Bow Tie kicked her hooves along the sand, the heat from the loose surface scorching her hooves but in this world, she had grown accustomed to it. The well known amber sky, never faulting from that color flashed brightly from overhead as the sandstorm blew softly.

Her eyes from her whole life of bearing the outside gust had toughened to where the sand hardly stung anymore as she continued to walk forward. Glory popped open the lid on her flask before downing some of the liquid, the stench of alcohol nearly overcoming the scent of a metallic aroma this world bore.

"Glory… do you ever have a feeling, that regardless of where your loyalty lies, you start to question it at given times?"

The unicorn shifted the assault rifle hanging from her shoulders, as she shrugged. "Yeah, that's what gives us free will and separates us from machines. We can think through things, adapt, and question when something doesn't feel right."

"What Crimson is doing… to Subject 666 or as I call her Surprise… it isn't humane. I've watched her get beaten to pieces, torn apart… am I a coward for not stopping it?"

The general hummed, her magic sizzling on the flask as she stared off into the burning sky. "In a sense, I think we are all cowards, but this is war Bow Tie... exceptions are made in these times. When on the battlefield, you can't have emotions… you have to think survival. If you were to go against Crimson he'd have you killed, if you tried to run away… you'd die out here. There's nothing wrong with thinking for yourself, everypony needs to be that way… or they'd get themselves killed. Subject 666 as painful and selfish as this sounds, needs to fend for herself for Crimson's plan of getting the cure will benefit us all in the long run."

"But.. she's a slave! I know this is war but it's wrong! I can't watch anymore… or I am going to lose my mind!" Bow Tie shouted, as her friend and ally bit the inside of her lip.

"You don't have a choice, not here not now…" Glory said giving her friend some tough love before gently approaching her. "You know at this point Sub- I mean Surprise, is more like a rabid animal… I know you've grown attached to her, but she is too far gone. If you risked your life to bust her out, many ponies are going to die… not just by her, but by the disease that remains uncured. Surprise doesn't care for you, she never will… she cannot form attachments she doesn't have the capacity to. You free her, and you are digging your own grave."

Bow Tie scrunched her muzzle, the warm gust of sand blowing through her pink mane as Glory's horn lit up placing the flask back into her uniform. The scientist spoke softly, almost in a whisper in response. "I just feel like… Surprise and I have a bond, ya know? She's never attacked me, and seems to trust me."

Glory shook out flecks of sand from her multi-colored mane, before relying. "Coming from a pony who's experienced a near-death run on with the mutant, I am telling you that trust can go real quick."

"I think she can learn to love… as long as a pony she truly trusts helps her." Bow Tie mumbled as she paced along the sand.

"NO Bow Tie!" Glory shouted, her voice was so raw and demanding it made the scientist cower before the general softened her eyes and spoke gentler. "I may not know much about science, but being the traumatized war veteran I am I've been through lots of therapy. So much actually, I help soldiers in my free time let go of what they've seen. Surprise is a sociopath and there has never been evidence that's been proven to cure them… I won't say it's impossible, but it is highly unlikely that her behavior can be reversed."

The two mares grew silent the dust storm continuing to rage before Bow Tie started to sniffle and cry. "She doesn't deserve this life… she's known nothing but pain…"

Glory pulled the researcher into a hug before soothing her softly by patting and stroking her mane. The general's hardened body was not comfortable, but Bow Tie needed a pony's touch as she cried out all her frustrations and feelings in a heaping ball of wet tears.

The cry began to dampen Glory's uniform but her loyalty towards her friend caused her to hold and comfort the mare for as long as she needed to.

"Listen.." Glory whispered as the mare brought her muzzle upwards to glance into the soldier's sapphire eyes. "War doesn't last forever, we are sending out a team to help Surprise assault Blackheart's western garrison and it will be the first act of war where we have an advantage. With the cyborg's assistance, our troubles will be over quicker than expected… so just hang tight, we will figure something out."

Suddenly a blast of energy ripped their attention towards jetpacks skyrocketing in their direction! Glory tugged out her assault rifle as the soldiers advanced covered in metallic armor, along with an oxygen tank resting on their backs. Bow Tie squinted, noticing their hooves carried no weapons while the glass screen across their helmets flashed and beeped. Glory wasted no time in shooting, the bullet whizzing through the air before cutting across the first pony's shoulder! A mechanical whurr was made, before the jetpack busted open shooting the injured soldier towards the sand where he crashed landed.

His limbs sprawled out, motionless as the other soldiers came closer. Glory aimed once more as they advanced but slowing to cruising speed. "Damn Blackheart scouts, I assume they have found our main headquarters! We've got to take them out before they give the information back to their leader!"

She fired once more, but Bow Tie quickly angled the gun to where the bullet was aimed towards the sky! Glory glanced to her in surprise, as Crimson's assistant silenced her with a whisper. "Don't shoot… I think they are scouts delivering a message! They are unarmed if they wanted us killed they would have done it."

Glory was skeptical, but lowered her weapon as the scouts hovered a few feet from them. Their nuclear-infused jet-packs scattered the sand before they turned off their devices and stood feet away from the two mares. Their markings associated with Blackheart's army intimidated them, as a large armored stallion marched forward. His chest plate was filled to the brim with mechanical upgrades, along with lights strung out along the midnight-black suit of armor he had protecting him.

His oxygen tank was large, but infused with the rockets along his jet-pack as his head lowered and the darkened screen hiding his eyes and face revealed nothing about him. Suddenly his armored hoof came up to his neck, pressing a button as Glory stood in front of Bow Tie protectively lowering her warning scowl at the stallion.

He cautiously lowered his hoof as the helm melted away from his muzzle revealing a three-clawed slash across his nose. His pelt was black, while his emotionless and drained dark cherry eyes scanned over the two mares. The pixelating helmet exposed his neck and dark grey mane that fell in sloppy spikes down the side of his throat.

He smiled politely as Glory's eyes grew to the size of dinner plates! Bow Tie stammered, almost weakly falling onto the sandy landscape as the fear crept into her expression! "B...B... B-Blackheart!"

The general without any more hesitant actions brought forward her gun, but her speed was outmatched by Blackheart who pulled out something as well.

"Before you shoot, I have a gift… here, take it. I only ask you listen to what I have to say." The mass executioner said softly. He tossed the bottle of green liquid towards Bow Tie who almost didn't catch it in fear it was something that would kill her on the spot!

Glory dropped her gun as she examined the bottle with disbelief. "Is… Is this…"

"The cure your branch has been looking for yes, it will cure any ponies that have been affected by my created disease." Blackheart said, his voice complex giving them both a feeling of uncertainty as they fiddled with the bottle. "If I were to tell you that you have been fighting on the wrong side… would you listen to my reasoning?"

Bow Tie angrily pointed a hoof at the stallion. "You created a disease that WIPED out more than ninety percent of the population! I am not listening to ANYTHING you have to say!"

