Author's Note

Hello, reader. Chapter 13 was initially going to the be the last chapter. But, as I wrote more and more, I felt it would be better to split it into two more chapters so that it fits better with the length of the previous chapters. So this is only half of what I currently have typed out I'll try to finish up and get the next part out tomorrow hopefully.

I just wanted to add that this indicates a scene break/meanwhile scene:

Thank you for reading, hope you enjoy, and Happy Halloween 🎃

Chapter 13: Unexpected Visitors

Jet climbed the ladder and up to the exit hatch. He pushed it open with a loud creak and climbed the rest of the way, stepping out onto the dirt outside. After activating his armor, the HUD on his helmet came up around his vision inside it. It was a slightly brighter shade than the previous version and the details were smaller, allowing more space to actually see out of the visor. He watched as the HUD readings booted up and set up for the first use of the new system.

"Cognitive AI online, telepathic link to user successful, flight systems online, biofuel level at maximum, mapping system… Partially online, combat systems operational, nanite stability at peak efficiency, musical playlist updated and available." A familiar computerized voice rang in Jet's ear.

"Ah, hello Friday." He said happily.

"Greetings, sir. How many I assist you today?" She asked.

"I need a path to the Ponyville cemetery please." Jet replied, voice wavering slightly.

"Of course, sir. On moment." She said with a happy inflection.

It took a few seconds before a small beacon appeared at the top of his HUD just like before, acting like a compass to point him in the right direction.

"Thank you, Friday." Jet said politely.

"You're welcome, sir. Can I help you with anything else today? Shall I give you a rundown of new features?" She asked in response.

"No, I think I'm good for now. Just keep on standby, I might need to make use of that musical playlist you mentioned earlier." Jet replied after a moment of thought.

"Of course, sir. Good luck out there." She said before going silent for now.

Jet smiled and took off in the direction of the beacon and followed it in silence. It shouldn't take long to get there, but it would feel much longer due to the heaviness of the coming situation. He hadn't visited his parents graves since they passed. They had started in Cloudsdale, but after Jet joined the guards academy, they opted to move closer. Canterlot was a bit out their price range, so Ponyville is where they laid their heads. Jet knew he probably should've visited more even while they were still alive, but growing up with them, life was rough. At the time, he didn't know why they acted how they did, but after having heard from Luna that they were infertile it made sense.

Throughout the majority of his childhood, his father was a heavy drinker and his mother was just absent most of the time working at some diner. Once he grew up a bit and hit mid teens, his father had stopped drinking and gotten a job allowing his mother more time at home, they tried to make up for the lost time but the damage had already been done. They both wanted a child they couldn't have and dealt with that sorrow in their own ways, his father drowned his sorrows in alcohol while his mother drowned hers in her work. He didn't resent them or hate them for it, but he just couldn't face them after all that, it was too hard. But now, he wasn't leaving himself a choice. He might die today and he didn't want to leave any unfinished business or loose ends. His heart beat like a drum as he saw the large metal sign loom in the air ahead of him, accented by the barren skeletal trees that littered the grounds around and inside the cemetery. It was a foreboding scene, one that made Jet second guess his decision to come here.

As much as he wanted to turn back and forget this, he had already come this far. Turning back now would only waste time and energy for an end result of nothing. Stepping over the threshold of the cemetery gate, he took a deep breath and headed in. The old cobblestone path was faded, cracked, and heavily covered with dirt and debris from the years of no vistors. It wound and curved around the graves, leading deeper inside the land of death. He may not have visited, but he knew where they were buried. As he made his way through the cemetery, passing the various headstones that were in varying degrees of decay and weathering, he passed by a large monolith monument in the center of the cemetery. He knew this monument well as Twilight had told him about it a few times. It was a monument built to honor Starswirl himself, his body wasn't here of course as there had been no body to be buried. There were dozens of variations on stories about what happened to him, with only Luna and Celestia knowing the truth but refusing to talk about it in any kind of interview. The one thing that all the stories seemed to agree on was that he had vanished under mysterious circumstances, his study being found empty one day when everyone noticed his absence.

Jet stared the monument down for a brief while, reflecting on his life before moving on. Descending further into the cemetery and into the section with the mausoleums. They ran along on either side of the path and made it feel as if the graveyard itself was closing in on him. He'd never been claustrophobic, but this made him feel trapped and compressed for some reason. The path eventually wound back out of the tight feeling space of the mausoleums and out into another section with regular graves. He followed the path up a small hill in front of him, where a pair of chipped and worn headstones sat in the pale light that was barely able to pierce the thick clouds above. His stride slowed as he approached the headstones. They were chipped in a few spots across the surface and covered in a thick layer of dirt, obscuring the etched details beneath. At the base of them sat a pair of brown, dried out, and very dead roses. He sighed and bent down, brushing the old dead flowers away with his hand along with the built up dirt from the etchings. They almost instantly crumbled into dust and blew away in the breeze. Satisfied with having cleaned it enough to be legible, he knelt down and took a moment to collect his thoughts.

