Fallout Equestria: The Blue Lightning

— This operation is a disgrace. And any pony involved in it does not deserve the title of Steel Ranger.

Fallout: Equestria, chapter 28

The fire was burning brightly, devouring the bodies.

It took a lot of work to drag all the corpses to the center square. Cosmic wanted to vomit when she touched dead flesh with her teeth, but she held back, reminding herself that it would all be over soon. But she did throw up a few times when she came across the bodies of foals. Trampled, shot… caught in the fire or by the hooves of others.

Sky Bloom and the aliens had it easier: the unicorn had his telekinesis; the others could use their hands. But even they shook themselves off for a long time after the job was done.

And then Sky Bloom set the pile of corpses on fire with magic.

Now the whole group stood in the middle of the ruins and watched the fire, which did not care what it turned into ashes. Dawn had long since come, and Cosmic felt unfamiliar: the daytime bonfire seemed to be something strange to her. But she didn't want to see any more faces of those she couldn’t protect. Her mind was already balancing on a fine line.

No one spoke a word. Everyone looked depressed. Cream had no face; standing dazed, the rabbit girl was hugged by Amy. Chao Cheese looked as if he had completely withdrawn into himself, holding onto Cream’s hand. Like a drowning one grasping at straws in a sea of evil that had swept the whole village with its dark tide.

Cosmic turned back to Sky Bloom. He was frozen in place with his eyes closed, seemingly deep in thought.

“I’m sorry, Skyshine,” he whispered suddenly. “If only I could have saved you…”

The unicorn shook his head. Tears welled up in his squeezed eyes.

“Somehow we both blame ourselves for all this,” Cosmic replied softly. “Although the fact is that we’ve done everything that was up to us.”

“I know. But shit…!” Sky Bloom clenched his teeth with suppressed sobs. “How could this be…?”

“Now you can imagine how I felt after my squad died. But I got through it then… And we’ll get through this now. No doubt.”

“B-but how…?” The unicorn sobbed, and Cosmic suddenly realized how young he still was. “H-how c-can we c-cope with this…?”

“I don’t know. But you can just stop dwelling on it. We have to move on, remember?”

“Y-yes, of course…”

Sky Bloom exhaled, calming down, and furtively wiped his eyes with the dangling strap of his vest.

“Cosmic,” Tails called the mare quietly.

“What?”

She turned around. The fox was holding out a clump of dusty, pale gray cloth – Metal Dawn’s invisibility cloak.

“Keep it for yourself,” she shook her head. “I don’t need it right now. And speaking of moving on… Shadow, you still have your books, don’t you?”

“Yes.” The black hedgehog turned to Cosmic. “And why do you…”

He paused and the mare nodded.

“Right. You know why I want to do this. You saw… last night you saw everything.”

“Will it make you feel better?”

“If you want to see it like that. And besides… I’m going to build the fourth wall for myself again, or whatever you call it… Maybe the future is determined just because its course is set by something in this world.”

“They cost twenty bucks a volume…” Shadow muttered but went into his backpack anyway.

“Are you going to burn Fallout: Equestria?” Tails asked. “Right here? Now?”

“You have already read it,” Cosmic said with a sad grin. “And Shadow has learned it almost by heart. And on top of that…” She turned away and looked at the fire. “It would just be symbolic.”

The black hedgehog finally took the books out of his backpack and handed them to his friends. Then he turned his head to Cosmic.

The mare nodded. And the aliens, starting with the first volume and finishing with the last, tossed the books one by one into the fire.

The flames began to consume the pages. Cosmic watched as the post-apocalyptic history of her world shrank, charred, and felt the steel vise that had gripped her heart for so long slowly loosen.

Ashes to ashes, she thought. Rest in peace, The Republic. Burn in hell, Kkat. And all your fucking FoE.

They stared at the burning fire for a while. Then, as the flames began to die down, Cosmic seemed to awaken from the helpless despondency that had possessed her.

“Let’s go,” she said. “There is no reason for us to stay here any longer.”

Rocks and sand habitually lay beneath their feet and hooves.

The team, joined by Sky Bloom, was going nowhere on a dry, lifeless plain.

Cosmic had never been to this part of Equestria before (judging by the compass on the PipBuck, their destination, the mysterious Research Center #13, was somewhere to the side of Hoofington) – and frankly, she was wary of these places. Fillydelphia, where Red Eye did his terrible things, wasn’t that far away, but Splendid Valley, with its hellhounds and its storage of dangerous magical waste, was even closer. Who knows what kind of crap might have crawled out of there. Alicorns, for example.

But so far it was quiet. They had enough food and water for a few days, about the distance to their destination according to the map. And then they’d be sure to find Lyra’s trail – and maybe they could resupply.

Sooner or later, it would have to be solved.

Cosmic sighed. For the past month she had tried not to think about the future at all.

