Crashlanded Phoenix

Around an hour of careful driving down the tunnels, while occasionally being delayed by pony maintenance workers reinforcing them, culminated in us reaching what looked like a checkpoint. However, I couldn't see any sort of exit behind it, was this a dead end for some reason? I sat down in the back once our vehicle began to slow down, to avoid being spotted by guards stationed there. Subtle clopping of hooves against the tunnel road echoed all throughout...

"What do we have here, guardsman?" A male voice spoke up, his voice echoing just like his steps did.

"Royally sanctioned transport," Bulwark responded. His words were followed by brief sounds of shuffling papers.

The guard outside hummed to himself, he was probably checking whatever Bulwark gave him. "Everything looks alright to me. Safe travels," He said and walked away from our truck. I got back up and once again stuck my head into the driver's cabin the moment I felt comfortable. I noticed that Aegis put the letter I got from the Princess into the glove compartment. Bulwark meanwhile yawned and looked straight ahead, waiting for something.

The guards stationed at the dead end moved away from the tunnel wall, as if to make way for our truck. Then the sounds of shifting rocks filled my ears with everything shaking on top of that, it dawned upon me that the dead end was actually a secret exit of sorts. This was confirmed by the impassable obstacle lazily moving to the side, letting the sun outside penetrate through the darkness of the tunnels and revealing a...parking lot with a variety of cars occupying spots there. Beside it was a small café, a seemingly perfect coverup for a secret passage like this one. Our driver wasted no time though and drove us out of the tunnel, then the parking lot and onto a paved road.

I looked behind myself as we drove away from Canterlot and the mountain it resided on, though I wasn't able to see much of the city itself, save for some really tall buildings. My guess was that this side didn't have an easy way up the mountain and as such wasn't settled, I wondered how the other side looked like then. Once we gained some more distance, I was able to see the castle that we had just left. It looked like it was straight out of a fairytale, lots of gold gilded roofs and towers, a layout that'd make the greatest Imperial architects suffer a mental breakdown trying to make it all not collapse and tumble down. Combine that with the castle looking like a mix of medieval times and modern architecture. A curious choice, however it all seemed to work well together. To my surprise, the castle wasn't at the very top of the mountain, it was however situated right beside it.

I turned my eyes back towards the driver's cabin and took a good look at my escort. Aegis was currently reading a magazine of sorts, it looked like some sort of fashionista catalogue. That being said, I wonder how a dress would look like on a pony... As for Aegis' appearance, she was quite obviously a unicorn. Her fur was a light shade of green, which I could describe as resembling a fresh lime. It was trimmed short from what I could see. Her mane was coloured a bright lemon yellow and was rather long and smooth. Her magic was also coloured green, but wasn't as bright as her coat. Those bright colours paired well with her open personality. However, were all ponies that colourful in this country? If so, how much would she stand out in a crowd?

On the other hand, when compared to her, Bulwark looked like a complete opposite of her. His fur was coloured dark grey, a shade that would kinda make him blend into urban surroundings if you didn't focus on looking at him. It was longer and looked more...fluffy when compared to Aegis' fur, closer to what I'd expect from a pony like that. His mane was coloured a light shade of brown and was slightly shorter than that of Aegis, but showed signs of frequent combing. He also had a short white goatee, not the aging kind of white though, which looked like it hadn't been trimmed in a while. He used his hooves to hold the truck's steering wheel and only used his magic to occasionally shift gears as we drove on the road.

Rustling of paper reached my ears, making me look at Aegis once more. She flipped through the pages of her magazine until she sighed and tossed it in the back...the magazine flying right by my face. At least she didn't hit me with that. She leaned back in her seat, yet mere seconds after that seemed to jump up from it, only to turn to me with a smile. "Do you still want to know more about Princess Luna?"

