The air-bike sped towards the deck of the ship, and I poised to eject. Bullets were already being flung towards the bike, and I tapped Walker on the back.

“Swing around! I’ll take it from the deck, you take it from the engine room!” I shouted, and I saw the big red earthpony nod.

“You’ll have to bail!” He shouted back, and I tapped him again to acknowledge him.

We swung by the wooden deck, and I jumped off, slamming into the wood. I activated my focus, and took a bit of a look at my surroundings. There were a few machine gunners, and many riflemen, all firing at us.

“Well, fuck. Now or never,” I said, hunching my hind legs, and dropping off the back of the bike.

I hit the deck of the blimp, smashing through the wooden floor, and slamming into the hard metal floor of the armory. I rolled out of the way of the opening, which was soon filled with gunfire. As I stood up, I looked around the room frantically for a weapon, preferably a blade. Only thing that was shining was the blades and actions of the muskets.

“I guess I’ll have to make due,” I said, longing for my own blade. I would probably never see it, nor my robes again. A ping of sadness twitched at my heart.

I tore off one of the bayonets of the rifles, and I watched as the first soldier jumped through the hole. I dashed at him, burrowing my blade through his stomach. I could hear the sound of multiple organs being destroyed as I ran him through. I immediately turned around, grabbing his own musket, to be greeted by a duo of foot soldiers. The musket in my hooves exploded, shattering one of the skulls of the Equines. I then used the musket like a spear, and flung it at the survivor, hitting him in the chest.

“Holy shit,” I muttered to myself, looking around the room. While it had mostly muskets, one whole side was dedicated to timed TNT.

“A few packages across the ship could make quick work of this damn blimp,” I said to myself, grabbing a package, looking it over. Each pack had 6 sticks of high explosive dynamite, probably magically enhanced. The timer went up to 5 minutes, so I’d have to deal with these quick.

“One in the engine room, one in the bridge, and one in the coal reserves of the water room…” I muttered to myself, taking three packages. I picked up a musket, and a blade, and ran out of the back entrance of the armory.

“I need a way to contact Walker…” I said to myself, just as I reached the door outside of the armory, looking around. “That’s if he didn’t die. The loudspeakers in the bridge should be able to transmit a message, though everypony will hear it.”

I looked up and down the hallway, making sure no pony was around, then sprinted towards the general direction of the bridge. The airship was similar to the one I had crashed into Canterlot, except this one had Gatling guns and cannons. I knew the layout well enough, so it was a quick trip to the bridge.

I was greeted by the site of multiple Equine officers after I reached the bridge, who were obviously more focused on the ship than the door.

“Greetings, bitches! Is it already time to kick your ass?” I shouted, and they all turned around.

As soon as one saw me, he drew his blade, and sprinted at me. I simply threw the musket as if it were a spear, and hit him directly in the eye, leaving me with a single blade and a bunch of dynamite. Another officer started to sprint at me, so I did the only thing I could do.

“Think fast!” I shouted, chucking the bag full of dynamite at him. It landed square in his face, knocking him over, giving me enough time to grab the other officers blade, and get into stance.

The rest of the officers converged on me all at once, 4 out of the 5 remaining slashing wildly at me. Their blades met each other’s more than they met mine, so I had time to get myself situated to fight.

I spun wildly, my blade slicing across one of the officer’s face. While it wasn’t very damaging, it stunned him just long enough to get some of the heat off of me. I then hit the floor, and kicked one of the officers in the genitals. He reared back, and I pushed my blade upwards, so that he would impale himself upon the saber. He fell down, and I felt my blade push through his stomach, releasing a spray of ungodly gore across my bare coat.

“Shiest! He killed Orvich!” Shouted one of the officers, who were now stabbing down upon me.

I rolled out of the way, and jumped up, only to be assaulted by more blades. One pierced through my left hind leg, delivering a painful jolt. I fell back down, and was then hit by a flurry of hooves and blades. I dodged as best I could, but at this point, I knew I was either going to die or get wounded extremely badly.

“Wait! It’s coming straight towards us!” Shouted an officer, and they all stopped, puzzled.

Then the bridge lit up in flames.

Massive incendiary shots tore through the windows and the metal, tearing the officers to shreds. The screams of burning and dying ponies filled the air, as flames licked near my hooves.

