Sun Never Sets 2: Fires of Friendship

Chapters

00 - THE DEMON SLAYER
01 - THE UNDERWORLD PRINCESS
02 - THE CYBORG PALADIN
03 - THE KILLER MACHINES
04 - THE GUARDIAN ANGEL
05 - THE LURKING TERROR
06 - THE LIVING DEAD
07 - THE LOOMING DARKNESS
08 - THE CONVERGING PATHS
09 - THE PLATINUM KNIGHT

00 - THE DEMON SLAYER

"In a time long since passed, in an age of chaos when demons ruled the mortal realm, humanity's hope was carried in a demon called Daybreaker, The Legendary Platinum Knight. Born of human blood, she used her demonic powers to rid the world of evil- monsters both mortal and immaterial. With an inextinguishable light within her and a magical sword bearing her own name, she destroyed the Lord of Chaos and severed the bridge between the mortal and demonic realms, and was thus known as The Sister of Light- The Guardian of the World."

"Millenia later, in the present day, her legend is continued by her strongest disciple:The Demon Slayer, Sunset!"

[Canterlot City]
[Friday, 9:00pm]

Ring, ring!

In a well lit, quiet storefront in Canterlot City's inner city's area, a phone rang.

Ring, ring!

It was quickly answered by the store's owner. She responded to the greeting quickly, a casual yet matured tone to her voice.

"Sorry, we closed at nine tonight. We'll be open again on Monday."

The owner waited a moment, patiently awaiting one of two outcomes. There would either be an apology, a goodnight, and a quick hangup, or...

"Oh, Monday, got it. Sorry about that! Have a nice night."

The owner shrugged, and set the phone back on the receiver. She stood up from her desk at the back of the room and raised her arms above her head, exhaling as she stood on her toes and stretched her body out. On the way back down, she ran her hands through her shoulder length cut of red-and-gold streaked hair, and then rested them on her hips, framed just between her blue jeans and her black t-shirt.

"Oh well," She said to herself. "Looks like I've got a quiet night ahead of me."

It had been a long, slow day of off and on business. Sun Never Sets was an all-in-one repair and magical pawn shop, and its proprietor bought, sold and took on just about any job. Today, it'd mostly been a few sales of some mundanely enchanted necklaces, and a quick fix on a motorcycle ignition cylinder. Nothing wrong with the bike itself, just some messed up grooves on the inside of the locking mechanism. More of a job for a locksmith than a mechanic, but she took her best shot at whatever jobs she was given.

A light hanging from a ceiling fixture illuminated her shop—just a wide room at the front of her building—allowing her to comfortably take stock and mentally prepare for the task of tidying it all up. Three sets of glass displays in the center of the room had been smudged up with fingerprints on top and along the sides, slight but noticeable obstructions to the wide range of interesting trinkets and gaudy valuables inside. The bookshelves looked alright, very few people came to her for something to read, but the couch running along one wall had been bumped from its place somehow, misaligning it with the coffee table in front of it.

She sighed. She got all this stuff to make a more comfy atmosphere for her for possible customers, and here they were, making themselves at home.

The hardwood floors were pretty dirtied up as well, that was going to need a sweep-up. She might even take a mop to it tomorrow.

Along the back wall was a weapons rack- enchanted hatchets, cursed muskets, a small handful of exotic weapons hung there. In the middle of this rack was a quite sizable yet plain looking greatsword, a well worn yet cared for centerpiece of the weapon collection. However, a small note beneath it read "NO OFFERS.", indicating that it was not part of its surroundings.This was a special piece, one the owner was not willing to part with. But, none of the other weapons had been sold today, so she wouldn't have to worry about reorganizing the rack over the weekend.

She made a mental to-do list as she paced across the floor of her shop. Put the couch back, wipe down the displays, sweep the floor, maybe dust off the bookshelves too... What else was there?

Oh, right, the trash!

Near the door, she had a properly sized trash bin that caught all sorts of junk from people coming in and out. Most nights she didn't actually have to worry about it—rarely did one day's worth of business leave anything more in there than a few scraps of paper or candy wrappers, but by the end of the week it'd be full, and tonight it was.

Yeah, that wouldn't be a problem. She'd do the trash last after everything else was cleaned up.

She ducked away through the doorway in the back of the room, into her living area behind her storefront. From here, around the corner, was her kitchen area, and from it she retrieved a broom and some cleaning wipes.

