A NATIONWIDE MINUTE OF SILENCE COMMENCES IN ITALY AFTER A RECENT EQUESTRIAN ATTACK LEAVES THOUSANDS DEAD

PMC'S ARE 'READY TO SATISFY DEMAND', WORLD MARSHALL INC. REPRESENTATIVE REPORTS

10:20, 29/07/2050, MEC BAY

The sound of metal footsteps filled the small room adjacent to the MEC bay as a figure approached the Exosceleton and stood in front of it. The human's arms and legs were segmented, metallic joints exposed for the world to see. The body was covered in metal, an additional protective layer to shield the user during battle. The hulking piece of machienery towered over the figure as a male voice blared throught the intercom above them. "Guzman, suit up and get to the training grounds, we've got some new equipment to test." The man sipped some coffee, the slurping sound echoing through the room. "I think you'll have fun with these." The woman rolled her eyes and opened the front panel of the suit, exposing its nethers. She climbed into the machine with trained dexterity, and seated herself somewhat comfortably, making sure her arms and legs fit their rightful place inside the suit. With a satisfying click the appendages slit into their grooves, and the front metal plate closed shut. Rosa felt a certain numbness as her body synched with the suit, but it subsided after a few moments. An array of data imposed itself over her vision, everything from heart rate, to estimated battery life, which was predicted to be around five hours at the moment. Well, that's new. Usually it's just a sideways eight. She noticed a few odd modules, and made a note to ask about it later. She rose and flexed her robotic body, mentally concentrating on her earpiece.

"Melnik, open the door, i'm ready."

"You're certaibly making progress Rosa, that didn't even take half an hour!" The woman smiled faintly.

"Thanks, I've been getting better at it these past few days."

"Open Sesame!" The voice said, and the metal doors slit open, letting light bleed into the small room and giving the woman just enough space to go through. The soldier entered the testing area, each step echoing through the giant room. An obstacle course was set up in the room, and Rosa raised an eyebrow when she saw a three-story high building halfway through it. Looking to the right, beneath the ceiling was an observatory, a group of various staff members looking over the scene. She raised an arm and waved to the group. "Hello to you to, Rosa! Hope you had a good night's sleep." A single figure waved back.

"Uh, sure I did." She most certainly didn't. "So, what's on the schedule for today?"

"The engineers installed some new modules this morning, so we'll need you to test out a few things." The voice sounded exited. "This is the first time anyone used them, so make sure to report anything out of the norm." Rosa checked the data once more, battery life slowly ticking down.

"Yeah, about that. Should this thing have a battery life? It's telling me I'm dead in the water in around five hours or so." She heard the rustle of papers through the radio.

"Yes, but that won't be a problem out in the field. We've mounted more modules than the suit can handle without draining the internal battery. We're working on integrating a better power supply, but it's still a work in progress. For now, you can handle one major module and one minor without severely reducing operating time."

"Good to know, I guess. So, what do you want me to do?"

"Right, first we need you to go through the obstacle course, the usual." Her eyes stopped at the tall building. Before she could ask a question, the voice continued. "I'll tell you more when you approach the structure."

Rosa shrugged her shoulders and took off running. The ground quaked as she jumped over small obstacles and weaved around corners. Barreling through the the things she wasn't nimble enough to evade, she made her way to the tall structure, without even breaking a sweat. "Alright Boris, what now?" An image of a boot lit up in the corner of her eye.

"Meet the latest and greatest in terrain traversal for MEC combatants - Jet Boots! Try it out, jump up the building! The suit should do the math."

Rosa concentrated on the newly installed apparatus, and the boot icon changed to green. She looked up the building with the intent of getting on top of it. She took a deep breath and jumped. Fire erupted from under her feet, sending her up the building. "SHIT!" She landed on the roof with a thud, barely managing to find her balance and not fall.

"YES! It worked! Brilliant, absolutely brilliant!" Rosa raised an eyebrow at that.

"And you thought they wouldn't?"

"I've had my concerns, I must admit." He cleared his throat. "But the important part is that it worked." Rosa shook her head.

"Nevermind, what's next?"

"Advance to the edge of the platform." Rosa did just that, carefully approaching the brink all the while keeping an eye on the jet boots module.