I’m going to kill Lyra, to avenge her for the death of my friends. Probably accompany Sonic and his crew back to their world… and then what? What’s next? The Republic has been destroyed, so I have nowhere to settle down. And neither does Sky Bloom. Why don’t I go to New Appleloosa? Or to Junction R-7? Oh, what does it matter now? I just need to get through this first…

Suddenly, her blank stare caught something in the landscape, and she looked up.

A sprite-bot was drifting past them like a lost voyager. But a rather strange one.

Cosmic didn’t even realize what was wrong with it at first. But then she noticed.

It was not playing music.

So, it was being controlled by someone at that moment.

As if in response to her thoughts, the little robot turned towards their group and flew a little closer, looking at them with its camera.

Cosmic stopped. So did the aliens and Sky Bloom – they were obviously just as surprised. The sprite-bot hovered in place as well, facing their recently enlarged group.

“W-Watcher…?” the blue earth pony asked cautiously.

But from the loudspeaker came only mad laughter. And it wasn’t Spike’s.

Cosmic broke into a cold sweat. The dragon’s words about someone else having learned how to access the sprite-bots immediately came to mind.

And then the little flying robot spoke.

“Well, hello, Cosmic Valor.”

The voice seemed to belong to a mare. And, judging by the hissing of withered vocal cords, a ghoul.

Looking at the others, Cosmic realized that they were stunned as well. And Shadow in particular.

“Who are you?” she asked sharply, moving the carbine from her back to her side and aiming at the hovering bot. “And how do you know my name?!”

The feeling of ignorance made her really angry.

“I know a lot about you, Cosmic…” laughed the ghoul mare again. “And for that matter, you know something about me. Guess, hmm?”

“Lyra,” Cosmic growled. The puzzle in her brain came together. “It was all you… It was you who hired Metal Dawn through a fake merchant to steal from Monterey Jack the blueprints from Tenpony Tower and then get rid of the witnesses. And you succeeded in the first part. But with the second,” the earth pony grinned, “you failed.”

“Yeah, it was unpleasant to find out that you were alive. Especially seeing it through the eyes of my cyberghoul, who was cowardly enough to tell you my name.” The hiss changed from triumphant to angry. “I had to deactivate his brain implant, which triggered the self-destruct module–”

“You are a monster!” Sky Bloom exhaled. “Why are you doing this?!”

“Let’s just say I have some interests of my own.” Cosmic had no idea what Lyra Heartstrings looked like, but she was sure there was a smirk on her lips right now. “But we are distracted.”

The sprite-bot turned back to Cosmic.

“It was not easy to track you – but I managed. True, a few times I came across bots that were already controlled by someone… is that the Watcher you were talking about? But that’s not the point. You went from one end of the Wasteland to the other, but you ended up back where you started. In The Republic.”

“W… what do you know about The Republic?!” Cosmic shouted on the verge of a breakdown.

The hoof was on the safety of Argument. A few moves – and bullets will tear the sprite-bot to shreds.

“I’d thought a lot about how to get you out of there. And finally found a simple but effective way.”

“So you were the one who brought the raiders to the village?!” Shadow shouted, pointing his finger at the sprite-bot. “And gave them grenade and rocket launchers so they could breach the wall?!”

“Raiders? No, no, no. They came on their own. I just timed it so that I could bring my little army up ahead – and make it easier for them, so to speak. But I never thought that you would survive again. Bravo, Cosmic. I can’t wait to meet you.”

Meet me…?

Suddenly, Cosmic had an idea. Carefully releasing the carbine, the blue earth pony touched the PipBuck buttons with her hoof – and began to press them discreetly.

“You knew!” Tails said. “You knew the raid was coming! How?!”

“Well, I have my sources,” Lyra murmured. As much as that could be said for a ghoul’s voice. “You don’t need to know about them.”

“But… you must be dead!” Shadow blurted out. “Your skeleton is stuck to a street bench in Canterlot!”

“Have you been there too?” The ghoul mare chuckled… but with a hint of desperation. “No matter, though. Oh, Bon-Bon… In the last years before the end, she had adopted my favorite sitting posture.” There was bitterness in her voice. “It’s a pity that things turned out this way.”

“I’ll kill you,” Cosmic said through her teeth, looking directly at the bot to distract Lyra from her own actions. “I’ll hunt you down and kill you. And then let everything go up in flames.”

“Sunshine and rainbows are coming, Cosmic,” the ghoul laughed again. “It’s just a matter of time… Oh yes, I want to warn you about something. Soon it will be quite hot here. So try to get out of here before the explosion. Adieu.”

And the sprite-bot, which had finally started to play music, slowly flew away.

“Explosion…?” Shadow muttered and suddenly slapped his forehead. “Right! How could I forget!”

And he took off, gaining unimaginable speed and disappearing in the distance in a few moments.

Sonic and Knuckles looked at each other and silently ran after him, melting away in a flash of blue and red.

