“But the scars left by the war have not yet healed. And the Earth has not forgotten.”

Allies.

Since I had first emerged from the depths of Stable 25, I had made a lot of enemies, that much was obvious, but I had made a lot of allies as well. There were ponies that I had met along my journey, lots of them, that would fight by my side until the bitter end. Far more than I had ever even realized. It wasn’t until this very moment that I realized just how many allies I had actually made.

I was standing atop a large outcrop of metal and slag, looking down at the street below me as all my allies mobilized and began branching apart in synchronized groups, marching deeper into the ruins of Manehattan. Raiders, Steel rangers, Applejack Rangers, Friendship Express Operatives and Institute scientists, all marching in synchronised formations as a singular, powerful unit. The sound of stomping hooves and war drums filled the streets, my heart thundering in beat with each pound.

A small fleet of war wagons pulled by a squadron of Dashite City guards flashed above my head, their intense speed whipping at my mane. The two wagons on either sides broke off from the group, diving down and swooping off towards the looming Enclave airships in the distance.

The largest of the marching groups below, a massive coalition of Las pegasus raiders and Steel Rangers, strode boldly down the central street, their weapons upturned as they strode towards the battle at the heart of the city, head bound for the huge, looming tower of the Celestial States building. I saw Pyre at the front leading the charge, Mirra sitting atop her back as they trotted alongside the immense form of Jinx and the other two Las Pegasus leaders. I prayed to the goddesses that they would make it out okay. Pyre had insisted that I take Mirra with me, to keep her out of the fray they were sure to face in the centre of the city as long as possible, but Mirra had been adamant that she went with her. They had been apart for too long after Pyre learned she was a synth for them to be apart again.

I wondered, not for the first time in my life, if I would ever see any of the ponies marching into battle again, or if they would die violently on the battlefield, for many of them, me never having known their name.

The thought made me sad.

In the distance, I could see burning pyres of fire and smoke rising above the crumbling Manehattan ruins, filling the already overcast sky into a shroud of black smoke. Every few moments was punctuated with a distant rumble of explosions and machine gun fire as Iron Hock’s True Steel army lay siege to the sprawling city.

But Iron Hock’s forces were not alone. Blood curdling screams were rising from the depths of Manehattan’s concrete labyrinth, clear signs that Silver Ace’s synth invasion was in full swing as they slaughtered anypony that stood in their way. I saw blips of blue light flickering atop the ruined remains of a skyscraper not all that far away, likely synth scouts reporting our movements to their master. No doubt that signalled the beginning of the attack on Tenpony Tower soon.

I lifted my gaze up ever further, my eyes catching the dark shapes of dozens of Enclave Raptors as they scoured the city, raining beams of fuchsia death upon the ponies of Manehattan. The massive form of the Enclave Thunderhead loomed over the towering structure of the Celestial States building, casting the streets below into shadow as it practically blotted out the overcast sun. Swarms of armoured pegasi swirled around the huge ship, their saddle mounted novasurge rifles blasting at enemies I couldn’t see from this distance.

I could feel my heart sinking. So much death, and the real fight had hardly even begun. I could only imagine the destruction Manehattan and Fillydelphia were going to be facing in the coming hours.

Turning away from the army below, I turned my gaze to the large group of ponies that had gathered in the building behind me. Brisk, Xayah, Star and Scarlet stood at the ready, their expressions stern as they awaited orders. Naturally, Pyre and Mirra were absent. Behind them stood a larger group, this one comprised of Applejack Rangers, Friendship Express Operatives and what remained of the Institute scientists. Glasswing and Freedom stood as far apart from each other as they possibly could, while Mother and Blueberry stood closer together in the centre of the group.

I looked at all of them for a long moment, trying my best to filter the sounds of stomping hooves out of my ears as all the ponies below marched towards their deaths.

Taking a deep breath, I addressed all of them. “Alright. We’ve got things to do…”

“How long do you think they all have?” Sprocket spoke up, drawing my attention over to her as we trod our way through the empty streets of Manehattan. I had been so busy over the last few days that I hadn’t really had a moment to talk to the eccentric Friendship Express Operative, though I had seen her fighting in the Institute and standing behind Freedom in the war meeting.

We were walking along the crumbling remains of one of Manehattan’s huge monorails, one of the city's cracked streets far below us, our direction bound for the towering structure of Tenpony Tower, when Sprocket had finally spoken up. Crusader Blueberry had taken the lead of the group, both Freedom and Glasswing only a few paces behind him. My friends had scattered themselves amongst the group, looking out at the wasteland around us sadly.

The farther through Manehattan we got, the more death and carnage we seemed to come across. Once proud standing skyscrapers now lay in crumbling ruins, blasted apart by True Steel weaponry or the deadly beams of low flying Enclave Raptors. Small fires smouldered along the streets and mounds of charred bodies had begun to pile up. Mostly ponies, but I spotted a few griffons amongst the dead as well. To my surprise, even a changeling body lay amongst the corpses, their head blown apart and their blood now soaking the cracked street.

I pulled my gaze away from the corpses and returned it to Sprocket. “I, uh… Who has left?” I asked, a little thrown off by the wide eyed ponies sudden question. I felt a little stupid not understanding right away, but my mind was a little preoccupied with the staggering amount of death around me. Not to mention the creeping feeling that all of it was my fault.

“The ponies of Tenpony?” Sprocket elaborated quickly. “Now that we’ve made a move towards the Celestial States Building, how long till this Silver Ace sends his synths in to attack the tower?”

I grimaced. “Not long, probably. Assuming they haven’t started an attack already,” That was the issue with synths. They could attack anywhere at any time. Chances were, there were already synths integrated into the tower, just waiting for Silver Ace to send them an order to kill. I felt my pace quicken slightly at that thought. “I would be surprised if Silver Ace hasn’t found out we’ve made a move for the Celestial States Building yet.”

Sprocket gave a grim nod, quickening her step to keep up with me. “Do you really think we can win this war? Against the True Steels and the Synths?” She asked, a nervous shutter in her voice. “The Friendship Express has always tried to oppose the Institute, but we were never prepared for a war like this, especially not against that kind of firepower.”

I didn’t dare look back at her, fearing my eyes would give away my apprehension and fear. “We have to win,” was all I bothered to say. “Besides, Pyre Blaze is currently leading the charge against the tower in central Manehattan. If there was anypony that was tough enough to fend off against all of this, it would be her.”

“You’re not worried about her?” Sprocket asked, her large eyes going a little wider. “You really think everything will be fine?”

I flinched. “I’d be lying if I said that,” I grimaced. “I worry about her and Mirra every second I’m not with them,” my head had begun to feel uncomfortably heavy and I forced myself to look down at my hooves. “All of this terrifies me, Sprocket… All this violence… I’m terrified that every time I look at my friends, it’ll be the last time. I’m even more scared that I might not get the chance to look at them again.”

Sprocket looked me over for a long moment with understanding eyes. “I get that too. Every time we sent an operative out into the field on a mission to help a synth, I wondered if I’d ever see them again, or if this was finally the time the Institute found them and had them executed… It was always a gamble, but it was one we always needed to take… Never did get easier when they didn't come back though,” She looked down at her own hooves for a second before quickly glancing back up at me. “Give me your pipbuck.”

Pausing my step, I turned and gave her a confused look before raising my pipbuck hoof up for her to inspect. Sprocket looked it over for a moment, before pulling out a screwdriver and some sort of strange looking, homemade transmission device and beginning to fiddle with the wiring in the back of the pipbuck.

I flinched, startled by her sudden movement. “Whoah, what are you doing?”

Sprocket gave me a flat look. “Would you relax? I’m giving you a radio transmitter so you can communicate with Pyre. I made one for all the Las pegasus gang leaders so they can better communicate in the battle ahead.”

I blinked. “Wait… you can do that?”

“I literally built teleportation devices for you and Mirra to get into the Institute a few weeks ago. You really think I can’t do this?” Sprocket smirked. “Now hold still. This’ll only take a second.”

True to her word, she took a step back a second later, gesturing for us to keep walking after the rest of our friends. “There you go. Give it a shot.”

Curious, I clicked on my pipbuck and scrolled through my radio frequencies. Finding the one I wanted, I turned it on.

A second later, I heard the static filled voice of Pyre Blaze pipe up. “Hello? Who the fuck is this? This is an encrypted frequency.”

I felt myself give a loud sigh of relief. I cast Sprocket a thankful look before returning my gaze to my pipbuck. “Hey Pyre, it’s me. Sprocket gave me a transmitter for us to communicate.”

I noticed Brisk trotting up beside me, looking over my shoulder at my pipbuck. “Well that’s nifty. What channel is that?” He smirked, reaching out and tapping the device. “Channel 7, huh. I’ll keep that in mind if I need a pizza delivery. Hey Pyre. How are you hanging?”

“Amber? Brisk? It’s good to hear your voices. I’m sorry to say I’m in no position to make a pizza delivery, but make sure you both give Sprocket a big ol’ smooch for this,” Pyre quipped back at us. I don’t think I had ever seen Sprocket’s eyes grow quite that wide before. They practically looked like saucers.

Brisk nickered at the comment, and a second later I heard somepony else join in on the snickering from the other side of the radio, followed in short order by Mirra’s muffled voice piping up. “Don’t tell Amber that, mom! You’ll give her ideas and then Ms Xayah will get jealous.”

I smirked a little at the small changelings remark, though my cheeks did flush. It was nice to hear her voice too. “Hey kid, how are you doing?”

There was no replay on the other side of the radio for a second. When the two did respond, Mirra’s voice was a lot clearer. Clearly, she had moved closer to Pyre’s transmitter. “We’re… we’re fine. Things could be better,” Mirra said slowly, though despite her words, I could hear a distinct tremble in her voice.

“There’s a lot of bodies out here Amber,” Pyre added slowly. “The True Steels and the synths aren’t just making a move for the Celestial States Building. They’re launching a full on extermination of the ponies in Manehattan. Things aren’t looking good.”

I nodded despite myself. That lined up with everything I was seeing as well. I just wish I knew why Silver Ace was doing all this. He didn’t seem to be one to enjoy violence. “We’re seeing the same things out our way. There are so many-” I paused, my breath catching in my throat as my eyes caught sight of a thick cloud of black smoke billowing up over the tops of the jagged skyscrapers. Eyes wide, I quickened my pace, rushing a little faster along the crumbling monorail. That smoke could only be coming from one place…

Beside me, I heard Brisk curse under his breath, his own hooves picking up the pace. “Oh shit…”

“Amber? Amber, what’s wrong?” I heard Pyre’s static filled voice speak up over the transmitter, worry creeping into her usually more stoic tone. “What’s happened?”

As I slowly rounded the corner of the monorail, the towering spire of Tenpony finally made its way into my vision, its rooftop peeking over the crumbling city ruins. I felt my gut sink at the sight of fires burning around the building and the large craters pitting its once majestic walls. What truly worried me though was how eerily silent the tower seemed to be. No screams, no cries, just silence.

“Pyre, I’m going to need to call you back,” I muttered, my gaze locked on the smouldering tower. “I’ll be in touch…”

“Amber? Wait! What’s going on? What is it?” Pyre started, but I quickly shut off the transmitter, taking a few more steps towards the tower.

“Fuck. Looks like the tower’s already been hit,” I heard Blueberry swear from in front of me. Both Glasswing and Freedom raised their weapons beside him, their eyes sweeping the monorail for danger. They saw none.

My heart racing, I rushed forwards to catch up with the armoured Ranger. “Do you think there’s anypony still alive?” I asked fearfully, my eyes locked on the smoking tower. My gaze dropped back to the monorail where my eyes caught sight of five Tenpony guards laying dead ahead of us, their bodies blasted apart by scores of sizzling wounds.

Blueberry grimaced, advancing towards Tenpony tower, his eyes landing on the pony corpses as well. “Only one way to find out.”

Scarlet nervously approached one of the bodies, looking over their oozing wounds. “The wounds cauterised,” She grimaced, looking back at me. She took a deep breath, trying to steady her breathing. “This is definitely the work of synths.”

Brisk gave a low growl. “Note there aren’t any synth bodies though.”

Xayah shivered. “Coursers then…”

Before we could get any close to the tower, one of the Friendship Express operatives gave out a warning call. “We got Enclave Raptors incoming!”

I looked up, my eyes catching on two looming Raptor airships shooting through the sky above us. The muscles in my legs tensed, my shotgun swinging up to ready myself for the impending attack. Beside me, I saw all my friends crouch down into similar stances.

One of the two Raptors slowed, one of its huge guns swivelling to face down at us. No doubt the pegasi inside were looking down at us, waiting to attack. Instead however, the gun swung back up to a front facing position and the two Raptors flew off.

“What the hell? Why aren’t they attacking?” I heard Mother scowl, her eyes focussed on the two airships as they soared over the burning streets.

“Looks like they’re heading in the direction of the Celestial States Building,” Freedom answered, her own eyes trailing after the ships. “Chances are Iron Hock has started his assault on the tower, meaning Silver Ace’s synths and our forces won't be far behind. They have bigger fish than us to fry right now.”

Quickly re-mobilizing, we started hurrying towards the tower again. I felt my heavy heart lighten just a little as we finally began to approach Tenpony tower, my eyes catching on six pony guards standing in front of the huge, ornate door, their weapons raised and aimed at us as we approached. The guards, however, looked worse for wear. They all looked tired with dark bags under their eyes, their bodies covered in cuts and burns. One guard's leg was in a cast, clearly broken in a recent fight.

But at least everypony wasn’t already dead. That was a good sign at least.

“State who you are and what you want!” One of the guards shouted at us, their rifle blasting off a warning shot that pinged off the metal monorail in front of our hooves. Xayah had to take a step back as the warning shot ricoheted close to her hooves. So much for good signs I supposed.

“Don’t worry, we’re here to help!” I shouted back, taking a step forward. I jumped back with a startled eep as they fired off another warning shot at me. “Hey! I said that we’re here to help!”

“How the fuck do we know you aren’t one of those synth freaks!” Another guard shouted, their eyes boring into us. Their eyes shifted to look behind me, making out the shapes of Glasswing and his scientists. The guard's eyes grew wider at the sight of them. “What the- Oh fuckin’ Shit! Changelings! Give us one reason we shouldn’t shoot all of you right now on the spot!”

“What seems to be the issue out there?” A sturdy sounding voice piped up from the intercom beside the door, making one of the guards jump. “Please report!”

One of the guards turned to address the intercom, the other five remained glaring at us, guns raised. “There’s a large group of ponies here claiming to be here to help us,” The guard responded. “There seem to be a collection of Applejack rangers, wastelanders and… and changelings amongst them.”

There was silence from the other side of the intercom for a second. “Who seems to be leading them?” The guard glanced back at us hesitantly, unsure how to answer. He glanced back and forth between all of us, first looking at me, then at Crusader Blueberry and Glasswing. He opened and closed his mouth, trying to figure out who looked the most in charge. Instead, the voice on the other side of the intercom answered for him. “Pink Stable mare? Blue streaks in her mane?”

I blinked in surprise. Was he talking about me? How the hell did this pony know who I was?

The guard glanced back at me for a second before giving a hesitant nod that the pony on the other side of the intercom likely couldn’t see. “Uh, yes. A mare of that description does seem to be among the group.”

Another short pause ensued. “Keep them there for a moment. I wish to talk to this mare myself at once.”

“Sir?” The guard asked, their eyebrows raising in surprise. “Are you sure?”

“I’m certain. Now keep them there. Do not let them leave,” The voice retorted. A second later, the intercom went dead. We all glanced at each other for a moment, uncertain about what that was all about. With any luck, it spelt good knews.

A few moments later, the large ornate doors cracked open, making way for a large unicorn buck in a hefty suit of Tenpony security armour. He strode towards us, his blue eyes looking us over before he finally came to a stop. “You must be the pony I’ve heard talk about. The one known by many as the Pink Menace,” The pony asked me in his headstrong tone.

I furrowed my brows together. “Not the name I came up with, but I heard a few slavers called me that once.”

The large stallion chuckled. “Excuse me for not knowing your actual name, I’m afraid I scarcely leave Tenpony, though I have heard of your exploits. I am Chief Steadyhoof. Head of security here at Tenpony tower since the death of Grim Star,” He extended his hoof to me as he introduced himself.

“I, uh. I’m Amber Aura,” I stated quickly, a little caught off guard. “And these are my friends, Brisk Spark, Xayah, Star Breeze and Scarlet Dusk.”

“Amber Aura. Not the name I expected, considering your coat and nickname, but it is a pleasure to finally learn the name of the pony that’s been cleaning up a lot of Manehattan,” His face darkened a little. “Though I’m taking it you’re not here for pleasantries. I’m guessing your appearance here is of no coincidence with the recent attack.”

I shook my head, still a little off put by the warm welcome. “I doubt it is. Tell us what happened.”

“Rumours began filtering into the tower some five hours ago that the fanatic group that call themselves the True Steels have begun making a push for the centre of Manehattan. Not an hour later, all our trade roots got cut off and we saw that massive Enclave airship fly over the city. An hour after that ponies in the tower started going crazy. You remember that whole synth crisis that started six days ago, well it just escalated tenfold. Ponies turned on their friends and families, store owners began strangling clients. Shooting them full of holes revealed the wiring inside,” Steadyhoof shuttered. “But that was only the beginning. Synths started teleporting straight into the tower, not pony looking ones, these ones looked more like machines, metal skeletal abominations. We managed to defend the tower and drive them off, but we suffered a lot of casualties. And then there are those dark stallions we need to worry about.”

I shivered, a bolt of fear travellight through my body. “Coursers…”

“I don’t care what the fuck their called,” Cheif Steadyhoof growled. “Three of those bastards showed up. They killed a lot of good ponies.”

“You managed to kill three coursers?” Xayah asked in a breathy tone. “That is most impressive…”

Glasswing snorted at Xayah’s remark. “Those units were likely defective if all three of them could be so easily taken down while together.”

Steadyhoof shook his head, a spark of anger in his eyes. “Nay. They made a tactical retreat after we took out the rest of their forces. All three of them got away,” He sighed, gesturing to the tower and the guards beside him. “But now we’re weak, ponies are panicking and we’re anticipating a second attack at any moment. If those freaks come back for round two, we’re done for.”