"Hey, mom and dad… Well, I guess technically not really huh? I… I don't really know how to take this new information. Hell, I'm not even sure why I came here to be honest. It's not like I ever came to see you while you were alive…" Jet said to the headstones.

The air grew eerily silent and colder as a dense fog started to roll in, but Jet hardly noticed. He had a lot to get off his chest and he wanted it over with.

"I guess the reason I'm here is to… To apologize. I should've visited more, alot more, but I just couldn't bring myself to face you guys. I was afraid… Afraid that something would happen if I came to see you. After everything when I was a colt… By the time you guys were ready to give me the love I needed, I didn't want it anymore. I feel awful about not giving you the chance to make it up to me and I really hope that wherever you are, you can forgive me. And if it's any consolation in the afterlife, I never hated or resented you for anything that happened. I was just too afraid of what could've happened, that I never even tried to see what would happen." Jet continues, spilling his guts to the emptiness of the cemetery and the headstones of his long deceased parents.

Biting back a sob, he was about to say more, but before he could, he was suddenly hit by something from his right side. He didn't catch what it was, but whatever it was hit him hard enough to knock him off the small hill and back onto the flat ground near the entrance to the mausoleum path. He lay on the ground on his back, dazed and confused as to what the hell hit him. Without wasting a second, he jumped to his feet and looked into the foggy abyss around him. There was nothing in sight that he could see, but as soon as he had that thought he was hit again. This time from the front and knocking him backwards, through a few of the mausoleum walls. The walls and coffins crumbled around him, leaving him covered in a combination of concrete dust and remnants of dead ponies. He quickly got back to his feet and brushed himself off with a deep shudder and gag, imagining who he had just had brush off himself.

"Alright, that's just fucking disgusting and disrespectful! Seriously! Who the hell attacks somebody in a cemetery?!" Jet yelled into the inky darkness.

There was no answer, just an eerie laugh from somewhere within the thick fog. He began to back up down the path, back towards the center where there was at least somewhat more light to see. From within the fog, he heard what sounded like chains rattling, followed by a sudden shape coming from the darkness. It moved fast, but Jet was luckily faster this time and managed to roll out of the way. He looked back to see a weapon of some kind that bore three claw-like blades, it had a strange iridescent purple chain attached to it and the claws appeared to be flashing with purple arcs of electricity. The claw, having missed it intended target, had become lodged in the concrete of one of the mausoleums.

Jet used this opportunity to turn and take off running, trying to at least get out of the cemetery for the sake of the dead surrounding him. He was almost back at Starswirl's monument when he was attacked again, this time being tripped up and knocked into the air in a matter of seconds. Making use of his wing thrusters, he reoriented himself upright. As he did, a figure cloaked by the fog and shadows jumped from the ground somewhere on his left. The figure spread its large wide wings, in what little light there was, he could make out only the vague shape of this one. The same eerie giggle from earlier rang out again, followed the by the same subtle rattle of chains. Before he could react, the figure moved its arms, the clawed weapons from before shot out from the fog suddenly.

Jet didn't have time to react, as the claws caught him. They didn't pierce his armor luckily, but they still gripped onto him tightly at his ribs. As he was about to yank them off, the purple chains they connected to flicked hard. A very quick and very harsh jolt of electricity was sent down them, through the claws, and right into Jet's ribs. This electricity was different from what he had found in the generators that he had found at Sombra's operations, it was much more volatile and felt almost alive. He screamed out in pain as it coursed through him, seeming to be deliberately targeting his wounds as most of the pain was concentrated in those spots. It lasted only seconds, but felt like minutes to Jet. Then just as suddenly as it started, it stopped, leaving Jet numb all over as he fell to the ground with a hard thud.

The shock combined with the impact left him dazed with the wind knocked out of him, on his back and vunerable. He tried to make his body move, to get out of this current vulnerable position. Slowly, but surely he got his limbs to move. Getting to his feet after a minute, he wheezed and coughed, still recovering from having the breath knocked out of him. While he recovered, he watched his surroundings for any more surprise attacks. None came for the time being, giving him time to both recover and think. Something clicked in his brain and he remembered the files on the assassins. By his count there were three left, and two of them fit the description of what was happening. He smirked to himself, having formed a plan now.