“And… what was that?” Cosmic said in confusion.

“Chapter Thirty-Nine,” Tails replied, turning his head towards her. “Littlepip is blowing up Maripony.”

The episode from the burned book immediately came to the blue pony’s mind.

“Fuck! Why the hay did they go there…?”

“I think…” The fox looked at Amy and Cream, clearly stunned by his guess. “Shadow has decided to destroy Chaos Emeralds.”

The barren landscape flashed around him faster than any kaleidoscope. The wind whistled in his ears, and he had to squint his eyes all the time. Shadow couldn't run at the speed of sound like Sonic, but he could at least outrun a car.

He had taken the Emeralds out of his backpack while running, and now he held them tightly in his hand. If he loosened his grip, they would be scattered all over the Wasteland. On the one hand, that would be good: Eggman wouldn’t be able to find them here... but on the other hand, wouldn’t they bring dissonance to this world and cause an even worse conflict, like the secret Project Horizons?

No. Then let nobody have them. And the best way to do that is to blow them up with a megaspell. Although… the black hedgehog grinned, what if they can’t be destroyed in such a “primitive” way?

Shadow imagined where Maripony was located. Seriously, he wouldn’t be himself if he didn’t look at the markers when Cosmic turned on the map. A few minutes of racing, and there would be no need to worry about these gems.

Just as long as he didn’t get hit by the explosion itself… or by the paw of a hellhound.

Turning his head, Shadow noticed two flashes – blue and red – that were rapidly catching up with him.

Yeah, looks like I’m a little out of shape after half a century in the freeze… It’s okay, they can’t change my mind. I must do this. It’s the only solution now.

Sonic and Knuckles made one last dash – and suddenly found themselves on either side of him. And ran forward at the same speed.

Shadow snorted and accelerated even more. So did they.

There was no escape.

The black hedgehog snorted. “Shit, are you guys gonna follow me all the way like this…?”

He cut himself off.

His voice should have been distorted by the speed and carried backwards by the wind. But somehow the words sounded clear and steady, as if he was standing still.

It was like a cartoon where the creators bypassed physics a bit to make the moment cinematic.

We’re also characters in the same franchise, so to speak. And Sonic is the main one in it. And I’m playing my usual role as trickster and pseudo-antagonist…

But wait… Shadow slowed down a bit. Then there must be a version of Earth where we’re just fictional characters! It doesn’t make sense that in every fandom the characters go to a world that doesn’t know them… How many worlds are there really, huh…?

“Shadow, listen!” shouted Sonic, running to his left. “You don’t have to do this! As soon as we help Cosmic complete her mission, we’ll go straight back to Earth and use the Emeralds to defeat Eggman for good!”

“But what if he somehow manages to get his hands on them again?” The black hedgehog shook his head. “No, I’m not gonna risk the whole world! The Emeralds are too dangerous!”

“We’ve been fighting for them for thousands of years!” Knuckles spoke from the right. “You can’t just dispose of them as you wish…!”

“Oh, so I can’t…”

Shadow braked sharply, plowing furrows in the sand with his sneakers. His pursuers went a little farther away, but immediately came back and stood in front of him.

“Listen,” the black hedgehog said, calming down a bit. “I understand that you want to have this trump card on your side in the battle against Eggman. But…” He shook his head. “You know how easily this weapon changes its owner. It’s not the same magic as the Elements of Harmony. It doesn’t care who controls it. Yes, maybe we don’t deserve to use the Elements themselves, and we’re left with the Emeralds... but they’re far more dangerous. And unpredictable. Precisely because of their impersonal power. Tell me, are you willing to take that risk? Knowing that we’ll never have the right to make a mistake again?”

“As if we ever did,” Knuckles grumbled. “But these Emeralds are an important part of the universe. Destroying them would unleash a terrible force that could destroy this world forever.”

“Many here would be rather happy about that! Look around you – what do you see?!” Shadow’s hand circled the lifeless wasteland. “And by the way… The headcanon storyline continues, no matter what! You saw Cosmic try to break the timeline to save her village. It didn’t work! It all turned out to be part of a different, more global story! Equestria won’t collapse because of the Emeralds! It collapsed two centuries ago! We can not change anything here! And out there,” he pointed behind his back, referring to Earth, “we can still make a difference! And the best way to do that is to tie Eggman’s hands! Yeah, we won’t have an ace up our sleeve, but we’ll be together – and Robotnik will be alone! All he’ll have with him is his right hand, Agent Stone, and Metal Sonic! And we’ll have the whole world behind us! And your family, Sonic!” The black hedgehog turned to the blue one. “They’ll be with us too! And you think some gems –” Shadow opened his palm to reveal the Emeralds “– are more important than all of that?”

Sonic and Knuckles were silent, their heads bowed. Sonic was probably thinking about Tom and Maddy; and Knuckles probably about the tribe of Echidnas that had wiped out the Hedgehogs but had also perished into eternity.