“Fuck!” I shouted, jumping to my hooves, and then behind some cover. Bullets pierced through the canopy of the bridge, tearing the place to shreds.

Finally, after a few moments, the sound of an attack blimp was sounding overhead, and then the ring of a fastrope line falling into the canopy. A single, white mare fast roped in, her wings expanded to give her some drag. She turned towards me, and smiled.

“It looks like you’ve seen a ghost, Steam. Surprised to see me?” Asked the Pegasus, and I immediately knew who it was.

“Diamond? But, but…” I stuttered, and Diamond smiled.

“Thought you killed me, eh? I was too busy helping our guys secure Stalliongrad under quarantine at the time.” Diamond tossed me a small knife and musket, and gestured for me to get up. “You’re lucky I heard about that on the radio. We were on our way back when we saw these ships being destroyed. We knew that it was our guys, mostly because there were no freighter ships with guns on our side.”

I got to my hooves, grabbed the bag of TNT, and then pulled one out. I set the timer for 5 minutes, and dropped it on the now flame scorched floor.

“We’ve got five minutes to destroy the rest of the ship. You go to the engine room, and I’ll head towards the steam room. Then we can take this thing down,” I said, tossing Diamond a pack of Dynamite. “We’ll work out our differences later.”

“Yeah. We better. Also, your friend on the airbike. He’s on our blimp, so don’t worry about him.” Diamond simply ran off, and I scoffed.

“How convenient,” I said, as I sprinted off in the other direction.

Most of the Equine ponies were dealing with the attack blimp, so I had a rather clear shot to the steam room. It wasn’t until I got there where I met some type of resistance. Inside the massive brass room, which smelled of magical steam and coal, were dozens of engineers. Not particularly lethal, but still.

“Alright boys, don’t pull some stupid shit, and you won’t die. I suggest you all get to your life blimps, and get out of here while you still can,” I said, as I entered the room.

The multitude of engineers fled, but a few stayed, ready to fight. Since there were no soldiers to defend them, this was their last line of defense. They had wrenches, and hammers. I had an auto-loader musket, and a knife. I think we both knew who was going to come out on top.

They charged at me in unison, then wrenches glinting in the light. I simply raised my auto loader, and started to fire. It only had 3 charges, so my accuracy was going to be key whether I w-

“Stand down!” Shouted a juvenile voice from above me. I looked up to see a dark cloaked pony hanging from the chains in the ceiling, somewhat veiled by the steam. “This one is mine.”

“Now, I’m just going off of the sound value here, but you sound like your nuts haven’t even dropped, kid.” I simply chuckled, as the pony slid down the chains. The engineers scattered like rats, as I realized what the pony was cloaked with.

“Are you wearing my robes? How the fuck are you able to fit that?” I asked, and the colt simply chuckled.

“Being a morpher, I can change my size and shape at will. Now, Shadow, its time to die,” Said the child.

“Right, and how do you pro-,” I was cut off by a blade slashing past my head. I quickly dodged out of the way, only to reveal my remaining eye had nearly been cut out. “What the fu-.”

I was cut off again, this time by a gunshot. A ball whizzed past my head, and hit the steam tank behind me, shooting hot, green gas across the room. I was astounded by this childs speed and maneuverability, it was almost as if he was…

Another gunshot, this one hitting my shoulder. Crimson liquid blossomed out of my shoulder, as I hit the ground, yelling in pain. The colt somehow moved over me, and held my own blade at my throat.

“You see, it will be all very simple. I will take your place, and when I get back to Canterlot, I shall kill the princesses and your family. Then Equine will be unstoppable.”

Let me out….

I felt disconnected, as the pony slowly moved the blade closer to my neck. Like someone was talking to me.

Let me OUT.

I felt my chest tighten. My wound slowly heal up. The blade touch my throat.

LET ME OUT YOU IMBICILE!

“What the…” Said the pony lightly, as I felt a burning sensation on my left arm develop. I looked down, and saw that another tattoo was forming. My vision went red at the outlines, and I exerted a little bit of magic.

“AUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGH!!!!!!” The small pony went flying back, as I tackled him. Strength pulsed through my veins, anger boiling inside my stomach.

I slammed a hoof down upon the ponies face, throwing off my mask. I looked down at him, seeing my own face, slightly modified. A scared eye looked up at me, and I faltered for one moment.