The couch was easy enough to set back, just a quick lift and slide, and she was able to quickly identify and wipe down each of the problem spots on her glass displays. Tossing her first one in the trash, she took another wipe to the bookshelves beside the displays, leaving all visible surfaces sparkling clean.

Now for the floor. Her broom was an old wooden handled thing with long wiry bristles on the end of it. It didn't come with a dustpan, but she had one behind her desk. With quick, coordinated sweeps and swipes she made her way from one corner of the floor to the other, collecting all of the dust and dirt into a neat little pile before knocking it into the dustpan she'd set up in a matter of minutes. Then, lifting the dustpan, she emptied it over the top of her filled trash can, smiling to herself as she looked over a now clean floor.

This was her average night for the past few years. Unless she got a special call, she'd keep things clean and running here at home.

She looked down into her trash can again. Honestly, she was surprised at how useful a tall can like this one was. She just had a small store, but there sure was a lot of trash coming in and out. There seemed to be some room in it still though. Maybe she'd toss the trash from her kitchen in here too, take it all out in one trip. Yeah, that sounded good.

She turned to head back to her kitchen, but out of the corner of her eye she thought she saw something through her front window. Across the street, near a payphone, a figure was just standing there. Were they using the phone? Who even used payphones these days anyway?

She didn't give it too much thought, she just pulled the curtains closed on both of the windows. Nothing to worry about. Out with the trash, then. Her smaller kitchen trash bag went into the larger one from the store, and after tying it shut she threw it over her shoulder and headed through the back door.

She kept the broom with her, she used it to hold open the lid of the big dumpster out in the back alley. There was a single, blueish light out here, the only source of light in the darkness between her building and the neighboring one. Not much of the sky was visible, both buildings were two stories, and the surrounding streets were mostly quiet, save for the distant sound of a motor running somewhere.

Come to think of it, the motor sounded like it was getting closer.

Yeah, louder and closer.

VROOOM!

All that was initially visible when she turned around was a bright beam of light, roughly centered with her stomach, illuminating the entire alleyway and growing closer at an alarming rate.

"What the-"

The bright light quickly heralded a sleek blue motorbike ripping through the back alley, its rider helmetless and wearing a black leather biker jacket, a short, dark purple crop top, and slick leather pants. She had long, flowing locks of deep indigo hair that blew back into straight bangs against the top of her face, with a streak of silver and pink running up just left of her center. Over her eyes were a pair of slim, violet tinted sunglasses that matched both her hair and her top, and padded braces adorned each of her forearms, with tall, thick boots accompanying each foot, completing the all biker-leather getup.

The striking note about her outfit was that of what appeared to be a hardened pauldron over just one shoulder, marked with some kind of unearthly symbol, two five pointed stars layered atop each other, one red and one purple. All together, she looked to be some sort of road warrior slash warlock combo. This was the typical kind of weirdo the shop owner expected to pawn off a cursed pinky ring on her or something of the sort.

The woman on the bike seemed to be in a controlled frenzy, breathing heavily but also razor focused, and she looked at the shop owner with both exhaustion and purpose.

"Whoa, slow down there!" The shop owner held up a hand to tone down what seemed like an unreasonably tense moment. "What's... uh... What's up?"

"Are you Sunset Shimmer? The disciple of the Legendary Platinum Knight? The demon called Daybreaker?" The biker woman spoke quickly and clearly, as if something might suddenly erupt any moment.

"Uh. That's me, hello." The shop owner nodded her head. Sunset Shimmer was her name, and she was quite confused at this woman's random and spectacular introduction. "Who are you?"

"Someone with a demon problem."

"I have a phone number you can call for that."

"No time."

Immediately after she spoke there was a distorted gurgling sound followed by a shifting of reality- something was cutting through the air behind Sunset and she couldn't quite see what until she turned around and-

SWISH!

A pair of long, scythelike talons were falling directly atop Sunset's head as she looked behind her. Each talon was attached to a limb of a murky brown and blood red monster standing just as tall her and with two more bladed limbs supporting its weight on the ground. Four in total, there was a strange, stitchedness about this creature, as if it had been torn apart from other beasts and hastily sewn back together, as was evident but its head being wrapped in pitch black scars. A toothless mouth opened wide, and its eyes seemed to be wholly missing from its sockets. How it could detect her, she didn't know, but she only had a fraction of a second to get out of the way before its talon sliced her up like a cheap sandwich.

A fraction of a second was more than enough time.

