A Rimworld Away

I sat down on the floor of my apartment, holding the new radio I had just been given from Anderson himself. He said my work with their guns was beyond top notch, and he wanted me on the guard force. He said I wasn't going to start yet, but he gave me some equipment to get it over with so he didn't have to later.

I looked around my new lonesome apartment, seeing how empty it was. There was no furniture at all, and it was pretty small, but it was enough room for myself. I could make do with what I had here, and with enough income I'd be able to get all sorts of stuff! Though I admit it felt weird that I was going to be working for a wage again. I hadn't done that since I was on the trade-ship, and that seemed like it was ages ago.

In all reality, it was, atleast in Rimworld years.

Yet it was a safe, stable life. I knew some people back on the ship that hated working 9-5 jobs, and so did I at a point if it weren't for the entertaining customers and the cute girl I worked with. Yet surviving on this hellhole certainly proved to me that there are worse fates than working a simple eight hours. I was just happy that I didn't have to eat that pemmican shit, or deal with the worlds worst fucking electrical grid at my house always breaking down.

Sure, some things had changed. For one, I lost an eye, and my other eye is now purple. Oh, to add onto that, while I showed Anderson my skills at the shooting range, something else other than me was guiding my hand. It was as if my arm was going on instinct alone, and it hit dead-shots each time. My arm would shoot up in the exact position in needed to in order to hit a killing blow.

Sure, I'd normally say that was cool, but given the circumstances of having some sort of being inside of me, it was not. Speaking of that... thing, I hadn't heard it since I woke up. I tried speaking to it in private when I was alone but there was still no response. Maybe I did merge with it and I also gained its consciousness?

Shit, it didn't make sense either way. It was like some sort of omnipotent demon thing. I just hope I don't turn into some sort of monster and start eating people. That'd be weird, right?

I was about to stand up when a deafening sound came from outside, shaking my entire building and causing a light-panel from the ceiling to land right next to me. I immediately stood up and opened my door, looking outside. My apartment was on the second story, and I peered over the railing to the right, looking off into the distance. Smoke was rising over some buildings, and it seemed a few of them had caught on fire.

Suddenly, my radio began to scream.

"What in the HELL is going on?!" I heard Anderson scream on the radio, to which he got a reply not a moment after.

"Reports say someone ran into the chemfuel factory with explosives strapped to them- took out the entire factory and travelled through the sewers! Multiple gas-leaks within the area combined with it and took out a huge chunk of C-District!"

I kept staring at the scene of burning buildings in front of me, my ears straining from the loud crashing sounds that came from the decaying buildings.

"What?! How in the hell was there a suicide bombing and gas-leaks all at the same time?!" Anderson yelled.

"It was planned, sir! We need to initiate lockdown- we're under attack!"

I stared down at my radio before looking up at the scene once again. Under attack? No- Anderson's little kingdom here didn't have any enemies besides Tarbo, and he wouldn't attack yet, would he? I turned to the stairs and immediately descended them, watching the couple hundred people that exited their houses to watch the scene unfold gasp in shock.

I got in the middle of the small courtyard that laid in front of all of the apartments, and began to yell.

"All of you, get back in your homes! We are going into lockdown- we are under attack! Do not open your door unless you are shown identification of an official, or a guard!" I watched for a few seconds at their reactions, and they immediately obeyed at my command. I guess I was a little more scary, atleast that's what Luna had told me.

She hardly knew me anyways, what did she know?

I turned back to the scene and began to sprint towards it, bringing the radio up to my mouth. "Anderson- i'm near the scene right now, what do you want me to do?"

"Rex do not enter that scene! If there's gasleaks there is bound to be more trouble in that district- tell the citizens to stay where they are at. You need to get your ass over to the Guards office immediately and pick yourself up a weapon- and do it fast!"

"Already got the citizen thing under control, heading to the office now!" I yelled over the radio, turning right around and running through the small courtyard I was just in. There was no citizen in sight now, but it did seem a little odd to me. If Anderson was expecting more trouble, why did he force everyone to stay indoors?

Isn't there a evacuation plan?