“They will come back, and soon,” I affirmed, taking a step towards him. “That’s why we’re here. To help. But we need to get access to the tower. You saw with your own eyes that those synths can teleport anywhere they damn well want. We could stand outside and secure the front door, but that isn’t going to do much against an army that can bypass your walls and materialize in your homes.”

“But how do we know we can trust you,” One of the guards spat, bringing up the earlier question. He glowered at Glasswing. “I would never trust changelings, even if this synth threat wasn’t happening.”

“What other choice do you have?” Crusader Blueberry replied simply, his eyes fixed on the guard. “You said so yourself that if the synths come back, the tower will fall. Well the synths will come back. You need help, and we’re here to give it. You don’t really have any choice.”

Steadyhoof thought on that for a moment before nodding. “Very well. Let them through. All of them!”

“Ready the troops!” Steadyhoof ordered, marching down the hallway of Tenpony Tower urgently, Crusader Blueberry and two of his Applejack Rangers marching alongside him. “I want at least two guards posted in every major area! Keep ponies together. Don’t let your loved ones out of sight! Synths spies could be anywhere!”

I rushed after him, my new shotgun already drawn. Beside me, Glasswing and his changelings had shifted into pony disguises to avoid any more hostile situations towards them. We already had to deal with an army of synths, we didn’t need the ponies of Tenpony tower panicking any more than they already were.

“When do you think Silver Ace is going to launch the second attack?” Brisk asked, skipping a little to keep up. “Or if he’s going to launch it at all?”

“He’ll launch it, and soon,” Star Breeze shot back with a growl. “Tenpony tower is already weakened. Silver Ace would be a fool if he let this opportunity to hit us where it hurts pass by.”

We marched into the main marketplace where I saw a large group of Tenpony citizens cowering in the centre of the room, surrounded by a large group of guards. Most of them seemed badly wounded, burn marks from Institute energy weapons marring their hides. A few doctors and nurses rushed back and forth, doing their best to help the injured, but there were just too many ponies that needed help. Freedom pushed past us, four of her Friendship Express heavy operatives moving with her to protect the crowd.

“Is this everypony left in the tower?” I asked, my eyes sweeping over the group of ponies. There were roughly a hundred of them, far less ponies than what inhabited Tenpony on my last visit. If this was all that was left then… I didn’t even want to think about how many innocent lives had been lost already.

To my relief, Chief Steadyhoof shook his head. “Nay. There are at least a hundred more on the floor above,” My relief died with what he said next. “When the Synths attacked, we hid all the foals in a bunker on the top floor. But roughly an hour ago, those Courser fucks blew up the hallway leading to the bunker, buring the door under a half foot of rubble. Hopefully that means they’re safe from the synths, but they only have so much air in there. We don’t know how long they have left. We have ponies up there trying to clear it now.”

Feeling a little sick at the idea of a bunch of foals slowly running out of air, I turned to Glasswing, pointing a hoof at him and his scientists. “Glasswing, do your scientists have medical training?”

Glasswing frowned at me. “Most have basic training. Only a few are doctors in medicine though.”

“That’ll have to do,” I gestured over to the group of cowering ponies. “Do your best to help as many ponies as possible.”

Glasswing gave a nod in response, signalling for his scientists to follow him as he rushed after Freedom into the circle of terrified ponies. A few ponies panicked and pushed themselves away at the sight of the large group advancing on them, but most welcomed them and gladly took their aid.

Goddesses, all the ponies were so scared. I wondered if the ponies of Tenpony had ever seen death on this scale before. I felt myself grimace as that thought travelled through my mind. I wonder if anypony in the wasteland had seen death like what was happening before.

A pony dressed in Tenpony security army scurried up to Steadyhoof, a worried look on his face. “Chief, I’ve got bad news.”

Chief Steadyhoof gave a long sigh. “What news isn’t bad news right now?”

“Our ponies posted on the roof just spotted Enclave Raptors heading this way. They seem to only be a few hours out,” The security pony informed him, his legs trembling slightly. “A few armoured Enclave scouts flew by a few seconds later. They seemed to be scouting us out.”

“Enclave?” I asked, looking over to them. “I thought all the Enclave were heading to the centre of the city and Fillydelphia?”

The sound of flapping of wings alerted me to Star Breeze fluttering over from where she had been helping a few ponies. “The Enclave is getting desperate. In the last few days, they’ve lost a lot more fights than they’ve won, and if what I’ve been hearing is true, a lot of the Enclave high command has been taken out, including my old boss, Colonel Autumn. Right now, the Enclave is out of options. They’re going to need to strike everywhere, and strike everywhere hard.”

Steadyhoof turned to face Star more directly. “You seem very confident in your knowledge of the Enclaves operations.”

Star gave him a snooty looking smirk and a small snort. “I’d sure fucking hope so,” She fluffed her wings up a little for him to see. “Until recently, I was Enclave. Respected too, kind of.”

Steadyhoof’s eyes narrowed, but he didn’t push it further. “Should we be worried about this oncoming Enclave fleet? Should we be expecting an attack?”

“Uh, duh,” Star drawled at him, rolling her eyes. “Did you not listen to what I just fucking said? The Enclave needs a big win, and not just against Fillydelphia. They’re going to want to take Tenpony Tower while it’s weak.”

Steadyhoof’s lips twisted into a growl. “Damn it. We can hardly deal with these damn synths as it is. We aren’t in a position to hold off a full fledged Enclave attack,” he turned back to the security pony that had informed him of the Enclave fleet. “I want you to double the defences on the roof. Prepare for an aerial attack.”

The guard gave a salute and rushed off back in the direction he had come.

“Amber,” Steadyhoof started, turning back to me. “Do you think you and your ponies will be able to help fend off an Enclave attack as well? This could get really messy.”

I gave a grim shake of my head. “We can try, but most of our forces are on their way to the Celestial States building. We don’t have the kind of force you’d need to fend off an army of synths and the Enclave,” I glanced around at all the cowering ponies around me. “Besides, fending off that kind of force while needing to protect all these ponies would be almost impossible.”

Steadyhoof nodded, glancing at the ponies around us as well. “Understood. I will do my best to keep them out of the way of the fight,” He turned, addressing as many ponies as he could. “Everypony, please stay calm!” Chief Steadyhoof ordered, doing his best to prevent an all out panic. “These ponies are here to help us! But we need to get all of you to safety! We don’t know when the synths will be back and our lookouts have spotted a group of Enclave Raptors coming this way!”

A few ponies froze in horror at the mention of the approaching Raptors. Likely many of them had heard of the destruction such airships had brought to other settlements like Oasis and Friendship City.

“What if they’re synths as well!” A mare screamed, pushing through the circle of guards and glaring at all of us with wide, manic eyes. Her eyes darted around, looking at the armed guards all around her. “You could all be synths! You’re herding us to our deaths! They’re here to stop us from saving our foals!”

“Calm down! We are not synths!” Steadyhoof ordered, commanding the mare to get back in line. “These ponies are here to help! They’re here to protect us from the Institute’s weapon! And we’re going to make damn sure no pony hurts the foals. We’re doing everything we can to dig them out as we speak! But you all need to listen! If we don’t act now, the Institute won’t be the only thing we need to deal with!”

“What if she’s right!?” Another pony shouted, their own voice filled with panic. “What if you just let a bunch of synths in power armour into the tower! How would you even know!?”

Beside them, another pony began freaking out, their magic yanking a gun out of the hooves of one of the guards and swinging it around to face a young mare standing next to him. “Fuck! You’re a synth! I saw you look at me! You’re planning to gun me down! Well I won’t let you!” The stallion howled, his pupils darting back and forth frantically.

The guards swung their weapons around, aiming at the panicking buck. “Put the gun down! Now!” One of the guards shouted, a loud click ringing out as they cocked their own gun back. The stallion glanced back and forth from the guards to his gun, then back up to the cowering mare, his eyes frantic and his magic slowly beginning to pull down on the trigger of the gun. “I said put the gun down now!”

“Please… You know me!” The mare was wailing, cringing away from the barrel of the gun aimed at her head. “I would never hurt anypony! Please!”

I pushed forwards, trying my best to get between the stallion and the mare. “Stop this! All of you!” I shouted, trying to defuse the situation. “Fighting amongst ourselves is just going to make the situation worse!”

The stallion was backing up slowly, his whole body trembling as he struggled to pull down fully on the trigger. “I can’t! I don’t kn- Fuck… I’m sorry!”

A mare leapt at the stallion from the side, knocking into his gun and pushing the muzzle down. The gun fired, a plumb of fire and smoke bursting from the tip of its muzzle as his shot went wide. Everypony flinched as the resounding bang rang out, some ponies screaming and scampering over one another to get away, thinking a firefight had started.

I flashed out with my magic, sweeping the gun away from the stallion as the mare held him down. Two guards rushed forwards, helping to secure the thrashing pony.

The stallion looked up as he was dragged away, his gaze locking on the mare he had been prepared to shoot not a second before, tears in his eyes. “Goddesses, I’m sorry… I’m so, so sorry…”

The mare that had tackled the stallion slowly pulled herself up, staggering a little and doing her best to whip the dust off of her ragged looking collar. I felt my eyes widen slightly as I recognized her. “Coco?”

Coco Pommel turned around, spotting me for the first time. The ghoul gave me a small, though albeit nervous looking smile. “Oh! Amber! It’s been so long!”

Despite knowing the uncomfortable, squishy feeling that would come of it, I reached out and gave the small ghoul a quick hug. “It’s good to see you. I never did get to thank you for that ballistic weave lining you did on my Stable barding. How have you been?” The words had hardly left my mouth when I realized how stupid they were. Of course she hadn’t been well. The tower had just been under attack and she had probably just watched a bunch of ponies die. “Sorry, that’s a dumb question.”

To my surprise, however, the ghoul’s smile only widened. “It took a while for the ponies here to get used to a ghoul in Tenpony tower, but things are actually looking up. I’ve got a few ponies helping me with my business now and I’m actually thinking of expanding-”

“Amber,” I looked over at Scarlet who had quickly trotted up beside me, worry etched into her face. “Do you have a moment?.”

I looked back at Coco apologetically. “Sorry, we’ll need to catch up later. It was good seeing you though.”

Coco Pommel nodded, glancing around nervously at the cowering ponies around us. “Of course, this is hardly a good time for small talk.”

Turning away from Coco, I followed close behind Scarlet as she dragged me away from the crowd of ponies until we were far enough away that only I could hear her. After a second of looking around, she turned back to me, her eyes wide. “Something’s wrong Amber. Seriously wrong.”

Great. Because I needed more difficulties right now. “That much is obvious. What’s the problem?”

“Why would Silver Ace let the ponies of Tenpony Tower regroup and ready themselves like this? It doesn’t make sense,” Scarlet scowled, casting a glance back at the group of ponies behind us. At my confused expression, she elaborated. “You’ve seen how massive the synth army is. If they wanted the tower to fall, it would. Besides, they can teleport whole armies into the tower in an eyeblink, they don’t need to retreat to regroup. So why did they?”

I felt my heart rate rapidly increase. I had a pretty damn good idea. “Because if they destroyed the tower, then we would have had no reason to come here,” I could feel my insides practically turn to ice at the thought. “Silver Ace doesn't care about Tenpony Tower… He cares about us. This is a trap!”

The words had only just left my mouth when the ceiling lights went out, casting the whole room into complete darkness. Ponies screamed as they were cast into complete blackness, their heads darting back and forth as they tried to spot anything in the thick gloom. A few of the guards flipped flashlights on, their thin, flickering beams sweeping the area.

I stumbled slightly in the dark, my hoof frantically reaching for my pipbuck. “Shit, shit, shit, shit…” I could feel fear gripping me with each and every passing second. It took a moment, but I managed to switch on the pipbucks flashlight function, casting the area around me in an eerie green light. A light that illuminated the looming silhouette of the Courser standing right in front of me.

I barely had time to duck low to the ground as a blast from the Coursers gun slashed over my head, singeing the top of my mane. I heard loud screams from the crowd of ponies behind me as blips of blue light flashed throughout the darkness, signalling the arrival of dozens of synth troopers. Beams of light slashed out across the room from the syths weapons, striking ponies down and rendering their thrashing bodies to ash.

“Fire at will! Protect as many ponies as you can!” I heard Chief Steadyhoof roaring, his own rifle cracking off shots into the darkness, each flash of his muzzle briefly illuminating the dark area around him. “Tenpony tower has stood since before the great war! It will not fall today!”

I rolled across the ground, narrowly avoiding a swing from the Coursers hoof as they lunged at my head. Gritting my teeth, I swung my new shotgun up, blasting a round of magically enhanced buckshot at the Courser’s head. The Courser easily dodged out of the way, their body whipping around and knocking the shotgun from my grip with a strong kick of their hind hoof.

Scarlet gave a loud scream, rushing at the Courser and ramming all of her weight into them. The Courser hardly even flinched as they swung around again and slammed their fore hooves into Scarlet’s side, knocking her to the ground. She hit the ground with a painful sounding thud, blood oozing from the gash where the Courser had struck her.

More gunshots lit up the darkness as the Tenpony guards retaliated. A streak of light flashed across the room as Crusader Blueberry fired a rocket down a hallway, fire and shrapnel flaring across the walls and chunks of synths flying in every direction. I saw Brisk pull himself to his hooves from a blast that had knocked him over, his minigun whirring up and spewing a hail of lead towards the synths around them. Star dropped down to land behind him, pressing her rump against his and firing off beams of light as they fought back to back.

I dove forwards, my hooves wrapping around the grip of my new shotgun. Before I could spin back around to fire, I had to somersault to the side, another blast from the Courser's deadly energy rifle slashing at the spot my head had just been.

Lifting my shotgun up in my magic, I fired off three magically enhanced blasts in the Courser’s direction. The dark form of the Courser danced out of the way of each blast, weaving between the crimson buckshot with ease.

I gave a low growl and moved to fire again, only for a hoof to lash out from behind me and knock me back to the floor. I rolled over, looking up just in time to see a second Courser reer up behind me, grinning at me with a cold grin that did not reflect in their ice cold eyes.

Blam! Blam!

Two shots rang out from Xayah’s anti-material rifle, blowing large holes into the rearing Courser’s chest. The Courser staggered, hot blood spilling down their front. They snarled, glaring at Xayah as the zebra was forced to once more return her attention to the attacking synths.

Taking my chance, I scurried to my hooves, raising my shotgun up and blasting a round of buckshot straight into the Courser’s face. The Courser gave a shout of rage, their face ripped open by the deadly blast, blasting open flesh and sending bits of gore and circuitry splattering across the floor.

Before I had a chance to do any more damage, the second Courser wrapped a field of their blue magic around my neck. I gasped out, the strong magical grip feeling as cold as ice as it reefed me up into the air, strangling me. I thrashed my legs, trying my best to break free.

“Funny. You have caused us all so much trouble,” The Courser sneered, taking a step towards me, their leering face inches from my own as I gasped. “And yet you still fell for our trap so easily.”

I tried to give them a snide remark in response, but the magical grip only tightened, forcing me to gasp and sputter.

“Let her go!” Scarlet shouted, staggering back up and blasting at the Courser with her magical energy rifle. “Let her go right now!”

The Courser hardly even winced as two of the shots blasted into their back, ripping holes in their dark, leather jacket. They spun around, their hoof lashing out and wrapping tight around Scarlet’s throat. Scarlet gasped, her own throat now being violently choked.

“We should have laid this trap for you days ago,” The second Courser smirked, the hide of their face slowly patching back together. “But it doesn’t matter now. Now that Pureblood is out of the picture, Silver Ace no longer has any use for you.”

Another pony fell to the swarm of synth's constant fire, the left side of their face being blown off from a deadly blast of energy and their body dissolving into glowing ash. Two Tenpony guards quickly rushed forwards to avenge them, only for another volley of blasts to drop them too to the ground, dead.

Channelling as much power into my horn as I could, I sent a large shockwave flashing out, ramming into the two Coursers. The Courser holding Scarlet and I staggered, but their grip didn’t lessen.

Taking advantage of the Courser being off balance, Scarlet swung her hoof at his head, slamming the blunt of her horseshoe into his horn with as much force as she could muster. The Courser scowled, his magical grip on my neck releasing.

I dropped to the ground with a gasp, immediately sweeping up my shotgun and sending a blast of buckshot into the Courser’s hoof that was choking Scarlet’s neck. The blast decimated the hoof, ripping the limb from its socket and sending it skidding across the floor.

Ducking below a swing from the second Courser, I dashed forwards, pushing a gasping Scarlet forwards and back towards the circle of ponies. I could hear the Courser’s behind me give chase, their weapons firing blasts of blazing light. I weaved from side to side, each blast from their rifle coming scarily close to turning me to dust.

“Blueberry! Coursers on your left!” I shouted, tossing Scarlet into the crowd and flipping around to fire a slug at the charging Coursers.

Blueberry smashed a synths head in with his power armoured hoof before shifting his body weight to face the Coursers and letting two rockets streak out from his battle saddle. His aim was off a little in the darkness, but the huge explosion and corresponding shockwave was enough to force the Courser’s back.

I ducked my head between my forehooves, shielding my neck as explosive shrapnel blasted over me. I felt a few bits of shrapnel cut at my hide, drawing blood.

Staggering up to my hooves, I looked back at where the Courser’s had been, only just being able to make out their silhouettes through the clearing smoke of the blast. They strode forwards, their wounds already pulling themselves back together.

I let my horn flare up and created a thin magical shield between me and them, only for one of them to lash out with a hoof, instantly shattering the shield. I stumbled back, the magical feedback causing a spike of pain to shoot through my cracked horn.

“Very well. We shall do this the easy way,” One of the Coursers leered, advancing on me. “X23762Z!” He gave me a smug smirk, expecting me to drop to the ground, deactivated. When nothing happened, he frowned. “Wait… How are you doing that?”

I gave the Courser’s as smug a look as I could muster. “Oh? Didn’t you hear? I got my old body back. No more shutting me down with your words.”

Three of the Applejack Rangers turned to face the Courser's, their large miniguns spinning up and sending a volley of bullets towards them. The Coursers staggered back, growling at us as they dove apart, the Applejack Rangers stream of fire trailing after them.

A synth fired off a flurry of shots, each one slashing into the side of one of the Rangers. The Applejack ranger screamed out in pain, their minigun spinning to a stop as their body turned to ash inside their armour.

“We’ve dealt with Coursers before,” I spat at the Coursers as the minguns spun down, allowing the dark coated monstrosities to once more approach. “I don’t fear you.”

