「Crystal War Requiem」

Outskirts of Fillydelphia

Electricity sparked in the air, the space cackling and warping before Giorno appeared standing on the grassy hillside. He covered his mouth and hugged his stomach to keep it from spinning. Giorno felt his insides churn, still not quite used to the after-effects from teleportation. And the prospect of throwing up his breakfast did not please him at all.

"You sure did keep us waiting, huh?"

A happy-go-lucky voice called out from behind him, turning around. Giorno is met with two familiar faces.

"Yo, so your Giorno? Nice to meet you again, even if it's on a mission, hehe. We've got the message from Princess Celestia, and we're ready. Name's Hailing Blizzard, and my friend over here is Metal Jacket."

The voice came from the Pegasus stallion, who looked to be wearing a black and dark blue variant of the Wonderbolt attire. Giorno assumed the Unicorn crossing his arms and bearing three large spears on his back is Metal Jacket, remembering the names from the introduction given by Shining Armor. He nodded deeply to show he still recalled their names somewhat and not disrespect them; the last thing he wants to do is repeat the incident with Steelhooves.

"Saluti, Giorno Giovanna. Nice to meet you again." Giorno replies,

"Woooahhh, what's 'Saluti'? Is that some kind of alien language!? That's so cool! You've gotta teach me some!!"

Blizzard ecstatically replied. Giorno gave a cringed smile, forgetting for a moment that he was dealing with a new intellectual alien species that hasn't been explained the cultural differences back on Earth.

"Apologies, I have a bad habit of occasionally adding in my home language when I converse. Regardless, we should come up with a plan. But can I ask what do you two specialize in?"

"Oh, ok! I am Chief Master Sergeant of the Sky-Splitters. A division branching from the Wonderbolts that specializes in Stealth, scouting, and assassination. We excel in silent takedowns and not in upfront engagements. There's only a small handful of us, though. That's about it."

"Ah, good to note. And what about you, Captain Jacket?"

Metal eyed Giorno for an uncomfortable minute that felt like an hour, not moving an inch from his cross-armed position. The wind spoke before Metal could, the howl echoed from the far distance and the grass beneath them swayed fluidly. Blizzard doesn't seem to be bothered by this aching silence. In fact, he seems to be humming a tune without a care in the world. As though he was expecting this to happen and opting to take up his time by humming a song.

"Metal Jacket, Metal Moduls Jacket. Captain of the Sharpshooters. My specialty is self-explanatory." Metal said coldly,

Giorno has dealt with many types of people while serving as the Don of Passione, and all kinds of people from all walks of life. Unsurprisingly, he has already met and dealt with types like our friend Metal.

"Alright, my ability is to give life to objects to aid me in battle. I can help heal you if you suffer too much damage, but please do be cautious." Giorno warned,

"Will do!" Blizzard gave a thumbs up,

"Noted." Metal replied coldly again.

"Will ya stop being so moppy all the time, Speary? You're gonna start making me moppy too if you keep this up!" Blizzard scolds playfully,

"Ugh, shut up, will you? Let's get this over with so I can head back to Canterlot." Metal complained, with a slight tone-shift in his voice,

"Wait, 'Speary'?" Giorno questioned out loud

"Yea! It's the nickname I gave to ol' little gloom-head over here, with that attitude you're gonna get yourself killed one day!"

Giorno turned away from the pair and held back a laugh, but a snicker betrayed him,

"You use that nickname, and I'll pin you to the walls of Canterlot Castle with your intestines strung up for the vultures to feed off of."

Spinning back, Giorno gave the most emotionless face he could muster. But a drop of tear coming down his cheek said otherwise.

"Yes, of course," Giorno responded,

"I'll head off to the city first. I'll do what I can to support you two from the shadows."

Equipping his helmet, Blizzard took to the skies and headed straight to the city. Giorno and Metal started trekking down the hill, making their way to the city as well.

Alleyway

Both stealthily navigated through the crooks of the buildings. The stench of dumpsters and wastes filled their noses. Now and then, they would come across a patrolling guard. Which they would quickly take care of. Oddly there weren't as many guards patrolling as they thought it would. This was due to Blizzard aiding them from behind the scenes. Thanks to him, the two hadn't need to expose themselves as frequently as they needed to be.

While traversing through the dark alleyways, they managed to catch sight of a group of ponies. Beaten, bruised, and chained, no matter the age, old or young. They were forced to walk together as they were handcuffed in one continuous thread, all of them being lead by multiple guards surrounding them to ensure they would stay in line. While Giorno watched the event unfold before him, he couldn't help but clench his fist so tightly he felt his muscles cramp. He soon snapped out of his trance when he heard Metal mumbling incoherent words next to him.

"1679...1680...1681...1682...1683..."

"Captain Jacket, why are you counting? you might get us caught." Giorno whisper-shouted,

"I'm tolling... the total numbers of innocence that Sombra's forces mistreated."

"What?"

Giorno was slightly taken aback by his response, though he sounded calm. Unhindered rage oozed from Metal.

"For every pony mistreated by Sombra and his forces, I will torture him equally when I get my hands on him. Not a single pony will be left uncounted for when I'm here. They will all be avenged."

