at a spot on the floor right in front of Tornado Bolt's hoof. "This is all wrong," she muttered. "All of it. I don't want to die. And I don't want to die for nothing. But I think we all know by now that we're not just fighting against someone who wants to play a game. But... but I don't want to be the one to say it."

Her breath grew shallower. She could feel her heartbeat slowing. Anything that might have been able to create a feeling of dread had already faded. "Just..." She breathed in one last time.

"Just count the number of lights."

Silence fell in the cockpit, interrupted only by Miss Cheerilee choking back a sob. She was shaking, staring in utter terror as one of her students grew still before her eyes. The others just looked on as the body swayed slightly and faded out, the empty cape sliding off the chair and onto the floor.

Then, without warning, the floor lit up and the seats started spinning. Cheerilee looked around in confusion before noticing the pilots’ reaction, gasps, and screams of fear, then horrible silence, the tension in the small chamber too thick to put into words. When the seats finally stopped, all eyes met in one spot...

...on a small metal stool, disguised as a cloud.

Slowly, one after another, everypony turned to look at Dinky. The filly just sighed sadly and closed her eyes, disappearing a split second before her teacher could catch her in a hug.

Author's Note

Most of this chapter was written by Braininthejar, with only minor tweaks from me.

Battle 1: Arachnid

Space, while striking in its vastness, is not as interesting as the philosophers would have us believe. As anyone who’s spent a weekend there can tell you, its namesake quickly becomes its biggest drawback; space is all there is. It is a void, a complete emptiness, even the captivating stars spread so wide that they’re hardly worth pursuing.

But one planet, a lone something in a vast nothing, changed this subtle balance. A glittering sphere orbited by a sisterly sun and moon, it shone not only with light, but with magic. Life, energy, thoughts, feelings; for those with eyes to see them, they burned brighter than the coldest star. The planet’s very presence sent ripples across space and time, straining reality like a branch burdened by a swollen fruit. The ponies who walked its surface lived in peaceful ignorance of the signal they were sending out by simply living, forging an admirable existence for themselves governed by harmony and understanding. And for as many years as they were capable of counting, they lay undisturbed.

Then, in a place where no living thing had any right to be, there was a noise.

A mare sat on her own in the middle of a large, dome-shaped room. In front of her lay a selection of black figurines, each uniquely shaped and posed. One of these she held in her hooves, a model of a black unicorn. A knife glowing with silvery magic ran along the length of its horn with a high-pitched scraping sound, each pass shaving off tiny particles of black metal, filing the tip to a needle-sharp point.

As the unicorn worked, the room around her began to light up. Despite there being no clear light source, everything was illuminated as the chamber seemed to glow from within, casting no shadows. She paused and looked up. Surrounding her were fifteen empty chairs, arranged in a perfect circle. Most were identical, expensive-looking office chairs with green backs. Scattered randomly throughout, however, were a few oddities. There were cheap folding chairs, a large and luxurious recliner, and even a solitary wisp of cloud. She looked around at each of these in turn, sighed, and then returned to her work.

“Don’t you think you’ve delayed long enough?”

The mare stopped again. The voice, calm and authoritative, had come from directly above her. “I still have time,” she said, not looking up. “There’s no hurry.”

There was the faintest noise from above, like the movement of air. “You know the consequences of waiting. Do you want all of this to have been in vain?”

“I know. But these things can’t be rushed.” With a final scrape along the dark horn, she put the unicorn down with the other models. “There. Perfect.” She closed her eyes. “All right. Let’s go.”

Around her, moving frictionlessly over the floor, the circle of chairs began to turn.

Most years, Seaddle was an attractive destination for the summer holidays. This was not one of those years. An unfortunately-timed weather schedule had resulted in a succession of hot, dry mornings and rainy afternoons, leaving vacationing tourists huffing impatiently indoors. The normally thriving beaches were empty, the brochure-worthy sands turned to a dark and grimy mess.

However, not everypony was upset about the less favorable conditions. On the northern edge of town was a high cliff with a lighthouse overlooking the ocean. As the sun started to set, the edge would normally be packed with tourists scrambling over each other for a better view. Thanks to the overcast sky, however, the path was completely clear as three fillies galloped up the slope. Together they ran to the cliff's edge and raised themselves up to put their front hooves over the fence, staring out over the seemingly endless ocean. The faint glow of the sunset lit up the waters with a red glow. The pegasus spoke first. "This is so cool."

Her companions nodded. "Mah sister is gonna be so jealous," said Apple Bloom. "She's never seen the ocean. Always said it was too far to walk for a load of old water that you can see anywhere. She never said how pretty it was."

"Pretty? More like awesome!" Scootaloo said. "Do you think Cheerilee will let us go swimming tomorrow?"

"Isn't that a little dangerous?" Sweetie Belle asked. The little unicorn peered over the edge at the waters below. "My sister says giant monsters live in deep water."

“Nah.” Scootaloo shook her head. “That’s just our lake, for some reason.”

Apple Bloom looked towards the distant beach. "Can you get a cutie mark for swimming?"

"Of course you can! Sea Swirl has one," Scootaloo said. Simultaneously, the three glanced back with determination at their own blank flanks. "Maybe we can do that too. It might be easier in a place with a proper beach."

"And fewer squid," Sweetie Belle added with a small shudder.

"Sure worth a try," Apple Bloom agreed. Smiling widely, each of the trio lifted a hoof into the air and took a deep breath.

"Cutie Mark Crusaders swimming champions! Yay!"

"Girls!" a friendly adult voice called from behind them. "Not so close to the edge, please!"

Instantly, three pairs of hooves hit the ground. "Sorry, Cheerilee," the trio echoed. With a final glance at the sunset, they turned and trotted back towards the group.

From the picnic area below the lighthouse nearby, Cheerilee watched the Cutie Mark Crusaders with a smile. A large group of colts and fillies filled the tables around her, as well as one young dragon who was unsuccessfully trying to keep order. The sight of their play never failed to warm her heart. "Now now, settle down, everypony," she said. Some of the chatter stopped, while others continued to murmur to each other. "Did you all have a nice dinner?" There was a brief confirmation of this. “It's been a long day, and normally this would be the time to head back to the hotel and settle in for the night.”

A loud groan rose up from the group. “I know, I know,” Cheerilee said. “And I’m sorry that our class trip hasn’t gone exactly as planned so far. If the weather’s better tomorrow, we’ll spend less time at the art gallery and see if we can visit the beach.”

“Like there’s any chance of that,” a filly said quietly. Cheerilee tactfully ignored her.

“However,” the teacher continued, “to make up for today, I've decided to let you all stay up a little longer.” The teacher paused for a second to bask in the looks of surprise and delight from her students. "Over dinner, I received word from the mayor that a carnival has arrived in town unexpectedly. As long as you promise to behave, we can spend an hour or two there before stopping for the night." She clapped her hooves as the little ponies began to stand up in excitement. “Places, everypony! The sooner we’re cleaned up, the sooner we can leave!”

It took a few minutes to get packed up. While some ponies helped to gather up the paper plates and leftovers from their meal, one pegasus who sat a little distance from the others continued writing on a leaf of paper. He threw occasional glances towards the others, trying to judge how long he could keep writing before he had to pack up. An especially small unicorn approached him shyly. "Hi, Rumble," she said in a voice barely above a whisper. "What are you writing?"

Rumble gave her a guarded look before setting down his quill. "It's a letter to my brother," he explained. He paused a second before looking down. "I miss him."

Dinky Doo smiled. "I know how you feel," she said, sitting down beside him. "I miss my mom."

"Shut up, losers!" a voice broke in. The pair looked up to see a pair of well-dressed fillies dramatically rolling their eyes. "Like, who gets homesick on a two-day vacation?" Diamond Tiara continued. "Seriously, I thought you were from another class, not from kindergarten."

Beside her, Silver Spoon giggled. "Yeah, totally."

"Hey, leave them alone!" Archer pushed her way in front of them. "Why don't you stop laughing and help clean up?"

The two bullies rolled their eyes again. "Yeah, whatever, Scootablue." Diamond Tiara scoffed. They turned away haughtily and sauntered off, giggling to themselves.

Behind them, Archer turned bright red. "We're not even related," she protested, but the other fillies had already stopped listening. Sighing, she turned and glowered in the direction of her doppelganger. Scootaloo was chatting with the other Crusaders while sorting garbage into bags. "I've got a cutie mark and everything," Archer grumbled, rubbing the bow and arrow symbol that was her namesake. She'd always felt it was an unfair comparison; mane and facial features aside, the two fillies were completely different colours and even types of pony. But the name had stuck, and more than once even well-meaning adults had addressed her by what they wrongly assumed was a friendly nickname. "I bet nopony else has to deal with this," she said to her own friends, who were stacking plates.

The other two ponies looked at each other and shrugged. "I heard Sun Glimmer sometimes gets mistaken for Sweetie Belle," Tornado Bolt said. Her tiny wings twitched periodically as she spoke, her tornado cutie mark hinting at a need for flight.

"That's not the same thing," Archer complained. "She didn't get a nickname out of it. It's not fair, you know. Sometimes I think all the ponies in our town look the same." She sighed and resumed helping with the cleanup. "What do you think, guys? Do you ever notice that?" Tornado Bolt simply shrugged again, while Peachy Pie stared into the distance. "Peachy? Hey, Peachy, are you listening to me?"

"Huh?" Peachy Pie blinked. "Oh, sorry." She shook her amber mane and resumed working. "I was just thinking about my sister. She'd know what you were talking about."

“How come your parents didn’t send both of you?” Tornado Bolt asked. A hint of envy crept into her voice. “It’s not like your parents can’t afford it.”

“It’s... complicated.” Peachy Pie shook her head. “I don’t wanna talk about it.”

Several minutes later, the cleanup was almost complete. Cheerilee helped place the last bag onto the cart they’d used to carry their supplies and prepared to hitch herself to it, taking a final look around to make sure nothing had been left behind and no foals had wandered off. “Do we have everything, Spike?” she asked, raising the cart’s handles to her sides.

