Legion

"The wicked king fears his people, the good king fears failing them."

-Ahriman the Eternal (attributed)

Michael Santius stood atop a hill overlooking Ponyville and took a deep breath. Exhaling slowly, he allowed himself to absorb the beauty of the Holy Land. Even as his brothers transformed the town below into a fortress one could still see the mark of the Seraphim's children. Fortifications were painted with bright murals commemorating the Legion's arrival. Displaying the reunion of man and pony with equal parts pomp and joy. Explosions of confetti appeared at random from Lady Pinkamina's valiant efforts to welcome each Legion soldier individually with a slice of cake and a shot from her party cannon. Laughter and good natured conversation, faint but still audible even at this distance, was being shared between the ancient warriors and the ponies as they worked. If not for the different buildings and faces, Michael could almost have imagined he was still back in Bridledown twelve hundred years ago. Despite everything, the hero's homecoming the Legion had thought never to be their due, was waiting for them, even after all this time.

Bowing his head, Michael unconsciously wiped a tear from his eye, as he silently vowed that he would never cease in his efforts to make the joy of peace return to these lands. Clasping his hands, he meditated on the hope that the war would be swift, that Hayden's countrymen would see the truth of their actions and lay down arms. Michael truly hoped that when all was said and done, the people of Hayden's world would heed the wisdom of the Seraphim, and be made friends. After all, Michael and his brothers were living proof that salvation and the Light's love was offered to even the most tarnished souls, and that redemption was always possible.

Unconsciously as he finished his internal vow, Michael dropped one hand to the two books chained to his belt, running his hand along their silver and gold inlaid spines. The first, was a copy of the diary of their divine majesties Lady Celestia and Luna, the second, a copy of the journal published by Lady Twilight and the Sainted Ones. Both books were presented to him, and signed, by their respective authors, and bore covers accented with gold and silver, trimmed in polished brass and enchanted to be all but invulnerable to harm. A true gift from the divine. He had of course wasted no time in seeing to it that every member of the Legion received copies of the books. Determined to insure all his brothers had access to the Seraphim's holy wisdom. He feared, that in the face of the coming war, they would have dire need of it.

As for himself, he would soon be leaving for the capital to take command of the Legion's unofficial priesthood. A psudo-Guard, they only numbered one hundred eighty nine individuals, including himself. All sworn to protect the holy city of Canterlot with their lives. They were a group of the most devout of Michael's brothers. Each called, in their own way, to serve the Seraphim and The Light as heralds and scholars more than warriors. They were of course still soldiers, but each saw it as their duty to do all they could to aid in spreading the message of the divine through good works and philosophical contemplation of the path to harmony.

Michael sighed, he truly hoped to shed his armor for good when this was all over. The spilling of blood, however necessary, had never agreed with him. He would always fight with all his strength to protect The Light's children and their works, but he truly preferred the fight be waged with words rather than blades. Clasping his hands once more, Michael bowed his head and closed his eyes.

"O' Light, how might I be of service this day?"

For a time, he stood there in silence, his senses reaching out as he sought an answer to his question. Finally, over the sounds of construction echoing from the distant town, the whisper of the breeze, and the chirping of the birds, Michael heard something. A voice, too faint to make out words, but clear in its tone of anger. It was coming from the southeast, about one hundred twenty meters away.

"Thank you O' Light. May my example be your intent." He stated respectfully. As his eyes opened, and he headed toward the sound.

A short journey brought Michael to the edge of the Everfree Forest. Toward a sheltered area bordering the lands belonging to Sweet Apple Acres. As with Ponyville, the farm was undergoing fortification. The produce grown there deemed a vital resource. It's apple trees accounting for nearly ten percent of the fruit supply for all of central Equestria. An impressive number, that easily justified the use of a separate shield generator, and the construction of walls, redoubts, and pill boxes, as well as a permanent garrison of seven members of the Star Guard.

All this ran swiftly through Michael's head as he saw, in the lee of a small copse of ancient apple trees, what looked to be an improvised martial arts training ground. And there, angrily muttering to herself as she bucked and pummeled a group of humanoid and equanoid training dummies, was Lady Rainbow Dash, the Saint of Loyalty.