Without dropping the trash bag or the broom Sunset bent her knees, dropping to a squat and immediately extending her leg in the demon's direction. Her steel toed boot kicked end first into the thing's knees, toppling it over as it committed to its downward swipe. Sunset herself kept herself inches from the talon tip as she moved, just barely clearing it to bring her knee up into the monster's jaw. The impact rocked the demon backwards, and it promptly took a moderately hefty bag of garbage to the chest as Sunset heaved it over her shoulder and let it loose. The bag bounced upwards, and the demon fell to the floor.

Another demon of the same type leapt from the shadows behind the first, pressing off the side wall of the alley for extra height as it dove in for a spinning slice with all four of its sharpened appendages. It flew towards her like a razor edged frisbee, but Sunset nimbly slid beneath the creature and thrust the handle of her broom up into its core to hitchhike off of its angular momentum. As the wooden rod made contact Sunset pulled, spinning herself up and around, and the demon around and down, slamming it forcefully back into the wall it launched from.

A third of these blade limbed creatures barreled down the alleyway, flipping off of its forelegs and driving itself into a dropkick in Sunset's direction. Just recovering from slamming the second aside, Sunset planted her feet and brought the broom around in a wide vertical arc, cutting off the third monster's kick and bouncing it down against the floor. She followed up with another twirling upward swing, striking the demon so hard the resulting shockwave caused the lids of the adjacent dumpster to flap open with the impact, and then launching the monster up into the air where it collided with the still airborne trash bag.

The second demon cartwheeled back to its feet, but Sunset struck it square in the mouth with the rounded end of her broomhandle, jumped into a cartwheel of her own, and slammed down on the strange stitched beast just so that it rubber banded back up off the ground to her level. Sunset's foot met its face, and she kicked off, launching herself up into the air to meet the demon she'd sent flying a moment ago. She collided with it broom-first, stopping its momentum as she hit it once, twice, three times with aerial strikes, and then launched it back down to the earth with a fourth.

A loud, metallic crash followed as the demon hurtled directly into the dumpster, and following it Sunset tossed the trash bag in after it.

The two demons still on the ground had a moment of panic, looking at each other as their confidence lapsed and Sunset descended on them with a cleaning implement and a smile on her face. She dug both her heels into the first as she landed, and then parried a sloppy swipe from the second off of her broom, only to counter with another full vertical twirl of weapon, this time throttling it into a high rev spin that propped the demon back up into the air.

Sunset then took the leg of the one beneath her and slung it hard over her shoulder, smacking the falling demon and sending both of them directly into the trash with the first.

With the end of her broomhandle, Sunset then pulled the dumpster lid shut. Monsters like these were no problem for a veteran demon slayer.

"Okay, that's the trash dealt with. Now, what did you-"

She turned back around to the mysterious motorcycle riding stranger, but the first thing she saw was a black blur of a boot twirling directly at her at lightning speed. Sunset's surprise only registered for a moment before she was knocked flat back against the hard wall of her shop. The mysterious woman had jumped from her ride and launched a spinning kick right into Sunset's chin, and was now transferring that aerial momentum into a flying punch.

Still stunned and quite confused as to what was happening, Sunset ate both of her assailant's hands in rapid succession. One punch bruised her cheek and bloodied her nose, a second cracked the wall as her head slammed against it, and the third took a chunk out of the wall entirely. The woman then spun again, her leg springing up and around into a roundhouse kick that completely crushed the solid wall behind Sunset and sent her spiraling back into the floor of her shop.

Sunset pressed down on the floor as she rose to her knees, caught and shaking her head clear. She wiped the blood from her lip, staring at her now red-coated hand in confusion. Her bleeding had quickly stopped thanks to her demonic physiology, but this woman she was fighting had to be quite strong to forcibly clear her sinuses with just her bare hands. And then knock her through her own wall.

Her own wall, that was now scattered on her just-swept floor.

"Ugh... Come on!" She glanced back through the new hole in her wall, only showing a slight annoyance as also noticed her couch was again displaced in addition to the collapsed wall on her clean hardwood. The pain of the beating she'd just received didn't at all seem to phase her. "I just got done cleaning up here!"

The woman attacking Sunset took slow strides through the hole in the wall, her eyes obscured by her sunglasses but still laser focused on her target as her head shook disapprovingly. Her lips held a judgemental smirk as she spoke in almost shocked disdain.