Finally, Sonic sighed. “Okay, Shadow. Do as you wish. I won’t stand in your way.”

Knuckles nodded. “Allow me to reunite the Emeralds so they won’t scatter.”

Shadow hesitated for a moment. What if this red was just waiting to take the gems and run back to Cosmic with them?

But in an instant, the black hedgehog felt ashamed of such thoughts. After the cheap demagoguery he had used to tug at these two’s heartstrings, it would be low to suspect impure intentions, knowing that Knuckles was the Element of Honesty after all.

Shadow slowly held out the Emeralds to the echidna. Knuckles took them carefully, covering them with his fingerless palm, and a light of magical power shone from beneath his hands. His tribe was more adept at handling these artifacts anyway.

After a while, the light faded, and Knuckles unclenched his hands. In his palm lay a rather large, deep green crystal that seemed to glow faintly from inside.

“Here you are,” the echidna handed the Master Emerald to Shadow. “I hope you know what you’re doing.”

The black hedgehog nodded gratefully and sped off again, trying to get to Maripony in time.

The Wasteland stretched all around him, empty and silent.

As Shadow ran, he glanced around to make sure he didn’t miss the buildings. Meanwhile, he caught a few glimpses of the drama unfolding there.

A sky wagon flying over the desert, pulled by a rust-coated pegasus with a red mane – that was Littlepip’s party on their way to Splendid Valley to deliver the Black Book of Canterlot to the Goddess… and then destroy them both.

Here was a white mare with a black and red mane taking aim with a sniper rifle while the bleeding body of a purple alicorn lay nearby. Blackjack and Lacunae, and Blackjack was about to kill Littlepip.

And in the sky, airships were flying toward Maripony – it was the Enclave coming to make an alliance with the Goddess.

None of them knew about the black hedgehog, and he was not interested in them either.

Soon a half-ruined facility appeared on the horizon.

I wonder if a normal dosimeter could measure the magical radiation of this place? Shadow thought, speeding up even more. It would be foolish to go through so much - and die of magical radiation poisoning.

He threw the Master Emerald into a large puddle of the transformation potion called Taint and sprinted back the way he had come.

It would be very hot here soon.

Squinting, Shadow saw Sonic and Knuckles ahead of him. They were waiting for him, and when he rushed by, they ran to his side, just as they had before.

They had all read the book and knew what was about to happen.

But then the colorful frozen figures came into view: Cosmic, Sky Bloom, Tails, Cream, Cheese, and Amy. They stood and stared off into the distance, waiting for the other three to come back to them.

“We’re done…!” Shadow shouted as the three of them braked their sneakers on the ground, approaching the group.

And then the poisonous green bubble of a balefire bomb explosion rose up in the distance.

Everyone covered their eyes to avoid being blinded by the flash. A pale pink glow flickered around them as Sky Bloom created a faint shield against the shockwave.

The bubble grew larger and larger, filled with a second, low-hanging sun. A gust of radioactive wind hit the shield – but not strong enough to knock anyone off their feet. Sky Bloom just grimaced and pumped more magic into his spell.

The PipBuck on Cosmic’s leg began to click. But the mare paid no attention.

The glow faded a bit, and she stared at the explosion with all her eyes, as if imagining the apocalypse of two centuries ago.

After a few minutes, the column of magical fire faded into a dark cloud of smoke. All that could be seen was the glow of the land, contaminated for many more centuries… or until the Gardens of Equestria would be used.

“Farewell, Master Emerald,” said Shadow. “Farewell, Goddess.”

“I’m coming for you, Lyra,” Cosmic whispered.

They stood in silence for a while longer. The dosimeter on the PipBuck reached the yellow zone, and Cosmic gave everyone RadAway from the supplies she had bought in New Appleloosa.

Then the squad moved on.

The next day, the terrain started to change.

Instead of lifeless plains, green hills and sparse groves began to appear, and there was something other than sand and stone underfoot. Everyone cheered up a bit, although the scenery around them was still pretty bleak.

So was the mood of the entire team.

The knowledge that it wouldn’t be long before they reached their destination didn’t make anyone happy. Cosmic and Sky Bloom were reliving the destruction of their hometown in their minds, and the aliens were following them more by inertia, catching the general wave. After all, they were no longer the naive anthropomorphic creatures who had first entered the world of the magical Fallout.

Time dragged on slowly. But it dragged nonetheless.

The numbers of distance ran evenly downward on Cosmic’s PipBuck. And each time she felt particularly bored, she reassured herself that they had less and less to go.

Lyra would get hers. And no matter that she was the canon character.

…They reached the village in the afternoon of the PipBuck’s time. Cosmic had left the sixteen-hour format – it was more familiar to her and Sky Bloom.

The settlement was clearly abandoned. Even from a distance, the buildings looked as dilapidated as the house halfway between the Republic and New Appleloosa, and the place seemed as if no one had been here for two hundred years.