"JERK!" She shouted, as a particularly powerful roundhouse buck, took the head off of a human mannequin made of stuffed burlap. "Doesn't think we can fight for ourselves!" She snarled, as a wing shot out to execute a block, that was swiftly transitioned into a vicious throw that sent the remains of the unfortunate dummy into a tree with such force that it exploded in a puff of sawdust. "WE'RE NOT HELPLESS DAMMIT!" She roared, rearing up on her hind legs to smash her front hooves into another sack-man so hard that she put two holes in its torso, through which a distressing amount of sawdust poured out.

"Greetings Lady Dash." Michael called out, as Rainbow took a break to wipe her brow. Judging by the number of destroyed dummies, she'd been at this for some time. Yet, impressively, she seemed only slightly winded. At the sound of Michael's voice Rainbow's gaze snapped to him, her expression curdling like expired milk.

"What do you want?!" She spat. "If Derran sent you to keep an eye on me too, tell him I can take care of myself!" Michael's eye's briefly shifted to a pair of unobtrusive armored figures in the trees. They were the Legion bodyguards assigned to Rainbow by Derran and Khamun: Nakht Ramses, and Bastet Akhenaten, both powerful members of the Star Guard. Michael had little doubt she had tried to order them away. Unfortunately, that was one order they couldn't obey outside a fortified area. Nevertheless, they were clearly doing their best to give Lady Dash her space.

"I was out observing the defenses. I happened to hear your voice and thought you might be in distress." Michael explained, his tone gentle. "I apologize if I am intruding." He stated, giving the Saint the chance to send him away should she choose. Much as he wanted to help, he couldn't force his company on her. Fortunately she seemed to have worked out enough aggression to realize she was being rude.

"Sorry Michael." She said, deflating. "I just. . . me and Derran had a fight." Michael nodded sympathetically.

"Care to talk about it? I am told I make a fine sounding board?" He offered with a smile. Rainbow nodded, but then glanced over at her bodyguards. Michael gave a look of understanding as he turned to his brother and sister in arms. Reaching into the robe worn over his armor, he fished out a small medallion. His fellow soldiers swiftly made a series of complex signs with their fingers, verifying the ID tag with a spell. Once they were satisfied, they nodded. "Brother Ramses, Sister Akhenaten, I am temporarily relieving you of duty. Please proceed to Sweet Apple Acres and aid in the defense construction until I call upon you." Offering the Legion salute, the two warriors headed toward the entrance of the farm without a word.

"Thanks." Rainbow said, as Ramses and Akhenaten moved out of earshot and Michael replaced the medallion within his robe. "Nakht and Bastet are cool, but. . ."

"They are still strangers?" Michael offered. Rainbow nodded. "To be fair, I'm hardly any less so." Rainbow gave a small shrug.

"Maybe. But I feel like I know you better from seeing you in Derran's memories." Michael conceded the point with a faint nod.

"Ah yes, I recall my Lord mentioning that. I must say, I'm glad he decided to share that with you. No man should have to endure such memories alone." Here Michael made a quick series of gestures with his fingers, before making an upward beckoning movement. Instantly, the earth deformed. Three lumps of sod and earth rising up to form a table and two chairs, seemingly upholstered with grass.

"Woah! I didn't know you could do magic?!" Rainbow exclaimed. Michael let out a chuckle.

"You'd be forgiven for that. While I train in the mystic arts as strongly as any other form of war, I seldom use it outside my day to day. I find it is better used as a trump card, rather than my primary means of attack." He replied, as he looked over his handywork. Before, satisfied, he sat down in a perfectly formed armchair made of dirt and grass. Joining him in the opposite chair, Rainbow let out a sigh of satisfaction.

"Wow, these are really comfy! Remind me to invite you next time the girls and I want to chillax." Michael let out a chuckle at the compliment.

"An invitation to chillax with the Sainted Ones? I'd be a fool to refuse. Though I am a bit miffed that you only want me for my furniture." He replied with a smirk. Eliciting a chuckle from Rainbow.

"So how powerful are you?" She asked, as Michael made another series of gestures, that caused a number of the tastier types of flower to rapidly grow out of the table, easily within hoof's reach of her. Michael carefully plucked a nasturtium leaf, bringing it to his lips as he replied.