Regaining his ability to breath, he stood and summoned Love Spell. Ready and on guard, he listened closely for any sound to give away their position. It wasn't long until he heard the very soft crunch of gravel under a boot, followed by a very quick 'whoosh' of air being pushed at a fast rate. That was it, the tell he was looking for that would indicate an attack from whoever this was. He got hit from behind again, but this time was ready with a shield. The attack bounced off harmlessly, sending the attacker reeling backwards and throwing them off their balance. This gave Jet a good look at one of his attackers. They wore the same black armor as the other assassin's, but this one had very dark pink highlights and was very streamlined and sleak. Looking similar to the armor that Sunblast had gotten for Rainbow. Judging from the design of the armor, this was also a mare and different from the one who just electrocuted him.

Jet couldn't help but notice that one the shins and ankles of the assassin, a series of runes was glowing brightly, indicating another of the Founder's Relics. He recognized this assassin as Speed Freak, having the ability to attack their targets faster than they can see or react, but Jet was no ordinary target. They stared each other down for several moments before the assassin sped off back into the murky foggy darkness. Shutting his eyes tightly, he slowed his breathing and listened, waiting for the telltale sign that the assassin was about to attack again. As he focused on listening for that specific sound, everything else around him faded into silence. It wasn't long before he heard it, the soft crunch of debris under a boot followed by the 'whoosh' of the wind. He gave it only a second before he acted, leaping into the air with Love Spell above his head. The vambraces adorning his arms flower vibrantly as he added the strength of it to Love Spell. Wasting not even a second longer and chance giving the assassin time to react, he slammed his gauntlet clad fists into the ground below him.

The ground erupted in a shower of dust and chunks of stone, fracturing in portions and jutting upwards, sending now loose cobblestones flying every which way. The ground went from flat to the unstable aftermath of an earthquake in a matter of moments, the crags of the Earth itself around Jet stuck up like teeth from a gaping maw. The newly uneven ground was quick to trip up the assassin, Jet watched as she stumbled and face planted with a very audible thud. Unable to get enough footing to keep her speed, the glowing of her greaves dying down. Pulling his gauntlets free from the ruined cobblestone path, leaving two huge fist shaped indentations in the Earth, he made his way over to the assassin. He knelt down and grabbed her by the ankle, picking her up without much effort as she didn't seem to weigh a whole lot even with her armor. His gaze focused onto the silver greaves she wore, and just as he thought, it was another of the Founder's Relics.

"You probably wouldn't tell how you got these, huh?" Jet asked rhetorically, not expecting any answer.

"Lord Sombra gave them to me! They are my property, hands off!" She screamed, voice distorted by her own helmet.

"Interesting… And how exactly did he come to have them?" He asked, looking down into the faceplate of her helmet while he held her in the air.

"None of your fucking business, now fuck off!" She screamed again, kicking her free leg to no effect.

"Figured you'd say something like that, any chance you'd tell me who it is I'm fighting under that helmet?" Jet asked, hoping for the best but definitely not expecting it at this point.

"Again, none of your fucking business! Now let me go, jerk!" She cried out, thrashing around pointlessly and grunting with effort.

"Wait a minute… I know those fighting grunts…" Jet said to himself as something clicked in the back of his mind.

Before he could do or say anything else, out of the corner of his eye he caught the slight glint of a set of claws flying at him. Without thinking, he bent backwards just enough to avoid getting caught by it again, dropping the assassin in the process. She hit the ground with a thud, quickly rolling forward and landing on her feet before speeding off into the foggy abyss once again. Thinking fast, he grabbed at the chain attached to the clawed weapon, but his hand passed through it like he was grabbing at smoke. There was another eerie laugh from the direction the chain led in just before it pulled back into the mist and disappeared. Jet gritted his teeth in frustration, he really didn't have time for this. Once again he strained his ears and listened, but this time for that rattle of the chains from that weapon.

He didn't have to wait long as it came almost immediately. With a roll to the side, he dodged the claw again. It lodged in a tree behind him with a loud 'thunk'. Acting fast he got to his feet and grabbed the claw itself, managing to get a solid grip on the weapon this time and pulling it free from the tree trunk. Feeling a tug from the other side, he grinned to himself and held onto it tightly. He didn't budge as he felt the assassin tried to tug the weapon free from his grasp. The runes on his vambraces lit up again as he gave the chain a very hard yank, pulling the assassin out of the fog and into view. His suspicions were confirmed as he laid eyes on this one, evident by the build of the armor, this was yet another mare.

Her armor was much bulkier than the other one he was fighting, it looked more akin to a traditional set of knight's armor as opposed to the advanced look of the suits the other assassin's wore. It was black just like the others and sported a very dark purple highlighting detail. Sat atop her head was a horn that was also covered by her helmet but still jutted up from her head like a sore thumb. He didn't need more than one guess as to who this was, since all of the alicorns were accounted for except for one. Lowering his guard for a moment, he took a step towards her.