Right, I did ask her about that other Princess. "I'd appreciate it if you told me more, but without chucking paper in my direction,"

She smiled in a half-guilty and half-embarrassed way upon my mention of that. "Sorry...I-I kinda didn't think that you'd be there right now,"

I shook my head sideways as I was slightly amused. "No harm done, now do tell me more about her,"

She immediately switched her expression back to her cheery self and immediately started talking. "Long story short, Princess Luna is Celestia's younger sister and co-ruler of Equestria. She's the Moon Princess of Ponies...and Thestrals, who are pretty much bat ponies. You'll know what I mean when you see them," She spoke in rapid succession, words coming out of her mouth like a waterfall with only brief breaks to take a breath. "Celestia handles day-to-day affairs of Equestria, while Luna takes over for the night,"

"What does she do during the day then? Sleep?" I interrupted her after she finished that sentence. For some reason I found that detail more interesting than the fact that Equestria was a Diarchy instead of Monarchy, this was the first time I heard of this actually happening anywhere.

"Yup, but not always. Her sleeping schedule isn't very consistent if I am being honest, but hush, you didn't hear that from me," She grinned and held a hoof up to her muzzle as if to do the hushing gesture. "Among various alicorn duties, she ensures that all ponies sleep soundly at night, unbothered by nightmares and blessed with cozy dreams!" She smiled a lot after saying that. I suppose the ponies were quite happy that their one of their rulers has a very "hooves-on" approach to their subjects. I couldn't help but be slightly reminded of my Emperor who sometimes strolled through the capital incognito...

"That makes her akin to the Sandman then?" I asked, though I didn't know if they had an equivalent of that in here.

"The what?" She asked me with a raised eyebrow. This confirmed for me that the ponies didn't really know any such entity.

"He's the bringer of sweet dreams, often told about to children through bedtime stories to make them sleep better," I said while rubbing my chin, as I wasn't sure if I got that completely right.

"The way you describe it, that title would fit her well. Princess Luna the Sandmare!" She giggled happily at that and I noticed that Bulwark rolled his eyes, though he had a slight smile on his face.

"Judging by the way you talk, the Princesses or at least Princess Luna are quite liked in Equestria," I asked her as a means to gauge what the ponies or at least she thought of them.

"They are both well liked or rather loved by most of us, though Celestia is considered to be the "main" princess. Luna isn't very much used to public appearances," Her enthusiasm cooled down a little as she spoke the second sentence.

"I'd like to interject... without Princesses there would be no Equestria. We couldn't imagine ourselves being led by someone else," Bulwark said out of nowhere in a calm tone as he focused on the road. At least now I knew that the ponies were probably willing to go to hell and back for them, at least according to these two guards.

"Where are we heading exactly? I don't think Princess Celestia told me," And honestly, I should have asked this way earlier.

Aegis wanted to speak, but Bulwark opened his mouth before her. "The Princess wants you sent to Ponyville, a village situated close to the Everfree Forest," Huh, who would in their right mind want to settle near such a place? I guess I'd find out once I got there. "It's also very close to where we ca-" He stopped mid-sentence and coughed. "-you were found," He continued. I noticed that Aegis looked at him with a less than pleased expression and turned to look out of the right driver's cabin window. Bulwark didn't say anything else and the conversation was cut short.

I sat down on the cargo bed and leaned against the wall separating it from the driver's cabin. What Bulwark said weighed heavy on my mind right now. I don't exactly remember being "found", the only logical conclusion was that someone captured me. Yet as he said that, I once again felt a bit of a déjà vu... What if...what if they were the ones who have found and or caught me? Frankly, this sounded ridiculous since then they'd have no reason to act all nice to me like they are right now, but what if? My brain's telling me that I've heard their voices before... Perhaps I should do something bold and confront them? At worst I'll only offend them...

I dwelled on this issue in my head for... I don't know how long, since I didn't exactly have a watch on me. That being said, I should also find out what year and such was currently. The silence was interrupted by Bulwark, accompanied by the sound of our truck slowing down. "We are almost halfway there, we gotta get over a bridge and then we can make a quick stop just a little after that," He exclaimed, finally ending the awkward silence and clearing up the atmosphere, at least until I chose to return to that topic.

"Speaking of the bridge, looks like it's right ahead," Aegis said in a surprisingly calm tone when compared to the previous times she spoke, did that short exchange about Ponyville sour her mood? Anyhow, I got on my knees and looked straight ahead through the window. There it was, just like she said, a bridge that connected the road over a small river. From what I could see from afar, it looked like a rather old stone bridge that's give or take at least a hundred years old. Despite it's apparent age, it didn't show signs of any significant decay and was good enough to be driven on. On another note, the road we were on also branched out to the right, just before the bridge.

