Armored Core: Mutare Ad Custodiamby ZeroraidChapters345678123"Sunset…eh Sunset." Applejack shook the girl next to her as she heard this mix of a grumble and gurgling noise leave her. "Come on girl time to wake up." "Go away~" Sunset muttered as she buried her face into her pillow. "Let me sleep." Applejack made a face, put her hands on her hips and stared at the would be sleeper. "No can do suga. We gotta long day ahead of us." Sunset made that noise again. "Don't remind me…" Sunset couldn't resist glaring at the girl next to her, something Applejack chose to ignore. "Now come on girl get up. They got breakfast ready for us." "If you could even call that stuff breakfast." Sunset whispered, but still chose to pull herself from bed, revealing the fact that she had slept in only her black bra and panties… again. Applejack slapped a hand over her face. "Girl, how many times have I told you not to sleep without your clothes on?" "About as many times I've told you that it's uncomfortable." Sunset countered, gathering up the clothes that had been scattered around the foot of her bed. "I'm used to sleeping naked." There probably wasn't an Equestrian that didn't. "Yeah yeah, but ya can't sleep in the bucket round here. Lord knows what them boy's will think." Applejack stated as she adjusted her hat before turning. Anyway, come on. Let's get ya cleaned up and get some food in ya. You'll need it." "Right." Sunset grumbled as she watched her counterpart step off. As she did though Sunset couldn't help dropping onto her bed and rubbing the bridge of her nose "another day slaving away in this dump." She muttered, before looking around. This dump happened to be a boarding house of sorts. If one could even call it that. More than anything it was like a box with for walls and a whole bucket load of beds spread out. Temporary housing they called it, it was where they'd be staying till they were moved to a more permanent shelter… well a shelter for refugees anyway. Sunset dropped back into her bed and made a face. She hadn't made it through the Citizenship registration process and she hated herself for that. She hated the fact that she had jumped headlong into trying to gain citizenship without realizing she couldn't fucking read tor write in this species language! Sunset groaned, resting a hand on her face. That… that realization had been the most embarrassing thing she had ever experienced in her life. The Registration officer had given her some paper to sign, and something called a pen and staring at the sheet Sunset just… froze up. She couldn't read a damn thing that was presented on it. Worse when she tried faking that she knew what was on the paper and started writing she realized her penmanship wasn't just abysmal but damn near ineligible. The Registration officer looked at her like she was making some kind of bad joke. Even asked who on earth could survive with penmanship this bad. "Feel free to apply for citizenship again once you learn how to write." That had been almost two weeks ago. It was humiliating to be honest. She was Sunset Shimmer praised student of Celestia herself, the one destiny had chosen to succeed her as the ruler of Equestria and yet. "And here I am practically illiterate." She grumbled. "It's a miracle I can even speak to the people here." She admitted to herself and started to think. "If I couldn't I'd truly be at the bottom of the ladder." And that wouldn't do her any good." The young woman muttered. "I refuse to be anywhere but at the top." She whispered to herself as she sat up and got to her feet. "It's gonna take me a while to get there, but I swear I will." It didn't matter how many people she had to step over to do so. "Alright everything seems to be in order." The Spear official stated as they looked forward, staring at the young man that was across from him. A young man with black hair and blue eyes. Nothing to out of the ordinary, still. "How long will you be staying with us, Citizen Noble?" "Hard to say really." The young man muttered as he gathered his belongings and looked at the man across from him. "Depends on how long my vacation lasts." "Vacation huh." The official muttered before seeming to smile. "Well you're in luck, the heart of the Spear is considered the number one vacation spot in the entire Northern Continent." "I've heard." Noble muttered as he hoisted his bag over his shoulder and waved. "Anyway, I better get going. Be seeing you around." The official just nodded his head as he watched the young man leave the border registration center and walk into the city. The heart of the Spear, their capital city built upon Washington's bones; looked just as Noble remembered it. A sprawling metropolitan megastructure that went on for countless miles. It looked great, there was no denying that, but no matter how grand it looked a city was still just a city. Even if that city was built on the ruins of a nation's capital and the bones of slaves. Walking into the capital, Noble made face as he looked around, attempting to regain that familiarity he had lost with this city. It had been a while since he came here. Last time was… a year ago? Was that right? He couldn't really remember, been to long. Hell he couldn’t really remember the layout of a lot of Spear Cities. Then again even with citizenship he didn’t really hang out in these parts. Preferred the more independent cities. “Let’s see~ which direction do I need to go?” Noble asked as he crossed his arms. “I think I need to go that way.” He started off towards the western districts. Hopefully this would take him in the right direction. Sunset Shimmer; if there was ever a mare destined for greatness, it was her. She had graduated at the top of her class, and her talents even earned her the esteemed position of being s the prized pupil of Princess Celestia herself, and as that prophetic mirror portal was to be trusted she was meant to succeed her mentor one day. … And yet here she was picking trash like some kind of garbage collector. Disgust crossed her face as she used her gloves to pick up another piece of garbage and tossed it into her bag. She couldn't believe that this was what she was forced to do with her days now; traveling the streets in this uncomfortable jumpsuit, hauling trash off towards the refuge site. "Least it's better than cleaning toilets." She whispered as she picked up another piece of trash, a discarded half crushed soda and growled. "Disgusting." She threw it in her bag without another word. "You good suga?" Applejack asked as she hauled another bag off into their vehicle. "I think I want to complain to management." Sunset muttered before lifting her bag and carried it towards their garbage truck. "They have us working long hours doing the jobs that no one wants to do and what do we get out of it?" Sunset tossed her bag into the van. "A poor excuse for a shelter that probably violates housing laws and we get fed table scraps." She muttered. "Eyup." Applejack walked over to another trash and pulled the bag within it free. "That's how they treat refugees round here." "We can't live like this." Sunset muttered. "I refuse to live like this." She declared as she crossed her arms and watched Applejack return. "I hear ya, but ain't nothing we can do bout it right now. " Applejack stated. "Citizenship seems pretty far away right now, don't it?" "Easy for you to say." Sunset grumbled. "You at least got past the part where all you need to sign your bloody name." "Hey it ain't my fault ya can't write." Sunset practically saw the humor in Applejack's words but the truth still hurt. Crossing her arms, Sunset looked away and frowned. “Just you wait.” She muttered. “Soon as I get this penmanship thing down, I’m going to apply again.” “Same here.” Applejack stated as Sunset seemed to pause as she caught sight of someone walking down the streets. “Hey, isn’t that…” She trailed off, her attention zeroing in on someone as Applejack looked over. “It’s that boy.” “Boy?” Applejack muttered in confusion as she just stared at the bot for a while as he walked on. “Ah remember him now,, that’s the Raven that attacked my town not long ago.” She muttered in annoyance as she adjusted her hat as she frowned. “What in tarnation he doing here?” Actually she had an idea… “That’s my question…” Sunset muttered as she started walking over only for Applejack to grab her arm. “Hold it there suga, I wouldn’t recommend getting involved with that Raven, ya here? No telling what he up to.” “You keep calling him Raven.” Sunset muttered. “What, is that his name?” “Nah, its what he is.” Applejack grumbled as she released Sunset’s arm. “You know, he one of them AC mercenaries.” “AC…” Sunset felt an image flash through her mind. “You mean those machines we see walking through the streets some time?” “Yeah, we call AC’s but really they’re called ‘Armored Cores’, not sure why but then again I don’t really care much in finding out.” Applejack muttered. “Them Raven’s pilot those war machines for whomever got the coam to burn.” She stated. “That Raven probably got called here cause the Spear wants him to do a job.” “What kind of job?” Applejack shrugged. “Don’t know, don’t really care. It ain’t our business.” Applejack muttered. “Ah recon we give him some space, he ain’t got a damn reason to bother him.” Sunset didn’t say anything, instead just watched the young man head off before frowning and immediately went after him. “Sunset - dang it suga we got…” Applejack sighed and just looked at her garbage truck before taking a breath. “What am I gonna do with that girl?” “I’m going the wrong way, aren’t I?” Noble muttered, scratching his head as he put his hands on his hips. “Shit…” He muttered before raising a hand to his head and ran it through his hair. “Sun’s gonna go down by the time I get where I wanna go.” “Hey you!” Turning Noble looked around, his attention eventually finding a garbage collector running up to him. He sighed as he scratched his head, half ready to make a comment about the fact that he hadn’t littered or anything before he took in some details concerning the one before him. “I know you…” He muttered trying to think back. “You’re one of the refugees from Canterlot.” “You remember me.” The girl muttered, narrowing her eyes. “Good to know.” “Can I help you?” “What are you doing here?” Sunset asked, getting straight to the point. “Going another job for the Spear?” “Don’t get your hopes up.” Noble stated gesturing to his attire. “I’m just here on vacation.” The Raven - Noble stated as he looked at the girl before him. “That attire really doesn’t suit you.” “Who’s fault is it that I’m in it?” “Well I can get you out of it.” Noble stated to Sunset’s surprise. “For a while anyway.” Sunset just stared at him before looked more appalled than flattered. Ew… just… ew. Despite how similar their forms were she was still Equestrian underneath it, and she wasn’t really into the whole interspecie thing. “Relax I’m just joking.” “Terrible joke.” “Yeah~” Noble agreed as he looked elsewhere.”I completely agree.” he scratched his head for a moment before starting to walk off. “Well, gotta go, maybe I’ll catch you later, k?” “Hold on.” Sunset ordered as she grabbed his arm and caused him to look back. “You still haven’t told me what your doing here.” “That’s a lie right there, as I said I’m on vacation.” The Raven muttered as he glanced around, somewhat disappointed that this street was empty, “Would you mind letting me go now? I do have somewhere to be soon.” He muttered before looking elsewhere. “And probably going the be late getting there…” He muttered to himself. “I knew I should have brought a map.” “Where are you going?” “You’re very curious about me, aren’t you?” The Raven asked as he finally pulled his arm free. “Anyway I gotta -” His phone went off as he started feeling around for it. “Sorry I gotta take this.” He muttered, pulling his phone out before bringing it to his ear. “Hello… yeah I’m here, just... “The young man muttered as he glanced at Sunset, noticing that she was still looking at him. “You mind... No not you Aria, your good there’s this girl just staring at me menacingly.” He fell silent. “Yeah she is… but probably out of your league.” He stated with a smile. “Anyway can you remind me where I need to go, I got a bit turned around.” He fell silent for a moment. “Thanks man, I’ll see you soon.” He hung up a moment later as he seemed to stare at his phone for a moment. “You done?” “Yeah~ just waiting for directions.” Noble muttered as he stared at his phone for a moment longer before looking at Sunset. “So~ can I *help* you?” Sunset just continued staring at him before her frown disappeared. “No… I guess not.” She muttered as started walking off before stopping. “What’s your name?” “Noble. Noble Six.” Least that’s what his Citizenship papers said. Yeah, it wasn’t his real name, but she didn’t need to know that right now. Besides with how rare it was to find those ancient Halo games he doubted she’d catch the reference anyway. “Sunset Shimmer.” The girl stated. “Nice name.” Noble stated as he watched Sunset nod her head and started walking off. “Bye.” He waved the girl off as he turned on his heel, attention shifting to the directions that had been put on his phone before walking off. He glanced back at the young woman, noticing that she seemed to be getting scolded by her coworker. “She might be an issue…” He grumbled and turned before walking off. “Anyway I better get going. Aria is waiting for me.” “Took your sweat time getting here.” Aria muttered as she looked at Noble who waved and apologized for being late. It took longer than he would have liked, but at least Noble made it. Dropping his bag on the floor Noble made a face as he pulled out a chair and took a seat. Their housing complex wasn’t great, it wasn’t terrible but it wasn’t great. It was better than a refugee shelter anyway. “Alright…” The Raven muttered as he looked to the side, his attention focusing on the other two people that was gathered for this job. “It looks like everyones here…” “That’s what happens when you come late.” A lady muttered as she pulled her head from the table. Noble blinked in surprise. “Fluttershy?” The pink haired girl just made this muted noise as she nodded. “What are you doing here? Where’s your brother.” “Prison.” Was all the young lady muttered as she started messing with something in her hands. “Yeah, that sounds about right…” Noble muttered as he looked elsewhere. “Trixie.” “Noble.” The young lady stated as she seemed more interested in the tower of cards thats she was putting together. “Anyway, since everyones here, let’s get this over with.” Aria muttered as she leaned back in her seat. “As you know, the Lion’s Dominion has caught wind of the Spear producing a new AC.” She stated. And we’re getting paid to bring it to them.” “Stealing a whole AC is going to be hard.” Fluttershy muttered, putting on her game face. “Let alone pulling it straight from their main city.” “Exactly.” Trixie muttered. “As great and talented Trixie may be, even she would find it near impossible to make a whole AC disappear…” She paused. “At least without overwhelming awe-inspiring, and ground-shaking firepower.” “That’s why we’re stealing the blueprints.” Aria stated. “It’s smaller and easier to transport. Fluttershy can get it out of the city easily and send it to our client.” “Fluttershy huh.” Noble muttered. “What about the rest of us?” “You just got into town for Vacation.”Aria stated. “Don’t you think someone might ger suspicious that you came in one day and left the next.” “Fair.” Noble muttered. “What about Trixie… you know what, never mind.” “What is that supposed to mean?” Trixie shot him a look that he ignored, seeming to whistle. “As for me, I can’t leave until my sister is better.” Aria’s voice seemed to disappear as she started to think and Noble just nodded. “That’ll take another week at least.” “Right…” Noble coughed into his fit. “So what’s the plan; where do we go and what do we need?” 4She couldn’t sleep that night. If Sunset wanted to be honest, she’d blame it on the fact that the bed was absolute shit, nothing like her bed back in Canterlot Castle. She’d claim that the streets were more comfortable to sleep on, and she probably wouldn’t be lying. That being said, the bed wasn’t the main reason she was having trouble sleeping tonight. No, what really bothered her sleep was the fact that she couldn’t stop thinking. Thinking about what exactly; well… it seemed to be everything. Her brain seemed to be too damn wired for some reason. “Damn it…” Sunset muttered as she sat up, rubbed the back of her neck and took a needed breath. “I hate nights like this…” She admitted as she got to her feet, grabbed her discarded clothes and put them back on. “Can’t sleep?” Applejack’s voice called out as Sunset went about putting her shirt back on. “Yeah.” Sunset grumbled as she looked over to Applejack, noticing that the girl was still in her bed but sitting up while a second lump rested beside her; Applebloom had opted to sleep beside her again. “I’m gonna go get some air, I’ll be back in a bit.” Sunset stated as she glanced at the younger girl before walking off. “Yall, better not get into trouble out there, ya hear me.” “I hear ya.” Sunset gave Applejack a lazy thumbs up as she left the shelter provided to them by the Sphere. Stepping outside Sunset made a face, pulled up her hoodie and put her hands in her pockets. It’s cold tonight. It’s not as cold as Canterlot, but given that she didn’t have fur… the cold wind seemed to really ‘bite’ at her. With a sigh the young lady turned, seeming to look around for a moment before deciding which street she wanted to go down. No lie, she didn’t really have a clue where she was going; as it stood she just wanted to get some air and move around a bit. Maybere in doing so, she’d exhaust herself enough to actually be able to get some sleep. Hopefully. Walking down the streets, Sunset couldn’t help frown as she looked around. It’s quiet. Why in Celestia’s name was it so damn quiet? No lie, she hated the quiet; made her feel~ alone, vulnerable even. She hated feeling vulnerable. With an annoyed grunt Sunset pressed on, pushing the thought away as she did. As she walked she made a mental note of the streets she was passing so she could find her way back. No point in getting lost in the big city. Her gaze drifted, turning to some of the shops that were open at this hour. She passed a restaurant where a number of patrons were dining and found her mouth starting to water. Food, good food; it's been a while since she had real good food sent her way. If she kept eating that slag they handed out to the refugees she was certain her taste buds were going to decay. She wanted real food, not to mention a real bed. She hated that such things were beyond her right now. "I have to move up in the world." Sunset muttered. "I can't get anywhere if I stay where I am right now." She crossed her arms in thought. "Question is how?" She pressed on. "I need a plan, so far I've been just playing this by ear but if I have a concrete plan set up…" She told herself. "First… there's citizenship with the Sphere. If I can get that I'll at least be able to get out of the refugee shelter… but where do I go after I get citizenship?” She asked with a frown. "Being a citizen is one thing… I'll get real shelter and food, but how do I move up from there?" She muttered. “Those machines… something tells me that I wouldn’t be able to just get a hold of one through a desk job.” Sunset admitted. “More than likely I’d need to join the Sphere’s military.” She made a noise as she put her hand on her chin. “If I could join the military then I’d be taking a huge risk, but if I make a name for myself, then I’d be able to climb the military ladder and maybe even reach this world’s equivalent to the Royal Guard Captain.” She admitted before seeming to think. “There’s also the more safer route of getting into a government position. I’d have to navigate the government officials and if they’re like dealing with nobles…” She trailed off. Sunset could handle nobles, she’d seen her former mentor Celestia do so plenty of times, and she had been forced to navigate that landfield herself on more than one occasion. “There’s also… that route.” She muttered in disgust. Sleeping her way to the top was an option, though admittedly not one that she enjoyed thinking about. Even if she wasn’t against being with someone from an entirely different species, she wasn’t willing to sell her body for her ambition. She wouldn’t stoop that low. At least, not yet anyway. “From the sounds of it, option three isn’t a route you want to take.” Jumping Sunset turned, her arm swinging wildly as she did, and only stopped when her arm was caught and laughter filled the streets. “Easy there, Miss. Watch where you’re swinging that thing.” The owner of the voice stated as Sunset looked up, her attention being drawn to a man with long black hair and red eyes. How the hell did he get so close without her noticing? “Who are you?” Sunset asked as she pulled her arm free. No she didn’t pull it free, he let her go. “What do you want?” “Who am I?” The man questioned as he seemed to think. “Ah, it’s been a while since I’ve been asked that.” He admitted with a chuckle. “Gotta say, it’s kinda refreshing actually.” He admitted as he brought his arm out and swiped it to the side, swung it low in a half circle and let it rest on his chest as he bowed. “I am the one who makes dreams a reality.” He states. “Shall I… make yours come true, little sunset?” The Sphere’s military factory was under lock and key. No surprise there; there’s active patrols keeping an eye out for anything outside the ordinary. Disregard them there’s high walls to keep everything more or less secret from the outside world. No automated turrets though, place was to damn close to the civilian sectors to be deployed. Regardless, this place was difficult to get in and out of, especially for an uninvited Raven. Military personnel though… Three soldiers found themselves flashing their identification and were allowed to walk right in. “Huh… that was easier that Trixie expected.” A female personnel muttered, taking the time to adjust her uniform. “Normally we would require much more sneakiness.” “I know right.” Noble made a noise as he made a gesture to one of the other military personnel to greet them. “Where the hell did Aria get these uniforms?” “Off a couple of bodies.” Aria’s voice came across comms as the trio walked on. “Please tell me they were still warm.” Fluttershy muttered. “They were when they took them off.” “Ah~” Fluttershy muttered. “Black widow.” She whispered as she and the others walked forward. “So everyone remembers the plan?” “Fluttershy and I get to the new model and extract the data concerning it.” Noble muttered. “Trixie you got cameras.” “Consider it done.” Noble popped a joint in his neck. “Alright ladies… lets get this done.” Food rested before her - real food at that. Sunset wouldn’t say it was the good shit, but it was certainly better than anything she’d gotten her hands on since she came to this world. Just looking at it made her mouth water, which was a bit embarrassing in its own right. Still there was just one problem… “Not hungry?” The red eyed man asked with a smile on his face. Honestly, that smile was beautiful, like an alicorn’s… Nightmare Moon’s maybe. Sunset tore her eyes away from the food resting on the table in front of her as she just stared at the figure across from her. “You’re kinda drooling, hun.” “Who are you?” Sunset asked as she crossed her arms and just stared at the man before her. “What do you want from me?” “What I want…” The man muttered as he seemed to think and look outside the restaurant window to see the outside world. “I want to make your dreams come true, little sunset.” Sunset narrowed her eyes. He had called her ‘little sunset’ again… and she could tell that wasn’t just coincidence. He knew her name - he knew who she was, that was a red flag if she ever heard one. “How do you know who I am?” The man just continued to smile as he gestured to her food. “You should eat, hun, you had a long day.” “I’m not touching it until I get my answers.” “As you wish, little sunset.” The man shrugged as if he didn’t care and started eating his own food. “Tell me, what would you like to know first?” “Who are you?” “A genie.” He stated. “Or maybe a monkey’s paw would be more accurate.” He said more as an afterthought. “You know what it symbolizes, right?” “Can’t say.” Sunset mumbled. “And you're dodging the question.” “Am I?” The man chuckled as he started to eat a bit of his food. “Tell me, what kind of answer are you looking for?” “Name.” “Dawnbreaker.” He stated. “A pleasure to meet you, Sunset.” “So you do know who I am.” The former mare muttered. “How?” “I’ve known about you since you popped up.” The man stated as he took some more of his food. “You sure you don’t want to eat, this is really good.” He asked between bites as Sunset just stared at him before glancing at her plate. Slowly she raised her fork and started to eat. “There we go.” Dawnbreaker stated as he went back to eating. “Never waste good food.” Was the last thing he muttered as the pair ate in silence. For a while at least. “Tell me, what is your wish?” Dawnbreaker asked. “My wish?” “What do you want in this world?” He asked. “Companions, love, status, power? Name it and I can give it to you.” “How’s that?” “I told you, I’m a genie.” “So you grant wishes?” Sunset muttered. “How many do I get, three like in the stories?” Dawnbreaker did this exaggerated shrug. “Them’s the rules.” The man admitted. “So what are your three wishes?” “What makes you think you can grant my wishes?” Dawnbreaker just smiled. “Something as simple as yours can be granted fairly easily.” He stated, putting his fork down, raised a hand and let it rest against his chin. “And what exactly is that?” Sunset countered as she crossed her arms. “Humor me, what is it that you think I want?” “You want what was shown to you that day.” The man stated, a smug look on his face as Sunset’s eyes narrowed. “A pair of wings to mark your ascension.” The pair fell silent again. He knew; Sunset realized. He knew. Question was how? Her grip on her sleeve tightened. “You’re like me.” She muttered. “You’re from Equestria.” Dawnbreaker just continued smiling. “How did you get here?” “Same way you did.” The man stated returning to his food. “Celestia really needs to put a lock on that mirror.” He mused. “How’s she doing anyway? Still gazing up at the mare on the moon at night?” He asked as Sunset narrowed her eyes. “You were Celestia’s student too.” Sunset muttered, and got a heartfelt chuckle sent her way. “I wouldn’t say student, but once upon a time, we were rather close.” Dawnbreaker admitted. “At least until I left in search of new horizons.” He admitted. “Anyway, that’s a different story, we’re here to talk about you.” He admitted. You want your wings; you want to ascend the ranks and rest your feet at the throne. I can give you that if you like.” Sunset didn’t say anything for a moment as she just stared at the man in front of her “Tempting.” She muttered. “What’s the catch?” She got another chuckle sent her way. “The catch?” He smiled again. “Oh~ little sunset, you can not fathom the amount of bodies you are gonna have to walk over.” 5Another dawn meant another day slaving around collecting the trash. Sunset couldn’t help the frown that crossed her face as she hopped off the vehicle she and Applejack were traveling on and started heading out for the nearest trash pile. By the spirits she hated picking these things up. Who in Tartarus just leaves bags of trash parked on a curve? “I hate to say it, but I prefer pulling them out the bins.” She grumbled as she started lifting up a pair of bags and headed back to the garbage truck with Applejack in tow. “Agreed.” The girl muttered as they tossed the bags into the back of the truck. “By the way.” “What?” “I know you snuck out last night.” For a moment Sunset didn’t bother responding as she continued picking up the trash that had been left at the edge of the streets. “Mind telling me where you went?” “Nowhere important.” She finally responded, turning to look at Applejack as the girl just gave her a hard look on her face. “Nowhere important huh?” “Yeah~” Sunset dragged on, taking a moment to lift more trash into their truck before looking at Applejack. “Just needed to get out for a bit, get some air and all that.” Applejack didn’t say anything for a second as she stared at the other girl and crossed her arms. “Sunset, you’ve been out getting air every night for the past week.” The freckled teen. “What’s going on?” “Nothing.” Sunset muttered, rolling her eyes. “I’ve just been going out.” She stated. “Is that a crime now?” “No, it ain’t.” Applejack muttered as she and Sunset stared at each other for a moment. “It’s just… if you’re gonna be going out at night, be careful will ya?” Sunset noticed that Applejack’s grip seemed tighter than before. “It ain’t safe for us girls to be out so late by ourselves.” Sunset just stared at Applejack for a moment, seemingly lost in confusion for a moment before realization hit. “Oh.” She muttered as she scratched her head. “Right, good point.” She fell silent for a moment as Applejack just stared at her in disbelief. “Ya can’t be serious.” Applejack muttered. “You didn’t think about that?” Applejack stared at the girl who just