Giorno didn't bother to reply to Metal's vow, understanding his pain that he's experiencing on a somewhat personal level. Moving onward. They would notice more and more of these chained prisoners captured and forced to walk to a destination, and each time they'd notice it. Giorno would get even tenser and irritated at what he saw. All the while, Metal would be numbering off the civilians captured. Following where the chained prisoners were heading, what the two saw fueled their burning rage even further when they were met with the sight of what many would consider a Live Pony Zoo.

The natives of Fillydelphia were treated like low-grade animals at best, with many ponies forced and shoved tightly into a cage. Some crying out to let them out, others being tased and some dismembered, left to rot on the streets where they lived. Many cried, many minds broken, yet the only ponies that have yet to let their spirit be broken by such torture are the little fillies and colts still desperately clinging onto hope that somepony would come and save them. The sound of electric tasing soon filled the crying streets, and a yell out of utter pain echoed out from a colt.

"AHHHHHH!!" The beaten colt screamed,

"Stay in line." The troop that electrocuted the colt said lifelessly,

"NO! PLEASE! NOT MY LITTLE COLT, I'M BEGGING YOU! IF YOU HAVE TO DO IT TO SOMEPONY DO IT TO ME! I'LL ENDURE IT!"

The colt's supposed mother pleaded with the guards from the shackles that blinds her, metal chains forcibly clanking and shaking around as she tried to force herself closer to her child. Her pleas were only rewarded with an electric shock from another guard escorting her group directly onto the back of her neck. Her eyes rolled back into her skull, and smoke rose from her mouth. Soon she collapses onto the asphalt intersection, unmoving.

"...Mom...?"

The colt tried calling for his mother but no response.

"MOM!?"

He tried again, no response.

"MOMMA!? MOMMA!?!"

Yet, he tried again. She failed to respond. Tears streamed down his cheeks, and he screamed. The colt tried crawling to his mothers' side, but his arms disobeyed him from the terrible abuse it had to endure. So he used his legs to push himself closer to her, grinding his limp upper-body against the rough, friction road. Small trails of blood left from where he had ground his skin off. The mindless Guard only looks on, displeased at the outcome, slowly walked over to the colt. He Intended to make him an example of why the prisoners shouldn't step out of line. Changing out to a spear, he loomed over the child and raised it high into the air for every prisoner to see. The metal tip reflected an orange hue from the setting sun, but before it could even dive into stabbing the harmless colt. A golden arm stopped it.

Stunned, the Guard looked to who was responsible, only to be met with the fist of「G.E.R」.

"MUDA!"

The guard was sent flying back from the blow. With Giorno's cover blown, Metal sees no need to continue hiding. Generating two magical spears, he chucks one at a group of troops approaching Giorno. Hitting the ground, it explodes. Sending the group rocketing in all directions.

"What the hell are you doing, Giorno!? Why couldn't you have just stood still?!"

"Nobody could have after seeing that!!" Giorno retorted,

Stretching out his left arm. Metal aimed his other spear at the remaining guards. He cast two spells onto the glowing spear's main shaft. One light green and cyan magic wheel circles the rod before he launched it at them. The throw initially missed the intended target, but it soon corrected itself mid-air. Piercing through all six guards through their chests.

"Centerfire: Ricochet and Seek."

Looking back to where Giorno is, Metal saw he was already next to the fallen mother, treating her wounds. Shortly after, she opens her eyes to be hugged by her son, crying into her arms.

"Momma!" The little colt cried,

"There, there. It's alright. I'm fine now."

The mother consulted her son, whispering nothing but comfort and sureties to help calm the frightened colt. Though it was long after the pair had their short reunion, the mother looked up to Giorno, tears in her eyes and her voice shaken, yet eternally grateful for the human who freed her and her child from this cruelty.

"T-thank you... So much. H-how could I ever repay you..?" she spoke,

Giorno gave a warm smile and a pair of understanding eyes. He turns and walks over to the caged ponies, all of them jumping away from the blonde in slight fear. Only to relax when Giorno summonds「G.E.R」to break them free of their steel prison, he repeated this until all had been freed. He then proceeds to grab the metal bearings from his pockets, taking them out and imbuing life into the bearings, handing everyone present one.

"Alright, everypony. My name is Giorno Giovanna, and my accomplice here is Captain Jacket from the Capital of Canterlot. We're here to set you free and to escort everypony to Canterlot for shelter and protection."

"W-what!? No way! The Royal Guards are finally here! Help has arrived!" A stallion from the crowd exclaimed. Quickly things started to get out of hand when chatter and excitement from the group start to overpower Giorno's voice. Metal responded by lodging a spear into the ground. Shutting everyone up.

"Ahem, as I was saying. Yes, help has arrived. But we can't risk ourselves getting out of here without being attacked. So I'm placing my trust in all of you to find a safe hiding place in the meantime. These metal bearings I just gave you are imbued with a special energy. If at any point you feel unsafe or fear being chased, throw the bearings to the ground and run for your life. It will buy you some time to escape."

"Then what are you gonna do, mister?" The little colt asked. Giorno looked down towards the deserted street behind him and promised the colt.

"We're going to make the bad ponies pay,"