Blackheart frowned. "I did what I had to. If the eight billion ponies on the planet were not controlled, all of us would have starved. We don't have enough resources to share, ponies would have resulted in cannibalism, they would have murdered each other, children would be slaughtered when born for the world could not continue to provide for them. The world was overpopulated, the nations fought for what was left after the sun's fall… I saw the chaos beginning to surface, and if I didn't stop it ponies would have died in much more gruesome deaths. Being eaten alive by desperate citizens, suffocating in the heat and sand, starving or dying of dehydration… tell me Bow Tie, what would you have done?"

"I would have created more resources, we have technology that can create false air for crying out loud! You murdered mares, stallions, and even CHILDREN by your disease! How are you any different than them dying from starvation?"

The stallion responded calmly. "I created a disease that would prey on genetics that would not survive in our new world. The disease attacks the genome, weeding out cancer genes along with other genetically passed on traits that will weaken the remaining ponies left here. Since we survive on radiation and nuclear power I have to build a race that can tolerate it… since nuclear waste will cause vicious cancer. Through selective breeding, I can jump-start evolution… ponies evolve over generations, and my job is to get them to that stage over the course of time. We HAVE to evolve Bow Tie, we don't have a choice… the ponies too weak to survive cannot be allowed to reproduce, or we will doom our own kind by their genetics! The ones that survive, pass on their adaptations to their young, and eventually will birthe a new species of mutated ponies that will be able to survive on this barren planet."

"So you're saying, you killed billions of ponies to avoid starvation, and created a disease that would weed out the weak so we could evolve?" Glory snorted, before rolling her eyes with derision. "Why didn't you, I dunno… use your time to create things to make it easier to live here? Instead of killing off half the planet!"

Blackheart paced, his scouts remaining as still as stone before he licked his dry lips. "If I knew how to do that I would have… we are hardly scraping by with what we have. We have to work with what's left, with limited water… and corrupted food sources made of other life forms crawling beneath the surface. For a while, I thought my way was the only solution… I knew I had to make the hard choice because no other pony had the stomach to be hated… and despised for doing what was right. By killing ponies, I saved our future… we are no longer overpopulated, so I have no need to spread my disease any longer. The ponies who survived are fit to start repopulating, but… the process of evolution will take generations… time we may or may not have… so I have come to a conclusion."

Bow Tie swallowed nervously but responded. "That would be…?"

"Crimson's creation… Subject 666 as I recall… her genome. She has animalistic traits that my soldiers were able to salvage, one being the Sahara desert ant's genetic code that piqued my interest. She is able to withstand temperatures of one hundred and twenty-two degrees Fahrenheit, without even flinching just like the ant itself...there would be no need to force evolution when the process could be sped up using her. My plan isn't guaranteed, it never was… but using the subject to survive will be. He created a pony with DNA that could be infused with living organisms to help them mutate! If I could get a sample of her blood, just that alone could create a formula that could enhance our survival rates! Her natural abilities include heat resistance, disease immunity, and so much more! If our genetically passed down diseases and flaws were wiped out by her mutations… and her given abilities shared with the pony race… we could survive!"

"I gotta admit… that's actually… something that could help." Glory said as she glanced to her unsure friend who gave him a blank stare.

"So you're saying if you get your hooves on Surprise, you could genetically enhance every single pony to have them mutate into a hybrid? If Surprise's genes really could do that… and save the remaining pony race, by giving them abilities to survive on this planet… I don't know I am still not entirely sure about your intentions."

Blackheart wrinkled his face just slightly. "If I truly were the killer you thought I was, I would have kept the cure to myself… even when the threat was gone. I have no desire to kill, I never did… I just wanted to help us survive. Crimson is the one you should fear, he created a super soldier only he can control… have you asked him what he would do once he gets my cure? Go ahead, ask him… he won't have an answer to give you because he wants to take my place with his created pet. He wants to rule this broken planet, but don't hear it from me… go ahead and give him the mixture… I guarantee that was not what he was after this whole time."

The soldier turned around, preparing to depart as Bow Tie asked him another question. "Why did you come to us and give us the cure? What do you want in return?"

Blackheart stopped. "I only wish to fix these broken lands, and Crimson's experiment is the only guaranteed way to do it. I hope when the time comes, which it will… you will be ready to aid me, only if you wish. I hope you will see the true colors of your side, but you have free will and can choose what you want to do with the information you uncover… for now. Unlike Subject 666 bound to do Crimson's bidding, you are able to choose who you believe… but I implore you to tread lightly, for the stallion you work under could have you as his next experiment."

The helm came over Blackheart's face, as his jetpack booted up along with his scouts preparing to disembark.

Glory shouted over the rockets. "How will we know when the time is upon us?"

"You just will." Came his reply, before him and his crew shot off into the amber sky leaving the two mares to ponder over his words… and wonder what side they truly were on.

One Year Later

Soldiers landed among a ruined town, as they orderly stalked through tucking their advanced guns to their chests as their helms scanned lights on the dirt road. They marched forward, scanners tracking any signs of life as the commanding officer flicked his hoof.

He gave a silent command, the fire flickering in the distance as the buildings crumbled. The white-sheeted metal covering the walls seemed to be melting, as the unit breathed heavily through their helmets sucking up oxygen and protecting themselves from the polluted air. One of the soldiers bent down, before picking out pieces of rubble and exposing a body lodged in the wreckage. He scanned the motionless pony, before picking up his head and glancing in the dilated pupils not responding to the light coming from the flames around him.

Suddenly something sparked through the soldier's helmet before a voice spoke. "Body count around twenty-five, puncture wounds from bullets and multiple fractures to their skeleton uncovered. No signs of any hostility, they must have attacked and ran… tucking their little tail between their legs."

The commander waited for the static to cease before lightly dropping the deceased pony's head, and bowing his head out of respect. "Have you found any tracks or any lead to who the attacker was on our outposts?"

The communication device responded once more. "No tracks, we assume the soldiers came in from the sky… before laying waste here. Our nuclear power plant was attacked for what I assume, was to cut off our resources and power."

He signaled to three other soldiers as they kept watch, spinning around to cover all directions as the commander poked around the outpost. "I am going to search for survivors. These poor souls were innocent, they worked their tails off to provide us with power… while we kept their families safe… we didn't get here in time."

"We've got your back, Commander Shadow Buster." The soldier behind the lieutenant said as he crept along the smoke and fire the pieces of fallen plaster crunching under his hooves. "The ponies who did this are ruthless, makes me remember why I have always feared war."

Something fell towards the ground from within a collapsed structure, as Shadow Buster held up his hoof to silence his crew. They aimed their guns, lights coming off from the weapons as their brave leader went in first searching for any signs of life.

"Keep your eyes open, they could be lodged underneath debris." He said as the darkness swallowed them leaving the only source of light from their guns as their guide. Dust fell from the ceiling, as Shadow Buster began to turn on his night vision. "Huh… weird, I have static interference messing with my suit… can any of you activate your NODs?"

Shadow Buster pawed at his helm, but the vision refused to come on as he slowly turned his head when hearing a steady dripping sound. Something thudded on the ground, as the guns were moved towards the sound… and an object came rolling towards them slowly.

"What… is that?" He asked as the soldiers turned their lights on the object growing still near the base of Shadow Buster's hooves. When the object was exposed, and a thick liquid shown when the light reflected off its surface he cried out! "Oh my God… what… what happened?"