"Twilight? Listen to me, you can fight him. You're stronger than he is. Don't let him control you like this." Jet said calmly, still holding onto the claw so she couldn't run off easily.

She cocked her head to the side, leaving the air open to silence for a moment. Then, faster than Jet could react, she let out another eerie giggle and flicked the chain he was holding. He watched as another jolt of the strange purple electricity arced its way along the chain towards him. Bracing for the coming shock, he gritted his teeth and waited for it. The shock hit him hard, but not as hard as before, likely due to the fact that it was only one of the claws delivering the shock. He pushed through the searing pain in his muscles and gripped the claw tighter. With a strained groan of effort, he yanked on the claw again. This time, pulling the assassin off her feet and sending her flying right at him.

He stood his ground and steadied his stance. Leaning his body forward slightly, the two of them collided headfirst. Jet head butting her with a very loud 'crack' that echoed through the empty cemetery. He let go of the claw finally, letting her stumble back in both pain and surprise. As she stumbled back away from Jet, a hairline fracture began to appear down the front of her helmet across the faceplate. She jumped back further away from Jet and let out an angry scream before taking to the air. She didn't retreat like the other assassin did, but instead began to levitate in a single spot. Her horn glowed intensely against the dark foggy background. The usual purple of her magic now much darker and visibly tainted by a black aura. As he watched, she began to fling her clawed weapons in a seemingly random pattern. Before long, the claws were swirling around her every which way, giving off frequent sparks of purple, like a whirlwind of electricity.

The claws sound around her faster and faster until they became a blur altogether, making it look as if she was floating in the midst of a furious electrical storm. The purple electricity arced to and fro as the claws spun which left scorch marks on the trees, gravestones, and trees. Jet grabbed and threw a gravestone at her in an attempt to throw off her rhythm with the claws, but it was shredded into dust almost immediately due to the speed they were spinning around her. He backed up away from the pseudo electrical storm, his back hitting up against Starswirl's monument. Turning to look up at the pale white marble monolith, he hatched an idea. He had no clue if it would work, but it was the best he could do under the current circumstances.

"I hope you can forgive me for this, Starswirl, wherever you may be." Jet said to the monument quietly.

With Love Spell still equipped, and his vambraces glowing once again, he began to punch at the base of the monolith. The marble chipped and cracked under the force of his blows, creating a shallow indentation at first. Slowly but surely, the indentation began to grow until it was a full on hole. He continued to chip away at the marble, all the while the assassin was closing in behind him. Sweat began to bead on his forehead as he worked away at the thick marble. Eventually, he had it worn down enough that one final strike broke it the rest of the way through. The monolith began to tip over away from him. He quickly grabbed it, gripping tightly at the base of it. His gauntlets dug into the marble, giving him a better grip on the otherwise smooth surface. The vambraces adorning his arms flower even brighter as he grunted loudly, picking the entire monument up into the air. With another strained grunt of effort, he swung the monolith over his head and towards the assassin. The whirlwind of the claws shredded at the monolith for a moment, chipping away a good chunk before they got stuck and wedged themselves in the marble beaten marble and ceasing their spinning.

Before she could dodge or pull away, the monolith slammed down on top of her with a loud 'thud'. Jet smacked her with the massive slab of marble like he was squashing a bug under a newspaper. The pseudo electrical storm died off and all went silent for a long moment. The impact of the hit slammed her into the ground.. Tossing the monolith to one side, where it crashed onto the ground with an echoing slam. He walked over to where she lay, in the middle of a small crater. She wasn't moving, save for the subtle rise and fall of her chest that was barely visible under her armor. Acting fast, he reached to the compartment in his false arm, pulling out another of the antidotes syringes. He knelt beside her, pulling her helmet off and revealing what he already knew. Under the helmet was a very dishevelled looking Twilight. Her mane was a frazzled mess of helmet hair, her nostrils were slightly red with fresh blood, and her top lip was busted on one side. He rammed the syringe into her chest like an adrenaline shot. She sat bolt upright, panting hard and looking around in a panic. Her eyes locked onto Jet in surprise.

"J-Jet?" She asked, still in a bit of a daze.

"Yeah, welcome back to reality Twilight." He replied with a small smile.

"H-How…" She started, visibly confused.

"A little over eight years. Don't feel bad though, I was out for most of that time too." He said, finishing what he already knew she was thinking.

"I knew that already… It's been a nightmare, trapped inside my own head with no control. I was going to ask how you pulled me back from that darkness…" She stated, starting to make an attempt to stand.

"Believe it or not, I actually know that feeling…" Jet replied, helping her to her feet.