"Alright, now jump." The Doctor commanded through the intercom, earning a raised eyebrow from the woman. She looked at the boot icon, and found it blinking red.

"Uh, doc the boots aren't ready yet, need to wait a second."

"Nope, you can jump right now!" Melnik said, a proud undertone clear in his voice. "The suit's more than capable of withstanding a little fall!"

Rosa looked over the edge, quickly regretting the rash descision. The platform she was standing on looked to be a good twelve meters off the ground, and she hoped against hope that what she thought was about to happen, wouldn't.

Taking a deep breath, she took a single step towards oblivion, servomotors inside her joints whirred and clicked as the metal leg hung over the precepice.

And then she fell.

Shapes danced in her peripherals, most too blurry or too small to understand, but she got the general idea of what they were trying to say.

That she was falling.

Geez, thank a lot.

She braced for an impact that came sooner than she expected, and with a thunderous boom she hit the concrete floor. A crack formed underneath her, and a sizable amount of dust filled the air around her, so much so, that she began coughing. To her surprise, there was no pain. A slight discomfort and a dizzy head, sure, but no wounds that would result from such a landing.

She would've like a few more moments to recuperate, though.

"You alright there Guzman?" The voice of the doctor did nothing to ease the dizzyness that was beginning to dissapate, but she managed to give the man a 'thumbs up' through the setteling cloud. "Great job, to you and to the folks behind this suit! You wouldn't believe how many times they tested this thing!" He took a sip of the coffee, something Rosa wouldn't mind herself. "Apparently, the first prototypes turned the wearer to jelly from the impact, even with the protective plating!" Judging by the ceramic clank reverberating through the polygon, he set the cup onto the table. "Scary stuff!"

Rosa groaned before turning on her radio. "Very. What's next, Melnik?"

The sound of working machienery and scraping concrete preceded it's appearance, Rosa turned and saw a mannequin rising from under the floor. Judging by the charred state of the thing, she thought she knew what to expect. But it seemed that the day was full of surprises.

"You see that fist icon on your HUD? Concentrate on it, and see what happens." I'd burn a hole through the damn thing if I concentrated any more. Just like that, a fist-like module came to life on her left arm, the low hum it made indicating it was ready and raring to be used. Melnik interrupted her concentration, yet the hum remained. Guess I'll have to concentrate on turning it off. Nifty.

"I introduce to you the newest CQC solution for our Mechanical soldiers: Kinetic Strike Module, otherwise know as Project Thunderclap! KSM is the next best thing to tearing out a lamppost and swinging it at the x-rays!" Rosa clenched and unclenched her left fist and took aim at the mannequin, deciding not to wait for Melnik's 'green light'.

With a mighty crack the pulverised mannequin was separated from its stand and was sent flying, stopping a good five meters away from the woman.

"Whoa there, that eager to try it out?" Melnik's voice rang out through the loudspeaker, a little surprised. "Works just as well as we predicted, that punch would've taken out a muton!" The doctor replied in amazement.

"Give me a berserker, then we'll talk. " Rosa said, stretching her mechanical arm in anticipation.

"Khm, I'd say you've got to be a bit more careful with those. Their heavy shock-absorbing armor would soften the blow!" He tapped something on a keyboard before continuing. "There's one more thing we need to do before you're free to go."

A portion of the floor slid to the side, revealing a gap in the floor. A white panel slid out, containing a moderate sized cage, hidin a prisoner inside. An angry, green, hulking prisoner.

"Uh, Melnik? You know I was kidding, right?" Rosa said, keeping her eyes on the muton in front of her, his angry, small yellow eyes following her every move. "I'm not sure gladiator fights are legal, If that's your intent."

Melnik chuckled in response, the sound seemingly agitating the muton even further, as it started to beat his massive fists against the metal bars. "No no no, nothing like that! You'll be testing one of our most recent developments!" A soft click echoed through the test chamber, and a small pictogram of a lightning bolt appeared in the corner of her eye, glowing green.

"I present to you: Project Lightning Bolt, the, well, Lightning to your Thunderclap. Aim it at the target for close range to send a focused electromagnetic pulse capable of confusing and incapacitating them."