The severed head of a mare lay motionless, as her mane stuck to the bloody fur around her stumped neck. Part of her spinal cord hung out, as Shadow Buster nearly jumped when something shifted in front of them from within the darkness.

Suddenly a light started to come on in sections, a red flash glaring at them in the shape of an eye. Shadow Buster lowered his gun as the eye fixated on him, before he threw his head back to his soldiers.

"Get OUT, the threat is still here!"

They fled, running as fast as they could as Shadow Buster whipped around at the thing following them from behind. He tugged a grenade from off his belt, the lights coming on before he threw it in the mouth of the cave-like building!

He leapt to safety, as the bomb exploded taking down the remainder of the structure! The fire and combustion was powerful enough to melt titanium, when caught in the blast, making him breathe in relief when the thing couldn't be seen from within the flames.

"Close call boys… they probably hid a drone in here or something."

Suddenly white feathers emerged from the fire, before a pegasus carved her way through the explosion… her cyborg eye locking onto the soldiers emotionlessly. They cowered, as the mutant flapped her wings… completely immune to the fire!

"It's… It's the d-devil soldier!" one of the ponies yelled!

Shadow Buster and his unit took up arms quickly, as they aimed their guns they hooves fearfully fumbling around the triggers. "Take her down! If we die today… we die with honor!"

Surprise's mouth remained closed and unresponsive as her AI spoke. Command received, taking the unit out all at once.

Her back opened up, as miniature rockets with sharp needle-like prongs folded into view. Her cyborg eye released a laser, aiming at every single soldier, as the defenders opened fire! The bullets hit solidly, but Surprise remained still and airborne as if they weren't even firing! The shells of the bullets clattered on the ground before the rockets were fired impaling themselves into the soldiers! They stumbled over, their puncture wounds gushing out fluids while the commander Shadow Buster remained now alone.

He looked behind him, swallowing the urge to cry out in distress as his fallen warriors lay dead in heaps by his hooves. Surprise landed, her gaze never faltering as she approached with that blank stare that scared even the most stable minded individual.

She stood firmly a foot away from Shadow Buster as his fear kept him from firing the gun that would be useless to him anyways.

"The pony born with the devil's number… I should have assumed this was your doing. What does your filthy master want? If you are looking for Blackheart we don't have him!"

Surprise lowered her gaze before shooting a hologram through her robotic eye. Incoming transmission from Crimson Desert, loading.

A stallion appeared in a life-size hologram, as the robot remained still while Crimson Desert cleared his throat. "Let's make this quick, this war is starting to tire me. We've been playing this game of cat and mouse for too long, and for a year we've cut off Blackheart's resources to where he has to hide in a rabbit hole. We've destroyed every outpost left, all that's left to do is terminate your head chief… you're high in his ranks… one of the only ones left… so you must know where he's resting his head for the night."

Shadow Buster leveled his glare towards Crimson's withered face. "I know about your mass wipes along our outposts... we just create power… we have no idea where Blackheart is hiding. I came here to avoid this confrontation because I do not have the information you seek, but I guess hiding from your unleashed dog isn't an option."

"Correct, 666 can hunt and track down a rat like you from miles away. Now, if you are going to tell me a fib… I am going to start using methods you wouldn't appreciate. You have been in recent communication with your leader Blackheart, my mutant was able to track the signal to this location before it was cut off." Crimson rubbed his beard with his hoof as he looked back towards the cyborg and grinned. "You do understand… my mutant can track anything. You came here to avoid conflict for the sake of your wife and child… now… does your family want to have the honor of getting up and personal with 666?"

Shadow Buster growled. "You wouldn't… I'll slaughter every single one of your kind if you dare-"

"Oh but I would… in fact," Crimson wavered, as the hologram blinked. Surprise's back opened up revealing deadly rockets as her nose began to sniff. Subject 666 ordered to track, and kill civilians… process of completion 30%... DNA matched, target found. Three miles.

The commander waved his hooves in protest! "He's in an underground bunker thirty miles south from here! It's made of bomb proof material, but you can get in with this tag!" He tossed over his dog tag in desperation, as Crimson nodded in satisfaction.

"Alright.. Thank you for your cooperation. Subject 666 we are done here, dispose of him."

"What?" Shadow Buster cried, as Surprise quickly switched off the hologram before transforming her limb into a blade! With one swift movement, his head was sliced clean off, splattering blood against the debris behind him! The body fell to the ground, as the mutant scooped up the dog tag before shaking the sand from it.

She used her magic to wrap it around her hoof, before swooping up into the sky. Orders received, return to base.

Her enhanced speed caused her figure to quickly gain a fast rhythm, as her wings pumped hard before she hovered over the massive base holding the resistance. Lights flashed at her from the roof, beckoning for her to land as soldiers ran out to greet her. They prepared for her landing, as her body dropped through the air and she slammed her hooves onto the concrete.

She walked forward, her head staring straight ahead as they examined her. A worker lifted her mane, before reporting. "No wounds sighted, preparing to scan her for any malware that Blackheart could have installed."

Surprise sauntered as her wings were picked up and inspected, as another pony ran a buzzing stick along her body. "No malfunctions in her robotic system, we are good to go."

Inspection completed. Advancing to Commander Crimson Desert for further instructions. Surprise sharply turned around before approaching the heavily fortified door with the soldiers following closely behind. She quickly made haste down the spiral stairs, before she burst into the populated room of soldiers gathering weapons.

The room was large, filled with tanks and aircrafts as Crimson observed from high among a balcony. Surprise met him up there, before she grew still awaiting her next orders as Firefly, Bow Tie and Glory also presented themselves.

"This is it… the final battle. Ever since Bow Tie generously tricked Blackheart into coughing up the cure… we have been able to push him back until he had nowhere to run." Crimson announced as he turned and brushed the dust from his prized soldier. "With 666 leading the assault, we will finally rid the planet of this monster. On her own, she has taken out every single one of his outposts, his soldiers… even his highest ranking officers."

He held out his hoof as Surprise used her magic to gently rest the dog tag in it. Bow Tie nervously squirmed as Glory whispered to her.

"Do you think Blackheart is going to contact us? It's been a year… if he wants to live, he should probably do it soon."

Bow Tie nodded. "He was right, Crimson is power hungry… he has slaughtered innocent villagers… just because he had the power to."

Glory shook her head. "I don't know what he is waiting for… he's cornered."

Crimson took out the dog tag before moving his glasses to glance closer at it. "It's encrypted, not a regular one that much is clear. We will use this to get in… but first, the signal from the code must be a dead give away for 666 to find. So Subject 666, track."

Surprise lowered her head before beginning to sniff. Signal recovered, thirty miles south. Tracking… tracking… match found, course set.

"Get going, follow 666 she will lead us to Blackheart's final base." Crimson said, as the army he had at his disposal began to scatter with orders being shouted. "Prepare to move out."

Surprise turned to the giant gates opening as Bow Tie watched her leap off the balcony towards the tanks turning into accordance towards their guide. Ponies jumped in jagged aircrafts, their planes hovering from the ground as the cyborg started to gallop.