"Hey, can you see that? There's someone on it...," I heard Bulwark say as we got closer.

"Mhm, they are holding a stop sign, we should see what this is about," Aegis responded to him with a tinge of concern in her voice. "This wasn't mentioned at all in our briefing," She sighed after saying.
"Perhaps something was glossed over, these things happen. I'll stop and talk to whoever is there," And so he stopped the truck a short distance away from it and hopped out of the truck. I chose to stay out of this and sat back down where I was, so as to get involved as little as possible in this. Aegis popped her head in the back and smiled slightly as she saw me sitting, then returned to her seat.

Guardsman Stalwart Bulwark
Stone Arch Bridge

I got out of the truck and stepped on the road to the bridge. I had high hopes for this plan going as smoothly as we planned, but of course something has to go south when we least damn expect it. Our path was predetermined and nothing was supposed to be in our way, so why the hell is there a bridge block? I took a deep breath to clear my mind and proceeded towards the bridge at a slow yet steady place.

On the bridge stood a single earth pony wearing a high visibility vest and generic work clothes that were somewhat dirty. This one must be a construction pony of sorts, but I didn't see any equipment when I looked around, no vehicles or as little as a toolbox. There were no other ponies in sight either, he better explain himself well about this. He waved his free front leg at me as if to get my attention.

"Ay! You cannot go through here, the bridge's closed for maintenance work!" The workpony shouted at me as I got closer and then pointed to the stop sign he held. I walked closer to him and stopped a short distance away to be within conversation distance.

"I don't see anyone else beside you here," I said firmly to him.

"I'm just part of the forward crew, making sure others don't cross here," He leaned slightly on the stop sign he held and wiped his forehead, cleaning off some dirt that was stuck there.

"We must cross this bridge, it's urgent," I took a step closer to him and put emphasis on the word urgent. A brief moment of silence filled the air between us, only disturbed by the gently flowng river underneath the bridge he stood on.

"That's what they all say." He rolled his eyes at my firm response. "I ain't planning on risking your precious truck destroying this bridge," He put the stop sign down and turned to look out of my right hoof side of the bridge. "You'll have to fish it outta the river AND we'll have more work," He turned back to face me and leaned against the side of the bridge he just looked out of. "Fixing a destroyed bridge is harder than just maintaining it,"

I sighed, if what he is saying is true, then risking going over this bridge could end badly for us and just delay us further...ugh, change of plans it is then. Though I had to ask one more question. "We weren't told of any construction work happening anywhere here," I spoke while scratching my beard with my right hoof. "Why?"

"The foreman didn't have the time to send a notice yet, we got this job out of nowhere," He said and shrugged to me. "If you wanna get across, you gotta take a detour," He approached and walked past me, so I turned around to face him again. "You drive a little bit back and then drive through a forest, then take the left road and you'll find another bridge," He pointed in the direction that the branching off road went.

"Any other surprises waiting for us there?" I asked just to make sure that we wouldn't have to change our plans even further.

"Nope," He shook his head and returned to his stop sign. "Though expect the road to get a little worse on your way,"

I quietly groaned to myself and headed back to our truck. Depending on how long this detour might take, we could be hours late on schedule and we had other things to do once we got to Ponyville too. On top of that, it seems that Rex might be onto us...damn me and my long tongue. Aegis though...she will certainly be happy to talk to him for longer. I opened the door and hopped back in my seat, where I sighed again.

"We have to take a detour," I said to everyone in the truck while turning the key and starting the engine, meanwhile the pony on the bridge waved goodbye at us.

Object C-04 "Rex"
Truck cargo bed

I got up once more and looked out through the windshield once I heard the truck engine start. I wasn't exactly thrilled about the concept of having to take the potentially longer way to our destination, since I'd rather not spend the evening and maybe even the night back here. Though I suppose it's an improvement over sleeping on a tree and perhaps I could make a little nest here... Bulwark switched the reverse gear on and carefully backed away from the bridge, Meanwhile the pony on it watched us and lit up a cigarette as we gained distance from him.

After a moment of driving backwards, Bulwark switched gears and turned into the branching off road. With us back on the a somewhat regular path with no interruptions in sigh, I decided to strike up a potentially less than comfortable conversation with them, as I had come to conclusion that they were in some way involved in my capture via quite convenient moments of deja vu. Their voices were quite recognisable after all...