Thankfully the nearest Guard office was close and I made it there within the minute, sprinting through the door by bashing it open with my shoulder. The front-desk lady stared at me, and I looked around the room. "I need a gun, I was instructed by-"

"We know- the rest of the guards are in the back getting suited up." The lady said without hesitation, pointing to the door on the right. I nodded to her and opened it, seeing about a dozen guards getting suited up in much more combat appropriate gear.

I didn't announce myself but the guards knew I was there. "New guy- grab a set on your left. We don't got any more body armor or the likes of anything like that, but it's a rifle."

Guess they took all the good shit.

I looked at the gear that laid in front of me and began to feel my heart race. The rifle wasn't all that, it being a basic wooden hunting rifle. Yet the pistol was what I was the most excited for. A pure-silver handcannon revolver. No wonder the other guys didn't take it- it was extremely difficult to use and not practical at all. Yet I got near-perfect shots every time with it in the range just earlier.

I picked up the rifle and slung it onto my pack, keeping the pistol in my hand. I noticed that there weren't any bullets for the two weapons, and one of the guards seemed to pick up on my confusion. "They make you shoot with bullet at the range, but our actual combat gear doesn't have any bullets. All energy based."

Fuck yeah.

I pulled the radio up to my face again. "I've got my shit now Anderson, what now?"

"Meet me at the capital building, south of we-AH SHIT!" A loud crashing noise came from the radio. "Fuck- Luna!"

After that, radio silence.

"Anderson? Anderson can you hear me? Anderson! Shit-" Without wasting another second I bolted right out of the Guard office and ran straight for the capital building, only to stop in my tracks a second later to hear the sound of gunshots and screams. Coming straight from the courtyard ahead.

I ran to the gunshots before taking cover behind one of the benches, concealing me only a little bit but enough to work in my favor. There was some sort of gunman in the courtyard shooting at anyone passing by. Three dead bodies around him, and bullet holes in some of the doors.

Either this was a combatant that was attacking us, or some crazed lunatic taking advantage of the situation.

"C'mon, let me in! You know you want to- come on- come on!" The man yelled as he began to charge furiously at a door over and over again, slowly breaking it down. A scream came each time he banged on the door from the other side, and I knew that I didn't have time to react. I slung the rifle back into my hands, holstering the handcannon and let whatever being take control of me.

My arms extended out in front of me instinctively, forcing my head down and my eyes to aim through the ironsights before pulling the trigger a second later. My legs began to move on their own towards the man who fell, and I didn't even know where I hit him. It was only a few seconds before I was standing over his body that was shaking, and it seemed he was still alive.

My body forced my arms to sling the rifle onto my back and pull out my handcannon, aiming it at the man on the floor who was currently moaning in pain. I tried to stop my own body from doing it- I didn't want to kill him, I needed to take him in!

Yet my body wasn't listening, and I began to speak.

"What's your name."

"Hnnnnn.... Hnnmmmm- my stomach.. my stomach!"

"What's your name!" I said again, though it wasn't me speaking.

"Hnmm... M-Michael..."

"Thank you. I'll remember to forget it." My finger squeezed the trigger and a round went off, though it didn't go through his head. No, it went through his throat, causing him to clutch his throat and shake in agony. The only noises that came from him were the gurgles of him choking on his own blood.

Without checking the bodies on the floor around him, my legs began to move without me and forced me to run to the Capital building. "What in the fuck- what-!" I tried to process what just happened and how I managed to do all of that without me actually doing it, but I didn't have time.

I needed to get to the Capital building and get to Anderson. Twilight and the rest are probably safe near a guards office- they weren't near my apartment nor the district that had been bombed, so they should be just fine. As I looked up at the tall Capital building a bit of ways in the distance, I could see that smoke came from the top of it.

And lodged inside the top of the tower was a ship.

FIVE MINUTES PRIOR

Anderson was knocked onto his feet from some sort of blast, and he was sent flying across the room, causing his back to hit the wall. It had little effect on him though, but he could see Luna sprawled out on the floor in front of him, one of her legs bleeding. "Fuck- LUNA!" He dropped the radio. "Luna- you alright?!" He asked, bending down to aid her.

"Yes- yes, I am okay. My leg is just a little injured."

"Awh- I was hoping to do a little more damage than 'a little injured.'" Another voice spoke, causing both Luna and Anderson to look up. In front of them, and where a big chunk of the window used to be, was a ship, lodged into the building. Standing in front of it was Tarbo in his Phoenix suit, and Daybreaker.