One of the Coursers grinned at me, showing an uncomfortable amount of teeth. “You should. We’ve dealt with you before as well. We’ve monitored your journey across the wasteland. We’ve seen your greatest regrets. Greatest failures. We know how to make you squirm.”

The second Courser put a hoof to the blinking intercom on their ear. “Amber is in the tower. Move in. Kill them.”

Xayah glanced over at me nervously, her anti-material rifle trained on the approaching Coursers. “Greatest regrets? What are they talking about…”

But I could hardly answer her. My blood had gone ice cold in my veins. “No…” I breathed, my eyes going wide. They wouldn’t. Silver Ace wasn’t that cruel… But from my past experience with Coursers, I knew full well that they would do anything to achieve their mission. They were efficient, but worse than that, they were ruthless. “They’re going after the foals…”

My horn pulsed with magic and I threw up another magical shield up around the group of ponies, separating us from the Coursers and their synths as their deadly Institute weaponry swung up and fired at us. The deadly blasts pounded against the shield, sending cracks shooting across the shields surface and forcing me to take a step back to brace myself against the force.

Scarlet stepped up beside me, her own horn glowing as she added her energy to the shield. I gave her a grateful smile before I looked away again, beads of sweat already forming on my brow. Both Scarlet and I flinched as every Synth in the room raised their gun and fired at us, blazing blue beams of magical energy slashing at the forcefield and ricocheting around the room.

“I want every able bodied unicorn to help maintain that shield!” Steadyhoof was shouting from behind me. “We need to hold them off as long as possible.”

Gradually, the pressure of holding up the shield lessened as more and more ponies around me ignited their horn and added their own strength to the shield. The centre of the room slowly became illuminated by the glow of the unicorn's horns, pushing back the darkness that had surrounded us and casting the now damaged walls of Tenpony Tower into an eerie, pulsing light.

I looked behind me, catching Steadyhoof’s gaze out of the corner of my eye. “Steadyhoof, they’re going after the foals!” I shouted, my voice cracking slightly as I struggled to keep my magic from imploding as the synths increased their fire upon the shield. I could feel ripples of fear shoot out amongst the cowering ponies at my words. “We need a plan! Now!”

“There are already ponies upstairs helping the foals out,” One stallion snorted, stomping his hoof down. He gestured to the Coursers and the small army of synths just on the other side of the large shield. “Right now we have our own issues to deal with. They can save the foals!”

Chief Steadyhoof growled. “The ponies upstairs don't have nearly enough firepower to take on what these synths are packing,” he glanced back out at the synths, his eyes following the two Coursers whom had taken to stalking around the perimeter of the shield, their faces twisted into mocking grins. “Besides, there’s still one of those Courser fucks unaccounted for. If they’re going after the foals, they’re going to need all the help they can get.”

“Well fuck... Any ideas?” Brisk asked, taking a step away from the shield as more synths began firing at it.

I grimaced. Ideas? I had run out of those two months ago, or at least, I’d run out of good ones. I took a deep breath, my mind racing a hundred miles a minute. “Alright, We can’t let them get to the foals first. I’m not letting any more foals die because of all of this,” I turned, pointing at Crusader Blueberry with a hoof. “Leave two Rangers behind to help defend the ponies here, then send as many other rangers as you can up with me and my friends to the top floor. We’re going to need your explosives to unbury those foals.”

Blueberry gave a sharp salute, his eyes still focused on the synths outside. “Understood.”

Turning my head to face Glasswing and Freedom, I beckoned them both over. “I need you both to stay here. You two and your ponies combined know more about synths than anypony. Take out as many synths as you can. Protect everypony if possible. Do you understand?”

They both gave grim nods. “You can count on us,” Freedom affirmed, though she did cast Glasswing a small scowl.

“I’m going with you,” Mother told me flatly, marching up to me, her magical energy rifle raised.

I shook my head. “I need ponies with an understanding of synth battle strategy down here keeping ponies safe. We have to stay ahead of those Coursers if we hope to survive this.”

Mother just gave me a stern look that made me want to cringe away a little. “No. Glasswing and his scientists already have that covered. And you could use somepony with much the same expertise when you go upstairs. Besides…” She looked away, not able to look me in the eye. “Enough foals have had to suffer because of my choices. I want to save a foal for once.”

I looked at her for a long second before finally giving a defeated nod. I could understand that. “Alrighty,” I turned to face Steadyhoof. “Can you lead the way to the bunker the foals are in?”

Steadyhoof gave a nod, and stomped his hoof. “Indeed. We will not let these monsters harm our foals.”

“Anypony else that wants to help save the foals is welcome to come with us,” I said, turning to face the wide eyed faces of the Tenpony ponies around me. “We’re going to make a rush for the top floor. It’s going to be dangerous. There is no shame in backing down.”

Most ponies just whimpered and backed away, but a few ponies stepped forwards, determined looks across their faces. I noticed Coco Pommel amongst them.

“We’re also going to want to get the lights back on,” Star pointed out factually. “We’re at a huge disadvantage without our eyes, and those synths don't seem to have any issue seeing in the dark.”

I nodded “Good point. We’re going to need a team of ponies to work on getting those up and running again.”

“I can do it,” Sprocket said timidly, stepping forwards. “If anypony could do that in a hurry, it’s me.”

Freedom gave her a worried look. “Are you sure? I can only supply a few operatives to help you. Out there, we won’t be able to protect you. You’re a tinker, Sprocket, not a fighter.”

Sprocket just gave a brave little nod, standing up a little straighter. “I’ll get the lights back on.”

“Alright then. Everypony, get ready…” I told everypony, spinning back around to face the shield. The Coursers had finished their lap of the force field and had come to a stop before me, their vile sneers as unbearable as ever. “On my command, we drop the shield!”

I could feel everypony in the room hold their breath at those words. I raised my shotgun, reading myself for what was to come. The Coursers leaned forwards, the powerful muscles in their legs rippling as they readied themselves to lunge. The synth forces advanced, their weapons raised and ready to render us to ash.

I exhaled. “Now!”

My magic flared out, sending the massive bubble shield ramming outwards, knocking into the hoards of synths and sending them stumbling backwards. The two Coursers stumbled, trying to remain upright as the combined magical strength of at least forty unicorns slammed into them at full force all at once.

“Go go go!” I shouted, sprinting forwards and rushing after Chief Steadyhoof who had taken off down a side hall at full speed. Brisk, Xayah, Star, Scarlet and Mother charged behind me, followed in quick pursuit by Blueberry and a large squadron of his rangers.

“They’re heading for the top floor! Cut them off!” I heard one of the Coursers shout into their intercom, only for their order to get muffled by the sound of booming gunfire as the Tenpony tower guards retaliated.

We rushed up a flight of steps, our hooves pounding loudly against the marble floor. Up ahead, I saw flashes of blue light, signalling the appearance of several synths. My shotgun raised up in my magic, sending blasts of energy enhanced buckshot bursting at the synths ahead of us as they materialised. Two synths fell to the ground, their metal forms ripped apart by the deadly blast.

Beams of blue energy flashed down the stairway at us. I jumped to the side, grunting with pain as my body rammed into the side of the wall to avoid being shot dead. An Applejack ranger fell to the ground, their head turned to sizzling ash from one of the synths blasts.

Brisk’s minigun flared with light, the rapidfire burst of his large gun making the darkness around us strobe with crimson light and a cacophony of gunfire. Two synths were ripped apart by his deadly fire, clattering to the ground, the light fading from their sinister eyes.

A beam of energy slashed across Blueberry’s side, blasting its way through his armour and searing his hide beneath. He gave a loud roar of pain, his saddle mounted rocket launcher making a loud clunking sound as if fired off a single shot up the stairway, detonating between the group of synths and blasting them apart with a deafening boom.

“The way is clear! Go now!” Blueberry shouted through gritted teeth as he pushed his way up the last few steps. I charged my way up with him, jumping over the broken and twitching synth bodies that littered the entryway into the upper floor.

As my hooves reached the last few steps, I began to hear the sound of gunfire coming from ahead of me as well as rather than just behind me. The sound of ponies screaming began to fill the dark hall, each one followed shortly by the loud zapping sound of an Institute rifle.

Scowling, I pushed myself around the next corner, stumbling in the dim light as I tried to find my hoofing. Ahead of me, I could see a large group of synths slowly closing in on a smaller group of Tenpony residents, each one blasting off beam after beam of searing blue energy at them, many of their shots already having turned ponies into glittering piles of ash. Most of the ponies were armed and retaliating, but it was clear that they were vastly outnumbered and out classed. Behind them, I could see a large wall of rubble where the ceiling had collapsed in, likely the wall that the foals were behind.

I began firing before the rest of my friends had even rounded the corner, my new shotgun bursting the chest open of the synth nearest to me, blazing red buckshot spewing from the end of my shotgun with righteous fury. A few synths turned to fire back at me, only for my friends to burst around the corner behind me, their own weapons flaring with light.

Blam! Blam! Blam!

Three more synths fell, their bodies riddled with holes as our weapons blasted through them.

I ducked to the side, a blazing burst of energy lancing out from one of the synths rifles and nearly blasting my head off. I hit the ground hard, my hind legs kicking as I tried to quickly scamper back to my hooves and keep fighting.

I was only half way up when a synth rushed at me, their skeletal, metal form crashing into me with tremendous force and sending me toppling to the ground. I gave a loud grunt as I hit the ground again, my hooves frantically swinging up in front of me as I tried to shove the synth away. I felt an agonising spike of pain shoot through my hoof as the synth met my swing with a swing of his own, ramming the side of his shock baton against my flailing hoof.

Another pony fell dead with a scream of pain, half their faces melted off by one of the synths deadly beams. Their body slumped, toppling to the floor before fully disintegrating into glowing dust. Another pony boldly took their place, their small pistol cracking off a few shots into the synths.

I rolled to the side, avoiding another swing from the asialing synths baton, its sparking end slamming hard against the ground and causing a shower of sparks to shoot out around us, their lights flashing across my face in the darkness. I spun my shotgun around in my magic, pressing it up against the synth's chest and let loose a round of magically infused buckshot straight into its robotic heart. I wasn’t sure if synths even had hearts, but the shot seemed to do the trick, blasting straight through his metal form and sending him crashing to the ground next to Scarlet.

Star zipped over my head, her wings beating frantically as she swerved back and forth in the air, doing her best to avoid being blasted apart. Her own magical energy rifle fired off a few shots, raining crimson beams into the group of synths. Most managed to dodge away, but I saw two collapse to the ground, the stray beams blasting off critical parts of their body.

Scarlet grit her teeth as she took a shot to the shoulder beside me, wincing as the deadly laser ripped off a long streak of her hide. She growled and fired back, standing side by side with Coco Pommel as they both fended off as many synths as they could. Brisk quickly darted over to them, his own minigun roaring as he made his way past them and over to me, his hoof reaching down and helping me up to my hooves.

“Thanks,” I grunted, wincing a little as I applied pressure to the leg the synths baton had struck. It didn’t seem broken thankfully, only sprained.

“You can thank me when the foals are safe!” Brisk shouted back, dodging to the side a bit and letting his minigun roar with life again. Another synth fell to his barrage of bullets, their body spasming as it was repeatedly blasted into.

Mother and Xayah scampered up behind me, both of them blasting off shots into the synths. Behind them, Chief Steadyhoof gave a loud shout as he fired into the small army of synths. “Synths! You are surrounded! Stand down now!” None of the synths seemed to register his command. A few turned their guns to face him, forcing Steadyhoof to duck back as they fired. “Damn it, I said stand down!”

“Don’t try to reason with them!” Mother scolded, her own rifle firing off a shot and felling another synth. “They aren’t programmed to feel fear! Talking will get you nowhere!”

“Move in around them! Hit them from all sides!” Blueberry was ordering, weaving back and forth to avoid being turned to ash. His rangers quickly followed the command, rushing to circle the synths. The synths quickly averted their fire fully from the surrounded Tenpony residence as they realized they were getting surrounded. I saw one ranger drop dead as one of the synths blasted a beam of magical energy through the visor of their helmet.

With the ponies no longer surrounded, the Tenpony civilians quickly reorganized themselves and began firing into the synths with more vigour, no longer needing to worry as much about being shot down.

Wiping a bead of sweat from my brow, I pushed past the synths, standing protectively before the civilians and letting my magical shotgun flare with muzzle fire as I mowed down synth after synth. One synth turned to strike me down, only to be shot down by a blast from Coco Pommels gun.

“Amber is on the top floor,” I heard a synth monotone in its robotic sounding voice, one of its metallic hooves pressed up against an intercom on its ear. “Eliminate the foals now.”

I scowled, my shotgun swivelling in my magic to blow the synths head clean off. “Yeah, I’m not letting that happen!” I fired another shot off into the synths before turning to Crusader Blueberry. We had to get to those foals to safety now! Who knew how long we had left before the synths started slaughtering them, and even if we had time, we couldn’t keep fighting them like this. We were at a massive disadvantage against the synths in this darkness. “Blueberry! We need to get this rubble out of the way right now!”

One of the ponies behind me grasped at my hoof, their face awash with fear. “No! Not yet! We can’t let these monsters get to our foals!”

I turned to them, a desperate look sprawled across my face. “We don’t have a choice. These synths can teleport! Chances are, they’re already inside!” I turned back to Blueberry, who gave me a grim looking nod.

“Knight Meringue! Aim your fire at the rubble! Explosives!” Blueberry shouted, addressing the ranger closest to the collapsed hallway for only a second before being forced to dodge out of the way of another blast.

The ranger gave Blueberry a salute, spinning around and firing off an apple grenade into rubble. Immediately, they spun around, their large hooves knocking a synth out of the way as they dove away from the wall. “Everypony! Take cover!”

Boom!

The whole hallway exploded with fire and flying rubble. I watched as two synths were crushed under the massive chunks of flying debris. I had to duck as a large chunk of the wall was sent sailing over my head and crashing into the wall behind me. A huge cloud burst into the air, the explosion filling the already dark hallway with a blinding shroud of ash and dust.

“Rangers! Advance! Now!” Blueberry’s booming voice was ordering, though I couldn’t see where he was in the smoke filled gloom. I heard the sound of metal clad hoofsteps echoing around the hallway even above the gunfire, clearly the rest of the Applejack Rangers rushing to protect the foals.

A sudden beam of blue energy lanced out from the darkness, slashing me across the shoulder. I gave a loud scream of pain, my body sent skidding to the side and tumbling across the floor, blood dripping from the large strip of hide that had been ripped off my flesh from the blast. I looked up just in time to see the dim light of my pipbuck illuminate three synths rushing at me, their weapons already drawn and poised to fire.

Wincing, I rolled to my right, narrowly avoiding a series of blasts that slashed down at where I had just been. I kicked back with my hooves, pushing myself back up just in time to dodge another blast from one of the synths guns.

One of the synths rushed me, their shock baton swinging at my neck. I staggered back, my shotgun swinging up and meeting the baton mid swing. A sharp, zapping pain shot up my horn as the two weapons collided, a long crack snapping across my gun's weapon at the hit. I quickly recoiled my newly acquired shotgun, grimacing.

“Right… not all guns are as indestructible as my old ones…” I grumbled, observing the damage to the side of the gun where the shock baton had hit. Thankfully, the damage seemed relatively minimal.

Wrapping my magic around one of the fallen shock batons on the ground, I swung it up, batting aside the synth's second swing. The second the sparking baton wasn’t flying at my head, my shotgun spun forwards and levelled with their head, blasting a beam of magic infused buckshot directly into their metallic skull.

I glanced up as the other two synths approached me, the billowing smoke of the apple grenade slowly settling around their hooves. I took a step back as they readied their guns, bracing myself to leap out of the way.

Star flashed above me, her own rifle blasting a hole through the chest of one of the synths. The synth staggered back, its circuitry smoking. A second later, another shot rang out, this one from the distinct sound of Xayah’s large anti-material rifle. Both synths topple over dead, the single shot having ripped through both of their heads, oil-like blood splattering across the hall.

“Come on! Move!” Mother shouted, frantically pushing her way into my vision through the settling smoke and rushing past me. Coco Pommel desperately scrambled after her, her revolver taking a few blind shots into the darkness.

Grunting, I began following after them, pushing my way through the darkness and towards the gaping hole in the hallway where I assumed the foals were hiding. I coughed as a thick cloud of kicked up ash found its way past my mouth and into my lungs.

“Don’t take another step,” I heard the icy voice of a Courser call out. I skidded to a stop at the sound of the voice, my eyes darting around in the barely lit room as I tried to make out the different shapes in the darkness.

The light of my pipbuck finally began illuminating the collection of pony forms in the room. One Courser stood in the centre of the clearing, his deadly magical energy rifle aimed at a group of about thirty foals that lay huddled up by his hooves, their faces awash with fear. Behind him, a large group of skeletal looking synths glared at us with unblinking eyes, their own weapons trained on the foals as well. The Applejack rangers had filed into the clearing and had begun to surround the perimeter of the room, but had stopped when they realised the mortal peril the foals were in. At the sound of stomping metal hooves, I glanced behind me, making out the shapes of dozens of more synths as they slowly marched into the room behind us, blocking off our escape.

“Let the foals go, Now!” I growled at the Courser, my shotgun aiming at his head. It was hard to fully make out his dark form in the shadowy room, his black trench coat and hide nearly making him invisible, but I could still make out the general outline of his body. “Let them go now or else?”

“Or else what?” The Courser asked simply, his voice providing no inflection or remorse. He didn’t seem frightened or curious in the slightest. “We have monitored your time across the wasteland, Amber Aura. You do not have the greatest track record of saving foals.”

Xayah stepped up beside me, her lips curled back into a growl of her own. “We are giving you one chance to let them all go,” She snarled rhythmically, her voice scathing. “We do not wish to ask you a second time.”

The Courser stared back at her, his expression unflinching. “Have your ponies stand down and drop your weapons, then we will talk,” He responded, its voice sending chills down my spine. Its ice blue eyes seemed to be digging into me, as if trying to read my next course of action. “Silver Ace does not wish for the foals to be harmed. He simply wants Amber out of the way. Surrender her and the foals will be left alone.”

My eyes darted back and forth between the synths and the foals. I considered teleporting them out, but I wasn’t nearly magically talented enough for that. Just teleporting two or three ponies was difficult for me. But thirty or so foals? Impossible.