looked away in embarrassment. “I swear girl…” The girl muttered, raising a hand to her face, stopped before it could touch her forehead and lowered it. “Anyone ever tell ya about how ya got bad habits? The kind that can get ya in some serious trouble?” She asked. “Yes actually.” Sunset shrugged as she grabbed the last trash bag and headed over to the rear of her vehicle. “My old mentor.” She grumbled. “Mostly concerning my ‘charming personality’ putting me at odds with others.” “Nothing about your habit of sleeping in the buck?” “Please.” Sunset rolled her eyes again as she put a hand on her hip. “She did the same thing.” Applejack just stared at the girl before her for a moment. She sucked in a breath before looking away. “So that’s where you get it.” “Trust me, I didn’t get it from her.” The girl admitted. “I mean everyone sleeps naked where I’m from.” Applejack’s head couldn’t have whipped around fast enough. “Pardon?” Sunset just shrugged as she hopped back onto the garbage truck. “Come on, we got more trash to grab.” She wasn’t wrong. Holding out a hand to help Applejack up, the girl just stared at her for a moment before shaking her head and taking it. “Yeah~ rather not continue this conversation anyway.” The Sphere’s Administrative office wasn’t the most interesting place in the world. Not that there were many places left in the world that were interesting to begin with… Regardless, sitting in her office, Administrator Rarity Belle couldn’t help but sigh in annoyance as she looked at the tablet on hand, her eyes glancing over the digital files that were presented to her. The thin line that had crossed her face slowly started to drop as she did. “Administer Rarity.” A voice called out from over her intercom as she reached over and tapped a button. “What is it Dauntless?” “You have a visiter, a Mr. Dawnbreaker.” Hearing the name Rarity flinched slightly before looking at her machine. With a deep breath she hit the button again. “Send him in.” “Yes mam.” Without a word the administrator set her tablet down as she awaited the arrival of her ‘guest’; her face as impassive as ever. Outwardly she looked absolutely fine; as calm and composed as she had ever been. Inwardly though, she was nervous. More nervous than she had been in a long time. For the first time in a long while, the girl seemed ready to leave her post and go anywhere else. So long as it was far away from ‘him’. “Lady Belle.” God she hated that voice. If there was anything; she always thought it belonged to some fabled demon - maybe an incubus or something along those lines; alluring like an angel, but there was something behind it that just set off alarms in her head. Some edge, some poison that slipped out whenever he spoke. Rarity just kept herself steady as looked at the man watching him make his way into her office with a grace she could only dream of acquiring. Dawnbreaker, he walked with a grace that only rivaled his natural allure. Still, there was always something… off about him. Handsome as he was, he looked relatively normal; but there was always this ‘air’ about him that just felt off… wrong even. “Dawnbreaker.” Rarity spoke his name with a professional smile lowering her head in gratitude. “It’s good to see you again.” She was lying and they both knew it. “I wasn’t aware that you were in town. If I certainly would have cleaned up my office a bit.” “Well~ you know how I like to drop in unannounced.” Standing before her desk the man smiled at her, and it was something that made her shudder on impulse. That smile, it was like a snake, those burning eyes - as beautiful as they were - were not human. He looked less like a man and more like some otherworldly predator that was circling its prey. Worst part was… she wasn’t aware how accurate that claim was. “Well, don’t just sit there in silence.” Dawnbreaker began. “Tell me beautiful, how have you been, how's little belle?” “Sweetie is fine.” Rarity admitted, her eyes glancing towards the picture that was on her desk. One showing her and another during much happier times. A picture that Noticing her glance Dawnbreaker rested his rump at the edge of her desk as he took the picture into his hands. “Hey, I remember this day. I swear, look how happy your baby girl is for you.” ‘My baby girl…’ Rarity fell silent as she just nodded her head reaching for her picture before taking it back. “My sister is fine.” Dawnbreaker just gave her a knowing look as she stared at the picture. “Still using that lie, huh?” Dawnbreaker muttered as he leaned forward, his hand reaching under her chin to raise her face to meet his. “Whether you admit it to her or not, she’s your daughter.” He stated and the two just stared at each other. “Speaking of which!” Pulling back Dawnbreaker stepped away as he reached into his pocket and pulled something out. “Here’s the current location of your baby daddy.” He stated dropping the file on the table. “Feel free to pay him a visit, I know you’ve been meaning to after all.” Rarity didn’t say anything just looking at the file before looking elsewhere. “What do you want Dawnbreaker.” She asked. “Can’t I just come in to visit an old friend?” ‘We are not friends.’ Rarity thought to herself. There was no way in this world o the next that she would consider the man who owned her to be a friend. “No you don’t; or rather you can’t.” She stated. “You visit only when you want something done.” The man just chuckled as he got to his feet and started walking around the office. His fingers touching almost any and everything he could find that piqued his interest. “So what do you want me to do?” “Where to start?” 6The hospital he walked into wasn’t too remarkable. If anything it was like every other hospital he’d seen in his life; it was nothing but sterile white walls and more than a few dozen rooms on every floor. Walking through the hospital grounds, Noble just sighed to himself as he wandered the halls, his attention not really focusing on anything as he continues on his way.. It’s been a while since he’s wandered these halls specifically, a few months really, and that was only because he was in the hospital for a concussion. “Yo.” Walking into a room, Noble caught sight of a pair of familiar faces. One of them oblivious to the world, while the other was seated at the edge of the bed. “Hey.” Aria, her voice had lost that roughness he was used to, but that didn’t really bother him. “What brings you here?” “Nothing much.” Noble muttered as he parked himself next to a wall as he looked at the hospital bed. “How is she?” “What you see is what you get.” Aria muttered, gesturing to the hospital bed’s occupant to show a blue haired girl sleeping peacefully. “How long has it been?” “Almost four months now.” The girl muttered as she noticed a bit of drool collecting on her sister’s cheek. Without a word she wiped it away, using the bedsheet as an improvised napkin. “She getting better?” Aria didn’t say anything as she rested a hand on her sister’s forehead. “Don’t know.” She admitted. “Her skin’s getting some color back and her temperature is rising, but the doctor’s don’t know if she’s gonna wake up.” She stated as Noble made a face, closed his eyes and took a breath. “Have faith.” He muttered. “She’s bound to wake up one of these days.” He told her. “And when she does, you’re gonna be the first face she sees.” “Yeah…” Aria whispered, pulling her hand back as she crossed her arms. “Anyway, what brings you here?” “Nothing much. Just thought I'd pay a visit to the girl you cherish.” “She’s my sister.” Aria grumbled as she looked at Noble. “I’d die for this idiot.” She paused looking back at Sonata. “Don't tell her I said that.” “My lips are sealed.” Noble stated a light smile on his face as he looked at the sleeping girl. For a moment silence settles among the two. It was a comfortable one, the kind you don't mind all that much. Still, they had to break it eventually. “So~” Aria spoke up, that roughness he was used to coming back. “How's your vacation going?” “So far? No complaints.” Noble admitted. “Admit; I'm not doing much but it's nice to just take it easy and chill for a while, you know?” “Yeah.” Aria agreed with a hint of reluctance. ‘Much as I like how I can get a real meal, the calm you can find isn't that bad either.’ She told herself. ‘Still…’ Reaching for her collar, Aria touched her necklace as she frowned. “You good?” Noble asked as Aria shook her head. “Yeah.” She grumbled. “I'm fine.” “Don't sound fine.” Her counterpart remarked. “Don't look it either.” “Well what do I usually look like?” “Somewhere between bored, annoyed, and occasionally pissed.” Noble stated. Aria gave him a look. “Right now you look somewhere between the latter two.” “Oh fuck off.” Aria muttered before resting her hands on her knees as she pushed herself up. “I'm heading out.” She grumbled as she looked at Sonata and ruffled her hair. “I’ll be back later, ok?” Noble watches her leave, before his attention shifts to the sleeper as he made a face. A moment later, and he was following after Aria, jogging for a moment to catch up to the girl. “You know you can stay if you want.” Aria grumbled as she continued heading down the halls. “Don't leave just because I am.” “Sorry, but I find that you offer more stimulating conversations.” Noble stated, and Aria made a noise. “Besides, I wanted to talk to you for a moment.” “Bout what?” “A few things really.” Noble shrugged as he and Aria continued walking on. “To start, how have you been feeling?” “I’m fine.” “You don’t look fine.” He grumbled as Aria glanced back at him. “You look like you haven’t slept well in days.” He admitted. “You good?” “I’m fine.” “No you’re not.” He remarked. “I noticed when I first saw you days ago - just didn’t have a moment alone to talk to ya.” He admitted. “What’s going on?” “My sister is in the hospital.” “I know.” Noble grumbled. “But that’s not what’s bothering you.” He admitted. “What’s going on?” Aria didn’t say anything for a while, just walking on till she reached the hospital cafeteria and started picking up some food. “Aria…” Noble sighed to himself as he seemed to scratch his cheek. “Nevermind.” He muttered. “Can’t force you to talk, but… I’m here if you want to.” “I know.” Was all Aria said as she started looking around the cafeteria and continued grabbing food. “Thanks.” Without a word, Noble reached over and ruffled Aria’s hair, an act that nearly resulted in her biting his hand. “Don’t ever do that.” “Worth a shot.” Reaching for his own food Noble left Aria be for a while, only returning when they crossed paths at the line to pay. A few bits of spent coam later and they settled down to enjoy their individual meals. “So… have you heard?” “Heard what?” Aria just rolled her eyes as she continued to eat. “I’ve only been in town for a few days, Aria, even if I keep my ear to the ground, there’s stuff I won’t hear.” “Fair.” Aria grumbled as she seemed to think. “There’s this rumor going around… someone saw ‘him’.” Noble stopped eating and froze up. “What?” His voice was quiet, but rough at the same time. “Yeah.” Aria grumbled. It’s just a rumor, but someone said they saw the Breaking Dawn.” “Shit…” Noble grumbled as he rested a hand on his head. A moment later he seemed to think before reaching for his phone and started texting a message. “You got any spare AC?” “Got two.” Aria shrugged. “Mind if I borrow one?” Noble asked. “I get the feeling I’m going to need it until the Obelisk gets shipped into town.” Aria made a noise. “If the Breaking Dawn really is in town, you can use it, after all…” “If he is in town, something bad is bound to happen soon.” Aria wished he was wrong. More trash. Worse, it was one of those leaking bags. Sunset hissed at that fact, and did what she could to carry it back to her truck before tossing it inside. “That’s gonna seep into the gloves.” “Eyup.” Applejack made noise as she continued working. “Just be glad it’s the gloves and not your clothes.” “Yeah…” Sunset grumbled as she helped Applejack continue tossing in bags. “Bet it take forever to get this gunk out.” “Eyup.” Was all Applejack said before tossing another bag into the truck before walking to get back on the truck. “Ready for the next stop?” “No.” “Too bad shuga.”Wass all Applejack said as she patted the truck before making a gesture. “Come on.” “Yeah, yeah.” Sunset grumbled as she hopped onto the truck before it started off. “So, how Applebloom?” She asked after a while. “Haven’t seen her sleep in your bed in a few days.” “Yeah well…” Applejack muttered. “Can’t sleep with her big sis forever.” She shrugged, trying to play it off. “She’s good though.” The young woman admitted. “Slowly brighten up as the days go by.” She admitted. “Still, she ain’t nowhere near as bubbly from before all this happened, but she’s opening up, a bit anyway.” Applejack admits looking at her counterpart. “She’s… she’s tryin to help out a anyway she can” She paused. “She doesn’t want to feel like burden.” “Is she?” “Course not.” Applejack whispered. “I even told her that, but… i guess she don’t really believe me.” She paused. “She’s been feeling that way ever since Mac died.” “Mac?” Sunset paused as she tried to think back. “You mentioned him before, that your brother?” “Eyup.” Applejack nodded her head as she seemed to think back. “If you don’t mind me asking…” Sunset paused. “How did he… you know.” “Protecting us.” Applejack admitted. “Just like daddy taught him.” Sunset seemed to fall silent, shifting for a moment as she waited for Applejack to continue.” “What happened?” “Our farm got hit.” Applejack admitted. “A farm?” Sunset raised an eyebrow. “You had a farm?” Applejack chuckled weakly. “Sounds crazy, don’t it? Farm land in this day and age, but yeah, we had a bit of land.” She admitted. “It was a gift to great grandpapi, something he got for his service back during the previous war.” She stated. “We made good coam back then, selling fresh fruits and eggs to those who wanted a taste of the real thing instead of that synthesized stuff.” She admitted. “It was… nice.” A pause. “Growing up there, away from all the fightin… things were so simple back there.” She paused. “But something happened.” Sunset asked. “Yeah, some fightin spilled over into our neck of the woods, burned everything to the ground. Mac told me to take bloom and run while he grabbed great-granddads old AC from the barn and tried cover’in us.” Applejack admitted. “That night was the last time I saw him, and since then it’s just been me and Bloom.” “Applejack…” Sunset paused as she seemed lost for words. “I’m sorry.” “Don’t be, it was a long time ago.” The girl admitted as she looked ahead, watching their ride carry them across the streets. For a while, neither said anything as Sunset looked elsewhere. “I have them too…” She muttered. “Siblings.” “Oh?” Applejack looked at her. “Sister or brother?” “Both.” Sunset admitted. “Well… I had both.” She corrected herself. “I had an older sister named Daybreak.” She admitted. “She… passed away a long time ago.” She paused. “As for my brother, I’ve never actually met him, but I think he’s still out there.” “You never met your brother?” “Half brother.” Sunset grumbled. “My… father… he was a real piece of work. Was fooling around with my mother while being engaged to somepo- someone else.” She admitted. “Mom thought he loved her but when she found out she was just a side piece…” Sunset’s eyes started to cloud before she closed them and shook her head. “Forget I said anything.” “Shuga…” Applejack made too say something, made too say anything but stopped herself. “Come on, we’re here, let’s get the trash.” “Right…” It looks like its going to be a quiet day. should that really come as a surprise though? The Sphere really was quiet around this time of day. With the city police patrolling as they did there was little issue presented in the city. As for what went on beyond their city borders… Everything was peaceful. As for Dawnbreaker Locked in the room provided by one of the Sphere’s Hotels, the middle young man took a moment to hum a tune to himself as he cracked his fingers, taking the time to get the stiffness out of them as he took a seat before the piano situated nearby. As some would say, if you don’t use a skill, you run the risk of losing it. Opening his piano up Dawnbreaker glided his hands over his keyboard before taking a glance at the music book that was waiting to be opened. “Not today.” He decided, taking a moment to close his eyes and smiled. “Now~” He paused. “Let’s… be…gin.” the moment his fingers hit the keys, the note played was drowned out by an explosion echoing in the distance. 7“Sunset… “Sunset…” “Come on shuga you gotta get up! “Sunset!” The first thing she‘s able to process when she comes back, is the taste of smoke on her tongue. It’s a disgusting taste, probably the worst thing she’s ever tasted in her entire life. When her eyes start to open she finds that the entire world is on its side, the sounds surrounding her are muted and clogged worse than a drain… ‘What happened?’ She’s not too sure, one second she’s grabbing trash and the next, she’s on the ground, the worlds on its side and things are blurry. On impulse she closes her eyes, rolling slightly to be on her stomach as she groans, using her arm to push herself up off the ground. Celestia, her body hurts; feels like she just got trampled by a bunch of racing stallions. “Sunset!” “Sunset!” “Sunset!” Opening her eyes she tries to look around, unfortunately, everything’s still blurry - a mess of smudged shapes and colors that are slowly coming apart. Can still barely hear a thing though… but it sounds like… “Sunset!” “Get it together!” Was someone calling out to her? Whose voice was that? “SUNSET!” All at once, everything hits her, its like the world was bombarding her senses and forcing a restart. Her senses are back - in fact they feel like they're working better than before. She can see the world clearly, she can feel everything, she can hear the world screaming around her. Applejack’s shaking her, her touch feels like needles on her clothes. She’s calling out to her, but it’s a single voice lost in a chorus of others. A chorus of screams and shouting and wailing sirens. Goddess… what happened? What’s going on? What- “SUNSET!!” Applejack stops shaking her, opting to instead grab ahold of her and force her to look at her. Force her to look at nothing but her. “Get ya shit together!” She shouts. “We need to move!” Applejack… she looked scared. She didn’t know the girl could make that kind of face. She was scared and dirty and trying her damndest to not panic. “Apple…jack…” “Yeah, that’s me shuga.” The girl muttered as she helped Sunset up, all but pulling her off the ground as she kept her gaze. “Come on, we need to move.” “Move?” Sunset repeated the word as something caught her attention, something big and fast and shining in the sunlight.She could have sworn she recognized that thing… somewhere. “Move…” Her eyes widened. “MOVE!” Without warning she tackled the girl next her, pushing both of them out the way of a machine that nearly ran them over. The machine that blew past them didn’t really seem to notice the two, just moving through the city with a pair of others. “Thanks…” Applejack muttered as she got back to her feet, and saw the retreating machines. “Those are MTs…” “MTs?” Sunset repeated the name as she snapped out of her daze. “Those aren’t Armored Cores?” She asked. “Nah…” Applejack grumbled as she turned her attention to see a body on the ground… well, half a body, the rest could be considered red paste. “We need to go.” “Go where?” “Anywhere!” Was all Applejack gave as a response as she started pulling Sunset along, as what sounded like cannon fire drowned out the screaming. Aria grit her teeth as she trudged forward, trying her hardest to keep her unconscious sister in her arms as she moved forward. “I swear on Lauren’s fucking tits!” Aria shouted, looking at Sonata’s form. “What are they feeding you?!” She didn’t get a response as she made her way down the hospital halls, trying to get to those floors buried underground. “I swear when you wake up I’m putting you on a fucking diet…” “This way!” Noble shouted, directing people down hospital paths. “This stairway will lead you directly to the subfloors! Do not stop until you get there!” He ordered, repeating something he’d been told not that long ago. Gritting his teeth he turned, looking around to see if anyone needed help before starting to head off. “Noble!” Hearing his name he saw Aria making her way towards him as his eyes widened. “Aria!” It felt like the moment he stepped forward the world in front of him exploded. The wall collapsed, debris and rubble flying across the path as he covered his eyes. “Fuck!” “Aria!” Uncovering his eyes, he saw that the path between the two had disappeared. It was like the world had been ripped in two, forming a chasm between the two. “Are you ok!” “I’m fine!” The girl shouted back, unwrapping herself from around the girl that she’d been shielding. “Sonata… please be ok…” She muttered looking her sister over for a moment before taking a breath. “Thank Faust…” Sonata?” “She’s fine!” Aria responded as Noble looked between the divide and saw the floors that had been torn through. This kind of damage… it wasn’t done by a MT - let alone an AC. If that were the case, there’d be an iron coffin on the ground - or at the very least there’d be one picking itself up right about now. This kind of damage, this was done by a slugthrower. “”Hang on…” Noble grumbled before looking at the girl. “I’ll find a way over to you.” “Don’t bother!” Arias looked outside as she saw the MT’s moving about. “Just get to Hanger 25.” Aria told him as she picked up Sonata again. “You’ll find my AC there!” She told him as she gave him a look. “Grab it and bury these assholes.” “Consider it done…” Noble muttered, nodding his head as he faced the gap and looked at the world outside. It’s amazing how quickly the world can go straight to hell. “Don’t die on me Aria.” He told her before jumping out the hole in the wall before landing in the streets. Landing he reached into his pocket and pulled out an earpiece before fastening it in place. “Trixie, can you hear me?” “Noble - fuck! Trixie is very busy at the moment!” Came the response he was given. “I know.” He grumbled. “You got your AC in town?” “Trixie does not bring her AC with her when she is on vacation!” “Find one then.” He told her. “If you head to Hanger 25, Aria’s got stationed.” “Don- fuck!” The sound of bullets tore through the line. “Give Trixie five minutes!” The line went dead immediately afterwards and Noble didn’t even care. “Wish Fluttershy was still in town…” He muttered as his vision caught sight of something coming his way. Is that a truck? The vehicle turned on a dime, showing its side as Noble watched its rear pop open. “No~” He watched people start rushing out and lined up. “Oh for fuck’s sake~” He turned and moved behind a parked car before the opening salvo even warmed up. Glass was ripped from a window as the car and the street were lined with bullets. “They got guys in the street!” “Trixie KNOWS!!’ “Just what we need.” Noble grumbled as he glanced across the car and saw the soldiers moving out. “MT’s, and armed riflemen… How the hell did these guys get past the front door?” He asked before falling silent. It’s just a rumor, but someone said they saw the Breaking Dawn.” He remembered Aria’s words from not even two hours ago. “If he is in town, something bad is bound to happen soon.” “This is your doing… isn’t it?” He muttered as he picked up shards of glass and spun them between his fingers. “You really are here…” He muttered before taking a breath. “Just what we fucking need.” He moved, around the same time a shadow fell on the edge of the car, and before its owner even had a chance to react, he was on them. The glass trapped between his fingers acting as makeshift knuckleduster as he punched the soldier twice in the chest and once in the throat. One down, but the others were already on him, aiming weapons in his direction as circled behind his already dead and captured hostage as flung the glass shards at the others. Sure he’d always had a good arm. One of the soldiers lowered their weapon and shot at the ground on accident, as glass was lodged into their bicep. The rest just continued opening fire as Noble used a dead body as a meat shield. He ignored the assault rifle, instead choosing to go after the handgun strapped to his meatshield's thigh. He ripped the weapon from its holster and planted two rounds in the first soldier, then two more in the next and the one after that. Two more rounds were fired; the first dropping to the floor as their knee was blown out right before their brains were blown out of their helmet. Four down, two to go; problem is he’s out of ammo. He moves the weapon upward, locking the spent gun in his teeth before he pulled a grenade pin from his meatshield's vest and kicked the body forward as he started to run off. The last two soldiers were two distracted by the body and the grenades going off to bother shooting at him, opting to get out the way before the imminent explosion triggered a chain reaction. Noble didn’t blame them, he was already taking cover in an alleyway. “Know that Trixie takes no pleasure in doing this.” Trixie remarked as she broke a soldier's neck before dropping the body and grabbed their weapons. “Ok Trixie takes some pleasure in this.” The girl admitted as she checked an assault rifle magazine before popping it back in place. Right after she got up, and started firing. Spray and pray as some might say. Or rather spray, sweep, spray then pray. She took a breath before taking cover and listened to the bullets fly by, one ripping out a small piece of wall as they did. She returned fire for a moment before reloading, chucked a grenade and looked around. “Trixie never should have come here for holiday!” She grumbled before flinching, as a part of the wall was ripped out from overhead. Looking up she saw that a hole had gone through a building and nodded her head. Without much warning she jumped onto a dumpster and used it to reach the hole in the building before climbing inside. From her new angle she looked down at the streets, raining a few rounds on the city invaders as she watched them drop. Hearing something behind her she turned, only to find a fist in her back before a second followed and a third. The fourth was aimed at her head, something she was only aware of because they put a hand on her shoulder and started to turn her. The fact that she grabbed that fist before it crushed her face was a miracle in its own right. She followed with a shoulder shove to push them back before aiming her assault rifle at them with her free hand and pulled. Unfortunately for her, the rounds never hit as they grabbed her weapon and aimed it upward. Right after they planted a straight kick right in her stomach as she fell off the second floor of the building and landed on a car. “Fuck!” Opening her eyes she rolled off the car, right when a knee was dropped where she’d previously been and made the dent she’s left behind even worse. Getting to her feet she just stared at the person before her and opened fire with her assault rifle again as they retaliated with their sidearm, blowing the weapon right out of her hands as she started stumbling back, reached for a grenade and lobbed it in the air with an underhand toss. They responded by shooting the grenade letting it explode between them in an eruption of gunpowder and smoke. By the time the smoke cleared through, Trixie had already retrieved her rifle and was opening fire. They were already on the move by the time light started to leave her weapon muzzle. “Fucking rabbit!” Trixie shouted, sweeping her weapon across the street as the figure ran a half circle around her and started closing in. “Stop moving, Trixie is trying to shoot you!” Emptying her weapon Trixie dropped it, her off hand going for her combat knife as she used it to block a swing from their own. They knocked her arm down as they followed by swinging at her, and she blocked with her free arm. She did the same with her knife hand as she blocked another strike, dropped her weapon and grabbed it with her free hand before making another swing, threw it back to her other arm and tried again. “Who the fuck are you?” She didn’t get a response, the soldier just jabbed forward with their knife as Trixie moved back on impulse. They lunged at her, grabbing the girl before attempting to stab her only for the girl to block with her free arm and proceeded to bite down on the one at her neck. They responded by pulling her forward and started kneeing her in the ribs before spinning around and throwing her towards a car, letting her impact leave a small dent as they rushed her. Trixie didn’t even have time to spit the blood gathered in her lips out when they rushed her, but she did have time to get out of the way of the flying knee that shattered a window. Rolling to get to her feet, Trixie seemed to stumble for a moment as she looked at the soldier and watched them pull their knee out of the dent that they had made on the car. She took a few steps back as she raised her knife, and they just trudged forward. At least that was before a vehicle came into view, the breaks slamming so hard that they rubber started to peel off the tires and leave marks on the ground. Right after a group of people pulled out and started opening fire on the soldier. They responded by turning towards the car and proceeded to rip the door off it, using the item as a makeshift shield as they were assaulted by bullets. “Are you fucking…” Trixie didn’t finish that sentence, instead just grabbed her handgun as she opened fire, though the weapon itself did little good since the soldier turned to her and blocked the rounds she sent at them before retreating into the alleyway. Trixie didn’t even bother going after the individual as she continued firing into the alley before dropping to her knee. “Surround the area!” A soldier shouted as the group ran towards the alleyway as they started down it. One of them made a hand gesture, signaling some in their firing team to press forward as they headed into the alley. For a moment everythings quiet before a voice rang out. “Clear!” Trixie didn’t say anything as the soldiers came back, opting to instead nurse her ribs. “That’s cracked…” She grumbled. “That is definitely cracked.” “Are you alright?” A soldier asked, pulling the girl out her thoughts. “Do you need medical attention.” “Trixie will survive.” She grumbled looking at the soldier before her. “Trixie, thank you for your assistance.” She admitted. “But that guy - they were Human Plus.” She told them. “Got it.” The soldier reached for comms as they spoke into it. “Fireteam 17, reporting in, the enemy have Human Plus in their ranks. Proceed with caution.” Trixie winched slightly as she started turned away from the soldier as she looked around her attention being drawn to a piece of the ground being swept across by Sphere-aligned MT. “Mam.” Trixie pealed her eyes away from the machines as she returned her attention to the soldiers with her. “You need to get to safety, if you head four blocks down this street, you should be able to reach one of our underground bunkers.” “No need.” Trixie told them, ignoring the pain in her side. “Get Trixie to a machine, MT or AC matters little.” “You're a pilot.” It wasn’t a question. Regardless, Trixie nodded her head. “Do you have a machine stationed here?” “A friend does.” She stated. “Get me to Hanger 25.” She wasn’t scared… She wasn’t scared…. She wasn’t scared… She wasn’t - Sunset screamed as a bullet ripped through the building she and Applejack were hiding behind. The girl in question covered her, trying to shield the girl in some way before peaking out to see what was going on. “Ah got you shuga…” She muttered as Sunset covered her head with her hands as she took a breath. “We’re gonna be ok.” The girl muttered as she heard the roof start to tremble as flakes started to fall from the ceiling. “We need to move.” Applejack muttered. It ain’t gonna be safe here for much longer.” “And go where!?” Second time she’s asked that in the past three hours. “Anywhere.” Second time she got that answer. A thunder-like boom echoed throughout the distinct and more parts of the ceiling started to crack and flake off. “This rate the ceiling’s gonna fall right on top of us!” Applejack told her as she pulled at the girl. “We gotta fine somewhere else to hide!” Sunset refused to move for a moment. “Sunset… I know you're scared of go’in out there, but we gotta. Otherwise…” Sunset started to tune Applejack out. ‘Scared?’ Sunset repeated the word in the recesses of her mind, letting it echo about as she looked at her hands. ‘I’m scared?’ Her hands were trembling. ‘I’m scared…’ She clenched her hands as her pride started to shout at her. ‘I… am not… scared…’ It told her. ‘I’m not…’ She clenched her fists. ‘I’m not!’ She took a breath to try calming herself down. ‘I am Sunset Shimmer.’ Her pride told herself. ‘I have crawled out of the dirt to become a unicorn of the highest level.’ Her pride reminded her. ‘I have faced trials brought forth by the Sun Goddess.’ She pressed her fists against her head as she took another breath. ‘I have touched upon the secrets of dark magic without fear.’ Her hands were still shaking. ‘I have faced the fury of the sun and I did not waver.’ It told herself. ‘I am Sunset Shimmer…’ She lowered her arms to her chest as she took a breath, held it and let it out in a manner reminiscent to somepony she once considered a rival for her mentor's attention. ‘And I am NOT afraid of anything.’ “Sunset?” “I’m ok…” The girl opened her eyes as she got to her feet. “I’m ok.” She repeated as she turned her gaze to Applejack. “Let’s go, I’m ready.” “Right.” Applejack didn’t bother trying to question new Sunset’s sense of strength, no time for that anyway. Instead she turnd, and the two looked out into the city to see the destruction being wrought before moving, trying to get as far away from the fighting as they possibly could. She remembered this sight. Sunset told herself. It was the same sight she saw when she came out the portal all those moons ago. War. She remembers it well. She remembers the screaming, she remembers the fighting, she remembers the dead. She remembers the sense of powerlessness she felt at the time, and she remembered the allure she felt seeing those in iron warriors fight like fabled titans. ‘Those weapons…’ She muttered to herself, seeing that one was dead in the streets and proceeded to run past it with Applejack in tow.. ‘I need one of them.’ She told herself. ‘If I am to survive in this world… I need one of them at my disposal…’ In her mind she saw someone smile. “Tell me, what is your wish?” “My wish?” “What do you want in this world?” “I want to survive.” She whispered, as the world continued to descend into violence. “And if I am to survive in this world… I need one of them at my disposal…” Noble slammed the cockpit to an MT shut as he held it down, only releasing it when a muffled ‘boom’ went off inside thanks to the grenade he’d lobbed inside not a moment earlier. The machine in turn started to shut down, the grenade doing its job in not just killing its pilot but also destroying most of its necessary components. It hunched over falling silent in the street as he balanced himself on it before his attention turned elsewhere. He looked around, his eyes taking in the battlefield that was still going on around him before taking a breath. Everything’s still pretty crazy right now, but that doesn’t really surprise him. Still… “What are you planning?” He muttered as a familiar face crossed his mind. “Just what the hell is all this for?” He didn’t get an answer, and for the moment he didn’t really care. Instead he chose to hop off the MT and start making his way down the streets, taking a break from the fighting to try and help a few who needed assistance. Couldn’t do much without medical equipment, but he could at least do something. ‘You don’t need to do this…’ ‘Logic’ or Reason told him. ‘These aren’t your people.’ It reminded him. ‘And this isn’t your fight.’ It told him. ‘You could leave and no one would question it.’ He took a breath. “I know.” He remarked. “I’m just a merc, and there’s no coam to be made in this fight.” He stated. “But I made a promise to my grandfather to help those in need.” He admitted. “And I will never break that promise.” He told himself as crying broke through the streets. Running towards it, he moved down the battlescarred street as he looked around, eventually finding a building with a little girl inside. “Applejack! Applejack, where are you!?” The girl choked out as she covered her ears to try and drown out the noise around her. “I’m scared!” She looked so small… Noble was careful in approaching her, but he was still loud enough to get her attention. Something that caused her to jump slightly as she realized that someone other than this Applejack was here with her. “Stay away!” She tried crawling back, but found the wall wouldn’t let her go any further. “Applejack! Someone, anyone!” “Shh~ shh~.” He started by making a noise as he crouched down. “I’m not gonna hurt you.” He told her, noticing the tear stains and the dirt covering the little. “I’m here to help.” He told her, resting a hand on his chest. “My name is Noble. What’s yours?” “A-Applebloom.” She told him between whimpers. “Applebloom… that's a cute name.” He smiled a bit as he extended an arm. Applebloom, if you come with me, I can get you to safety.” “Y-you will?” “I promise, I will get you to safety.” He told her curling his fingers to a fist till only his pinky was out. “And I never make a promise I can’t keep.” Applebloom just stared at the finger before slowly doing the same with her own and connected it to his. His smile returned as he helped the girl up and started leading her off. “Stay close, and do exactly as I tell you. Ok?” “Ok.” “This is Trixie!” A familiar voice broke through his coms. “Trixie has acquired Aria’s AC!” “Good to hear.” Noble muttered, resting a hand on comms.”I’ll leave things to you then.” “Who are you talking to?” “A friend.” Noble admitted cutting comms. “Come on, let’s hurry.” 8The fighting had ended a while ago. Thank god for that. They’d been hit pretty hard and they'd lost some good people, but thankfully the fighting was over… for now anyway. Still, Commander Hoenheim couldn’t help frown as he walked the streets of his city. Watching as his men and women and children were taken off. They were good people, they didn’t deserve this… Walking on, Hoenheim took a breath as he locked his hands behind his back, tightening his fists and continued to look around. He didn’t like this; his city being hit like this. Make no mistake, the Sphere had been under fire before, often that took the form of Scavengers intercepting their supply lines, other times it was preyed upon by reckless and would-be ‘Warlords’ thinking they could encroach on Sphere territory. So yes the Sphere had been under fire before, but on every occasion they’d at least been able to foresee the attack coming. In this case though… ‘We were blind to the attack till it was too late…’ Hoenheim told himself. “How did they get so many inside our walls?” Despite how much he wanted one, he didn’t receive an answer. Someone had to let these soldiers in. Someone had to let these MT’s in. “Who though?” Again, no answer came to him. Looking at a sleeping MT, the Commander of Sphere’s forces couldn’t help make a noise as he stared at the machine. No identifiable markers, no insignia branded upon the chassis… More than likely they’d been scrubbed clean, so there’s a strong possibility that he won’t get any answer from it. Still he’ll have someone look inside, check the software and pull at data logs… Hopefully they’d find something. “Commander Hoenheim!” Hearing his name and rank Hoenheim turned his head as he addressed one of his men jogging up to him. “Sentry.” Flash Sentry, he saluted his superior officer on reflex before the gesture was returned. ‘What is it?” “We’ve finished making a report on the damages done to the Sphere.” The officer muttered as he handed his superior a tablet of sorts. Without a word, Hoenheim started to read what was plastered on the tablet, scrolling down occasionally as he did so. “I see…” The Commander grumbled as his brow tightened. It’s bad… not as bad as he’d thought, but worse than he’d like it to be… ‘We really were hit hard…’ He told himself. ‘That still doesn’t answer the question of why and how though…’ He added as he continued scrolling. “Not only that…” He stopped scrolling for a moment as his attention turned elsewhere. “How will we respond?” “Applejack!” The girl in question perked up, her attention shooting to the side as she heard a familiar voice call out to her “Bloom?’ Looking around she felt her eyes lock onto a familiar mess of red hair as her eyes widened. “Applebloom!” Without another word the girl ran up to her, and her little sister did in return. Dropping to her knees, Applejack wrapped her hands around the younger girl as she bit her lips. “Your ok!” She shouted before pulling back and looked her younger sister over. “You are ok, right Bloom?” “Eyup.” Applebloom smiled as she hugged her older sister again. “I’m ok, sis.” She stated. “Noble made sure I was safe.” “Noble?” Applejack pulled away from her sister for a moment. “Who’s Noble?” “Right here.” The boy in question drew Applejack's attention as her eyes widened for a moment. “Hey.” “You.” Applejack wasn’t sure if she said it first or Sunset, but in the end it didn’t matter. “You know each other?” Applebloom asked looking between the three. “Somewhat.” Noble muttered. “But I gotta say, we gotta stop running into each other like this. People are gonna talk.” The boy stated. “Anyway, I should get going.” The young man stated as he looked at Applebloom. “Take care of yourself ok?” “You too.” Apple Bloom replied. “Thanks again.” With that Noble started walking off, as he scratched his head. “That’s my good deed for the day.” Noble muttered as he started to stretch. “Better go check in on Aria and Sonata.” “What have you done?” Resting on top of one of the more stable buildings, the Dawnbreaker turned away from the sight before him as he looked to see that he wasn’t alone. “Ah~ Lady Belle.” He sat up as he looked at the girl - rather the woman walking up to him. She looked… she was more angry than scared. Which made a bit of sense considering the situation. “Glad to see you're still alive.” He stated. “What can I do for you.” “What… did you do?” “Pardon?” “What did you do?” She repeated, keeping her voice level despite the anger that was rising inside her. “Those soldiers, those MT’s…” She clenched her fists, trying to hold herself back. “How did you get them into the city?” She asked as she approached. “How did you stage an attack of this scale without us noticing?” The Dawnbreaker didn’t say anything, instead just stared at the officer approaching him before releasing a chuckle. “Oh~” He began as he looked outward for a moment. “You think I had a hand in this?” He asked before shaking his head. “Aw~ that’s adorable.” He smiled. “Sorry honey, but this isn’t my doing.” “You’re lying!” Her anger boiling over the woman grabbed him by his collar as she forced him to be eye level with her. “There’s no way you didn’t do this - there’s no way you didn’t play a part in this!” “You can’t prove that.” The man stated, just staring down at the woman with those bright red eyes of his. “Besides… you know me Lady Belle.” He began. “I don’t lie.” He stated as he stepped forward and snaked an arm around the woman’s waist to hold her close. “I manipulate and misdirect , but I don’t lie.” He confessed. “I had no part in what happened today.” “But you knew.” Rarity countered as she tore herself away from the man. “You knew that they were here, and you didn’t say a thing.” Rarity glared as she tried taking a calming breath. It failed. “Why?” “It didn’t come up.” The figure shrugged. “So I didn’t see a reason to say anything.” “You…” Rarity took another breath as she tried calming herself again. “Who hit us?” The man just smiled at her. “You’ll find out soon enough.” “Still kicking huh.” Noble made a noise as he approached Aria, seeing that the girl was helping her kin onto a stretcher. “Glad to know.” “Good to know you aren’t dead either.” Aria muttered as she took a breath before looking over. “Where’s Trixie?” “Hell if I know.” The young man muttered as he watched Aria settle down and take a seat on the sidewalk. He decided to join her a moment later. “Worried?“ “Worried about my AC.” Aria remarked as she stared off into space. Watching the medics carry her sister off to a more secure medical location. “So~” She snorted. “This happened.” “Yeah.” Noble sighed in annoyance. “Dawn?” “If it was, we can’t prove it.” “Right…” Aria grumbled as she pinched her nose and fell silent. That was before her attention was drawn to something rumbling. She looked down, noticing a few stray pebbles were bouncing off the ground. Looking ahead she noticed that a familiar heavy machine was walking up to her from across the street. “There’s my baby.” Aria’s AC: Torrent was a bit on the ‘heavy’ side. Course just because it was heavy, didn’t mean that it was slow. The AC was fast when it needed to be, and it was built to takes hits and keep on trudging forward. The AC powered down and Trixie climbed out of the mech, seeming to wipe her brow for a moment as she climbed down the mech and approached its rightful owner. “How was it?” “Difficult.” Trixie stated. “Your AC is like riding an untamed horse.” The girl declared. “Trixie does not know how you do it.” “Torrent is tuned to my preferences.” Aria stated. “Not yours.” “True.” Trixie didn’t bother denying her words. “But Trixie thanks you for the experience.” The girl stayed silent for a moment as she frowned. “Also… Trixie has regrettable news?” “What is it?” Trixie didn’t say anything, just turning her head to look at the truck that had been following the AC. As it was pulled to a stop she saw a few Sphere soldiers stepping out of it. “Of course.” Aria grumbled as she rubbed the bridge of her nose again and took a breath. “Noble…” “Yeah.” The young man grumbled. “I know…” He breathed as the soldiers approached. “”I really should have gone to Graft for vacation.” 1Out of all the things he’d seen on the battlefields of this war torn system… none of them compared to the AC; the Armored Core. These towering giants of cold steel, there are times when these man made apparitions seemed more like a natural disaster than anything that could be molded by human hands. To be fair, perhaps they were, in their own way. Ask anyone and they’d likely admit that there was something uncanny about these iron colossi; something that didn’t seem human, rather simply something that had been forced into a human-like shape, and try as it may, it could not accurately emulate what a person of flesh and blood was capable of. Their movements weren’t jerky or unnatural, or anything along those lines; rather they were far too precise and smooth - not in the way that a human would move, rather a machine of sorts copying the movements. Smooth as movements were, they were also noisy, countless tons of metal and circuitry moving together in perfect harmony, creating this… ‘noise’ you couldn’t accurately describe or explain to others, but at the same time it was something you’d never forget. When they awoke, they’re ‘eyes’ glowed like some distant fire in the night, burning in a way that alerted people to their presence. Their ‘skin’ - their chassis was cold, layers upon layers of refined iron draped over them like clothing, and the colors that paint the steel are often faded and scarred from the injuries they had shrugged off in battle. Armored Cores… truthfully these traits that they shared made one question if there really was a person inside them or if it was just a hollowed hunk of metal born with the singular purpose of bringing conflict. Every Armored Core gave off this impression, it was something they wore like a badge of honor. This one was no different. Staring up at their personal Armored Core, the young man, a Raven as the world liked to call his people, leaned over the railing and continued chewing on the rations bar that he had picked up earlier. Not gotta lie, it… wasn’t the best. The bar hadn’t expired or anything, but it could taste better. A lot better. But, as some might say, ‘you have to work with what you got’. So he did; he ate what was available to him and used it to fill up his belly. Again, as some say, ‘you can’t work on an empty stomach’. And he’d definitely be working soon. Till then though, he was just going to be here, on stand by and watching over his machine. Now, he’d admit to anyone who bothered bringing it up, his machine wasn’t that pretty; but to be fair it didn’t have to be. So long as he could make it work, and do what he needed it to do for his work, he was fine with however it looked. Besides, he couldn’t really complain about how his machine looked in the first place, after all he was the reason it looked this way to begin with. His unit, the Obelisk as he named it, was a bipedal-type somewhere in the mid-weight class. Its armor was tough but not overly so; it was fast but not to the point of being impossible to track. The same could be said for the rest of its parameters. As such it was an ‘All-rounder’; it didn’t really specialize in anything, but at the same time it didn’t really have any faults. It was simple that way, and it left plenty of room for improvements. “Hey kid!” The Raven turned his head, attention turning to see that an older man was walking up to him. Another Raven, One that was a bit unshaven took a minute to bounce his helmet between his hands as he approached. “I had a feeling I’d find you here.” Blue Eyes looked away as the younger of the two shrugged and looked back at his unit. “Well, where else would I be?” “Good question.” The older of the two made this humming noise as he turned to look at the machine before them. “It’s quiet.” He noted. “The repairs done already?” “Seems like it.” The younger Raven admitted. “When I came down to check on their progress, I saw they were already wrapping things up.” He admitted before munching on his food bar. “They worked fast.” He grumbled. “Not surprised though, easy to get your hands on the parts needed.” “I guess we can thank you for that, there’s nothing too crazy to put behind your build.” The older of the two admitted. “Right.” The younger muttered as he took another bite from his bar. “Thanks by the way.” He muttered, looking at his elder. “For fitting the bill I mean. Coam’s been tight these past few weeks.” “Don’t mention it.” His elder stated as he put a hand on his hip. “I figured you could use the cash, plus I wanted a hand for this job.” “Right.” The younger of the two stated as he took another bite of his food bar as his counterpart glanced at him. “How many of those have you eaten already?” “Third one.” “Better slow down, don’t want you getting a stomach ache after all.” The elder of the two smirked as he hoisted his helmet over his shoulder and looked back at the AC. “Either way, since your machine’s all patched up, let’s get ready to go. Our transport is almost ready to go.” “Right.” The younger of the two muttered as he stood upright and started heading towards his machine. Walking across the hanger’s bridge, the pilot took a minute to finish his rations bar tuck the wrapper into his pocket before pulling at the cockpit hatch and opening it up. ‘It’s a bit stuffy in here .’ He notes, crawling into the cockpit as he grabs the helmet he had a bad habit of leaving in here. The AC is cold outside and it’s stuffy inside the cockpit. Then again when you don’t vent the cockpit that often it’s no surprise that it gets a bit stuffy in here at times. Have to remember to leave the hatch open when he gets back. If he gets back. Fastening his helmet, the pilot strapped himself into the cockpit as he started flipping switches to power on his AC before sealing the cockpit hatch. [AC, Main System activated] [Generator, Radiator, FCS, All green.] [Entering Normal Mode] Everything online, the pilot took a moment to breathe as he rolled his shoulders. [Hello, Pilot Noble] He smiled slightly at the greeting. “Morning buddy, enjoy your nap?” Location:?? Nauseous. That was the first thought that crossed Sunset’s mind as she found herself spit out from the other side of the mirror portal. With a groan she couldn’t help rub her forehead, annoyance on her face as she tried to will her headache away. “Ugh~” The young equestrian thought as she took a moment, her vision slowly resetting itself as she leaned back, only for the back of her forehead to feel like it was being submerged in water. “Right…” She muttered, leaning forward. “The portal…” She reminded herself as she lowered her hoof, taking the time to press down on the bridge of her muzzle as she sucked in a breath. That last fact alone however, resulted in her starting to panic. "My horn!" She started patting her head, trying to find out where it had disappeared to. "Where's my horn!?" Sunset continued feeling around her head for her missing appendage. This was bad. This was very bad. A unicorn’s horn was sacred to say the least. While it wasn’t the source of their arcane powers, their horn allowed them to focus their magic so that they could cast spells. And naturally it was proof that one was a unicorn. “But you're not a unicorn right now.” The former mare muttered in realization as she started to calm herself down. “You’re a… I have no idea what you are, but you’re not a unicorn anymore.” She told herself as she took a few more breaths and went back to looking at her hands. “That leaves the question though, what are you?” The former equestrian muttered as she fiddled her digits - her fingers if her anatomy classes on Minotaur were right. As soon as she was done playing around with her fingers she got to her feet, first on all fours like she was used to and then slowly shifted to balance to stand on just two. She stumbled for a moment and used the statue she was next to to catch herself. She nearly cursed Discord when her hand touched the portal she had come through, but to her surprise the gateway to Equestria was harder than stone, that meant that the portal had finished closing, so turning back to return to Equestria was out of the question. Not that she had a real reason to go back anyway… Pushing herself off the mirror Sunset stumbled, struggling to hold herself up before finding her balance. “This is going to take a minute to get used to…” She grumbled as she turned her attention to finally take a look at her surroundings. What she saw was ruin. Broken streets and silent steel carriages rested beyond her line of vision. Grass was climbing out of the cracks, and buildings were in disrepair. The portal she’d come through was connected to this statue with a broken Equestrian on top of it. “Ok, this is not what I was expecting.” She grumbled as she looked around further, her attention turning to the sky as she noticed that it was somewhat hazy, leaving her unable to see the sun hovering overhead. Sunset just narrowed her eyes for a moment and got off the floor as she started walking around. Walking on all fours like she used to felt uncomfortable to say the least, so she tried another way; getting up to stand in a manner similar to a minotaur and attempting to imitate their walking style. It was rough to say the least, her sense of balance was completely off and she needed to steady herself a few times but she got it after a few minutes of practice. Her new walking cycle wasn’t perfect, but at least she could get around. Walking through the city, the former mare took in the sights around her. “It’s so quiet…” She muttered to herself as she continued walking. “What in Equestria happened here?” She didn’t receive an answer, let alone an echo directed back at her. Still, she frowned, crossing her front hooves - her arms - as she kept letting her gaze wander. This world… it wasn’t what she had been expecting. When she entered the portal not that long ago, she did it with the intention of going somewhere that could lead her to her destiny. The same one that Princess Celestia had denied her. “But how can I become an alicorn in a world reduced to ruin?” Again she found no answer directed at her. Instead her attention was quickly drawn towards a noise. One that she admittingly found familiar, chatter. Still walking towards it, the young mare couldn’t help a bit uneasy for some reason, but she chalked it up to the fact that she was currently in a city and a body that she wasn’t familiar with. “Take it slow…” She told herself as she moved towards the noise. “Figure things out and you’ll do fine.” She muttered as she walked forward and eventually reached the location where all the voices were coming from. There were people that had the same form she currently took, many of them were sitting on the ground while others were in a line of sorts getting food from what seemed to be a couple food stalls. Her attention turned to the attire present on those that were offering food… looked uniform, so military? That was the guess she was making anyway. She turned her attention elsewhere and… “What in Tartarus is that?” It might seem strange to some; but he always got the shakes whenever he got sent out in his AC. Who was he kidding, of course it seemed a little strange; after doing this so many times already, one would think he’d gotten over these shakes by now. He’d used to have the psychiatrist monitor his brain-waves before every job he did, and they’d ask him those silly, routine questions. They’d tell him whatever was getting to him wasn’t fear - wasn’t anything remotely important — just the trembling of an eager race horse at the starting gate. Much as he hated that old pun or stereotype or whatever it was, he honestly wasn’t too sure about that. Still, he found some truth in those worlds, there was some eagerness, but more than anything he was scared out of his mind. [Obelisk, Entering Combat Mode.] Right now was no exception. The older of the two pilots asked over comms and just received this nod he couldn’t actually see since they were audio only. “I’m fine.” The younger pilot muttered before taking a breath. “Let’s get started.” Staring out at the outskirts that eventually gave way to a city. “Gotta say, I never thought I’d be back here.” Canterlot; it was this city out here, almost literally in the middle of nowhere, with only one road leading both into and out of it. If there really was a god out there, only they knew why someone would build a city all the way out here in the sticks. The city had seen