Bow Tie turned to Glory. "Let's pray that he contacts us soon… or he won't have the chance to!"

Surprise stopped in front of a blockade of tanks, Crimson riding in a mech as his eyes gazed at the Blackheart soldiers remaining to defend the base with their lives! There was only a split second for the sides to gather themselves, as the tanks rolled up crunching thick sand beneath the links connected to the wheels.

The battlefield was silent for just a few seconds, but when the first shot fired… it was followed by a hailstorm of others! Surprise charged head first, before slamming her body into the metal plating of the first tank she spotted! The armor caved in, ramming into another one of Blackheart's vehicles from the force of Surprise's tackle!

Jets flew overhead, before realizing their gunfire trying to catch Surprise who avoided the missiles being shot from her side! A tank next to her lit up in flames, bursting metal and fluids everywhere as her feathers shielded her from the spraying oil!

Surprise wrapped her hooves around muzzle of another tank, the machine firing a round into the thickened army in front of it before she crushed the metal in front to where it couldn't fire again! Her strength dipped the muzzle downwards, before tipping the entire tank forwards until she was able to lift in in the air!

She grunted before the tank flew into an advancing jet flying by! The plane burst into flames, the explosion raining down pieces from it, as Surprise turned around quickly. A heavy blast of plasma coming from atop of stryker, hit her body as she was backlashed into a mech! Her knocked back force caused the machine to get knocked off balance, when her body crashed into its leg! It stumbled, as her body broke the metal, causing it to tumble to the ground while she recovered!

Another plasma blast was shot, as she rolled to the side to avoid it! Her face remained emotionless while her brain calculated a strategy, until she locked onto the stallion controlling the heavy gun on the top. Her forelimb transformed into a nuclear-powered cannon before she shot a ball of energy towards the stryker which destroyed the gun with ease!

The stallion abandoned the flaming top of the machine, as his body flopped onto the sand. His body remained plagued with fire, his screams drowned in the chaos of the battlefield as a rain of bullets came down upon the two. The harmless attack bounced off of Surprise, but the pony was pulverized, and blown apart.

Surprise suddenly straightened. Command received, guide Bow Tie and Glory towards the entrance. Protect them at all costs, find Blackheart.

Surprise fled from her post, before greeting a small group of twenty soldiers accompanying Crimson as they surrounded the valuable trio. They shot at the ponies returning fire, as Surprise cleared their way by taking out every single tank in her range! Her back morphed into a rack of rockets once more, as they collided into the tanks and in one go they all exploded!

The fire engulfed the soldiers, as the shooting stopped allowing them to proceed forward. Surprise locked her gun at any and every threat, as the army of Blackheart started to get pushed back! They crept through, steering clear of the war… as a hidden triangle poked out from the sand.

Bow Tie held up the dog tag to the scanner, and her access was granted. Glory nervously glanced over to Crimson, as the doctor began to smile when the inside of the bunker was exposed. Lights flicked on, going down a long metal hall as the group followed Surprise inside with the cyborg never making a sound.

Surprise calmly led the way, her eye scanning for any life from within the walls as Crimson cleared his throat. "Be on guard, we are in enemy territory the sooner we find Blackheart and kill him… the faster all of this will be over!"

Suddenly a loud probing screech blasted around them! Crimson screamed in pain as the sound waves relentlessly boomed harshly. "Prepare yourselves, Blackheart has installed a TRAP!" The soldiers threw themselves over the three ponies before creating holographic shields! When nothing rained down, or blasted… or even shot… Crimson moved a shield to where he could look up. "Speakers…? Blackheart only installed… speakers?"

The sounds were indeed coming from huge speakers hanging from the ceiling, but there was nothing else to it!

"Ugh… he must be out of his mind… 666 shoot down the-"

Crimson stopped as Surprise howled, whipping her head back and forth as she rubbed her hoof along her skull! Her head sparked, as her AI spoke. Unable to locate commander, Subject 666 overriding system, Annihilation Gen-1 2.0 system offline, malfunctions severe.

"No! NO!" Crimson yelled, as Surprise blinked rapidly before her head started to clear. "He's using radio interference to mess with my subject's system! Shoot down the speakers immediately!"

Suddenly Blackheart's voice echoed throughout Bow Tie's head. "Incase you didn't get it… that's the signal, I will guide you with telepathy when I can. Crimson's will over 666 is broken, but not for long… I hate to ask this of you... But in order for her system to be permanently freed, Crimson must be killed."

Glory noticed her face. "Is that his signal? Alrighty then!" The general whipped out her gun before pulling out Bow Tie from the ring of soldiers. She began to open fire, making them stumble back to absorb the bullets! "I have been waiting too LONG to do this!"

Bow Tie looked over to Surprise shaking her head and groaning. "Surprise… you are free! Help us escape, we have to get you out of here!"

Without any hesitation, Surprise brought out her gun before Glory shouted over the fire of her own gun. "He FREED Surprise? Bow Tie… that's a really BAD idea!"

"Glory what the HELL are you doing? Shoot her down, she's a traitor!" Crimson commanded as Surprise pointed her gun towards the group.

With one swift flex a ball of nuclear energy shot towards them, catching them in a massive explosion as Bow Tie quickly beckoned Surprise to follow. Glory watched their back, as they ran down the hall until a room was sighted where they could gather their thoughts.

The unicorn panted, before sealing the door shut as Surprise flicked her tail curiously. The general wiped the sweat from her brow, before fluttering her lips. "Damn… he wanted us to come in there… for it was the only way to break Crimson's control over Surprise… smart… he was able to set up a trap."

Bow Tie shook her head. "What do we do now?"

Glory huffed. "Knowing Crimson, that blast did not kill him… since he was shielded by his soldiers. The radio interference won't last forever, and I know he called backup… we will have at least an hour to get to him… before Surprise is controlled again, and we are dead meat."

"I can go out and kill him... I wouldn't mind throwing a special little party for Crimson." Surprise suggested as she bounced in place fluttering her wings.

"No… I know he's smart enough to remove himself from this bunker… to avoid traps. He's hoping you will follow him, because once you leave here the radio interference no longer protects you." Bow Tie said as she rested a hoof on the subject's shoulder, as she took a shaky breath knowing for the first time… she was at Surprise's mercy, the cyborg no longer being held back by chains. "I know you don't like ponies telling you what to do, but I promise we are here to help you… trust in me Surprise."

"Okey dokey Lokey!" Surprise said cheerfully as she fluttered her eyelashes.

Glory shifted her gun. "I am going to see if I can find Blackheart, and see if he has something that can buy us a little more time. Whatever you do, do NOT leave this bunker… stay behind these doors which I'll seal closed… if I am not back in an hour, that means I'm dead and you'll have to proceed without me."

Bow Tie quickly threw her hooves around her friend's neck. "Be careful Glory… we need you to come back safe."

The general nodded before opening the door. "Stay here, and stay alive… we cannot have Surprise get captured. Oh and Bow Tie?" Glory stopped before glancing at the mutant cocking her head in the room. "Are you sure you will be okay with her? Alone?"