"You fuck. You dare attack my city?! My PEOPLE?!"

"Now now Anderson, it's not that big of a deal. People die everyday on the Rim, does it really make a difference if it's yours, or someone elses? Look, we don't want much. In fact, I'm quite done with our little game between us Anderson. All you need to give us, is your blue friend in front of you, and all of the other colorful creatures that happen to be living within your walls. Oh, and that bastard Rex, yes."

Anderson helped Luna onto her feet, who was now in a fighting stance right next to him. Anderson reached into his jacket and pulled out a small, pure white handgun with his own name scribbled onto the metal. "You just killed hundreds of my people, and you think I'd just go along with your bullshit? I've dealt with you too long to know that you're a piece of shit liar."

"Sister!" Luna cried towards her sister. "Sister- you are not thinking straightly. Something has plagued your mind- something has taken your body over! Do not let it-"

"SILENCE!" Daybreaker yelled, pointing her fiery blade towards her own sister. "You've been a nuisance since you've came back, and I made a mistake by banishing you to the moon. I should've killed you right then and there myself, but my old self was too scared to do so. Filled with morality, causing her to be weak. I will not make that same mistake with you again, Luna."

Anderson shook his head. "That 'aint your sister no more, Luna."

Luna nodded. "I know."

Tarbo simply walked around the room for a little bit, all four of them too nervous to attack first. "You've certainly got a whore of a sister, Miss Daybreaker. She slept her way right up to the top, as it says right here that she is the 'Military Strategist' hm?"

"She was always too eager to sleep with the guards, I must say." Daybreaker said with her teeth showing through her smile, causing Luna to growl more. "You act like a slut, you look like a slut, and you talk like a slut. I've heard your nightly adventures."

Anderson smirked. "Says the one fucking a literal Hitler. But you wouldn't know who that is, would you? Here's something you should've probably learned a long time ago, Daybreaker." Anderson said whilst stepping one foot forward. "Humans are known to be the most cruel species in the universe. We are the ultimate embodiment of evil. Whatever you think you can do, is nothing compared to what we have done and will do."

"So you claim to be evil?" Daybreaker questioned, her nose up high.

"Not in the slightest, but that we are the embodiment of evil. Our species is known to eradicate entire planets because they are simply in the way. I've heard of your world Daybreaker, and all that sunshine and rainbow bullshit won't fly here!"

Tarbo sat on the wooden desk that sat in the middle of the room. "Oh? I quite like all of the 'sunshine and rainbow bullshit' personally, which is why after we're done here, me and Daybreaker will be returning to her world."

That seemed to cause Luna to shift. "No... No- you wouldn't, Sister! He's evil- he'd tear our entire nation apart!"

"Like it doesn't need to be tore apart already?!" Daybreaker said, swinging her sword violently in the air. "It's filled with idiots who don't agree with me, filled with servants who can't do their jobs, and filled with stains of you, which I will personally erase myself! This time, you won't just be a foals tale, you will be nothing. You will not be remembered, and I will make sure that it happens."

"Alright, I'm sick of this shit!" Anderson said, pulling his right foot back. "You two didn't come here to just sit around and talk. You came to kill me and Luna, so how about we start this shit and get this over with?"

"Ah but, dear Anderson, the longer we stall, the more I win. While you were here arguing with Miss Daybreaker about the dumbest things, my men have been cleansing your streets, including a particular character in a daycare."

That caused Anderson to shout and lunge at Tarbo at an insanely fast speed, yet Tarbo dodged right out of the way. "You still got that old Psylink in your brain too, eh? This'll be fun!" Tarbo said, pulling his arm back for a punch, yet Anderson shot his hand up and grabbed him by the throat and threw him at a wall.

While the battle between the two humans were happening, Daybreaker and Luna were still staring at eachother. Daybreaker twirled her sword fancily, smiling at her sister. "You look a little upset, Luna. Tell me why that might be."

"You helped him massacre little ones, Sister. How... How could you do that?!"