“Yep!” the little dragon confirmed, holding up a large checklist proudly. Years working with Twilight Sparkle had given him enormous proficiency with checklists, something few ponies other than Cheerilee seemed to appreciate. The mare nodded gratefully and hitched herself up, starting down the path to the town below. The foals around her took this as their cue to follow. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon hopped onto the back of the cart and sat smugly, which their teacher noticed but didn't comment on. Spike rolled his eyes and looked to make sure nopony was being left behind. "Hey, cut that out!" he yelled at a pair of unicorns who were still lounging on the slope. The colts, Snips and Snails, were attempting to juggle some leftover grapes with magic, with limited success. At the dragon's shout they dropped their bounty and scurried to join the group, the smaller of the two sticking his tongue out at the reptile as they passed.

Aside from its hotels and occasional tourist traps, Seaddle was a small town, almost aggressively so. The majority of its residents were retirees and their children, living off the rush of business during the summer season and relaxing for the rest of the year. Their houses were small, but comfortable, and even the newer buildings had an air of old age and contentment about them. Nothing moved in Seaddle, nothing was built or grown, and nothing happened that hadn't already occurred a thousand times before. But in the short amount of time since Ponyville's visiting class trip had left for the cliffs, the main street of Seaddle had been transformed. Brightly coloured tents and stalls had sprung up seemingly from nowhere, obscuring the ancient and musty houses that surrounded them. Lights shone and music played, and for once the old town's residents were spurred into action, curiously wandering the streets.

Cheerilee's students started to walk more quickly as they approached the town, hastening towards the spectacle. The two fillies on the cart jumped down and ran ahead, not wanting to be left behind. Cheerilee laughed playfully at their excitement. "Stay close, everypony!" she called, though for the most part her words fell on deaf ears. "Keep an eye on them, Spike," she whispered to her reptilian companion. "Make sure they don't get into any trouble."

Spike saluted. "Yes, ma'am!" he said automatically, then hesitated as he realized the magnitude of what he'd been asked to do. The teacher giggled and made her own way into the carnival.

Unsurprisingly, the colts and fillies showed little restraint as they zipped from stall to stall, counting out allowances between them. There was a stall that sold exotic seashells carved into animals; a well-covered tent where an eight-legged mare was said to dwell; a ring-tossing game where even a careful youngster could lose a month's allowance without so much as a sticker set to show for it. Dominating it all was a ferris wheel lit up in every colour of the rainbow, towering as high as the lighthouse on the distant hill.

"Mith Cheerilee! Mith Cheerilee!" A pale filly with glasses and an enormously frizzy red mane charged back through the crowd, screeching to a halt at the side of her teacher. She prodded her teacher’s leg and beamed upwards. "There'th a mare at the other end who needth lotth of ponieth for a game," she lisped. "Can we try it? Can we?"

"Only if you can afford it, Twist.” Cheerilee tore her gaze away from a pottery stall and looked down, smiling. “Is it far? Do you need me to come with you?”

“I’ll go,” Spike volunteered quickly. Although Cheerilee was carrying on as normal, Spike could tell from her slowing gait that having to watch over nearly twice her normal number of students for an entire day was starting to take its toll. Much like another mare he knew, he suspected that the teacher wasn’t entirely willing to admit when she was overworked. “I’m responsible. You should go and enjoy the carnival too.”

Cheerilee hesitated for only a second before nodding. “All right, Spike. Have fun, you two!” With a cheery wave, the teacher unhitched herself from her cart and trotted over to a nearby stall.

The other foals weren't hard to find. The Cutie Mark Crusaders darted from stall to stall, unable to stay in one place for more than a few seconds. With Spike’s help, it was easy to round them up. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were standing in the long line for the ferris wheel, but gave up when they heard a new place was more readily available. Snips and Snails were discovered nearby, deep in conversation with a pair of bright pink fillies. “Wait, wait,” Snips was saying as Twist ran up behind him. “I don’t get it. How can you be her aunt if you’re the same age? I thought aunts were supposed to be older.”

“My aunt’s really old,” Snails added, but as usual everypony ignored him.

Piña Colada rolled her eyes. “It’s really simple,” she sighed, her tone suggesting she’d explained this many times before. She stood protectively over her niece, able to hold herself slightly taller than her despite lacking a horn. “I’m Berry Punch’s sister. Berry Pinch is her daughter. My parents happened to have another kid at the same time as their daughter, so Pinchy and I were born around the same time. That’s all there is to it.”

Berry Pinch smiled shyly. “I’m actually a week older,” she admitted. “But it doesn’t feel like it. It’s like having a big sister. Sometimes, it’s like having two mommies.”

“Pinchy, I told you never to call me that.”

“Sorry, aunt Piña.”

“You guyth,” Twist broke in, finally attracting the group’s attention. She smiled as they turned towards her. “You wanna play a game?”

The rest of the group had gathered at the ring toss booth, where an exasperated carny was rapidly running out of prizes. "Here you go, kid," the vendor grunted, levitating a stuffed squirrel over to the filly opposite him. Archer accepted the prize and passed it to Dinky Doo, who held it tightly with muffled squeals of joy and gratitude. "You've got one shot left, little filly," the stall owner sighed. "Make it count. I'm sure you will."

"Thank you, sir." Archer turned to the classmates that surrounded her, several of whom were carrying toys of varying sizes. "How about you, Bolt? Do you want anything?"

"Um..." Tornado Bolt blushed and quickly scanned the rows of prizes. Most of them were stuffed animals or plastic toys, nothing that seemed appropriate. "I don't know." Suddenly, the pale pegasus' eyes landed on a tiny tower figurine near the bottom of the shelf. "That one," she said, pointing. "The little tower."

"That's all? Okay." Shrugging, Archer picked up her last ring between her teeth and carefully eyed the game in front of her. A table of bottles and spires had been laid out on the other side of the counter, each worth a different number of points. To a discerning eye the game was obviously rigged, and made no illusions about it; many of the bottles were too wide to successfully land a ring on with any degree of accuracy, while others were too short to score a hit without the ring bouncing right off. The rings themselves were weighted and unbalanced, difficult to hold in either the hooves or the mouth. One-point prize, Archer thought, testing the weight of the plastic between her teeth. She eyed a tall, thin bottle near the edge of the stack. Got it.

“Guyth! Guyth!”

The sound of a now-large group approaching broke Archer’s concentration. Her head turned slightly to the side mid-throw, causing her to stumble. The ring flew out of her mouth and bounced off of another bottle far from her target, landing somewhere within the stall’s dark interior. “Aw, I’m sorry, little lady,” the stall owner said, visibly relieved. “Maybe next time.”

Archer sighed. “Sorry, Bolt.” Tornado Bolt simply shrugged and looked away. The blue earth pony looked to the new arrivals. “You guys want prizes? If you have any more bits I can win them for you.”

“I’ve still got lots of bits, actually,” said Peachy Pie, checking her tiny coin purse.

“Thith ith better,” Twist insisted. “It’th free!”

“Free?” Peachy snapped her purse shut. “Lead the way.”

The fifteen foals and one dragon stuck close together as they made their way back through the carnival. Every so often one of the ones at the edges would look longingly towards a gleaming attraction as they passed, but with the encouragement of their friends they let Twist lead them resolutely on towards the edge of the carnival.

The tent, when they finally arrived, appeared to be nothing special. It was set a little ways apart from the others and had no sign over its entrance. The material was the same red and gold as the rest of the carnival, but seemed brighter and newer than the other tents. Spike nudged Twist as the filly came to a halt in front of it. "Are you sure this is the place?" he asked. "Doesn't look like any kind of game to me."

"I'm thure," Twist said back, though she didn't sound quite as certain as she'd been on the way over. "There wath a lady right here a minute ago..." Nervously, the filly poked her head inside the tent, then walked in. In twos and threes, the others followed her.

The interior of the tent was mostly bare. One candle barely illuminated the portable building's interior, casting long shadows that made it look larger on the inside. In the center was a wide, round table covered in a highly detailed map of Equestria. Black, hoof-sized models of animals were scattered across the surface; there were ponies, bears, snakes, spiders, and a few the assembled foals didn't recognize. Beside the table was a strange shape made from a dark metal that resembled an elaborate music stand.

"Mith?" Twist called nervously, though the tent was clearly empty. The rest of her classmates crowded around the table curiously. "I brought my friendth like you athked."

Diamond Tiara turned up her nose. "And what are these supposed to be?" she asked condescendingly. "Did you drag us all the way out here just to play with some stupid dolls?"

"Action figures!" Snips argued automatically. "They look cool to me."

Apple Bloom cautiously picked up the figure nearest to her and peered at it. "What's this supposed to be? Is it a bear or a wolf?"

"This spider's got six legs," Archer noted.

"Tweet! Tweet!" Dinky Doo happily waved a bird-shaped figure through the air. "I'm an eagle! Tweet tweet!"

"Please don't touch those."

Everypony jumped as an adult voice spoke from the front of the tent. A dark green unicorn in a brown vest smiled politely and finished walking in as those who had picked up the figures quickly returned them. "I'm sorry if I startled you, children," she said in a kindly voice. A pair of round glasses perched on the end of her nose, and her mane was bound in a tight braid down her back. Unlike the rest of the carnival ponies, she spoke in a thick Canterlot accent. "I'm afraid those devices are rather fragile, that's all. They're... precious to me."

"Mith?" Twist said, perking up. "I brought my friendth."

"So I see." The mare surveyed the group. Her smile flickered slightly. "Is this all of you? I thought..." She shook her head. "No. I'm sorry, that's not important. You came here to play a game, yes?"

Spike stepped forwards. "What kind of game is this?" he asked. "I've never seen anything like this."

“Oh, it’s very simple.” The mare’s horn lit up with a silvery glow. The models on the table began to rearrange themselves, forming a circle around the map of Equestria and leaving a single unicorn-shaped figure in the centre. “There will be fifteen rounds,” she said. “Each round, an evil monster will invade Equestria. All of you will take it in turn to control the hero and fight off the invaders one by one. Only when all fifteen are defeated will Equestria be safe.” There was a pause as she posed dramatically. Some of the fillies rolled their eyes, and the mare blushed. “I know, it seems a little silly. But it’s important that I take this seriously.”

“Wait... control?” Spike scratched his head. “Like, do we hold it, or...?”

“I get it,” Archer said. She put her front hooves up on the table, examining the tiny figures with growing fascination. “It’s like an arcade game, right? Only with real models.”