"Are you truly this city's legendary protector? I thought Sunset Shimmer could handle herself in a fight."

Sunset didn't respond. The woman paced around the interior of the shop, her eyes shifting to the greatsword framed behind the glass counters. A few steps and it was within her reach, but as her hand closed around the handle Sunset finally raised her voice.

"Hey! Read the sign. That one's not for sale."

Sunset stood, one arm flicking upward and flourishing her broom into several stylish spins, wielding it again as a weapon to properly face off against her mysterious attacker. Her eyes narrowed as she met the biker woman's eyes through her shades, waiting for her to make the first strike.

There was a strange light behind the woman's glasses, a flash of purple energy that corresponded with her lifting Sunset's blade to attack. Without another word, the woman charged forward, leaping over the counter and swinging the sword toward its owner.

Sunset showed no surprise, however. In response, a red glow from within her was given in response and she moved out of the way just before the greatsword made impact, her dodge so fast and so blurred she seemed to move right through the metal of the weapon's blade. Now to the side of her attacker, Sunset swung her broom around at neck level, dropping the woman to the floor and twirling her weapon around for a follow up.

The woman moved in kind, however. Her legs kicked out as she was grounded, tripping up Sunset mid attack and bringing her to the ground as well. The woman rolled up to her feet, and then immediately thrust the greatsword down into Sunset's chest. Sunset cried out as the metal pierced her, struggling as she was pinned to the floor.

"I was told that Sunset Shimmer was a powerful demon slaying warrior. That she was the true inheritor of Daybreaker's legacy." The woman turned back toward the hole in the wall as Sunset again silently lay on the floor. "I wasn't expecting someone who could barely stand up to a real threat."

Next thing Sunset knew, the woman was back to her motorcycle, but she wasn't getting on it to leave. Instead, she leaned the bike forward and slung it hard over her shoulder, the whole machine creaking as it was heaved through the air by another shocking feat of strength from what seemed to be an ordinary human woman. But at this point, it was no surprise to the demon slayer. Every move her opponent made was leading Sunset all the closer to having her figured out, and Sunset now knew she shouldn't be holding back.

"Stand up, you say?" Sunset laughed darkly, a challenging look suddenly spreading across her face. "I can do that."

Bracing all four limbs on the floor, Sunset burst up from the ground to a perfect stop on both feet (with the sword still sticking through her chest) and reached out for the motorbike spinning right for her. Her arms pulled in, twisting herself around the two-wheeled machine so that she flipped in the air over the handlebars and it landed both tires perfectly on the ground beneath her without damaging it or her surroundings, then landed perfectly atop it. Both heels balancing on its seat, Sunset dropped to her knees and reached back into her pants waistband beneath her t-shirt, drawing out a pair of twin silvery pistols tucked within. Each had oversized barrels and delicate engravings along the grips and receivers, clearly custom made one-of-a-kind pieces.

Today and Tomorrow: The names were etched into their respective slides, Sunset's go-to weapons for precise and rapid firepower. They featured enchanted bottomless magazines and fired rounds powerful enough to make the biggest and baddest of devils cry in agony. They twirled twice each before coming up to Sunset's eye level, a proud glint in her eye as she put both sights on her leather clad attacker.

"Let's get to work then, shall we?"

She pulled her triggers one after the other, rapidly sending a flurry of hot lead downrange.

Quickly recovering from her bike throw, the woman's hands rose, fingers curling and extending outward as strange magics began to fog up around them. Around the both of them the air suddenly snapped to a frigid chill, and a domed ice barrier formed right before her as Sunset let loose her volley of fire. The bullets dug deep into the barrier but didn't penetrate it, the sudden drop in temperature notably sapping their energy as they screamed out of Sunset's barrels.

Legs coiling for a moment, then Sunset sprung from atop the bike and drove her heel into the ice shield. With her entire body smashing against the mass she was able to crack and shatter the dome instantly, but the woman behind it quickly followed up with another strike of magic. Her hands and forearms sparked violently with a cobalt lightning, and she sped into a turbocharged dash that broke off into a flurry of punches in the oncoming Sunset's direction.

Even with the greatsword still stuck through her, the woman's arcane assault wasn't a problem for Sunset. The demon hunter's forearms rose as a red magic of her own charged up within and around her, enabling her to easily deflect each of the woman's blows with perfect and precise timing. The woman's combo was capped off by a lightning blast fired from both wrists, a crackling stream strong enough to push Sunset back into the middle of her shop floor even as she held up her perfectly timed blocking technique.