"Oh shut it- you'll get over it soon enough. Will six feet of dirt suffice?" She asked before lunging her sword towards her sister, causing Luna to jump back and fire off an ice spell, diluting the flames of Daybreaker's sword. Daybreaker didn't let up however, and continued to charge at her sister, slicing her sword whichever way her sister dodged, yet not hitting a single blow.

Tarbo during this time had gotten the upper hand over Anderson, and had gotten him onto the floor, driving his fists into his face. "You never fucking listened- I gave you a deal and you refused! You could've been my teammate Anderson, but here we ar-" A gunshot went off, and Tarbo looked down at Anderson's hand. Anderson was holding his pistol at Tarbo's stomach, and he fired off another shot. It didn't pierce, but Tarbo felt the pain and forced both of Andersons arms at his sides. "You fucking-"

"-That might not have hurt, but this will!" Anderson said as his own eyes began to shift into all white, and an electric shock forced Tarbo into the air and towards the furthest wall. Anderson clambered up to his feet and aimed his pistol at Tarbo, who was shaking in pain.

Once the electricity stopped flowing, Tarbo began to laugh, shaking his shoulders. "Ahh, learned a new one, eh? Or did you just get your hands on a Psytrainer? Doesn't matter, I guess I'll show you MINE!" He yelled, throwing his hand forward and grabbing Anderson telekinetically and throwing him through the middle desk, and then at the wall. He then unholstered his own pistol and began to charge it up by holding the trigger down. "You're going to feel this one, Anderson!"

Anderson felt dazed from the slam and hit the floor a moment after. He stared up towards Luna and Daybreaker who were both currently flying around the room, Daybreaker swinging her sword viciously but without strategy at her sister. Anderson aimed up with his pistol and fired off a shot at Daybreaker, striking her in the wing and causing her to falter and hit the wall.

Anderson then looked back at Tarbo and saw it was already too late. The charge shot was fired, and Anderson was just barely able to force it away with a psy-push, using the air to fling it back at Tarbo who swiftly dodged out of its way. "You lucky son of a bitch- fine, I'll do it myself! This thing was a failed project anyways." He said, throwing the pistol to the side before descending on top of Anderson who couldn't get his pistol up in time.

Luna stared at her sister who was staring at her wing that now had a bullet hole in it. "Sister- please, listen to me. This isn't you- you have friends! You have me, Twilight- your faithful student! Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Starlight Glimmer, Shining Armor, Cadance, even Blueblood-... perhaps. Your guards respected you and loved you, so come back to us, Celestia!"

Daybreaker's eyes began to falter, and her form seemed to shift slightly, but she entered back into an attacking stance and lunged at her sister, who fired a beam of pure magic at her own sister, causing her to hit the wall behind her with a loud smack. "These walls are tough..." Luna commented to herself.

Daybreaker slowly got up to her hooves and stared at her sister with an anger that rivaled her own self when she was Nightmare Moon. Yet instead of attacking her once again, Daybreaker simply stared outside the small chunk of broken window on her right and down at the town.

Luna knew this was the right moment. "Look Sister. You've hurt these people, these humans. They were normal, and just trying to live their lives. You can still bounce back from this dear Sister, I know you ca-"

Daybreaker's horn charged up with a yellow flare and sent a beam of pure fire magic, fueled by her hatred for her sister, disintegrating entire buildings that were in its way. Luna charged at Daybreaker and tackled her onto the ground, sending a dazing blast at point-blank range at her sisters head. It did little to quell the problem.

Luna's eyes were searching her Sisters, trying to find some sort of resemblance of her old self, until her thoughts were disrupted by the door being kicked in.

Rex entered the room, and with an extremely angry scowl on his face. He aimed his handcannon at Tarbo who was sitting on top of Anderson and repeatedly beating him, and fired multiple shots at increasingly closer ranges as he walked forward. Tarbo was pushed to the wall and covered himself with his hands cowardly even though none of the shots pierced. Anderson climbed on his knee's behind Rex, slowly bracing himself upwards with the help of the wall.

Tarbo peeked through his hands once Rex stopped firing and smiled behind his helmet. "Oh dear Rex, you've shown yourself! I was hoping you would- and might I add, you look just like me! I told you we were more alike than you once thought."

Rex shook his head. "We are nothing alike. You made me like this Tarbo. After that fucked up experiment of yours- you made me like THIS! Now I've got a fucking demon inside of me, all because of you."