“Exactly like that,” the mare confirmed, sounding slightly relieved. “Like puppets without strings.”

The group responded with varying levels of interest. “That sounds awesome!” Snips exclaimed, his eyes lighting up.

Peachy Pie frowned skeptically. The devices on the table didn’t look terribly mobile. “How does it work?” she asked, picturing the hoof-sized unicorn jerkily tottering around the map.

“Oh... it’s complicated. The controls look a little tricky, but it’s perfectly natural once you start playing. You won’t see anything like it for a few years. Suffice to say it’s fairly advanced technology.”

“Advanced technology, huh?” Spike nodded approvingly. “Twilight would like this.”

"What's your cutie mark mean?" a high-pitched voice asked.

The mare blinked. During her speech, three of the group had zipped to her sides and were staring intently at her flanks. She looked back and blushed. Her cutie mark was an unusual one; a pair of thick black lines formed a diagonal cross across her flank, the tips connected by jagged bolts of dark lightning. Unlike most cutie marks there was no colour to it, only black lines with no filler in between. "It's... well... you'll see," she answered the unicorn who had spoken. "It's not really important right now."

“Aw... okay.”

The trio nodded, looking slightly disappointed. “What’s your name?” Apple Bloom asked.

“My name... my name is Pollinia.” As she said this, the mare’s eyes momentarily flicked to a dark corner of the room. Archer followed her gaze, but nothing was there. “The game is still being tested, so it’s free to play while we iron out any kinks. Really, you’d be doing me a favor by playing.”

“But there’s sixteen of us,” Spike said, counting the figures on the table. His spines drooped a little. “I wanted to play too...”

“I’m not playing.” Piña Colada bristled as everyone turned to stare at her. “What? It sounds stupid, and she just told us it’s not even done yet. Pinchy, you shouldn’t play either. It might not be safe.”

By her side, Berry Pinch lowered her head meekly. “I kinda want to try it...”

“It’s perfectly fine,” Pollinia interrupted. “Fifteen... fifteen is perfect.” The unicorn raised the strange music stand-like apparatus with magic and placed it in front of the group. “There’s a little magic involved. All you need to do to register is place your hoof on this. And tell me your names, as well.” She pulled a miniature notebook and quill from a pocket within her vest.

Scootaloo rushed forward to stand in front of the device, then stared up at the dark surface. The top of the stand rose well above her head. “Uh...”

“Oh, sorry.” A tight-lipped smile on her face, Pollinia pulled a box from the darkness beneath the table. “The ponies this was built for are generally a little... taller.”

Shrugging off the likely unintentional jab, the little pegasus hopped onto the box and raised herself onto her hind legs. “I’m Scootaloo!” she announced, then pressed her hoof against the dark metal surface.

There was a pause. “Should something happen?” Scootaloo asked, slowly lowering herself to all fours.

“No,” Pollinia answered, looking at her notebook as she wrote down the filly’s name. “Just touching it once is enough. We’ll probably add some lights or something in a later model.”

The pegasus shrugged and hopped down. A second later, one of her friends took her place. “I’m Sweetie Belle.”

“And Ah’m Apple Bloom!”

“My name’s Dinky Doo.”

“Diamond Tiara.” The earth filly tossed her mane dramatically. “I’ll show you foals how it’s done.”

“Me too. Silver Spoon.”

“Archer.”

“I’m Snips.”

“Tornado Bolt.”

“And Snails.”

“My name’th Twist.”

“Berry Pinch.” The unicorn filly glanced at her aunt before placing her hoof over the device.

“I guess it’s worth a try. I’m Peachy Pie.”

“Rumble.”

"And I'm Spike." The little dragon placed his hand against the device. His claws clicked against the cold metal. After a moment, Spike stepped down and looked at Pollinia. The mare was staring into space, no longer writing. "So, uh... what happens now?" Spike looked at the table. "How do you start it up?"

"Hm?" Pollinia stared at the dragon for a second, then shook her head. "Oh, no. I'm sorry if I wasn't clear. These aren't the pieces you'll be using."

Scootaloo frowned. "Then where are they?"

"You'll see soon enough." Pollinia sighed and turned away. "There will be one demonstration battle before we begin. It shouldn't be long no—"

There was a flash, and a sound like tearing paper.

"Bleugh?"

Scootaloo awoke to a mouthful of sand. She blinked blearily and pushed herself to her hooves, spitting out the grainy particles. She looked around, her heart racing. The entire group was sprawled on the beach, individually waking up and looking around in confusion. The moon was high in the sky, and the sounds from the now-distant carnival were starting to die down. Apple Bloom was the first to speak. "What the hay just happened?"

Peachy Pie sighed. "Was that a dream?" she asked. "It felt so real."

"It wasn't a dream," Rumble said quietly. "There was a mare who promised us a game about fighting monsters, right?" He looked around. The others silently nodded. "How could it have been a dream if we all dreamed the same thing?"

Spike's concerns were more immediate. "Oh man, oh man, oh man," he said, scurrying around the group and counting heads while wringing his claws together. "We are gonna be in so much trouble! Cheerilee’s gonna think we ran away on purpose, and..." He paused. “Hey, how did we get here?”

"Forget it," Scootaloo said loudly. She groaned and looked up at the moon. “It’s too late now. Let’s just go back and forget this ever happened.”

Unusually quiet, the miniature herd rounded themselves up and followed Scootaloo towards the trail back to town. Dinky Doo ran around in a circle for a few seconds before giving up and hanging her head. “I lost my squirrel,” she mourned to no one, then sighed and went after the others.

The trail was long and dark. The winding sandy path between the town and the beach had seemed straightforward from a distance, but at night it was shadowed and hard to follow. Thoughts plagued each of the foals as they walked in silence, every one quietly meditating on what had happened to them. "She was probably just some crazy mare anyway," Diamond Tiara scoffed, breaking the silence.

"Yeah, totally," Silver Spoon agreed, but without much enthusiasm.

“I mean, fighting monsters? Puppets without strings? Puh-leeze,” Diamond Tiara continued loudly, tossing her mane. “I bet it didn’t even work. Did you see her face at the end? That mare was out of her mind.”

“Still would have been awesome, though,” Snips grumbled.

“I doubt it. Even if—”

Whatever Diamond Tiara was about to say was lost as a thundering crash nearly deafened the group. The ground pulsed and shook, knocking the less nimble ponies off their hooves. The three pegasi leaped into the air, hovering with varying degrees of success before lightly touching down again. In the distance, a siren blared.

Apple Bloom helped Sweetie Belle to her hooves. “What in the...” She saw Rumble staring, mouth agape, and followed his gaze. Her own jaw dropped. She was vaguely aware of the rest of her classmates turning as well, staring up at the shape that now filled her field of vision. “What... what the...”

“Whoa.”

"Was that there a second ago?"

"What in the hay is that?"

It was some time before the little ponies could bring themselves to move again. A shape blacker than the night sky towered over not only the little herd, but the entire town. It was shaped roughly like the unicorn model they’d seen earlier, but many hundreds of times larger and far more intricately detailed. Though it stood some distance out into the ocean, the waters only lapped around its hooves. The sweeping beam of the clifftop lighthouse barely reached its knees. The entire shape was covered in—or perhaps made from—black, segmented armor, unlike any design the assembled foals had seen before. It stood facing Seaddle’s cliffs with its head bowed, revealing the only splash of colour on its entire form: a glowing patch of red in the middle of its face, just below the horn.

“Aunt Piña, I’m scared,” Berry Pinch whimpered, drawing closer to her aunt.

Piña Colada comforted her niece, though she kept her at leg’s length. “Bet you’re wishing you’d listened to me now, huh?” she said.

“It’s so big,” Peachy Pie breathed. “Is that what we’re supposed to control? It must be the size of a mountain...”

“It’s about a thousand feet tall,” Tornado Bolt said confidently. “On its hind legs, it would easily be over fifteen hundred.”

“How can you tell?” Peachy Pie asked.

Tornado Bolt flared out her tiny wings. “Pegasus, remember? I’m good with heights.”

“It’s a monster!” Snails yelled, about thirty seconds too late.

Apple Bloom gulped. “That ain’t a monster,” she said at last, finally finding her voice. “It’s a golem.”

Her friends glanced at her, though their eyes were immediately torn back to the monstrous shape above them. “A what?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“A golem. Like in the stories mah granny used to tell me. It’s a creature made out of the earth that protects ponies from harm. Look, see?” She pointed towards the patch of red on the behemoth’s face. “There’s the magic ruby that brings it to life.”

“You’re wrong,” Archer argued. “It’s obviously a construct. Like Lord Cruelty’s magicka tank from Wonder Force Three.”

Apple Bloom glared. “That’s just a dumb arcade game!”

Archer glared back. “So? Your guess is just a dumb foal’s story!”

“Guys!” Scootaloo yelled, jumping between the two. “We can work that out later. For now, we’ve got bigger problems. Where’s the enemy?”

“The enemy?” Sweetie Belle asked, suddenly nervous.

“Yeah! Pollinia said there would be fifteen evil monsters, right? So if our golem or construct or whatever is here, then where’s our opponent?”

The group looked around. “There!” Rumble yelled, pointing. In the direction the colossal unicorn was facing, partially hidden behind the distant cliffs, it looked as though a hole had appeared in the sky. A shimmering ring of light was slowly descending with a magical hum, revealing a new dark shape emerging above it, as though it was being written into existence.

Before the miniature herd had time to take in the new shape, however, a flash and a distorted tearing overwhelmed them for a second time. When their vision returned, they were no longer on the trail.

“Hello again, children,” a familiar voice drifted down as the foals and dragon tried to orient themselves, the dizziness fading more rapidly than it had on the beach. “I’m sorry for the delay. The first jump is the most difficult. It shouldn’t happen again.”

The group looked around. They’d appeared in a large, dome-shaped room with no windows or doors. The walls and gently sloping floor were a deep, golden brown, making it difficult to tell where one ended and the other began. The chamber seemed to glow from within, gently illuminating every surface. In the center of the room were fifteen chairs arranged in a circle, hovering motionless and unsupported far over the foals’ heads. “Up here, everypony,” Pollinia called down from the seat nearest to them, a green-backed office chair identical to many others in the circle. A tiny white and green shape floated beside her head, but before any of the foals could focus on it it vanished. “Welcome to the cockpit.”