"Wait!" Twilight yelled, a sudden look of realization crossing her face.

"What is it?" Jet asked, concerned.

"T-The other one… Where did she…" Twilight started, being cut off by a sudden body slamming into her from behind.

As if on que, the other assassin had charged out of the mist and run Twilight over like a train passing through. The alicorn was thrown to the ground, landing face first pretty hard. She groaned and rolled onto her back.

"I guess that answers your question?" Jet asked, getting his guard up.

"Y-Yeah, guess so…" Twilight replied, clearly winded from the hit.

"So, uh, any chance you know who this is?" He asked, keeping his ears open.

"Actually, yes and you know her…" She replied, sitting up and holding her side.

"I was afraid of that. I've noticed something about these assassins." Jet said, straining his ears against their conversation.

"What's that?" She asked out of curiosity.

"There's two types. Some of you are being mind controlled, some still have their free will because they willingly sided with Sombra. Any chance you know which type she is?" Jet asked, possibly hatching an idea.

"I do, but you won't like the answer…" She replied with a dry gulp.

"I think that's all the answer I need…" He said, putting his weapons away.

"W-What are you doing?" Twilight asked, shocked.

"Something stupid probably…" He replied, stepping out into the middle of the area.

He stood on top of the remaining base of Starswirl's monument, listening intently to the deafening silence around him. The mist rolled and wafted through the air eerily, setting quite a mood for the encounter. There was only silence for several moments, only broken by the sound of Jet's pulse pounding in his ears. As he waited for the telltale sign of her coming attack, the clouds rolled slowly overhead, streaking the landscape in unnerving moving shadows that seemed to stretch and contract with Jet's heightened heart rate. His eyes scanned the area around him, straining his eyes against the misty blackness, but to no avail. Just when he was about to write off the other assassin as having retreated, he heard it. The distant, yet distinct, sound of gravel being crunched under foot. He stood dead center of the cicular area, his arms stretched wide and his armor receding back into its housing unit as his weapons clattered to the ground having been freed of their holsters and sheaths. He heard the wind whistle intensely somewhere in the smokey darkness to his right. Turning toward the sound, he gritted his teeth and waited for movement. He didn't have to wait long as he suddenly saw the vague outline of a pony approaching him at a very fast pace.

"Scootaloo, stop! It's Jet!" He yelled out at the figure speeding towards him.

There was a subtle tinny gasp from under her helmet as she tried to skid to a stop before plowing over her adoptive brother. It was too late and she was going too fast, her sudden skid only resulting in her losing her balance and tripping. She tumbled head over heels for several feet before coming to a stop. She had somehow managed to come to a stop in an upright sitting position, her head bobbing back and forth slightly, no doubt dazed from the sudden halt. She slowly raised a hand to her head and groaned as she lifted the helmet free from her head. Her gaze shifted up towards Jet, her purple irises tearing up as she looked into his deep blue ones.

"J-Jet? Is… Is it really you?" She asked hesitantly, her definitively tomboy-esque voice reminding Jet of the old days yet again.

"Of course it is. Why wouldn't it be?" He answered her question with one of his own.

"Sombra, he… He told me that you and Rainbow had…" She started, cut off by the tears streaking down her face.

"Of course he did… Is that why you joined him…?" He asked, a look of worry on his face.

"Yeah… He said he could make me as fast as Rainbow if I agreed to help him… You just think so little of me…" She replied, wiping at her eyes with her hand and sniffling lightly.

"What? I could never think any less of you, Scoots. By default, you're my sister and I love you regardless of what you do." He said with a warm smile to try and help console her.

"R-Really?" She stuttered out through her sniffles.

"Of course, and to be perfectly honest, if I thought that everyone I held dear was gone, I probably would've done the same." He admitted, rubbing his neck awkwardly.

She smiled and slowly got to her feet, suddenly embracing Jet in a tight hug. She'd grown quite a bit since he last saw her, before she had barely reached his midsection, but now she was about the same height as Rainbow Dash and was able to hug him properly. Her hair was much longer as well, reaching past her shoulders now that it was free from the helmet. She buried her head into his shoulder as she hugged him tightly. He returned the hug and gently patted her back. Letting her have this moment of solace before the impending storm of the final assault on the Black Palace.

"I really hate to break up this moment, but I have to be somewhere soon and I think you girls do too." Jet said, gently pulling away from Scootaloo.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Scootaloo asked confusedly.

"Well, your timing is a bit unfortunate. As we speak, the others are making their way to the Black Palace for our final stand against Sombra." Jet explained in a serious tone.

"You want us to help? But we're just…" Twilight began, being quickly cut off.