The large openwork building on the northern edge was particularly eye-catching, with several turrets tightly wrapped in pipes. Another pipe – a much thicker one – ran away from the building and disappeared somewhere beyond the horizon.

“What is it?” Cosmic asked, looking through the binoculars at the unusual structure.

They were now standing on a low hill, and the village was plainly visible from here.

“Probably a refinery,” Sky Bloom shrugged. At the mare’s puzzled look, he explained, “An oil refinery. It’s from the war. See that pipe? It was used to bring oil into the plant, and then it was refined into gasoline and other products. And then the bombs fell, and nopony needed it anymore. And those who had worked here either ran away… or just died of starvation and radiation.”

“Gee, that’s creepy,” Sonic shuddered.

“Just a typical story,” said the earth pony. “It was like that everywhere else. Why should it be any different here?”

She jerked the bolt of the carbine at her side with her hoof. “Let’s go. We’ll check it out and stay there until tomorrow.”

The group descended the hill and soon entered the settlement.

Up close, the place seemed even more dismal. All the houses seemed to be made of brick with metal cladding on the outside. Cosmic had no idea why they had done it this way (nor did Skybloom, for that matter), so she just walked up and down the main street, looking at the buildings.

Most of them weren’t interesting, just ordinary houses, though reinforced for some vague purpose. But there were a few that stood out.

First of all, a formidable-looking fortified building in the middle on top of a hill… most likely the town hall. On one of its thick, round towers was a flag that Cosmic didn’t recognize. The earth pony was struck by the fact that from here it was possible to control the defense of the entire village and, in general, to successfully fire back during a siege.

In fact, the “town hall” was a real fortress that would not allow the enemies to take the town… but all that might was powerless in the face of limited supplies and deadly, pervasive radiation.

But Cosmic stood for the longest time, staring at the huge metal-clad stallion’s head hanging from the roof of what was obviously a local bar. The memory pricked her heart: this was where Murky Gray would have loved to be… if he had bothered to look back in time.

And anyway – if The Republic were simply destroyed without killing most of its inhabitants, the survivors might well come here and start their lives anew.

Cosmic blinked back tears.

But there was no going back. All that remained was to move forward, without repeating the same mistakes as before.

She turned to call her friends and find a place to sleep… but the words stuck in her throat.

From behind the houses, Steel Rangers were coming out.

At the sight of the grenade launchers, Sky Bloom and the aliens retreated slowly to the center of the square where the blue earth pony stood. Apparently, they, too, had been taken by surprise by the sudden appearance of this faction’s fighters.

“Uhm… hello?” Cosmic said uncertainly.

She tried her best not to even look at her weapon so as not to make these super soldiers nervous. Rumors said that they were ready to kill for any pre-war technical device.

A figure in armor emerged from the ring around them.

“You are trespassing on Steel Ranger territory,” came a harsh mare’s voice, distorted by the helmet. “That alone is reason enough to eliminate you all. But we will be more lenient. Leave all your equipment here and you can go wherever you want.”

“Why don’t you at least introduce yourself?” Shadow snorted nervously.

“Paladin Lillipad Candy, East Wing of the Manehattan Contingent,” the armored pony replied. “We’re not interested in your names. Only the technology you use, which we are here to preserve. Crusader Rain,” she turned to one of the Rangers, “search them.”

He nodded, waved his hoof, and the ring around the travelers began to tighten.

Cosmic drew in air noisily.

PipBuck! I can’t give it to them, there’s a map in there! How else am I going to get to Lyra…?

She looked back at the Rangers coming closer and closer – and a decision came to her all by itself.

“Follow me!” she shouted, and was the first to run back, faster than anyone realized.

Pushing off, Cosmic jumped onto the back of one of the fighters and, falling sideways just in case, dashed toward the “town hall”.

WHOOSH! – a grenade launched by someone flew past and shattered the facade of a small house.

Looking around, Cosmic could make out the colorful, blurry figures of aliens who were also rushing towards the “fortress”. They must have managed to escape as well – and now Knuckles was carrying Cream and Cheese in his arms, and Sonic was holding Amy. Shadow and Tails tried to keep up; the black hedgehog was pulling the fox, who was the slowest of them all. Sky Bloom galloped beside them, also saving his life.

Explosions rang out behind them. Fountains of earth sprayed up from the sides, and bricks and shards of steel flew from the houses along the street.

These soldiers really knew how to destroy.

Cosmic accelerated – so much so that her lungs almost burst from her chest. The last few yards…

The company flew into the open gate of the first floor. Stopping abruptly, they all fell, rolling forward on the smooth floor. Turning her head, Cosmic noticed the lever on the side of the gate – and with all her might, she hit it with her hoof.

The sealed doors slammed shut. An armored plate fell from above, further blocking the entrance.

And immediately after that, a grenade blast came from the other side of the door.