Now back on the offensive, the woman's body again ignited with magic, this time a fiery trail following her limbs as she cast a volley of three small fireballs from her palms. Sunset easily lined up her sights on each one, but she quickly realized that shooting them with her pistols did nothing to disrupt them. Even with her precise aim, her bullets just melted on contact with the flaming projectiles.

She instead had to duck and weave as the fireballs came in, but even then, she saw the woman raise her arms again to continue casting her spells. Instead of shooting more fireballs, the ones that streaked past Sunset stopped in their tracks, floated in mid air for a moment, and then zipped back in her direction with the same velocity. Again and again, they were simply redirected to keep chasing after their target. Dodging wouldn't work forever, she needed to get rid of these things...

Putting her guns away, Sunset arched her back and touched the floor as a fireball passed over her, then put her free hand on the hilt of the sword still sticking through her. With a mighty heave, she yanked the weapon out of her, adding a splattering of blood to the accumulating mess on her floor, but with not a single ounce of pain or hesitation she righted herself and prepared to wield the mighty weapon in both hands.

Corona's Edge: It was a large yet unassuming greatsword, the personal sword of Sunset's mentor, wielded by her long ago and eventually passed on to Sunset herself. While regarded by most as nothing but an uninteresting slab of barely enchanted demon steel, it was quite special to the demon slayer, a memento from the one who came before her; Sunset held it like a million dollars. She was proud of it, she had it as a central display of her shop, and the only way anyone was getting it from her was if they were getting it from her blade-first.

With just as much expertise as she handled her guns, Sunset twirled her sword about her, carefully yet hurriedly slicing through each of the fireballs still harassing her. Except they didn't burst or break away on impact, the fireballs instead stuck to the blade of her sword. Its edge seemed to want to suck up the magic contained within the flames, but before that could happen Sunset twirled in a full rotation and flung the heated orbs back at their controller.

The woman's lips curled as she panicked and dove down, getting caught and thrown forward by the explosion in the alley behind her. She rolled forward and came to a feeble and ungraceful stop flat on her butt, only able to straighten her back out for a moment to see Sunset's greatsword dropping down on her.

Summoning what was left of her magic she rose her hands in defense over her head, a purple glow appearing around both her hands and the blade of Sunset's weapon as they both suddenly became rigid and unable to move. A basic kinetic magic was all the woman could muster, pushing against Sunset's strength with no particular elemental flavor and quickly losing.

"This power... Incredible..." The woman wavered, clearly unable to keep up with the Legendary Demon Slayer. All of that, and the hole in her chest had closed itself up and any remaining bruising on her face had faded. "You really are her, aren't you?"

Sunset pulled her sword away, instead drawing one of her pistols to raise a threat in its place. The woman's arms still hovered protectively over her head, she bravely looked up into Sunset's controlled glare of anger. There was nothing else she could say. She was rendered speechless.

"Ever since I was a little girl I had demon powers," Sunset said, as if to correct the woman's previous claims of her weakness. "Being half-human and half-demon makes you tough, but the problem is that creeps like you just never leave me and my friends alone. That's why I do this demon hunting thing."

Slowly, threateningly, Sunset closed what little distance between her and the woman were left, until the finest detail of Sunset's gun muzzle was clearly visible to her downed foe.

"But I don't kill humans. I don't even like to hurt them," Sunset said. "That's why I let you beat on me there for a minute. But you're not human, are you? You only look like a human."

The woman closed her eyes. Sunset was correct and the acknowledgement from the woman cause a dangerous smile to spread across her face.

"I've met some strong humans before—even humans with magic like yours—but no human calls my mentor Daybreaker. Only demons know that name." Sunset let her sword arm relax, and she slung the great weapon across her back. By some anomalous property of the weapon, it hovered in place perfectly flat behind her, leaving her hands free to draw her pistols again and level them with the fallen demon woman before her. "You're not the first to show up. And you're not going to be the last. I'll keep cutting you down until your boss is all out of goons to send and has to face me one on one. And then..."

Sunset clicked her tongue against her cheek and mimicked the action of firing her gun.

"Goodnight."

The woman was silent for only a few more moments. "You're right about one thing. I am from the underworld."

"I appreciate the honesty." Sunset's expression did not change. "Now, I'm going to give you two choices. One, I put you to sleep for good right here. Or two, you can go back to whoever sent you and tell him that if he wants me, he can walk his sorry can through my doors during business hours."