"I cannot say I have ever graded my abilities. However, Lord Khamun once mentioned that he felt I was easily in the league of the upper ranks of Pharosian sorcerers. If accurate, that estimate would put me in the company of individuals whom can shatter mountains with the proper spell." Rainbow stared.

"Woah! That sounds awesome!" She exclaimed, before her expression suddenly darkened. "Guess that's what it takes for Derran to let you protect your friends." She declared bitterly, as she snatched a daisy to angrily chew on. Michael's expression became sympathetic, as he bit down on the nasturtium leaf. Considering his words as he savored the peppery flavor.

"You think his Lordship doesn't believe you are strong enough?" Rainbow arched an eyebrow at Michael's questioning tone.

"What else could it be?! Derran literally told us that we couldn't hack it!" Michael nodded slowly.

"I suppose it's true you lack combat experience, and with respect Lady Dash, war is not something I would wish upon my worst enemy, let alone you." At Rainbow's glare, Michael held up a hand. "That said, I do not believe it is my Lord's primary fear." At that, Rainbow looked confused.

"No offence, but you weren't there. Derran was pretty clear." Michael sighed.

"And I am certain he meant what he said. However his greater fear, indeed the fear of many of my brothers, is not that that you will fail in battle, but that you will succeed." At that, Rainbow looked completely lost.

"What are you talking about?! Are you seriously telling me Derran doesn't want us ponies fighting because he thinks we'll win?!! How does that make any sense?!!!" She demanded, glaring across the earthen table in equal parts anger and confusion. Michael however, remained completely calm as he replied.

"Lady Dash, are you aware just how much stronger the average pony is compared to a human?" Rainbow cocked her head, feeling completely flummoxed.

"Are kidding me?! You guys are-." Michael interrupted Rainbow with a shake of his head.

"No Lady Dash, not my brothers and sisters in the Legion. We have been granted power and strength far in excess of what we originally were capable of. I speak of humans that do not posses these gifts." Rainbow shrugged.

"I dunno. I always figured we were basically the same?" Michael chuckled.

"Exactly the response I would hope for from a Sainted One. And in the eyes of the Light and the Seraphim, you would be correct. All are equal under their gaze. However, there are important differences, both physical and emotional. And when it comes to the physical. . . an ordinary, unarmed human wouldn't stand a chance against even the weakest pony." Rainbow stared at Michael, disbelief written across her face.

"That. . . c'mon, that can't be right. You guy's fought in that Hell place for thirty years! I mean, yeah I'm awesome and all, but no way I could have done that!" Michael's expression suddenly looked far away.

"Did you know, Lady Dash, that the maneuvers you and your fellow Wonderbolts make during your basic warmups, would kill an un-augmented human pilot almost instantly?" Rainbow opened her mouth, but seemed unable to find a reply. Michael gave a grim smile, as he began casting a spell. Instantly, an outline of a pegasus pony in blue and a human in red appearing about fifty feet away as Michael continued speaking.

"The most gravitational force ever survived by a human body without magical protection was just over two hundred fourteen G's." The human outline was shown encased in some form of self-powered carriage that drove a short way before crashing. "That was in an autocarriage race crash. He suffered multiple fractures, breaking his sternum and femur, shattering a vertebra in his spine, and crushing his ankles. The fact he survived at all was a miracle." At Michael's words, the human outline was covered in bandages, and then placed in a hospital bed. "You, on the other hoof, once hit the ground in an out of control tailspin, head first. Sustaining multiple times that force, and suffering only a fractured wing and a few hours of unconsciousness. You were back on your hooves in a few days. Whereas the human racer took eighteen months."

As the pegasus outline was shown getting a band-aid on its wing before walking out of a building marked with a red cross, Rainbow did a double take. Was she really that much more durable than an average human? Thinking about Derran and the rest of the Legion it was pretty hard to imagine. But then, Michael wasn't talking about Legion humans.

"Additionally, your body has sustained speeds of well over Mach ten, while performing turns at near right angles." Here the peagusus outline was shown shooting through the air, performing all kinds of turns, spins, and tricks before landing light as a feather. "A human attempting the same thing, would be torn asunder by the forces involved." Michael explained, showing the human outline attempting the same actions, only to disintegrate mid turn. Rainbow picked and slowly chewed another daisy.