“The cocka-what?” Sweetie Belle echoed, sensing a distressing pattern emerging.

“Cockpit. It’s the chamber from which you’ll be controlling your warrior.” Pollinia spoke quickly, glancing at the walls around her. “Please, sit down. I’ll explain as much as I can.”

A pinprick of blackness appeared on the wall opposite Pollinia, then rapidly expanded to encompass the entire room. Suddenly, the group appeared to be floating hundreds of feet above the ocean, the dark unicorn now visible below their hooves. Those who had started to sit down immediately jumped back up, trembling. The more easily startled ponies screamed, then one by one calmed themselves as they realized they weren’t about to fall out of the sky. “Don’t panic!” Pollinia commanded, wincing as Dinky Doo tried to leap on Rumble’s back. “It’s just a projection. You’re completely safe within this chamber.”

Spike looked up nervously. Having lived through the experience once, he still suffered occasional nightmares about falling to his death. “This is... safe, right?” he asked.

“Perfectly,” Pollinia answered, staring straight ahead.

Unfazed by the disappearing floor, Scootaloo grinned and spread out her wings in excitement. “Look!” she yelled, pointing forwards.

Opposite the dark unicorn, the other shape had finished forming. It was about the same size as the metal creature they were floating over, but very different in form. This one was closer in appearance to a spider, with a segmented main body and eight long, thin legs. Hundreds of small, pointed spars jutted out of the entire length of its body, making it look hairy from a distance. The only colour on it was on a yellow patch on a flat protrusion where a head should have been. As the last tips of the monster’s legs materialized, the circle of light dwindled and vanished. The shape floated momentarily before crashing to the ground. The eight legs created waves as they landed in the ocean, sending out an earth-shaking tremor.

“Ewwwwww.” Silver Spoon stuck her tongue out at the sight of the insectoid opponent. “That is so gross. You’re gonna crush that, right?”

“I intend to.” A harder tone had come into Pollinia’s voice. “Watch how I fight, children. The warrior moves as I will it to.”

As the unicorn above spoke, the one below began to move. It shrugged its shoulders, making a sound like grinding metal, and stepped back into a fighting stance. Pollinia didn’t move, though her brow furrowed in concentration. As the metallic unicorn raised its head, light began to form around its horn; not the gentle glow of unicorn magic, but harsh, searing light that was painful to look at. Without warning the built-up energy shot forward in a beam, rocketing across the sky to strike the spider with a crash like thunder and enough force to send it tumbling onto its back.

The foals near the front of the crowd cheered. “That’s so awesome!” Snips exclaimed, stomping.

“Yeah!” Archer looked up at Pollinia. “Is this hard to do? You’ve had lots of practice, right?”

The mare swiftly shook her head, keeping her eyes forward. “No. This is my first time.”

“Huh?” Spike frowned, his confusion growing. “That can’t be right. This is a game you made, right?”

Pollinia laughed humorlessly. “Do you really think a single pony could make something like this?” She silenced further questions as opposite them, the spider scuttled back to its feet. “Of course, even a blow like that won’t do a lot of damage. In order to completely destroy the opponent, you must be more direct.”

“Then we should charge it!” Scootaloo yelled, pawing eagerly at the ground.

The giant unicorn shifted positions again, copying Scootaloo’s charging posture. The young pegasus squealed happily. “Look out!” Apple Bloom cautioned, pointing ahead. The spider had raised itself onto its rear four legs, spreading the front four wide. Sparks of bright blue electricity arced along the bristles down its back before leaping from leg to leg, forming a square of energy in the air.

“Hey.” Rumble nudged Dinky Doo, gesturing towards Pollinia. “It’s her cutie mark.” Dinky squinted at the raised unicorn’s flank, then looked back and forth between her and the shape created by the dark spider. The cross, linked by arcs of electricity, was virtually identical.

“It means to trap us in a web,” Pollinia said calmly. “Against a smaller opponent, perhaps, that would be an effective strategy. But the warrior is heavily armored.” She lowered her head, grinning. “And we will not go down so easily.” With a faint growl, she charged.

While the metallic monster had been an impressive sight at a standstill, in motion it was breathtaking. It ran as quickly as a regular pony would, barely slowed by its unbelievable size, and covered the space between the two combatants in a matter of seconds. Every hoofstep launched up a pillar of water and made a noise like hundreds of cannons going off at once. Arcs of lightning leaped from the spider and lanced down the unicorn’s sides at its approach, glancing off in all directions. Then, with a crash that shook the cockpit, the unicorn’s horn slammed into the spider’s chest.

Pollinia remained calm as the spider began to thrash. She gently bobbed her head, sparking the dark unicorn to hurl the impaled insect to the ground and pin down the thin front legs with its hooves, allowing the rear ones to flail uselessly at its underside. Countless strands of grey cables spilled out of the spider’s top half as Pollinia continued to nod and weave, neatly eviscerating it with the horn under her command. A line was now growing between the foals cheering her on below her and the ones slowly creeping to the back of the room. “Every monster has a weak spot,” she explained, stomping hard on a leg that had momentarily escaped her grasp. “It’s in a different place in each one, but usually buried inside the torso, protected by multiple layers of armor. It’s round, and looks like... come on...” The mare began to frown. “It’s in here somewhere...”

Suddenly, the spider shifted. With a horrible snapping noise its rear segment twisted at an unnatural angle to the rest of its body, and the remaining free limbs wrapped around both the unicorn’s left legs and tugged sharply. Before Pollinia could react, the creature she controlled was pulled off its hooves. With a final push from the spider, she was sent hurtling towards Seaddle’s cliffs.

The assembled foals screamed as the ground came rushing up to meet them. The unicorn hit the cliffs with an explosion of debris, sending rocks and dirt flying in all directions. The light of the lighthouse vanished. The cockpit shook violently, nearly toppling some of the foals over, but the room itself somehow remained upright. Instinctively, the divided foals melded back together into a single group. “Pollinia, what’s happening?” Silver Spoon sobbed, clutching the protesting Diamond Tiara. “Why aren’t we winning?”

“Shut up!” the mare snapped. She breathed in sharply and looked towards her opponent. The spider had crawled onto its four functional legs, its front half hanging loosely by a few strands. With a final shake it snapped this dead weight off, creating another earth-shaking crash as the torso landed in the water, then with blinding speed leaped at the downed unicorn. Now little more than an egg-shaped orb balanced on four spindly legs, it rapidly charged electricity down its remaining bristles before launching a flurry of lightning-fueled kicks at the metal pony’s torso. Despite the thinness of its legs, each blow rattled the cockpit and visibly dented the unicorn’s armor.

Pollinia tried to lift herself up, only to be knocked deeper into the cliffs as the blows rained down. “No!” she screamed. Gone was the calm, confident tone she’d used before; now there was only fear and fury. “Not like this. Not like this!” The dark unicorn’s horn glowed again. A thinner beam of light lanced out and struck the spider mid-kick, momentarily sending it off-balance. This second was all it took for Pollinia to throw another hoof against its side, knocking it against the shoreline. With a whirl she launched herself back into a standing position, sending another storm of crushed stone into the air.

“Pollinia, stop!” Apple Bloom yelled, staring down at the now frighteningly close lights of Seaddle. “You’re gonna destroy the town!”

“Forget the town!” the mare screeched back, shocking Apple Bloom into silence. The dark unicorn advanced on the spider again, now crushing stone underhoof in its wake. The spider raised two legs to defend itself, but with a vicious swipe Pollinia snapped them in half. Another second was all it took to throw the crippled monster back into the ocean. “As I was saying,” Pollinia growled, stomping the remaining two legs into powder. “Every monster has a weak spot. It looks like...” She plunged her horn into the twitching orb and carved it open, then knelt down and pressed with her hooves to widen the wound. “This.”

Nestled within the spider’s grey innards was a white sphere. Now gentle, Pollinia carefully pried the weak spot out and held it aloft in one hoof, revealing a long cable attached to somewhere within the grey interior. Though massive compared to any pony, in the colossal hoof that held it it seemed smaller than a tennis ball. “All monsters, the warrior included, can heal themselves over time. All damage will be fixed between rounds, so don’t worry about getting a few scratches. Even if you tear your opponent to pieces, the only way to end the battle for good is to find this weak spot...” She held the orb between two hooves. “And crush it.”

With a final, decisive crack, the two enormous hooves slammed together. There was a long, slow fade out, like the sound of a spell running down, and the unicorn and the spider stopped moving.

Behind Pollinia, a spot of brown appeared. This spread across the walls and floor, covering up the view of outside, until the cockpit was in the same state it had been in when they’d arrived. Gently, the circle of chairs floated down to the floor. Pollinia breathed in and out slowly, her head bowed. She looked around at the chairs around her, then sighed. “I’ve given you all I can,” she said. The fury in her voice had vanished as quickly as it had come, leaving only a strange tiredness. “The rest is up to you now.”

“Mith Pollinia?” Twist approached the seated mare nervously, her lower lip trembling. “I made a mithtake. I don’t want to play any more.”

Pollinia didn’t answer. She glanced at Twist, then at the floor. “My little ponies,” she said quietly. “I’m s—”

There was a flash, and a sound like tearing paper.

It took several minutes more for the earthquake sirens to stop sounding.

From high up, it hadn’t been as clear what the battle’s effect on the landscape had been. Like tumbling around in a sandbox, the crumbling of the ground beneath their massive hooves had seemed tiny, insignificant. From their position back on the now rock-strewn beach, however, it was much more immediate to the little herd what Pollinia’s tumble and desperate flailings had done.

The cliffs of Seaddle were gone. Where less than an hour ago they had sloped up proudly above the ocean, there was now only a sharp descent into thrashing and rocky waters. There was no sign of the lighthouse, not even fragments among the debris. The surrounding landscape was littered with dust and stone. The two colossal monsters had vanished, leaving destruction as the only sign that they’d been there at all.

Apple Bloom stared numbly at the place where she and her friends had stood just that evening. “Ah guess when she said all damage would be fixed, she only meant damage to the golem,” she said.

“Construct!” Archer snapped. She kicked in irritation. “Shoot. We forgot to ask what we’re supposed to call it.”