Bow Tie nodded. "Yes, she is not our enemy nor are we hers. I trust her."

Glory gave a suspicious look before departing. The doors closed leaving the unchained mutant and Bow Tie alone in a sealed room. Bow Tie knew she could get out from the inside, but the outside was locked giving her some security. Suddenly her heart turned as cold as ice as she felt a warm breath tickle her neck, she slowly turned to stare into Surprise's purple eyes.

There she was… in a room alone with a pony she knew could kill her in seconds. The cold-blooded mutant's eyes stared into hers, her breaths growing ragged as the red cyborg eye zoomed in and out on her. Would Surprise kill her? She was free now, and could easily dispose of her and not allow her to boss her around! Could a sociopath change? Now was the moment of truth, did Surprise view her as an enemy… or a friend?

She made no attachments, she had no morals… free to do what she pleased, and that unfortunately was killing anything in her sight!

Her muscles tensed up, scared to move… scared to speak, as the cyborg turned away and settled on the ground before rolling on her back. "Want to play a game?"

She released a breath of relief, for now… the cyborg didn't have the urge to kill.

She silently thanked the Gods, as she approached the cyborg rolling around while humming happily. Her wings sprawled themselves on the metal, as she wiggled like a grizzly rubbing its back on the bark of a tree.

"I should probably tell you what's going on." Bow Tie began, as she sat down across from Surprise as the mutant sat up and attentively transfixed her gaze. "Blackheart's actions are still wrong, but I understand why he did it. We need your genome Surprise… with it… we can adapt to the heat… and the environment around us! So, I have agreed to aid him for the time being… regardless of his past faults of killing billions."

"You… are aiding…. the pony I am meant to kill?" Surprise asked, her cyborg eye dilating for a split second before growing still. "The one who created the disease?"

"Yes… I know it makes no sense right now, but trust me."

Surprise's face was painted with all sorts of confusion, as she scooted forward. She whimpered as she opened her forelimbs and beckoned Bow Tie to come forward. She hesitated, but then realized Surprise wanted a hug… and knowing she had never had one, she must have been craving to hug her all this time. She swallowed before accepting the invitation, and for the first time letting Surprise's mechanical hooves wrap around her back. She was gentle, her head resting on the scientist's shoulder, as Bow Tie nuzzled her nose into her neck.

She inhaled her scent, the two hugging for quite some time as Bow Tie stroked her back soothingly. She heard something pixilate, her chin lifting up slightly as she felt Surprise's muscles tighten. Suddenly a sharp pain ripped through her chest, and she screamed as blood splattered from her mouth! Surprise pulled away, her expression saddened as Bow Tie slowly looked down to see the cyborg's blade impaling her!

"S...Surprise?" She croaked, as the robot's face remained emotionless before sliding out the bloody blade from the crevice.

Bow Tie fell back gasping for air, as her hooves trembled while clutching the gushing wound! Surprise lifted herself onto her hooves, as she hovered over the shaking researcher who choked and gargled as tears started to stream down her face!

The cyborg placed the blade in front of her, resting her weight on the transformed limb. "I told you once that the disease was both sides… now that you have supported the stallion who doomed this world, you've become part of it as well."

Bow Tie shook her head in shock, her tears of betrayal pooling by her chin. No matter how many things she wanted to say, her time was limited so she only squeezed out one. "W...W-Why?"

Surprise tipped up her chin with the blade. "Because silly… I was created to be the cure!"

Bow Tie watched helplessly as Surprise hovered over her before sinking the blade into her heart, and slowly impaling her by applying pressure. She screamed, once more blood spurting from her mouth as her hooves desperately tried to grasp it! Her grip became weakened, before she slowly laid her head on the ground, and her hooves rested by her sides motionless.

Surprise slipped the blade from out of Bow Tie's chest her body rising before dropping when the sword came out. The cyborg looked over the deceased mare who had taken care of her during her entire life. "Too bad really… you seemed like a reaaaaally nice pony. Unfortunately, my job is to find the cure, and to destroy the disease… which Blackheart created, that sadly corrupted you as well."

The cyborg took a deep inhale, before turning around and abandoning the bleeding carcass and unlocking the door. Her cyborg eye lit up, before locking on two ponies deep within the basement of the bunker as Surprise zoomed towards Blackheart and Glory. When she skipped down the stairs and approached the metal door, she shot it until the fortified protection gave way allowing her entry.

Blackheart jumped as Surprise's cyborg eye gleamed. "Ah 666, please come join us."

Glory squinted, "W-Wait… where is Bow Tie?" The general lowered her gaze, until her eyes widened at the dripping red substance on her left forelimb. The heavy realization hit her as Surprise slowly walked in with a focused gaze. "N… No… Bow Tie… please… this can't be true! She… SHE TRUSTED YOU! You're a MONSTER!"

Glory turned on the cyborg, aiming her gun but Surprise was quicker. She shot a ball of plasma at Glory who's forelimb was vaporized and melted into pulpy goo. She screamed as the substance ate away at her flesh, before Surprise shot another ball that collided into the general's skull making her head pop along the walls!

Her fluids splattered on the back of the wall, before the murdered general's body collapsed onto the ground, blood spilling from the open neck. Blackheart screamed, his cheeks expanding from vomit rising in his throat, as Surprise approached him eagerly.

Blackheart stumbled back, his chest heaving as Surprise's cyborg eye scanned over him excitedly. "How long I've been waiting to meet you sir, my name is Surprise… I was sent here to kill ya, you know how it goes right? Hee-hee!"

He put his hooves up. "Listen Surprise… I don't want to harm you, I just need your genetic code to enhance ponies DNA sequences to save our species! W-We can help you… it's… it's not too late to stop!"

"Hmm tempting offer, but I'd rather save our species my own way. Ya know…. My whole life ponies have been silly bumfuzzles, telling me what to do all the time… real party poopers. So now I am going to be giving the orders around here for a while, it's gonna be real fun I promise, so you can rest in peace knowing the world is in good hooves!"

Before Blackheart could protest her blade sliced through his fleshy neck! His head popped right off, as the cyborg caught it in her magic. She turned around glancing at the bloody room before tapping her chin.

"Hmmm… how do I get Crimson down here, hoo-boy that's going to be a toughie." She looked up before heat signatures were found above her among the raging war. "Oh riiiiight I am a super, duper, amazing cyborg! I can connect onto all their devices, especially the suits they wear which I can control with my mind."

She focused as her AI beeped. Subject 666 accessible to commands.

"Alright buddy ‘oh boy, I am going to name you Core. I need ya to weave your way into Blackheart's robotic soldiers and control their suits. Mostly their jetpacks, and we are going to drop Crimson right into this room."

Overriding battle armor… process of overwriting control at 99%... completed. Subject 666 in complete full control of soldiers nineteen and twenty-five.

"Fantasterific! Now, let's go ahead and have ‘em bring Crimson right in here through teleportation. I'm gonna disable the magic keeping Blackheart's little bullies outta here, so they can waltz right on in!"