Rosa furrowed her brows. "So you've made an arc thrower... for MEC's?"

"Prescisely! The factor of mounting the device on a heavier chassi allowed us to religate a greater power supply to it, meaning a greater power output. This thing could fry a human's nervous system to a crisp!" The doctor's voice had a tinge of giddy to it, one that didn't go unnoticed as someone tapped him on a shoulder. "Right, I got a little too exited. Point is, it should be powerful enough to stun an alicorn, today's the first time we test it on anything alive, though."

"Aight, so how do I fire this thing?" Rosa asked, getting a feeling she already knows the answer.

"Same thing as before. Concentrate on firing it while looking at the target, the suit will do the rest."

Doing as she was told, a sizable hammer-like protrusion jutted out from a section of her left hand, crackling with energy. She looked at the green monster that was currently desperately trying to pry the metal bars open, staring her down with hate-filled, yet empty eyes. She concentrated at firing at her target, and watched the magic happen.

A crackling ray of electricity arched towards the prisoner, hitting it's chest. The muton erupted into a howl, pain and anger mixed into the vocalisation, before dropping to the ground like a sack of potatoes. Rosa approached the unresponsive alien, a smell of burnt meat hitting her nostrils. As she got closer, the optical sensors told her what happened.

"This one's down for good, completely fried." She relayed, turning to the observation deck.

"And the module is intact, wonderful!" Melink said in a content voice. "We'll have to input the alicorn's parameters to calculate the required power output, though. Wouldn't want to fry out VIP, right?"

Rosa turned her gaze to the dead body in the cage, a small trickle of blood coming out of it's mouth.

"Right."

17:20, 29/07/2050, BRIEFING ROOM

Even steps reverberated through the brightly lit room, as Commander Bradford paced back and forth, clearing up his thoughts. Six people sat closely to eachother on individual chairs, closely monitoring his every move, determined espressions on their faces. An overhead prohector was shining the plan of the Crystal Castle, the shining jewel of the Crystal Empire onto a whiteboard, multiple entrypoints ponted out on the plan.

"Today is an important day. For XCOM, for Humanity." Bradford began, capturing the attention of the soldiers. "Today is the day when we strike in the heart of our enemy, take out one of the most important parts of their hierarchy." Bradford stopped, turning to face Strike One.

"Today, we come for one of the Princesses." An image of a pink alicorn overlapped the castle plan, grabbing everyone's attention. "Yout target is Mi Amore Cadenza, colloquially known as Cadance, ruler of the Crystal Empire, wife of Captain Shining Armor." He glanced at Feng Yin, who nodded in understanding. "Using the data extracted from the Captain Armor, we were able to formulate her daily schedule, as well as the Castle's plan."

Bradford approached the whiteboard, pointing at the plan with a ruler. "Your point of infiltration will be the eastern balcony, which leads to the second story main hall, not far from the royal bedchambers." Bradford said, pointing out the way on the whiteboard. "The VIP is most likely to be there. Infiltrate the castle, locate the VIP and bring it back to HQ for interrogation. Any questions?" Bradford asked, surveying the group with a steel glare.

A single hand rose from the entire group. "What about collateral damage?" Rosa asked.

"Intel indicates no civilian populace in the castle, fire at will." Bradford replied, getting a nod in responce.

"Once you secure the VIP return to your infiltration point for pickup, Big Sky will be on standby before you do." When no questions arose, he continued. "This mission is time sensetive, you will have an hour and a half to fulfill your objective and board the Skyranger, before the mission site is destroyed."

"How many guards are there at the palace? What's their equipment? What if they raise an alarm, surely our approach will not be ignored?" Feng Yin quesioned, her arms crossed.

"Guards of all three races are present, expect standart equipment for each." Bradfort pressed a button on a small remote, the picture behind him changing once more. "To reduce the number of guards patrolling the castle, as well as to divert attention, you will be aided by an allied squad." A logo depicting a globe with a six-pointed star behind it appeared on the whiteboard, much to Van Doorn's chargin', judging by his shocked expression.

"It can't be..."

"An allied squad will divert attention from your squad via a frontal assault on a local military base, giving you enough time to accomplish your mission. Any questions?" Bradford finished, waiting for someone to speak up.