"So...how did I find myself inside the castle in the first place?" I said out loud, brimming with confidence to put more force behind my words. "Obviously I got captured, but how and by who?" I decided against going all out in favour of seeing their reactions first.

Bulwark's grip on the driver's wheel tightened substantially, his muscles tensing up and a few droplets of sweat forming on his forehead...however that worked with ponies. I must have struck in the right direction towards my desired answer in his case. Aegis' reaction was more calm and contained, as she only audibly gulped and looked at Bulwark as if she wanted to ask him about what to do next. I remained silent however, waiting for an answer.

Bulwark looked back at Aegis, who then turned around to face me. "Some guards turned you in yesterday after coming back from patrol," She said to me turned back to her original position. "I don't know much more beyond that,"

I raised an eyebrow at that and decided to include a bit more detail. "And those guards wouldn't happen to sound similarly to either of you?"

Bulwark slowed down and sighed, placing his forehead against the steering wheel. "It'll be easier if we just tell him," I certainly didn't expect that kind of response, but that's definitely appreciated.

"Y-yeah...no point in hiding it if the Princess trusts him," Aegis said with a shaky voice that implied her feeling a bit of guilt in some regard. "Apologies in advance...but we were the ones who caught and transported you to the castle," She told me with a lowered head as the truck came to a stop.

In any other circumstances I should probably be rightfully angry, because who enjoys being knocked out and dragged to a prison in who knows where...but I just couldn't gather anything other than a slightly disapproving sigh, as in the end nothing bad came out of this. The irony of this was quite apparent too, the very guards who captured me were now responsible for keeping me safe, maybe that was the reason for them being so friendly to me? I doubt the way they saw me initially was particularly graceful and they were eager to talk once they saw more than a monster?

"...It's alright, I don't think I can hold a grudge against either of you for what had happened. In a way you were doing your job and maybe thanks to you the whole situation was resolved the way it was," I told them and gave them a few reassuring pats on the back. The effect was near instantaneous. Bulwark loosened up in his seat, his breathing slowing. Aegis leaned back in her seat with a slight smile as she looked up. "It's all in the past and you've been good company, so no hard feelings," I said with a smile of my own as they both nodded.

Our truck once again began to accelerate and move along the road. "By the way," Aegis spoke up. "I knocked you out," She smirked and turned her head to the side window. That felt like a bit of a gut punch to me if I was being honest. Not because she was female, but because she said it in a way that implied she did it with little to no effort. That should probably be a conversation for another time, perhaps in a setting more comfortable than this truck. Speaking of settings, I noticed that there was a forest on the horizon and our road led right into it.

"This must be the forest that guy spoke of, it looks rather dense," Bulwark spoke.

I somewhat agreed with him, however it wasn't as dense and thick as the Everfree Forest I found myself in not too long ago. That thought reminded me that I'd have to return there at some point in the future, perhaps not alone, to check on my ship and to see how bad the damage and if something worth salvaging was inside. This was under the assumption that the crash hadn't destroyed absolutely everything, which I wasn't quite certain about. Another thing on my new to-do list it seems.

We steadily got closer and closer to the forest in our truck, which was puny in size when compared to some of the tallest and most imposing trees that I could see from the outside. Their shadows stretched far across the grassy plains outside of the forest, some of them even falling on us and dimming the driver's cabin. I could hear faint rustling of the leaves in the wind as we neared the forest's perimeter and before we knew it we were engulfed by it. Bulwark slowed down once we drove in and switched the truck's lights on, though arguably the road was still somewhat well lit without them.

The terrain beneath the truck's wheels changed, our vehicle shook and bounced as a result of us leaving the even road and driving onto a forest path. "W-woah! Drive more carefully, you don't want to bust the transmission again do you?" Aegis turned and spoke to Bulwark, who nodded in agreement with her and slowed down some more. Me being on the cargo bed definitely didn't make it easier for the aforementioned transmission to carry all of us.

Occasionally we drove over a rock or a depression in the forest road that shook the truck even more. I had a hard time maintaining a somewhat stable position while looking into the cabin a- THUNK

Gah, bloody fucking hell! We must have driven over quite a bump because I just slammed my head against the top of the window frame pretty damn hard. I put my right hand on the back of my head and rubbed there as I sat down. Nhh...motherfucking...bullshit...I should have expected this being a possibility...ouch...now I really wish my pain suppression would kick in...