Surprise's wings fluttered in excitement, as her cyborg eye scanned for insecurities in the base's programming. In seconds, she started defusing the protection as the base around her started to make loud shrieks from alarms. Once they were disabled, she sat down and giggled happily when Core started to respond to her commands.

Forcing soldiers nineteen and twenty-five into base.

Something pixelated in front of the cyborg, as she sat patiently. Two soldiers mindlessly held a stallion in their grip, as he kicked and screamed like a mad man.

"How dare you put your filthy hooves on ME!"

Crimson jerked his forelimbs from their grasp, before Surprise cleared her throat. The soldiers turned, as their suits sparked and resisted their commands.

"T-The devil soldier is the one controlling us! W-We can't move commander!"

Surprise smiled. "Thank you for your service, you are free to go." They realized their suits still did not respond to their commands, as the cyborg transformed her leg into a gun. She grinned before blasting them into piles of bloody ash, blowing their insides over the walls. "Hee-hee, I'm joking… wasn't that a funny prank?"

Crimson's eyes grew wide as he stumbled away from his creation. "Subject 666 I command you to STAND down!"

Surprise advanced, her gun clinking on the ground as she walked. "Yeah… you see, thing is Mr… that's not how it works anymore… hee-hee!"

The doctor picked himself up onto his hooves before scrambling out the damaged door out of immense fear! "I need backup, I need some pony down here right NOW!"

His voice boomed into his speaker, as Surprise giggled from behind him… her shadow dancing along the walls as he fled.

"Are you playing tag now? That's fine with me… but if you loooose, it's not going to be very fun for you, Crimson."

The scientist looked back and saw the shadow of Blackheart's swinging head enveloped in magic, as Surprise bounced and skipped along the hallway. His pelt was sleek with sweat, his heart booming and roaring in both his chest and his ears. Surprise was playing with him, teasing him by catching up and then falling back, while laughing cheerfully from behind.

"Leave me alone you beast! I will have the last laugh, you're game will NOT defeat me, I created YOU!" Crimson shouted as Surprise hummed before the doctor glanced at ending of the hallway. A bright light shone from the outside, as the war continued to rage, spilling sand into Blackheart's bunker.

He lunged, but a blast of plasma collided into the metal frames melting them into burning hot goop that blocked his way out. Surprise giggled once more, her kittenish laughter causing Crimson to whip around and kick back. His rump inched over the boiling metal, making him yelp and scoot in another direction as Surprise dropped the head at his hooves.

"Oh no… lookie here, seems like you got caught… don't ya know you're not supposed to get caught in a game of tag? You were so close, I guess I can give you the participation award… how's that sound?" Surprise said, as her forelimb transformed into a blade as she came forward with her cyborg eye glaring. "Game over, Crimson."

"W-Wait! We can still work together… we can rule this planet, just the two of us! W-Without me.. This planet will die, if you kill me you've doomed everyone including YOU!"

Surprise tossed her head around as she pondered. "Nopie nope… I'd say getting rid of you would help everyone survive... Ya know? Especially since their ‘ol pal, Surprise would be taking your place, and I'll be a great leader!"

Crimson put up his hooves. "I-I can work under you, you'd need some pony to help you rule… yes? I know everything about this planet… while you know nothing, you can't get rid of me… I'm your only hope at getting my army to follow you."

Surprise cocked her head. "No.. I don't think that will be an issue. If they choose not to follow, I'll just destroy everything they have hee-hee! Thanks to you, I can take on an entire army in my sleep, they'd be pretty silly trying to fight against me, right?"

The subject plunged the blade in Crimson's chest as he coughed up blood that splattered on Surprise's mane while her wild eyes reflected her hyena smile.

The doctor placed his hooves on Surprise's blade before spitting on her muzzle. "You will be the one who runs this planet into ruin! I tried to save everypony with my last dying breath, but I failed and instead created…. a...a monster!"

Surprise swung her head slowly like a taunting cobra before she stared into his fading out eyes. Her blade plunged deeper causing his breaths to become sharp, and heavy as his breath blew on her nose. She licked her bloodied lips, before giggling and sliding the blade out of his chest.

"A… A… m… monster." He gasped, as Surprise hovered over him with an icy grin.

"Oh but Crimson, remind me who the stallion was that made me this way."

His eyes widened, as the mutant stabbed her blade into his neck severing his head with one final stab. In a chop, his spinal cord was sliced freeing his rolling head to bump on her hooves as she picked it up with her magic.

Surprise emotionlessly jabbed the head with her blade, poking a hole through the skull as she placed both heads of Crimson and Blackheart on the sword. She then picked herself up off her rump and walked outside where the mechs and tanks were fighting with no intention of backing down. The cyborg approached the war, her eyes halved and glowing with ferocity as she swung her forelimb breaking the spiked metal barricade.

The shards of metal dropped onto the sand, as she raised the heads and activated the rockets on her back. They flew into the air before exploding and creating a sonic boom, that deactivated every ship in the air, and every rolling tank. It sucked the power from every machine, as the jets crashed onto the sand and combusted causing the war to now become silent.

Every soldier ceased fighting, as Surprise continued to raise the heads. The only sounds were the crackling fires from the explosions, and confused whispers as she flicked the severed heads of their leaders onto the sand. They plopped onto the sand, their manes blowing in the heated gust as the cyborg raised her voice.

"YOUR leaders are DEAD!" She shouted, as she kicked Crimson's head far towards the soldiers who backed away from the sociopath. "I am your new commander! Show your submissiveness and BOW, yield to me, and I will allow you to live!"

The soldiers glanced at each other before one stepped forward. "I shall never submit to a murderer and a psychopath like you, devil soldier!"

Surprise shot him dozens of times in the chest with her gun, as her face remained emotionless at the spilled blood on the sand. His body popped like a grape, gushing his fluids onto the chained wheels of a tank as the rest gasped and trembled.

"ANYONE ELSE?" She boomed, her teeth clenched as the army remained silent. "BOW!"

One by one each of them dropped their chests to the sand, as heads dipped and weapons dropped making it seem like a musical rhythm. Surprise stood tall, watching Blackheart's and Crimson's soldiers now bend to her will… and her will alone.

"Look at you… prancing around like you're a God."

Surprise turned with a bit of a murderous scowl, as the deep voice wrapped around the soldiers who refused to budge from their bows in fear.

Something approached, moving the soldiers with their magic as a large bulky creature lumbered through with a large ax balancing his weight. A minotaur snorted mist from his nose, as his glowing ax resembled the burning heart of a star.

"You're no God." He said, as his ax slammed on the sand, creating flames at the base of it.

"Ooo, a visitor… who exactly are you, stranger?" Surprise asked as the minotaur revealed his sharp fangs by curling back his lip.

"A true God, one whose power can level the stars." The God said, as he picked up his ax and slung it over his bulging shoulder. "I am Ares, God of War."

"What is a God to a non-believer?" Surprise asked, as her gun formed. "I'll tell you what… absolutely nothing."

"A fascinating claim, but who are you to a God?" Ares grinned. "Absolutely nothing."