The blade shoved through my torso, spraying blood across the floor. I fell back in pain, as the colt got to his hooves, drawing his own gun. I looked at him, somehow smiling, even through the insane pain that was coursing through my body.

“You don’t have the guts kid. I can see it in your eye. Or shall I say, my eye.” The words were not my own, but of something else. Something more evil.

“I won’t let my master down! I will save Equine!” Shouted the colt, shakily aiming at me.

“C’mon kid, pull the trigger. I know you can.”

“Shut up!” The colt lowered the gun, giving me the opening I needed.

I pulled the blade from my stomach, blood spattering everywhere from the open wound. I stood up and charged at the poor colt, who was still shaking. I slashed at him with an astonishing speed that I didn’t know I had, slicing the gun from his hooves. I then delivered a flurry of speed stabs, which he dodged masterfully. I was slowly moving him towards one of the massive steam tanks, and then I had an idea.

“Hey, kid. Since you’re a ‘morpher’, does that mean you can repair skin damage?” I asked, sneering.

The child faltered for a second, giving me the split second chance to draw my gun, and fire.

The bullet whizzed past his head, and into the steam tank behind him, letting out hot air. The kid smiled with arrogance, and bit back with a dagger, thinking that I had missed him accidentally. I easily parried the dagger, and planted a read hoof into the child’s chest, knocking him back.

“What the…” He muttered, but it was too late. I grabbed him by the collar, turned him around, and slammed him into the opening of the steam tank, exposing him to flesh melting temperatures. The child reacted immediately, screaming with a urgency I had heard only once before.

“How about now?!”

“Kill me!”

“Tell me where he is!”

“Kill me!!!!”

It didn’t stop me. Instead, I pulled the child back, and shoved his face into the vent, causing heat to smother my own arm. The muffled screaming was now so high pitched, it would break glass, as the colt jerked around frantically, trying to free himself from his now lethal fate. I reared his head back once, slamming it into the brass tank, splattering blood and eye tissue all of the shiny metal. The child’s body had gone back to normal, revealing his golden coat and red eyes. I slammed his head into the tank again, crushing his jaw this time. His screaming was slowly dying out, and I saw this as a chance to deliver the coup-de-grace.

I pulled out my pistol, cocked it back, and put it at the back of the colt’s head. I placed the muzzle so he could feel it on his now heat-ravaged skin. Instead of delivering a long monologue, and simply pulled the trigger, delivering a hot charge that ripped right through his skull, through his brain, and out through an eye socket. He simply slumped over, and I dropped the gun, feeling the energy slowly leave my body. I tore my clothes and weapons away from the child’s body, the rush of battle slowly leaving my mind, realizing what I have done.

“Oi! Shadow, arm that shit, and let’s go!” Shouted Diamond, and I nodded, pulling out the last pack of dynamite, and setting it for 1 minute. I dropped it, and ran towards the entrance from which I had entered.

“Well, it looks like you’ve been to hell and back,” said Diamond, as we met up in the corridors.

“Yeah, I’ll tell you all about it when we get onto the blimp. In the meantime, let’s get the fuck out of here.” I started sprinting towards the hangar, which would probably be our ticket off the freighter.

Suddenly, an explosion sounded, causing the blimp to creak loudly.

“What was that?” Asked Diamond, as we stopped.

“Probably the bridge TNT. Let’s get our flanks in gear, we don’t have much time.”

I started to run faster towards the hangar, when a second explosion sounded, then a third. The ship had been taken out.

“Shit, we need to go,” I muttered, continuing to run towards the hangar.

The massive halls of the blimp were creaking, bowing, and burning, as I sprinted through the metal pathways, my hooves clinking on the metal floor. My wounds slowly healed up, my stamina steadily increasing. Diamond followed right behind me, as pipes exploded with steam.

“How much longer do you think we have before the ship blows up in a flurry of fire?” Diamond asked, as we pulled the last turn to get to the hangar.

“I really have no idea,” I simply said, still sprinting. I was at full strength right about now, and we had just entered the hangar, when we both stopped.

There he was. Cloak, just standing there, his red eyes penetrating into my soul. He held the head of the colt I had killed, and his breathing was heavy. He tilted his head, seemingly blocking the pathway to the attack blimp, which was hovering outside from the sound of it.