better days, that was for sure, but that didn’t really bother them. Boosters flared to life, the roar hitting the air so loud that it almost drowned out everything else in the vicinity. One second the Armored Cores, Obelisk and Wrangler were standing still, the next they were by all means flying, darting across the landscape with speeds that do doubt surpassed a bullet. Disbelief gave way to fear, and fear gave way to ‘oh shit, what the fuck is that noise’. Doubling over at what she could only describe as a warning bell going off, but it was far too loud and it continued on for far too long. Ironically though, Sunset found whatever that noise was to be tame when compared to what it felt like a few seconds later. Honestly, she didn’t know what to call it, or what to accurately compare it to outside of the wind tearing itself apart. “What in tartarus is going on!?” She barely heard her own voice as she covered her ears, dropping to her knees and almost doubled over. A second later though she did as she felt the ground shudder beneath her as what could only be described as an iron giant took a step, its one eye seemingly scanning the horizon before hunching over and fired from what she could only describe as a massive cannon. The recoil… sweet Celestia the recoil on that thing packed so much force that it blew debris in her face and slammed her with a wall of air that all but sent her flying. She ended up hitting the floor more on her ass than anything, and instead of getting up, instead of running, she just found herself laying on the ground, paralyzed due to the fact that her bones were rattling beneath her skin. “W-what in Tartarus?” She choked out for what felt like the third or fourth time today as she tried getting up to try making sense of what in Equestria was going on. The Obelisk slammed into the streets of Canterlot and started to slide, as it tore apart the cement beneath it’s feet. The left arm came out and with it so did the rifle that was held firmly between its manipulators. It fired one 170 mm round after the other, unfortunately the shots it fired slammed into the massive shield that was protecting the MT hidden behind it. “Wasting ammo…” The Obelisk moved, lowering its firearm and charging in, the thrusters giving the machine the speed it needed to close the gap between the two and actually dodge the retaliatory fire. It moved to the left, then the right to avoid what fire it could and eventually reached its target, the off arm being raised as it slammed forward and the forearm mounted pile bunker sprang into action. The shield caved, a hole ripping its way through several layers of reinforced metal as an iron stake poked its head out the other end. The wall fell a moment later, the MT having let go as the Obelisk seemed to lose balance as its outstretched limb started to tilt with the shield. The arm and the pile bunker was pulled back not a moment later with the Armored Core moving so that it could avoid the volley of bullets that were being released not a second later. Somewhere behind it, a couple of buildings were all but turned into swiss cheese as the hail of bullets slammed into them and the Obelisk moved in what seemed to be a semi-circle and responded accordingly. Bullets were exchanged and the city suffered because of it. Rounds after rounds of iron slugs were tearing into the cityscape, dropping debris here and there as they fell upon the streets and crushed sleeping cars. That said the exchange lasted less than a minute, with the Obelisk coming out on top as it rammed into the opposing Armored Core and drove its Pile Bunker into the opposing unit’s chassis. Red slattered across the city wall behind it, though even the Obelisk’s pilot wasn’t too sure if it came from the other pilot's blood being thrown everywhere it shouldn’t be or if it was because of the boiling red oil that was no longer being contained behind the Armored Core’s Chassis. “Got one.” ” “Already?” “I know. How long till the main force arrives?” Sunset finally regained control of her body as she stumbled to her feet, and following those instincts that were screaming at her, she ran like the devil was chasing after her. Sunset Shimmer would admit it to anyone, she had never considered herself a coward. She wasn’t scared of that old fable known as Nightmare Moon, she wasn’t scared of the threat imposed by learning Dark Magic and she wasn’t scared of getting on Celestia’s nerves. But this, this scared her. And for good reason too; this was a battlefield. She’d heard about them, about how Equestria had been forced to go to war countless times in the past, but she had never actually been on a battlefield. Why would she; Equestria was at peace, it had been at peace for almost a thousand years now. The idea of being on a battlefield was almost a foreign concept to even the Royal Guard. Yes, there were old stories that drew aspiring stallions and mares to their ranks, but this was nothing like the stories she herself had heard. Everything was so bloody noisy, it felt like her hearing was ready to leave her just to shut the noise out. Everything seemed to be rushing by so she couldn’t make heads or tails of what was going on. Everything seemed to be exploding; buildings were being torn open, debris was flying everywhere and the impact of whatever the hell was hitting the ground kept knocking her off her feet. The battlefield was beyond any nightmare she could begin to think up. Amidst all the noise she heard someone talking, though most of it was muted beyond comprehension. A moment later she found something else getting blown up and she found herself smacked in the head with the remains of an arm. She screamed. She screamed louder than she thought was possible for an Equestrian. And yet her scream was drowned out by whatever was going on. She saw an iron giant slam into the grounds before her and looking up at it, tears of all things starting to well up in her eyes, Sunset realized that it was staring at her before turning away. Attention focused on something behind her as it fired that thing in its grasp. Sweet Celestia… she’d never felt so small in her entire life. That thing, it saw her and it found her so insignificant that she’s worth paying any more attention. Sweet Celestia, it paid more to its own kind than the creatures she was disguised as and some of them were using some brand of artillery against it. Artillery that seemed to do nothing in terms of wounding - let alone slowing down the iron giant. “Goddess…” Sunset’s words went ignored as the giant of steel trudged forward, its weapons firing as they continued across the battlefield. The merc wouldn’t lie to himself, he hated these kinds of ops. He hated an op that ran the risk of civilian casualties. “If only Canterlot hadn't stood as the grounds where these guys would relocate…” He muttered, as he raced across the battlefield. “If I didn’t need the Coam then…” He stopped himself, realizing that that would be an empty excuse. “I can’t avoid jobs like these forever.” He admitted with a grumble. His head snapped to attention as he saw his Missile Sensor going off. The Obelisk moved, dodging to the side as it avoided the missile volley now raining down on its location. It didn’t bother trying to shoot anything down, instead it just focused on dodging everything that came close to it. It used old buildings as cover and dug up trenches in the dirt, and in the end it survived the onslaught before finding a clear path forward. Thrusters flared to life, the red flame they had all but turned to orange as the AC burst forward and tore apart the street beneath it. The pile bunker ripped a hole through an MT, launching red across the grounds as the rest seemed to trail down the weapon. The Obelisk just turned attention focused on the other MT and pointed its rifle towards it. It fired and the shots hit home, only they didn’t stop the machine from moving back, trying to get some distance. The Obelisk though it just pulled its Pile Bunker free and used the arm it was mounted on to rip the disposed MT’s firearm free and started using both to assault the other unit. It raced forward it did, raining down fire that the other retaliated against. Three firearms howled across this part of Canterlot City, only ending when a forth sounded off, and ripped a hole through the Mt’s firearm to disable it. The Obelisk just charged forward and planted both its firearms in front of the opposing mech’s torso and opened fire. Shells slammed into the chassis and left it dented, shrapnel was launched in both the air and the ground. The Obelisk kept firing, as the chassis caved in, and only stopped when it blew a hole into the unit’s frame, all but erasing the cockpit and the pilot inside. “That’s four…” The Raven muttered as he looked around and moved on. “Time.” “Then that means we wrap this up in two.” “Let’s earn that paycheck.” Amidst the tears; amidst the panic and open fear that she was feeling, Sunset found herself reaching a strange sense of calm as she stared up. Honestly, she didn’t have a clue as to why she suddenly felt this way; but upon these alien grounds and nothing but the literal clothes on her back… Sunset felt calm wash over her as she stared up at the iron giants. “Such power…” She muttered watching them march forward, shrugging off blow after blow with barely a glance. “I want that…” t that…” 2The smell of smoke and debris was so strong that the Raven could taste on his tongue. Honestly, he wasn’t all that surprised. This seemed to be the smell and taste that followed every job he went on, and something told him he wasn’t the only one who tended to pick it up. Regardless, the Raven took the time to finish unstrapping his helmet and pulling it of, all so he could get some fresh air and take care of the sweat that was gathering upon his head. As it stood that was all he could take care of without stripping down to his underwear. Even with the radiator running perfectly, it always got so damn hot in his AC. "Just something you have to put up with…" The Raven reminded himself as he took a breath, sucked a bit of that smoke and debris as he settled down on the foot of his AC. As it stood the towering entity was hunched over a bit, and 'sleeping'. There were some new scratches and dents decorating its chassis but it was nothing it's Raven had to worry about right now. Instead his attention was directed forward at the group of soldiers being corralled towards a wall as another set trained rifles on them. Public execution. Those two words echoed out into Sunset's mind as she found her eyes glued on the sight before her. She'd read about these kinds of things once, she'd read about when enemy soldiers and deserters would be lined up against and put to the sword. The act never interested her, but even she couldn't deny that some kind of morbid curiosity kept her eyes glued to the display before her. That curiosity, as appalling as it was, kept her gaze directed on the sight, wondering exactly how they would go about this. And yet before she could even blink, it was over. Sunset almost jumped at the crack of thunder then came out of nowhere. She looked around, darting left and right before her attention turned to the soldiers that had been lined up. Soldiers that were now laying unmoving on the ground. “What?” The disguised mare muttered. “That’s it?” She realized. The executioners just stepped up to the bodies and seemed to check for something. A second clap of thunder rang out into the distance. 'No speeches…' Sunset thought to herself. 'No explanation of their crimes… no jeers from the crowds, no… nothing.' She thought. "Just a swift, merciless execution." She ended in a whisper. She wasn’t sure how to feel about that. She’d seen those few times Celestia had been forced to judge a person for their crimes, and even then such things ended in imprisonment rather than execution, but… “They didn’t even get a chance to explain themselves. They just executed them… like they had already decided what the verdict was. Honestly, Sunset felt a taste of fear run through her, but at the same time she felt a sense of - dare she say it, respect. She was no military general or anything of the sort, but she understood the idea behind dealing with traitors to the crown. Though such events had only occurred in Equestria’s troubled history, she knew how most threats to her homeland were treated with imprisonment or banishment. Honestly, her studies and more private thoughts on the matter caused her to develop a distaste for such things. No matter how great the prison might be, the walls and the seals only lasted so long. Likewise, banishing a wicked soul did not mean they would stay ‘gone’; they could return in years time, and she doubted they would have just been sitting on their hooves in the meantime. Execution to the enemies of the crown made terrible sense to her. It meant that threat was dealt and wouldn’t rear its head again. So yes; Sunset felt a degree of respect wash over her as she saw the conclusion to a swift and decisive execution, as it ended a threat that could rise back up and be problematic to these… creatures. Whatever these creatures were. She turned her attention towards the unformed set, though her attention was mostly focused on one in particular. An older one, she guessed male who had spent their time overseeing the execution before his attention was stolen by a soldier or perhaps an officer. They talked for a bit, though the other handed them what looked like a thin… stone tablet. ‘That one has to be in charge…’ Sunset thought to herself, as the figure nodded their head and started walking somewhere, towards the two iron giants that had not only started this battle but survived it as well. “Their uniforms are different.” She noted as she just took the moment to watch them. “Are they like specialists or…” “You two did good work here.” Commander Hoenheim stated, his voice practically rumbling as he addressed the two Raven’s who at this moment were sharing a drink. “You thinned their forces quite a bit before we managed to arrive.” He admitted. “I thank you for that.” “There’s no need for thanks.” The older raven stated as he drank from his water bottle. “We were just doing what we were paid to do.” “Of course.” The Commander stated, acknowledging the Raven’s words. “Speaking of which, as per completion of our contract, the agreed upon Coam has been directly wired into your respective accounts.” This time the Raven didn’t say anything, instead his attention suddenly turned to his younger counterpart as he seemed to check something on his phone. “It looks like we’re good.” He stated. “Money’s there, plus a little extra.” “Well, we were promised a bit extra for the AC’s we took down.” The older Raven reminded him. “Either way, it was a… pleasure, commander.” “Likewise.” The Commander agreed. “I take it you’ll be heading out now?” “Got no reason to stay any longer.” The Raven admitted. “Jobs done after all.” “I see, well then till we cross paths again.” The commander stated as he turned towards his troops and started heading off. “Hold on.” This time it was the younger Raven’s turn to speak up. “What’s going to happen to the people here?” He asked and the Commander did this half turn to face the young Raven. “The Migrants will be taken into custody and transported to The Sphere. From there they’ll be processed and brought into the refugee workforce.” ‘Fancy words for slave labor.’ The Raven thought as he nodded his head and glanced towards the Migrants, the people who were unaffiliated with any of the powers that be. Honestly Leaving them to be processed and brought into The Sphere’ workforce left a bad taste in his mouth, but it wasn’t like he could do anything about it. Well he ‘could do’ but that would cause more problems than anything. “I see.” He muttered as he started scanning the migrants, noting that each of them were being brought together and corralled towards one of the transports. Fr a brief moment though, his eyes caught sight of someone staring in his direction. Girl maybe around his age, with red and orange colored hair that kinda looked like bacon in all honesty. Their gazes didn’t lock or anything like that, the world didn’t ‘slow down so that they could capture the moment or anything of the sort. Instead it seemed that the moment she realized he was looking in her direction she turned away. He didn't really question it, just shrugged and decided to let it go. Although he did notice that the Commander was taking a moment to glance in the direction he had glanced at. A second later he looked away, attention returning to the Ravens as he just nodded his head and started off. “You’ll take care of them… right?” The young Raven asked as the Commander again looked back at him. “Of course.” And with that he left, heading off towards the gathering as the Raven just frowned. His older counterpart just smacked him in the back of the head with his water bottle. “Hey!” “Get that look off your face.” The older raven muttered as he took a drink from his water. “Know you're worried, but whatever happens to these guys isn’t our call.” “I know, I know.” The younger of the two mutters as he scratches his head. “It’s just… leaving them hits a little close to home, you know.” “I hear you.” The older Raven admitted as he turned his attention towards the horizon. “Anyway, you plan on heading to Steelwaters right?” Want me to accompany you there. “Nah.” The younger raven shook his head. “While I do appreciate the gesture, I’ll have to pass. After all you’re heading in a completely different direction.” He admitted. “You tagging along with me would mean you got a whole extra trip to make.” “Fair.” The Older Raven muttered, attention shifting to the migrants being pushed along. “Sure you’ll be alright though, you know how it is when you're out there in the middle of nowhere with no one to watch your back. A lonely AC is easy prey.” He wasn’t wrong. The younger Raven had taken advantage of that fact on more than one occasion. “I’ll be fine.” He stated and his older counterpart just nodded his head before walking over to his AC.” “Well, if you're sure.” The man stated as he strapped his helmet back on. “Anyway, I’ll catch you later kid.” “Later.” The Raven stated before raising his hands to his lips. “Make sure the next contract you want me to help out on offers a bigger cut.” He got a laugh sent his way. “We’ll see kid, we’ll see.” The young Raven just smiled and nodded his head before looking at his AC. The transport that she’d been pushed onto felt too damn big. It was nothing like what she was used to seeing, the carriages practically microscopic in comparison to these things. Regardless, Sunset stuck near one of the walls, hooves… limbs crossed as she scanned her surroundings. There were a lot of people here, so many that she couldn’t quite begin counting, beyond that though she couldn’t see any creatures in uniforms. They seemed to have just led them into this transport and locked the door on them. Honestly she couldn’t even see the damn door anymore. “What kind of transport is this?” Sunset muttered. They’d been traveling for a while now, exactly where though was a question she couldn’t really answer. No windows or anything of the sort was giving her an idea on what was going on outside. She wasn’t even sure if the sun was still up. “AJ, I’m scared.” A weak murmur called out as Sunset looked around to find it. “Ah know Bloom…” Another voice whispered in this thick southern accent. “Don’t worry, I won’t let anything happen to you.” “I know sis but…” “I know.” There was a brief silence. “Where are they taking us?” “The Sphere.” Sunset found the voices not that long after the word was said, and her attention found itself focusing on a pair of girls that - from the sis comment earlier- were sisters. Without a word started walking towards the pair. “Excuse me.” She drew the pair’s attention. “Oh… hey there.” The older girl muttered. “Sorry if we’re bothering you. Bloom here is just a tad scared is all.” “It’s fine…” Sunset muttered as she looked at the older girl… AJ was it? “Sorry but I was kinda eavesdropping, where did you say they were taking us?” “The Sphere.” ‘AJ’ muttered with some obvious distaste as she got to her feet. “Yeah these guys are likely taking us there.” “You sound like you don’t want to go there.” “Ya think?” AJ scoffed as she stared at Sunset for a moment. “Sorry, just… aint nothing good come out that city.” “You’ve been there.” AJ shook her head. “Nah, heard stories though.” AJ admitted. “That’s all I need really.” Sunset raised an eyebrow but it quickly disappeared.s “Well, what have you heard about it?” “Nothing good.” AJ repeated before looking at the one in front of her. “Curious as to why you asking me though, surely you probably heard the same things I have.” “Sorry I’m…” Sunset paused. “Not from around here.” Sunset looked at AJ and AJ returned the look. “Well… you certainly don’t look like anyone I seen back in Canterlot, an we Apple never forget a face…” “Apples?” Sunset didn’t mean to make it sound like a question. “Like the fruit?” “It’s a family name.” AJ stated as she smiled. “I’m Applejack though everyone likes to call me AJ, and this here is my little sis Applebloom.” “Hi there.” “Hey there.” Sunset stated. “I’m Sunset Shimmer.” Applejack held out a hand and Sunset just stared at it for a moment before extending her own. Applejack took it. “Pleasure to meet ya.” Applejack released her grip a moment later and Sunset had to resist either shaking or massaging her hand. ‘Sweet Celestia, she's got one hell of a grip!’ “So… where you from? You definitely ain’t from Canterlot.” That got Sunset to freeze as she stared at Applejack. “Canterlot?” She paused for a moment as she started to think back. ‘That city - that ruined city?” “That city was Canterlot?” “Yeah~” Applebloom trailed on for a moment as she looked at her sister before looking back at Sunset's disbelief. “You were in Canterlot and you ain’t even know it?” “I… I guess not.” Sunset muttered as she shook her head. She’d… focus more on that revelation later. “I just sort of… wound up there.” She whispered as she coughed into her closed digits. “Anyway…’The Sphere’… what can you tell me about it?” “You really don’t know do you?” Applejack muttered. “Well, the Sphere this faction of there, one of the big three really, so they got a lot going for em. They got people and they got the supplies to keep em fed and sheltered.” Applejack stated. “That said they’re still tying to get more, more land, more AC, more food.” “More us.” Sunset turned her attention towards Applebloom who held onto her sister. Sunset felt a pit fall into her stomach. “They’re taking us as slaves.” She muttered as Applejack rolled her eyes. “Yeah but they just call em… ‘refugees’.” AJ muttered. “You get food, yet get shelter, and in turn they get to work out of you.” Sunset made a face as she crossed her arms. “Sure, supposedly you can become a ‘citizen’ if you like you but…” “What’s so great about being a citizen?” Applejack made a gesture with her hand. “Stuff like papers and ‘rights’ and other stuff like that, leasts that what I hear anyway.” She grumbled. “So they separate people based on their class?” “Something like that, yeah.” Applejack muttered. “Citizens are what they really care for, but civilians… just an expendable workforce.” Sunset didn’t say anything for a moment, seeming to think to herself. "I see…” Sunset muttered as she uncrossed her limbs and put them on her hips. “Thanks for letting me know.” She turned on her heel and walked off, choosing to return to her corner. Resting against it, Sunset frowned. “The Sphere…” She muttered. She knew where she was going now, still, from what Applejack said she wasn’t going to get far without some kind of Citizenship. “All I have are the clothes on my back, and if I want to move up in this world, I’m going to need to be recognized as something more than expendable… If I can become a Citizen for The Sphere, then I work up from there.” She muttered to herself as her mind flashed back to those machines that had towered over her and everyone else. “I need to find a way to gain control of one of those as well… I can already tell that the power those things wield will be needed in surviving out here…” She told herself. “What are those things anyway? They’re… like a suit of armor, but… I’ve never seen anything like them before…” “Hey… Sunset?” Pulled from her thoughts, Sunset looked ahead, noticing thatApplejack had made her way over, no Applebloom this time though. “Yeah, what is it?” Applejack scratched her head for a moment, seeming to think as she looked around before stepping closer. “You… you’re thinking of trying to becoming a Citizen, ain’t ya?” Sunset blinked as she stared ahead. “How-” “Ya need to work on your poker face.” Applejack admitted. “”I could tell right away.” “I see…” Sunset muttered. “Is that going to be a problem?” Applejack scratched her head again and sighed. “No, it’s… it’s fine. I can’t tell you what to do after all.” She looked elsewhere. “It’s just… I was thinking about doing it myself.” “Becoming a Citizen of the Sphere?” Applejack made this panicked shushing noise. “Not so loud now.” “I thought you were against The Sphere.” “I am… but…” Applejack looked elsewhere, her attention turning to see that Applebloom pulled into a conversation with someone. “I gotta take care of her, ya know.” “Your sister.” “Ya gotta understand, with Big Mac gone, she’s all I got left. And I can’t gave her treated like some kind thing you just just use on up.” “You’d want your sister to have a future.” Sunset muttered. “Makes sense…” She admitted before seeming to stare at the girl before her. “Still, you seem to have come to this decision rather quickly despite earlier.” She paused. “You must have been thinking about this for a while.” “My brother and I used to talk about moving to one of them many territories and getting papers settled.” Applejack admitted. “No lie, I was against the idea myself but, it seems like you get citizenship, you get a chance.” Applejack admitted. “Bloom deserves that. So if they give us a chance to get her getting cleared, I’m gonna take it.” Sunset didn’t saything, just seemed to think for a moment before nodding. Applejack had a noble reason to get citizenship. Still… “That doesn’t explain why you're telling me.” That made Applejack start to fidget uncomfortably. “I uh…” She paused, scratched her head again and lowered her hat over her head. “Look um… I know I ain’t got a reason to ask this, I mean we just met and all but…” She started to mutter. “If I can’t do it, if I can’t get Bloom citizenship could you-” “Sure.” Sunset cut her off as Applejack looked up at her. “I’ll help out however I can.” “R-really?” Sunset released this smirk. “You’d do that?” Applejack asked. “For me?” “Not for you.” Sunset stated as she made a gesture with her head. “For her.” ‘And for me…’ Sunset added mentally. ‘I don’t know how this world works, but I do know this. If I want to move up in the world I’m going to need allies.’ Applejack beamed and hugged the girl. ‘Or at the very least someone to act as a stepping stone.’ “Thank you… thank you Sunset.” Sunset smiled into Applejack’s ear. “Don’t thank me just yet.” The Sphere, it stood as one of the largest factions that dotted what used to be North America. Its people fought tooth and nail to get to that position, and they prevailed against whatever adversity was thrown at them. The Sphere built the heart of their territory on the bones of old Washington, it had expanded over the decades and centuries that it had survived. It swallowed up cities and even a few states, only to be kept in place by some of the other factions out there, not to mention those areas that had been soaked to the bone by Kojima pollution. Their city in Washington was… massive. A labyrinthine megastructure full of cement streets and buildings that clawed at the sky. This was where the Migrants were brought, although they weren’t really granted a view of the city that they were being transported into. Instead they were brought directly into this particular building and released. Staring down at those brought before her, a ranking member of the Sphere stood with her hands behind her backs. “Hello there.” She began, taking advantage of the speakers to carry her voice where it needed to be. “I am Administrator Rarity Belle. Allow me to welcome you to your first day as civilians of The Sphere.” She stated. “From this day forward your days scavenging as Migrants are over. We will shelter you, feel you, and even provide you with the clothing, in exchange we will be expecting you to earn your keep as refugees.” No doubt they were already aware of this. Rarity thought to herself. They likely realized what would happen to them once they were gathered up. “Understand this is a most generous offer as your lives will be given purpose.” She scanned the gathered with her eyes. “And know that beyond this, I offer each of you this, the honor of being recognized as Citizen of the Sphere” She heard a few mutterings and saw fewer heads seem to perk up. “As Citizens of the Sphere you will be granted a number of privileges, including the right to own land, and financial stability for both you and your families.” She informed them. “Those that wish to apply for Sphere Citizenship, please step forward and you will be escorted towards the Citizen Administration Building.”