Her off hand reached for something in her back pocket, and between her two smallest fingers, still holding her other gun, Sunset flicked a flimsy paper rectangle in the woman's direction.

"There's my card."

"I..." The woman looked down, picked up the card adorned with the elegant cursive logo of Sun Never Sets, and then looked back with a newfound sense of seriousness on her face. "I'm not your enemy, Sunset Shimmer."

Sunset did not let her gun drift away from the woman, but she did hesitate. "Uhm. I'm going to have a hard time believing that."

"Those demons that followed me here wanted to kill you," the woman explained, "but I came here on my own accord, because I needed to be sure you were as strong as I've heard."

"Yeah, right." Sunset smirked. "Because I bet you just love getting slapped around like that."

The woman took this pause in the action to stand, but she walked back away towards the hole she made in the wall.

"In truth, I came to ask you for help."

"A demon trying to hire a demon hunter, huh? That's rich." Sunset let a smile come through, if only for a moment of disbelief.

"A long time ago your master defeated the ruler of the underworld and separated the world of mortals from the world of demons. That ruler swore revenge, and now plans to take over the mortal realm..."

Sunset's shoulders fell, and she lifted her chin in amusement. "Oh, come on. The ruler of the underworld was beaten five years ago. She tried to come back, and she was taken care of. Where have you been?"

"Not the Sister of Darkness. I'm talking about the Lord of Chaos- the original ruler of the underworld before Daybreaker and her sister removed him from his throne. Those five years ago, he was somehow resurrected, and since then he's been gathering power. He's planning his return at his old castle, past the town of Hollow Shades, overlooking it from the castle ruins atop Mt. Eclipse."

Sunset scoffed. She still wasn't sold on this whole thing. "Right. So why does a demon want to have a demon king deposed? Aren't you on his side?"

The woman's expression suddenly shifted into a scowl, as if she were genuinely hurt by the question. "Don't you know your own history?"

"Huh?"

"Not every demon is a monster, Sunset Shimmer." The woman stood fully now, glaring at Sunset as she finally lowered her weapon. Her hand rose to remove her sunglasses so that Sunset could look into her eyes and understand. "Daybreaker was a devil herself, one who could see the evil of the Lord of Chaos and the value of the human world. You are a devil who values the human world. And I..."

As the woman trailed off, Sunset did understand. This woman's demeanor was very familiar, the way she suddenly took such a principled stance over matters of morality. It was very much like Sunset's mentor. In a weird way, it was very much like Sunset herself. Those eyes carried a genuine spark of distress as she spoke, even if she was a demon, it seemed she really wanted better than to serve an evil ruler.

"You really came all this way to ask me for help?"

The woman nodded. "You're the only one that can stop him, Sunset. I would, but... I'm not strong like you are. Not strong enough to challenge the Lord of Chaos on my own."

A casual shrug rolled through Sunset's shoulders. "I dunno, you punched me through a wall and threw a motorcycle at me. You seem pretty strong to me."

"Oh, sorry about that- I..." The woman's demeanor changed quite sharply as she realized the collateral damage she'd caused to Sunset's shop. "I can fix that!"

A purple glow again surrounded the woman's hands and the image of two strange glyphs was burned into the air just before her palms. The arcane light enveloped the crumbled bits of wall scattered on the floor, building for a few moments before the material all reformed and compressed back into the wall gap. With her kinetic magic, she did her best to reconstruct the wall she so hastily broke down. In a little under a minute, it was mostly restored to the way it was, with only a very light scarring where the broken gap once was.

"That's about as good as I can do... almost like new, I think."

It was weird. A moment ago this stranger was beating Sunset into the ground, but now she seemed super nervous, wringing her hands together as she frowned apologetically. Now she was showing some self awareness?

"Thanks, I guess," Sunset wasn't sure how to handle her now. If this woman was telling the truth, Sunset finally had an opportunity to get vengeance. She had a score to settle with the infernal depths, a hell to pay in the literal sense. But until now there was little she could do about it outside of taking on every demon hunting job she could in hopes it would lead her to the types of devils responsible for her inner pain. So that she could destroy them, and in some way let her pain start to heal. "And about your job: I'm in."

"Really? Just like that?" The woman was taken aback. She half expected Sunset to turn her down after the entire battle that just went down, but there was something about the way Sunset's eyes shifted when they met hers that made the famed demon hunter look... almost sad.