"If we're really that strong and we're fighting humans. . . why wouldn't Derran want us fighting? If winning would be that easy, why would he be afraid of that?" Michael sighed, a faraway look in his eyes.

"Lady Dash. . . do you happen to know what my brother's first instinct was on hearing of Hayden's threat?" Rainbow nodded.

"Of course. Twilight told us they wanted to attack Hayden first. Why? It actually sounded like a pretty smart move to me?" Michael gave a humorless smile.

"I suspect what the Seraphim of Friendship failed to mention was the nature of the battle my brothers wished to wage. Likely because she herself was not ready to speak of it." Taking a deep breath, Michael looked Rainbow dead in the eye. "Lady Dash, my brothers did not wish to fight Hayden's soldiers. They wanted to exterminate his people in their entirety in an act of genocide." Rainbow's eyes widened in shock as Michael elaborated. "You and your fellow Equestrians see us as saviors and heroes. However, that is only because most of you have never seen our darker natures. The rage. . . the hate. . . the horror and misery. How in each of us lies a cruel and wrath-filled monster, one we fight every day to contain. Our bodies may be whole Lady Dash, but make no mistake, we are all broken men. Broken and twisted, by the horror of war."

Rainbow shuddered, as Michael's expression seemed to grow cold. With one hand, he traced jagged lines and sinister twirls in the air. A smell of ozone filled her nostrils, as Michael's hand began to glow. Extending it toward her, Michael stared into Rainbow's eyes with a frightening intensity despite his calm expression. "If you want to know the greatest fear of the Slayer, of all within the Legion. . . take my hand."

Rainbow stared at the offered appendage. Glowing with a cold sort of un-light it seemed to mute the brilliance of the otherwise sunny day. For a moment, she hesitated. Then her expression became determined.

"I've seen Derran lose control. And I'm not stupid. I know sometimes he isn't the nicest guy. But I'm not scared of him or winning! Especially not when it means protecting my home and friends!" So saying, Rainbow grabbed hold of Michael's hand with her hoof. And everything. . . went dark.

Rainbow shot across the battlefield like a living cannonball. Low to the ground she dodged anti-aircraft cannon fire and surface to air missiles effortlessly. Below her, razor wire and craters covering an endless field of mud whipped by in a blur. The smell of cordite, sulfur and smoke filled her lungs. Dipping a wing, she lazily rolled away from a line of tracer fire, laughing as she closed on her target. If the enemy wanted to take her down, they'd need to try a lot harder than that!

Looming up before her was a small redoubt of earth and concreate. Barely worthy of being called a fortification, it had been blasted almost out of existence by bombs and artillery fire. It was one of the last lines of defense before the enemy's back line. The only thing preventing the Legion EUP divisions from advancing right into the enemy encampment. Rainbow grinned, it had taken mere days to crush the opposition's primary, secondary, and tertiary lines. They had lost hundreds of thousands of soldiers to the combined might of the EUP and Legion while barely scratching them in return. Granted, they had still lost good men and ponies in the effort, but no more than a few hundred so far with just under a thousand wounded. Rainbow, instinctively thought of Pinky Pie and felt a sharp pain in her heart, the doctors still weren't sure when she'd wake up from her coma, or what kind of condition she'd be in when she did.

"Heads up Lieutenant!" Called out a familiar voice, breaking Rainbow out of her increasingly dark thoughts. As several figures swooped into formation around her. Spitfire, Soren, and Thunderlane, each in a modified magetech version of a Wonderbolt flight suit took position beside and behind her. The uniforms they all now wore were in digital camo colors, and sported specialized armored frames covering their bodies and wings. Sleek helmets featuring an integrated heads up display in the tinted visors covered their heads, each bearing markers denoting their names, ranks, and most importantly their kill count. Rainbow couldn't see hers, but somehow knew it was over nine thousand confirmed kills, the highest in the EUP Pegasus Division. The frames also came equipped with a number of modular weapon hardpoints. Currently carrying blast SMG's, defensive flares, and micro-grenade launchers. "You weren't planning on winning the whole war by yourself were you Mam?" Spitfire asked with mock reproach.