"What are you talking about Dear Rex?"

"It doesn't matter. Never did, never will. But your little reign of bullshit is DONE!"

"Rex!"

Rex immediately turned around to find the face of both Twilight and Starlight Glimmer. "Wh- what the hell are you two doing here?!"

"Gotcha." Tarbo said, and within an instant of the two ponies appearing, they were gone, and Rex could feel his back sting, his knee's giving out, and his body hitting the floor. "Oh come on Rex- you've got to have known that was a trick! Illusions! The most advanced Psypower, or atleast one of them. You're so easy to fool, Rex." Rex felt around his back and felt a knife lodged inside it, and then to feel his body get dragged by Tarbo's telekinesis.

Anderson was still trying to get up after the extreme face-beating, and Luna was busy yelling at her own sister who was simply staring at her, dead in the eyes. Rex was brought to the edge of the window, or where there used to be one. Tarbo stared at him, standing only a foot away from Rex himself. "It's time to end you, Rex, and I think falling to your death will be a painful enough experience for you that you'll remember it in the afterlife. So, goodbye Rex. And may that 'monster' of yours be put to rest as well, you ungodly thing."

Before Tarbo could react though, right before he sent Rex flying off the edge of the window with a psypush Rex had grabbed onto him as well, causing them both to be sent flying off the building that was hundreds and hundreds of feet in the air. Tarbo yelled, holding onto Rex and bashing his face in with his fist. "You idiot! You've killed us both- what has that accomplished?! We're going to-"

Tarbo was pulled from Rex by Daybreaker, who had swung down with her bloodied wing and picked him up, causing Rex to fall the rest of the way down by himself. Rex simply stared up ahead and closed his eyes, before his body tensed up entirely and he hit the floor.

Luna stared over the edge with tears in her eyes, whilst Anderson slowly walked to the edge. "That damn bastard got saved. This fucking plane-"

"Luna? Anderson! What happened?!" Anderson and Luna turned their attention to the door, where there was indeed the real Twilight and Starlight Glimmer.

"A fight happened, and I'm afraid that... Rex was-"

"No- no no no!" Twilight tried looking over the edge but Anderson stood in front of her. "MOVE!" She said, forcing his already weak body to the side and staring at the edge. She kept staring, scanning the landscape. "I... I... Did Rex fall?"

Luna, with her eyes closed, nodded.

"Then... Then where is he?"

Anderson stared over the edge, and looked at where Rex was. Or, should've been, as his body was now gone.

Daybreaker dropped Tarbo on his feet on the floor before landing in front of him, staring at her bloody wing. Tarbo stared up at the sky and wiped his helmet off, smirking behind it. "Phew... If you weren't there, I'd be dead! Thankfully I've got the best alicorn in the entire universe at my side."

"This wasn't according to plan!" She yelled at him, causing him to flinch.

"What are you..."

"It wasn't supposed to be this difficult! I was supposed to grab Twilight and Starlight Glimmer and kill that wretched bitch of a sister, that's what you said, right?!" Tarbo nodded, staring at an emotionally distressed Daybreaker. "And it was supposed to be easier than this! My wing- my damned wing! And why am I feeling sorry for my sister?! I-I don't understand Tarbo, it wasn't supposed to be like this!"

Tarbo immediately stepped forward and put a hand on her neck, but she shoved him away. "Dear- Dear don't be thinking about such things. Your sister is definitely a wretched being, and we can find Twilight and Starlight in this city in no time and be out of here! To return to your world and make things right! Come on- we can't give up now. You're my only hope, Daybreaker."

"SISTER!"

Tarbo and Daybreaker turned to look at Luna, who was sprinting at them, while Anderson, Twilight, and Starlight Glimmer all struggled to keep up before stopping at a moderate distance away. Upon seeing Twilight and Starlight, Daybreaker's eyes began to widen. "L-Luna.."

"Daybreaker, NO! We must go- come on! We have to leave!" Tarbo insisted, staring at Daybreaker before pulling off his helmet. "Daybreaker- look, look! It's me- okay? It's me, let's get out of here! You trust me, right? Please, Come ON!"

"Celestia don't do this!" Twilight yelled, causing Daybreaker to flinch at the name. "P-Please! There's already been enough destruction, this isn't you! You aren't the person I know- you aren't Celestia right now! We loved you, Celestia, please!"