"The underworld took away someone very important to me five years ago. She was my best friend, and when I lost her, it was..." There was a painful exhale following the recounting. Sunset's hands shook gently around the grips of her pistols and she did not finish her sentence. "If you're telling me we can keep that from happening to anyone else, that we can put an end to the evil of the underworld, then yeah. Just like that. Tell me everything I need to know about this job."

"Okay." The woman blinked and let out a breath. This was happening, it would appear her trip here had been a success. "Where should I start?"

"How about your name?"

01 - THE UNDERWORLD PRINCESS

"My name is Eve. I'm a princess of the underworld, but one without a kingdom, or a territory, or even any subjects."

"Okay then, Princess Eve. Want a lollipop?"

"No, I'm fine. And please, just Eve..."

Eve watched as she unwrapped a red lollipop and let it hover in front of her lips. She didn't make eye contact with her, she only stared off into a blue, sunny skyline.

It was the day after Eve had broken into her shop and given Sunset the task of killing the old-new king of hell, and in the time since the two had set out to the site of his supposed return. First, it was a bus ride, then it was a train ride, and now they were on a short, rugged dinghy sailing up across quite a wide stretch of sea near the coastline, looking to come in towards their destination by way of a nearby shore. The trip had taken the entire night and most of the morning, but Eve insisted they not take the train directly there. Luckily, Sunset's shop was closed for the weekend, and she didn't have any other plans. They were only an hour away by now.

They had plenty of time to talk.

"Alright, Eve," Sunset said, still staring at her lollipop. "Tell me about yourself. What's an underworld royal doing conspiring to overthrow a demon lord?"

"I want a better future for my kind. " Eve's eyes narrowed, and her gaze shifted to the horizon. She seemed plaintive, a bit unsettled by the answer she gave. "It's not a popular view there, but I look up to Daybreaker as a hero. A demon who cared about justice, and compassion... and she had the strength to back it up."

"So what, I'm just the next best thing?" Sunset despondently shrugged and put the lollipop in her mouth, manipulating the stick with her tongue as she spoke. She gave a light scoff afterward.

"Naturally," Eve replied, not even parsing Sunset's disappointment, "Nobody knows where Daybreaker went after making her sudden reappearance five years ago, but almost every demon knows where to find you."

"Yeah, they better." Sunset said. "You know Daybreaker was born a human, right?"

"Who you're born as doesn't make a difference, once you accept the attributes of a demon into your heart, it stays with you. Separating it could harm you, like cutting off an arm or a leg."

Sunset's head lowered, her lollipop flicking about her mouth again. "That's exactly what she did, though. Once she cut herself off from the demon realm she lived as a human and slowly suffocated her demonic side. Strong as she was, by the time she took me under her wing she was just as mortal as anyone else."

"Was she really?"

Sunset shrugged. "I guess she still had her longevity if she's been alive for two thousand years. But she didn't have any powers or demon traits, she was just like any other mortal."

"Fascinating..." Eve muttered, "Why do you think she'd do that? Give that power up, I mean?"

Sunset raised an eyebrow. A laugh almost rose through a tone of disbelief. To her, the answer was obvious. "She was leveling the playing field. Cutting off the demon realm weakened every demon's power in this world, and that included her own. It was a sacrifice she was willing to make."

"Huh. Strength by omission..." Eve seemed to be surprised by the concept. It clearly wasn't something that demons were familiar with. "But where did she put her power? Surely, it wouldn't just be surrendered to the demon realm. Any devil could just scoop it up."

"She..." Sunset was hesitant to answer that question, and chose her words carefully. "The key to her power was sealed away in an amulet, one that she keeps somewhere out of the way. She didn't want anyone to get their hands on her power, so she put it somewhere safe."

"I suppose only she knows where it is, then?"

"I guess, yeah."

Sunset was lying through her teeth. The amulet was really around her neck, a sun-shaped artifact with a red gem at its center, laying flat with the top of her chest and hidden securely beneath her several layers of clothes. She wasn't about to reveal its location to some underworld princess she just met, even if they were working together now. Despite her intentions seeming pure, Sunset didn't fully trust Eve quite yet.

Fortunately, Sunset was a pretty good liar. Her tone was just as neutral and cool as it had been talking to this oddly dressed, vibrantly haired woman. That line of conversation ended there.

Sunset pulled her lollipop away, letting the familiar flavor linger in her mouth for as long as it would last. She wanted to get back to questions about the job.