3"Sunset…eh Sunset." Applejack shook the girl next to her as she heard this mix of a grumble and gurgling noise leave her. "Come on girl time to wake up." "Go away~" Sunset muttered as she buried her face into her pillow. "Let me sleep." Applejack made a face, put her hands on her hips and stared at the would be sleeper. "No can do suga. We gotta long day ahead of us." Sunset made that noise again. "Don't remind me…" Sunset couldn't resist glaring at the girl next to her, something Applejack chose to ignore. "Now come on girl get up. They got breakfast ready for us." "If you could even call that stuff breakfast." Sunset whispered, but still chose to pull herself from bed, revealing the fact that she had slept in only her black bra and panties… again. Applejack slapped a hand over her face. "Girl, how many times have I told you not to sleep without your clothes on?" "About as many times I've told you that it's uncomfortable." Sunset countered, gathering up the clothes that had been scattered around the foot of her bed. "I'm used to sleeping naked." There probably wasn't an Equestrian that didn't. "Yeah yeah, but ya can't sleep in the bucket round here. Lord knows what them boy's will think." Applejack stated as she adjusted her hat before turning. Anyway, come on. Let's get ya cleaned up and get some food in ya. You'll need it." "Right." Sunset grumbled as she watched her counterpart step off. As she did though Sunset couldn't help dropping onto her bed and rubbing the bridge of her nose "another day slaving away in this dump." She muttered, before looking around. This dump happened to be a boarding house of sorts. If one could even call it that. More than anything it was like a box with for walls and a whole bucket load of beds spread out. Temporary housing they called it, it was where they'd be staying till they were moved to a more permanent shelter… well a shelter for refugees anyway. Sunset dropped back into her bed and made a face. She hadn't made it through the Citizenship registration process and she hated herself for that. She hated the fact that she had jumped headlong into trying to gain citizenship without realizing she couldn't fucking read tor write in this species language! Sunset groaned, resting a hand on her face. That… that realization had been the most embarrassing thing she had ever experienced in her life. The Registration officer had given her some paper to sign, and something called a pen and staring at the sheet Sunset just… froze up. She couldn't read a damn thing that was presented on it. Worse when she tried faking that she knew what was on the paper and started writing she realized her penmanship wasn't just abysmal but damn near ineligible. The Registration officer looked at her like she was making some kind of bad joke. Even asked who on earth could survive with penmanship this bad. "Feel free to apply for citizenship again once you learn how to write." That had been almost two weeks ago. It was humiliating to be honest. She was Sunset Shimmer praised student of Celestia herself, the one destiny had chosen to succeed her as the ruler of Equestria and yet. "And here I am practically illiterate." She grumbled. "It's a miracle I can even speak to the people here." She admitted to herself and started to think. "If I couldn't I'd truly be at the bottom of the ladder." And that wouldn't do her any good." The young woman muttered. "I refuse to be anywhere but at the top." She whispered to herself as she sat up and got to her feet. "It's gonna take me a while to get there, but I swear I will." It didn't matter how many people she had to step over to do so. "Alright everything seems to be in order." The Spear official stated as they looked forward, staring at the young man that was across from him. A young man with black hair and blue eyes. Nothing to out of the ordinary, still. "How long will you be staying with us, Citizen Noble?" "Hard to say really." The young man muttered as he gathered his belongings and looked at the man across from him. "Depends on how long my vacation lasts." "Vacation huh." The official muttered before seeming to smile. "Well you're in luck, the heart of the Spear is considered the number one vacation spot in the entire Northern Continent." "I've heard." Noble muttered as he hoisted his bag over his shoulder and waved. "Anyway, I better get going. Be seeing you around." The official just nodded his head as he watched the young man leave the border registration center and walk into the city. The heart of the Spear, their capital city built upon Washington's bones; looked just as Noble remembered it. A sprawling metropolitan megastructure that went on for countless miles. It looked great, there was no denying that, but no matter how grand it looked a city was still just a city. Even if that city was built on the ruins of a nation's capital and the bones of slaves. Walking into the capital, Noble made face as he looked around, attempting to regain that familiarity he had lost with this city. It had been a while since he came here. Last time was… a year ago? Was that right? He couldn't really remember, been to long. Hell he couldn’t really remember the layout of a lot of Spear Cities. Then again even with citizenship he didn’t really hang out in these parts. Preferred the more independent cities. “Let’s see~ which direction do I need to go?” Noble asked as he crossed his arms. “I think I need to go that way.” He started off towards the western districts. Hopefully this would take him in the right direction. Sunset Shimmer; if there was ever a mare destined for greatness, it was her. She had graduated at the top of her class, and her talents even earned her the esteemed position of being s the prized pupil of Princess Celestia herself, and as that prophetic mirror portal was to be trusted she was meant to succeed her mentor one day. … And yet here she was picking trash like some kind of garbage collector. Disgust crossed her face as she used her gloves to pick up another piece of garbage and tossed it into her bag. She couldn't believe that this was what she was forced to do with her days now; traveling the streets in this uncomfortable jumpsuit, hauling trash off towards the refuge site. "Least it's better than cleaning toilets." She whispered as she picked up another piece of trash, a discarded half crushed soda and growled. "Disgusting." She threw it in her bag without another word. "You good suga?" Applejack asked as she hauled another bag off into their vehicle. "I think I want to complain to management." Sunset muttered before lifting her bag and carried it towards their garbage truck. "They have us working long hours doing the jobs that no one wants to do and what do we get out of it?" Sunset tossed her bag into the van. "A poor excuse for a shelter that probably violates housing laws and we get fed table scraps." She muttered. "Eyup." Applejack walked over to another trash and pulled the bag within it free. "That's how they treat refugees round here." "We can't live like this." Sunset muttered. "I refuse to live like this." She declared as she crossed her arms and watched Applejack return. "I hear ya, but ain't nothing we can do bout it right now. " Applejack stated. "Citizenship seems pretty far away right now, don't it?" "Easy for you to say." Sunset grumbled. "You at least got past the part where all you need to sign your bloody name." "Hey it ain't my fault ya can't write." Sunset practically saw the humor in Applejack's words but the truth still hurt. Crossing her arms, Sunset looked away and frowned. “Just you wait.” She muttered. “Soon as I get this penmanship thing down, I’m going to apply again.” “Same here.” Applejack stated as Sunset seemed to pause as she caught sight of someone walking down the streets. “Hey, isn’t that…” She trailed off, her attention zeroing in on someone as Applejack looked over. “It’s that boy.” “Boy?” Applejack muttered in confusion as she just stared at the bot for a while as he walked on. “Ah remember him now,, that’s the Raven that attacked my town not long ago.” She muttered in annoyance as she adjusted her hat as she frowned. “What in tarnation he doing here?” Actually she had an idea… “That’s my question…” Sunset muttered as she started walking over only for Applejack to grab her arm. “Hold it there suga, I wouldn’t recommend getting involved with that Raven, ya here? No telling what he up to.” “You keep calling him Raven.” Sunset muttered. “What, is that his name?” “Nah, its what he is.” Applejack grumbled as she released Sunset’s arm. “You know, he one of them AC mercenaries.” “AC…” Sunset felt an image flash through her mind. “You mean those machines we see walking through the streets some time?” “Yeah, we call AC’s but really they’re called ‘Armored Cores’, not sure why but then again I don’t really care much in finding out.” Applejack muttered. “Them Raven’s pilot those war machines for whomever got the coam to burn.” She stated. “That Raven probably got called here cause the Spear wants him to do a job.” “What kind of job?” Applejack shrugged. “Don’t know, don’t really care. It ain’t our business.” Applejack muttered. “Ah recon we give him some space, he ain’t got a damn reason to bother him.” Sunset didn’t say anything, instead just watched the young man head off before frowning and immediately went after him. “Sunset - dang it suga we got…” Applejack sighed and just looked at her garbage truck before taking a breath. “What am I gonna do with that girl?” “I’m going the wrong way, aren’t I?” Noble muttered, scratching his head as he put his hands on his hips. “Shit…” He muttered before raising a hand to his head and ran it through his hair. “Sun’s gonna go down by the time I get where I wanna go.” “Hey you!” Turning Noble looked around, his attention eventually finding a garbage collector running up to him. He sighed as he scratched his head, half ready to make a comment about the fact that he hadn’t littered or anything before he took in some details concerning the one before him. “I know you…” He muttered trying to think back. “You’re one of the refugees from Canterlot.” “You remember me.” The girl muttered, narrowing her eyes. “Good to know.” “Can I help you?” “What are you doing here?” Sunset asked, getting straight to the point. “Going another job for the Spear?” “Don’t get your hopes up.” Noble stated gesturing to his attire. “I’m just here on vacation.” The Raven - Noble stated as he looked at the girl before him. “That attire really doesn’t suit you.” “Who’s fault is it that I’m in it?” “Well I can get you out of it.” Noble stated to Sunset’s surprise. “For a while anyway.” Sunset just stared at him before looked more appalled than flattered. Ew… just… ew. Despite how similar their forms were she was still Equestrian underneath it, and she wasn’t really into the whole interspecie thing. “Relax I’m just joking.” “Terrible joke.” “Yeah~” Noble agreed as he looked elsewhere.”I completely agree.” he scratched his head for a moment before starting to walk off. “Well, gotta go, maybe I’ll catch you later, k?” “Hold on.” Sunset ordered as she grabbed his arm and caused him to look back. “You still haven’t told me what your doing here.” “That’s a lie right there, as I said I’m on vacation.” The Raven muttered as he glanced around, somewhat disappointed that this street was empty, “Would you mind letting me go now? I do have somewhere to be soon.” He muttered before looking elsewhere. “And probably going the be late getting there…” He muttered to himself. “I knew I should have brought a map.” “Where are you going?” “You’re very curious about me, aren’t you?” The Raven asked as he finally pulled his arm free. “Anyway I gotta -” His phone went off as he started feeling around for it. “Sorry I gotta take this.” He muttered, pulling his phone out before bringing it to his ear. “Hello… yeah I’m here, just... “The young man muttered as he glanced at Sunset, noticing that she was still looking at him. “You mind... No not you Aria, your good there’s this girl just staring at me menacingly.” He fell silent. “Yeah she is… but probably out of your league.” He stated with a smile. “Anyway can you remind me where I need to go, I got a bit turned around.” He fell silent for a moment. “Thanks man, I’ll see you soon.” He hung up a moment later as he seemed to stare at his phone for a moment. “You done?” “Yeah~ just waiting for directions.” Noble muttered as he stared at his phone for a moment longer before looking at Sunset. “So~ can I *help* you?” Sunset just continued staring at him before her frown disappeared. “No… I guess not.” She muttered as started walking off before stopping. “What’s your name?” “Noble. Noble Six.” Least that’s what his Citizenship papers said. Yeah, it wasn’t his real name, but she didn’t need to know that right now. Besides with how rare it was to find those ancient Halo games he doubted she’d catch the reference anyway. “Sunset Shimmer.” The girl stated. “Nice name.” Noble stated as he watched Sunset nod her head and started walking off. “Bye.” He waved the girl off as he turned on his heel, attention shifting to the directions that had been put on his phone before walking off. He glanced back at the young woman, noticing that she seemed to be getting scolded by her coworker. “She might be an issue…” He grumbled and turned before walking off. “Anyway I better get going. Aria is waiting for me.” “Took your sweat time getting here.” Aria muttered as she looked at Noble who waved and apologized for being late. It took longer than he would have liked, but at least Noble made it. Dropping his bag on the floor Noble made a face as he pulled out a chair and took a seat. Their housing complex wasn’t great, it wasn’t terrible but it wasn’t great. It was better than a refugee shelter anyway. “Alright…” The Raven muttered as he looked to the side, his attention focusing on the other two people that was gathered for this job. “It looks like everyones here…” “That’s what happens when you come late.” A lady muttered as she pulled her head from the table. Noble blinked in surprise. “Fluttershy?” The pink haired girl just made this muted noise as she nodded. “What are you doing here? Where’s your brother.” “Prison.” Was all the young lady muttered as she started messing with something in her hands. “Yeah, that sounds about right…” Noble muttered as he looked elsewhere. “Trixie.” “Noble.” The young lady stated as she seemed more interested in the tower of cards thats she was putting together. “Anyway, since everyones here, let’s get this over with.” Aria muttered as she leaned back in her seat. “As you know, the Lion’s Dominion has caught wind of the Spear producing a new AC.” She stated. And we’re getting paid to bring it to them.” “Stealing a whole AC is going to be hard.” Fluttershy muttered, putting on her game face. “Let alone pulling it straight from their main city.” “Exactly.” Trixie muttered. “As great and talented Trixie may be, even she would find it near impossible to make a whole AC disappear…” She paused. “At least without overwhelming awe-inspiring, and ground-shaking firepower.” “That’s why we’re stealing the blueprints.” Aria stated. “It’s smaller and easier to transport. Fluttershy can get it out of the city easily and send it to our client.” “Fluttershy huh.” Noble muttered. “What about the rest of us?” “You just got into town for Vacation.”Aria stated. “Don’t you think someone might ger suspicious that you came in one day and left the next.” “Fair.” Noble muttered. “What about Trixie… you know what, never mind.” “What is that supposed to mean?” Trixie shot him a look that he ignored, seeming to whistle. “As for me, I can’t leave until my sister is better.” Aria’s voice seemed to disappear as she started to think and Noble just nodded. “That’ll take another week at least.” “Right…” Noble coughed into his fit. “So what’s the plan; where do we go and what do we need?”
4She couldn’t sleep that night. If Sunset wanted to be honest, she’d blame it on the fact that the bed was absolute shit, nothing like her bed back in Canterlot Castle. She’d claim that the streets were more comfortable to sleep on, and she probably wouldn’t be lying. That being said, the bed wasn’t the main reason she was having trouble sleeping tonight. No, what really bothered her sleep was the fact that she couldn’t stop thinking. Thinking about what exactly; well… it seemed to be everything. Her brain seemed to be too damn wired for some reason. “Damn it…” Sunset muttered as she sat up, rubbed the back of her neck and took a needed breath. “I hate nights like this…” She admitted as she got to her feet, grabbed her discarded clothes and put them back on. “Can’t sleep?” Applejack’s voice called out as Sunset went about putting her shirt back on. “Yeah.” Sunset grumbled as she looked over to Applejack, noticing that the girl was still in her bed but sitting up while a second lump rested beside her; Applebloom had opted to sleep beside her again. “I’m gonna go get some air, I’ll be back in a bit.” Sunset stated as she glanced at the younger girl before walking off. “Yall, better not get into trouble out there, ya hear me.” “I hear ya.” Sunset gave Applejack a lazy thumbs up as she left the shelter provided to them by the Sphere. Stepping outside Sunset made a face, pulled up her hoodie and put her hands in her pockets. It’s cold tonight. It’s not as cold as Canterlot, but given that she didn’t have fur… the cold wind seemed to really ‘bite’ at her. With a sigh the young lady turned, seeming to look around for a moment before deciding which street she wanted to go down. No lie, she didn’t really have a clue where she was going; as it stood she just wanted to get some air and move around a bit. Maybere in doing so, she’d exhaust herself enough to actually be able to get some sleep. Hopefully. Walking down the streets, Sunset couldn’t help frown as she looked around. It’s quiet. Why in Celestia’s name was it so damn quiet? No lie, she hated the quiet; made her feel~ alone, vulnerable even. She hated feeling vulnerable. With an annoyed grunt Sunset pressed on, pushing the thought away as she did. As she walked she made a mental note of the streets she was passing so she could find her way back. No point in getting lost in the big city. Her gaze drifted, turning to some of the shops that were open at this hour. She passed a restaurant where a number of patrons were dining and found her mouth starting to water. Food, good food; it's been a while since she had real good food sent her way. If she kept eating that slag they handed out to the refugees she was certain her taste buds were going to decay. She wanted real food, not to mention a real bed. She hated that such things were beyond her right now. "I have to move up in the world." Sunset muttered. "I can't get anywhere if I stay where I am right now." She crossed her arms in thought. "Question is how?" She pressed on. "I need a plan, so far I've been just playing this by ear but if I have a concrete plan set up…" She told herself. "First… there's citizenship with the Sphere. If I can get that I'll at least be able to get out of the refugee shelter… but where do I go after I get citizenship?” She asked with a frown. "Being a citizen is one thing… I'll get real shelter and food, but how do I move up from there?" She muttered. “Those machines… something tells me that I wouldn’t be able to just get a hold of one through a desk job.” Sunset admitted. “More than likely I’d need to join the Sphere’s military.” She made a noise as she put her hand on her chin. “If I could join the military then I’d be taking a huge risk, but if I make a name for myself, then I’d be able to climb the military ladder and maybe even reach this world’s equivalent to the Royal Guard Captain.” She admitted before seeming to think. “There’s also the more safer route of getting into a government position. I’d have to navigate the government officials and if they’re like dealing with nobles…” She trailed off. Sunset could handle nobles, she’d seen her former mentor Celestia do so plenty of times, and she had been forced to navigate that landfield herself on more than one occasion. “There’s also… that route.” She muttered in disgust. Sleeping her way to the top was an option, though admittedly not one that she enjoyed thinking about. Even if she wasn’t against being with someone from an entirely different species, she wasn’t willing to sell her body for her ambition. She wouldn’t stoop that low. At least, not yet anyway. “From the sounds of it, option three isn’t a route you want to take.” Jumping Sunset turned, her arm swinging wildly as she did, and only stopped when her arm was caught and laughter filled the streets. “Easy there, Miss. Watch where you’re swinging that thing.” The owner of the voice stated as Sunset looked up, her attention being drawn to a man with long black hair and red eyes. How the hell did he get so close without her noticing? “Who are you?” Sunset asked as she pulled her arm free. No she didn’t pull it free, he let her go. “What do you want?” “Who am I?” The man questioned as he seemed to think. “Ah, it’s been a while since I’ve been asked that.” He admitted with a chuckle. “Gotta say, it’s kinda refreshing actually.” He admitted as he brought his arm out and swiped it to the side, swung it low in a half circle and let it rest on his chest as he bowed. “I am the one who makes dreams a reality.” He states. “Shall I… make yours come true, little sunset?” The Sphere’s military factory was under lock and key. No surprise there; there’s active patrols keeping an eye out for anything outside the ordinary. Disregard them there’s high walls to keep everything more or less secret from the outside world. No automated turrets though, place was to damn close to the civilian sectors to be deployed. Regardless, this place was difficult to get in and out of, especially for an uninvited Raven. Military personnel though… Three soldiers found themselves flashing their identification and were allowed to walk right in. “Huh… that was easier that Trixie expected.” A female personnel muttered, taking the time to adjust her uniform. “Normally we would require much more sneakiness.” “I know right.” Noble made a noise as he made a gesture to one of the other military personnel to greet them. “Where the hell did Aria get these uniforms?” “Off a couple of bodies.” Aria’s voice came across comms as the trio walked on. “Please tell me they were still warm.” Fluttershy muttered. “They were when they took them off.” “Ah~” Fluttershy muttered. “Black widow.” She whispered as she and the others walked forward. “So everyone remembers the plan?” “Fluttershy and I get to the new model and extract the data concerning it.” Noble muttered. “Trixie you got cameras.” “Consider it done.” Noble popped a joint in his neck. “Alright ladies… lets get this done.” Food rested before her - real food at that. Sunset wouldn’t say it was the good shit, but it was certainly better than anything she’d gotten her hands on since she came to this world. Just looking at it made her mouth water, which was a bit embarrassing in its own right. Still there was just one problem… “Not hungry?” The red eyed man asked with a smile on his face. Honestly, that smile was beautiful, like an alicorn’s… Nightmare Moon’s maybe. Sunset tore her eyes away from the food resting on the table in front of her as she just stared at the figure across from her. “You’re kinda drooling, hun.” “Who are you?” Sunset asked as she crossed her arms and just stared at the man before her. “What do you want from me?” “What I want…” The man muttered as he seemed to think and look outside the restaurant window to see the outside world. “I want to make your dreams come true, little sunset.” Sunset narrowed her eyes. He had called her ‘little sunset’ again… and she could tell that wasn’t just coincidence. He knew her name - he knew who she was, that was a red flag if she ever heard one. “How do you know who I am?” The man just continued to smile as he gestured to her food. “You should eat, hun, you had a long day.” “I’m not touching it until I get my answers.” “As you wish, little sunset.” The man shrugged as if he didn’t care and started eating his own food. “Tell me, what would you like to know first?” “Who are you?” “A genie.” He stated. “Or maybe a monkey’s paw would be more accurate.” He said more as an afterthought. “You know what it symbolizes, right?” “Can’t say.” Sunset mumbled. “And you're dodging the question.” “Am I?” The man chuckled as he started to eat a bit of his food. “Tell me, what kind of answer are you looking for?” “Name.” “Dawnbreaker.” He stated. “A pleasure to meet you, Sunset.” “So you do know who I am.” The former mare muttered. “How?” “I’ve known about you since you popped up.” The man stated as he took some more of his food. “You sure you don’t want to eat, this is really good.” He asked between bites as Sunset just stared at him before glancing at her plate. Slowly she raised her fork and started to eat. “There we go.” Dawnbreaker stated as he went back to eating. “Never waste good food.” Was the last thing he muttered as the pair ate in silence. For a while at least. “Tell me, what is your wish?” Dawnbreaker asked. “My wish?” “What do you want in this world?” He asked. “Companions, love, status, power? Name it and I can give it to you.” “How’s that?” “I told you, I’m a genie.” “So you grant wishes?” Sunset muttered. “How many do I get, three like in the stories?” Dawnbreaker did this exaggerated shrug. “Them’s the rules.” The man admitted. “So what are your three wishes?” “What makes you think you can grant my wishes?” Dawnbreaker just smiled. “Something as simple as yours can be granted fairly easily.” He stated, putting his fork down, raised a hand and let it rest against his chin. “And what exactly is that?” Sunset countered as she crossed her arms. “Humor me, what is it that you think I want?” “You want what was shown to you that day.” The man stated, a smug look on his face as Sunset’s eyes narrowed. “A pair of wings to mark your ascension.” The pair fell silent again. He knew; Sunset realized. He knew. Question was how? Her grip on her sleeve tightened. “You’re like me.” She muttered. “You’re from Equestria.” Dawnbreaker just continued smiling. “How did you get here?” “Same way you did.” The man stated returning to his food. “Celestia really needs to put a lock on that mirror.” He mused. “How’s she doing anyway? Still gazing up at the mare on the moon at night?” He asked as Sunset narrowed her eyes. “You were Celestia’s student too.” Sunset muttered, and got a heartfelt chuckle sent her way. “I wouldn’t say student, but once upon a time, we were rather close.” Dawnbreaker admitted. “At least until I left in search of new horizons.” He admitted. “Anyway, that’s a different story, we’re here to talk about you.” He admitted. You want your wings; you want to ascend the ranks and rest your feet at the throne. I can give you that if you like.” Sunset didn’t say anything for a moment as she just stared at the man in front of her “Tempting.” She muttered. “What’s the catch?” She got another chuckle sent her way. “The catch?” He smiled again. “Oh~ little sunset, you can not fathom the amount of bodies you are gonna have to walk over.”