One of the Rangers had finally thought to take aim before firing.

But it was too late.

The gate had held. And apparently was able to stop many more hits.

With a sigh of relief, Cosmic slid down the wall to the floor. Looked up…

And barely held back a strong curse.

From the small hallway, corridors led off to the sides. And right in front of the door was a staircase leading up, branching off after the first stairwell.

And it was full of Steel Rangers.

Covering each other, they aimed all their guns directly at the squad that ran inside.

Many, many guns.

Cosmic even ran her eyes up the stairs, counting her opponents.

They had positioned themselves on the landing, hanging over the railing at the top…

No.

This is not the end!

“Follow me!!!”

Cosmic darted to the right, praying to the two Goddesses – the real ones, as opposed to the one Littlepip had blown up – that the others would have time to come after her.

In the next moment, the space behind her was drowned in the rumble of explosions.

And as Cosmic turned her head, she almost screamed with joy.

Everyone was alive. Yes, Sky Bloom had his bright scarlet tail smoking, Tails was tucked up on his right leg, and blood ran down Shadow’s face – but they were alive. And still running after her, Cosmic.

They. Are. Alive.

And the realization of that instantly banished all the panic from the blue pony’s mind.

Looking forward again, Cosmic saw that the corridor ended in double doors. Accelerating with aching hooves, she flew through, sticking her shoulder out if they were locked.

But they weren’t. Cosmic fell into a room and rolled across the floor. Her shoulder hurt from the impact with the door, but the pain only gave the mare strength now.

The others ran inside after her. Sky Bloom slammed the doors shut and telekinetically lowered the powerful deadbolt, which was conveniently located on this side of the doorway.

It’s obvious only paranoids lived here, Cosmic thought. Then she lifted herself up and looked around, catching her breath.

They seemed to have jumped into a circular vestibule, which was also a technical room. The mare’s keen eye could make out some old mops and a fire extinguisher, probably empty, lying against the wall… and another door, with a sign taped over it, marking the entrance to the stairs.

The corridor was still rumbling. The Steel Rangers apparently had nowhere to go with all their grenades.

But after a few moments, the explosions died down and another, no less dangerous sound was heard. The approaching rumble of armored hooves.

The doors were being pounded on. They bent inward from the blows, but the deadbolt held firm. Though it was clear that such defenses wouldn't last long.

“Any idea how we’re going to escape?!” Sky Bloom shouted. “Not only are they here, but the building’s surrounded…”

“Shadow, you still have the rings, don’t you?” Tails asked suddenly.

“Yes, three of them,” the black hedgehog replied. “And what?”

“Gimme two! I’ll go to Earth and get us some help!”

“What help?! Where are you gonna get help?!”

“Shadow, Tails has an airplane!” Sonic yelled.

“What? Oh, right… Then let’s do it. But wait,” Shadow frowned, “doesn’t time flow much faster here?”

“I know! I’ll try to make it as fast as I can! And you’ll hang in there, okay?”

“I promise.”

A couple of rings moved from hand to hand.

Tails tossed one of them into the air, waved to everyone, and disappeared into the portal.

“An airplane?” Cosmic muttered, and just shook her head in surprise. “Okay, all the talk later. Go there –” she pointed to the far door “– and shoot those from above!”

The bolt was already bent and looked like it was about to break. Cheers came from the corridor: the Rangers were caught up in the excitement of chasing down a defenseless target.

Cosmic and the others ran to the stairway entrance, and the mare swung the door open.

Fuck the damn Luna to all her holes!

Another Ranger stood in front of them. He’d obviously come to the noise – but taken a slightly different route than his comrades. And froze, not expecting to see such company.

Cosmic, on the other hoof, hadn’t forgotten to act quickly. Taking advantage of her opponent’s hesitation, she pushed off the step and slipped right between his legs, running straight up to the landing.

A moment later, the crowd of aliens literally knocked down the hapless Steel Ranger and rushed upstairs after Cosmic. The last to run was Sky Bloom, who simply jumped over the fallen, armor-covered body.

At that point, the deadbolt failed and broke, and the Rangers stormed into the room. Heavy hooves clattered expectantly up the stairs.

As the squad ran up, they passed through an open hatch and found themselves in a large circular room with a panoramic window, on the top floor of the tower with the raised flag. A door in its wall led to an open gallery that served as a “fortress wall,” and on the other side was another tower, one floor higher. That’s where the Steel Rangers might come from, if any of them took the detour.

Cosmic gritted her teeth.

Why is it so bad?! No matter how hard we try, we’re still trapped!

I don’t care. We must survive. And get to Lyra. Whatever it takes!

With a swipe of her leg, the mare slammed the hatch shut and jerked her head, pointing Sky Bloom to the round, heavy table in the center of the room. It looked like this was where conferences used to be held.

The unicorn nodded and magically lifted the table, dropping it onto the hatch with the top down. Then he sat down there himself, adding more weight.