"C'mon Captain, I'm sure the CO wasn't gonna leave us sitting on our hooves. Were ya' LT?" Soren remarked with a laugh. Rainbow just smirked at her subordinates as they continued to deftly dodge the increasingly desperate enemy defensive fire. The comradery felt good. She wasn't quite able to recall how they'd all got here, but it didn't matter. The elite Wonderbolt kill-team The Redwings, was hurtling toward an enemy position locked and loaded and under heavy fire. Now was the time for action, not thinking. Especially not about Pinky Pie, or the pain and anger thinking about her caused.

"Sure. . . that is if you slackers can manage to keep up." Rainbow declared with a laugh, as she casually smacked a missile aside with her wing. Her onboard computer having informed her its warhead had failed to arm. While simultaneously activating the blazing red energy blades along the outside of her armored pinions, from which her squad had gained their infamous name "C'mon Redwings! Let's show these Hayden humping hairless apes who runs these skies!"

"MAM YES MAM!!" Came the immediate reply. As they finally reached the lip of the redoubt.

Shooting over the small hill of disintegrating earth and concreate, Rainbow had a brief glimpse of a red and black featureless helmet as she and the Redwings flew by. Screams accompanied a light bump, as her squad's bladed wings sliced through the hapless enemy, the opening strike coating them in glorious crimson. Activating their grenade launchers, the ranks of unprepared soldiers in the trenches on the other side of the redoubt were torn apart by four simultaneous three round bursts of high explosives from the quartet of impossibly fast pegusai. Hurtling through a cloud of shredded limbs, pulverized organs and vaporized blood, the Redwings parted and came about in a series of razor sharp U-turn. The back of the redoubt was a concreate wall with platforms, stairs, and weapon emplacements built into it. All currently crawling with Earth aligned humans. One of which, spattered with the gore of his decapitated allies, stared at her and the Redwings with naked terror. Internally, Rainbow felt a thrill go through her at that look. Even if she'd never say it out loud, she liked the fear she and her team inspired. It made her feel powerful, like an invincible goddess of the sky.

"He'ya boys!" Rainbow shouted cheekily. Laughing as she and her three wingponies hosed the, woefully slow, soldiers manning the redoubt's firing step with Blast SMG weapons fire. Men, still struggling to bring their weapons to bare screamed, as they came apart under the unforgiving barrage. Rainbow briefly felt another sharp pain in her heart as her team landed and separated into groups of two. Heading for one of the two still functional pill boxes, she couldn't help but wonder if that had been a little cruel. There hadn't been that many enemy soldiers, and they could have easily taken them prisoner. Couldn't they? Rainbow dismissed the thought as Soren placed a breeching charge on the pillbox door. Soft thinking like that is what got Pinky hurt, she wouldn't make the same mistake.

"Knock knock monkeys!" Soren shouted, as they took cover on either side of the door and detonated the charge. Soren, not pausing to preform a room scan or lob a grenade, charged in heedlessly. Rainbow didn't even have time to cry out a warning, before a thunderous boom sounded, and Soren's head exploded in a spray of gore.

"SOREN!!" Rainbow shouted. Anger and horror mingling in her voice, as she fired a burst of explosive submachinegun fire at the still smoking doorframe, before pulling a hoof grenade from the tactical kit on her chest and tossing it into the structure. Dust and smoke vomited from the door, along with a scream and a spray of shrapnel. Not hesitating, Rainbow ran in, jumping nimbly over the prone form of a shredded corpse holding a broken shotgun and into the gunner's room.

A human soldier without his helmet turned to look at Rainbow with frightened eyes. He looked ragged beyond belief, exhausted and half starved, his dirty and torn uniform hanging off of him like a scarecrow. To boot, he likely hadn't slept in days, given the bags under his eyes. Rainbow didn't care, even as he raised his arms to show he was unarmed.

"I surrend-." Rainbow didn't even let him finish as she launched herself at the man with a scream of rage. Knocking him to the ground, she felt his ribs crack from the impact of her short charge. For just an instant, Rainbow beheld the terror in the man's eyes as he struggled to shield himself with his arms. In the back of her head, Rainbow Dash heard a voice, pleading with her to stop. Shouting at her that the human was unarmed and no threat. That killing him would be wrong. . . then she thought of Soren and Pinky.