Slowly, Twist sank to the ground. “I’m thorry, guyth,” she mumbled, looking at the ground. “I didn’t think it would be like thith.”

“So... we still get to ride that thing, right?” Snips said. “Like, we all get a turn?”

Everyone began talking at once. Some whooped, some quaked in horror, some simply stood and shouted. Spike shook his head rapidly. Quietly, two ponies slipped away from the noise and sat at the edge of the beach.

The ocean was calm again. Tiny ripples lapped at the shore, faint echoes of the thundering hoofsteps that had recently torn the waters into chaos. Through a rare gap in the overcast sky, the perpetually full moon was shining down. Rumble and Dinky Doo stared up at it in silence, each quietly reflecting on the events of the night. “She tried to say something, right at the end, right?” Rumble said. Dinky Doo nodded. “What do you think it was?”

The tiny unicorn closed her eyes. “I think she said... ‘I’m sorry.’”

The Following Morning (I)

Growing up in Ponyville, many of the young ponies who’d gathered on the beach that night had found themselves in terrifying situations before. So close to both Canterlot and the Everfree Forest, Ponyville was known to periodically become the hotbed for all the dormant evils of Equestria. But no force, not the wildest creature or most destructive power, not even the cold, self-satisfied tones of the gods of cruelty and disorder, could inspire as much gut-wrenching fear in the miniature herd as Cheerilee’s words the following morning.

“My little ponies, I am very disappointed in you.”

All fifteen foals instinctively lowered their heads, trying to make themselves look as small as possible. They’d gathered around two tables in the hotel’s dining room for breakfast, which was sadly limited, as the violent shaking last night had left the kitchen in a state of shaken-up disorder. “And that goes for you too, Spike,” Cheerilee continued, catching the dragon with a slice of bread halfway to his already-full mouth. “Twilight Sparkle assured me that you would be able to handle a group of this size. I’m sure she will also have some choice words for you when we get back.”

Spike coughed and swallowed quickly, wiping crumbs from his mouth. “B-but it wasn’t our fault!” he protested.

“I don’t care whose fault it was. Leaving for the beach wasn’t only irresponsible, it was dangerous. Scarlet Kettle and I could hear the cliffs collapsing all the way from under her tent. If any of you had gotten lost or hurt, then...” Cheerilee looked to the side, biting her lip. Her expression shifted from concern to anger, then settled one one of weariness. “No, it’s my fault too,” she sighed. “I should have kept a closer eye on you. Clearly, it was wrong of me to think that you could handle being left on your own.”

“But we weren’t on our own,” a filly interrupted. “There was another mare with us.”

Cheerilee looked back at the table. “You didn’t mention that last night,” she said suspiciously.

“We’re sorry, miss Cheerilee,” Piña Colada continued. Her tail twitched as she felt the eyes of her classmates on her, but she kept her face an image of childlike innocence. “We were all really scared at the time. There was a unicorn mare running the game called Pollinia. She took us to a ring just outside the carnival for her game, and when the shaking started she teleported us the rest of the way to the beach. I think teleporting must have been her special talent or something; she had a weird zapping cutie mark. She didn’t know the cliffs were going to fall down. She was just trying to keep us safe.”

Cheerilee stared at her student for a few seconds more before speaking. “Is this true, Spike?” she asked the dragon at her side.

“Uh...” Spike gulped. In an instant, Piña Colada had gone from smiling sweetly at her teacher to glaring daggers at him. “Yeah. That’s what happened.”

“All right, then.” Cheerilee sighed a second time. “Even so, you gave a lot of us a good scare last night. I know that I taught you better than this. So as punishment, I’ve volunteered all of us to clean up the main streets after the disaster last night.” A stern glare quickly silenced the foals’ whine of protest. “Now, don’t complain. If you see the damage an earthquake can cause firsthoof, then maybe you’ll take it more seriously if, Celestia forbid, it happens again.”

There was a brief pause before another foal spoke. “But that wasn’t what happened,” Dinky Doo said. She trembled as Cheerilee looked at her, but continued. “There never was an earthquake. There was a giant unicorn fighting a giant spider, and their fighting made the ground shake. And... and we got to ride one of them.”

Cheerilee blinked. There was a long, silent pause before she blinked again. Slowly, she leaned down and whispered in her temporary assistant’s ear. “Spike, I thought I told you to watch her sugar intake.” She straightened up, smiling sweetly as Dinky’s face fell. “That’s nice, Dinky,” she said. “We’ll talk more about that after breakfast, okay?” She looked around at the rest of the table. “Eat up, everypony. I want us to be out the door in half an hour.” With a little more spring in her step than before, the teacher trotted away to the other side of the room for some much-needed coffee.

Dejectedly, Dinky Doo flicked a flattened grape across her plate. “That was what happened,” she huffed. “Piña, why did you lie?”

“Why didn’t you?” the earth pony snapped back. “Those cliffs were what made Seaddle famous. Do you have any idea how much trouble you guys are gonna be in if anypony finds out you broke them?”

“What do you mean, us guys?” Diamond Tiara retorted. “You were there too.”

“Nuh-uh.” Piña Colada shook her head. “I never signed up for any game. I just got dragged along anyway. Pinchy, I told you you shouldn’t have played!” She punched her niece lightly on the shoulder. Berry flinched, but said nothing.

The other foals at the table looked at each other, still uncertain. “It’s not so bad,” Scootaloo said. “I mean, we still have a giant pony we can ride around in. Maybe we could use it to help fix things up. That’s got to be worth something, right?”

“All right, think about this,” Piña Colada continued, undeterred. “There was probably somepony who lived in that lighthouse. Maybe two ponies. Maybe a whole family. What do you think will happen to us if somepony learns they got squished because of your stupid game? Do you think putting the cliffs back is gonna make up for that?”

There was a longer pause as the group absorbed this. “Ah feel sick,” Apple Bloom moaned. Her friends put hooves on her shoulders to steady her, though their faces were similarly contorted.

“You don’t...” Peachy Pie gulped. “You don’t really think this is just a game, do you?”

“How should I know?” Piña Colada shrugged. “That’s your problem. All I know is that somepony’s gotta look after you all. That can be my game.”

The pink pony fell silent as Cheerilee came back to the table, coffee in hoof. Though questions and ill feelings burned through the group, they remained quiet for the rest of breakfast.

The damage to Seaddle wasn’t as bad as the foals had feared. The town was clearly built to survive earthquakes; the houses were low and strong, made to last. The carnival folk, however, had not been so lucky. Virtually all of their flimsy tents had collapsed, doing no permanent damage but leaving the streets a tangle of metal poles and fancy fabric. Though no longer sparkling, the giant ferris wheel still rose high above the rooftops; ironically, the trembling had caused several levers and struts to jam in place, actually preventing the mighty structure from being taken down.

While larger ponies picked up tents and arranged their broken wares, Cheerilee’s visiting class found themselves moved to a different part of town. A large food cart had rolled off its blocks and down a nearby hill, spilling foodstuffs and cutlery all over the road before crashing into an unlucky stallion’s vegetable garden. The foals roamed over this minor disaster area with brushes and garbage bags, some motivated by an uneasy feeling of responsibility, others slowed down by it. “Watch out for splinters, everypony,” Cheerilee advised, pushing a pile of popcorn down the middle of the street with a thick broom. “And don’t eat anything. That means you, Snails!” she added, chuckling to herself as the colt quickly swallowed and smiled sheepishly.

Around halfway through their work, the group’s silence was broken by the sound of two sets of hooves galloping towards them. Just as the assembled ponies were starting to look up, a white and elderly pegasus darted around the nearest corner, nearly colliding with Cheerilee. “Help me!” he hissed, then awkwardly dove behind a bush.

A short and plump earth pony trotted out from the same direction, panting heavily. “Sea Salt, stop scaring the foals!” she yelled, spotting her quarry’s wings jutting out from the low shrubbery. She turned to Cheerilee and smiled wearily. “I’m so sorry about this,” she apologized. “He does this every time we have a quake.”

Cheerilee smiled back. “Hello again, Ocean Breeze,” she said, recognizing Seaddle’s mayor. “I suppose this happens a lot, then?”

“She’s just trying to keep the truth down!” Sea Salt yelled, raising a hoof high but keeping his head low.

Ocean Breeze rolled her eyes. “For the last time, Sea Salt, nopony else saw any monsters!”

Several foals paled. “Of course you didn’t!” the pegasus yelled, pointing wildly. “Because you were too busy hiding under tables to look! A real pony outflies danger!”

The two grown mares looked at each other, each silently noting the other’s lack of wings. “Just ignore Sea Salt, little ones,” the mayor called, injecting some cheerfulness into her voice. “He says funny things sometimes.”

Nodding, Cheerilee approached the bush and bent down. “Mister Salt?” she said. “I understand that this is important to you, but I’m afraid you’re frightening my students. Isn’t there somepony else you could be telling this to?”

Slowly, the old pony raised his head. “Barnacles,” he muttered. “Barnacles will know.” As calmly as if nothing had happened, he rose up and trampled his way out of the bush, walking slowly in the direction of the mane street. Ocean Breeze tried to lead him along, but was roughly nudged aside with a wing. “I can walk, missy,” the stallion said indignantly. Ocean Breeze tutted.

“Miss mayor?” Apple Bloom darted up and tugged on the plump mare’s leg. “We, um, Ah was wondering... was there anypony inside the lighthouse when it got... Ah mean, when the earthquake happened?”

Ocean Breeze smiled down at the filly comfortingly. “Now, dear, don’t worry about that,” she said. “The pegasus ponies who run the lighthouse live in town. They’re all safe and sound, never fear.” Apple Bloom smiled brightly, sighed with relief, then scampered back to join her friends. With a wave, the mayor turned and trotted after the still-rambling Sea Salt.

Sensing that her students were still staring, Cheerilee clapped loudly. “Back to work, everypony!” she announced. With a faint groan, the assembled foals returned to clearing the debris from the runaway cart. Their teacher joined them, sweeping larger pieces together into a pile. Unconsciously, however, her ears swiveled to catch Sea Salt’s words as he drifted away.

“Black as the night sky, they were. See, I always told you spiders could get that big...”