Just hope the grenade launchers don’t start firing. Otherwise, this place will collapse on their heads.

There was a bang on the hatch cover from below.

“Surrender! And maybe we'll keep you alive!” came a booming voice from the stairs.

Yeah, of course we believe you, Cosmic thought and turned to her squad.

“Listen carefully! Our job is to hold out until Tails returns! Sky Bloom, watch the hatch; those idiots can fire a grenade if they want to! Sonic to the door, cover the other tower with fire! The rest of you, to the windows…”

She didn’t get a chance to finish.

“They’re in…!” came from outside.

And then the ceiling above their heads and the walls around them exploded in a rain of glass, brick splinters, and shattered metal.

Everyone fell instantly to the floor. Those near the walls tried to crawl to the center of the room.

Pressing her whole body against the smooth surface and covering her head with her hooves, Cosmic imagined the remaining Rangers outside firing their cannons at the building.

They want to kill us just for disobeying them. Well, we all have a knack for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Suddenly the explosions stopped, and from somewhere above and to the side came a rumbling sound Cosmic had never heard before.

Rolling onto her back, she saw the sky above her. The shells had completely demolished the roof of the tower, along with the flagpole, and even cut the height of the walls in half. The ponies and aliens were now like microbes in a round laboratory beaker.

And there was an airplane plummeting from the sky. A real one. Flying.

Cosmic’s heart pounded faster.

Tails! He’s back! Then we have a chance!

But… how did he manage to do everything so fast…?

Machine guns rattled on the belly of the red flying machine, firing rapidly through the crowd of Steel Rangers. Screams were heard, some frightened, some in pain.

Cosmic crawled over to the wall, pulled herself up with her hooves, and leaned over the melted edge to see what was going on down there.

Several Rangers lay motionless on the ground. The rest of them were busy firing at the plane as it gained altitude for a second approach. Careful, Tails…!

The huge anti-machine rifle on someone’s built-in battle saddle rang out loudly.

The red machine immediately tilted to starboard, and smoke billowed from under the engine cowling. The plane flew away – clearly for an emergency landing.

“No!!! Tails!!!”

Cosmic turned her head. It was Sonic who shouted, also looking at the downed machine with despair in his gaze.

The mare closed her eyes.

I hope he survives. Otherwise, I’ll be haunted by another heavy memory for the rest of my days.

The screaming continued. The Rangers continued to fire, as if for the last time – but already at something on the ground.

Cosmic opened her eyes to see a dark blue shadow, blurred by speed, running toward the crowd of armored soldiers…

And then the beatdown started.

The Rangers couldn’t shoot anymore for fear of killing each other. But their defenses made them too sluggish. The figure spun around, dodging attacks and tearing bodies to pieces with ease, as if they were covered in some kind of foil instead of armor made of the strongest steel.

Cosmic felt sick at the sight.

“What the hay is this?!” she yelled, turning her carbine to the carnage below.

“It’s Metal Sonic!” Shadow shouted back, also looking at this strange dance of death. “He must have lurked in the house after he almost caught up with me, and when Tails showed up, he went after him!”

“Oh, crap,” muttered Sonic. “Eggman got to us after all…”

“Maybe while he’s mowing down those guys, we can sneak away?” Sky Bloom suggested quietly.

Cosmic was silent. She didn’t know what to do. The desire for justice told her to help the Rangers deal with this enemy. But on the other hoof, the Rangers themselves just wanted to tear them apart into a bloody backdrop for the townscape. And besides, there would be no way to complete the mission…

The mare was saved from having to decide by the appearance of the rest of the Steel Rangers from the other end of the “fortress wall.”

“Look, they’re here!” yelled the soldier in front, aiming his grenade launcher at the squad…

…only to fall two stories to the ground a second later, blood spurting from a hole in his helmet.

“Danger! New enemy!”

Some of the fighters immediately dived back into the tower, while the rest turned in the direction of the shot.

Cosmic also glanced there, trying to find out who was helping them now. Squinting, she could make out two figures in long cloaks at the top of the refinery. And it looked like one of them had an anti-machine rifle.

And the other…

“Fire!” commanded the Ranger.

But neither of them had time to do it.

A stream of light smoke streaked through the air in a straight line – and the top of the tower, along with half of the walkway and the Rangers standing on it, ceased to exist, dissolving into a fiery cloud of a massive explosion.

Rocket launcher. The other one has a rocket launcher!

Now already terrified, Cosmic looked back at the towering refinery in the distance. But there was no one there now.

Gone. But where? Did…

A shiver ran down her spine.

After the Steel Rangers, the main target in the town was themselves.

Meanwhile, Metal Sonic had finished his bloody work. Standing on the blood-soaked ground amidst the scattered bodies with severed limbs and heads, he slowly moved his head as if scanning the area with his video sensors.

Finally, he looked up – and Cosmic met his gaze.