"Daybreaker, DON'T!"

Daybreaker slowly walked forward towards Luna and the rest of them, while Tarbo simply watched. She then turned back to Tarbo and shook her head. "I-I'm sorry, Tarbo. I-... I.." A moment later, and a blinding flash of light as well, Daybreaker was no more. Instead, standing in her place was Celestia, with her wing still bloodied and tears streaming from her face. She collapsed onto the floor, causing Luna to stand over her and hold her with her hooves.

Tarbo slowly back up, his face a little swollen from the impacts of being thrown around, though much less than Anderson. He wiped his face with his fore-arm and sniffed. "So... So that's it, huh? That's it?! All of this- all of this fighting, planning, for NOTHING?! I captured them, captured Rex and Twilight and Starlight- only for them to ruin me?! Was it all for nothing?! This whole.. thing?!"

"Yes."

The answer came from behind him, causing him to turn and feel the barrel of a revolver at his head.

"Rex.."

"Tarbo."

"You'll always be a monster. Killing me won't make you feel any better. One monster killing another doesn't make you less of one. Killing me doesn't stop the fact of what you did to my men. How you unhinged your jaw and ate my men like a beast. You're an ungodly creature, and he would've condemned you."

Rex sighed.

"I know."

BANG

Tarbo dropped to the floor, dead, his head leaking blood on the floor. Rex stared down at his body and smirked, while Anderson slowly walked towards him. Twilight and Starlight were busy helping Luna with Celestia. Anderson put a hand on Rex's shoulder, staring down at the body with him. "Do you know what you just did?"

"Yeah. I do."

"It's over. You ended it yourself, Rex. Your first damned day awake, and you ended it."

Rex looked up at the sky, feeling a water droplet hit his forehead. "That's how the Rim works. Sometimes it's slow as all hell, and the next second a thousand years passes within the blink of an eye. Life is just a fucked up maze of trying to figure out how to make it all makes sense."

"Come on, let's get this motherfucker out of here and into the morgue, and get ourselves to the hospital. From what I saw from above, the fire from before was taken care of before we all came down here. Thank god for those firepoppers."

The total death count today was 24,901. A massive loss to us all. Some of those people were people we worked with, and some of them were loved ones. In fact, all of them were loved ones. We've been dealt a terrible hand today, and it is up to us to persevere. We can get through this with enough faith in our system. We are in need of more civilians who are willing to do more for their homes, for their people, for their way of life. If you are willing to-

Rex turned the radio off from the seat he was in. He was currently in a private waiting room in the hospital, waiting for all the rest to get checked out. It turned out that once he got to the hospital to report him being stabbed, there was no wound there, only a small bruise. He had no broken bones, no slashes, no bleeds, absolutely nothing.

It turned out that he was perfectly healthy, all things considered. Tarbo was sent to the Morgue, and was stripped of his armor. The first thing they were instructed to do was to get rid of his Psylink in his brain and destroy it. Rex didn't know why that was the first thing to do, but Anderson seemed pretty adamant about getting it done.

Twilight was the first to step into the room, smiling brightly at me. She silently made her way next to me and sat down, causing me to shift and look at her. "How'd it go? How are the others?"

"For me it went perfect! I didn't have anything wrong with me, quite obviously since I didn't fight, but I did have some black residue in my lungs from the smoke. They gave me some sort of... liquid, and I threw it up. The others are fine and should be out of here in a minute or so."

"Oh, great!"

Rex shifted in awkward silence as the two of them tried to figure out what to say.

Rex began again. "So... That means you'll be heading home, right?"

"Celestia said she has the 'key' to get home. Luna didn't know of it, so we needed Celestia anyways in order to get back home. It was a good thing they came for us."

"Ah. Well, I uh... I'm... I'm really glad to have met you, Twilight. Seriously- you've been a gigantic help and the best friend I could've asked for in these trying times. I can't help but feel like I corrupted you a bit."

Twilight blushed a little and laughed. "You didn't corrupt me, silly! If anything it was... it was this planet that corrupted me. I know it's going to feel weird going back home after all of this, and I don't think I'll ever be able to forget about what happened here. But I... I can't help but feel like it was a good thing in disguise. My world knows of nothing like the pain this one experiences, and this helped me to understand what true pain and helplessness felt like. It'll help me help my own world."