"Sir!" Van Doorn spoke up, saluting. "Does The Council know of this allied squad?" He asked, regarding Bradford with a suspiscious expression.

"The Council has authorised their involvement, since your squad will be understaffed due to the Thallman anti-magic generator installed on board." Bradford's tone indicated no further questions on the topic. "If there are no further questions, this breifing is finished. Good luck."

18:22, 29/07/2050, CRYSTAL EMPIRE SKIES

A continuous hum echoed through the confines of Big Sky's Skyranger, lulling its passangers into a false state of calm. The passanger bay of the aircraft, usually quite spascious, able to easily accomodate for a squad of no less than eight, felt rather small all of a sudden, no doubt due to the presense of one metal giant.

Rosa Guzman, clad in first-generation MEC armor was currently sitting opposite of Van Doorn, deep in thought. The cause of her worry was currently purturbed too, something weighing down his mind.

"Why the long face, Pete? Worried I'll steal your fame on the battlefield?" Rosa joked, a faint smile gracing Van Doorn's lips.

"More like afraid you'll crash through the balcony when we land." He shook his head, his expression becoming serious once more. "Have you seen that logo Commander showed us?"

"The one with the globe? Isn't that a UN insignia?" Van Doorn shook his head.

"That's the logo of World Marshall."

"The PMC?" Rosa said, her eyes going wide. "Last time I heard they weren't doing so well, what happened?"

"I'd like to know that too." Van Doorn said dejectedly. "Since when does XCOM work with mercenaries?" He wondered aloud.

"Strike One we're approaching the Castle, prepare for deployment in T minus five seconds." The voice Big Sky rang through the squad's radio, grabbing everyone's attention. The aircraft crained a little as Rosa stood up, moving nearer to the closed ramp alongside everyone else.

The ramp hit the crystall floor with a metallic clink, bathing the inside of the aircraft in golden rays of glorious sunshine.

The monumental crystall walls towered over the squad, the soldier's helmets thankfully protecting them from the glares of sunlight the walls reflected.

Clockworks clicked and clinked within the hulking metal suit as Rosa took the first step out of the Skyranger. A black web of cracks spread through the floor under her mighty steps, but the surface held as the soldier moved forward, stopping in front a massive double-door made of opaque blue crystal.

"Entryway blocked, we'll have to ram through this one." Rosa's voice rang out through the radio.

"Assume breaching position." Feng Yin commanded from the back of the squad, taking aim at the door beside Van Beek.

Rosa remained stationary in front of the door, while Adam and Van Doorn stood on esch side of the entrance, Bozic right behind the latter.

"Big Sky, anything on the radar?" The squad leader asked.

"Can't tell, ma'am, too much interference." The pilot said over the radio .

"Affirmative. Remain on standby, be ready to provide close air support if needed."

"Aye aye." The Skyranger's ramp closed shut, the VTOL aircraft ascending from the balcony to begin its routine.

"I think I've got something." Bozic said, closing her eyes and holding up her hand. Two balls of static stood on each side of the door, oblivious to the squad's infiltration. "Two tangos on each side of the door."

"Got it. Guzman, begin KSM breaching maneuver."

"Commencing restructuring manuever, stand back." Guzman's static-y voice said through the radio, sounding a little too calm and mechanical.

The heavy module on her left hand whirred to life, parts of it jutting out as it was filled with power. Rosa craned her hand back, before thrusting it at the crystal door with all her might.

The double door shattered from the sheer force of the impact, thousands of miniscule shards hitting the floor with an ear-piercing ringing. The deafening sound disoriented the two crystal guards standing on each side of the door, preventinv them from responding to the entering enemy.

The right guard was barely able to gather his wits, when a metall fist collided with his chest, his ribcage folding inward with a sickly crunch, sending the earth pony flying towards a wall. He impacted the crystall wall with a wet thud, dropping to the ground like a sack of potatoes.

Just as the pegasi on the left unfurled his wings, a red beam of coherent light passed through his head, leaving a gaping, smoking hole in beyween his eyes, killing him instantly.

The squad entered the hallway in a hurry, checking corners for hostiles.