“There is exactly 2 minutes and 20 seconds until this hanger fills with highly toxic gas and heats that extend at least 20,000,000 degrees Celsius greater than the sun, due to highly explosive ordinance that we were to use to destroy Canterlot. Sadly, I have made the mistake of not killing you, and now I have paid the price: My son is dead, I have failed my country, and my ships have been destroyed,” Started Cloak, dropping the head on the ground. “I have nothing more to lose.”

“You shouldn’t have plotted against Equestria,” Diamond said, before Cloak raised his hoof, as if to cut her off.

“This quarrel is not between you and I, woman. It is between Shadow. You are free to go, but I will slay this monster.”

I nudged Diamond, and she looked at me quizzically.

“Just go. I’ll be fine,” I said, nodding knowingly.

She ran past me, out onto the wooden deck of the hangar, then onto the now docked assault blimp. It was just Cloak, and I left, blades ready to cross.

“You killed my son.”

“Like I give fuck.”

“You shall pay with your life, monster.”

“Not before you pay with yours,” I said angrily, bringing my blade to a ready.

Cloak did the same, bringing his blade to the ready. Suddenly, it morphed into a massive scythe, complete with everything a demonic scythe should have; Bones, a skull for a blade holder with glowing red eyes, and even a serrated edge.

He brought it to his side, the black blade glowing in the light shining in from the hangar exit. He was still wearing his gasmask, as he slowly walked towards me, Scythe in his crook.

Then, lightning fast, he lashed at me, cutting my chest open, spraying blood across the floor. I hit the floor immediately, sputtering up blood from my mouth. He brought his scythe back, and golf-clubbed me in the stomach with the back, sending me flying at the wall. I felt my back smash into a pipe, spraying hot steam everywhere. As I unsteadily tried to get up, I was hit in the head by the scythe again, this one splitting my brow open, nearly snapping my neck.

“You are no match for me, monster.” The dark stallion flipped me over so that I could look up at him. He put his scythe to my throat. “Look me in the eyes as you die.”

I quickly activated my teleportation power, and I jumped to the other side of the room, out of his grasp. I heard him grunt in confusion, as I healed up as quickly as possible.

“There’s only a minute left, Shadow. You’re only prolonging your death.” The voice across the room bellowed, or so I thought, as I took cover behind an engine.

Suddenly, I looked forward, only to see Cloak about the jam the staff of his Scythe into me. It shoved straight through my chest, and I gargled up blood, splattering it all over Cloak’s face

“You see monster… this is where it all ends,” Cloak said, looking into my eyes.

Suddenly, there was a flash, and Cloak doubled over, steam pouring out of his backside. Then, another one. And another. And another. Soon, it was like a strobe light, blood splattering everywhere. Then the blade left my chest, and I fell on the floor, looking at Cloak’s cratered body, his eyes lifeless.

“You know, you owe me one.” Said a voice, picking me up.

My vision returned, and I realized I was being carried by Walker, who was sprinting towards the attack blimp. I was sure that Cloak was still alive, but it didn’t matter. The plans were thwarted, Equestria was safe. The battle was over.

We reached the edge of the hangar, and Walker through me onto the ship, before climbing on himself. I felt my chest slowly heal up, as we pulled away, and the crew set up once more.

“Holy shit… Nearly died back there,” I said, and Diamond nodded.

“Lucky Walker took action. We would have lost you, if he-.” Diamond was cut off by a massive explosion that sent the blimp off course.

Flames shot out of the hangar, the bridge, and engine rooms of the massive freighter, and engulfed the massive blimp, sending meteors shooting across the sky. The crew cheered, as we passed through some clouds.

It was over.

It was finally over.

I sat up, the blood slowly running off my body, as the massive burning blimp fell into the ground. The ground shattering explosion sent tremors through the air, as we flew back to the capitol city of Canterlot.

“So Equine attempted a covert operation to destroy Equestria’s capitol, on the day of the Gala?” Princess Celestia asked, and I nodded.

Almost immediately after landing, we had ran to the throne room, needing to inform Celestia that we had a pretty bad situation on our hoofs. Must have been some sight to see a bunch of dirty, bloody, steam-residue covered ponies sprinting through the halls of the elegant, pre-steam castle. Now, we stood in front of the Princesses, mere minutes before the Gala, to give them one last piece of bad news.

“If it weren’t for these two, Canterlot would have been invaded and destroyed by now, ma’am,” I said curtly, gesturing towards Diamond and Walker.

“So they had replaced Diamond, The Spymaster, and attempted to replace you with these ‘morphers’. We’ll have to be more careful with our soldiers now,” Shining Armor said, looking down in thought. “We could already be compromised. If they could make The Spymaster morph into Diamond, things may be worse than we thought.”

“Sir, permission to speak freely?” Asked Walker. Even though he wasn’t part of the guard, Shining Armor was still acting commander of the Equestrian Armed Forces.

“Granted.”

“That is the stupidest doubt I’ve heard for a while. We’ve dealt with Changeling, these are even worse at their cloaks. Though they are a tad stronger than their insect counterpart,” Walker said, still standing at attention. “Sir.”

Shining Armor looked annoyed, but took his Captain’s word for it. “Ma’am, I’ll tell the guards to put a lockdown on any blimps flying in tonight, and to keep a lookout for out of place individuals.”

Celestia waved Shining Armor away, and he bowed, walked off to whichever room he lived in.

“I suggest you three get tidied up,” Celestia said, gesturing to us. “You all have a Gala to attend to.”

Diamond looked quizzical. “But Princess, I-.” The white pegasi was cut off by Celestia’s knowing smile.

“I’m sure I have an extra female officer’s dress laying around in the store room,” Walker said, and Diamond turned to him.

“Are you sure? I mean, I’m not really apa-.” The pegasi was cut off again, this time by Walker’s knowing smile.

“Don’t worry kid, I got you covered. I’ll get your crew some ceremonial dress and some beds for the night, you came a long way.”

Walker, Diamond, and her crew walked out of the throne room, leaving myself, Celestia, and Luna.

“Shadow,” Celestia started, her voice solemn. “We are losing this war.”

I nodded, and Celestia sighed. “We have taken far too many losses, and the Equines have pushed farther and farther inland. They’re right on PonyVille’s doorstep, and our forces are only holding on because of Luna’s special operations group. The Griffons are suffering too, being the victims of the Equine war-machine’s chemical warfare experiments.”

“What do you suggest we do?” I asked, and Celestia turned towards Luna, who had been quiet for the entire conversation up until now.

“We believe it is best to lead an extermination squad into the Equine homeland. Destroy the homes and towns of Equine Government officials. Tis’ a sinful and terrible mission, but one that we must do,” Luna spoke quietly, as if she was ashamed to say the sentence. “My personal army, the Lunar Bats are meeting up in the Blossoming isles, preparing to invade the coast of Equine. Since the isles are neutral, we’ll have to keep it covert.”

I was taken back. An extermination campaign?

“Ma’am, forgive me to say, but isn’t an extermination campaign exactly what they are doing? That makes us no better than them!”

“Tis a true fact, but war is war, Shadow. Some measures must be taken to prevent the destruction of our own nation,” Luna said, looking down in sadness.

“There is no innocence in war, Shadow. You above all ponies should know that. Get cleaned up, we have a ceremony to perform,” Celestia said, “Don’t be late.”

The white alicorn waved her hoof, and I bowed, walking out of the room.

2 months later…

“Be careful, okay Steam?” Asked Lyra, as she tied my black tie. Her eyes were wet with tears, as were Darings.

“Don’t worry. Walker and Diamond will take care of me.” I gestured to the two other Syndicates standing behind me, in front of the massive Galleon blimp. “I’ll be home soon.”

“Daddy, be careful. Don’t get hurt…” Daring said, nuzzling me.

“Don’t worry sugar, I’ll be home before you know it.”

I patted my foal on the head, and kissed Lyra, who was crying again. She lifted a handkerchief to her eyes, and I sighed heavily.

“I’ll be home in a month, and I’ll make sure we get some time together, alright?” I asked, nuzzling Lyra.

“Mhm.”

“That’s my girl.”

I turned around, donned my mask, and walked towards the two other syndicates. I nodded to them, and they followed me onto the Galleon, as the loading dock lifted. The engines started up, the sound of the heavy guns mounted on the sides of the Galleon spurring to life. I turned back to look at my family, waving us off.

“Don’t worry Shadow. We’ll be home before you know it,” Fire said, putting his gloved hoof on my shoulder.

How wrong he was.

Author's Note

Thats it for a while guys! Stay tuned, as I haven't abandoned you yet!