1,000 years of waiting.

Iron Heart Smiled as she looked at the Barrier, it had been a long and hard process to earn her title, but it had been worth it, she had her armor, and she had been Granted a Senior Ranked Sword. Angel was still in processing, being given the Fireproof Map, Travel bag, and a variety of other materials the Trio would need on their adventures. And Jamie was jumping up and down next to the Barrier, she had the potion bag of her own invention on her back, she was the most well know of the Trio, having Revolutionized Adventure Journey Alchemy. Inside the bag was a fully functioning Alchemy Lab, with the use of a series of spells the bag weighed almost nothing, the top had a protective barrier that prevented anyone that wasn't wearing the bag from reaching the potion's it held inside, it also had a series of pockets to store supplies in. the Bag looked small but had been proven to hold enough Items to outfit a small Malisha when used just right.

"This is awesome!" Jamie sang out as she jumped up and down "We're going outside, we're going to Equestria!"

"I've heard." A Robotic Voice said behind them, the two turned and immediately saluted as the Robot General of the Chrystal Nation approached them

"Relax, I command soldiers, not adventurers." Shining Armor said with a wave "Just wanted to see one of my best students head out."

"Thank you, sir." Iron Heart responded respectfully "I promise I won't let you down." Shinning laughed

"Please relax," He said jollily "My Daughters the Princess of War, not me "I'm just here to make sure she didn't tell you to go ballistic on everything you see or meet out there."

"Um...Sir." Jamie cut in "Not to be disrespectful or anything...but isn't Equestria full of Raiders and Mutants?"

"Well...yes" Shining confirmed, "There are quite a few ponies and monsters that you will end up killing, just make sure that they're actually trying to kill you first, I'm sure you know of the Mutant Cheerliee?"

"well yeah," Iron Heart said with a shrug "She's the Plant Mutant right? She's the reason so many Fruits and Vegetables are grown so fast and ready for the Entire Nation."

"Yes, well did you know that she use to be a Teacher?"

"What'd she teach? Farming?" Iron Heart asked with a snort.

"No, She was originally a Pony Teacher, Cheerliee used to live in Ponyville, Before the Great War." Iron Heart took a second to take that information in.

"Wait wait wait... you're telling me that the Mutant who feeds the Nation...is 1,000 years old?"

"Well she 1,054 years old now, and technically the Great was was 1,023 years ago by this point, but yes" Shining agreed "That is what I'm telling you, the same can be said for all the mutants that are used in the Empire." Shining held up his hand and counted them off

"The Mutant Aloe, The Mutant Big Mac, The Mutant Carrot Top, even Sweetie Bot! they are all from Ponyville." Shining thought for a second "That being said, not all mutants that still retain sanity are from Ponyvile, the Mutant Braeburn..."

"That Monkey Pony thing?" Angel asked, having just arrived in earshot "That's guy's fucking insane...makes good cider tho."

"Yes," Shining continued "Mutants like him, the Mutant Maud, the Mutant Sapphire shores, and even Myself and Spitfire, none of us were in Ponyville when the nuke's when off...but here we are." He shrugged.

"It's a shame you didn't make it back into the Safe Zone in time" Jamie noted, "How did that happen anyway?"

"Me, Spitfire, and Sweetie Be...I mean Bot, where halfway through the protection field when we were hit with the Nuke." Shining shrugged "The field deflected the Mutagen and ended up cut all of us in half, or in my case thirds, when it hit, After about 2 months of work keeping us alive, The Princesses combined their knowledge of magic and machinery and put our souls into this" Shining pressed a button and his chest cavity opened to reveal a Glowing Blue Orb," Angel asked when she saw it

"A Soul Drive," She said in awe at the orb "That things indestructible right?"

"Pretty much" Shining said as he closed it, "But we're getting off-topic, I just want you three to remember one thing, and remember it well, True most mutants are mindless killing machines, but If at any point during your journey you meet a Mutant that can talk, you must drop everything and do everything in your power to bring that mutant to the Capital! Even if it fights back, even if it attacks you, if a Mutant talks, even if it's Insane and berzerk, Take it to the Princesses!"

"Why?" Iron Heart asked, Jamie had pulled out a notepad and a pen and was now writing down everything Shining was saying. "I mean, even if it's sentient enough to still be who it use to be if it's a murderous berzerk monster shouldn't we..."

"Do you know how Cheerliee came to live here?" Shining asked, cutting Iron Heart off "749 years ago My Wife was in Equestria, she was working on a wedding and was hoping to find a type of Flower that, back then, had been declared Extinct, as she was searching, Cheerliee showed up and tried to kill her, at First Cadence fought back, but as soon as she got a good hit on Cheerliee she started screaming random words at her, none of them having any significance or even making grammatical sense, and after a few tries Cadence found she would mimic any word said to her, it was the first time anypony has, on record, found a mutant that could speak in full and clear sentences, even if she didn't understand the words. Cadence incapacitated her and brought her back to the Nation, and after half an hour of Looking through her mind, the combined effort of all the Princesses managed to restore her original mental state. After that Cheerliee went from insane and violent to being kind, reasonable, and very apologetic to Cadence for attacking her."