Surprise hopped down towards the sandy battlefield, as Ares swung his ax tauntingly but the pegasus did not budge. The butt of his weapon slammed into the sand, creating a mighty gust that blew back the hardened mutant's mane back.

Her eyes turned to slits as she charged, slamming into the God's gut and taking him up into the sky! He slapped her aside, making her tumble in mid-air before she recovered and locked onto him with her cyborg eye. His ax swung, creating a wave of fire that washed over Surprise who shielded herself with a holographic screen. She flapped her wings disposing of the flames, as they faded from view. She activated her rockets, that folded out of her exoskeleton before shooting towards the minotaur who remained floating.

He took one claw and flicked one aside, causing it to burst meters away. He sniffed before blocking the explosions with his arms in an "X" position. He sneered, before brushing a ball of flames off his shoulder and advancing towards Surprise with a war cry!

She unloaded her guns on the celestial being, but his toughened body absorbed the plasma as he rammed into her! She sparked for a moment, before grunting and activating her chromatophores that caused her body to shift and change colors! Her body vanished blending into the amber sky, as Ares whipped around and squinted challengingly.

"Magic tricks? Is this how you hope to defeat a God?" He taunted, bellowing out a laugh as his deepened voice spoke once more. "I do not favor cowards."

Ares glared around him until something sharp stabbed his back! He roared, before whipping around swinging his mighty arm like a whip! It caught the disguised Surprise, as she was hit directly in the head. She went spiraling away from him, as her camouflage faded away to reveal the giggling cyborg who activated more guns.

Bullets rained down on Ares, as he roared and swung his ax! It created a cyclone that swept up the pegasus who fought it by pumping her wings! She panted, before her forelimb pixelated forming a grappling hook, that sank its blades into the God! He yelled out in pain, as she pulled on it to rip her away from the vicious wind!

She was free, as she swung around him the metal rope keeping her secure before she brought his body along with her movements! Her strength was able to swing him around, before she cracked the grappling hook, ripping the blades from his chest as his body went hurling towards the ground. She returned the bloody hook, as strings of his flesh flapped in the wind before his back slammed on the sand.

He roared before trying to pick himself up, Surprise swooped downwards gaining speed by activating rockets built into her robotic system. She transformed her limb into a sharp blade, before slicing right into the God's chest! The power behind the attack caused the blade to sink all the way through his body and into the sand, as she pulled it out and stabbed once more!

His ax dropped by his side, as he reached for it. Surprise used her other forelimb to activate a gun, before shooting the ax away from his grasp! She then stabbed him once more, splattering blood on her pelt, before he growled and snatched her throat with his mighty hand!

She was flipped over, as the minotaur stood over her, before slamming his fist into her face! The God's force caused the ground beneath her head to crumble, and dent like a crater as he pulled back his elbow once more! Blood gushed from her nose, as she gripped his muscular arm with her hooves before using her forelimb's blade to slice through his arm!

The limb was cut cleanly through, technology surpassing Gods, as the proof thumped on the sand with a pump of squirting blood. Ares howled, as he stumbled back only succeeding in having Surprise tackle him, causing his belly to be exposed.

She laughed before raising her blade, and jabbing it into his throat! His eyes bugged, as she wiggled it, tearing up his skin and muscles as she pressed it into the back of his spinal cord! His remaining arm dropped onto the sand, as Surprise panted before pulling the soaked blade from the God's body and sliding off of him.

He was still, with pumping wounds gushing from his chest, as they flowed like rivers down his ribcage and onto the sand.

The soldiers started to gather around, not believing what they had witnessed! They gasped and pointed, as Surprise kicked at the motionless body of Ares.

"S-She killed a GOD!"

"That's… that's not possible… no pony has the power beyond the great ones themselves!"

Surprise turned to them before sitting on the sand with a sadistic smile. "I'm your God now."

She frowned when something boomed above her, and lightning gathered along the sky. She looked up as the amber sky turned an ugly black, as clouds swirled above the soldiers making them cower at what else was to come.

"Clouds?" Surprise asked, as something formed in them. "Another one?"

She hummed, as a white griffon appeared with a spartan helm and a golden spear lodged in their claw. The creature descended from the clouds, as the figure landed on the sand their golden eyes sweeping over Surprise as the pegasus giggled.

"Lemme guess, you're another God? Hate to burst your bubble, but I already killed your friend over there, so you can just go home… this world already has a new God."

The griffon stabbed her spear into the sand.

"Goddess." She corrected, as she took off her helm to expose her black feathers. "-And you did not kill Ares, your weapons cannot kill Gods… only temporarily wound them."

"Oof, well I think he's dead." Surprise said happily, as the Goddess's stare remained hard and focused as she advanced. "Why are you here? After all this time, I thought Gods were nothing but fairytales. You've abandoned this world, so why do you show up now?"

"I've come to put you to rest." The Goddess said as she summoned her spear that flew into her claw. She threw it, piercing Surprise's chest as her body went flying into a tank before pinning her to it! The cyborg screamed in agony, before laughing like a maddened pony as her lungs heaved blood onto her hanging hooves! "Your planet has fallen into ruin, it cannot be saved… and the lives here that remain have pleaded to me to end their misery. The Armageddon they speak of will only worsen if you remain alive."

The Goddess approached Surprise who activated a gun, only to have it pinned with a golden sword that the griffon pinned into the tank as well! The cyborg yelled out in pain, before she laughed once more causing the Goddess to look on in confusion.

"I do not fear you, because you don't have the power to stop me!" Surprise cackled, as the Goddess shook her head.

"They made you go mad, I do not want to kill you Subject 666. You were born to be this way, but a Goddess like me does not show mercy to those who walk the path you do." The warrior looked into Surprise's eyes as the pegasus growled, while the Goddess rubbed the bottom of her beak. "Sociopaths do not change…"

"I'll never change, I like BEING this way! It's fun, killing ponies who have tortured me my whole life! I've killed every last one of them, I'll even make a silly little game of it… making them think they are safe… hee-hee!"

"Your world is not the only one dying 666." The griffon said, as she looked towards the sky. "If I were to kill you, it would still not solve my problem. You're one of the most powerful ponies in the universe… yet you choose to fight with evil in your heart… I have no other choice but to end your life for the greater good, for like I said… sociopaths never change."

"Then DO IT, you better hurry the grip on your spear is slipping haha!"

The Goddess pondered. "What if I were to…" She trailed off, as she turned her back to the cyborg that was starting to pull out the spear. "What if you wanted to change… because you saw the worth of lives, because you started to care about a pony."

"I care for NO PONY!" Surprise shouted as she plucked the spear from her chest, she jabbed it at the Goddess who easily caught it with her claw. The pegasus was flabbergasted as the griffon cocked her head and blinked her golden eyes.

"Pinkamena." The Goddess whispered. "She could change you…"

"I doubt it!" Surprise spat, "I'll kill her on the SPOT!"

The griffon shook her head. "You can try, but she's also one of the most powerful ponies in the universe… and you will fail." She flicked Surprise back into the tank, the metal crunching as the pegasus yelled out in pain. The spear was once more summoned into Goddess's claw as she continued. "You need to see the value in life and the errors of your thinking. Sociopaths will only change when they want to change, so I need to make you see a different side than what you've always known."