5Another dawn meant another day slaving around collecting the trash. Sunset couldn’t help the frown that crossed her face as she hopped off the vehicle she and Applejack were traveling on and started heading out for the nearest trash pile. By the spirits she hated picking these things up. Who in Tartarus just leaves bags of trash parked on a curve? “I hate to say it, but I prefer pulling them out the bins.” She grumbled as she started lifting up a pair of bags and headed back to the garbage truck with Applejack in tow. “Agreed.” The girl muttered as they tossed the bags into the back of the truck. “By the way.” “What?” “I know you snuck out last night.” For a moment Sunset didn’t bother responding as she continued picking up the trash that had been left at the edge of the streets. “Mind telling me where you went?” “Nowhere important.” She finally responded, turning to look at Applejack as the girl just gave her a hard look on her face. “Nowhere important huh?” “Yeah~” Sunset dragged on, taking a moment to lift more trash into their truck before looking at Applejack. “Just needed to get out for a bit, get some air and all that.” Applejack didn’t say anything for a second as she stared at the other girl and crossed her arms. “Sunset, you’ve been out getting air every night for the past week.” The freckled teen. “What’s going on?” “Nothing.” Sunset muttered, rolling her eyes. “I’ve just been going out.” She stated. “Is that a crime now?” “No, it ain’t.” Applejack muttered as she and Sunset stared at each other for a moment. “It’s just… if you’re gonna be going out at night, be careful will ya?” Sunset noticed that Applejack’s grip seemed tighter than before. “It ain’t safe for us girls to be out so late by ourselves.” Sunset just stared at Applejack for a moment, seemingly lost in confusion for a moment before realization hit. “Oh.” She muttered as she scratched her head. “Right, good point.” She fell silent for a moment as Applejack just stared at her in disbelief. “Ya can’t be serious.” Applejack muttered. “You didn’t think about that?” Applejack stared at the girl who just looked away in embarrassment. “I swear girl…” The girl muttered, raising a hand to her face, stopped before it could touch her forehead and lowered it. “Anyone ever tell ya about how ya got bad habits? The kind that can get ya in some serious trouble?” She asked. “Yes actually.” Sunset shrugged as she grabbed the last trash bag and headed over to the rear of her vehicle. “My old mentor.” She grumbled. “Mostly concerning my ‘charming personality’ putting me at odds with others.” “Nothing about your habit of sleeping in the buck?” “Please.” Sunset rolled her eyes again as she put a hand on her hip. “She did the same thing.” Applejack just stared at the girl before her for a moment. She sucked in a breath before looking away. “So that’s where you get it.” “Trust me, I didn’t get it from her.” The girl admitted. “I mean everyone sleeps naked where I’m from.” Applejack’s head couldn’t have whipped around fast enough. “Pardon?” Sunset just shrugged as she hopped back onto the garbage truck. “Come on, we got more trash to grab.” She wasn’t wrong. Holding out a hand to help Applejack up, the girl just stared at her for a moment before shaking her head and taking it. “Yeah~ rather not continue this conversation anyway.” The Sphere’s Administrative office wasn’t the most interesting place in the world. Not that there were many places left in the world that were interesting to begin with… Regardless, sitting in her office, Administrator Rarity Belle couldn’t help but sigh in annoyance as she looked at the tablet on hand, her eyes glancing over the digital files that were presented to her. The thin line that had crossed her face slowly started to drop as she did. “Administer Rarity.” A voice called out from over her intercom as she reached over and tapped a button. “What is it Dauntless?” “You have a visiter, a Mr. Dawnbreaker.” Hearing the name Rarity flinched slightly before looking at her machine. With a deep breath she hit the button again. “Send him in.” “Yes mam.” Without a word the administrator set her tablet down as she awaited the arrival of her ‘guest’; her face as impassive as ever. Outwardly she looked absolutely fine; as calm and composed as she had ever been. Inwardly though, she was nervous. More nervous than she had been in a long time. For the first time in a long while, the girl seemed ready to leave her post and go anywhere else. So long as it was far away from ‘him’. “Lady Belle.” God she hated that voice. If there was anything; she always thought it belonged to some fabled demon - maybe an incubus or something along those lines; alluring like an angel, but there was something behind it that just set off alarms in her head. Some edge, some poison that slipped out whenever he spoke. Rarity just kept herself steady as looked at the man watching him make his way into her office with a grace she could only dream of acquiring. Dawnbreaker, he walked with a grace that only rivaled his natural allure. Still, there was always something… off about him. Handsome as he was, he looked relatively normal; but there was always this ‘air’ about him that just felt off… wrong even. “Dawnbreaker.” Rarity spoke his name with a professional smile lowering her head in gratitude. “It’s good to see you again.” She was lying and they both knew it. “I wasn’t aware that you were in town. If I certainly would have cleaned up my office a bit.” “Well~ you know how I like to drop in unannounced.” Standing before her desk the man smiled at her, and it was something that made her shudder on impulse. That smile, it was like a snake, those burning eyes - as beautiful as they were - were not human. He looked less like a man and more like some otherworldly predator that was circling its prey. Worst part was… she wasn’t aware how accurate that claim was. “Well, don’t just sit there in silence.” Dawnbreaker began. “Tell me beautiful, how have you been, how's little belle?” “Sweetie is fine.” Rarity admitted, her eyes glancing towards the picture that was on her desk. One showing her and another during much happier times. A picture that Noticing her glance Dawnbreaker rested his rump at the edge of her desk as he took the picture into his hands. “Hey, I remember this day. I swear, look how happy your baby girl is for you.” ‘My baby girl…’ Rarity fell silent as she just nodded her head reaching for her picture before taking it back. “My sister is fine.” Dawnbreaker just gave her a knowing look as she stared at the picture. “Still using that lie, huh?” Dawnbreaker muttered as he leaned forward, his hand reaching under her chin to raise her face to meet his. “Whether you admit it to her or not, she’s your daughter.” He stated and the two just stared at each other. “Speaking of which!” Pulling back Dawnbreaker stepped away as he reached into his pocket and pulled something out. “Here’s the current location of your baby daddy.” He stated dropping the file on the table. “Feel free to pay him a visit, I know you’ve been meaning to after all.” Rarity didn’t say anything just looking at the file before looking elsewhere. “What do you want Dawnbreaker.” She asked. “Can’t I just come in to visit an old friend?” ‘We are not friends.’ Rarity thought to herself. There was no way in this world o the next that she would consider the man who owned her to be a friend. “No you don’t; or rather you can’t.” She stated. “You visit only when you want something done.” The man just chuckled as he got to his feet and started walking around the office. His fingers touching almost any and everything he could find that piqued his interest. “So what do you want me to do?” “Where to start?”
6The hospital he walked into wasn’t too remarkable. If anything it was like every other hospital he’d seen in his life; it was nothing but sterile white walls and more than a few dozen rooms on every floor. Walking through the hospital grounds, Noble just sighed to himself as he wandered the halls, his attention not really focusing on anything as he continues on his way.. It’s been a while since he’s wandered these halls specifically, a few months really, and that was only because he was in the hospital for a concussion. “Yo.” Walking into a room, Noble caught sight of a pair of familiar faces. One of them oblivious to the world, while the other was seated at the edge of the bed. “Hey.” Aria, her voice had lost that roughness he was used to, but that didn’t really bother him. “What brings you here?” “Nothing much.” Noble muttered as he parked himself next to a wall as he looked at the hospital bed. “How is she?” “What you see is what you get.” Aria muttered, gesturing to the hospital bed’s occupant to show a blue haired girl sleeping peacefully. “How long has it been?” “Almost four months now.” The girl muttered as she noticed a bit of drool collecting on her sister’s cheek. Without a word she wiped it away, using the bedsheet as an improvised napkin. “She getting better?” Aria didn’t say anything as she rested a hand on her sister’s forehead. “Don’t know.” She admitted. “Her skin’s getting some color back and her temperature is rising, but the doctor’s don’t know if she’s gonna wake up.” She stated as Noble made a face, closed his eyes and took a breath. “Have faith.” He muttered. “She’s bound to wake up one of these days.” He told her. “And when she does, you’re gonna be the first face she sees.” “Yeah…” Aria whispered, pulling her hand back as she crossed her arms. “Anyway, what brings you here?” “Nothing much. Just thought I'd pay a visit to the girl you cherish.” “She’s my sister.” Aria grumbled as she looked at Noble. “I’d die for this idiot.” She paused looking back at Sonata. “Don't tell her I said that.” “My lips are sealed.” Noble stated a light smile on his face as he looked at the sleeping girl. For a moment silence settles among the two. It was a comfortable one, the kind you don't mind all that much. Still, they had to break it eventually. “So~” Aria spoke up, that roughness he was used to coming back. “How's your vacation going?” “So far? No complaints.” Noble admitted. “Admit; I'm not doing much but it's nice to just take it easy and chill for a while, you know?” “Yeah.” Aria agreed with a hint of reluctance. ‘Much as I like how I can get a real meal, the calm you can find isn't that bad either.’ She told herself. ‘Still…’ Reaching for her collar, Aria touched her necklace as she frowned. “You good?” Noble asked as Aria shook her head. “Yeah.” She grumbled. “I'm fine.” “Don't sound fine.” Her counterpart remarked. “Don't look it either.” “Well what do I usually look like?” “Somewhere between bored, annoyed, and occasionally pissed.” Noble stated. Aria gave him a look. “Right now you look somewhere between the latter two.” “Oh fuck off.” Aria muttered before resting her hands on her knees as she pushed herself up. “I'm heading out.” She grumbled as she looked at Sonata and ruffled her hair. “I’ll be back later, ok?” Noble watches her leave, before his attention shifts to the sleeper as he made a face. A moment later, and he was following after Aria, jogging for a moment to catch up to the girl. “You know you can stay if you want.” Aria grumbled as she continued heading down the halls. “Don't leave just because I am.” “Sorry, but I find that you offer more stimulating conversations.” Noble stated, and Aria made a noise. “Besides, I wanted to talk to you for a moment.” “Bout what?” “A few things really.” Noble shrugged as he and Aria continued walking on. “To start, how have you been feeling?” “I’m fine.” “You don’t look fine.” He grumbled as Aria glanced back at him. “You look like you haven’t slept well in days.” He admitted. “You good?” “I’m fine.” “No you’re not.” He remarked. “I noticed when I first saw you days ago - just didn’t have a moment alone to talk to ya.” He admitted. “What’s going on?” “My sister is in the hospital.” “I know.” Noble grumbled. “But that’s not what’s bothering you.” He admitted. “What’s going on?” Aria didn’t say anything for a while, just walking on till she reached the hospital cafeteria and started picking up some food. “Aria…” Noble sighed to himself as he seemed to scratch his cheek. “Nevermind.” He muttered. “Can’t force you to talk, but… I’m here if you want to.” “I know.” Was all Aria said as she started looking around the cafeteria and continued grabbing food. “Thanks.” Without a word, Noble reached over and ruffled Aria’s hair, an act that nearly resulted in her biting his hand. “Don’t ever do that.” “Worth a shot.” Reaching for his own food Noble left Aria be for a while, only returning when they crossed paths at the line to pay. A few bits of spent coam later and they settled down to enjoy their individual meals. “So… have you heard?” “Heard what?” Aria just rolled her eyes as she continued to eat. “I’ve only been in town for a few days, Aria, even if I keep my ear to the ground, there’s stuff I won’t hear.” “Fair.” Aria grumbled as she seemed to think. “There’s this rumor going around… someone saw ‘him’.” Noble stopped eating and froze up. “What?” His voice was quiet, but rough at the same time. “Yeah.” Aria grumbled. It’s just a rumor, but someone said they saw the Breaking Dawn.” “Shit…” Noble grumbled as he rested a hand on his head. A moment later he seemed to think before reaching for his phone and started texting a message. “You got any spare AC?” “Got two.” Aria shrugged. “Mind if I borrow one?” Noble asked. “I get the feeling I’m going to need it until the Obelisk gets shipped into town.” Aria made a noise. “If the Breaking Dawn really is in town, you can use it, after all…” “If he is in town, something bad is bound to happen soon.” Aria wished he was wrong. More trash. Worse, it was one of those leaking bags. Sunset hissed at that fact, and did what she could to carry it back to her truck before tossing it inside. “That’s gonna seep into the gloves.” “Eyup.” Applejack made noise as she continued working. “Just be glad it’s the gloves and not your clothes.” “Yeah…” Sunset grumbled as she helped Applejack continue tossing in bags. “Bet it take forever to get this gunk out.” “Eyup.” Was all Applejack said before tossing another bag into the truck before walking to get back on the truck. “Ready for the next stop?” “No.” “Too bad shuga.”Wass all Applejack said as she patted the truck before making a gesture. “Come on.” “Yeah, yeah.” Sunset grumbled as she hopped onto the truck before it started off. “So, how Applebloom?” She asked after a while. “Haven’t seen her sleep in your bed in a few days.” “Yeah well…” Applejack muttered. “Can’t sleep with her big sis forever.” She shrugged, trying to play it off. “She’s good though.” The young woman admitted. “Slowly brighten up as the days go by.” She admitted. “Still, she ain’t nowhere near as bubbly from before all this happened, but she’s opening up, a bit anyway.” Applejack admits looking at her counterpart. “She’s… she’s tryin to help out a anyway she can” She paused. “She doesn’t want to feel like burden.” “Is she?” “Course not.” Applejack whispered. “I even told her that, but… i guess she don’t really believe me.” She paused. “She’s been feeling that way ever since Mac died.” “Mac?” Sunset paused as she tried to think back. “You mentioned him before, that your brother?” “Eyup.” Applejack nodded her head as she seemed to think back. “If you don’t mind me asking…” Sunset paused. “How did he… you know.” “Protecting us.” Applejack admitted. “Just like daddy taught him.” Sunset seemed to fall silent, shifting for a moment as she waited for Applejack to continue.” “What happened?” “Our farm got hit.” Applejack admitted. “A farm?” Sunset raised an eyebrow. “You had a farm?” Applejack chuckled weakly. “Sounds crazy, don’t it? Farm land in this day and age, but yeah, we had a bit of land.” She admitted. “It was a gift to great grandpapi, something he got for his service back during the previous war.” She stated. “We made good coam back then, selling fresh fruits and eggs to those who wanted a taste of the real thing instead of that synthesized stuff.” She admitted. “It was… nice.” A pause. “Growing up there, away from all the fightin… things were so simple back there.” She paused. “But something happened.” Sunset asked. “Yeah, some fightin spilled over into our neck of the woods, burned everything to the ground. Mac told me to take bloom and run while he grabbed great-granddads old AC from the barn and tried cover’in us.” Applejack admitted. “That night was the last time I saw him, and since then it’s just been me and Bloom.” “Applejack…” Sunset paused as she seemed lost for words. “I’m sorry.” “Don’t be, it was a long time ago.” The girl admitted as she looked ahead, watching their ride carry them across the streets. For a while, neither said anything as Sunset looked elsewhere. “I have them too…” She muttered. “Siblings.” “Oh?” Applejack looked at her. “Sister or brother?” “Both.” Sunset admitted. “Well… I had both.” She corrected herself. “I had an older sister named Daybreak.” She admitted. “She… passed away a long time ago.” She paused. “As for my brother, I’ve never actually met him, but I think he’s still out there.” “You never met your brother?” “Half brother.” Sunset grumbled. “My… father… he was a real piece of work. Was fooling around with my mother while being engaged to somepo- someone else.” She admitted. “Mom thought he loved her but when she found out she was just a side piece…” Sunset’s eyes started to cloud before she closed them and shook her head. “Forget I said anything.” “Shuga…” Applejack made too say something, made too say anything but stopped herself. “Come on, we’re here, let’s get the trash.” “Right…” It looks like its going to be a quiet day. should that really come as a surprise though? The Sphere really was quiet around this time of day. With the city police patrolling as they did there was little issue presented in the city. As for what went on beyond their city borders… Everything was peaceful. As for Dawnbreaker Locked in the room provided by one of the Sphere’s Hotels, the middle young man took a moment to hum a tune to himself as he cracked his fingers, taking the time to get the stiffness out of them as he took a seat before the piano situated nearby. As some would say, if you don’t use a skill, you run the risk of losing it. Opening his piano up Dawnbreaker glided his hands over his keyboard before taking a glance at the music book that was waiting to be opened. “Not today.” He decided, taking a moment to close his eyes and smiled. “Now~” He paused. “Let’s… be…gin.” the moment his fingers hit the keys, the note played was drowned out by an explosion echoing in the distance.
7“Sunset… “Sunset…” “Come on shuga you gotta get up! “Sunset!” The first thing she‘s able to process when she comes back, is the taste of smoke on her tongue. It’s a disgusting taste, probably the worst thing she’s ever tasted in her entire life. When her eyes start to open she finds that the entire world is on its side, the sounds surrounding her are muted and clogged worse than a drain… ‘What happened?’ She’s not too sure, one second she’s grabbing trash and the next, she’s on the ground, the worlds on its side and things are blurry. On impulse she closes her eyes, rolling slightly to be on her stomach as she groans, using her arm to push herself up off the ground. Celestia, her body hurts; feels like she just got trampled by a bunch of racing stallions. “Sunset!” “Sunset!” “Sunset!” Opening her eyes she tries to look around, unfortunately, everything’s still blurry - a mess of smudged shapes and colors that are slowly coming apart. Can still barely hear a thing though… but it sounds like… “Sunset!” “Get it together!” Was someone calling out to her? Whose voice was that? “SUNSET!” All at once, everything hits her, its like the world was bombarding her senses and forcing a restart. Her senses are back - in fact they feel like they're working better than before. She can see the world clearly, she can feel everything, she can hear the world screaming around her. Applejack’s shaking her, her touch feels like needles on her clothes. She’s calling out to her, but it’s a single voice lost in a chorus of others. A chorus of screams and shouting and wailing sirens. Goddess… what happened? What’s going on? What- “SUNSET!!” Applejack stops shaking her, opting to instead grab ahold of her and force her to look at her. Force her to look at nothing but her. “Get ya shit together!” She shouts. “We need to move!” Applejack… she looked scared. She didn’t know the girl could make that kind of face. She was scared and dirty and trying her damndest to not panic. “Apple…jack…” “Yeah, that’s me shuga.” The girl muttered as she helped Sunset up, all but pulling her off the ground as she kept her gaze. “Come on, we need to move.” “Move?” Sunset repeated the word as something caught her attention, something big and fast and shining in the sunlight.She could have sworn she recognized that thing… somewhere. “Move…” Her eyes widened. “MOVE!” Without warning she tackled the girl next her, pushing both of them out the way of a machine that nearly ran them over. The machine that blew past them didn’t really seem to notice the two, just moving through the city with a pair of others. “Thanks…” Applejack muttered as she got back to her feet, and saw the retreating machines. “Those are MTs…” “MTs?” Sunset repeated the name as she snapped out of her daze. “Those aren’t Armored Cores?” She asked. “Nah…” Applejack grumbled as she turned her attention to see a body on the ground… well, half a body, the rest could be considered red paste. “We need to go.” “Go where?” “Anywhere!” Was all Applejack gave as a response as she started pulling Sunset along, as what sounded like cannon fire drowned out the screaming. Aria grit her teeth as she trudged forward, trying her hardest to keep her unconscious sister in her arms as she moved forward. “I swear on Lauren’s fucking tits!” Aria shouted, looking at Sonata’s form. “What are they feeding you?!” She didn’t get a response as she made her way down the hospital halls, trying to get to those floors buried underground. “I swear when you wake up I’m putting you on a fucking diet…” “This way!” Noble shouted, directing people down hospital paths. “This stairway will lead you directly to the subfloors! Do not stop until you get there!” He ordered, repeating something he’d been told not that long ago. Gritting his teeth he turned, looking around to see if anyone needed help before starting to head off. “Noble!” Hearing his name he saw Aria making her way towards him as his eyes widened. “Aria!” It felt like the moment he stepped forward the world in front of him exploded. The wall collapsed, debris and rubble flying across the path as he covered his eyes. “Fuck!” “Aria!” Uncovering his eyes, he saw that the path between the two had disappeared. It was like the world had been ripped in two, forming a chasm between the two. “Are you ok!” “I’m fine!” The girl shouted back, unwrapping herself from around the girl that she’d been shielding. “Sonata… please be ok…” She muttered looking her sister over for a moment before taking a breath. “Thank Faust…” Sonata?” “She’s fine!” Aria responded as Noble looked between the divide and saw the floors that had been torn through. This kind of damage… it wasn’t done by a MT - let alone an AC. If that were the case, there’d be an iron coffin on the ground - or at the very least there’d be one picking itself up right about now. This kind of damage, this was done by a slugthrower. “”Hang on…” Noble grumbled before looking at the girl. “I’ll find a way over to you.” “Don’t bother!” Arias looked outside as she saw the MT’s moving about. “Just get to Hanger 25.” Aria told him as she picked up Sonata again. “You’ll find my AC there!” She told him as she gave him a look. “Grab it and bury these assholes.” “Consider it done…” Noble muttered, nodding his head as he faced the gap and looked at the world outside. It’s amazing how quickly the world can go straight to hell. “Don’t die on me Aria.” He told her before jumping out the hole in the wall before landing in the streets. Landing he reached into his pocket and pulled out an earpiece before fastening it in place. “Trixie, can you hear me?” “Noble - fuck! Trixie is very busy at the moment!” Came the response he was given. “I know.” He grumbled. “You got your AC in town?” “Trixie does not bring her AC with her when she is on vacation!” “Find one then.” He told her. “If you head to Hanger 25, Aria’s got stationed.” “Don- fuck!” The sound of bullets tore through the line. “Give Trixie five minutes!” The line went dead immediately afterwards and Noble didn’t even care. “Wish Fluttershy was still in town…” He muttered as his vision caught sight of something coming his way. Is that a truck? The vehicle turned on a dime, showing its side as Noble watched its rear pop open. “No~” He watched people start rushing out and lined up. “Oh for fuck’s sake~” He turned and moved behind a parked car before the opening salvo even warmed up. Glass was ripped from a window as the car and the street were lined with bullets. “They got guys in the street!” “Trixie KNOWS!!’ “Just what we need.” Noble grumbled as he glanced across the car and saw the soldiers moving out. “MT’s, and armed riflemen… How the hell did these guys get past the front door?” He asked before falling silent. It’s just a rumor, but someone said they saw the Breaking Dawn.” He remembered Aria’s words from not even two hours ago. “If he is in town, something bad is bound to happen soon.” “This is your doing… isn’t it?” He muttered as he picked up shards of glass and spun them between his fingers. “You really are here…” He muttered before taking a breath. “Just what we fucking need.” He moved, around the same time a shadow fell on the edge of the car, and before its owner even had a chance to react, he was on them. The glass trapped between his fingers acting as makeshift knuckleduster as he punched the soldier twice in the chest and once in the throat. One down, but the others were already on him, aiming weapons in his direction as circled behind his already dead and captured hostage as flung the glass shards at the others. Sure he’d always had a good arm. One of the soldiers lowered their weapon and shot at the ground on accident, as glass was lodged into their bicep. The rest just continued opening fire as Noble used a dead body as a meat shield. He ignored the assault rifle, instead choosing to go after the handgun strapped to his meatshield's thigh. He ripped the weapon from its holster and planted two rounds in the first soldier, then two more in the next and the one after that. Two more rounds were fired; the first dropping to the floor as their knee was blown out right before their brains were blown out of their helmet. Four down, two to go; problem is he’s out of ammo. He moves the weapon upward, locking the spent gun in his teeth before he pulled a grenade pin from his meatshield's vest and kicked the body forward as he started to run off. The last two soldiers were two distracted by the body and the grenades going off to bother shooting at him, opting to get out the way before the imminent explosion triggered a chain reaction. Noble didn’t blame them, he was already taking cover in an alleyway. “Know that Trixie takes no pleasure in doing this.” Trixie remarked as she broke a soldier's neck before dropping the body and grabbed their weapons. “Ok Trixie takes some pleasure in this.” The girl admitted as she checked an assault rifle magazine before popping it back in place. Right after she got up, and started firing. Spray and pray as some might say. Or rather spray, sweep, spray then pray. She took a breath before taking cover and listened to the bullets fly by, one ripping out a small piece of wall as they did. She returned fire for a moment before reloading, chucked a grenade and looked around. “Trixie never should have come here for holiday!” She grumbled before flinching, as a part of the wall was ripped out from overhead. Looking up she saw that a hole had gone through a building and nodded her head. Without much warning she jumped onto a dumpster and used it to reach the hole in the building before climbing inside. From her new angle she looked down at the streets, raining a few rounds on the city invaders as she watched them drop. Hearing something behind her she turned, only to find a fist in her back before a second followed and a third. The fourth was aimed at her head, something she was only aware of because they put a hand on her shoulder and started to turn her. The fact that she grabbed that fist before it crushed her face was a miracle in its own right. She followed with a shoulder shove to push them back before aiming her assault rifle at them with her free hand and pulled. Unfortunately for her, the rounds never hit as they grabbed her weapon and aimed it upward. Right after they planted a straight kick right in her stomach as she fell off the second floor of the building and landed on a car. “Fuck!” Opening her eyes she rolled off the car, right when a knee was dropped where she’d previously been and made the dent she’s left behind even worse. Getting to her feet she just stared at the person before her and opened fire with her assault rifle again as they retaliated with their sidearm, blowing the weapon right out of her hands as she started stumbling back, reached for a grenade and lobbed it in the air with an underhand toss. They responded by shooting the grenade letting it explode between them in an eruption of gunpowder and smoke. By the time the smoke cleared through, Trixie had already retrieved her rifle and was opening fire. They were already on the move by the time light started to leave her weapon muzzle. “Fucking rabbit!” Trixie shouted, sweeping her weapon across the street as the figure ran a half circle around her and started closing in. “Stop moving, Trixie is trying to shoot you!” Emptying her weapon Trixie dropped it, her off hand going for her combat knife as she used it to block a swing from their own. They knocked her arm down as