"An alicorn princess with nearly limitless magic at her disposal and a pegasus fast enough to make Rainbow Dash jealous. Having you two on our side would only give us even more of an edge over that tyrannical bastard." Jet stated, giving them a pep talk to negate any second thoughts they might be having.

"Yeah! You're right! Let's do this!" Scootaloo yelled with a big smile on her face.

"You do make a valid argument, Jet." Twilight chimed in with a small smile.

"Glad to hear it! Twilight, can you walk on your own?" Jet asked, offering her a hand to help her up.

"I think so, nothing feels broken. Just bruised unfortunately…" Twilight replied, taking Jet's hand and standing with a light groan.

"Even better. I'll send you the coordinates to their rendezvous point on the outskirts of the Obsidian City." Jet said, his armor flowing back across his body.

After kneeling down to retrieve his weapons and resheathing them, he held out his hands, a pair of face masks with visors forming out of the nanites of his armor just like he had for Vinyl and Luna before. The lost nanites only took away from some of the finer details of the armor, leaving him with plenty to actually cover himself. He handed the masks to Twilight and Scootaloo. The two mares took the masks and put them on, being a bit taken aback by the sudden upgrade to their visuals. Jet put his own helmet up and checked his HUD.

"Friday, can you link and send the coordinates for the rendezvous point to the masks I just created?" Jet asked into the soft glow of his HUD.

"Certainly sir, one moment." Friday replied in her chipper robotic voice.

"Woah, I see it. It's like a compass in a video game!" Scootaloo announced with a childish giggle.

"Yeah, it's pretty cool. Thank you Friday." Jet replied, giving Scootaloo a smile through his helmet.

"So, what's the plan exactly?" Twilight asked, moving to stand beside Scootaloo.

"Phase one is me heading up above the clouds to locate the source of all these clouds and toxic air. Phase one point five, you two get to the rendezvous as fast as possible. Rainbow will fill you in on the rest when you get there." Jet replied thoughtfully.

"Right. I guess our fastest way would be to utilize Scootaloo's greaves. Do you think you can hold my weight?" Twilight asked, turning to Scootaloo.

"Yeah, should be no problem." Scootaloo replied with a nod.

"Great. Was there anything else we should know, Jet?" Twilight asked, already getting behind Scootaloo.

"Nothing comes to mind right away, but if I remember something I'll contact you through the comms in your mask there." Jet responded, pointing to his own helmeted ears as example.

"Got it. You ready Scootaloo?" Twilight asked, giving her a pat on the shoulder from behind.

"Ready as I'll ever be. See you later on, Jet?" Scootaloo replied, hoisting Twilight's legs up onto her hips giving the alicorn a piggyback ride.

"Of course, I'm harder to kill than a cockroach. You two be safe out there, hopefully next time we see each other this whole thing will be behind us." Jet replied cheerily to keep their spirits up.

The pair exchanged a nod before heading off in their respective directions. Jet took off into the air while Scootaloo sped off towards the Obsidian City with Twilight on her back. The plan was set into motion, even if Jet was running behind time wise. It would take him some time to make it to the air space above the Obsidian City, but everything should still fall into place.

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

Luna and the others were leading their separate armies towards the Obsidian City. The groups had nearly made it to their respective rendezvous points. The boots of the soldiers stomped loudly against the compacted dirt of the ground. Rainbow and her troops were nearly at their destination, coming up on a ridge that gave a decent vantage of the Obsidian City. It was just high enough that it overlooked the city, giving them a good view of the ominously black buildings it was composed of. If not for the overall evil feel and the obvious soldiers walking around, it might have passed for a normal city. The Black Palace loamed up over the city, it's various jagged crystalline spires protruding into the sky, casting an intimidating shadow over the landscape. The way it stuck up from the ground and loomed over the city made it seem as if Hades himself had rammed a spike up from Tartarus in some sort of act of defiance against his fellow Gods.

Luna stopped on top of the ridge, signaling for her troops to stop as well. The soldiers stomped to a halt a few feet behind her. Rainbow, Vinyl and Sunblast had tagged along with her team as a pair of princesses would theoretically serve as a good enough distraction to allow them to slip through to the Palace doors. Rainbow, being the Lieutenant, opened the comms line in her helmet. Giving Luna a nod, she readied to send out a communication to the others.

"Everyone, status report." She said into her helmet's commlink.

"In position and ready to rock." AJ's voice piped up after a moment of radio static.

"Yes, what she said darling." Rarity's voice chimed in.

"I'm just ready to see what these party cannons can do!" Pinkie's voice exclaimed excitedly.

"I, um, I guess I'm ready…" Fluttershy's voice squeaked quietly.

There was nothing else but some more static that followed. Rainbow waited patiently, but started to become concerned with the length of time.

"Jet, what's your status?" Rainbow asked.