Surprise was weak as her head lolled. "I'll… n… never want to change!"

The powerful creature placed her spear over her shoulder. "Like you said… I doubt it." The Goddess opened her wings before ascending up into the sky just slightly. "I am sparing your life, 666. For I have a better plan in mind, that may just indeed save all worlds instead of saving one."

The cyborg watched as the Goddess started to fly higher and higher as she jumped from the tank and growled at the heavens above.

"I'll NEVER change! This is who I AM!" The griffon ignored her as she vanished into the blackened clouds with the cyborg's shrieking voice booming behind her. "NEVER… do you hear me? Sparing my LIFE will just give me more time to find out a way to KILL YOU!"

The pegasus activated guns, blowing up the sky with rockets and bullets for hours, her screams of anger and her rage creating a hazy cloud of her own. After that, she began her own work, enslaving her planet by feeding them fear and forcing them to obey with their lives as their reward. Surprise, the new ruler of her planet was like this for years, the Goddess never once appearing again, or any God for that matter.

Her reign was terrifying but helped the planet thrive with what was left. Over the years she forgot about the Goddess and her words of wisdom, forgetting that another plan was being hatched as the griffon had warned many years before.

Current Day.

Surprise lurched up screaming, as her hooves clamped the blankets of her bed. Others in the room with her shot up screaming as well, as a demon fell out from the bed scrambling on the marble floor of Hephaestus temple.

"SHIT… what's happening? Wha… what's going on?" Pinkamena yelled as The Goddess of Victory, Nike, screeched like a fearful kitten.

"God DAMMIT, who's having night terrors?"

Suddenly something yelled next door, as a hoof came knocking on the wall. "SHUT UP, it's four in the morning and some of us are trying to get LAID tomorrow!"

Pinkamena scrunched up her nose. "Gross, Aphrodite."

Pinkie Pie apparently was still asleep as a white griffon rubbed her face and rolled over. The Goddess of Wisdom held her sleeping bag, as her claw massaged her forehead.

"At least Surprise's screams, are not like Nike's snoring." The griffon said as the sphinx who happened to also be a Goddess snorted.

"Okay, first of all, fuck you. I am a work of art, and works of art like me don't snore… I was sleeping pretty damn great until Surprise just had to scream like a banshee!"

The cyborg glanced towards the floor. "S-Sorry I… I just had a nightmare."

Pinkamena picked herself off the floor. "W-Wait a minute… why were you in MY bed? Why were you not in YOUR sleeping bag? Were you snuggling me??"

Surprise grinned sheepishly as Nike groaned. "Get a room you two."

"SHUT UP!" Aphrodite next door screamed as the griffon shouted back at her.

"I hope you get chlamydia you HOE!"

"NO… NO! This is unacceptable, Surprise you cannot go around snuggling me… it's CREEPY!" Pinkamena said as the cyborg swallowed thickly.

"S-Sorry… I.. I just feel more comfortable around you, I… sleep better."

"THIS is why I hate sleepovers!" Pinkamena mumbled as she grumbled before storming out of the room. "If anyone needs me I am going to be FAR away from here."

"Whatever, I'm going back to sleep." Nike grunted, before flipping over on her side.

Surprise licked her dry lips. "A-Athena… can I talk to you for a bit?"

The Goddess of Wisdom cracked an eye open. "I… guess? I won't be able to go back to sleep for a while… so whatever."

The white griffon joined Surprise's side, as the two of them went outside where a blanket of stars folded out over their heads. Athena leaned against a railing, as the cyborg paced while the griffon's bright golden eyes watched her curiously.

"W-Why did you spare me… all that time ago?" Surprise asked, as her yellow tail dragged behind her while she walked back and forth. "How did you know… that I would aid you, and your plan? You know how I was."

Athena scratched the side of her head while shrugging. "I thought if I introduced you to a pony who was opposite of you… one you couldn't kill, you might take the time to grow curious about her… enough to make you question yourself, and if what you were doing was right."
"You mean Pinkamena." Surprise said as her purple eyes fell on the griffon's face.

"Yes. I felt like killing you wouldn't actually help anything. If I could somehow change your views, and have you fight with me instead of against me, we'd have a better chance of saving the worlds who are doomed by Ares. So far I haven't been wrong, you see… sometimes I have to take risks if I want results, I knew Pinkamena was just as powerful as you… and her path might intrigue you enough to where you'd look up to her."

Surprise leaned against the railing, as she placed her chin in her hoof. "I… do much more than just look up to her, Athena."

The griffon snickered. "Oh, I know… I was not expecting you to get so deep with your feelings, but I guess sociopaths can change… that is if they learn to love on their own accord."

The white pegasus was silent for a second before speaking. "I do want to change now… you knew even before I did… that she would change my life." Surprise looked up towards the twinkling stars as Athena joined her side. "-And now… I will protect her with my life… she took a villain and made me a hero."

Athena smiled. "I'm glad my plan worked, after all… you've been a great ally."

Surprise placed her hoof on Athena's shoulder. "Thank you for showing me mercy when I didn't deserve it… because of you, I found her."

The griffon nodded. "I do hope one day she returns your love, Surprise. Hang in there."

The Goddess patted her shoulder before going back into the temple and leaving Surprise under the stars with a slight smile on her lips. She remained there for a long while, reflecting on her past, and the flashbacks she had from what she was.

She took a deep breath. "Thank you… Pinkamena."

She heard hoof-steps behind her as the one she had spoken of slurped on a popsicle while holding it with magic. Surprise slowly turned with a warm smile, as the demon joined her side and offered some of her dessert.

The cyborg took a bite as Pinkamena looked at her. "Why are you out here?"

"Just… thinking." She responded, as she glanced at the stars.

"That's lame." Pinkamena snorted, before looking up along with Surprise. "You had a nightmare about your past didn't you?"

Surprise remained silent before she felt a warm wing wrap around her side. She looked over to Pinkamena who nuzzled her affectionately, before letting the cyborg rest her head on her friend's shoulder.

"Sorry I yelled at you.. about… the snuggling… I forgot you had bad night terrors." Pinkamena said as Surprise looked up to her with a giggle.

"It's okay I know you hate snuggling… but… I don't mind doing this instead of sleeping by your side if… that's okay with you."

"Sure." Pinkamena responded, as the two looked back up towards the sky.

They remained there until morning, the two snuggled in silence as Surprise closed her eyes in peace. Her whole life had been pain, misery, and confusion… but she'd take none of it back, because without it… she would have never learned how great love could be. If she didn't go through what she did… she would have never found the mare she loved so deeply.

She regretted what she was, and never again would she go back.

This was everything she ever needed, everything she'd ever want.

And one day…

She hoped this would evolve into something more.

The story continues in The Strongest Element of All

Author's Note

Thanks for reading my short story! :D by the way, the ending will make more sense for people reading The Strongest Element of All like I said in the first chapter. If you want to see more of Surprise, go ahead and read it... it will be rated Teen though so no more super horrible gore hahaha! Thank you again for reading, hope you enjoyed it!