There was nothing in the monster’s eyes. Only the willingness to execute his program.

The mare screamed and fired a burst from her Argument at him.

But it didn’t help. Turning into a blur again, Metal Sonic dodged all the bullets. And was already preparing to push himself off the ground to jump towards them in one fell swoop…

And then he blew up.

“What the hay’s going on here?!” Cosmic shouted, watching the robot’s parts fly in all directions.

“Look, there!” Amy said, pointing off into the distance.

The blue earth pony looked closer and saw who was shooting.

Another cloaked silhouette was walking down the main street towards them, carrying a grenade launcher.

“Quick, let’s get out of here!” Cosmic said and ran to another half-destroyed tower to go down…

…but stopped when the muzzle of an anti-machine rifle peeked out from behind the collapsed edge of the wall.

“Stay back,” someone’s voice whispered.

Cosmic obeyed – and stepped back to her friends. She already understood nothing here.

Meanwhile, two figures in dark brown cloaks with hoods pulled down over their heads entered the gallery. On their backs were huge rifles, aimed at the mare and her troop, leaving no chance of escape.

Swallowing, Cosmic looked back down. The hilltop with the “town hall” was surrounded by the same faceless silhouettes of ponies, each carrying some sort of weapon. And the ring kept shrinking.

We’re in deep trouble. The earth pony glanced furtively at the table-covered hatch. Maybe…

“If you move, we’ll shoot you,” the same hissing voice warned. “It’s useless to go down, there are a lot of our ponies there. You’ll only complicate things.”

“Who are you?!” Knuckles asked angrily.

“Soon you will know.”

Cosmic remained silent. She understood. She understood everything.

Ghouls. And if they’re from Lyra, that means they’re cybers. The mare gritted her teeth. She’s outplayed me after all.

Eventually, the cloaked ponies completely blocked off the building, and a few more went inside.

Negotiations? Or an ultimatum?

Soon, another pony appeared from behind the ghouls with rifles, wearing a light green cloak instead of the brown or black of the others. A horn could be seen under the hood pulled over her eyes. And how could it not be, when a small, needle-shooting pistol was floating nearby in a telekinetic field.

After taking a few steps towards Cosmic, the pony stopped and said, “Well, hello, Cosmic Valor. Now we meet again.” And then she pulled back her hood, revealing her own face of a ghoul.

No – a cyberghoul.

The once mint-green coat had faded to a pistachio ice-cream shade[1], and the white and green mane stuck out in ragged, short strands. One ear was missing: it looked as if it had been chewed off… or sloppily torn off.

But the creepiest thing were the eyes. One was amber yellow, and at least it wasn’t crossed like Ditzy Doo’s from New Appleloosa. But the other one…

Cosmic even blinked to make sure she wasn’t imagining it.

The other eye was cybernetic – and glowing blood-red from within.

I wonder if Red Eye got the idea from her, or if she got it from him.

The earth pony’s jaws clenched painfully.

She recognized this voice. And the appearance Sonic and Shadow had told her about in detail.

“Lyra… Heartstrings…” she muttered. The carbine at her side swung towards the unexpected guest. “Die, fucking bitch!”

Before anyone could react, Cosmic had emptied the rest of her magazine into the unicorn cyberghoul responsible for both the death of her former squad and the destruction of The Republic.

A pale-yellow glow flickered in the air, and the bullets simply bounced off the magical shield and rained down in pieces of melted metal.

Lyra laughed. And since she was a ghoul, her laughter sounded especially creepy.

“Oh yeah, it’s me. But do you really think you can do anything to me? Hah, how naive.”

She laughed again. The needlegun shook in her magical grip.

“This is all you…” Cosmic growled. “You are the reason Metal Dawn turned traitor and killed my entire former squad! You sent your cyberghouls to The Republic with orders to destroy the wall to make it easier for the raiders to kill everyone! You are a monster!”

“Me?” the unicorn raised the rest of her eyebrow. “By Wasteland standards, we’re all just angels. Take the Goddess or Red Eye… Ah yes, I forgot: the first one is already finished, and before the truly horrible end of the second one, there are still four chapters left…”

“How do you… know…?” Shadow gasped in surprise.

Laughter again. “Oh, I see your fourth wall is already broken. Well, here’s more for you.”

The cyberghoul smiled at Cosmic. “Hasta la vista, baby.”

The needlegun twitched.

Squinting, Cosmic saw a needle sticking out of her nose. Immediately she wanted to sleep.

Hate… you… she had time to think before her legs gave out.

The world tilted, and then everything seemed to be veiled in black cloth.

And in this darkness, there were no dreams. At least that was what Cosmic could tell for sure.

Note: 50% of the next level.

Thе quest stage “Find Lyra” has been completed. Added new stage “Survive”.

[1] And no, it’s not Shadow’s influence: Mayor Silver Star once ordered an entire box of ice cream from Manehattan for the town’s founding anniversary.