"Van Beek, stay here with me, we'll guard the exfiltration point." Feng stated, recieving a nod in return, before addressing the rest of the squad. "The rest of you proceed as planned, Peter will assume command in my absense."

"Got it, moving as ordered." Van Doorn said, before waving the rest of the squad to move down the hall.

Their heavy steps reverberated through the sparsely decorated halls, no doubt making them the center of attention for anypony in the castle who wasn't deaf. Despite their loud entrance, little to no commotion could be heard in the castle, putting the squad on edge. Bozic went down the hall, pausing at each door, checking if she 'feels' somepony was inside.

"I don't like this silence." Adam mentioned through the radio. "Something's not right."

"Stop this horror movie talk, you're gonna jinx it." Rosa replied, shushing the man.

"Just think about it: If one of the Princesses is here, where are all the guards? Where are the servants?" The man replied in a worried tone.

"Shut it Marzec, or I swear I'll-"

"Kid's got a point." Van Doorn stopped Rosa's outburst before it could begin. "Imagine you break into the White House, and there's a total of two people guarding it. I'd be concerned." His words sent a shiver down the cyborg's still organic spine, forcing her to grip her laser lance tighter.

"When you put it that way..."

Suddenly, Bozic stood still in front of a lavish crystal double-door, adorned with a myriad of engravings. She held her hand up, before gesturing for the squad to form up. "Two targets inside, can't say who, but they feel... bigger than the two guards from before. They're also talking about... Something. Can't say for certain about what. One of them definently sounds like out VIP, though." She reported through the radio. "Leutenant, do you copy?"

"Heard you loud and clear, proceed with the plan, but excercise caution." Feng replied.

"Prepare for a breaching manuever, the use of flashbangs and acid grenades is authorised." Van Doorn said, standing on the left side of the door, right behind him was Bozic, who pulled out a flash grenade. To the right of the door stood Adam, an acid grenade on the ready.

"Breakin' and enterin' in three... two... one!"

Princess Mi Amore Cadenza sat on an exceedingly soft cushion with a strained expression, and no amount of warm tea would be able to help her mood. In front of her, sitting at the tea table was the source of her worry, not the only one, of course, but definently the most important one. Flurry Heart was facing away from her mother, looking at nothing in particular with a dejected expression.

"Flurry, dear, aren't you eager to see Aunt Twilight?" She pauses to see if that'd gotten a reaction out of her daughter. "I'm sure she's thrilled to see you again, an awfull lot of time passed since her last visit!" Her faux-smile quickly faded away as Flurry turned to her, acknowledging her mother for the first time in weeks.

"No mom, I'm not 'eager' or 'thrilled' to see Aunt Twi." Her eyes are dull, looking through her mother, rather than at her. "And neither is she. You know who's the pony both of us are eager to see?" A lump formed in Cadance's throat, one she fought down many times already. "I want to see dad."

Cadance took a deep breath and closed her eyes, unable to bear her daughter's accusatory gaze. "Sweetie, we've already talked about it. Shining is-"

"Dad's still alive!" Flurry shouted, tears welling up in her eyes. Cadance held a hoof to her chest, trying to get her breathing undr control, taken aback by her daughter's sudden outrage. "Aunt Luna told me so!"

"Flurry, please, you know what Aunt Celestia said about that." Cadance said, furrowing her brows in anger, more at Celestia, that at Flurry. "Luna's a pony, just like you and me. She, too, makes mistakes."

"Makes mistakes?" Flurry said, her voice rising. "Bullshit! Celestia doesn't want to bother looking for him, or trying for peace with humans! She's stubborn as a mule about this war, and so stuck up her own flank, she eats every cake twice!" She said, pounding her hooves on the crystal floor.

"Princess Flurry Heart!" Cadance said, raising her own voice. "I won't tolerate such language, not about Aunt Celestia!"

"That's rich coming from you, Mom!" Flurry shouted, letting out a mirthless chuckle. "Don't think I don't know what you say about Celestia behind closed doors!" Cadance surprised herself as she winced from the tone of her daughter's voice. "The whole fuckin' castle knows!"

"I-I..." Cadance stuttered, collecting her wits. "Celestia and I may have out disagreements, but I still support her. I have to." She finished, the words leaving a foul taste in her mouth.