With a roar of primal fury, Rainbow struck the man with her right hoof. His cry of pain, as his lip split and his teeth cracked, doing nothing but urge on his attacker as her left hoof came down. With wild swings of her front hooves, Rainbow proceeded to demolish the helpless human. Bones cracked, flesh rent, and blood and teeth sprayed across the floor as Rainbow vented her fury. She paid no heed to his cries of pain or his inarticulate attempts to beg for his life. His cries swiftly growing weaker, as his attacker beat his face to a pulp. His struggles were as feeble as his words to the far stronger pony, his fists merely annoying her as he tried to fight her off. With a snort, Rainbow broke both his arms with a few well aimed strikes as she continued to whale on him. Only when, with a final echoing 'crack' her enemy went entirely limp, did she stop.

Once more, in the back of her head, Rainbow heard a voice. Screaming at her. It demanded to know what she had done?! That man was helpless, and she murdered him in cold blood! But Rainbow ignored it, as she searched the bodies and rooms for intel. Once satisfied that there was nothing save a broken comms array and a few personal effects, Rainbow headed back outside. Just in time for Spitfire and Thunderlane to come out of the opposite pill box, shoving a captive into the ground before them. With a laugh, Thunderlane shot a burst from his blast weapons at the prisoner's feet, the low powered shots kicking up puffs of dust as the human stumbled with a frightened yelp.

"And here I thought monkeys were good at dancing!" Spitfire remarked with a cruel laugh. That once again spurred that damned voice to yell at Rainbow to put a stop to Thunderlane's little prank. She ignored it in favor of addressing Spitfire.

"Soren's dead." Rainbow declared bluntly. Once more tuning out the voice as it asked how she could be so blasé about the death of a friend. For an instant, Spitfire and Thunderlane looked shocked, before shaking their heads.

"Bucking hell!" Spitfire swore angrily.

"Whos' gonna tell his little brother?! Kid worshipped Soren!" Thunderlane remarked. His voice thick with anger and sadness.

"We'll worry about it once the mission's over. Report: what did you find, and who's the stray?" Spitfire launched into an explanation as Thunderlane went to claim Soren's dog tags.

"We didn't find any intel mam, but the prisoner was manning the secondary comms. Figured he might know something." Rainbow glanced over at the whimpering prisoner. He was absurdly young, likely only eighteen or nineteen. He looked scared out of his mind. The damned voice came back, begging Rainbow to say something to comfort him. He was just a kid! What if that had been Scootaloo?! Rainbow was getting really sick of this, the voice reminded her of the old her, the soft, naive filly who hadn't yet learned the hard lessons of the world. Turning to the prisoner, Rainbow targeted his legs with her guns. Her voice was like ice as she spoke.

"One of your friends just killed my buddy Soren. So I'm in a lousy mood. Tell me something interesting and maybe I won't take it out on you." The man, or 'boy' really, looked at Rainbow with tears in his eyes. Except for the voice begging her to stop, Rainbow felt nothing.

"I-I don't. . . the town is undefended! It's just civilians! Children and the elderly! You killed everyone el-AAAHHH!!!." The boy's testimony transitioned into a scream of supreme agony, as Rainbow obliterated his left leg with a three round burst from her SMG.

"I said 'interesting'." She drawled nonchalantly as the boy clutched at the bloody stump of his leg. "lies aren't interesting." The boy, showing an impressive degree of discipline, managed to stop screaming. Looking at Rainbow through pleading tearstained eyes, he spoke through gritted teeth.

"I'm not lying! I swear! We were the only defenders left! Please! You've won! The town will surrender I swear just-." A final shot from Rainbow's weapon detonated the young soldier's head, silencing him forever. Meanwhile, the voice in her head was now apparently bawling its eyes out over the dead human. Rainbow herself, had work to do. Work that didn't involve coddling some defective part of herself that suddenly took issue with the wages of war.

"You think he was telling the truth Lieutenant?" Spitfire asked, apparently completely unconcerned with the brutal actions of her superior. Rainbow shrugged.