I saw Brisk cast me a sideways glance. We had been in situations like this before. We had to make sure to tread carefully and not make the same mistakes. I silently mouthed an explosion noise at him and shook my head, nodding my head to the Applejack Rangers around me. The gesture was vague, but thankfully, Brisk seemed to get the idea. He seemed to read my expression and gave me a grim nod, slinking off into the shadows behind him.

“Scarlet, on my signal, put up a forcefield behind us,” I whispered at her, leaning in towards her so that the Courser hopefully couldn’t hear what I was saying.

Scarlet's eyes widened a little at the request. “I’m not very powerful, Amber. I won’t be able to hold it for very long,” she hushed back, clearly trying to keep her voice as quiet as possible as well.

I gave the smallest shake of my head. “That’s fine. Just hold it as long as you can.”

“What’s the signal?” Scarlet asked, a tremor in her voice.

I just gave her a grim grin. “You’ll know it when you see it,” I turned back to Courser and gave them a small growl. I had to stall for time. Not long. Just long enough for Brisk to get the word out. “Fine. I’ll give myself up.”

The Courser gave me a sceptical look. “I assume you intend to play some sort of trickery. Know that we will be taking every precaution. Try anything and the foals will die.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Brisk whispering something into Crusader Blueberry’s ear before darting off to the next Ranger. Come on. Just a little longer. “If you assume I’d try something, why use the foals to begin with? Not the most logical thinking,” I countered smuggly, hoping to bait the Courser.

The Courser, much to my displeasure, seemed unfazed by the retort. “On the contrary, it is incredibly logical. It was a certainty that you would come when you realised they were in trouble, and our analysis on your encounter with Fluer in the Ponypalooza Hotel would suggest that such a threat to their lives will make you act irrationally,” Their deadly rifle pressed tight against the heads of one of the whimpering foals. “Now. If you please. Drop your weapon and surrender yourself. We have stalled long enough.”

I gave a slow nod. Hopefully he was right and that had been long enough for Brisk to get the word out. “Alright. You win. I am dropping my weapon,” I let my horn light up and wrapped my amber aura around my shotgun.

I had hoped the Courser would train their weapon away from the foals and at me with my weapon now up, but I was not so lucky. Instead it just narrowed its eyes, the magical grip on its trigger tightening slightly. It didn’t matter. I just needed to have a reason to ignite my horn.

In the blink of an eye, my magic flashed out and wrapped around each and every one of the foals. There was a blinding flash of light and all of them blinked out of existence. “Now!”

Instantly, everypony kicked into action. Scarlet’s horn flared with life, a magical scarlet field of energy materializing and blocking us off from the wall of synths that had formed behind us. The Applejack Rangers rushed forwards, their battle saddles roaring as they sent a sudden torrent of bullets towards the army of synths. I was glad to see Brisk’s word had gotten out. No explosives. The last thing we wanted was for a stray missile to blast apart a foal.

The synths' weapons darted back and forth searching for the foals, thrown off by their sudden disappearance. Bullets riddle into them, more than half the synthetic force dropping to the ground as the sudden assault slammed against them like a wall. The synths behind us opened fire, their weapons blasting towards us, only to be abruptly caught short as they rammed against Scarlet’s shield. I saw Scarlet wince as she struggled to maintain the magical barrier. With a loud grunt of pain, Scarlet’s horn flared brighter and she shoved the magical wall against the wall of synths with as much force as she could muster, pushing them all into one large clump.

The Courser leapt back, ducking away as Brisk’s minigun sent a stream of lead spewing towards him. “What! How!” It growled, its emotionless, icy eyes digging into me as it weaved its body about to avoid getting shot. “There is no way that you could have teleported all of them-” The Courser paused as his hoof hit something small and invisible that frantically darted across the room. “The foals are invisible! Fire at the floor!”

“Scarlet! Switch shields!” I shouted, my horn still flaring with light as I tried to maintain the mass invisibility spell. I could feel my strength dwindling by the second. I had forgotten just how much energy this spell consumed.

Without so much as acknowledging my command, Scarlet shifted her magic, the magical force field blocking of the synths behind us sputtering out and reappearing around the Courser and his squad of synths. Again, she gave a loud grunt of pain, her horn blazing with scarlet light as the bubble shield began constricting around the synths, pushing them together and keeping them away from the invisible foals.

The second the shield was down, the synths behind us charged, their weapons blazing with blue beams of light. I skipped about frantically, doing my best to avoid being gunned down while still maintaining my spell.

“Blueberry! One missile at the synths! Now!” I shouted, my voice sounding out of breath from the overexertion. “Aim high! Don’t hit the foals!”

Blueberry gave a quick nod, his whole body pivoting to face the synths pouring through the blasted apart doorway and letting a single missile rocket out from his battle saddle and into the corralled synths. There was a blinding flash of light followed in short order by an ear splitting boom as the missile detonated, sending blasted apart synth limbs and rubble flying in every direction. The explosion ripped through the wall of Tenpony tower, blowing apart stone and plaster and creating a gaping hole in the wall that gave me a clear view of the Manehattan wastes beyond.

No longer able to hold the spell, I let my horn tapper out, the forms of thirty or so trembling foals flickering back into view around us. I was beyond thankful to see that none of them looked particularly injured. A little banged up, but nothing a healing potion couldn’t fix.

“Mother! Steadyhoof! We need to start getting these foals to safety!” I shouted, picking my shotgun up in my mouth and firing a few shots into the few synths still standing by the doorway.

Before they could move, I heard a loud yell as the Courser rammed the full weight of his body against Scarlet's shield. Dark cracks shot across the magical surface for only a second before the force caused Scarlet to reel back, the force field dropping. Immediately, the synths inside surged forwards, their flaring weapons blasting three of the tenpony civilians to ash.

“You have made a grave mistake, Amber Aura,” The Courser scowled, lunging towards me. I ducked back, their strong hoof sailing only half an inch past my face. I didn’t have time to righten myself when the Courser spun around and bucked back, their powerful hind hooves slamming into my chest. I felt all the wind get knocked from my lungs as the powerful strike sent me sailing backwards, my back ramming hard against the floor.

Xayah jumped between the Courser and I, her large anti-material rifle blasting off a round in the direction of the dark stallion. The Courser swerved expertly out of the way, whipping their whole body back around to face us, their forehooves crashing violently into Xayah’s head and throwing her to the side.

I pushed myself back up and rushed at the Courser as Xayah was sent skidding across the ground. I swung my shotgun up in a quick arch to face them, only for the weapon to get knocked away from a blast from the Coursers own rifle.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw mother jump in front of a couple of the cowering foals, her horn glowing as she erected a magical shield around them, sparing them from being turned to ash as a few synths fired upon their location. Coco Pommel was only a few steps away from her, using her own body as a shield for a small filly that had curled up fearfully in the corner.

Grimacing, I jumped back again as the Courser advanced on me, their forehooves once more lashing at my neck. Star flashed down from above them, her magical energy rifle strafing at the ground around the Courser. The Courser weaved back and forth, their hooves moving them faster than I could process as they evaded the searing blasts. They managed to flip themselves around, their institute rifle swinging up to aim at Star and firing.

Blam!

A beam of blue energy lanced out, striking Star through her forehoof. Star screamed, her wings sagging slightly and her body plumbitting to the ground as the shot caused her to lose control of her momentum, blood spilling down her leg.

At that exact moment, the lights above us burst back to life. I winced as the darkness around us was suddenly flooded with a blinding light. I felt myself grin. Sprocket had actually done it!

The Courser glanced up at the flickering lights, their eyes narrowing and their lips twisting into a snarl. There was a loud roar of rage induced excitement from all around the room as the ponies around me were finally given their first good look at the synths they were fighting, their aim suddenly switching from mostly blind shots in the dark to well aimed and calculated shots. I watched in amazement as several synths were immediately gunned down, their bodies riddled with holes.

Clearly seeing we were about to gain the advantage, the Courser flashed forwards, one of their hooves wrapping around one of the scrambling colts that was desperately trying to find shelter amongst the chaos. Their rifle flicked up, pressing against the foal's head. “You should have surrendered yourself when we gave you the chance. I think we are done being reasonable.”

I saw the colt tense as the barrel of the Courser’s rifle began to charge up. I kicked at the ground with my hind hooves, trying desperately to get between the Courser and the foal before it was too late. But there was nothing I could do. I was too far away. Once again, I was going to fail to save the foals I was trying to protect.

From seemingly out of nowhere, Coco Pommel threw herself forwards, her rotting hooves bashing against the side of the Courser and knocking his rifle aside. The lethal shot went wide, missing the colt by inches. Before anyone could properly react, Coco had flung the colt out of the Courser’s reach, her own revolver desperately cracking off shots as she tried to gun down the unbelievably nimble Courser.

The Courser scowled, their rifled flaring with light as they blasted a beam of blue energy straight through Coco Pommels chest. The ghoul’s hazy eyes shot wide as the deadly bolt of light seared off the front of her torso and burned away at the organs within. I could feel myself scream as I watched Coco Pommel sway for a moment before crumpling to the ground and going still.

“Residence of Tenpony Tower! This is the Enclave!” A booming voice called out, making all the ponies in the tower freeze. I could feel my blood run cold at the sound. Fuck me, that last thing we needed right now was the Enlcave to attack. “You are now under our command. You will obey or we will be required to use lethal force!”

The Courser growled at the sound of the approaching Enclave. They reached up, a hoof tapping at the intercom on their ear. “Regroup at the Ponypalooza. We are done here.”

Beams of blue light flashed out and enveloped all the synths around us, each and every one of them seemingly blinking out of existence.

“What the hell just happened? Where did they go?!” I heard a pony call out, their shot meeting empty air as the synth they had been attacking disappeared in a beam of light.

“Doesn’t matter. We have bigger issues to deal with!” Mother shouted back over the hubbub, standing at the precipice of the blown up section of wall and looking out at the city of Manehattan beyond. “Enclave’s here!”

Steadyhoof growled. “Damn it. They weren’t supposed to be here for another few hours!”

Scarlet rushed up beside Mother, her eyes sweeping the wastes outside. “That may be, but it looks like a squad of their troops are coming in ahead of the Raptors!”

“We repeat: this is the Enclave! You are now under our command. Obey or we will be required to use lethal force!” the voice called out again, this time a little louder than before. They were getting closer.

I, however, all but ignored the voice, frantically rushing over to where Coco had fallen and propping her up with a hoof. I felt the smallest bit of relief flush through me when I found her breathing, but she was fading fast and fountains of blood were pumping from the gaping hole in her chest. “Star! I need you here! Now!” I shouted, quickly applying pressure to the wound. “Come on Coco… You’re going to be okay.”

Star painfully staggered over to me, limping on her wounded hoof. She took one look at Coco Pommel and grimaced. She grit her teeth through the pain and rushed the last few steps to us, calling out behind her. “Fuck. Brisk! I need you to get me my saddle bag!”

Brisk was quickly rushing over as well, his eyes landing on Star’s bleeding hoof. “Star, you’re leg!”

“I don’t give a fucking flying feather about my leg right now! Saddle bag! Go! Grab it!” Star snapped at him while quickly instructing me on how to better hold together the wound. Brisk flushed and spun around, rushing back into the crowd of ponies.

Movement drew my attention over to the large whole in the wall. I saw Mother slowly backing away as four fully armoured Enclave troopers swooped into the building, their armoured hooves landing heavily against the marble floors of Tenpony. “The Tower is being surrounded as we speak. You will all lower your weapons and comply!” One of the Enclave ponies demanded roughly, their pulsating Novesurge rifle sweeping back and forth between all of us. I could tell from the tone of their voice they were trying to hide how surprised they were to have just flown straight into a gathering of Applejack Rangers among other assorted ponies.

A small, wheezing sputter turned my gaze back down to Coco Pommel as she coughed back to consciousness, blood dribbling down her front and staining her collar. She looked up at me as Star fretted over her, her hazy, pale eyes distant. “Is the colt okay…?”

I gave her my best smile, trying to hold the gaping hole in her torso together. “He is. You did great. Now relax. You’re going to be okay.”

Coco Pommel glanced down at my hooves pressed up against her chest, my hide soaked a dark red from her blood. “I…” her face paled and for a second it looked like the sight of her own blood was going to make her pass out. “I don’t think I’m going to survive this one…” She gave me a thin smile. “But thank you… For giving me the chance to have at least some life before the end. I’d probably still be Suri Polomare’s prisoner if it wasn’t for you.”

“Don’t say that. Brisk is on his way with healing supplies. You’ll be okay. I promise,” I reassured her. Damn it, I didn’t want her to die. Not like this. She had probably suffered more than anypony in this room yet had never done a single thing wrong. Of all the ponies in the wasteland, she didn’t deserve this.

“Who amongst you is your leader?” The Enclave pony that seemed to be in charge ordered. The sound of flapping wings signalled the arrival of five more fully armoured Enclave troopers arriving behind them.

There were a few mumbling sounds from the crowd of ponies before Steadyhoof stepped forwards. “That would be me. We want no quarrel with the Enclave. Leave now. As you can see, Tenpony Tower is currently under protection.”

The Enclave soldier stomped their metal clad hoof roughly on the ground before him, cracking the marble floor even more. He growled at the collection of Applejack Rangers that surrounded them. “Your protection will do you little good when our Raptors arrive. Comply or we will do to your tower what we did to Canterlot.”

Coco reached up, wrapping one of her rotting hooves around my own. I felt her pull my hoof away from the bleeding gap in her torso for a second, placing something small into my grip. I glanced down, looking at the small statuette of Rarity she had placed into my hoof. The same statuette I had given to her on my last visit to Tenpony Tower.

“Coco, what are you doing?” I pleaded with her, reverting my hoof back to holding her wound together. “Stop acting like this, really. We’re going to save you.”

The ghoul just gave me a sad shake of her head. “I think we both know that that isn’t going to happen. Rarity deserves a good pony to carry her around.”

I heard Star give a grunt from beside me as she tried to sear the wound closed with the tip of her magical energy rifle to minimal effect. There was only so much she could do without her healing supplies. “Damn it. How long does it take Brisk to get my fucking bag?”

“Tenpony Tower has done nothing against the Enclave,” Steadyhoof was saying over the mumbling din of the crowd. “You have no grounds on which to launch this invasion.”

Again, the Enclave trooper scowled at him. “We just got word that you have been in recent contact with the terrorist that ponies are calling the Stable Dweller. The Enclave High council does not intend to take any more risks when it comes to dealing with this dangerous individual,” My ears perked up at the Enclaves declaration. Littlepip had been here? Why? What the hell was she planning now? “Now we are not going to ask again. Surrender to us, or we will take the tower by force.”

Another Enclave soldier spun around, their twin novasurge rifles swinging to aim at Brisk as he came charging back through the crowd of ponies, Star’s saddlebags slung over his back. “Woah! Halt wasteland savage!” The Trooper scowled, their aim bringing Brisk up short. “Put the bags down and take a step back. Now!”

“They’re medical supplies! We need to get them to our friend! Now!” Brisk shouted back, taking a small step back, but refusing to drop the bags. “Please, she’s hurt!”

“I said put down the fucking bags!” The Enclave soldier reaffirmed, their eyes narrowing behind their insectoid helmet. “I’m not going to ask you twice!”

Bang!

A loud gun shot rang out. One of the Enclave trooper’s heads burst open, the large round from an unseen sniper blasting out the back of their brains and sending blood splattering across the wall. They crashed to the ground, their armour clanking loudly against the marble floor.

All the Enclave troopers spun around, their novasurge rifles blazing as they faced the gaping hole in the wall where the shot had come from. “Give them hell!” The leading Enclave pony screamed, their weapon bursting to life.

“Ponies! Defend the tower!” Steadyhoof called out, the sudden attack jolting him into action. There was a loud roar of agreement as all the ponies around us raised their weapons and opened fire.

I felt Coco’s grip on me loosen, their pale eyes slowly rolling back up into her head as they began fading faster. More and more blood poured from her body, pooling around us in a large puddle of crimson.

“No no. Come on! Stay with me! Just a little longer!” I begged her, shaking her back awake. The movement caused her to cough, more blood spilling across my hooves.

Brisk dashed forwards, ducking low as the deadly blasts from one of the Enclave ponies rifles blasted above his head. He weaved around a few charging ponies, skidding to a stop beside us and dumping the saddle bags by Star’s side.

“Healing supplies,” he grunted quickly, his voice out of breath as he turned and stood over us protectively as Star worked, his minigun roaring.

More ringing gunshots began echoing into the chamber from outside. Through the gaping hole in the wall, I saw a few Enclave soldiers get shot down from the sky, gunned down by our unseen saviours. For a second, I could have sworn I saw a large feathered form flash past the hole, but I couldn’t be sure.

Crusader Blueberry fired off a shot from his rocket, the deadly projectile detonating against one of the Enlcave’s armoured forms and blasting them apart. Bits of scrapped power armour and pony bits were sent flying everywhere.

Star rummaged through her bag, he hooves digging frantically as she tried to find something of use. A bolt of fear passed through me as I felt Coco Pommels heart slowly beat to a stop. I tried to shake her awake again, but she didn’t respond. Her body just lay there, limp and unmoving.

“Damn it… Nononono,” I breathed, trying to shake her awake again. “I don’t want to lose another good pony,” Wasn’t Shade and Crank and Heartbeat and Chestnut enough? The Wasteland had to take away the first kind face I had ever seen outside the Stable as well? It wasn’t fair!

Something swooped past the hole in the wall for just a second, their form silhouetted by the light outside. They fired off a shot from a revolver clutched tight in their grip, the shot downing another pegasus.

With a yelp of relief, Star staggered away from her saddlebags, a hoof full of healing potions clutched close to her chest. She dragged herself over to Coco’s head, quickly popping the top off the first potion and pouring it down the small ghouls throat.

“Hold her head up!” Star ordered me, draining the rest of the potions contents into her mouth. She paused, waiting for the healing potion to take effect. Nothing seemed to happen. “Fucking hell, come on!” She dumped another potion down Coco’s throat. Again, no signs of life returned to her.

I felt my heart rate quicken, my eyes darting back and forth for any signs that the potion was helping. Star frantically poured another one into Coco’s mouth, helping me to lean her head up more to ensure she swallowed the healing potion. Again, nothing seemed to happen. “Give her another one,” I ordered Star, clinging desperately to the bleeding wound. I could feel Coco Pommel’s body slowly going cold against my hooves, her heartbeat long since still. When Star didn’t seem to respond to my command, I looked up and growled at her, desperation in my eyes. “I said give her another fucking potion! Hurry!”