Cheerilee froze. She rested her broom against her shoulder and looked towards the main street, a question half-formed on her lips. She blinked a few times and glanced around, stopping when her eyes landed on Dinky Doo. She did a double-take and frowned. “Dinky Doo! I told you to leave your toys at the hotel!”

“Huh?” The tiny unicorn put down a mouthful of discarded candies and looked up at her teacher, lower lip trembling. “But I did...”

“Then what do you call that?” Cheerilee pointed to a plastic mouse that was leaning against the garden fence. “Go and put it away.” Before the filly could protest, Cheerilee sighed. “Actually, wait. Spike, take over.” She pushed her broom towards Spike, who caught it with a confused expression. “I need to...” Cheerilee paused, glancing towards the main street. “Just stay here, okay? I’ll just be a few minutes.” Still distracted, she turned away and broke into a slow trot in the direction Sea Salt had gone, increasing her speed as soon as she thought her students were no longer watching.

Dinky Doo stared at the mouse. While around her her classmates shrugged to one another and started to talk, she crept over to the discarded toy and picked it up in her hooves. The body was fat and pear-shaped and made from white plastic, with tiny black eyes and a painted-on smile. It had no arms or legs, only two large, round ears and a flat tail that dangled beneath its body. The only colours on it were two splashes of pink on its cheeks and, bizarrely, a short and pony-like mane that ran across its top and back like a stripe of green. Dinky Doo turned it over once before staring down at its face, frowning. “Who are you?” she asked.

“Cicada,” the mouse answered.

The other foals looked up as Dinky Doo screamed. She threw herself backwards, releasing the mouse, which hung motionless and unsupported in the air. “So you really are just foals,” the plastic shape continued without moving its mouth, slowly rising. The voice that came from it was calm and male, silencing the ponies around it with an air of confident authority. “I’d hoped that Pollinia was exaggerating. Oh, well. Can’t be helped. Let’s get this over with, shall we?”

There was a flash and a sound like tearing paper, and suddenly the street was empty.

This time, the jump was instantaneous. With a faint ‘wop’ the ponies and dragon materialized in a familiar dome-shaped room. The many chairs had vanished, and the amber walls seemed darker than they had the previous night. The plastic mouse floated overhead, slowly rotating in place. “All right, my little ponies!” it said, the small voice somehow filling the chamber. “Welcome back.”

The group regarded the strange figure with more curiosity than fear; after last night, a talking toy didn’t seem all that surprising. “What is that?” Sweetie Belle asked, staring up in awe. “How’s it floating?”

The mouse swooped down with greater speed than seemed possible, hovering uncomfortably close to Sweetie Belle’s face. “You mean, who is that and how is he floating,” he said sternly. “I have not come all this way to be talked down to by a little filly.”

Sweetie Belle backed up. “Sorry,” she mumbled.

"I recognize you," Rumble said after a moment's thought. "You were with Pollinia before, just for a second. Are you her helper or something?"

"Helper?" The mouse turned to face him and hovered a moment in silence. He chuckled, wobbling back and forth slightly. "Yes, I imagine she would call me that. Incorrectly, since now that the game has been set in motion, she has far less power than I do. In that sense, it would be more accurate to think of us as... partners."

“You’re with her?” Spike paled, clutching at his head in panic. “Oh man. This can’t be happening.”

The mouse tilted slightly to the side. “If this is a bad time—”

“Of course it’s a bad time!” the dragon yelled. “We’re already in trouble from the last time this happened! Cheerilee’s gonna come back any second now, and if she sees we’re not there she’ll think we ran away again, and then she’ll tell Twilight, and, and—”

There was a faint wop as Spike vanished. Seen from the outside, the teleportation looked like a swift bubble of light, without the flash that usually accompanied unicorn magic. The ponies around him shrieked and jumped away. When the dragon returned a second later, he was pale and trembling. “Sorry about that,” the mouse said calmly. “You looked like you needed some air. Did you enjoy the view?”

Spike said nothing. He didn’t move as the plastic shape floated closer to him, calmly speaking. “This isn’t a battle. I only brought you here so that we could speak without interruptions. I’m keeping track of your teacher, and we have plenty of time for these preliminaries before she returns, at which point I’ll send you back.” When Spike started to protest again, the bizarre mouse swooped down and hung in front of his face. “You have my word,” he said. “If it will ease your mind, when I bring you back I’ll even move some trash around to make it look like you’ve been working. Does that satisfy you?” Nervously, Spike nodded. “Good. The sooner we get this over with, the sooner you can return.”

“So... who are you, exactly?” Tornado Bolt asked.

In response, the mouse rose up to his former position, hovering over the group. “My name is Cicada. It is my job—”

“Cicada?” Silver Spoon interrupted. “Like, the bug? Eww!” She gagged. “Why does everything here have to be something icky?”

Cicada paused. His painted smile gave away nothing, though a faint sigh could be heard. “My job,” he repeated pointedly, “is to transport the pilots—that’s you—to and from the cockpit as needed, as well as move the robot itself to battles and perform maintenance on its internal systems.”

“Row... bot?” Archer frowned. “What’s a robot?”

“It’s where you are right now.” Archer stared blankly. Cicada also stared blankly, though presumably he had no say in the matter. “The unicorn. The metal machine. Pollinia’s warrior. Get it?”

“Oh.” Archer looked around. “So it’s not a magical construct?”

“Not by your definition, no.”

“And it’s not a golem?” Apple Bloom added, sounding disappointed.

“No.” Cicada looked around. "While we’re on the subject, are there any questions?"

A few seconds passed. Slowly, Sweetie Belle raised her hoof. Dinky Doo followed. Slowly, hoof after hoof went up. “Does this look like a classroom?” Cicada muttered.

Apple Bloom cleared her throat. "So, where are y'all from exactly?" she said.

“Is there some kind of reward for doing this?” Tornado Bolt asked.

“Is everything in this game going to be so gross?” Diamond Tiara added.

“Whoa, whoa,” Cicada said, floating a little higher as more ponies continued to raise their hooves.

"How are you floating?"

“How does the robot work?”

“Are we really saving the world?”

"Can we go now?"

"Stop. Stop!" Cicada looked around at the ponies surrounding him, then did a slow flip backwards. "I meant, are there any questions pertaining to the nature of battles or function of the robot?" He twirled around again, taking in the sea of blank faces around him. "Honestly, didn't Pollinia tell you anything?" he added in a low voice.

Peachy Pie raised her hoof. "I have a question," she said. "If we don't want to play any more, can we... drop out?"

"No can do," Cicada said instantly. With surreal agility he flew over to hover in front of Peachy Pie's face, only his dangling tail moving. "You signed the contract, didn't you?" he said as the filly leaned backwards. "You have to keep your promises. Once you're in, you're in for good."

"But this isn't what we signed up for!" Peachy protested, shuffling away. "We thought we were going to be playing with toys, not... this!"

"Not my problem," the mouse retorted. Had he shoulders, Peachy Pie was certain that he would have shrugged. "Explaining the rules was Pollinia's job. I'm just here to enforce them."

"But you can't forthe uth to fight!" Twist said. She lowered her head as Cicada turned to face her. "...Can you?" she asked meekly.

"Well, no." Cicada twirled. "If you choose not to fight when your turn is up, I can't make you. Heck, you don't even have to show up. But once your opponent arrives, the robot will activate whether or not you're at the helm, and it can only run for two days at most. If the battle isn't ended by then, it overloads, and..." He tutted. "Well, let's just say your escape will have been short-lived."

Spike frowned as he saw a few ponies around him shudder. "Uh... this is just a game, right?" he said.

"What?" Cicada faced the dragon, then tilted slightly to the side. "Of course it's a game."

Spike didn’t seem convinced. “But why—”

"All right, time’s up." Cicada rose up to the ceiling, rapidly becoming a tiny white dot against the amber surface. "Time for a little redecorating."

Wop. Wop. Wop.

With a tiny popping noise and a brief bubble of light, a short, wooden chair materialized in the cockpit. Apple Bloom gasped, her eyes widening with recognition. A second later a three-legged stool appeared beside it, which gave Archer the same reaction. Then came a green bean bag chair, a bench, a dining chair, continuing blink after blink until the group was surrounded. "Each of these should have some significance to one of you," Cicada explained, his voice remaining at the same volume despite the distance.

Hesitantly, Apple Bloom approached the first chair that had appeared. She reached out and touched the edge of the varnished wood, still staring in disbelief. "This is mah chair," she said. "This is mah chair, from Sweet Apple Acres. How'd you know it was mine?"

"Oh, I know everything about you," Cicada said dismissively. "It's part of the contract." He paused as Apple Bloom frowned up at him, then sighed. "Don't worry, it's only a copy. Try not to think about it too hard, okay?"

Gradually, the group broke apart as each foal identified and ran to their own chair. Side by side in one corner were three small clouds, floating less than an inch above the floor. "Gee, wonder who those are for," Archer muttered to herself, then did a double take as Rumble walked to the other side of the circle and pulled himself into a plastic folding chair. She looked back, her jaw dropping as Scootaloo and Tornado Bolt stared in confusion at the unicorn now perched on the cloud in between them. "Dinky? How are you doing that?"

Dinky Doo giggled. She reached down beneath her and knocked; the cloud echoed as her hoof hit something solid. "There's a stool under here," she explained. "My mom made it for me. Now I can sit on a cloud too, just like her."

"Ugh, this is so unfair," Diamond Tiara whined from her fancy dining chair. "I wanted to sit next to Silver Spoon!"

"Speak for yourself," Spike muttered. His seat, a copy of one from the library, was stuck between the identical pair owned by Snips and Snails, who couldn't seem to agree whose was whose.

"There is no switching seats," Cicada snapped. "The order's random. There's nothing I can do." He rapidly descended again, hovering over the final two fillies in the middle of the circle. "Well?"

Reluctantly, Berry Pinch broke away from her aunt's side and went to the last unclaimed seat, a familiar stool from the schoolhouse. Pina Colada glared up at Cicada. "What am I supposed to do, then?" she asked testily. "Why am I even here? I didn't sign up for any stupid game."

"Oh? I apologize." Cicada floated down to eye level. "You seemed to be quite close to your niece. Since you were there when she signed the contract, I had assumed that you would want to be present for the battles. If you want, I can send you back."