"Could be. Not that it matters. Command says we'd lose too much momentum by sticking around, so orders are to level the town, not take it. We don't have time to babysit a bunch of monkey POW's." Spitfire nodded, as a voice, familiar, yet alien in how cold and unemotional it sounded, spoke through her suit comms.

"Lieutenant Dash? This is high command. Update: what's the status of your mission?" Rainbow let out a sigh.

"Soren is KIA, but we've taken the position. Interrogated a survivor, he said they were the only defenders left. Claimed there were civilians squatting in the town." The response was as prompt as it was unsympathetic.

"Unfortunate, but we can't risk occupation. Signal General Applejack to advance with her battalion, orders remain the same: destroy the town and kill anycreature they find." Rainbow Dash nodded, the voice in her head now screaming incoherently at her, in turns begging and threatening her to stop this madness. Madness? As if fighting for her home could ever be madness.

"Roger that Twilight. We'll grab a cider and toast to Soren when I get back." The reply that followed was garbled, as Rainbow felt the world fade around her. . .

Rainbow Dash fell out of her chair screaming. For several seconds she stayed on the ground, her head jerking wildly as her horrified shrieks filled the air. Her mind was a whirlwind as she struggled not to vomit. An indecipherable babble of words pouring from her lips as tears filled her eyes. Only the feeling of a pair of arms wrapping around her anchored her to sanity.

"It's alright Lady Dash! Shhh! It's alright!" Michael Santius declared, as he held Rainbow in his arms. His soothing voice working to calm her as she bawled into his shoulder. "It wasn't real! Just an illusion. Everything is all right. Shhhhh. . ." Running his hands gently through Rainbow's mane, Michael listened as Rainbow slowly calmed down. In fits and starts, she finally managed to speak coherently.

"I. . . (hic) I couldn't stop myself!" She sobbed. "I just. . . oh Celestia those people! WHY COULDN'T I STOP?!!" Michael felt sick as he comforted the pony in his arms. He hadn't meant to traumatize Rainbow Dash. Merely show her an example of what he had been talking about.

"That wasn't you Lady Dash." He stated soothingly. "I know it felt like it was, but that was the spell. It conjured a corrupted version of you that I came up with based off my own fighting experiences. I am so sorry. I didn't mean it to feel that real."

"B-but I. . . I killed that guy! He was scared, and alone, and he didn't know anything and I just. . . I didn't mean to do it!" Michael once again began running his hand through Rainbow's mane.

"I know you didn't my Lady." He stated, his voice and actions gradually calming Rainbow down.

"The killing I. . . some of it I enjoyed! Like it was a game! Oh Celestia, I'm a monster!" Rainbow bawled. Michael shook his head.

"No my Lady! You would never be so heartless as that creature I made! You aren't capable of it. If I have faith in anything, it is that. I assure you, the only one at fault here is me." Several minutes passed, as Rainbow cried her eyes out onto Michael's shoulder. For his part, Michael never moved, simply holding and comforting the weeping mare as best he could. Finally, she pulled back, her face a mess of tears and snot. Conjuring a handkerchief from the ether, Michael began to gently clean Rainbow's face. After he finished, and once she'd blown her nose, she was finally able to address him normally.

"Is. . . is what you said true? Was that. . . 'evil me' really based on you?" Michael nodded.

"It was. A tiny piece of myself, shoved into a simulacrum of you. It was not meant to be so intense. Merely an example of how war can twist even the best of us into something we never wanted to be." Rainbow still looked skeptical.

"But. . . you're a good guy! Even Derran said you're the greatest man he ever knew! How can. . . that be inside you?" Michael took a deep breath.

"All of the Legion have inner monsters Rainbow. A hate. Born from what Hell did to us. . . and from what we chose to do to ourselves." Looking into Michael's eyes, Rainbow saw an almost immeasurable sadness, and for a moment, a single, fleeting moment, a glimmer of something. Whatever it was, it was dark, twisted, and more terrifying than a hundred rampaging Derrans. "Know this Lady Dash, though I may posses control of my anger, though I make every effort to follow in the hoofsteps of the Seraphim and walk in the light of forgiveness, I am still Legion. And when the occasion demands it; I too, can hate. . ."