“It won’t do anything, Amber. We’re too late…” Star said solemnly, her dower expression downcast. She leaned away from Coco’s body, her shoulders slumped. “She’s gone…”

Bang!

One final shot lanced in through the hole in the wall, blasting the last standing Enclave pony through their tinted visor. With a thud, the pegasus crumpled to the ground, dark blood pooling around them. Then, everything went strangely silent, no pony daring to breathe as they waited to see if it was finally and truly over.

I stared at Star for a long moment, praying to the goddesses that she was wrong. But I knew deep down that she wasn’t, and the sudden, deathly silence of the room only seemed to prove her point. Coco Pommel’s body was already turning deathly cold. The first pony in the wasteland that had ever been kind to me, was dead.

I heard Brisk take a shuddering breath from beside me, his own eyes locked on Coco’s limp form. No doubt many of the same thoughts I was having were going through his own mind. The two of us had known Coco for longer than anypony in the wasteland. The idea that she was gone stung far more than I had ever expected it would.

I slowly sat back, my blood soaked hooves picking the Rarity statuette up and looking it over. The small figurine must have meant a lot to Coco if she chose to think of it of all things in her dying moments. Blinking back a tear, I slipped the Rarity statuette into my saddlebag next to the small figurine of Twilight that Scarlet had given to me. It just seemed right to put the two of them together. It made all the bad feel just a little bit better somehow. Maybe it didn’t make things feel better enough, but it was a start in the right direction.

The sound of flapping wings drew my gaze once more to the large hole in the wall, but this time it wasn’t a pegasus that flew in, but two large griffons. The first griffon was clad in a large suit of power armour, though the suit was modified to lack legs, wings and talon covering, clearly intended to give her more movement. A massive tri-barrelled, anti-air cannon was mounted to their battlesaddle, clearly the cause of the devastating shots that had blown through Enclave power armour like it was butter. The words ‘Little Gilda’ had been carved into the side of the weapon. The other figure, smaller in statute, but no less imposing was a brown griffon with a white feathered face and two pistols that had clearly once been rifles clutched in her talons.

The two griffons stood there for a moment, taking in the large group inside. After a moment, Steadyhoof took a step forward. “And whom might we have to thank for this unexpected rescue?”

The pistol wielding griffon cocked her head to the side a little, her beak twisting into a thin smirk. “You can thank gawd.”

As if she had been waiting for her cue, another griffon, this one clad in scratched up combat armour and bearing a large scar across her hardened face, flapped into the room, dropping down and landing in front of the first two griffons. I didn’t recognize her face, but from the reactions of the ponies around me, I could tell she was a big deal.

“Gawd Grimfeathers,” Steadyhoof breathed, taking a small step back. “I was not expecting you. What brings you to Tenpony?”

Gawd reached down with one of her talons, picking up the helmet of a fallen Enclave trooper. “The Enclave is moving faster than we had expected. We’re anticipating they’re going to reach Filly by midday tomorrow,” Gawd Grimfeathers tossed the cracked power armour helmet back to the ground. “Our mutual friend Littlepip figured she'd send us to protect the tower. Keep it free of Enclave till you can get our secret weapon up and running.”

A few of the Applejack Rangers looked around at each other curiously at the mention of a secret weapon. Crusader Blueberry surprisingly seemed somewhat unfazed. I knew Littlepip had been in contact with the Applejack Rangers already. Perhaps he already knew.

Steadyhoof stepped aside, raising his hoof to gesture for them to enter further into the tower. “Well come on in. The Enclave is gone now, but as you’ve likely seen, we have more Raptors well on their way. They’ll likely be upon us within a few hours. We can use every last bit of help we can get.”

Gawd gave him a thin smirk. I found the twisting of her beak to be slightly disturbing in how it made the large scar on her muscular face ripple. “I can tell,” she turned, giving a signal out the window with one of her wings. “And I hope you don’t mind, but we brought some backup.”

Several griffons, all dressed in battle hardened combat armour bearing the Talon’s insignia swooped into the building, taking up defensive positions behind the first two griffons that had entered. Behind them, I could see dozens more circling in the air around the tower and a few posted on tops of the surrounding toppled buildings.

I heard Mother give a slight whistle. “Talk about backup…”

“Star… You’re leg…” I heard Brisk grunt behind me. I glanced back over to my side where Brisk was trying desperately to get Star to finally tend to her own injuries.

Instead however, Star shoved him off with a wing, her defeated looking gaze still fixed on Coco Pommel’s lifeless form. “Fuck my leg damn it,” She pushed herself up to her hooves, wincing as she applied pressure to her wounded hoof. She gestured frantically at the dozens of other ponies around them that were bleeding out on the floor, many of them in far worse condition than she was. “Stop thinking about my damn fucking leg for a second. There are other ponies here that need help!”

Brisk recoiled at the remark a little, his eyes glancing back and forth from her leg to the injured ponies around them. He bit his lip for a second before a look of confliction crossed his face and he gave a violent shake of his head. “Star I just- Fuck. Never mind. Fuck it,” Then, not waiting to let Star get another word in, Brisk spun around and darted off, pushing his way past a few ponies and disappearing into the crowd.

“The fuck was that about?” Star asked, looking from the way Brisk had run off and back to me. Her tone held concern for once, instead of just annoyance like it usually did.

I gave a worried shake of my head. “I don’t know. That wasn't like Brisk…” I glanced over at the wounded ponies around us and sighed. “You help the ponies here, I’ll go talk to him.”

Star gave a small nod. “Sure. Thanks.”

I took one step away before pausing and looking back at her. “And Star… Make sure you heal yourself up to. You won’t be able to help anypony if you can’t walk yourself.”

“I’ll see what supplies I can spare,” was all Star grunted back, turning away from me and half limping half fluttering over to the pony that seemed the most wounded.

Deciding that response was satisfactory and not wanting to lose track of which way Brisk had run off more than I already had, I weaved my way through the crowd of ponies after Brisk, stopping only briefly as I passed Crusader Blueberry and Mother. The two had made their way over to Gawd and Steadyhoof and were deep in conversation over something. Blueberry looked up at me as I approached.

“Do you have everything covered here?” I asked them quickly.

Blueberry gave me a quick nod. “For the moment. He cast a small glance over at Gawd and the group of Talon mercs behind her. “It seems like for the first time in a few days, our luck is finally turning around.”

Mother’s eyebrows furrowed at me slightly. “Why? Where are you going? Do you need some assistance?”

I gave her a polite smile and shook my head. It was nice in a strange way to hear Mothers concern over me. “No. Just need to deal with some personal stuff, I think. Don’t worry about it. I’ll be fine.”

“I have a few words I wish to exchange with you, but I'm afraid that now isn’t the time,” Steadyhoof admitted. “I’ll find you afterwards.”

Giving him a nod, I turned to keep searching for Brisk, only to bump into the large female griffon that had been duel wielding pistols. The large griffon cocked her head at me, looking down at me with one of her intense eyes. “Oh, um… hi,” I squeaked, a little off put by their sudden interjection into my path.

“Another Stable Dweller, huh?” The griffon smirked, turning their head back to face me more directly again. “There sure are a lot of you crawling out into the wasteland these days.”

I gave her a sheepish smile and raised my hoof to greet her. “Amber Aura. Nice to meet you.”

The Griffon awkwardly raised their leg up to my outstretched hoof and closed their sharp talons around my hoof. “Ragina Grimfeathers.”

We both stood there for a second, not really knowing how to proceed before I gave a nervous laugh and gave her talon a shake. “Nice to meet you… you didn’t happen to see a green stallion run by, did you. Also in Stable barding? Has an eyepatch over one eye.”

Ragina nodded and pointed in the exact opposite direction I had been about to head. “Went into the crowd for a second before circling around and heading towards the main market place. Looked like he was trying to not be followed.”

Damn. That meant finding him was probably going to be harder than I had hoped, but at least I had a general direction. “Thanks,” I pushed past the griffon, making my way back through the hallway and down the steps we had first run up. Each and every way I looked, pony and synth bodies lay scattered and broken against the marble floor. There had already been so much death today, and the day was still young.

I made my way out into the main marketplace. Like the hallways on the floor above, pony and synth corpses lay in grisly mounds everywhere. Blood speckled the walls like visceral paint strokes and the sounds of weeping and screaming ponies filled the large room. Most of the survivors had gathered together in the middle of the chamber while Glaswswings disguised Institute remnants darted about, trying to heal as many of the wounded as they could. I was happily surprised to see Glasswing attending the wounded leg of a weeping Freedom Express operative.

My little bit of joy faltered when I saw Freedom’s body hunched over the limp form of Sprocket, her shoulders heaving as she cried into the fallen operatives lifeless from. I didn’t need to see Freedom’s solemn, tear filled eyes to know that Sprocket was dead, but at least they had died a hero. I took a step forward to go comfort her, but quickly thought better of it. It looked like she needed a moment to mourn the fallen mechanic on her own. so instead, casting one last look at Sprockets lifeless Body, I turned and continued my search for Brisk.

It took another several minutes before I finally located Brisk. He was standing on a large balcony, overlooking the crumbling ruins of Manehattan below. The ash filled winds blew at his ruffled mane and tail lightly, pushing flowing strands across his face.

“Hey,” I started, alerting him to my presence as I slowly trotted up behind him. I paused, not sure if I should approach him fully.

Brisk didn’t bother looking back, but he gave a low sigh and tapped the railing beside him, gesturing for me to join him. “Hey sis. I did a lousy job trying to sneak away from you, huh.”

“One of the griffon’s tipped me off,” I admitted, making my way up beside him and looking out at the wastes. “But I had a hunch you would come here. Some things never change, and your longing to be free and have your face out a window or balcony is one of those things.”

“Is it?” Brisk asked, still not daring to look at me. “I feel like I’m a lot less adventurous than I was when I left the Stable. I don’t even feel like the same pony half the time.”

“We’ve all changed,” I shrugged. “We’ve all been through a lot. If we were all the same ponies that we were back then, then we would never have learned anything.”

“Still feels wrong,” He grunted wistfully. “I’m tired. Have been for days. You’re an emotional wreck all the time now, no matter how hard you try to hide it. Hell, all of us are in desperate need of therapy. It isn’t fair…”

I watched the dark black spots of the Enclave Raptors on the horizon for a bit before giving a small smile. “True, but we’re all stronger as well. I’m more confident with myself than I ever was back in the Stable, Xayah’s come to terms with her past and what happened to her family, plus she’s got a better grasp on things like social cues and emotions. Hell, just look at Pyre. She actually seems to be happy for the first time in her life,” I looked over at him, trying to read his slightly turned away face for any signs of his emotion. “Sure, we’re all broken, but we’re also stronger because of it.”

“And what about me?” He asked, finally looking over at me. His eyes were almost pleading, as if asking me to tell him that everything was going to be okay soon. I wish I could have told him that. “I don’t feel stronger. I just feel more afraid of things. More ready to give up. Less energetic and happy. The desire for adventure I used to crave disappeared long ago. Now all I want is to finally settle down. Live life like a normal fucking pony for just a day. Fuck, I even came to terms with the fact I was raped and I still don’t really feel all that great.”

I gestured for him to move a little closer to me. Brisk gave me a small roll of his eyes before scooting himself towards me and against my side, leaning his head against my shoulder as I wrapped him in a hug.

“I think you’re stronger,” I told him factually, holding him as tight as I could. “Maybe you can’t see it yet, but you are. When we left the Stable all you cared about was yourself. You would have just as soon let Crank and his cyber ponies get away with the A.A.S.S. than go after them. It was all about getting away for you. From your past, from the truths you were running from. About jumping head first into some crazy adventure. But look at you know. You’re giving speeches in war meetings, fighting in the thick of some of the biggest battles Equestria has seen since the great war. You’ve saved ponies, and not just because you felt you had to or wanted to. Sure you’re scared of things now, but that just shows that you’re brave.”

“We’re not raiders,” Brisk smirked somewhat wistfully, quoting me from all those weeks ago. “That line you said really stuck around with me.”

I smiled. “Yeah, I didn’t think you’d grasp onto that line so much. I just said it spur of the moment because I was angry.”

“But you were right,” Brisk insisted. “We aren’t raiders. And that’s why. It’s not just about helping ponies or sparing someone's life. It’s actually thinking through your actions, right? It’s figuring out where we draw the line and when we should cross it.”

I chuckled a little. “I love you bro, but don’t try to be a philosopher. You’ll hurt your brain,” I nuzzled the side of his head slightly. “But yeah. That’s why we aren’t raiders,” I pulled back from him a little, looking up into his eyes. “Do you wanna talk about what happened back there? You just kinda ran off.”

Brisk gave a small laugh. “After this conversation, it’s going to sound stupid.”

“You usually sound stupid. What’s on your mind?”

Brisk flushed. “I just- How did you do it? With me and Xayah, I mean?”

I blinked at him in confusion. “I’m not sure I follow?”

“I mean, like- You had a crush on me, and you confessed your feelings to me and stuff. And then you managed to get together with Xayah and like… I don’t know. I always try to be outgoing, but I just can’t wrap my head around how you did that,” Brisk’s blush deepened. “I know this is all stupid and we’re in the middle of a war and that I probably shouldn’t be trying to sort out stupid things like crushes right now, but I just can’t stop getting this awful feeling that not all of us are going to make it out of this… and then Coco died and I- I just don’t think I can keep going on like this…”

Feeling a gripping sense of dread building up in my own gut, I looked away, returning my gaze once more to the desolation of Manehattan. “Yeah, I’ve been getting that feeling too. Every time I look at one of you, I can’t stop feeling it’ll be the last time. We’ve watched so many good ponies die in the past few days, I can’t help but wonder when the next good pony we lose is going to be you or Xayah or somepony else I really care about,” I did my best to shake away those intrusive thoughts with a forced laugh. “But as for your question. Xayah once told me that it’s better to know than to spend the rest of your life wondering what might have been, even if it hurts. I just clung to that idea. It makes it easier.”

“And you don’t think this is stupid?” Brisk asked shyly. “Worrying about a stupid crush when the whole wasteland seems to be burning up around us?”

I smiled a little wider. “I don’t think it’s stupid at all. Some of us might not make it through the next few days. It might be you, or Star Breeze. The last thing you want is for one or both of you to die with your feelings unsaid.”

Brisk blushed even more. “I- I never said I was talking about Star!”

I gave him a smug smirk. “Right. Like your feelings for her are a secret,” I gave him a quick wink. “You should talk to her. Who knows how many chances you have left to do that.”

Brisk glanced down at his fore hooves, scuffing one of them across the marble floor. “And if she doesn’t feel the same? I don’t want things to be awkward or, I don’t know…”

“Hey, you didn’t feel the same about me, and look at us now,” I nickered, giving him a playful nudge. “Our relationship didn’t become what I had wanted it to be back then, but seeing where we are now, I wouldn’t have had it any other way.”

Brisk gave me another smile, though this time it didn’t feel as forced. It was a nice smile, though it showed the hoof full of teeth that had been knocked out over the past two months. “Alright. Thanks, sis. I will. Maybe not here in Tenpony tower, I’ve got some stuff to think through first.”

“Don’t think about it too hard,” I giggled, flicking his side a little with my tail. “You only have so many brain cells you can use up ya knucklehead.”

Brisk grinned back with a small laugh of his own. “Well maybe I could think better if you shared a few of yours with me ya big nerd!”

A small cough drew our gaze over to Chief Steadyhoof who was watching us in mild amusement from the doorway back into the tower. “Am I interrupting anything important?” The large stallion asked, taking a small step out.

I shook my head. “No. We were just finishing. You needed to talk to me?”

Steadyhoof nodded. “The Tower is currently secure, and Gawd’s Talons are currently setting up defences around Tenpony, but the Enclave is still coming and they appear to be coming in force. We aren’t sure how well we will be able to defend the tower, even with the Griffons on our side.”

“We could always stay around longer. With the combined force of the Talons and Applejack Rangers, we should be able to hold the Enclave back,” I suggested, glancing at the dark specs of the Enclave Raptors in the distance.

Steadyhoof shook his head. “Perhaps that would be enough, but no. I’ve been talking with Crusader Blueberry and Freedom. By the sounds of it, you have a lot more to deal with than just the Enclave. The war for Manehattan has been brewing for a long time. We’ve all seen it coming for years. Tenpony Tower must stand against the Enclave, but from what I understand, the Fluttershy Medical Centre out in Fetlock must stand against the True Steels.”

I nodded. “That was our next destination, yes. We’re expecting an attack there soon. Iron Hock won’t want to miss the opportunity to take it while it's defenceless.”

“Soon? No. As I said, I was just talking to Blueberry. He’s received word from his scribes posted there. The Centre is already under attack. The attack likely launched shortly after the Synths fled Tenpony.”

“It’s those damn Coursers,” Brisk scowled. “They’re dragging us out to them. They know damn well that fighting against us and the Talons would be a losing fight, especially if they have to deal with the Enclave at the same time.”

I nodded. “I suppose that gives us one more reason to leave then. Silver Ace only sent his synths after Tenpony as a trap for us. Without us here, they’ll have no reason to attack the tower again, not while the Enclave and the Talons are fighting over it anyway.”

Steadyhoof nodded. “I’ll report all of this back to Blueberry. It has been a pleasure fighting alongside you, Amber Aura, the Pink Menace. With some luck, perhaps we will get the chance to fight alongside one enough in the future.”

“Please don’t call me the Pink Menace… I did not agree to that name,” I grumbled, but I gave him a grim smile all the same. “And with some luck we will get to talk under better circumstances,” Steadyhoof began to move away, but before he did, I quickly called out to him. “Steadyhoof wait… Coco Pommel… she was a ghoul in the tower… I just…”

Steadyhoof turned back to me, giving me a soft, yet sad smile. “I knew her. Ghouls are rarely accepted by the community here at Tenpony, but she managed to make quite the impression in the time she spent here, and not just to me. Don’t worry. We’ll make sure she receives a proper burial like the rest of the ponies that were lost today.”

I brushed aside a tear and gave him a grateful hug. It didn’t feel like enough, but it was all I could ask for.

Fetlock wasn’t a particularly long walk. It amazes me even to this day how effortlessly travelling though some of the more traversed areas of Manehattan could be when you weren’t new to the wasteland and had a whole army backing you up.