Pina Colada eyed the mouse suspiciously. She glanced at Berry Pinch, who was looking away from her. "I'll stay," she said. She looked around at the others. Peachy Pie clearly had room for one more, occupying a park bench clearly built for two adults, but when she saw Pina's gaze on her she shuffled into the middle.

"You can sit with me," Silver Spoon offered. Her chair was an enormous grey loveseat with a cushion so plush that the filly seemed to be sinking into it. She gulped as Diamond Tiara glared at her, but still shuffled over to make room for a second pony. Pina Colada nodded gratefully and hopped up beside her.

"Finally," Cicada sighed. "Now, stand up."

"But we just sat down!" Scootaloo whined.

"Trust me, you'll want to stand up for this." As Cicada finished speaking, the circle of chairs began to move. Those who hadn't done so already quickly hopped off as the seats picked up speed, moving silently and frictionlessly clockwise over the floor. They spun faster and faster, creating a hum of displaced air that quickly turned into a roar. In seconds the chairs were moving fast enough that they could no longer be followed with the naked eye. At the same time, a brightly glowing symbol appeared on the floor, a shape made of circles and twisting lines too complex to take in all at once. One tendril of lights snaked away from the rest, ending beneath the whirling ring in a circle just large enough for a chair to fit inside. After a few more seconds of spinning, the ring began to slow.

“I get it,” Archer said quietly. “It’s like a roulette, right?”

Cicada didn’t answer. He watched in silence as the fifteen seats continued to wind down, losing speed almost as quickly as they’d picked it up. In seconds the circle had come almost to a halt, each chair almost stopping over the ring of light before sliding soundlessly off. It passed Sweetie Belle’s sewing stool, then Silver Spoon's loveseat, before finally coming to a halt on the rightmost of the three clouds.

Scootaloo blinked. “Huh?” She turned around and looked up and down, as if expecting to see someone standing over her shoulder. “Did somepony just call my name?”

“Your teacher’s coming back,” Cicada said flatly, not looking at the pegasus. “I’ll send you back now. See you soon.”

Scootaloo looked up. “Hey, wa—”

There was a flash, and a sound like tearing paper.

“—it.”

In an instant of static, the group found themselves back on Seaddle’s street. True to his word, Cicada had moved some of the clutter into their garbage bags, as well as, for some reason, Snips. The colt emerged gasping and spluttering from one of the bags just as Cheerilee rounded the nearest corner, a look of deep thought on her face. “Sorry about that, everypony,” she said, glancing around at her students. “There was just something I had... to...” She trailed off as her eyes landed on Scootaloo. “Oh my goodness,” she gasped, putting a hoof to her mouth before breaking into a gigantic smile.

“What?” Scootaloo looked around. The others were starting to stare at her as well, their faces a mix of surprise and confusion. She raised her wings and looked down at herself, frowning. “What is it? Do I have something on me?”

“Ah’ll say you do,” Apple Bloom said, excitement mixing with the shock in her voice. “Scootaloo, you got your cutie mark!”

The pegasus looked back. Her eyes widened. Printed on her flank was a strange pattern of white lines: one circle surrounded by eight smaller ones, all touching at the edges. Like Pollinia’s it was only an outline, with no colour or fill within it. She stared at this for a moment, checked both flanks, and even rubbed it to make sure it was real. The mark stayed.

Several thoughts rushed through the filly’s mind at once. She knew, deep down, that this wasn’t her real cutie mark. It had nothing to do with her special talent; it was just some of Pollinia’s magic printed on her side. It probably wouldn’t even last after her turn was done. But for now, that didn’t matter. The feel of having a mark on her flank, of having a defined purpose, filled her heart with a proud fire. She was going to ride the robot. She was going to save the world.

Clearly, there was only one way to react to this.

With a well-practiced sweep, Scootaloo tossed her mane back and flared out her wings, stomping happily in a way that a certain other pegasus would find strangely familiar. “Aww, yeah!”

Lord Cruelty's Indestructible Magika Tank (with Dawn Flower)

It had been two days since the training up in Canterlot, and two days since Archer’s entire life had been turned upside down by the appearance of three lines on her flank. In those two days, she had barely said two words to anyone, unless one counted ‘hmmm’ or annoyed grunts as words.

She spent most of her time now in the Ponyville arcade, stubbornly wearing Sweetie Belle’s cape. Her guard escort had agreed to give her some space, which of course meant that he would simply be somewhere he could see her, but she couldn’t see him. That was fine, though; she didn’t care. The arcade was completely deserted except for her – which she appreciated – with most of the small town still on edge from the last fight. Archer sat on a stool, off in a corner of the arcade, playing her favourite game, Wonder Force Three.

The arcade was comfortably enjoying the revolution of 8-bit gaming, meaning that the magic required to run a single machine for a whole day cost eight bits. There was no skimping on this price; the game machines would only run when fully powered, after which they would happily putt along, regardless of use, from morning until well into the night. On its own, this made gaming quite an expensive hobby, more than most young ponies were able to spend on a regular basis, but ingenuity found a way. By dividing their time and their pocket money, the regulars had quickly devised a system that allowed everypony to play with very little disagreement. So long as the times were agreed on beforehand, four bits split between two foals gave each one the entire morning or afternoon to play, an affordable two bits from four bought several hours of entertainment, and one bit would get a full hour and a half just to yourself, even if sometimes you had to get up with the sun or sneak out at night to capitalize on it. There had been talk for several months about the arcade getting a sixteen-bit machine that could support two players at once, and there were rumours that Canterlot was developing a legendary 64-bit machine that could render 3-D models. It was futile speculation, since all of the foals knew that they would never be able to afford to play on it, but the thought of such a machine used to make Archer's skin tingle. Used to.

On this occasion, Archer had paid the whole eight bits for the day herself. She sat hunched in front of Wonder Force Three, eyes narrowed, hooves deftly moving. On the screen of magically stained glass, Princess Cloud Wonder dodged between cannonballs of darkness that were flying towards her from somewhere off to the right, occasionally retorting with a bright bolt of her own.

Wonder Force Three was unique in its series, and in the arcade. For the first few levels it had the same bright colour palette and ease of difficulty that many games in the arcade shared; nothing that a concerned mother wouldn't be perfectly happy letting her innocent little filly be exposed to. But after the sunflower boss on level four, things changed. Over the next few levels the sun in the background would slowly set, turning the world not to night but casting everything in an eerie red. The harmless clouds and cartoonish blob enemies turned to giant bats and timber wolves. The bosses became the stuff of nightmares and legends, from spiders to centaurs to one that was made of nothing at all, causing the glass to become clear and expose the machine's metallic inner workings. All of it led up to the final level, an empty skyscape of nothing but minute after minute of being bombarded by high-energy missiles. And then came Lord Cruelty.

The attacks stopped. Archer's teeth clenched as a rumbling filled the screen, inches from her face yet sounding like it was coming from far away. A titanic black shape trundled into view, bristling with weapons and filling nearly half the screen. The music intensified, and for a split second the face of a leering pony flashed across the screen. Then the first of the tank's flashing red weak points appeared, and the battle began.

No foal had ever defeated Lord Cruelty. No matter how many weak points were destroyed, another would pop up somewhere else, and the barrage of his cannons was never-ending. In fact, the regulars were divided over whether it was even possible to win. Apple Bytes thought that winning would cause the game to explode. High Score, predictably, believed the fight was unending and only served as a way to get more points. Button Mash liked to speculate about an even stronger monster that lay beyond him. Archer didn't care what they thought. When she saw a flashing weak point, she knew what she had to do. What happened afterwards wasn't important. She just had to win.

Archer quickly moved Princess Cloud Wonder erratically around the screen, dodging every single attack from the tank's weapons. There was never a single second when she was sitting still, which made aiming and firing at the weak points difficult. At the rate that she was going right now, she moved around for five seconds before firing off a single shot, and weak points required a lot of hits to destroy. With Lord Cruelty’s notoriously many weak points, it would take her forever to win at this rate; however, she also wasn’t taking a single hit from the boss either, despite the screen being almost completely white with all of the constant attacks that would damage her if they hit her.

“Uhhm… hello, uhhmm, Archer,” a voice suddenly said from behind her. A voice she recognized, too; she was just surprised that they were here, and that they were on their own. It was Snails. It looked like she wasn’t completely alone, after all. Her face slumped a bit at the thought, but she still didn’t lose focus on the game for even a second.

“What?” Archer replied in a deadpan tone, not taking her eyes away from the screen.

Snails hesitated for a second, awkwardly scratching at the back of his head before speaking up again. “Uhhmm, well, I was just wondering if maybe you wanted to go to Sugarcube Corner. You know, to maybe take your mind off of… you know?” the lanky unicorn colt said, looking away again, awkwardly circling his hoof in the dirt.

“Can’t. Busy.” Those two words were all Archer replied with, moving no part of her face but her lips. She then quickly leaned the joystick as far to the left as it would go in order to avoid an incoming stream of attacks.

“Oh, uhhmm… a-are you sure?” Snails stuttered out.

“Yes,” Archer replied immediately.

“Oh, alright then,” Snails said, his head dipping slightly. He then turned back around to walk away again. As he was leaving, however, he suddenly turned his head back to her and simply said, in a straight tone of voice, “Do a barrel roll. It’s a more efficient way of dodging incoming attacks, and has a chance of reflecting attacks back.” He then turned back around again and continued walking away.

At that little caveat of information, Archer’s eyes drifted back towards him for a split second as he was walking away, and in that split second, she almost failed to notice an incoming attack. Quickly looking back towards the screen, with her eyes wide, not having time to think and the only thing in her mind being what Snails just said, she instinctively mashed the barrel roll button, which not only allowed her to avoid being hit just in time, but also put her in the perfect position to take out the first weak point with a follow up attack of her own.

The first weak point crumbled away into digital nothingness, followed by Lord Cruelty switching his tactics to the next phase. With the first part of the boss fight done, thanks to that new bit of helpful advice, despite her current situation, Archer couldn’t help but crack a smile; the first honest-to-good smile that she'd worn in the last two days.

Progress against Lord Cruelty was slow going. It had been ten minutes since Snails had arrived and left, and in those ten minutes, she had only taken out another two weak points. She was still four weak points away from her record, and even then she didn’t know how many more there were after that. However, she still hadn’t taken any serious damage, and was currently doing better than she ever had against this boss before, so she wasn’t worried. She could do this.

