"*Cough* *Cough* *Hack*" A bloody, one armed Thestral was laying in a field of rubble, a long chunk of rebar going through his chest, and right lung. His right arm was gone, along with both his lower legs. His wings are torn, and his mechanical left hand had 2 fingers broken, the arm holding a sword across his chest, the plasma blade currently turned off. The eerie silence was broken.

"Driver." The Thestral turned his head toward a bipedal, holographic pony, his form flickering under the emotional stress his unstable, artificial soul is going through. "You, you, you.....you will die." The hologram said grimly. "Your right lung is filling with blood. The wound on your left shoulder is bad. You would be savable, but nobody will arrive in time. You have 10 minutes. I'd kill you to end the pain, but my code, won't......allow it. I.......I'm sorry." The hologram looked down, tears of light falling only to fade on the ground.

"*Cough cough* Look at me. LOOK AT Me- *Hackackack* I've died for the right. Cause. My death is not- *Cough* *Inhale* *Cough* augh..in vain. She's dead-"

"No." The hologram interrupted. "She....is alive. She will live, as you've only knocked her unconscious."

"Well, shit. *Cough* .....WHAT!!!! AFTER SIX, FUCKING HOURS, SHE'S NOT DEAD!!!!!" He was launched into a ten second coughing fit, blood splattering everywhere. "Well, I'm going to die, and I need to piss. Anything new?" Driver said sarcastically.

"Ugh. Even when you're dying, you still have a sense of humor?"

"Damn straight."

"Jack isn't." They shared a short laugh at that, with Driver going into another coughing fit.

"Adam." Driver addressed the hologram. "Can you connect me to Godess Luna?"

"Yes..........connection established."

---Meanwhile at the Lunar colony---

Luna was anxious. Sitting on her throne in the main tower, the entire inside was various shaded of blue, with a single red line reading 'throne room' snaking out the door, and into the rest of the colony. The room itself was fairly short, 10 meters to the roof. There was a few computer terminals, all were on, displaying information she didn't care about at the moment. The floor was carpeted, the carpets a soft green, with a grassy texture. The roof had a display connected to some cameras that provided a live feed to the night sky, which the display, was, well, displaying. The throne itself was just a blue, gilded Lazycolt chair. Luna was fidgeting, sitting on the throne. She was waiting to hear if Driver succeeded in his mission. Speaking of which... "Uh, hello? Godess Luna, are you there? Please respond." She perked up immediately.

"Hello? Consciousness Nightmare Von Driver?" She answered, worried.

"Call me Driver."

"Then you call me Luna. I can't wait to see you once you get back!"

"*Sigh* yeah, about that...." Luna's happy expression dropped instantly, being replaced with one of sheer worry and confusion.

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm...not coming back. I'll only be alive for 10 minutes, far too short to get me proper medical attention. Plus, I failed. She's alive, and completely fine, just knocked out. But, there is good news." Luna was tearing up, but she needed to know what it was. She heard coughing on the other side, but it stopped after a few seconds. "One, her Titan is destroyed, plus I managed to break Magic. The other 5 won't work without it. Two, looks like 'her bitchiness' will remain the best drinker." Luna gave a small chuckle at his dry humor.

"Yeah...I guess she will."

"Don't cry yourself to sleep. I'm not your husband."

"Well..."

"Oh god.....you were going to propose weren't you?"

"Yes..." And a single tear rolled down her cheek.

"I can't make you happy. I can't be your husband. But, I can be the one who will talk to you until my final breath."

"*Sob* Just....stay with me." She said, now openly crying.

"Well... Remember that faithful day? The day I first used my Titan...."

---Some time ago---

It is the year 60 L.R., (Luna's Return) and an inter-species war has been raging for over 20 years. During this war, the former IRF (Independent Rainbow Factory) invented massive bipedal machines called 'Titans', and the augments needed to pilot one. Every country/species in the war bought one, and made their own versions, called 'models' of them. But this isn't about them. Not yet. This is about our protagonist, Nightmare Von Driver. He is a thestral, and apart of a branch of the Lunar Republic. He will be piloting a new Titan once his training is done, but it isn't. He is currently walking through the Lunar Factory of the Lunar Republic Colony. It is lunch time, and he is to report to the cafeteria. "Yo, Driver?" Nightmare Von Driver's friend, Jack asks him. "Wanna eat together?"

"Fine. It's going to take 5 minutes to get there anyways."

"Haha! We can play cards!"

"I swear to Luna, if you play them with your Titan, I'll kick your ass."

"Try me, motherfucker."

"Fuck you too." They then walked in silence down the blue corridors with multiple 2 inch-thick stripes of different colors providing direction where to go. The rubber floor with a metal layer underneath provided traction for magnetic boots. Driver was a dark-grey thestral with yellow, slitted eyes. His mane is backwards spiked, cut to 2 inches long. His black leather wings have a 2-meter span. He is 5'7. As a Consciousness, he pilots an 18-foot mech called a Titan. He received many augments. The augments made him bipedal, gave him metallic feet with built-in magnetics and rubber pads for traction, metallic, 4 fingered hands with rubber pads to help facilitate grabbing objects and entities. He also has front-facing knees, a radio implanted in his brain to allow soundless two-way communication, strength enhancements, and a sub-dermal layer of carbon fiber to protect against shrapnel and low-caliber projectile weapons. He can see better. Jack is a faded red unicorn with Justin Trudeau's mane style, which is a faded cyan. He is 5'11, and a Consciousness. He is retired at 70 years old. He is gay. In fact, his coltfriend is a thestral, his 'cuddlefriend', and is 71 years old. Anyways, after about 5 minutes, they make it to the cafeteria. The cafeteria is large, taking up 2 floors of the main tower, and is where everybody eats. "Hey, there's Blaze." Driver commented, pointing at the unicorn eating alone. Nobody hated him, it's just that it was when the Consciousnesses ate, so there was around 25 ponies/thestrals/who gives a shit sitting at random tables, spread out, some chatting with each other. As they grab their food, go to the table, and sit down..

"My Zigga's!" Blaze says, throwing his arms up, talking with a much-practiced Zebracan accent. "Yo, did'ja watch Final Space?"

"Yeah," Driver said, pausing to take a bite out of his meal. "Lunadammit, that show is kickass,"

---back to the present.---

"Damn this Final Space shit." Driver commented.

"What are you talking about?" Luna asked, confused as to why he'd interrupt himself.

"Well, I'm in the middle of nowhere, dying with an AI, with ten minutes till my ass is dead, after killing some evil motherfucker, most of my friends are dead, and the whole thing is emotional as all hell. Definitely Final Space. Now, where was I?"

Author's Note

This is my first story with a degree of seriousness. Also, Final Space is a real show, go watch it. (It's on Netflix, but I'm pretty sure you can find it on Youtube.)

Play Dwarf Fortress.