"Do you, mom? Do you really have to?" Flurry glared at her mother, inwardly debating wether or not to continue her tirade. Her father's image appeared in her mind's eye, sealing her descision. "Would it have been so hard to stand up to Celestia, just once? Don't let her drag our Empire, our family into this pointless war?" Each word she spoke came out louder than the last. "Don't let her wipe entire cities off the face of the Earth, gutting our chances at peace?" She spat, forcing Cadance to look at the floor, away from her daughter's ire. "Was it so hard to not be a spineless coward, just for once? To stand your ground, and not let dad go to this war?" Her breath hitched, tears streaming down her face.

Silence fell upon the room, as Cadance was at a loss for words. Everything she thought about, every doubt, every mistake, all was laid bare in front of her.

"It's all your fault." Four simple words spat with so much spite and grief, was all it took to break Cadance's heart.

She could've sworn she heard thousands of tiny pieces of it falling down to the crystal floor, a terrible ringing filling her ears.

"MOVE, MOVE, MOVE!" Van Dorn hollered, moving in with the rest of the squad, just after a deafening explosion bathed the room in a bright white light. He winced as he breathed in a small cloud of acid, the substance irratating his windpipe for a moment, before smart macrophages neutralised the substance.

"Pacifying prey." A mechanical voice relayed into the radio, somehow managing to convey the operator's glee. A hammer-like protrusion jutted out the MEC's hand, sparkling with electricity. A shrill scream filled the room, reverberating past the shattered door, down the hall, and throughout the whole castle, as an arch of electricity hit the pink alicorn, causing her to shake uncontrollably, before falling to the floor. "VIP secure, moving to evac." Rosa reported, fastening her ranged weapon to her frame, flinging the limp pony over her right shoulder, holding it steady with her right hand.

"Copy that, mission parameters complete, return to Skyranger for exfiltration." Feng said over the radio, as the three soldiers covered Rosa's escape.

"What about the second Alicorn, ma'am?" Adam asked, his barrel poited at the smaller frame of a pony, violently coughing in the acidic mist. "I've got her dead to rights."

"Negative. We're not here for her, and we're low on time, make your exit while you still can." Feng commanded, Adam turning and running down the hall with the rest of his squad.

"Heard you loud and clear, moving to evac."

The quarter turned a corner, relieved to witness the familiar sight of Skyranger's ramp parked on the balcony down the hall. Just when they were halfway there, a loud scream grabbed their attention.

"GIVE ME BACK MY MOM!" A smaller alicorn, one Adam was targeting not so long ago, now flew towards the group at breakneck speeds, shooting magic rays in their general direction.

One of these rays hit Adam on the shouldier, melting through the armor, cinging his skin. Thankfully, the meld-augmented nanomachines hardened in responce to the trauma, preventing any deep tissue damage.

"Shit! Guzman, she's coming for you!" He hollered as the alicorn flew past him and the other squadmates, going straight for the MEC soldier.

"Roger that." The cyborg turned around with impressive dexterity, her charge KSM fist flying towards the alicorn. A mighty crack echoed trough the castle, as Flurry's body was flung down the hall, impacting a wall with a sickly crunch.

The threat now neutralised, the squad practically jumped into the Skyranger, fastening themselves to the seats as the VTOL aircraft took off.

"Holy shit." Adam murmered at the sight laid bare before him. From beyond the still open ramp he saw a red sun, shining it's blood-red light upon the capital of the Crystal Empire. Black smoke billowed from the burning streets of the city, the scene reminding him of the great fire of London.

"Pierdolić... guess we know where all the guards went." Bozic muttered to herself.

"Did World Marshall do all that?" Rosa asked, looking at Van Doorn expectingly. Not that he could see that, of course, both of their heads were coverd with helmets, after all. Before the man could utter a word, the urgent sounding voice of the Leutenant cut him off.

"We've got an bogey coming in fast, open fire!" She said, pointing at a small fast approaching dot, that got bigger and bigger with every second.

Princess Twilight Sparkle galloped through the burning streets of the capital, her mind set on one thing.

Find Cadance and Flurry.