“Hey there, Archer,” she heard another voice from behind her again. This time it was Spike. Archer didn’t have anything against the baby dragon; on the contrary, she thought that he was actually pretty cool – he was a dragon – but right now, she just wanted to be left alone. Her frown deepened a bit, but she still didn’t lose focus on the game.

Spike sidled up behind her to see what game she was playing. “Oh, ‘Wonder Force Three’? I love that game,” he said over her shoulder, with a bright smile on his face. He then laughed embarrassingly and scratched at the back of his head. “Even though I’ve never actually beaten it.”

“Yeah, join the club,” Archer replied, with a slight smirk on her face, which was about half way between when she first arrived and when Snails was there. Realizing that Spike obviously had a reason for being there and wasn’t just there to make small talk, Archer decided to just come out with it. “What do you want, Spike?” she said, her focus returning fully to the game.

Spike gave her a comforting look before answering. “I just wanted to make sure that you were handling things alright.”

“I am,” Archer responded, just a little too fast to be convincing.

Spike gave her a knowing look with a raised eyebrow, but instead of giving her a sarcastic ‘Really?’ he instead let out a short sigh and gave her a reassuring, “Really?”

Princess Cloud Wonder took a direct hit, dealing a significant amount of damage to her shields. Archer responded to it by biting down, hard. Moving her avatar to the left to avoid the next barrage of attacks, Archer finally addressed Spike. Letting out a sigh of her own, she simply said, “I’m dealing.”

“Are you sure?” Spike immediately followed up. This caused Archer to bite down again, but this time it was because of Spike. Why couldn’t he and everyone else just leave her alone? She obviously didn’t want to talk to anyone, so why couldn’t they just take the hint? Seeing that he wasn’t going to get another response, he continued. “Look, I won’t claim to know what you’re going through right now and how that makes you feel, but I will be eventually, and unfortunately, that’s not likely to change. So please, I just want to help you.”

Archer couldn’t really shoot down anything Spike said, considering how sincere he sounded, but she still really wasn’t in the mood to argue with him and she just wanted to be left alone. Without turning to face him, she simply said, “Go away,” in what was barely above a whisper, but loud enough so that she knew he heard her.

After a brief pause, with no sound between the two of them but the sound effects from the game, which Archer continued to play throughout, Spike simply said, “Alright then,” and walked away.

All by herself again, and being able to focus completely on her game again, Archer had only one thought in her head at the moment. Darn it, hit again.

This time, five minutes had passed before Archer’s alone time was interrupted by yet another voice she recognised. “Hey…” Before they'd even finished a two-word sentence, she already knew who it was.

“Hi, Rumble,” Archer cut him off. “Tell me, are all of you just lining up somewhere, coming to talk to me one at a time, to get me to go do something or to talk to me about my feelings?”

Rumble simply shrugged. “Something like that.” Archer couldn’t tell if he was serious or not. “We are worried about you, though,” he continued. “You do know that, right?”

“And I keep telling you all, I’m fine,” Archer replied.

Rumble let out a sigh and got serious. “Look, you’re pissed, I get it. Believe me, I would be and will be too when I’m in your place, but you have to deal with it.”

“And who says I’m not dealing with it?” Archer responded. She then cracked a sarcastic smile. “In fact, those are the exact words I said to Spike earlier.”

“You know that’s not what I meant,” Rumble argued, with an eyebrow raised.

“That’s all there is to it,” Archer countered.

Hearing that, Rumble simply let out another sigh. “You know what, fine. If you say that you’re doing all right, then I’ll believe you and leave it at that.” He then turned back around to walk away, but turned his head back to face her as he did so. “Just make sure that you don’t have any regrets later,” he added. With that, he walked off again.

With him gone, Archer was able to concentrate fully on her game once again. She performed a barrel roll to the side to avoid an oncoming attack, only to roll directly into a descending missile. She was just about to curse at the machine, when suddenly a health pack appeared. Health packs were few and far between in this game, especially this late, so she pushed aside all other thoughts for now and made a beeline for it, right away.

Back up to full health again, Archer’s mind was once again on the game and nothing else.

“Hey there, Archer.” Apple Bloom this time. Archer was really starting to get annoyed with all of these constant interruptions. Knowing that she had something to say to her, (most likely something that the others already said about half a dozen times,) Archer didn’t respond to her greeting and simply waited for her to continue with her little caveat of ‘helpfulness’.

“So, you wanna go over to Sugarcube Corner?” Apple Bloom asked her, with a big, happy, ignorant smile on her face. “I heard that Mrs. Cake just got a new ‘Quintuple Fudge Fudge Brownie’ recipe that she wants to try out. We should go; I bet it’s delicious.”

“Don’t want to,” was all Archer responded with.

“Oh, okay,” Apple Bloom said, coming down a bit, but almost immediately went back up again. “Well then, do you maybe want to go somewhere to train some more to prepare for your fight. I could teach you some of my karate moves,” she said pridefully. “Hi-Ya.” She kicked and punch with her back and front hooves respectively in demonstration.

“Nope,” Archer replied immediately, mashing the button for her main cannons, destroying another weak point.

With only the one-syllable word answers that she was getting from her, Apple Bloom furrowed her eyebrows. “You can’t just spend all of your time playing video games, you know. Come on, let’s go do something… while you still can.” The last part only came out as a small whisper under her breath.

“I told you, I don’t want to,” Archer replied, either not noticing or not caring about the hushed warning. She was now really starting to get annoyed with Apple Bloom’s, and everyone’s, relentless interruptions, when all she wanted was to be left alone and play video games in peace. However, she still managed to keep her emotions in check and…

“Awww, come on, Scootablue…”

And that did it.

The farm girl barely had enough time to duck, throwing herself to the ground quickly in order to avoid a furious rearward buck. “Hey, what was that for?!”

“Don’t call me Scootablue! My name is Archer!” The blue earth pony screamed back at her, her voice full of fury but her eyes glued to the screen. “Quit comparing me to that pathetic, flightless chicken. We’re nothing alike!”

Apple Bloom’s eyes widened at that remark then narrowed. “Hey, don’t talk about my friend like that,” she growled, picking herself up again. Her scowl then faded a little and she turned her head to the side. “She’s dead, show some respect,” she said quieter.

“Well, since I’m essentially dead already, I’ll call her whatever in Tartarus I feel like!” Archer retorted, raising her voice again, not even slowing down. She then unleashed her Mega Torpedo and destroyed another of Lord Cruelty’s weak points.

Looking back at the blue earth pony, Apple Bloom furrowed her eyebrows again, and let out a breath, her anger cooling down a little. "I thought you liked that name," she muttered, trying to regain some composure. "Scootaloo never minded bein' compared to you."

"Yeah, and Scootaloo never had a real cutie mark of her own. You can't know what somepony ignoring that is like."

All Apple Bloom could do was stare. She then simply said, in a cold tone of voice, “You know, you’re a real jerk.”

Archer spared Apple Bloom only a split second glance. “…Whatever.”

With their little argument over with, Apple Bloom walked off, and Archer returned her full focus to the game once again.

All of these unwelcome visitors were really starting to get on her nerves. Archer had never really been popular before, and now she was in the worst possible way.

The next time Archer heard hoofsteps approaching, the intruding party didn’t even bother with a greeting this time. "Archer. You're coming with me."

The response was just as flat. "No I'm not."

A torpedo flew with deadly accuracy. Lord Cruelty's eight weak point flared up and went out, and then finally - finally something changed. The entire magika tank flinched backward, and a single row of energy launchers fell from their place - a single crack in the unbeatable lord's armour. Archer set her face as the barrage intensified yet again. There was no fear in her. It was Tornado Bolt who was standing behind her, possibly the only pony left alive who had ever actually asked her about her hobby. She of all ponies would understand. She would respect her enough to leave her alone.

Which made what came next all the more unexpected.

A set of strong jaws closed around the back of her cape. Her hooves kept moving as she was yanked backwards, quickly dancing across buttons that were no longer there, and they kept moving until their owner hit the ground, hard.

The blue sky loomed over her, numbing, chilling. It was the cry of Princess Cloud Wonder taking a hit that snapped Archer back to reality. She tried to scramble back to her hooves, only for a grey hoof to stomp on her barrel, pinning her to the ground. “No, stay down,” Tornado scolded her.

“Screw you,” Archer retorted, squirming furiously. “I'm so close, I've never been this close before, and you interruption will…” Tornado simply smacked her again.

“What in Tartarus is wrong with you?” Tornado shouted at her. “The fate of the world is at stake, and you’re wasting your time playing video games. Seeing how these could be our final days, you could at least try and do something constructive, or maybe for once think of your friends instead of being so selfish.”

“Well, since it’s my final days, I’ll spend them however in Tartarus I want, doing something that I like!” Archer shot back.

Tornado Bolt just scoffed. “Yeah, well tough shit. You’ve got a responsibility, to us and the rest of the world, and we’re all going through the exact same thing you are, so don’t go thinking that you’re special or anything.”

“Well, when it’s your turn to fight, you can do whatever you want beforehoof and I won’t stop you,” Archer barked back.

“You’ll be dead by then,” Tornado almost deadpanned.

“Exactly!” Archer followed up without missing a beat. “Since I’m going to die anyway no matter what happens and I won’t get another chance, I deserve to be selfish right now and try to accomplish something that’s important to just me.”

The two friends stared each other down, glaring hard, neither one of them giving the other an inch. Eventually, with a big huff, Tornado Bolt gave in and left, but not without a lot of bitterness.

With her gone, Archer picked herself up, brushed the dirt out of her coat and her cape, and walked back over to the game machine, and the sight in front of her only served to increase her own bitterness. Because of Tornado Bolt’s interruption, Lord Cruelty had killed her, and even now, she was still being tormented by that stupid Game Over screen, with Lord Cruelty’s skull laughing at her, as if he had actually beaten her this time.

Bucking up, she did the only thing she could do and began a new game and started again from the beginning. She had no more interruptions for the rest of the day and played for hours, well into the evening, until she fell asleep at the machine. But despite her efforts, she never managed to reach Lord Cruelty again.

Author's Note

As before, almost all of this chapter was written by Dawn Flower, with only minor tweaks from me.