they followed by swinging at her, and she blocked with her free arm. She did the same with her knife hand as she blocked another strike, dropped her weapon and grabbed it with her free hand before making another swing, threw it back to her other arm and tried again. “Who the fuck are you?” She didn’t get a response, the soldier just jabbed forward with their knife as Trixie moved back on impulse. They lunged at her, grabbing the girl before attempting to stab her only for the girl to block with her free arm and proceeded to bite down on the one at her neck. They responded by pulling her forward and started kneeing her in the ribs before spinning around and throwing her towards a car, letting her impact leave a small dent as they rushed her. Trixie didn’t even have time to spit the blood gathered in her lips out when they rushed her, but she did have time to get out of the way of the flying knee that shattered a window. Rolling to get to her feet, Trixie seemed to stumble for a moment as she looked at the soldier and watched them pull their knee out of the dent that they had made on the car. She took a few steps back as she raised her knife, and they just trudged forward. At least that was before a vehicle came into view, the breaks slamming so hard that they rubber started to peel off the tires and leave marks on the ground. Right after a group of people pulled out and started opening fire on the soldier. They responded by turning towards the car and proceeded to rip the door off it, using the item as a makeshift shield as they were assaulted by bullets. “Are you fucking…” Trixie didn’t finish that sentence, instead just grabbed her handgun as she opened fire, though the weapon itself did little good since the soldier turned to her and blocked the rounds she sent at them before retreating into the alleyway. Trixie didn’t even bother going after the individual as she continued firing into the alley before dropping to her knee. “Surround the area!” A soldier shouted as the group ran towards the alleyway as they started down it. One of them made a hand gesture, signaling some in their firing team to press forward as they headed into the alley. For a moment everythings quiet before a voice rang out. “Clear!” Trixie didn’t say anything as the soldiers came back, opting to instead nurse her ribs. “That’s cracked…” She grumbled. “That is definitely cracked.” “Are you alright?” A soldier asked, pulling the girl out her thoughts. “Do you need medical attention.” “Trixie will survive.” She grumbled looking at the soldier before her. “Trixie, thank you for your assistance.” She admitted. “But that guy - they were Human Plus.” She told them. “Got it.” The soldier reached for comms as they spoke into it. “Fireteam 17, reporting in, the enemy have Human Plus in their ranks. Proceed with caution.” Trixie winched slightly as she started turned away from the soldier as she looked around her attention being drawn to a piece of the ground being swept across by Sphere-aligned MT. “Mam.” Trixie pealed her eyes away from the machines as she returned her attention to the soldiers with her. “You need to get to safety, if you head four blocks down this street, you should be able to reach one of our underground bunkers.” “No need.” Trixie told them, ignoring the pain in her side. “Get Trixie to a machine, MT or AC matters little.” “You're a pilot.” It wasn’t a question. Regardless, Trixie nodded her head. “Do you have a machine stationed here?” “A friend does.” She stated. “Get me to Hanger 25.” She wasn’t scared… She wasn’t scared…. She wasn’t scared… She wasn’t - Sunset screamed as a bullet ripped through the building she and Applejack were hiding behind. The girl in question covered her, trying to shield the girl in some way before peaking out to see what was going on. “Ah got you shuga…” She muttered as Sunset covered her head with her hands as she took a breath. “We’re gonna be ok.” The girl muttered as she heard the roof start to tremble as flakes started to fall from the ceiling. “We need to move.” Applejack muttered. It ain’t gonna be safe here for much longer.” “And go where!?” Second time she’s asked that in the past three hours. “Anywhere.” Second time she got that answer. A thunder-like boom echoed throughout the distinct and more parts of the ceiling started to crack and flake off. “This rate the ceiling’s gonna fall right on top of us!” Applejack told her as she pulled at the girl. “We gotta fine somewhere else to hide!” Sunset refused to move for a moment. “Sunset… I know you're scared of go’in out there, but we gotta. Otherwise…” Sunset started to tune Applejack out. ‘Scared?’ Sunset repeated the word in the recesses of her mind, letting it echo about as she looked at her hands. ‘I’m scared?’ Her hands were trembling. ‘I’m scared…’ She clenched her hands as her pride started to shout at her. ‘I… am not… scared…’ It told her. ‘I’m not…’ She clenched her fists. ‘I’m not!’ She took a breath to try calming herself down. ‘I am Sunset Shimmer.’ Her pride told herself. ‘I have crawled out of the dirt to become a unicorn of the highest level.’ Her pride reminded her. ‘I have faced trials brought forth by the Sun Goddess.’ She pressed her fists against her head as she took another breath. ‘I have touched upon the secrets of dark magic without fear.’ Her hands were still shaking. ‘I have faced the fury of the sun and I did not waver.’ It told herself. ‘I am Sunset Shimmer…’ She lowered her arms to her chest as she took a breath, held it and let it out in a manner reminiscent to somepony she once considered a rival for her mentor's attention. ‘And I am NOT afraid of anything.’ “Sunset?” “I’m ok…” The girl opened her eyes as she got to her feet. “I’m ok.” She repeated as she turned her gaze to Applejack. “Let’s go, I’m ready.” “Right.” Applejack didn’t bother trying to question new Sunset’s sense of strength, no time for that anyway. Instead she turnd, and the two looked out into the city to see the destruction being wrought before moving, trying to get as far away from the fighting as they possibly could. She remembered this sight. Sunset told herself. It was the same sight she saw when she came out the portal all those moons ago. War. She remembers it well. She remembers the screaming, she remembers the fighting, she remembers the dead. She remembers the sense of powerlessness she felt at the time, and she remembered the allure she felt seeing those in iron warriors fight like fabled titans. ‘Those weapons…’ She muttered to herself, seeing that one was dead in the streets and proceeded to run past it with Applejack in tow.. ‘I need one of them.’ She told herself. ‘If I am to survive in this world… I need one of them at my disposal…’ In her mind she saw someone smile. “Tell me, what is your wish?” “My wish?” “What do you want in this world?” “I want to survive.” She whispered, as the world continued to descend into violence. “And if I am to survive in this world… I need one of them at my disposal…” Noble slammed the cockpit to an MT shut as he held it down, only releasing it when a muffled ‘boom’ went off inside thanks to the grenade he’d lobbed inside not a moment earlier. The machine in turn started to shut down, the grenade doing its job in not just killing its pilot but also destroying most of its necessary components. It hunched over falling silent in the street as he balanced himself on it before his attention turned elsewhere. He looked around, his eyes taking in the battlefield that was still going on around him before taking a breath. Everything’s still pretty crazy right now, but that doesn’t really surprise him. Still… “What are you planning?” He muttered as a familiar face crossed his mind. “Just what the hell is all this for?” He didn’t get an answer, and for the moment he didn’t really care. Instead he chose to hop off the MT and start making his way down the streets, taking a break from the fighting to try and help a few who needed assistance. Couldn’t do much without medical equipment, but he could at least do something. ‘You don’t need to do this…’ ‘Logic’ or Reason told him. ‘These aren’t your people.’ It reminded him. ‘And this isn’t your fight.’ It told him. ‘You could leave and no one would question it.’ He took a breath. “I know.” He remarked. “I’m just a merc, and there’s no coam to be made in this fight.” He stated. “But I made a promise to my grandfather to help those in need.” He admitted. “And I will never break that promise.” He told himself as crying broke through the streets. Running towards it, he moved down the battlescarred street as he looked around, eventually finding a building with a little girl inside. “Applejack! Applejack, where are you!?” The girl choked out as she covered her ears to try and drown out the noise around her. “I’m scared!” She looked so small… Noble was careful in approaching her, but he was still loud enough to get her attention. Something that caused her to jump slightly as she realized that someone other than this Applejack was here with her. “Stay away!” She tried crawling back, but found the wall wouldn’t let her go any further. “Applejack! Someone, anyone!” “Shh~ shh~.” He started by making a noise as he crouched down. “I’m not gonna hurt you.” He told her, noticing the tear stains and the dirt covering the little. “I’m here to help.” He told her, resting a hand on his chest. “My name is Noble. What’s yours?” “A-Applebloom.” She told him between whimpers. “Applebloom… that's a cute name.” He smiled a bit as he extended an arm. Applebloom, if you come with me, I can get you to safety.” “Y-you will?” “I promise, I will get you to safety.” He told her curling his fingers to a fist till only his pinky was out. “And I never make a promise I can’t keep.” Applebloom just stared at the finger before slowly doing the same with her own and connected it to his. His smile returned as he helped the girl up and started leading her off. “Stay close, and do exactly as I tell you. Ok?” “Ok.” “This is Trixie!” A familiar voice broke through his coms. “Trixie has acquired Aria’s AC!” “Good to hear.” Noble muttered, resting a hand on comms.”I’ll leave things to you then.” “Who are you talking to?” “A friend.” Noble admitted cutting comms. “Come on, let’s hurry.”
8The fighting had ended a while ago. Thank god for that. They’d been hit pretty hard and they'd lost some good people, but thankfully the fighting was over… for now anyway. Still, Commander Hoenheim couldn’t help frown as he walked the streets of his city. Watching as his men and women and children were taken off. They were good people, they didn’t deserve this… Walking on, Hoenheim took a breath as he locked his hands behind his back, tightening his fists and continued to look around. He didn’t like this; his city being hit like this. Make no mistake, the Sphere had been under fire before, often that took the form of Scavengers intercepting their supply lines, other times it was preyed upon by reckless and would-be ‘Warlords’ thinking they could encroach on Sphere territory. So yes the Sphere had been under fire before, but on every occasion they’d at least been able to foresee the attack coming. In this case though… ‘We were blind to the attack till it was too late…’ Hoenheim told himself. “How did they get so many inside our walls?” Despite how much he wanted one, he didn’t receive an answer. Someone had to let these soldiers in. Someone had to let these MT’s in. “Who though?” Again, no answer came to him. Looking at a sleeping MT, the Commander of Sphere’s forces couldn’t help make a noise as he stared at the machine. No identifiable markers, no insignia branded upon the chassis… More than likely they’d been scrubbed clean, so there’s a strong possibility that he won’t get any answer from it. Still he’ll have someone look inside, check the software and pull at data logs… Hopefully they’d find something. “Commander Hoenheim!” Hearing his name and rank Hoenheim turned his head as he addressed one of his men jogging up to him. “Sentry.” Flash Sentry, he saluted his superior officer on reflex before the gesture was returned. ‘What is it?” “We’ve finished making a report on the damages done to the Sphere.” The officer muttered as he handed his superior a tablet of sorts. Without a word, Hoenheim started to read what was plastered on the tablet, scrolling down occasionally as he did so. “I see…” The Commander grumbled as his brow tightened. It’s bad… not as bad as he’d thought, but worse than he’d like it to be… ‘We really were hit hard…’ He told himself. ‘That still doesn’t answer the question of why and how though…’ He added as he continued scrolling. “Not only that…” He stopped scrolling for a moment as his attention turned elsewhere. “How will we respond?” “Applejack!” The girl in question perked up, her attention shooting to the side as she heard a familiar voice call out to her “Bloom?’ Looking around she felt her eyes lock onto a familiar mess of red hair as her eyes widened. “Applebloom!” Without another word the girl ran up to her, and her little sister did in return. Dropping to her knees, Applejack wrapped her hands around the younger girl as she bit her lips. “Your ok!” She shouted before pulling back and looked her younger sister over. “You are ok, right Bloom?” “Eyup.” Applebloom smiled as she hugged her older sister again. “I’m ok, sis.” She stated. “Noble made sure I was safe.” “Noble?” Applejack pulled away from her sister for a moment. “Who’s Noble?” “Right here.” The boy in question drew Applejack's attention as her eyes widened for a moment. “Hey.” “You.” Applejack wasn’t sure if she said it first or Sunset, but in the end it didn’t matter. “You know each other?” Applebloom asked looking between the three. “Somewhat.” Noble muttered. “But I gotta say, we gotta stop running into each other like this. People are gonna talk.” The boy stated. “Anyway, I should get going.” The young man stated as he looked at Applebloom. “Take care of yourself ok?” “You too.” Apple Bloom replied. “Thanks again.” With that Noble started walking off, as he scratched his head. “That’s my good deed for the day.” Noble muttered as he started to stretch. “Better go check in on Aria and Sonata.” “What have you done?” Resting on top of one of the more stable buildings, the Dawnbreaker turned away from the sight before him as he looked to see that he wasn’t alone. “Ah~ Lady Belle.” He sat up as he looked at the girl - rather the woman walking up to him. She looked… she was more angry than scared. Which made a bit of sense considering the situation. “Glad to see you're still alive.” He stated. “What can I do for you.” “What… did you do?” “Pardon?” “What did you do?” She repeated, keeping her voice level despite the anger that was rising inside her. “Those soldiers, those MT’s…” She clenched her fists, trying to hold herself back. “How did you get them into the city?” She asked as she approached. “How did you stage an attack of this scale without us noticing?” The Dawnbreaker didn’t say anything, instead just stared at the officer approaching him before releasing a chuckle. “Oh~” He began as he looked outward for a moment. “You think I had a hand in this?” He asked before shaking his head. “Aw~ that’s adorable.” He smiled. “Sorry honey, but this isn’t my doing.” “You’re lying!” Her anger boiling over the woman grabbed him by his collar as she forced him to be eye level with her. “There’s no way you didn’t do this - there’s no way you didn’t play a part in this!” “You can’t prove that.” The man stated, just staring down at the woman with those bright red eyes of his. “Besides… you know me Lady Belle.” He began. “I don’t lie.” He stated as he stepped forward and snaked an arm around the woman’s waist to hold her close. “I manipulate and misdirect , but I don’t lie.” He confessed. “I had no part in what happened today.” “But you knew.” Rarity countered as she tore herself away from the man. “You knew that they were here, and you didn’t say a thing.” Rarity glared as she tried taking a calming breath. It failed. “Why?” “It didn’t come up.” The figure shrugged. “So I didn’t see a reason to say anything.” “You…” Rarity took another breath as she tried calming herself again. “Who hit us?” The man just smiled at her. “You’ll find out soon enough.” “Still kicking huh.” Noble made a noise as he approached Aria, seeing that the girl was helping her kin onto a stretcher. “Glad to know.” “Good to know you aren’t dead either.” Aria muttered as she took a breath before looking over. “Where’s Trixie?” “Hell if I know.” The young man muttered as he watched Aria settle down and take a seat on the sidewalk. He decided to join her a moment later. “Worried?“ “Worried about my AC.” Aria remarked as she stared off into space. Watching the medics carry her sister off to a more secure medical location. “So~” She snorted. “This happened.” “Yeah.” Noble sighed in annoyance. “Dawn?” “If it was, we can’t prove it.” “Right…” Aria grumbled as she pinched her nose and fell silent. That was before her attention was drawn to something rumbling. She looked down, noticing a few stray pebbles were bouncing off the ground. Looking ahead she noticed that a familiar heavy machine was walking up to her from across the street. “There’s my baby.” Aria’s AC: Torrent was a bit on the ‘heavy’ side. Course just because it was heavy, didn’t mean that it was slow. The AC was fast when it needed to be, and it was built to takes hits and keep on trudging forward. The AC powered down and Trixie climbed out of the mech, seeming to wipe her brow for a moment as she climbed down the mech and approached its rightful owner. “How was it?” “Difficult.” Trixie stated. “Your AC is like riding an untamed horse.” The girl declared. “Trixie does not know how you do it.” “Torrent is tuned to my preferences.” Aria stated. “Not yours.” “True.” Trixie didn’t bother denying her words. “But Trixie thanks you for the experience.” The girl stayed silent for a moment as she frowned. “Also… Trixie has regrettable news?” “What is it?” Trixie didn’t say anything, just turning her head to look at the truck that had been following the AC. As it was pulled to a stop she saw a few Sphere soldiers stepping out of it. “Of course.” Aria grumbled as she rubbed the bridge of her nose again and took a breath. “Noble…” “Yeah.” The young man grumbled. “I know…” He breathed as the soldiers approached. “”I really should have gone to Graft for vacation.”
1Out of all the things he’d seen on the battlefields of this war torn system… none of them compared to the AC; the Armored Core. These towering giants of cold steel, there are times when these man made apparitions seemed more like a natural disaster than anything that could be molded by human hands. To be fair, perhaps they were, in their own way. Ask anyone and they’d likely admit that there was something uncanny about these iron colossi; something that didn’t seem human, rather simply something that had been forced into a human-like shape, and try as it may, it could not accurately emulate what a person of flesh and blood was capable of. Their movements weren’t jerky or unnatural, or anything along those lines; rather they were far too precise and smooth - not in the way that a human would move, rather a machine of sorts copying the movements. Smooth as movements were, they were also noisy, countless tons of metal and circuitry moving together in perfect harmony, creating this… ‘noise’ you couldn’t accurately describe or explain to others, but at the same time it was something you’d never forget. When they awoke, they’re ‘eyes’ glowed like some distant fire in the night, burning in a way that alerted people to their presence. Their ‘skin’ - their chassis was cold, layers upon layers of refined iron draped over them like clothing, and the colors that paint the steel are often faded and scarred from the injuries they had shrugged off in battle. Armored Cores… truthfully these traits that they shared made one question if there really was a person inside them or if it was just a hollowed hunk of metal born with the singular purpose of bringing conflict. Every Armored Core gave off this impression, it was something they wore like a badge of honor. This one was no different. Staring up at their personal Armored Core, the young man, a Raven as the world liked to call his people, leaned over the railing and continued chewing on the rations bar that he had picked up earlier. Not gotta lie, it… wasn’t the best. The bar hadn’t expired or anything, but it could taste better. A lot better. But, as some might say, ‘you have to work with what you got’. So he did; he ate what was available to him and used it to fill up his belly. Again, as some say, ‘you can’t work on an empty stomach’. And he’d definitely be working soon. Till then though, he was just going to be here, on stand by and watching over his machine. Now, he’d admit to anyone who bothered bringing it up, his machine wasn’t that pretty; but to be fair it didn’t have to be. So long as he could make it work, and do what he needed it to do for his work, he was fine with however it looked. Besides, he couldn’t really complain about how his machine looked in the first place, after all he was the reason it looked this way to begin with. His unit, the Obelisk as he named it, was a bipedal-type somewhere in the mid-weight class. Its armor was tough but not overly so; it was fast but not to the point of being impossible to track. The same could be said for the rest of its parameters. As such it was an ‘All-rounder’; it didn’t really specialize in anything, but at the same time it didn’t really have any faults. It was simple that way, and it left plenty of room for improvements. “Hey kid!” The Raven turned his head, attention turning to see that an older man was walking up to him. Another Raven, One that was a bit unshaven took a minute to bounce his helmet between his hands as he approached. “I had a feeling I’d find you here.” Blue Eyes looked away as the younger of the two shrugged and looked back at his unit. “Well, where else would I be?” “Good question.” The older of the two made this humming noise as he turned to look at the machine before them. “It’s quiet.” He noted. “The repairs done already?” “Seems like it.” The younger Raven admitted. “When I came down to check on their progress, I saw they were already wrapping things up.” He admitted before munching on his food bar. “They worked fast.” He grumbled. “Not surprised though, easy to get your hands on the parts needed.” “I guess we can thank you for that, there’s nothing too crazy to put behind your build.” The older of the two admitted. “Right.” The younger muttered as he took another bite from his bar. “Thanks by the way.” He muttered, looking at his elder. “For fitting the bill I mean. Coam’s been tight these past few weeks.” “Don’t mention it.” His elder stated as he put a hand on his hip. “I figured you could use the cash, plus I wanted a hand for this job.” “Right.” The younger of the two stated as he took another bite of his food bar as his counterpart glanced at him. “How many of those have you eaten already?” “Third one.” “Better slow down, don’t want you getting a stomach ache after all.” The elder of the two smirked as he hoisted his helmet over his shoulder and looked back at the AC. “Either way, since your machine’s all patched up, let’s get ready to go. Our transport is almost ready to go.” “Right.” The younger of the two muttered as he stood upright and started heading towards his machine. Walking across the hanger’s bridge, the pilot took a minute to finish his rations bar tuck the wrapper into his pocket before pulling at the cockpit hatch and opening it up. ‘It’s a bit stuffy in here .’ He notes, crawling into the cockpit as he grabs the helmet he had a bad habit of leaving in here. The AC is cold outside and it’s stuffy inside the cockpit. Then again when you don’t vent the cockpit that often it’s no surprise that it gets a bit stuffy in here at times. Have to remember to leave the hatch open when he gets back. If he gets back. Fastening his helmet, the pilot strapped himself into the cockpit as he started flipping switches to power on his AC before sealing the cockpit hatch. [AC, Main System activated] [Generator, Radiator, FCS, All green.] [Entering Normal Mode] Everything online, the pilot took a moment to breathe as he rolled his shoulders. [Hello, Pilot Noble] He smiled slightly at the greeting. “Morning buddy, enjoy your nap?” Location:?? Nauseous. That was the first thought that crossed Sunset’s mind as she found herself spit out from the other side of the mirror portal. With a groan she couldn’t help rub her forehead, annoyance on her face as she tried to will her headache away. “Ugh~” The young equestrian thought as she took a moment, her vision slowly resetting itself as she leaned back, only for the back of her forehead to feel like it was being submerged in water. “Right…” She muttered, leaning forward. “The portal…” She reminded herself as she lowered her hoof, taking the time to press down on the bridge of her muzzle as she sucked in a breath. That last fact alone however, resulted in her starting to panic. "My horn!" She started patting her head, trying to find out where it had disappeared to. "Where's my horn!?" Sunset continued feeling around her head for her missing appendage. This was bad. This was very bad. A unicorn’s horn was sacred to say the least. While it wasn’t the source of their arcane powers, their horn allowed them to focus their magic so that they could cast spells. And naturally it was proof that one was a unicorn. “But you're not a unicorn right now.” The former mare muttered in realization as she started to calm herself down. “You’re a… I have no idea what you are, but you’re not a unicorn anymore.” She told herself as she took a few more breaths and went back to looking at her hands. “That leaves the question though, what are you?” The former equestrian muttered as she fiddled her digits - her fingers if her anatomy classes on Minotaur were right. As soon as she was done playing around with her fingers she got to her feet, first on all fours like she was used to and then slowly shifted to balance to stand on just two. She stumbled for a moment and used the statue she was next to to catch herself. She nearly cursed Discord when her hand touched the portal she had come through, but to her surprise the gateway to Equestria was harder than stone, that meant that the portal had finished closing, so turning back to return to Equestria was out of the question. Not that she had a real reason to go back anyway… Pushing herself off the mirror Sunset stumbled, struggling to hold herself up before finding her balance. “This is going to take a minute to get used to…” She grumbled as she turned her attention to finally take a look at her surroundings. What she saw was ruin. Broken streets and silent steel carriages rested beyond her line of vision. Grass was climbing out of the cracks, and buildings were in disrepair. The portal she’d come through was connected to this statue with a broken Equestrian on top of it. “Ok, this is not what I was expecting.” She grumbled as she looked around further, her attention turning to the sky as she noticed that it was somewhat hazy, leaving her unable to see the sun hovering overhead. Sunset just narrowed her eyes for a moment and got off the floor as she started walking around. Walking on all fours like she used to felt uncomfortable to say the least, so she tried another way; getting up to stand in a manner similar to a minotaur and attempting to imitate their walking style. It was rough to say the least, her sense of balance was completely off and she needed to steady herself a few times but she got it after a few minutes of practice. Her new walking cycle wasn’t perfect, but at least she could get around. Walking through the city, the former mare took in the sights around her. “It’s so quiet…” She muttered to herself as she continued walking. “What in Equestria happened here?” She didn’t receive an answer, let alone an echo directed back at her. Still, she frowned, crossing her front hooves - her arms - as she kept letting her gaze wander. This world… it wasn’t what she had been expecting. When she entered the portal not that long ago, she did it with the intention of going somewhere that could lead her to her destiny. The same one that Princess Celestia had denied her. “But how can I become an alicorn in a world reduced to ruin?” Again she found no answer directed at her. Instead her attention was quickly drawn towards a noise. One that she admittingly found familiar, chatter. Still walking towards it, the young mare couldn’t help a bit uneasy for some reason, but she chalked it up to the fact that she was currently in a city and a body that she wasn’t familiar with. “Take it slow…” She told herself as she moved towards the noise. “Figure things out and you’ll do fine.” She muttered as she walked forward and eventually reached the location where all the voices were coming from. There were people that had the same form she currently took, many of them were sitting on the ground while others were in a line of sorts getting food from what seemed to be a couple food stalls. Her attention turned to the attire present on those that were offering food… looked uniform, so military? That was the guess she was making anyway. She turned her attention elsewhere and… “What in Tartarus is that?” It might seem strange to some; but he always got the shakes whenever he got sent out in his AC. Who was he kidding, of course it seemed a little strange; after doing this so many times already, one would think he’d gotten over these shakes by now. He’d used to have the psychiatrist monitor his brain-waves before every job he did, and they’d ask him those silly, routine questions. They’d tell him whatever was getting to him wasn’t fear - wasn’t anything remotely important — just the trembling of an eager race horse at the starting gate. Much as he hated that old pun or stereotype or whatever it was, he honestly wasn’t too sure about that. Still, he found some truth in those worlds, there was some eagerness, but