The silence continued for a little while longer before it was finally broken by the voice she was hoping to hear from.

"Sorry, had something come up. I'm running behind, but everything should still fall into place. Just stick to the plan." Jet's voice said in her ear.

"Alright. Just make sure you keep your ass safe. Won't be much point in this whole thing if I can't be happy once it's over." She replied, half jokingly.

"Don't worry about it, I'll be fine. Just make sure you find that throne room for us." He said, a hint of a laugh in his voice.

"No sweat, I got this." She responded cockily.

"Oh, by the way, I'm sending you guys some extra muscle. Be on the lookout." Jet said casually.

"Wait, what do you… Jet? Oh, you asshole." Rainbow said, realizing he had switched off his comms after that.

Before she had time to dwell on it, she could make out a large cloud of dust that looked to be moving towards them. The cloud itself seemed to be in the vague shape of an arrow, slimmer in the front and much wider at the back end. She couldn't make out who or what it was at the head of the cloud, but whatever it was was moving incredibly fast and with clear purpose. It only took around a minute for whatever was approaching reached them and skidded to a halt just before slamming through the army like a set of pins set up in a bowling alley. The dust cloud caught up to them and was cast over the group in a sort of smoke screen. It quickly dissipated as a compressed wave of air from the speed they were moving followed shortly behind. The cold blast of air washed over the group, nearly throwing some of them off balance entirely and chilling them all to the bone. Fortunately, the wave of air went just as fast as it came, leaving them standing in the quiet of the empty ridge once again. Rainbow looked up and her eyes narrowed as she laid eyes on what she believed were the assassins of Sombra's, one carrying the other. She drew her blade and took an offensive stance. Just as she was about to make a move, the pair of armored assassins pulled off their masks. Rainbow took a step back in shock as she saw who was under those masks.

"W-Wha…" She stuttered out, not believing what she was seeing.

"Uh, hey Rainbow Dash…" Scootaloo said nervously.

"You're… You're alive?!" Rainbow exclaimed, tears of joy welling in her eyes.

"Yeah, but about the whole assassin thing, I…" Scootaloo started to say, being cut off by an embrace from Rainbow.

"I don't care, I'm just so happy that you're ok!" Rainbow replied, tightening the hug a bit too much.

"I'm happy… To see you too… But, I can't… Breathe…" Scootaloo managed to gasp out through the hug.

"Oops, sorry Scoots. Oh, uh, hey Twi." Rainbow said, pulling back away from Scootaloo.

"Hello, Rainbow. Good to see you again." Twilight replied with a small smile.

"I hate to break up this display of affection, but we should probably make a move sooner rather than later." Luna interrupted from behind them.

"Right. We'll have time to catch up once this is over." Rainbow said.

"Very good. Whenever you are ready, signal the others and we will start the assault." Luna replied with a nod.

"Pinkie, launch the flare! We're ready to start this party!" Rainbow yelled into her comms like a battlecry.

"Finally!!!!!" Pinkie exclaimed back through the comms.

The next thing that was heard was a large boom as Pinkie fired her cannon for the first time. The blast was large enough to be visible to Rainbow from the other side of the, soon to be, battlefield. It gave off a huge blast of dust followed by a seemingly small firework that launched high into the air. It exploded in the air in a shower of bright pink sparks and light. As soon as the flare lit up the sky, the group that Pinkie was with charged into battle. Even from their vantage, Rainbow could see that the sudden noise and light had garnered the full attention of the guards within the city. This gave the other two groups the advantage of a flanking position given the right timing. They watched as the guards all headed to confront the charging group of soldiers. Once the guards were sufficiently distracted and engaged with the frontal assaulting army, the other two charged in.

With the majority of the guards distracted, there was little resistance left actually inside the city. The few guards they did encounter were easily dealt with by the rushing armies with the advantage of surprise. As they drew closer to the palace itself though, they encountered increasingly heavy resistance. This caused their ranks to thin out as they had to break off to fend off groups of soldiers in order to allow the plan to continue as intended. The only thing that could be heard was the sound of blades clashing in the air as the various battles raged around them as they ran through the city streets. By the time they made it to the center of the city and neared the overhang that held the palace doors their group had been reduced to just Rainbow, Sunblast, Vinyl, and the two princesses. Everybody else had broken off to keep various soldiers busy.

They had finally reached the Black Palace. It loomed high into the sky over them, almost as if staring down at them in judgement. The entirety of it was made from some kind of cloudy black crystal. Its edges were so roughly hewn looking that it seemed like somebody would be risking impalement just by brushing up against it the wrong way. High up on the monument to tryanny was a small balcony that was currently empty. The entryway to the palace was contained within a small overhang under the main portion of the palace. Comprised of a series of six arched entrances that were supported by two columns each on either side. The flat entryway itself led to a single large, equally black, set of double doors with a small set of stairs leading up to it. Everything seemed to have a purposeful asymmetrical look to it.