There was silence for a moment before Shining turned "Just remember, if they can still talk, they can still be saved, And good luck on your adventure." With a Wave, Shining walked back to the Empire as the Trio turned to the Safty Field. it Looked like nothing but Long Lychoruius grass field ahead, but they knew better and after taking a deep Breath Iron Heart walked forward and into the Icy wasteland beyond, She looked around the icy land and took a deep breath of the Frosty air around her as her two companions joined her, the stood there in silence for a few minutes, Angel stood between her companions, now in her flaming form to keep herself and her friends warm as they began their march to their first destination.

"Alright," Angel said as she took out the piece of paper she'd been given along with her stuff "We Need to Head for the Teleportation Junction, we just need to follow the old Railroad and once there we can be teleported anywhere in Equestria." There was silence for a second before She turned to Iron Heart "And We are not going to Ponyville first" She added, Iron Heart when from looking like a warrior to looking like a baby

"Please!" She Begged, "I Brought a Book and everything!" She said as she held up an old Textbook "I just wanna see what the town looks like, I've heard so much about it in my life, and never seen so much as a Picture of it!"

"No" Angel Repeated "Ponyville is one of the most dangerous places in Equestria, The Creature that Guards it is one of the most Dangerous in Existence."

"I know!" Iron Heart replied, "But It only kills you if you touch anything in the town, I have the Book for a Peace offering." She said waving the book around again. Angel looked at her hard

"Say, do you remember three years ago?" Angel asked nonchalantly.

"Wha..?" Iron Heart asked

"It was my Birthday, and you sprayed silly string at me, you missed and instead it flew through the flame of my candles and torched all my presents and my cake." The Trio walked in silence for a few moments.

"Wow." Jamie cut in "That's a low blow Angel, but I remember that day pretty well! It's too bad no one ever thinks to put an anti-burn charm on the things they buy you before they give it to you, you might have actually gotten some presents that..."

"Alright!" Iron Heart cut in "Are you ever going to stop hanging that over my head?"

"Maybe, maybe not. Who knows what the future holds for us." Angel said with a smile.

"so if you won't let me go Directly to Ponyville! then where do you want to go?"

"How about Appleloosa?" Jamie asked. " I hear it use to be nice this time of year."

"I heard it's a boring place this time of year" Iron Heart shot back "Come on let's go someplace action-packed!"

"Actually" Angel cut in "As boring as it's been said to be, it's the best place to go for our first destination out to the world, and after that..." Angel sighed at the sound of Iron Heart grumbling. "Oh for the love of...FINE!" Angel said making her companions jump "After Appleloosa we can walk through the Deadlands and go to Ponyville" Iron Heart made a noise that sounded like a cross between a squeak and a sob.

"Really!" She asked her voice trembling with joy.

"Yes...but I swear by the name of the fallen one if you attack the fucking creature and get us all killed I'll fucking kill you before it can!"

"I Promise I won't attack it!" Iron Heart said "The first time we go through anyway." she added with a smile. "Need to learn the area first, and try and get a good look at the creature before the battle so I can think of the best way to catch it."

"Wait." Jaime said when she heard that "You want to catch the Creature of Ponyville? Not kill it?"

"Well, my teacher just told me I'm not allowed to." She said with a shrug.

"What when did he..." Jaime scratched her cheek as she pulled out her notes and began scanning through them when Angel snapped her fingers.

"You think it's one of those Mutants that can talk don't you!" She said as Jamie sighed and returned the notepad to her bag.

"Well yeah, I mean how else would everyone know to give it a book when it's never been seen? It must tell ponies about it from a good hiding place or something and when they don't deliver it strikes them dead, I bet it's got long-range attacks, Or maybe little minions with super poison, or maybe it's magical and it just vaporizes them with a powerful spell! Or maybe..."

"I hate to interrupt your nerd out" Angel interrupted "But we're here." Iron Heart blinked and looked in front of them at the Teleportation station. It stood out in the frozen wasteland around them, it was 20 square yards long, the Station itself was a Huge Half Circle. the Portal that allowed for Teleportation was deserted, which was to be expected. Once they entered the perimeter Angel turned off her flames

"Ah." she sighed "Good thing I hate cold or we would have had to buy jackets for our five-minute walk." The Trio walked to the side of the Portal and Jamie stepped forward

"Alright," She said as she pressed a small button on the side of the Device, a loud revving sound rang out at the portal began turning on, to Jamie's left a small stand rouse out of the ground and displayed a holographic map of Equestria.

"Oh!" Jamie said as she looked at it "This is a nice map, so Appleloosa right?" She asked as she looked for it, Angel stepped forward and poked Applelosa on the map, immediately the Map zoomed in, a small window popped up for them to confirm their selection.

"Alright last chance, Appleloosa for sure?" She asked

"Yeah"

"Fine."

"Alright then." she hit the confirm button and the three made their way to the front of the circle, it was now spinning.

"Alright," Iron Heart said as she watched the Circle spark and begin to gather Magic in its center "We're going to Equestria, We've prepared our entire lives for this..." Iron Heart gave in and squealed "I'm So Excited!"

"Hold hands as we go?" Jamie asked as the Magic began to pick up and the trio began to feel the power of the portal begin to start pulling them into it,

"Definitely," Angel said as she took Jamie's hand and Iron Hearts.

"Let's do this!" Iron Heart yelled and with that, the Trio ran forward and in a Flash, the Teleportation Station was once again deserted and began powering down.