more than anything he was scared out of his mind. [Obelisk, Entering Combat Mode.] Right now was no exception. The older of the two pilots asked over comms and just received this nod he couldn’t actually see since they were audio only. “I’m fine.” The younger pilot muttered before taking a breath. “Let’s get started.” Staring out at the outskirts that eventually gave way to a city. “Gotta say, I never thought I’d be back here.” Canterlot; it was this city out here, almost literally in the middle of nowhere, with only one road leading both into and out of it. If there really was a god out there, only they knew why someone would build a city all the way out here in the sticks. The city had seen better days, that was for sure, but that didn’t really bother them. Boosters flared to life, the roar hitting the air so loud that it almost drowned out everything else in the vicinity. One second the Armored Cores, Obelisk and Wrangler were standing still, the next they were by all means flying, darting across the landscape with speeds that do doubt surpassed a bullet. Disbelief gave way to fear, and fear gave way to ‘oh shit, what the fuck is that noise’. Doubling over at what she could only describe as a warning bell going off, but it was far too loud and it continued on for far too long. Ironically though, Sunset found whatever that noise was to be tame when compared to what it felt like a few seconds later. Honestly, she didn’t know what to call it, or what to accurately compare it to outside of the wind tearing itself apart. “What in tartarus is going on!?” She barely heard her own voice as she covered her ears, dropping to her knees and almost doubled over. A second later though she did as she felt the ground shudder beneath her as what could only be described as an iron giant took a step, its one eye seemingly scanning the horizon before hunching over and fired from what she could only describe as a massive cannon. The recoil… sweet Celestia the recoil on that thing packed so much force that it blew debris in her face and slammed her with a wall of air that all but sent her flying. She ended up hitting the floor more on her ass than anything, and instead of getting up, instead of running, she just found herself laying on the ground, paralyzed due to the fact that her bones were rattling beneath her skin. “W-what in Tartarus?” She choked out for what felt like the third or fourth time today as she tried getting up to try making sense of what in Equestria was going on. The Obelisk slammed into the streets of Canterlot and started to slide, as it tore apart the cement beneath it’s feet. The left arm came out and with it so did the rifle that was held firmly between its manipulators. It fired one 170 mm round after the other, unfortunately the shots it fired slammed into the massive shield that was protecting the MT hidden behind it. “Wasting ammo…” The Obelisk moved, lowering its firearm and charging in, the thrusters giving the machine the speed it needed to close the gap between the two and actually dodge the retaliatory fire. It moved to the left, then the right to avoid what fire it could and eventually reached its target, the off arm being raised as it slammed forward and the forearm mounted pile bunker sprang into action. The shield caved, a hole ripping its way through several layers of reinforced metal as an iron stake poked its head out the other end. The wall fell a moment later, the MT having let go as the Obelisk seemed to lose balance as its outstretched limb started to tilt with the shield. The arm and the pile bunker was pulled back not a moment later with the Armored Core moving so that it could avoid the volley of bullets that were being released not a second later. Somewhere behind it, a couple of buildings were all but turned into swiss cheese as the hail of bullets slammed into them and the Obelisk moved in what seemed to be a semi-circle and responded accordingly. Bullets were exchanged and the city suffered because of it. Rounds after rounds of iron slugs were tearing into the cityscape, dropping debris here and there as they fell upon the streets and crushed sleeping cars. That said the exchange lasted less than a minute, with the Obelisk coming out on top as it rammed into the opposing Armored Core and drove its Pile Bunker into the opposing unit’s chassis. Red slattered across the city wall behind it, though even the Obelisk’s pilot wasn’t too sure if it came from the other pilot's blood being thrown everywhere it shouldn’t be or if it was because of the boiling red oil that was no longer being contained behind the Armored Core’s Chassis. “Got one.” ” “Already?” “I know. How long till the main force arrives?” Sunset finally regained control of her body as she stumbled to her feet, and following those instincts that were screaming at her, she ran like the devil was chasing after her. Sunset Shimmer would admit it to anyone, she had never considered herself a coward. She wasn’t scared of that old fable known as Nightmare Moon, she wasn’t scared of the threat imposed by learning Dark Magic and she wasn’t scared of getting on Celestia’s nerves. But this, this scared her. And for good reason too; this was a battlefield. She’d heard about them, about how Equestria had been forced to go to war countless times in the past, but she had never actually been on a battlefield. Why would she; Equestria was at peace, it had been at peace for almost a thousand years now. The idea of being on a battlefield was almost a foreign concept to even the Royal Guard. Yes, there were old stories that drew aspiring stallions and mares to their ranks, but this was nothing like the stories she herself had heard. Everything was so bloody noisy, it felt like her hearing was ready to leave her just to shut the noise out. Everything seemed to be rushing by so she couldn’t make heads or tails of what was going on. Everything seemed to be exploding; buildings were being torn open, debris was flying everywhere and the impact of whatever the hell was hitting the ground kept knocking her off her feet. The battlefield was beyond any nightmare she could begin to think up. Amidst all the noise she heard someone talking, though most of it was muted beyond comprehension. A moment later she found something else getting blown up and she found herself smacked in the head with the remains of an arm. She screamed. She screamed louder than she thought was possible for an Equestrian. And yet her scream was drowned out by whatever was going on. She saw an iron giant slam into the grounds before her and looking up at it, tears of all things starting to well up in her eyes, Sunset realized that it was staring at her before turning away. Attention focused on something behind her as it fired that thing in its grasp. Sweet Celestia… she’d never felt so small in her entire life. That thing, it saw her and it found her so insignificant that she’s worth paying any more attention. Sweet Celestia, it paid more to its own kind than the creatures she was disguised as and some of them were using some brand of artillery against it. Artillery that seemed to do nothing in terms of wounding - let alone slowing down the iron giant. “Goddess…” Sunset’s words went ignored as the giant of steel trudged forward, its weapons firing as they continued across the battlefield. The merc wouldn’t lie to himself, he hated these kinds of ops. He hated an op that ran the risk of civilian casualties. “If only Canterlot hadn't stood as the grounds where these guys would relocate…” He muttered, as he raced across the battlefield. “If I didn’t need the Coam then…” He stopped himself, realizing that that would be an empty excuse. “I can’t avoid jobs like these forever.” He admitted with a grumble. His head snapped to attention as he saw his Missile Sensor going off. The Obelisk moved, dodging to the side as it avoided the missile volley now raining down on its location. It didn’t bother trying to shoot anything down, instead it just focused on dodging everything that came close to it. It used old buildings as cover and dug up trenches in the dirt, and in the end it survived the onslaught before finding a clear path forward. Thrusters flared to life, the red flame they had all but turned to orange as the AC burst forward and tore apart the street beneath it. The pile bunker ripped a hole through an MT, launching red across the grounds as the rest seemed to trail down the weapon. The Obelisk just turned attention focused on the other MT and pointed its rifle towards it. It fired and the shots hit home, only they didn’t stop the machine from moving back, trying to get some distance. The Obelisk though it just pulled its Pile Bunker free and used the arm it was mounted on to rip the disposed MT’s firearm free and started using both to assault the other unit. It raced forward it did, raining down fire that the other retaliated against. Three firearms howled across this part of Canterlot City, only ending when a forth sounded off, and ripped a hole through the Mt’s firearm to disable it. The Obelisk just charged forward and planted both its firearms in front of the opposing mech’s torso and opened fire. Shells slammed into the chassis and left it dented, shrapnel was launched in both the air and the ground. The Obelisk kept firing, as the chassis caved in, and only stopped when it blew a hole into the unit’s frame, all but erasing the cockpit and the pilot inside. “That’s four…” The Raven muttered as he looked around and moved on. “Time.” “Then that means we wrap this up in two.” “Let’s earn that paycheck.” Amidst the tears; amidst the panic and open fear that she was feeling, Sunset found herself reaching a strange sense of calm as she stared up. Honestly, she didn’t have a clue as to why she suddenly felt this way; but upon these alien grounds and nothing but the literal clothes on her back… Sunset felt calm wash over her as she stared up at the iron giants. “Such power…” She muttered watching them march forward, shrugging off blow after blow with barely a glance. “I want that…” t that…”
2The smell of smoke and debris was so strong that the Raven could taste on his tongue. Honestly, he wasn’t all that surprised. This seemed to be the smell and taste that followed every job he went on, and something told him he wasn’t the only one who tended to pick it up. Regardless, the Raven took the time to finish unstrapping his helmet and pulling it of, all so he could get some fresh air and take care of the sweat that was gathering upon his head. As it stood that was all he could take care of without stripping down to his underwear. Even with the radiator running perfectly, it always got so damn hot in his AC. "Just something you have to put up with…" The Raven reminded himself as he took a breath, sucked a bit of that smoke and debris as he settled down on the foot of his AC. As it stood the towering entity was hunched over a bit, and 'sleeping'. There were some new scratches and dents decorating its chassis but it was nothing it's Raven had to worry about right now. Instead his attention was directed forward at the group of soldiers being corralled towards a wall as another set trained rifles on them. Public execution. Those two words echoed out into Sunset's mind as she found her eyes glued on the sight before her. She'd read about these kinds of things once, she'd read about when enemy soldiers and deserters would be lined up against and put to the sword. The act never interested her, but even she couldn't deny that some kind of morbid curiosity kept her eyes glued to the display before her. That curiosity, as appalling as it was, kept her gaze directed on the sight, wondering exactly how they would go about this. And yet before she could even blink, it was over. Sunset almost jumped at the crack of thunder then came out of nowhere. She looked around, darting left and right before her attention turned to the soldiers that had been lined up. Soldiers that were now laying unmoving on the ground. “What?” The disguised mare muttered. “That’s it?” She realized. The executioners just stepped up to the bodies and seemed to check for something. A second clap of thunder rang out into the distance. 'No speeches…' Sunset thought to herself. 'No explanation of their crimes… no jeers from the crowds, no… nothing.' She thought. "Just a swift, merciless execution." She ended in a whisper. She wasn’t sure how to feel about that. She’d seen those few times Celestia had been forced to judge a person for their crimes, and even then such things ended in imprisonment rather than execution, but… “They didn’t even get a chance to explain themselves. They just executed them… like they had already decided what the verdict was. Honestly, Sunset felt a taste of fear run through her, but at the same time she felt a sense of - dare she say it, respect. She was no military general or anything of the sort, but she understood the idea behind dealing with traitors to the crown. Though such events had only occurred in Equestria’s troubled history, she knew how most threats to her homeland were treated with imprisonment or banishment. Honestly, her studies and more private thoughts on the matter caused her to develop a distaste for such things. No matter how great the prison might be, the walls and the seals only lasted so long. Likewise, banishing a wicked soul did not mean they would stay ‘gone’; they could return in years time, and she doubted they would have just been sitting on their hooves in the meantime. Execution to the enemies of the crown made terrible sense to her. It meant that threat was dealt and wouldn’t rear its head again. So yes; Sunset felt a degree of respect wash over her as she saw the conclusion to a swift and decisive execution, as it ended a threat that could rise back up and be problematic to these… creatures. Whatever these creatures were. She turned her attention towards the unformed set, though her attention was mostly focused on one in particular. An older one, she guessed male who had spent their time overseeing the execution before his attention was stolen by a soldier or perhaps an officer. They talked for a bit, though the other handed them what looked like a thin… stone tablet. ‘That one has to be in charge…’ Sunset thought to herself, as the figure nodded their head and started walking somewhere, towards the two iron giants that had not only started this battle but survived it as well. “Their uniforms are different.” She noted as she just took the moment to watch them. “Are they like specialists or…” “You two did good work here.” Commander Hoenheim stated, his voice practically rumbling as he addressed the two Raven’s who at this moment were sharing a drink. “You thinned their forces quite a bit before we managed to arrive.” He admitted. “I thank you for that.” “There’s no need for thanks.” The older raven stated as he drank from his water bottle. “We were just doing what we were paid to do.” “Of course.” The Commander stated, acknowledging the Raven’s words. “Speaking of which, as per completion of our contract, the agreed upon Coam has been directly wired into your respective accounts.” This time the Raven didn’t say anything, instead his attention suddenly turned to his younger counterpart as he seemed to check something on his phone. “It looks like we’re good.” He stated. “Money’s there, plus a little extra.” “Well, we were promised a bit extra for the AC’s we took down.” The older Raven reminded him. “Either way, it was a… pleasure, commander.” “Likewise.” The Commander agreed. “I take it you’ll be heading out now?” “Got no reason to stay any longer.” The Raven admitted. “Jobs done after all.” “I see, well then till we cross paths again.” The commander stated as he turned towards his troops and started heading off. “Hold on.” This time it was the younger Raven’s turn to speak up. “What’s going to happen to the people here?” He asked and the Commander did this half turn to face the young Raven. “The Migrants will be taken into custody and transported to The Sphere. From there they’ll be processed and brought into the refugee workforce.” ‘Fancy words for slave labor.’ The Raven thought as he nodded his head and glanced towards the Migrants, the people who were unaffiliated with any of the powers that be. Honestly Leaving them to be processed and brought into The Sphere’ workforce left a bad taste in his mouth, but it wasn’t like he could do anything about it. Well he ‘could do’ but that would cause more problems than anything. “I see.” He muttered as he started scanning the migrants, noting that each of them were being brought together and corralled towards one of the transports. Fr a brief moment though, his eyes caught sight of someone staring in his direction. Girl maybe around his age, with red and orange colored hair that kinda looked like bacon in all honesty. Their gazes didn’t lock or anything like that, the world didn’t ‘slow down so that they could capture the moment or anything of the sort. Instead it seemed that the moment she realized he was looking in her direction she turned away. He didn't really question it, just shrugged and decided to let it go. Although he did notice that the Commander was taking a moment to glance in the direction he had glanced at. A second later he looked away, attention returning to the Ravens as he just nodded his head and started off. “You’ll take care of them… right?” The young Raven asked as the Commander again looked back at him. “Of course.” And with that he left, heading off towards the gathering as the Raven just frowned. His older counterpart just smacked him in the back of the head with his water bottle. “Hey!” “Get that look off your face.” The older raven muttered as he took a drink from his water. “Know you're worried, but whatever happens to these guys isn’t our call.” “I know, I know.” The younger of the two mutters as he scratches his head. “It’s just… leaving them hits a little close to home, you know.” “I hear you.” The older Raven admitted as he turned his attention towards the horizon. “Anyway, you plan on heading to Steelwaters right?” Want me to accompany you there. “Nah.” The younger raven shook his head. “While I do appreciate the gesture, I’ll have to pass. After all you’re heading in a completely different direction.” He admitted. “You tagging along with me would mean you got a whole extra trip to make.” “Fair.” The Older Raven muttered, attention shifting to the migrants being pushed along. “Sure you’ll be alright though, you know how it is when you're out there in the middle of nowhere with no one to watch your back. A lonely AC is easy prey.” He wasn’t wrong. The younger Raven had taken advantage of that fact on more than one occasion. “I’ll be fine.” He stated and his older counterpart just nodded his head before walking over to his AC.” “Well, if you're sure.” The man stated as he strapped his helmet back on. “Anyway, I’ll catch you later kid.” “Later.” The Raven stated before raising his hands to his lips. “Make sure the next contract you want me to help out on offers a bigger cut.” He got a laugh sent his way. “We’ll see kid, we’ll see.” The young Raven just smiled and nodded his head before looking at his AC. The transport that she’d been pushed onto felt too damn big. It was nothing like what she was used to seeing, the carriages practically microscopic in comparison to these things. Regardless, Sunset stuck near one of the walls, hooves… limbs crossed as she scanned her surroundings. There were a lot of people here, so many that she couldn’t quite begin counting, beyond that though she couldn’t see any creatures in uniforms. They seemed to have just led them into this transport and locked the door on them. Honestly she couldn’t even see the damn door anymore. “What kind of transport is this?” Sunset muttered. They’d been traveling for a while now, exactly where though was a question she couldn’t really answer. No windows or anything of the sort was giving her an idea on what was going on outside. She wasn’t even sure if the sun was still up. “AJ, I’m scared.” A weak murmur called out as Sunset looked around to find it. “Ah know Bloom…” Another voice whispered in this thick southern accent. “Don’t worry, I won’t let anything happen to you.” “I know sis but…” “I know.” There was a brief silence. “Where are they taking us?” “The Sphere.” Sunset found the voices not that long after the word was said, and her attention found itself focusing on a pair of girls that - from the sis comment earlier- were sisters. Without a word started walking towards the pair. “Excuse me.” She drew the pair’s attention. “Oh… hey there.” The older girl muttered. “Sorry if we’re bothering you. Bloom here is just a tad scared is all.” “It’s fine…” Sunset muttered as she looked at the older girl… AJ was it? “Sorry but I was kinda eavesdropping, where did you say they were taking us?” “The Sphere.” ‘AJ’ muttered with some obvious distaste as she got to her feet. “Yeah these guys are likely taking us there.” “You sound like you don’t want to go there.” “Ya think?” AJ scoffed as she stared at Sunset for a moment. “Sorry, just… aint nothing good come out that city.” “You’ve been there.” AJ shook her head. “Nah, heard stories though.” AJ admitted. “That’s all I need really.” Sunset raised an eyebrow but it quickly disappeared.s “Well, what have you heard about it?” “Nothing good.” AJ repeated before looking at the one in front of her. “Curious as to why you asking me though, surely you probably heard the same things I have.” “Sorry I’m…” Sunset paused. “Not from around here.” Sunset looked at AJ and AJ returned the look. “Well… you certainly don’t look like anyone I seen back in Canterlot, an we Apple never forget a face…” “Apples?” Sunset didn’t mean to make it sound like a question. “Like the fruit?” “It’s a family name.” AJ stated as she smiled. “I’m Applejack though everyone likes to call me AJ, and this here is my little sis Applebloom.” “Hi there.” “Hey there.” Sunset stated. “I’m Sunset Shimmer.” Applejack held out a hand and Sunset just stared at it for a moment before extending her own. Applejack took it. “Pleasure to meet ya.” Applejack released her grip a moment later and Sunset had to resist either shaking or massaging her hand. ‘Sweet Celestia, she's got one hell of a grip!’ “So… where you from? You definitely ain’t from Canterlot.” That got Sunset to freeze as she stared at Applejack. “Canterlot?” She paused for a moment as she started to think back. ‘That city - that ruined city?” “That city was Canterlot?” “Yeah~” Applebloom trailed on for a moment as she looked at her sister before looking back at Sunset's disbelief. “You were in Canterlot and you ain’t even know it?” “I… I guess not.” Sunset muttered as she shook her head. She’d… focus more on that revelation later. “I just sort of… wound up there.” She whispered as she coughed into her closed digits. “Anyway…’The Sphere’… what can you tell me about it?” “You really don’t know do you?” Applejack muttered. “Well, the Sphere this faction of there, one of the big three really, so they got a lot going for em. They got people and they got the supplies to keep em fed and sheltered.” Applejack stated. “That said they’re still tying to get more, more land, more AC, more food.” “More us.” Sunset turned her attention towards Applebloom who held onto her sister. Sunset felt a pit fall into her stomach. “They’re taking us as slaves.” She muttered as Applejack rolled her eyes. “Yeah but they just call em… ‘refugees’.” AJ muttered. “You get food, yet get shelter, and in turn they get to work out of you.” Sunset made a face as she crossed her arms. “Sure, supposedly you can become a ‘citizen’ if you like you but…” “What’s so great about being a citizen?” Applejack made a gesture with her hand. “Stuff like papers and ‘rights’ and other stuff like that, leasts that what I hear anyway.” She grumbled. “So they separate people based on their class?” “Something like that, yeah.” Applejack muttered. “Citizens are what they really care for, but civilians… just an expendable workforce.” Sunset didn’t say anything for a moment, seeming to think to herself. "I see…” Sunset muttered as she uncrossed her limbs and put them on her hips. “Thanks for letting me know.” She turned on her heel and walked off, choosing to return to her corner. Resting against it, Sunset frowned. “The Sphere…” She muttered. She knew where she was going now, still, from what Applejack said she wasn’t going to get far without some kind of Citizenship. “All I have are the clothes on my back, and if I want to move up in this world, I’m going to need to be recognized as something more than expendable… If I can become a Citizen for The Sphere, then I work up from there.” She muttered to herself as her mind flashed back to those machines that had towered over her and everyone else. “I need to find a way to gain control of one of those as well… I can already tell that the power those things wield will be needed in surviving out here…” She told herself. “What are those things anyway? They’re… like a suit of armor, but… I’ve never seen anything like them before…” “Hey… Sunset?” Pulled from her thoughts, Sunset looked ahead, noticing thatApplejack had made her way over, no Applebloom this time though. “Yeah, what is it?” Applejack scratched her head for a moment, seeming to think as she looked around before stepping closer. “You… you’re thinking of trying to becoming a Citizen, ain’t ya?” Sunset blinked as she stared ahead. “How-” “Ya need to work on your poker face.” Applejack admitted. “”I could tell right away.” “I see…” Sunset muttered. “Is that going to be a problem?” Applejack scratched her head again and sighed. “No, it’s… it’s fine. I can’t tell you what to do after all.” She looked elsewhere. “It’s just… I was thinking about doing it myself.” “Becoming a Citizen of the Sphere?” Applejack made this panicked shushing noise. “Not so loud now.” “I thought you were against The Sphere.” “I am… but…” Applejack looked elsewhere, her attention turning to see that Applebloom pulled into a conversation with someone. “I gotta take care of her, ya know.” “Your sister.” “Ya gotta understand, with Big Mac gone, she’s all I got left. And I can’t gave her treated like some kind thing you just just use on up.” “You’d want your sister to have a future.” Sunset muttered. “Makes sense…” She admitted before seeming to stare at the girl before her. “Still, you seem to have come to this decision rather quickly despite earlier.” She paused. “You must have been thinking about this for a while.” “My brother and I used to talk about moving to one of them many territories and getting papers settled.” Applejack admitted. “No lie, I was against the idea myself but, it seems like you get citizenship, you get a chance.” Applejack admitted. “Bloom deserves that. So if they give us a chance to get her getting cleared, I’m gonna take it.” Sunset didn’t saything, just seemed to think for a moment before nodding. Applejack had a noble reason to get citizenship. Still… “That doesn’t explain why you're telling me.” That made Applejack start to fidget uncomfortably. “I uh…” She paused, scratched her head again and lowered her hat over her head. “Look um… I know I ain’t got a reason to ask this, I mean we just met and all but…” She started to mutter. “If I can’t do it, if I can’t get Bloom citizenship could you-” “Sure.” Sunset cut her off as Applejack looked up at her. “I’ll help out however I can.” “R-really?” Sunset released this smirk. “You’d do that?” Applejack asked. “For me?” “Not for you.” Sunset stated as she made a gesture with her head. “For her.” ‘And for me…’ Sunset added mentally. ‘I don’t know how this world works, but I do know this. If I want to move up in the world I’m going to need allies.’ Applejack beamed and hugged the girl. ‘Or at the very least someone to act as a stepping stone.’ “Thank you… thank you Sunset.” Sunset smiled into Applejack’s ear. “Don’t thank me just yet.” The Sphere, it stood as one of the largest factions that dotted what used to be North America. Its people fought tooth and nail to get to that position, and they prevailed against whatever adversity was thrown at them. The Sphere built the heart of their territory on the bones of old Washington, it had expanded over the decades and centuries that it had survived. It swallowed up cities and even a few states, only to be kept in place by some of the other factions out there, not to mention those areas that had been soaked to the bone by Kojima pollution. Their city in Washington was… massive. A labyrinthine megastructure full of cement streets and buildings that clawed at the sky. This was where the Migrants were brought, although they weren’t really granted a view of the city that they were being transported into. Instead they were brought directly into this particular building and released. Staring down at those brought before her, a ranking member of the Sphere stood with her hands behind her backs. “Hello there.” She began, taking advantage of the speakers to carry her voice where it needed to be. “I am Administrator Rarity Belle. Allow me to welcome you to your first day as civilians of The Sphere.” She stated. “From this day forward your days scavenging as Migrants are over. We will shelter you, feel you, and even provide you with the clothing, in exchange we will be expecting you to earn your keep as refugees.” No doubt they were already aware of this. Rarity thought to herself. They likely realized what would happen to them once they were gathered up. “Understand this is a most generous offer as your lives will be given purpose.” She scanned the gathered with her eyes. “And know that beyond this, I offer each of you this, the honor of being recognized as Citizen of the Sphere” She heard a few mutterings and saw fewer heads seem to perk up. “As Citizens of the Sphere you will be granted a number of privileges, including the right to own land, and financial stability for both you and your families.” She informed them. “Those that wish to apply for Sphere Citizenship, please step forward and you will be escorted towards the Citizen Administration Building.”