Freedom had gathered her Operators around her relatively quickly upon being told it was time to leave the tower, though she looked very dower. Clearly Sprocket's death had hit her and many of her Operatives hard. The Friendship Express had been hit badly in the fight. I noted there were a fair amount of Operatives that didn’t leave the tower with us.

Glasswing and Mother seemed better in mental state. The Institute Remnants, though already a relatively weakened faction, had come out relatively unscathed. A few scientists had been lost, but overall, they had only lost a few in numbers.

I saw Scarlet and Star trotting a few paces ahead of me alongside Crusader Blueberry, deep in conversation. I was glad to see that Star had taken to mending her wounded leg, though there was a nasty scar where the Courser’s shot had struck. Brisk walked a few paces behind them, lost in thought, though for the first time in a while, I saw him walking along with a smile on his face.

That left me to walk alongside Xayah, the two of us were separated from the rest of the groups by a few steps. I found myself strangely glad for the small bit of isolation. It had been a long while since I had gotten a chance to really talk with Xayah by herself. However, as the two of us walked alone, I found myself with little to nothing to say.

“You’re quieter than usual,” Xayah noted, glancing over at me. “You usually have something that you wish to get off your chest, no?”

I gave her a smile. “I guess I’m just worried about everypony. We lost a lot of good ponies today and I don’t really know how we actually hope to beat all of this,” I felt my smile falter a little. “I mean, we don’t even really know what Silver Ace’s endgame is!”

Xayah nickered. “Ah. There it is. I knew you had some anxiety you needed to vent.”

I sighed. “You know me too well apparently.”

“You are not hard to read,” Xayah soothed. “It is not hard to tell that you are trying to take on the weight of the world on your own. You overcame Kamari, Insecta and now Pureblood. I have full faith you can do the same with Silver Ace.”

I gave her a nod, though I didn’t really feel like I agreed. “True, but I hardly survived those encounters. Arguably, I didn’t survive Pureblood. I was just lucky that Twilight was able to send me back to my real body. This whole war for Manehattan is so much bigger than anything we’ve faced, and I don’t even know how to stop it all cause I don’t know what Silver Ace is going to do.”

“You didn’t know what Kamari was going to do? And yet you live and he does not,” Xayah pointed out.

“True, but at the time I wasn’t dealing with armies of synths and True Steels and the Enclave and a Pony of Shadows and shit,” I grumbled.

Xayah cast me a confused look. “Pony of Shadows?”

I gave her a shrug. “Something Jinx and I keep talking about. Apparently there was some shadow monster thing that some great legendary heroes fought hundreds of years before the war or something. I think I might have seen it inside the Utopia Program.”

“In the Starswirl the Bearded tower, I recall from your story,” Xayah frowned. “I confess to having not put much thought into that part of your tale. Do you think it is a threat?”

“I mean, whatever it was certainly seemed dangerous. Farmer was terrified of it and he doesn’t seem to be scared of anything,” I replied nervously. “Jinx thinks that if this Pony of Shadows really is inside the Utopia Program, then it might be more serious than the war is.”

Xayah shuttered. “What do you think this thing wants? Or what it even is?”

I shook my head. “I have no idea. Do you think it might be some kind of star god or something? Trapped and waiting to be let out? I don’t really know about zebra beliefs and stuff outside of what you've told me.”

Xayah frowned. “I have heard legends of beings from the Stars that have gotten trapped on Equis before. Such stories are the reason many zebras including myself avoid areas in Equestria such as the Hoof. But I’ve never heard of anything like this Pony of Shadows.”

“Jinx said something like that too, that not all horrors are from beyond the Stars,” I shrugged. “She seems to think it was something that’s been on Equestria for a very long time. She had another name for it I think too… The uh… Hound of Twilight or something like that.”

I could see a look of hesitation cross Xayah’s face at the mention of the name. “Hmm. That name does sound familiar actually. But you are right, it wasn’t a zebra legend. It was a legend that pony settlers brought with them on an expedition to the Zebra Homelands before the war. I confess to not knowing it well. My mother told me when I was very young.”

I raised my eyebrows a little. “Really? What can you remember?” A small thought went through my mind. “You don’t think this creature has anything to do with Twilight Sparkle do you?”

Xayah shook her head. “From what I could remember, the Twilight in the name comes from its affiliation with the time of day, not the pony. It was why zebras took so much more interest in this story particularly over others that ponies brought over. It was said that a shadow hound would chase the sun across the sky and beyond the horizon to make way for the coming Stars to overtake the sky.”

“Very folktaley,” I noted with a huff, frowning a little. “I don’t suppose any of that story actually has any truth to it?”

Xayah gave me a small shrug. “I cannot say. It is likely that like many tales from ancient Equestria, it was created primarily to give reason to things ponies and zebras did not fully understand. But that said, there are many great powers in this world and in the stars beyond, why not this one,” Xayah thought in her own words for a second before chuckling. “Though, a shadow monster that chases the sun across the sky is rather silly.”

“Did the legend say anything about how to fight it? or how to defeat it?” I asked hopefully. I wasn’t sure how much of all this I should believed, but if it was real, I needed to be ready.”

“The legend says it already has been,” Xayah told me simply. “Great Equestrian heros banded together and banished it into limbo.”

I furrowed my brows. “Banished it to limbo? As in like… out of our universe?”

Again, Xayah simply shrugged. “I do not know. I hardly remember the legend as it is.”

“Well if it was banished, how could it possibly be inside the Utopia Program? That doesn’t make any sense? And why would it be in the Utopia Program anyway? That thing told me that the program was its prison? How would that work?”

Before I could keep asking questions, Xayah silenced me with a small nudge. “I cannot say. I know just as much about all of this as you, but whatever it is, we must not take such dark dealings lightly.”

I tried to release some of the tension in my shoulders by letting out a long sigh. I kissed Xayah on the cheek quickly. “You’re right. Sorry. We’ll cross that bridge when we get there I guess.”

Up ahead, I heard one of the Applejack Rangers give a warning shout. “Ready yourselves everypony! We’re here.”

No sooner did the warning go out, I began to hear the sounds of magical energy gunfire and roaring explosives in the distance. Xayah and I crept forwards, keeping low and moving up beside Star and Scarlet as our group moved up behind a large pile of recently fallen rubble. We peeked out, looking down the hill towards the large, cube-like structure of the Fluttershy Medical Centre. Much as we had expected, the attack on the medical centre had already begun. Swarms of synths closed in on the large building, their deadly weapons aimed at the few Applejack Rangers and robobrains that protected the building. Alongside them, well organised ranks of True Steel knights advanced forwards, their impressive arsonals shaking the foundation of the very building with each and every explosive blast. I felt myself inhale sharply at the size of the synth and True Steel army. It was likely double the size of the force that had attacked Tenpony.

“We need to get down there. Our ponies aren’t going to be able to last much longer against a force like that,” Blueberry scowled, signalling with a hoof for a few of his knights to move into a flanking position.

“Wait,” Scarlet hissed, her eyes narrowing at the large army in the distance. “It looks like they’ve got three Coursers down there. Likely the same ones from Tenpony.”

“I can help take out the Coursers,” Freedom seethed, pulling out her large revolver. “I’ve got a score to settle with one of them.”

I shook my head. “Bad idea. I’ve fought with enough Coursers to know that no pony can just take them out. They’re far too strong, especially in greater numbers. We’ll need to outsmart them,” I paused as I shifted my gaze to the marching forms of the True Steels. “Besides, brute force is never the right approach when dealing with the True Steels.”

I saw a thin smile settle across Glasswings face. “I agree. Huddle close ponies. I have a plan.”

Boom!

Another rocket flashed out from one of the True Steels battle saddles, streaking across the battlefield and detonating near a group of Applejack Ranger scribes. The Scribes dove apart, but two weren’t fast enough, their unarmoured bodies being ripped apart by the force and explosive shrapnel.

One of the Applejack rangers pushed themselves up against a toppled wagon, doing their best to hunker down low despite their bulky power armour. They took a deep breath, trying to steady themselves before pushing themselves back up and letting their battle saddle mounted energy rifles fire. Crimson beams streaked out, one blast bursting open the head of a charging mannequin-like synth. The synth topples to the ground, wires spilling from the stump of their neck. A second later, the ranger collapsed to the ground, a well aimed shot from one of the Coursers lancing through his visor and turning him to ash within his armour.

Five True Steel Scribes rushed forwards through the army slowly marching its way towards the medical centre, a letter tight in one of their hooves. They scampered up next to a hulking True Steel Rangers clad in an almost blindingly white and gold suit of power armour. Blood smattered the shiny armour, giving the otherwise godly look a very grisly appearance. “Paladin! Orders from Iron Hock! We need to retreat immediately!”

The large paladin scowled, glancing down at the letter. “Absurd! We’re so close! A few more minutes and the medical centre will be ours!” He fired off another rocket from his battle saddle, the deadly projectile blasting appart a charging Applejack Ranger before turning and glancing down at the scribes. He swiped the letter from the scribe's hoof and glared at it, letting his concealed eyes roll over the hastily written words. “Let me see that… You just received this transmission?”

One of the scribes nodded. “He said he needs everypony to return to Fort Strong at once. He has a better plan of attack to-”

“Yes I can read the fucking transmittion,” The huge True Steel paladin scowled. He looked back and forth between his army and the medical centre before growling. “Fuck it. True Steels retreat back to Fort Strong. We are done here… For now…”

There were a few looks of confusion amongst the True Steels, but they quickly obeyed the command, slowly backing away from the few applejack rangers that were defending the medical centre.

Before the True Steels could get far, an imposing black shape materialised in front of the white and gold clad paladin in a blast of blue light. The Courser practically hissed, its face inches from the paladin's face. “What seems to be the issue, Paladin Bonebreaker? We gave no order to retreat.”

“Orders from High Elder Iron Hock. We are to retreat immediately,” Bonebreaker growled back. “Trust me, I am just as pleased about this as you.”

The Courser didn’t seem to be swayed by the statement. “Iron Hock does not make the orders around here, and we received no such transmission,” The Courser scowled, prowling around the larger pony predatorily. “Tell your troops to get back and fight! We don’t leave until we say we leave.”

The five scribes gulped nervously at the Coursers words. Beside them, the large paladin’s eyes narrowed behind his visor. “Iron Hock is our High Elder and commander. You will not undermine his authority!”

The Courser scowled back before turning its gaze to the five scribes that were slowly trying to inch away from the deadly looking Courser. “And you were the ones that received this Transmission?”

The leading Scribe gave a nervous nod. “We were… yes.”

“Do you have any proof of this transmission?” The Courser hissed, slowly slinking closer towards them.

Bonebreaker growled. “You will not undermine the loyalty of my brothers and sisters either. The True Steels are loyal to our cause.”

The Courser practically laughed at the decoration. “Says the splinter group of traitors,” It returned its piercing icy gaze back to the scribes. “Now, your proof?”

One of the Scribes stepped forwards and tapped the leading Scribe on the shoulder. “We’re all in position.”

The lead scribe nodded, turning its head back to face the Courser. When they spoke, their voice had changed to one filled with a glassy charism. “No proof I’m afraid.”

The Courser’s eyes widened ever so slightly at the sound of the pony's voice. It was somewhat satisfying to see one of these emotionless death machines get surprised by something for once. “Glasswing?”

I took that as my cue to drop my spell. The magic around my horn faded, dropping the invisibility spell I had cast on myself. I appeared directly in front of the Courser, my shotgun already up and aimed at their head. “Hiya!”

Blam!

The Courser reeled back from the shotgun blast, its face a mess of synthetic flesh. It staggered, its hooves clawing desperately at its ruined face. “Keep fighting! It’s a trick!” It shrieked out, lashing about blindly as its eyes slowly rehealed themselves, trying its best to land a hit on me.

A few of the True Steels stopped retreating, their faces clearly showing confusion in whether they should keep attacking or retreat. In the confusion, small pillars of magical green fire began swirling up out of the synth and True Steel army as dozens of Institute Changelings shed their disguise and began blasting into their forces with deadly rifles. Beside me, Glasswing, Mother and their three changeling scientists dropped their disguises as well, their own weapons firing. One of Glasswings shots grazed the side of Bonebreakers helmet, sending the huge True Steel Paladin stumbling back.

“Defensive formation!” Bonebreaker howled, a large minigun on the side of his battle saddle rapidly whirring to life. “Show these shapechangers what the True Steels can-”

He was interrupted as the booming sound of hundreds of metal clad hooves began to fill the air. He raised his gaze, his eyes wide behind his helmet as he made out the forms of fully armoured Applejack Rangers cresting over the side of the hill and rushing out from behind broken down buildings on every side. The air filled with the sound of a loud whistling as dozens of rockets streaked out across the battlefield, slamming into clusters of True Steels and synths and blasting them apart.

I ducked low as the Courser rushed at me again, their powerful hoof missing my head by inches. “We have been expecting you, Amber Aura,” The Courser seethed, whipping around to glare at me with its ice blue, reforming eyes. “You are a fool to run head first into our trap a second time.”

“First of all, stop calling me by my full name. Amber will do just fine,” I shot back, dodging another deadly swip of their hoof. “You sound like my dad whenever he’s angry at me. Like seriously, what is it with you villains and using my last name all the time? Very annoying. And second, traps are less effective when we see them coming.”

Blam!

A bullet lanced out from beside me, lancing through the Courser’s head and blasting out one of their eyes. The Courser howled, staggering back as blood flowed freely down their face for the second time from where the powerful shot had hit.

Xayah flickered into view beside me, tossing aside her spent stealthbuck. She re-aimed her anti-material rifle and fired off a second shot, this time blasting out one of the Courser’s legs. A second later, Brisk, Star and Scarlet flashed into view as well, their own weapons slashing into the Coursers hide.

The Coursers scowled, flipping backwards, the flurry of shots from Brisk’s minigun flashing past them. They landed heavily on their hooves, a small grin across their face. “Clever, but your army has little hope of defeating our-”

Much like with Bonebreaker, the Courser was interrupted as a loud cheer rose up from the Fluttershy Medical Centre. The cornered Applejack Rangers had rallied, now joined by a large group of well armoured, minigun wielding Friendship Express Operatives.

“Come on ponies! Let's show them hell!” Freedom screamed, her revolver blasting shot after shot into the True Steels.

The Courser was forced to duck away again, this time by one of Star's shots as they fired off a few rounds of searing magical beams in their direction. “Word to the wise, don’t let a collection of the smartest minds in Equestria come up with your enemy's attack plan,” She quipped at the Courser, swooping in for a second attack.

“Noted,” the Courser monotone back, easily ducking out of the way of the blasts. They spun around, their hoof flashing out and slamming into Scarlet’s chest. Scarlet gave a loud scream of pain as she was flung backwards, hitting the ground hard.

I dove forwards, my shotgun roaring as I blast shot after shot of magically enhanced buckshot in the Courser’s direction. Before I could make it far, another hoof shot out, catching me in the stomach and sending me flying to the side. I groaned, glancing up at the two other Courses that were rapidly moving in on us.

“Right… there are three of you,” I grimace, shakily pulling myself back to my hooves. The strike caused my whole body to feel like it was one fire. Those Courser’s packed one hell of a fucking punch.

Xayah dodged a swing from one of the Coursers, one of her cybernetic legs swinging up to deflect one of strikes. The Courser's hoof slammed hard against the white metal, ramming Xayah into the ground, but she remained otherwise unharmed.

Two of the Coursers exchanged a knowing look as they slowly advanced on me as I tried to pull myself back to my hooves. “It’s time…”

The other Courser nodded, tapping a hoof to their ear. “Bring it in.”

Brisk had to jump back as one of the Coursers rounded on him, their magical energy rifle flaring. The first shot grazed Brisk’s forehoof, searing away his hide and flesh and showing the bone beneath. Brisk grit his teeth, biting down hard on the bit of his minigun and letting loose another torrent of bullets. The Courser he was aiming at easily leaped away from the stream of bullets, their hoof lashing out and knocking Brisk back with a powerful strike to the face.

Across the battlefield, I saw Bonecrusher lung forward, his huge, metal clad hooves crushing a changeling beneath him as if he were a small bug. The huge ranger reared up, his bloodsoaked hooves swinging to collide with anypony else that dared to get close. Behind him, I saw a group of synths swarm around the Friendship Express operatives from all sides, their energy rifles turning a few Operatives to ash. Even with our advantage of surprise, we were quickly being over run.

One of the Coursers slammed into me again, this time pinning me to the ground with their powerful hoof. They leered at me, pressing their hoof tight against my throat. I could feel the air rapidly leaving my lungs as I tried to breathe.

“You may have won in Tenpony Tower, but only because the Talons were there to save you,” The Courser cooed at me. “You will have no such luck here. Plan all you like. Our forces are far greater than you are able to overcome,” A sly smile spread across their ice cold expression. “And this time we brought some insurance.”

A deafening roar echoed out over the battlefield. I heard gasps of horror as a massive shadow shot over us, black wings blotting out the sky as a huge beast soared into the air above us. I looked up with fear filled eyes as the shape of a massive black dragon swooped into my view, its massive maw opening wide and unleashing a sweltering jet of flame across the battlefield. Ponies screamed as the crimson stream of fire washed over them, sending their bodies up in writhing flames. I saw a group of Applejack Rangers collapse to the ground, smoke billowing out of their armour as they were cooked alive.

“You have a- what- dragon- how!” I gasped out, trying desperately to push the Courser’s hoof off my neck.

The Courser just grinned at me. “As you said, traps are always more effective when you don’t see them coming.”

The dragon did a loop in the air before swooping back over us, its huge claws lashing out and snatching fleeing ponies from the ground before soaring off. The massive beast shot upwards for a few seconds before letting their razor sharp claws release, dropping the screaming ponies to their deaths. It roared again, smoke and flame billowing from its mouth and nostrils as it sent another searing jet of fire across the battlefield.

Across from me, I watched in horror as Bonecrusher swung another one of his massive hooves at Glasswing, the huge, metal clad hoof colliding violently with his leg and snapping the bone. Glasswing gave a loud scream of pain, dropping to one knee as the massive True Steel loomed over him.

“Glasswing!” Mother screamed out, rushing at Bonecrusher, her magical energy rifle firing a few blasts into the paladin that did little but ricochet off his gleaming, blood soaked armour. The large True Steel just grunted, their minigun spinning up and firing off a stream of bullets in Mothers direction. Mother screamed as several bullets ripped through her forehoof, sending her staggering backwards.

Brisk gave a loud grunt as one of the Coursers slammed into him, knocking him backwards. He only had just enough time to righten himself when the Courser was on him again, their hoof swinging at his neck. Behind them, a group of synths surrounded a group of Applejack Rangers, their weapons rendering them to ash.

Xayah launched herself at the Courser pinning me down. Her metal hooves slammed against the Coursers side, frantically trying to push them off of me and give me a breath of air. The Courser easily batted her aside, one of their own hooves flashing out and knocking Xayah upside the head. I saw blood drizzle down from where the blow struck.

Taking advantage of the distraction, I shot my head forwards and bit down on the Courser's hoof as hard as I could just below the leather barding. The Course merely flinched, looking down at me in amusement, only to find my horn flaring and sending my new shotgun swinging at their head like a battering ram. The Courser howled as the metal weapon collided with their face, caving the side of their head in.

I pushed myself up, grasping at my neck and trying to pull as much air into my lungs as possible. I spat a wad of blood from my mouth, trying to regain control of all my senses as the wonderful feeling of breath came rushing back into me.

“Retreat to the Medical Centre!” I heard somepony screaming. I looked over to see Crusader Blueberry standing with a large group of his rangers, their explosive weaponry firing rapidly as they tried to cover their allies as they made a frantic dash for the medical centre.

“You heard him! Get inside! Now!” Freedom was shouting, her revolver firing shot after shot up at the dragon as it swooped down again, its maw open wide and unleashing a torrent of flame. The bullets did little but bounce harmlessly off its thick scaled hide.

I rolled forwards, narrowly avoiding a blast from one of the Courser’s deadly rifles as I pulled myself up beside Xayah and helped her back up to her hooves before making a mad dash towards the medical centre. A few synths jumped at me, but I quickly bashed them aside with wild swings of my shotgun, using it almost as a riot shield as the hordes of enemies closed in on me. I saw Star helping Brisk along a few paces behind me, both of their weapons blazing with light as they tried to fend off the three Coursers that were now chasing after us at full speed.

Glasswing’s wings burst to life, sending him flashing past Bonecrusher, his gnarled forehooves scooping Mother up and carrying her bleeding form away from the raging True Steel paladin. Bonecrusher gave a roar of rage, rapidly charging after them, each step shaking the ground.

“Go Go! Blueberry urged everypony, ushering them inside as fast as he could. Xayah and I rushed past him, staggering our way into the medical centre with our friends close behind us. I looked back to see the black dragon swoop by again, its claws rending into a group of frantically rushing Friendship Express Operatives and ripping the in half.

As the last few ponies staggered in, Blueberry turned to one of the robobrains beside him. “Dazzling Souvenir, get the buildings defences down, now!”

Dazzling Souvenir gave a quick salute with her long, accordion-like arm and clicked a button on a terminal inset into the wall. The interior lights of the building abruptly shut off, followed by the loud sounding bang of metal plates slamming shut over the door and window. There was an ear piercing roar as the dragon howled outside, smashing its huge form against the outer wall of the medical centre again and again.

“That should hold it off for a bit,” Dazzling Souvenir chirped in her metallic sounding tone. “But not forever. This building was designed to withstand a zebra invasion, not a fully grown dragon.”

“How the fuck did they even get one of those!” I gasped, my eyes still locked on the door as the massive beast rammed itself into the wall again and again. Bits of smoke began pouring through the cracks under the doorway as the dragon let loose a jet of fire upon the building. I glanced around, trying to see how well everyone was faring in the dim lighting. Many of the ponies lay on the ground, wounded, but a majority of our forces seemed to have gotten inside alive. I spotted a few Applejack Ranger medics darting about, being led by a very tired and frazzled looking Reverie as they tried to patch as many ponies up as quickly as possible.

“Because it’s not a dragon. Not really,” I heard Glasswing grunt. I turned to see the lab coat clad changeling leaning up against a wall for support, trying his best to set his broken leg. Mother rested beside him, trying to bandage her bleeding hoof to the best of her ability.

Xayah gave Glasswing a confused look, wincing a little as the constant slamming of the dragon outside caused a small piece of the roof to fall away. “What do you mean that was not a dragon? It looked like a dragon to me!”

Glasswing scowled, wincing as he applied a little bit of pressure to his broken hoof in an attempt to stand on his own. “A few years back, the Institute began working on creating more than just synthetic ponies, but other creatures as well. The intention was to try and repopulate the wasteland with less irradiated fauna. Among those projects, was the development of synthetic dragons,” he winced again, finally giving up on trying to walk and sitting down. “The project was all but abandoned. It simply was too expensive in resources and didn’t have nearly enough practical use to us. Clearly Silver Ace thought otherwise and finished the project.”

“You were trying to make synth dragons! That’s insane!” Brisk sputtered, glaring at Glasswing.

“Exactly why we never actually made one,” Glasswing shot back. “The idea somepony could take control of the Institute by simply overriding our synths was already a concern, but to give the possibility of them taking control of synth dragons? It was just as much a safety breach to my control over the Institute as it was to the rest of the wasteland.”

I frowned, something not adding up in my head. “Wait, but how does that make any sense? Silver Ace no longer has control over the synth production facilities in the Institute, and I never saw a Dragon fighting in the battle for the Institute either. He would have had to have made that thing after we took the synth creation wing back!”

I saw a look of hesitation cross Glasswings face. Before he could make any form of confession however, Mother stepped forwards. “That’s because the Institute as you know it is only one of two facilities.”

I gaped at her. There was another Institute!? She had to be fucking kidding me. “And you didn’t think to mention this to us earlier!?”

Glasswing sighed and shot Mother with a scolding glare. “I had hoped to keep some secrets close to our chest, or risk losing more than the Institute already has,” With a grunt, he looked back at me. “We have a second facility located in the desolate expanse between Manehattan and Fillydelphia, yes. The one located under Tenpony is our primary base of operations, but this second facility is where a majority of our synths are created. We lost all contact with it after Pureblood first took over the Institute.”

I could practically feel myself seething. “So not only did you withhold valuable information, but this facility is making Silver Ace an even bigger army than he already has!” I stopped my hoof down in agitation. “Fuck, that’s bad.”

“It gets worse,” Glasswing warned. “ If they've managed to create one synth dragon, who is to say they cannot make more. If Silver Ace’s intention is to ensure we cannot beat him in the war for Manehattan, then it is likely that he has already begun production on more of those.”

I could feel a shiver go down my spine. A whole army of fully grown dragons at his disposal? The idea alone was horrifying.

“So? What do we do?” Scarlet asked, trotting up to me slowly.

“At the moment, there is nothing we can do, not while we are trapped in here,” Glasswing grimaced, gesturing to the metal slabs that had slid shut over the door and windows. “Our first course of action must be to survive this fight first. We will be able to do little to stop all this if we cannot kill even this one dragon.”

The whole building shook as the dragon rammed itself into the medical centre again. I took a step back, glancing around. “Well? Does anypony have even the smallest semblance of a plan?” I was only met with blank, horrified stares.

“Ponies!” I heard the booming voice of Bonecrusher call out. I pushed myself up against the wall, peeking through a small crack that led outside. I could see Bonecrusher standing proudly before the amassed army of synths and True Steels in his imposing power armour, all three Coursers flanking him. I couldn’t see the dragon, but I saw a flash of a massive shadow pass over everything. “You have no hope of winning. Surrender Amber Aura to us, and we might let you live!”

There was a moment of hesitation from all the ponies around me. I'm sure the offer seemed incredibly tempting. Then, after a second of silence, Mother pulled herself up to the sealed off doorway. “Go fuck yourselves!” She shouted back, venom in her voice.

Her declaration was quickly followed by loud shouts of approval from all the ponies around me as they all pulled themselves back up to their hooves. “We aren’t doing anything you say!” Freedom hissed. “And Amber is not going anywhere with you!”

I could see Bonecrusher scowl through the small crack in the wall. He took a step forward, but one of the Coursers put a hoof out to stop him. The Courser gave a sinister looking leer as they glowered at the fortified medical centre. “Very well. You cannot hide in there forever!” They turned their gaze skyward, signalling with a hoof down to the building. “Burn it down!”

With a mighty roar, the dragon swooped down again, fire spewing from its jagged maw. I ducked away from the crack in the wall as flame licked at the side of the building. The whole building trembled as the crushing weight of the dragon landed heavily atop its roof.

I turned back to face everypony. “Thank you, for not surrendering me, it means alot, but maybe we should-”

“If you are about to say give you over to them, you can shut the fuck up,” Star smirked, flapping over and giving me a slap across the back of the head with her wing. “You are sticking right here.”

“I agree with the pegasus,” Crusader Blueberry grunted factually. “You have done far too much for everypony here for us to simply hoof you over to them. Besides… it is unlikely they would leave us all alone even if we did.”

I gave a grim nod. It was good to know everypony had my back. Of course, that just left us with a massive dragon and a small army to deal with. No big deal…

Beside me, I saw Brisk quickly move up beside Star, his eyes darting back and forth nervously between her and the large cracks that were rapidly shooting down the wall as the massive dragon slammed its claws against the rooftop. “H-hey Star. there’s something we need to talk about.”

Star gave him a small nod, her gaze still fixed on the door. “Yeah, what’s that?”

Brisk shuffled his hooves a little. “I, um… I’m like, totally in love with you.”

Star paused, her face flushing a bright red. A second later, she shook whatever thoughts she was having from her head and gave Brisk a scolding look. “Wha- does this look even remotely like the right fucking time!? Talk to me after the battle, dumbass!”

The sound of beating wings filled our ears as the massive dragon launched off of the roof. I staggered as the floor beneath me shook, spreading my legs apart as I tried to take on a more sturdy stance.

“It looks like it’s coming around for another strike!” An Applejack Ranger glancing out one of the cracks in the walls called out, taking a small step back. “Everypony brace yoursel-”

His warning was cut off as the dragon rammed itself into the building. Chunks of wall were sent flying inwards as its huge maw burst through the concrete surface. I jumped back, nearly avoiding being snapped in two as its razor sharp mouth violently gnashed at us. The dragon pulled back, turning its head to peer at us through the new opening in the wall with one of its massive yellow eyes. Its burning gaze seemed to lock onto me and it reared its head back, glowing firelight suddenly building up in the back of its throat.

“Shit shit shit! Everypony out! Now!” Blueberry screamed, ushering his ponies back towards the doorway. “That thing’s going to roast us! Dazzling! Get the doors open again!”

The treads on Dazzling Souvenir’s chassis whirred to life as she rolled towards the terminal. She reached out, frantically tapping keys.

The medical centre’s lights burst back to life, the metal plating that had covered the door abruptly sliding away. We all scrambled to the doorway as fast as we could, our weapons already firing as we tried to create as much cover for ourselves as we could as we all rushed through the tight choke point towards the amassed army that was rapidly surrounding the building.

I looked back just in time to see the dragon’s mouth burst open, a searing jet of flame pouring into the medical centre behind me. A dozen Applejack Rangers went up in flame, their shrieks of pain echoing in my ears as they burned alive.

With a roar of triumph, the legion of True Steels charged towards us, their metal clad hooves pounding against the ground. Bonecrusher gave a booming battlecry, his rocket launcher firing and sending an explosive projectile rocketing into a group of Rangers.

I ducked and rolled across the ground as the dragon lurched around, its bladed tail swinging over my head and slicing a few hairs from my mane. It beat its massive wings against its side, powerful bursts of wind shooting out from it in every direction and causing a few ponies to lose their hoofing. One of its claws lashed out, slashing through the glass dome on Dazzling Souvenir’s brian case. Its claws rended through Dazzling Souvenir as if her metal chassis was nothing more than butter. I watched in horror as the robobrain collapsed to the ground, dead, biomedical gel spilling across the ground like blood.

“Dazzling!” I shouted, pushing myself off the ground and rushing to where the robobrain’s body had fallen. I didn’t need to reach her to know that she was dead. There was no surviving an attack like that.

A searing pain shot through my leg as one of the Courser’s blasted a beam of magical energy through my forehoof. I dropped to my stomach, pain flaring through me as I looked up and spotted all three Coursers walking towards me, eerily identical smirks sprawled across their faces.

“It’s all over Amber,” One of the Courser’s mocked, the magical energy rifle in their magical grasp charging up as they aimed it at me. “Your army is finished. Once we are done here, we will turn our sights fully on the Celestial States building. How long do you think your allies there will last with the full might of the Institute bearing down on them?”

I scowled, applying pressure to my hoof to stop the bleeding. “Don’t write Pyre and her forces off so easily,” I glowered. “They won’t let you win!”

The Courser just smiled. “We will see…” It raised a hoof, signalling to the dragon. Before I could even think to move, that dragon lunged forward, its huge claw pinning me to the ground. All the breath was pushed from my lungs as the beast slammed me against the ground, its steaming muzzle inches from my face. “Kill her.”

The Dragon pulled it’s head back, scorching flame building up in the back of it’s throat. Panicked, I raised my shotgun in my magic and blasted as many rounds as I could into its side, but the magically enhanced buckshot simply refracted off its thick scales.

Boom!

Green fire exploded across my vision as a massive projectile was sent hurtling directly into the dragon's face. I could feel my flesh sizzling at the immense heat and my pipbuck began clicking as I was hit with a sudden wave of radiation. Blood and gore spilled down upon me as the huge explosion ripped the Dragon apart.

The Dragon staggered back, its face a mess of melted flesh and shattered bone. It pulled away from me, allowing for a large breath to fill my lungs, before the colossal beast raised its head to look at its new attacker. No sooner had the dragon turned away from me, than a second projectile launched through the air, once more slamming directly into the dragon's face, blasting apart the skull and raining viscera down upon the battlefield. The Dragon let out a final dying screech as the remains of its maw were incinerated, its body lashing back and forth as its now headless body went into its death throes. Then, still smoking, the dragon crashed to the ground, dead, blood seeping from the ruined stump of its neck and pooling around my panting form.

I raised my gaze in the direction of the blast, making out the diffused sunlight glinting off of a metal clad form approaching from the west. The large power armoured figure stood there, a Balefire Egg launcher slung over their shoulder.

“True Steels and Institute synths!” The Ranger boomed out, standing unmoving as all eyes turned to them. “You will stand down and surrender or be obliterated!” I felt myself smile. I knew that voice. Slowly, more armoured forms began to crest over the hill and enter our line of sight. I watched in awe as just under a hundred fully armoured Steel Rangers began to charge into battle, Paladin Sardine at their head.

“The Steel Rangers are coming! The Steel Rangers are coming!” An Applejack Ranger shouted out, their cries sending waves of relief surging through our forces.

“Keep fighting! Push them back!” I heard Crusader Blueberry shouting in turn, rallying his troops behind him. He charged forwards, slamming his full weight into Bonecrusher and sending the larger pony stumbling back.

The Steel Rangers opened fire, their impressive weaponry ripping through the first wave of True Steels as they struggled to adjust to the sudden onslaught from behind. I saw a group of five True Steels blown apart as a Steel Ranger tossed an apple grenade at them.

“True Steels! To me!” Bonecrusher was screaming, his rocket launcher firing off another devastating rocket into the approaching rangers. “We need to retreat to Fort Strong! Fall back!”

One of the Coursers hissed at him, their ice cold eyes narrowing. “No! Stay and fight cowards! Our work is not done here unt-”

I swivelled my shotgun around in my magic and unloaded a full clip into the back of the Courser’s head. They howled as blast after blast of searing red buckshot burst through their skull and out their face, ripping flesh from bone. The Courser staggered back, their rage filled eyes turning to me. I never gave them time to counter attack as I shoved another clip in and unloaded a second round point blank into their face and chest again, blowing the top half of their body clean off. The magical energy infused into the buckshot seemed to course through the synth, blowing out whatever circuitry existed within their synthetic form. A burst of sparks shot out from their chest as they slumped motionless to the ground.

"There," I spat, heaving. "Now I've finally gotten to kill one of you fucks..."

The other two Coursers whipped around to face me, their own guns raising and ready to fire, but they were too late. More Steel Rangers began turning their attention to the Coursers as the True Steels began pulling back, trying to distance themselves as far away from the battlefield as they could. Two rockets streaked out, blasting into the Coursers and sending them flying back, limbs and flesh flying every which way.

Xayah rushed up to me, helping me back to my hooves and frantically looking me over for injury. The Dragon's claws had stabbed into me, though thankfully the ballistic weave Coco Pommel had sewn into my stable barding had protected me from having the claws actually puncture my flesh.

With a roar of great triumph, our forces, alongside the Steel Rangers swept across the battlefield, blasting apart synth after synth as the dwindling army tried to hold them back. I saw a small hoof full of True Steels stay and fight, but most had quickly fled with Bonecrusher back to Forth Strong. In only a matter of minutes, we went from losing, to winning. A few minutes more, and the battle was over.

Across from Xayah and I, I saw Star swoop down and wrap Brisk in a big hug, both of them blushing profusely. Even from across the field of corpses, I could see Brisk blush a bright red. “Star, about what I said earlier, uh… I just wanted to say that-” Instead of letting him finish, Star planted a quick kiss on his lip. “Oh! Uh- okay…”

“Get over it dummy,” Star smirked back at him. “Come on. We got ponies we need to heal.”

I smiled a little as I watched them scamper off to go help a group of wounded ponies. My gaze was drawn from them to Paladin Sardine who was slowly marching towards Crusader Blueberry. “Blueberry,” The large paladin rumbled, his tone unreadable.

Blueberry gave the Steel Ranger a quick, but uncertain salute. “Paladin. I cannot express how thankful we are that you and your Rangers arrived when you did. But what are you doing here? Last I heard, you were busy defending the cathedral?”

Sardine nodded. “Sirloin filled me in on everything that went down in the Institute. I figured it was about time we all got over our petty squabbles and dealt with the real threat. I doubt the Applejack Rangers and the Steel Rangers will ever be truly on peaceful terms, but if there is one thing neither of us can abide by, it's the True Steels. But this is not the time. Let us retire inside. We have much to discuss.”

I went to follow them as the two power armoured ponies began to lead everypony inside, only to pause and a small choking cough drew my attention downwards. One of the Courser’s lay a few feet away from me, half its face missing and two of its hooves rendered completely useless from the explosion that had ripped them apart. Most of the hide on their body had been burned off and beneath the warped and ripped muscle tissue, I could see the remains of broken bones. Their body continuously spasmed as it tried to knit itself back together to minimal success.

Scowling, I stumbled over to where the Courser lay, Xayah nervously following behind me. I raised my shotgun, pressing its barrel against what remained of the Courser's forehead. The synth's glowing blue eye seemed to lock on me as I loomed over it, glaring at me with a shocking smug expression for something on death's door. I supposed these things didn’t truly know fear. “You are going to answer my questions, or I’m going to blow your head off,” I told it factually. “Understood?”

The Courser just cackled. “I think not. Your intimidation methods are useless on me.”

I just growled at it. “What is Silver Ace planning? What does he need Luna Prime for?”

“It won’t tell you anything,” Xayah and I looked behind us to see Freedom slowly approaching, a grim look across her face. “The Friendship Express has minimal experience with Coursers. Killing one is hard enough. Catching one alive is damn near impossible. And when we can interrogate them, they never talk,” She came to a stop, glaring down at the Courser hatefully. “But we’ve found ways to get inside their heads.”

The Courser snickered, a calculating malice etching its way across their face. “Ah. The leader of the Friendship Express. How we Coursers have longed to meet you face to face. How is that little mechanic of yours doing? Sprocket, I think her name was? Oh how she begged when I put her down.”

Freedom remained silent, ignoring the synth's taunts. She moved around behind it, pulling a bag of tools out from her saddlebag. “Funny you mention her. She was the one who figured out how to do this,” was all she bothered to say, drilling into the Coursers cranium with a small drill. She fiddled around inside their head for a second before seeming to press on some part of their brain and stepping back. She looked over at me, her hooves and face covered in the Courser's blood. “There. Ask it your questions now. I’ve hacked into its memory codec. I think you’ll find it much more cooperative. Just be fast. They don’t last long once we do this.”

I gave her a thankful nod before returning my gaze to the Courser. “What is Silver Ace planning?”

The Courser’s limp face took on a strangely sinister looking expression. “To end the war…”

I paused. When I had first spoken to Silver Ace face to face, he had talked quite a lot about achieving peace. I could imagine that being Silver Aces end goal in his own twisted way. “You’re not talking about the war for Manehattan, are you? You're talking about the great war?”

The Courser nodded. “Yes…”

“And how does he plan to do that? With the Utopia program, I suppose, but how? And what does Luna Prime have to do with any of this? Why did he take it from my pipbuck?” I asked back, trying to figure out the best way to get all the answers I needed.

I felt a chill go down my spine as the Courser let loose a hollow, icy laugh. “Silver Ace won’t succeed. My master has ensured it…”

“Your master? What are you talking about? You work for Silver Ace, don’t you?” I asked, uncertain about how to respond to that.

The Courser just gave me a smug glare. “Spiderwebs and puppet strings,” The Courser sang out in a tone that was very unlike icy monotone I had come to expect from Coursers. “Silver Ace believes he is the master of his own fate. He has no idea who is really pulling the strings.”

I could feel an uneasy feeling washing over me. “Then who’s really in charge of all this? Iron Hock? Bonecrusher?” I paused, a terrible feeling opening up in my gut. “The Pony of Shadows?”

The smile on the Courser's face faded. “The Pony of Shadows? It has not gone by that name in thousands of years.”

“Then who? What is that thing in the Utopia program?” I urged.

The Courser just looked at me, the small spark of life in its lone eye fading. “Fear the Collective, Amber Aura… Fear the Collective and be assimilated into nothingness…” Then, with that final word, the light in the Courser's eye went out completely and it finally went still.

“The Collective?” Xayah asked, her gaze fixated on the Courser. “What is the Collective?”

I gave a nervous shrug. “I don’t know. But we don’t have time right now to figure that out,” I turned, heading back towards the Fluttershy Medical Centre with Xayah and Freedom. “We have many other things to discuss first.”

I watched out the window as an Applejack ranger finally finished buring the shattered brain jar of Dazzling Souvenir alongside the rest of the ponies that had fallen in the battle. They marked the grave with a simple tombstone before moving onto the next body that needed to be buried. In only the span of an hour, the Fetlock suburbs around the Fluttershy medical Centre had become a graveyard.

Taking a deep breath, I turned my gaze from the window to the assembled ponies around me. After the battle, we had quickly made our way up to the ruins of Silver Ace’s old office and were discussing our next course of action, though no pony could seem to come to a good consensus. Paladin Sardine and Crusader Blueberry were leading the conversation, or they were trying to anyway when the two weren't arguing about politics. Blueberry’s helmet was off, giving me a clear view of his face for only the third time since I'd met him, he looked tired. Glasswing, Mother and Freedom stood slightly off to the side, pitching in an idea every now and again while Brisk, Star, Xayah and Scarlet stood next to me, all of them mostly silent. I smiled again as I saw Brisk and Star standing much closer together than they normally do.

“We need to attack Fort Strong now while we’re on the offensive,” Sardine was insisting. “For the first time since the True Steels were formed, we finally have those traitors on the run. We need to hit them fast and hard while they’re still reorganising. If we can take Fort Strong now, we will actually have a fighting chance in this war.”

“I don’t disagree, but we simply aren’t ready for that kind of attack,” Blueberry retorted. “Fort Strong is one of the most secure places in Manehattan, topped only by the Celestial States building itself and we’re still weak from the fight. My ponies have just been through two harrowing battles. They need time to rest and mourn for those they’ve lost.”

Sardine shook his head firmly. “We simply don't have time for that. Waiting another day isn’t an option for us. By tomorrow afternoon, the Enclave will reach Fillydelphia. When that happens, my Rangers and I will be forced to return to the Stable-Tec headquarters or risk losing our greatest stronghold against Red Eyes slavers. Besides, every day that we wait, we give this Silver Ace pony a chance to enact his plans with this Utopia Program you keep speaking of.”

“Plus, we’re going to need to deal with the synth dragons,” Glasswing added. “If they’ve managed to make one dragon, they will make more. I doubt this defeat will deter them. If anything, it will only enforce their belief that they must continue production. If one dragon almost ended this war in their favour, imagine what they could do with an army of them.”

Freedom gave a grim nod. “As much as I hate to agree with Glasswing, so long as Silver Ace is in control of a facility that can make more synths, not to mention synth dragons, what hope do we really have at winning this? For every synth we take down, he’ll be ready to replace them with ten more.”

“We can’t let this opportunity to take Fort Strong slip through our hooves!” paladin Sardine reaffirmed. “As dire as this synth situation is, taking Fort Strong would not only cement our control over the Fetlock area and the trade routes leading into and out of the city, but we would be taking away one of their largest advantages… the munitions factory below the Fort.”

Blueberry nodded. “True enough. That factory supplied the True Steels with enough firepower to take control of most of the city almost overnight, and it's not a kind of firepower that we are in a position to combat. If we can take that from them, not only would we be dealing a huge blow to their forces around the Celestial States building, but we would be giving a huge advantage to ourselves.”

“Okay, but did you forget about the synth dragons,” Glasswing hissed mockingly in response. “A factory of weapons is only going to take you so far. A war against an army of dragons simply isn’t something we can win.”

“And what about this Paladin Bonecrusher that is leading the True Steels out in Fetlock?” Blueberry questioned. “I was not familiar with his name. Should we be worried about him?”

Sadine gave a loud grunt of annoyance at the mention of the lumbering True Steel. “I’ve never met Bonecrusher face to face, but I’ve heard of him. He was a member of the Steel Rangers fifty years back, but was dishonoured and thrown from the order. He’s no strategist like Tesla Coil was, but he is known for his efficiency and ruthlessness. Given enough time, he will likely whip his troops back into fighting shape and march back here to finish what he started. I would not take him lightly if I were you.”

“Fifty years ago?” Freedom blurted. “How old is this buck?”

“Likely nearing his eighties at this point. From what I’ve heard he’s dramatically prolonged his life and enhanced his strength with cybernetics from Las Pegasus,” I had to resist the urge to scowl at that. That monster of a True Steel was Doctor Pestilence's work no doubt.

“Well, what does Amber think we should do?” Mother piped up, speaking up for the first time in the last few minutes. “You’ve been rather quiet.”

I glanced up from my hooves and at the ponies that had all turned their attention to me. “I… uh… I’m not sure. This might be our only chance to actually hit the True Steels where it hurts…” I paused, trying to come up with a good solution. After a second, I turned to Glasswing and Mother. “Do you know where this Institute Facility is?”

Glasswing gave me one of his charming, snake-like smiles. “What head of the Institute would I be if I did not? It’s located in the wastes between Manehattan and Fillydelphia, intentionally miles and miles out of the way of any settlements or travelled routes. There is an old military bunker it was originally built under almost a hundred years ago now.”

“How fast do you think you and a team of ponies could get there?” I asked. I had walked to Fillydelphia before, and it was quite a walk.

“A few days, maybe only one if we took the Fetlock train half way out,” Glasswing estimated. “But we would have to leave now. By the end of the day, Silver Ace will likely have made another ten or so dragons. By the end of the second day we could be looking at anywhere between twenty to fifty. After that, it’s hard to guess.”

I nodded. “Then that should be your priority. Getting that factory shut down. However, we also can’t allow this chance to take down the True Steels slip by…”

“You’re suggesting we split our forces?” Scarlet guessed, looking at me nervously. “We’re spread pretty thin as it is, and these don't sound like they’re going to be easy missions.”

I nodded grimly. “The way I see it, is that we have to deal with both of these before we regroup with Jinx, Pyre and the Las Pegasus raiders in the centre of the city, but we also can’t wait a day to do either of these. Right now, we have four armies all gathered here in the medical centre. The Steel Rangers, the Applejack Rangers, the Institute Remnants and the Friendship Express. The two ranger factions can move out and lay siege to Fort Strong while the Institute Scientists and Friendship Express Operatives go and dismantle Silver Ace’s operations out in the wastes.”

“The plan could work,” Sardine grunted bluntly. “It’s risky to spread ourselves so thin, but what other choice do we have? Neither of these objectives can wait.”

“Xayah and I can go with Glasswing and Freedom to take out the synth production facility,” Brisk suggested, gesturing to himself and Xayah. “It sounds like we’re going to need somezebra stealthy and if things get bad, we’re going to need a pony that can mow down as many synths as they can while we flee,” He grinned and tapped the large minigun strapped to his side.

I gave them both a sad look. “Are you sure? This whole mission is going to be dangerous… I don’t want to lose you guys while you’re-”

“We will be fine, you foolish pony,” Xayah said soothingly, giving me a smile. “We have to go into a fight anyway. Might as well go to that which we are most needed.”

I gave a hesitant nod. “I know but… We’ve already split up with Pyre and Mirra… I don’t want to be separated from you guys too…” I took a deep breath, steadying myself. There was more than keeping all of us together at stake here. I had to do what was best for the wasteland. “Alright, but you two better come back to me alive.”

“Then it’s settled,” Paladin Sardine interjected. “Glasswing, Mother, Freedom, Brisk and Xayah will lead the Institute Remnants and The Friendship Express on a stealth mission into the Synth production facility while Amber, Star, Scarlet, Blueberry and myself lead our ranger factions into a full frontal siege on Fort Strong,” He paused, looking around the room as if expecting somepony to object. No pony did.

With a sigh, Blueberry straightened his back and placed his power armour helmet over his head. “I’ll start readying my troops. We should be ready to go within the hour.”

I found Brisk rummaging through my saddlebag a few minutes later on the roof of the Fluttershy Medical Centre. He grumbled something to himself before shoving something into his saddlebag.

“Hey… what are you doing with my bag?” I asked, slowly walking up to him. It wasn’t really an accusation, I was just curious. Brisk whirled around to stare at me with wide eyes as he heard my voice, his expression reminiscent of a child caught stealing candy from a candy store. “Woah, don’t worry bro. I’m just curious.”

Brisk glanced down at the saddlebag for a second before giving me a shaky smile. “I… uh… thought this was my bag. Sorry. My mistake,” He tossed the bag back to me which I deftly caught in my magical grasp before levitating it over to rest on my withers. His response was an obvious lie, but I didn’t push him. I trusted Brisk enough at this point to figure that if there was something he didn’t want me to know, he probably had a good reason.

Ignoring his lie, I trotted up to him and looked out at the wasteland beyond. Not all that far away I could see the looming, concrete walls of Fort Strong, its massive skyscraper sized gun still mounted on the roof, thankfully also still deactivated. “How are you holding up?”

“Better than I was earlier,” Brisk confessed. “That talk we had really put some shit into perspective for me,” He paused, looking down at his hoof as he scratched slightly at the dusty roof of the medical centre. “This is the spot where we fought each other all those weeks ago… you know that that day was probably the biggest regret of my life?”

I looked over at him, trying to get a good reading of his emotions. “I forgave you for that ages ago. Besides, turns out you were right all along. We should have just destroyed the A.A.S.S. the second we got our hooves on it. I was just to stupid to let go of the past.”

Brisk shook his head and chuckled. “Trying to destroy the A.A.S.S. isn’t what I regret. I regret attacking you. I became so obsessed with the idea of getting out of this whole mess that I almost gave up on the only thing that makes all this mess bearable in the first place. My sister.”

I blushed a little at the comment. “Yeah, well… I would be pretty upset if I lost you as my brother too, so I know what you mean…” A smug smirk settled across my face. “But hey, isn’t there somepony else that makes all of this shit berable? A specific lavender and mint pegasus maybe?”

Now it was Brisk’s turn to blush. “Haha, yes. Another thing you were right about, I suppose," He deflected. "Yeah. Star Breeze makes it all a little easier to get by as well, as grumpy as she can be sometimes.”

“I’m happy for you two,” I smiled at him. “I’m glad you both found somepony in each other.”

We both took a moment, just standing there and staring out at the wasteland. It was nice. Peaceful even. I wish I knew that it didn’t have to end so soon.

After a few moments, I heard the sound of hoofsteps walking up behind us. I turned my head a little, making out Xayah slowly approaching. “Something told me I’d find you two up here,” She said, coming to a stop beside us and looking out at the wasteland.

I gave her a smile. “We’re predictable like that I suppose,” I gave a long sigh. “I’m going to miss you two while we’re apart.”

“Hopefully it will only be for a few days,” Xayah said comfortingly.

Brisk nodded in agreement. “Yeah. We’ll see eachother again once this whole war is over. Then we can finally settle down. Live normal lives. All that good stuff.”

“Do you really think a normal life is something we can have?” I asked, sceptical, though quite elated at the idea. “After everything we’ve seen and done?”

“I’m sure we can find a way. We always do,” Brisk smiled. “We’ve come a long way, the three of us. I’m confident nothing can stop us. Not Silver Ace, not the war, not even the damned wasteland itself.”

I smiled a little wider. That was a nice thought.

Xayah gave a long sigh, taking a second more to soak in the view of the wasteland with us. After a moment, she gestured for us to follow her. “Anyway, I came up here to tell you both that everypony waiting for you out front. It is time to go.”

Nodding, Brisk and I followed Xayah off of the roof to the front of the Fluttershy Medical Centre. Out front, we were confronted by the two groups that were preparing to head out. Both Ranger factions stood to one side, checking over their power armour and weapons while the Institute Remnants and the Friendship Express Operatives stood side by side across from them. For the first time, none of the factions seemed to be casting hateful glances at each other.

I hated violence, but it seemed fighting alongside somepony could mend almost any rift. Funny how that worked.

Xayah led us off to the right, where Star, Scarlet and Mother were waiting for us. I moseyed up to Mother first, giving her a small smile. “You be safe out there,” I told her, moving forwards and giving her a quick hug. “The two of us have a lot of missed time to make up for after all this.”

“I will. And thank you. For giving me another chance. Celestia knows I don’t deserve it,” Mother said back, wiping a small tear from the corner of her eye. “And that goes for you as well. I expect to be a proud grandmare one day.”

I smirked. “I’ll do my best,” I turned to Xayah and gave her a quick hug. “I love you. You bring both you and Brisk back safely to me, you hear?”

“Brisk Spark is hard to keep safe in the best of times, but I will do my best,” Xayah smirked, planting a kiss on my forehead.

I blushed a little, giving her a small kiss in return before finally turning to Brisk. Brisk had just parted from a quick hug with Star who was scolding him mercilessly. “And I expect you to be fully alive, understand?”

“I don’t expect to come back half alive,” Brisk joked back. “You stay safe too. I… I don’t want to lose you… Not so soon...”

Much to my surprise, Star actually dropped her more hostile demeanour for a moment and gave Brisk a quick kiss. “I don’t want to lose you either,” And with that, she took off to go say her own farewells to Xayah.

“Looks like this is where we part ways,” I said, approaching Brisk. “If you or Xayah ever need to contact me while you’re out there, you know which radio channel to get a hold of me with. Channel 7. Please stay safe out there, and keep Xayah alive for me."

Brisk reached out and gave me a tight hug. "Don't you worry. We'll meet again. I promise you that."

"I love you, bro.”

“I love you too, sis.”

I looked over Brisk’s shoulder to see Sardine and Blueberry quickly approaching us, flanked on both sides by fully armoured Rangers. “I see you have said your goodbyes,” Sadrine monotone as he watched Brisk and I separate from our hug. “Then unless you have anything else to do, I suggest we depart. The day rapidly draws to a close and we all still have much to do.”

Giving everypony one last hug, Star, Scarlet and I broke off from the group and headed towards the large gathering of assembled rangers as they began to march towards the looming fortress of Fort Strong on the horizon. I glanced behind me one last time as I watched Mother, Xayah and Brisk go stand by Glasswing and Freedom as their own group began heading for the Fetlock train station.

We had lost so many good ponies today. Coco Pommel, Sprocket, Dazzling Souvenir, and the day wasn’t over yet. More blood was bound to be spilt in the coming hours. I sent a prayer up to Celestia that this wouldn’t be the last time I saw my friends.

Stealing myself, I turned my gaze back towards the massive structure of Fort Strong. This was not the time to dwell on what might be or those we might lose along the way. We had a war to win…

Footnote: Maximum level reached

Author's Note

Hey guys... sooo, long time no see, huh? Sorry this chapter took so long. Life got really busy and writing combat scenes like these with that many characters is not my strong suit. Hopefully you enjoyed and that the chapter was worth the wait.

Fallout: Equestria belongs to Kkat.

Hope you all have a great day!