Rex shrugged. "I guess so. I just wish you didn't get hurt in the process." He said, letting his thumb brush over her scar that ran jagged across her face. She blushed as he touched her, and she chuckled.

"Didn't you say uh.. uh- what was it... 'Chicks dig scars'?"

"Yeah, but unless you're a lesbian, I don't think that terminology works for you."

Twilight smirked. "And how do you know what I am, Rex?"

"Oh hush, will you?"

"Fine, fine~"

More silence passed.

"Hey Rex?"

"Hmm..?"

"What if... What if you- uh... What if-"

"Just fuckin' say it, Twilight!"

"What if you came with us?"

Rex stared at her confused, shifting in his seat to hunch forward. "What?"

Twilight nodded her head. "Y-yeah! Why don't you come with us?"

"H-Hah, I'm not sure I belong in a place like that."

"Why not?"

Rex shook his head. "I'm a killer, I have some sort of demon parasite thingy in me, and I will end up being the ugliest thing on the planet."

"What?! You will not be- you'd be the cutest thing on the planet!"

"Oh really now?"

"Yes, really!"

"Still doesn't change shit. I don't belong there just how you don't belong here."

"Rex, Come o-"

Suddenly, Celestia, Luna, Starlight Glimmer, and Anderson all walked through the door. Luna and Celestia proceeded to hug Twilight whilst Anderson shook hands with Rex. "You did a damn good thing Rex. I can't thank you enough."

That's when Celestia turned to Rex with a smile on her face. "Neither can I. Rex Rice, was it?"

"The one and only."

Celestia pulled Rex into a soft, warm hug. "You've done so much. Twilight has told me only a little of what your adventures were like, and both she and Starlight only had good things to say, other than the fact that you turned both of my little ponies into meat-eaters."

That seemed to make everyone in the room pause.

Celestia began to laugh. "Oh come on- it's not that serious. Alicorns are known for indulging in meat from time to time as well, so there is nothing to worry about. I am just glad that you kept my two ponies safe and sound, atleast as much as you could. There is nothing more I could've asked for."

"W-Well..." Twilight spoke up timidly. "I was asking him if he wanted to come with us. Back to Equestria. Home."

Luna and Celestia both looked at Twilight before looking at Rex. Luna spoke first. "I don't think that would be a bad idea. What do you think, sister?"

"I think that you more than well earned a place at the castle for what you've done."

Rex chuckled awkwardly and waved his hands out. "Thank you thank you, but I think Anderson here needs some help with rebuilding."

"Pfftt-" Starlight chuckled. "You think Anderson needs help rebuilding? We've witnessed him build entire complexes in days!"

"It's true, Rex." Anderson said with a smile before putting a hand on his shoulder. "You've done enough, Rex. I would love to come, but my people come first. I cannot abandon them. But Rex, you... you deserve to rest for quite some time. I can see it by looking into your eyes that you've dealt with enough stress."

Rex looked dumbfounded, and stared at all of them, before landing on Celestia. "Are... Are you sure?"

"Yes, Rex. I am sure."

"I don't have to be on this planet any more?"

"You don't have to be on this planet anymore-"

Celestia had little time to react before Rex pulled her into a tight hug, tears wetting her fur. He held onto her tighter than anything he had held onto previously in his life, and felt his entire body become weak. Celestia closed her eyes and leaned into his hug, feeling the energy permeate off of him. It was a negative energy, and she could feel all of the pain just through it alone.

He pretended to be strong for so long for the sake of survival.

He seemed to revert back to his stone mask when he pulled away and wiped his tears off. "S-So.. How do we do this? Do we just summon a portal or something?"

Luna shook her head. "Not quite. We need to go to point zero, or the exact location that we arrived on the planet at."

"Hah... My house."

Anderson smiled. "There is no need for any of you to have to walk, I have quite the craft to get you wherever you need to go. All you need to do is navigate the pilot a little bit and he'll get you where you need to go. Our ships have each geographical landmark downloaded. You will find your destination in no time."

Twilight bumped Rex in the leg. "Rex, it's time to go home."