It looked like a blazing inferno, or a beast from tartarus passed through these streets, something she'd actually prefer to the truth.

Bursting through the doors of the crystal palace, she galloped up the stair until she reached the floor she was looking for.

Yelling the names of her family members, and frantically looking around, she practically flew through the crystall halls, stopping when she reached a most gruesome sight.

Flurry Heart, her prescious little niece, laid broken on the floor, bones jutting out at odd angles, a small pool of blood gathering beneath her.

Twilight rushed to her niece's side, gently holding her close. "Flurry! Oh, Celestia, what happened."

Flurry winced, whether from pain, or otherwise, before replying.

"They... took mom... balcony... go... save... her..." The young alicorn fainted, unable to go on.

Flurry disappeared in a bright liliac flash, transported to the best doctors in Canterlot, as Twilight galloped towards the balcony.

She will not let them get away.

A bright purple beam struck the insides of the Skyranget, impacting a wall with a loud bang. A veritable avalanche of red coherent light rained down upon the pursuing alicorn, every shot seemingly bending around her, leaving her unharmed.

"Big Sky, get us out of here, we'll get burnt to a crisp if she keeps at it!" Feng yelled at the pilot, lining up another shot.

"No can do. Specter. This is as fast as we can go, you'll need to shake her off our tail." The pilot replied, doing his best to dodge the aerial assault.

"Flash out!" Adam yelled, throwing a flasbang at the pony. Mere santimeters separated the explosive from Twilight's muzzle as it was yanked away with a purple aura and thrown back at the craft.

"Shit!" Adam yelled as a well-placed shot from Van Beek vapourised the grenade before it could explode. "Nades won't work, we'll need to think of something else!"

"How many acids do we have left?" Bozic yelled, waiting for her laser heater to cool off.

Van Door checked his belt before replying. "I've got two left, Adam should have one as well."

"I told you they won't work!" Adam said in a frustrated tone. "She'll just-"

"Shut it, Marzec!" Rosa sneered, before turning to Bozic. "You were saying?"

"Acid nades have a little valve on the side. Crank it as far as it'll go, and the nade will begin to gradually release the acid." She explained, readying her launcher. "It'll cover her vision, and hopefully sting her, just enough for me to launch a rocket withoit her noticing!" He finished, checking her launcher.

"Will it work? Adam asked, sending another shot at the pony, barely ducking in time to avoid her retaliation.

"You've got a better idea?" The rocketeer retorted.

"Fair point." Adam replied, turning the valve on his acid grenade in tandem with Van Doorn, letting the green cloud of acid flow downstream, onto the alicorn.

Just when the pirple pony disappeared out of side, Bozic unpacket her rocket launcher, aiming it at the mist.

"Shredder rocket incoming!"

The explosive ordinance whizzed past the squad and into the green mist, exploding into a shower of metal sharp scraps.

A pony-sized sillouethe emerged from the depths of the toxic cloud, descending rapidly. Seconds passed as the group watched her fall with bated breath, before she disappeared in a purple flash.

The squad breathed a collective sigh of relief when no more attacks came, deciding instead to watch the setting sun.

"Target's off our ass, Big Sky, get us back home." Feng said, tired but satisfied.

"Roger that, Specter." Big Sky said, the ramp closing halfway. "We're far enough already, ma'am, so I suggest you watch the fireworks while you can, it's a once in a lifetime opportunity."

Before Feng could ask what he was talking about, she's seen bombardments before, after all, a giant mushroom cloud rose just over the horizon, obscuring the sun itself. The ramp closed shut just as the shockwave hit the Skyranger, the craft withstanding the blow.

"God help us all." Van Doorn finished grimly, sighing deeply in his seat.

OPERATION RED SUN: COMPLETE

ENEMY VIP SECURED

CIVILIAN LOSSES: ACCEPTABLE

STRIKE ONE: 2 WIA, 0 KIA.

MISSION INVENTORY: N/A

MISSION EVALUATION: EXCELLENT.

Author's Note

And from the ashes a new chapter will be born, evolved but untamed!

Thought this fic was dead, didn't you?

Nope, still workin' on it, just had a nasty writers block for the longest time.

Next chapter will probably be supplimental files, but then we'll be back to the story.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter!