First, there was silence.

And then-

Twilight sat down on the floor of her library. She felt dizzy and her head was aching. She tried to remember where she was just moments before - because she knew she wasn't home, she just had to remember where - and why was her vision so weird?

Oh, right, Twilight realized, unnatural calm washing over her. I lost one eye. And this is a dream.

As the existential dread and the memories of the past few months of Twilight's life came crashing onto her, a new presence appeared next to her.

Appeared. Yes. That was the correct word. One moment, Twilight was alone in the perfect recreation of the golden oaks library, and the next she wasn't alone anymore. No preamble, no hum of teleportation spell. Dawn simply materialized next to her, as if she was always there. The faux alicorn wearing the familiar visage of Celestia - except for the many mechanized plates of a well-fitted suit of power armor covering her from hoof to wing tip.

The image was unsettling to Twilight. It was hard to imagine her kind, serene mentor geared up for war. The two concepts simply didn't go together. She couldn't see Celestia fighting, with all the blood and guts it implied.

But this wasn't Celestia. This was Dawn. A weapon. An intelligent, maybe even sapient weapon, but still a weapon.

“Greetings, Wielder,” Dawn spoke with a strange waver in her voice. It was almost like fondness, but there was something about it that made Twilight shiver. Certain…possessiveness. “Your Confusion Shall Pass In A Moment. Be Not Scared. Your Companions Are Alive And Treating You As We Speak.”

“What happened?” Twilight asked, trying to shake off her steadily increasing headache.

“You Have Managed To Brain Damage Yourself,” Dawn said casually, picking up a book from a nearby shelf while Twilight watched her in wide-eyed panic. “Do Not Worry, It's Not Permanent.”

“Oh…I guess that's good?” Twilight asked, rubbing a sore spot on her head. “Not the brain damage part, the non permanent part,” she quickly added.

Dawn smiled, slow and sharp.

“Yes, Twilight. That Is Good.”

The unicorn took a few shaking steps, tilting her head as she noticed Dawn writing into that book she pulled out.

Books that were supposed to contain her memories.

I should probably freak out right about now…Why am I not freaking out right now?

“What are you doing?” Twilight asked, brow raised.

The armored alicorn shrugged - the act surprisingly fluid and pony like, different from her usual stilted movements that made Dawn's projected body look as if it was a puppet led on a tangled string.

“Repairing Some Of The Damage Done,” Dawn answered casually. “And Using It As An Opportunity.”

“Opportunity?” Twilight asked. “Opportunity for what?”

Dawn smiled at her again. The gesture seemed warm, but there was something about it that made Twilight shiver.

“You Will See When You Wake Up.”

Twilight fell silent for a moment. Glancing around her library, noting the subtle changes and differences in the illusion. The wrong furniture, the lack of wear and tear on everything - the missing little signs of a lived in home. It was perfect, too perfect.

Even she was different. Twilight looked at herself and saw that she lacked the scars and wounds from her most recent fights - though the missing eye stayed missing.

But still, she was here, in some sense, still alive and breathing and heart beating.

Question was how long would that stay true and would Dawn care.

She regarded Dawn again.

The artificial intelligence was bizarre, its behavior mysterious, but it had always tried to keep her alive so far. If she was still in danger, Dawn would try to help her wake up, not casually read up in her mental construct of a library,

And if Twilight was safe, it could only mean that the ancient super soldier was not.

She had killed another person.

The fight was a blur of adrenaline and panic and fear, some moments crystal clear and others obscured, as if covered by a mist. But that one fact was, at least, evident.

She lives, the soldiers does not anymore.

Twilight decided, very firmly, not to dwell on it, at least not now. There were still so many things to do, answers to get.

One was staring right at her, for example.

“He recognized you,” she said slowly, mulling the words over in her mouth. “He saw you and knew what you were.”

Dawn's face became shadowed for a moment - almost grim. Twilight never saw the real Celestia wear that face. Celestia always appeared so serene. So calm even in the most disastrous situation.

Dawn, the artificial construct of a bygone era, ironically, had an expression much easier to read.

“He Recognized My Physical Form,” she explained. Voice forcefully soft. “The Blade Was Standard Issue At The Time Of My Creation.”

Twilight gave a nod.

“He called me an abomination…”

Dawn closed her eyes, contemplating something. Twilight wondered how old Dawn was, if the soldier was ancient and weapons like Dawn were used then…

She had to be thousands of years old. A thousands years old weapon. Used and discarded and reused again, battle after battle and war after war. Did Dawn ever had a choice in that, she wondered. Would Dawn still choose to be a sword, would only somepony give her a chance to be a spade or a plough instead?

Sadness shook Twilight's heart. Would Dawn even be able to choose? Was Dawn that close, that on par with natural life, that she could feel regret, at what she was and what she became?

Twilight honestly couldn't tell what was worse. A weapon without regret, or a weapon with it and no ability to be something else.

“Your…Existence Is Unique,” Dawn said finally, interrupting her musings. “Your Connections To Me, To Old World Technologies, Is Unprecedented. Its Implications Uncomfortable.”

And there it was, Twilight noticed that little twinge in Dawn's voice.

Guilt

“You knew him,” Twilight said as the realization hit. “You knew who that soldier was.”

Dawn shook her head, the armored plates on her neck moved with it, folding and flowing with her every movement.

“Not As An Individual,” she admitted. “We Both Played Our Parts In The Same Machine. Served The Same Purpose. But That Was Long Ago.”

Twilight took in a shuddering breath, still feeling that fanatics blade striking her chest, only the armor between her and death.

“I killed him. I used you to kill him.”

The false alicorn, to Twilight's bewilderment, simply shrugged.

“You Are My Wielder,” Dawn said. “You Are My Purpose Now. Everything Else Is Secondary To Your Survival. Including My Past Allegiance.”

Twilight gave her a sad look.

“If you were on his side, then massacre here-”

“It Was War Of Extermination, Twilight,” Dawn said with a hint of…sorrow? It was sometimes hard to tell, with Dawn's strange artificial voice. “What Happened Here, On This Planet, Happened Throughout The Galaxy. Many Times Over.”

The construct sighed - something done more as an imitation, for comfort. Twilight couldn't tell if it was for her comfort or Dawn’s.

“None Were Innocent In The Great War,” Dawn spoke, voice and expression neutral, but her eyes had something of a glow in them. “The Last Great War. No Barriers Left. No Rules Unbroken. Only Enemy To Destroy. Only Souls To Burn. And Nothing To Hold The Creations Of Humanity At Bay.”

Dawn, the created weapon. A construct made for war, shivered.

“The Scale Of It, Twilight. I Do Not Expect You To Understand. You Cannot Be Allowed To Understand. What It Is To Watch Billions Burn. To Watch Stars Die And Scream.”

“But why?” Twilight asked.

“Their Ascension It Had To Be Stopped,” Dawn said, this time with genuine sorrow in her voice. “Stopped At All And Any Cost.

Dawn chuckled. It was a humoress, sad noise. “Desperation, Twilight. It Made Us Into What We Were.”

Dawn looked down on the unicorn, the same gleam in her eyes. Sorrow and anger and madness in equal measure, were in those eyes. In that gleam.

“But What We Were. Was Not Enough.”

It smirked, a sharp and wicked thing.

“I Shall Not Make That Mistake Again.”

“Careful with her.”

“aim careful,” responded a voice kinda that sounded kinda similar to Crown’s, except horribly tight and exceptionally high pitched.

“...What?” asked King, Twilight definitely did not mishear his voice.

“I said…fuck you,” answered the now definitely Crown.

“We really need to get your throat checked,” King said. “I’m not a doctor, but this cannot be a normal response to getting your windpipe crushed.”

Twilight stirred, opening her eye - seeing only darkened, blurry blobs. She attempted to stand up, only to be stopped as a gentle hand pushed her back onto something soft.

“Slow down there, Sparks. You took a beating.”

She stopped wiggling, taking a second to simply breathe in and out until her racing heart calmed.

“What happened?” she asked, her voice raspy. It felt like she had sandpaper in her throat.

King handed her a water skin. She tried to guide it towards her with telekinesis, but the moment she tried to push magic into her horn, she was hit by a verypainful backlash

“Careful!” King chastised. “You went into psychic shock.”

Twilight nodded, taking a greedy gulp of the water, ignoring the taste it took from being inside the water skin.

“Psychic shock?” Twilight asked.

You Would Call It Mana Burnout. It's Their Word For Using Too Much Psychic Power At Once.

The unicorn jumped, frantically looking for the source of the new voice, only to realize it came from inside her own head.

“Sparks? You alright there?” King said gently. “You freaked out for a second there.”

“Yes I’m fine,” Twilight said quickly, wincing as pain shot through her horn. “Mostly. My head hurts.”

King made a face. For a moment, Twilight thought it was a response to her weak assurance. but then she saw his hand landing on his chest - covered in tattered clothing revealing blood soaked bandages underneath.

But King recovered fast, banishing any signs that he was in pain - which he had to be, Twilight told herself. He got shot in the chest.

Not Necessarily, Dawn supplied easily, the voice in Twilight's head detached and emotionless. Luciferium dulls pain receptors to a significant degree.

“Can you walk?” King asked Twilight, offering her his hand.

“Yes, just-”

“Don't worry. I got you.”

With King's help, she managed to shakily stand up, her head still pounding.

Somebody had carried her to one corner of the room and laid her on some old rags. (which later turned out to be Crowns coat)

Disturbingly, somebody had stripped her of her plasteel plate armor to treat her many bruises with some sort of pungent, herbal mixture. Her front leg was bandaged up neatly.

“Who-”

“Ratslayer.” King explained. “The kid woke up first and patched us all up.”

The man - or rather, genie - in question was crouching down on his knees, beady eyes inspecting something on the ground, blood slowly dripping from his strange, elongated fingers as he fiddled with something blocked from their view with his back.

“Is he alright?” Twilight whispered to King.

“Eh,” he waved his healthy hand. “Physically, I say he is fine.”

A hissing, metallic sound filled the room. Suddenly, the genie rose, hefting his prize up in the air.

A bloodied helmet. Twilight gagged seeing chunks of something fall from it.

“Mentally? I think he went nuts.”

“Ratslayer!” Twilight yelled. “Put that down. That's disgusting!”

“Why?” the genie asked in his usual, detached tone. “It's in working condition, despite some damage to the exterior.”

“Somepony died in it!”

“And?” Rastalyer said in his deadpan voice.

“And?!”

“I’ll take it,” Crown said from his corner of the room, weapon resting on his lap. “The fucker tried to turn my head into mush. I call dibs on his stuff.”

“There are bits of his head in it!” Twilight shrieked.

“I’ll wash it first,” Crown said easily. “I’m not an animal.”

“Argh!”

Twilight took a few breaths. Trying to keep her temper down. Crowns' attitude wasn’t helping, but so was getting angry.

“Okay. Okay,” she said slowly. “Its armor. Its good to be protected ist just-”

She shuddered.

“Somebody died in it and that creeps you out?” Crown offered helpfully. “Same here. But my desire to live outweighs my desire to not be disgusted with myself.”

He smiled.

“Besides, I'm not the guy who splattered his gray matter all over the room. I'm pretty sure you have some bits of his memories drying on your pretty plasteel armor right now.”

She looked at her armor, lying in a neat row next to her. There were…stains of something on it.

“Great,” she said flatly. “Now I'm going to vomit.”

“I’ll hold your hair if you aim for King,” Crown said cheerfully.

“I do know where the emergency power is.” Ratslayer said suddenly. Their attention suddenly turned to the spindly genie.

“Welp, let's go then.” Crown said with a shrug, slowly getting up while picking up his gun. “I wanna spend as little time in this coffin as possible.”

Twilight could only agree.

It took them a few minutes to arm and dress - more in case of Twilights armor, who with her magic still on the fritz, needed help getting into it. (Her apprehension at having to wear bloodied clothes notwithstanding.)

But, at least, the four of them and their pack Lama Lydia made their way back into the dust filled, rust and rubble strewn corridors of the underground complex, with Ratslayer leading them down a long halfway.

Until they came across a single, red door.

It wasn't locked (Crown first to check) but It didn't open either, something had barricaded it from the inside.

Without further prompting, King kicked the door open.

Inside was a cramped, stuffy room filled with stale, musty air and pipes leading to a strange machine, seemingly an amalgamation of wire and pipes, steam and water vapor escaping from it in great clouds.

The first thing Twilight noticed was how hot it was inside.

The second thing she noticed was the body.

Crown kneeled next to the dried, mummified skeleton. He turned the dead man to his back, revealing a mostly faded name tag pinned to the remnant of a tattered lab coat

“Guy Rune,” read King out loud. “Sounds French.”

Crown shot him a look.

“Da fuck is French?”

King shook his head.

“Heatstroke got him. Prolly heard the attack and barricaded himself inside, then boiled to death. Poor guy.” He blinked. “Pun not intended.”

“Should we…bury any of them?” Twilight said.

Crown shrugged.

“They are already under a mountain,” came the reply. “We get six feet under - if we get lucky. They got hundreds. I think they are buried enough already.”

Silence fell on the room, with the expectation of the hiss of the geothermal generator. Twilight approached what had to be the control panel, while the others simply looked at her expectantly.

She trotted to it, not knowing what to do or what switches to flick.

And then, just like that, the control panel came to life, the machine whirring as it centuries old insides were forced to work yet again. Pale, security lights flooded the complex.

Noise, from all around them.

Computer screen flickered and turned on, old machinery began moving. Holograms, alarms, doors - everything.

The bunker had power again.

“What now?” she asked.

“Now we get out of here,” Crown said.

King nodded and then stopped mid step, staring at the dust covered screen of the control panel, its pale blue light casting shadows on his face.

“It's collecting water.” King said.

Twilight stopped mid stride, turning at her ostensibly friend.

“Sorry?”

“This whole…complex. The tunnels outside. Everything.” King said, gesturing at the concrete bunker around him. “It's for collecting water. This is just…a control station. Another one.”

Twilight shot King a perplexed look.

It was kinda strange, thinking about it. This whole rimworld was a desert, and yet there was a giant underground river here. How did that water get here? Did something just…pull it out of the air?

…Was that why this world was a desert in the first place?”

“Collecting water for what?” she asked.

“Cooling,” Ratslayer answered automatically. The man blinked, looking surprised. “I don't know how I know that.”

“What would need a giant underground river to cool down?” Twilight asked. Just from glancing at the plans. The complex was enormous, pulling tons upon tons of water somewhere.

“Rivers,” Crown piped up, pointing at the plans. “There ain't just one. This is Water Collection Facility number…C116.”

Twilight stared.

“Explains the crazy weather here,” King said, “The water has to get back up eventually - as steam. No wonder we get super storms every so often. God. It has to be planet wide.”

“Makes our life easy, at least.” Crown said, his finger trailing on the map, creating a path through the maze of drawn tunnels and bunkers. “This complex has service tunnels all over the place. We just need to use one to pop out outside the mountains, like was the plan from the beginning.”

“Guys,” King said, voice filled with excitement. “There are underground hangars on this map. Nearby.”

Crown froze, then smiled.

“You think that-”

“That they are probably sealed like this place, yeah,” King said with a smile. “The vehicles there. They may still work. We still got a chance. We’re going to get them in time.”

“And we’re going to bring them home.”

Author's Note

Sorry for the long wait between chapter. This one is a little shorter. But I snuck in a lot of background lore, for which im mostly grateful.

Also also, I fulfilled a commenter's wish and RuneGuy116 died on this planet, surrounded by a mountain and near a geothermal vent.

You're welcome.