"Is everything alright back there?" I heard the concerned voice of Aegis reach out to me.

"I'll be fine...it's just a little bump...," I responded to her and cracked a slight smile, which she probably wasn't able to see.

"I can help w-" Her sentence was cut short as she gasped loudly. "OH DEAR CELESTIA, WATCH OUT!" She screamed at the top of her lungs, loud creaking of trees could be heard all around, Bulwark pulled the emergency brake, wheels ground against the dirt and-

THUD

Both ponies escorting me were gasping for air, I glanced through the window to see what in the actual fuck had just happened... To my surprise, there was a fuckoff massive tree in our path that had just fallen onto the road. I couldn't help but think that we were quite lucky to not get crushed by it, having stopped mere metres before it... I swallowed the spit in my mouth and slowly sank back down to my spot, as I thought it'd be better if we all just remained quiet for a bit and let the adrenaline pass.

Rustle, snap, rustle, rustle

"Did you hear that?" Aegis said out loud and looked around frantically.

My ears twitched as more rustling sounds came from all around us, something was in the bushes... I tried to look through the window, but I couldn't see anything.

"I have a bad feeling about this," Bulwark said in a calm tone, despite what happened mere minutes ago.

BANG

A gunshot rung through the forest, causing flocks of birds that previously remained quiet and hidden to take off and fly out. We all looked towards where the sound came from...a pony with a rifle standing on top of the fallen log. Soon enough, more ponies with guns made their appearance and presumably surrounded our lone truck. They carried small arms for the most part with a few rifles and an occasional shotgun, though all of them had some sort of melee weapon on them. Those ponies wore leaves and twigs as form of camouflage on top of their somewhat tattered clothes, only the pony who shot in the air looked relatively...proper. I had no doubts about this, we were ambushed by outlaws, brigands...bandits.

"Look what've got here fellas! Praise Celestia for blessing us with a military transport!" He grinned and chambered a round into his bolt action rifle and looked at his fellow criminals.

I wanted to jump out of the truck right now and deal with that scum...however I couldn't risk them hurting my escort... I needed to wait for an opportunity to draw their attention away from them...hmh... Speaking of them, Bulwark and Aegis looked quite tense.

"Damn it...I left my gun in one of the crates...," Bulwark said quietly. Judging by Aegis' reaction, she didn't have any on her either.

"You two lovelies sitting inside!" The bandit leader spoke and pointed his rifle at the two unicorns. I assumed that he hadn't seen me then. "Get out of the truck and you might live to serve your precious Princesses another day! Or don't, your choice," He grinned at the end.

Bulwark and Aegis looked at me then at each other and nodded, soon enough they left the truck without as much as a word. Did they suddenly have a plan how to deal with this after all? They disappeared out of my field of view...now my options were even more limited. They were out in the open now and could easily get picked off. Ugh...

"Perfect, abso-fucking perfect! I see that you armoured cunts found some reason in those brains of yours!" He laughed out loud, with some of his fellow bandits laughing alongside him. "Enough pleasantries. You there!" He shouted and presumably pointed at one of the henchmen standing the closest to the back of the truck. "Check what goodies they've got in there!"

"Aye aye sir!" A voice coming from outside the truck shouted back to him.

"You tin cans better behave all the way until we are done," Their leader spoke, judging by his words he spoke to Aegis and Bulwark. "One funny move and your brains will be Timberwolf fodder,"

I heard the bandit ordered to check the truck make his way towards the back. I sensed a potential opportunity in this and quietly hid behind one of the wooden crates in the back, then took the tarp covering it and hid myself underneath it. Now I had to wait... His hooves stomped confidently on the dirt path as he got closer. The latches of the cargo bed hatch were undone and the hatch opened. I felt the truck shake as the pony climbed in, he groaned a bit while doing so.

"They've got some crates here! I'll look around!" He shouted to his comrades outside. I couldn't see anything from underneath the tarp concealing me, but I could hear his hooves move on the metal surface, walking from crate to crate.