After taking a moment to catch their breaths, they crossed the threshold of the overhang. Almost immediately, the entrances were sealed tight with a bright red glowing energy field that was not unlike the weapons that Sunblast had given them. The sudden sound of clapping hands startled them, causing them to be on guard more now than before. As they looked around the jagged entryway, a pair of figures stepped out from behind one of the columns. One of them was clapping their hands, clearly sarcastically. The other, much larger, simply stood there with their arms crossed. The one that was clapping had a sleek suit of armor that was highlighted by deep purple accents. She elicited a low growl from Vinyl, signaling that she was the one that Vinyl had alongside while under Sombra's influence. The other had a much bulkier suit with red accents, there was something mounted to his wrists, but with his arms crossed it was impossible to tell what it was exactly. The purple one, presumably Octavia given the clues, stopped clapping and looked at the small group of rebels.

"Look who came crawling back. I'm surprised you made it this far, honestly." Tavi said, seeming to direct her words at Vinyl specifically.

Vinyl simply glared and flashed her middle finger at Tavi.

"I had a feeling you would feel that way. No worry, you were easily replaced as my muscle. As a plus, I don't have to listen to those awful 'wubs' of yours anymore. So, if you think about it, you getting your arse handed to you back in Canterlot was a blessing in disguise. For me at least!" Tavi taunted with a laugh.

Vinyl started to take a step forward, but was stopped by the large metal hand of Sunblast's Sombra Breaker armor. She looked up at him, fire in her eyes. He shook his head at her slowly.

"She doesn't mean that, Vinyl. She's just under Sombra's spell. If we can get that helmet off her, she'll be freed just like the others were. Then, we can administer the antidote and get her back." Sunblast reassured her.

She took a deep breath and nodded, that fire in her eyes dying down to a smolder for now.

"Cease this talk, either fight us or stand aside agents of Sombra. We have not the time to deal with this sort of tomfoolery." Luna interjected, already frustrated with this taunting.

"In a hurry to die, princess? Or will you cower and run like you did with your dear sister?" Tavi said, her voice deepening and taking on that of Sombra's as he spoke through her to directly taunt the former princess.

"You frighten me no longer, king of shadows! It is you who cower behind your mind controlled puppets! Today you will draw your final breath, whether it is by my hand or another's, you will not see another day!" Luna yelled, pulling out her sickle with a soft metallic grind.

"Rainbow Dash, you see the plan through, we'll keep these assholes busy." Sunblast said through gritted teeth.

"Right. Hey, don't die out there, I was just starting to like you." Rainbow said with a smirk before charging off.

She ran through the entryway, nearly getting hit by a slash of Tavi's blade but luckily Luna swooped in to block it mid swing with her sickle. The two exchanged a nod before Rainbow took off once more for the huge black doors. Dodging a few sudden shots of glowing crimson energy, which she noticed had come from the red accented assassin, she made it to her destination. Once at the doors, she turned back to see how things were going so far. Luna and Vinyl were tag teaming Tavi while Sunblast and Cadence were surprisingly working together to assault the other assassin.

Tavi threw a handful of daggers at Luna and Vinyl, only to be dodged by the pairs nearly equal quick movements. The throwing daggers stuck in the wall behind them, Vinyl used this moment of opportunity to give a sweep kick to Tavi's legs. Tavi fell onto her back only to see Luna coming down at her from above, her sickle held high. Tavi rolled out of the way just in time though. Meanwhile, Cadence was firing a series of her bolts at the other assassin whole Sunblast tried to keep him busy by matching his strength by way of close quarters combat. Cadence's bolts were sticking into the assassin's armor and making significant dents and holes, but was having overall no effect for the moment. The red accented assassin was having trouble getting shots off from his now obvious wrist mounted blasters as he had to contend with Sunblast's melee strikes.

Rainbow smiled to herself, taking solace in the knowledge that they could hold their own here. She pushed the huge doors open with a long and loud creak, revealing the inside and her eventual goal of the throne room. The inside of the palace was the same black crystal as the outside and just as maze-like as they'd assumed. There were hallways streching in all directions and staircases leading in a variety of different directions.

"You gotta be kidding me…" Rainbow muttered to herself.

Judging from the fact that the hallways and staircases seemed to stretch on and lead in directions that defied the size and geometry of the palace, she figured there was a trick at play. She also figured this would take a while, even with her speed. Activating her rocket skates, she chose a direction and took off. Her skates skidding lightly against the smooth crystalline floors.