I heard him groan once more as one of the crates near me creaked, presumably he was trying to pry it open and judging by the sounds he didn't have any tools on him for that. "Stubborn wood...damn it," He said quietly to himself. I needed him to come closer to me however, much closer... I needed something to attract him to my spot, maybe I could make some sounds or- Ah, I got it! I shifted around in my spot, causing the rubber tarp covering me to shift with me and as a result making flappy noise.

"What the- What was that?" The pony brigand said, though I could hear him move too. Hopefully he was now looking in my direction.

"Hmmh...my imagination acting up, gotta hurry up," He said quietly. Shortly thereafter I heard one of the crates pop open. "Oh goodie!"

"What did you find in there?" A pony bandit from outside the truck shouted.

"This crate is full of supplies! These could last us for weeks at the camp!" He responded excitedly.

No response came from the bandit outside, seemingly satisfied with the answer he got. I decided to once again make some noise, shifting and moving in my place.

"Again- It came from there...," I heard him say, followed by hoofsteps getting closer and closer to me. I could hear him breathing a couple seconds later, but I still needed the right moment to strike.

"Let's see...," I felt him grab the tarp with his hoof and start pulling it off. This was the moment I've been waiting for, if I did this right then I'd distract everyone from the two unicorns they held hostage right now. I readied my functioning hands and pounced on the bastard faster than he could scream. A gasp full of shock and surprise was all he got out before I landed on him with the tarp. The truck shook in response to this maneuver of mine, just like I intended it to do.

"Wh- Mmfhh! Mnfffhhhh!" He tried to scream, but the tarp didn't let his screams through, as it wrapped tightly around his head and body. He tried to struggle but to no avail as I wrapped my limbs around him, preventing him from wiggling out of his coming demise.

"What's happening in there!?" A voice from outside asked. They'd be swarming me if I didn't act and get out quickly.

I laid on my back with the pony on his back on top of me. My legs were tightly wrapped around the lower half of his body, clenching it tightly between them. The pony already struggled to breathe, and the pressure I applied made this a much more painful experience for him, but ensured that I was in full control of the situation.

"Mnnfffhh! Nnffhh-" My hands moved to his neck and head, gripping both tightly. He knew his final moments were approaching and he found the strength within himself to try and struggle against me even more, but I wasn't going to let this scum go ever. I took a deep breath and concentrated, then with one swift yet powerful move snapped his neck. The cracking and snapping of bones was accompanied by the last squeal that will ever come out of his mouth. For him it probably felt like an eternity, for me less than a minute.

"Hey! You alright in there?!" Another voice spoke up, though this time it moved towards the back of the truck. I retrieved the bandit's corpse from the tarp and stood up with it. One bastard was down for the count, now it was time to take care of the rest of them. Albeit in their case, I considered talking instead of acting right away, for the sake of my escort. I took another deep breath and chucked the body out of the truck. It landed and tumbled on the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust behind and around it.

"WHAT THE FUCK?!" "DEAR CELESTIA!" "HORSEAPPLES!" "I never liked him anyway," "OH SHIT, HE'S DEAD!" "WHAT IN TARTARUS HAPPENED?!" Several voices shouted at once as they found out that their fellow wretch was now dead.

"What's the commotion back there!?" The bandit leader shouted.

"Something in the truck killed him!" One of the bandits shouted back at him.

In this moment I opened the toolbox that I spotted earlier upon entering the truck before our journey started and found a pretty sizable wrench in there. I took it with my right hand, clutching it tightly, and made my way out of the cargo bed. I made sure to step heavily, as to make the vehicle shake more and instill more fear in them, to make them think I was much bigger and powerful than they are. Of course killing them all or otherwise making them unable to fight was the simplest solution, but I wouldn't shed a tear if they chose to run away. In a way the Empire taught us that a fleeing enemy was as good as a dead one. It was a key principle behind the way I and fellow clones fought, with overwhelming violence and brutality since ironically it results in less people dying in the end.

Those thoughts once more awakened by the thoughts of having lost everything I once had, but this wasn't the time to get sentimental. I heard lots of hoofsteps as I approached the cargo bed hatch, but they were backing away from the truck...presumably preparing for the "something", me, to come out. I jumped out of the truck and landed right beside the corpse, the servos in my exoskeleton buzzed as I braced myself for what might soon happen.