"So, you said we're heading to somewhere called Hollow Shades? What's so special about it?" Sunset asked, her eyes uninterestedly watching the gentle waves surrounding them.

"Hollow Shades is a remote forest village in the middle of nowhere, with very little contact with the outside world," Eve replied. "Long ago, it was a hotspot for demonic activity, but something happened there, and now it's not so much. From what I understand today it's home to a demon worshiping cult."

Sunset lifted her head to that information. "A cult? So what, one demon moved in and took over the territory?"

"Not like that," Eve shook her head. "Hollow Shades became a dead zone for reasons that not even I could figure out. It's like... a spiritual chokepoint, very hard for infernal entities to get in and out of without human assistance. The cult is a human religion, but only the demons they pray to can be summoned there. The rest of us have to walk."

"They're not going to give us any problems, are they?" Sunset knew enough about demon religions to minimize her interactions with them. Being half-demon herself made it awkward, and being the successor to a demon already widely worshiped by humans as a savior made things doubly so.

"I don't know. But we shouldn't have to interact with them for long. Our goal is in the mountains to the north of the village. The Lord of Chaos's castle lies in ruins along Mt. Eclipse, and that is where he plans to resurrect."

Something didn't quite add up in Sunset's mind here.

"If Hollow Shades is a dead zone, how exactly is this guy planning to come back?"

"The Lord of Chaos is likely already in our realm in a limited capacity. My guess is that he's using that part of himself that's here as an anchor to pull the rest of himself into this realm."

More uncertainty, and another question came to Sunset's mind. This one was probably the most crucial question she could ask.

"How do you know he's here, then?"

Eve's answer came just as readily as Sunset's question. "I've been tracking the movements of him and his cohorts, they're not low-profile people. Besides, Hollow Shades is the perfect spot for him to come back, if he can pull it off then this dead zone is an uncontested space for him to get dug in before taking on the rest of the world."

"Right. For him, it's free real estate," Sunset nodded. "What about this other demon that's being worshiped here? They're not going to have a problem with this guy on their turf?"

"I don't know," Eve admitted. "I'm not familiar with the demon in question. They're obscure, even to me."

"Even to you?" Sunset asked. "Aren't you supposed to be a know-it-all about the underworld?"

"Well, yes," Despite Sunset's dismissive tone, Eve looked almost excited to give her answer. She smiled, nodding slightly. "I've read through nearly all of the major texts contained in the Bibliotheka Infernum. Even some from the fiction section."

Bibliotheka Infernum. An incomprehensibly comprehensive library located in the underworld. Not a source of all knowledge, but damn near close to it if what Sunset had heard was true.

Eve continued, a proud little smirk crossing her face. "You'd be hard pressed to find a demon or human that's read more books than me."

It seemed strange to Sunset that a demon would take such an interest in becoming learned. "Why would you need to read books about history? You're a demon, haven't you lived any of it?"

From her, her proud posture shifted to something more uneasy. "Well, I'm kind of young by demon standards. And even then, I haven't really done a lot with my life outside of studying books and practicing magic..."

"And in all the time you've spent studying up, you don't know anything about this town's religion?"

Eve shook her head. "Nope. Of course, there's always the chance that once we get there I'll remember or recognize something. I haven't actually been there before."

"Right..."

"Any other questions, Sunset?"

The demon hunter's eyes dropped to a half-lid as she took in her surroundings again. She was on a boat with someone she'd just met and the sun was just starting to reach its highest point in the sky. Yeah, she had another question.

"Why are we doing this on a boat again?"

"The closest train stop is actually a further walk than if we come in from the coast," Eve explained. "Like I said, this place is super remote. Also..."

Off in the distance, on the backdrop of a clear and cloudless sky was the peak of Mt. Eclipse, overlooking the huge and densely packed forward sprawling across the landscape below. Dotting the backs of its gray cliffs were identifiable structures- magnificent and ancient stone buildings that were still clinging to their post despite time wearing them away, the most visible being a long castle wall lining facing the coast. They looked small from here, even as the rundown wooden dock they'd be stopping at grew larger in her vision. Sunset had a pretty concrete idea of where they had to go now.

"You get a pretty cool view of the destination from the seaside."

"I guess so, yeah."

[Lunar Sea Coast, East of Mt. Eclipse]
[Saturday, 11:01am]

Sunset stepped off of the little boat quite readily, happy to be back on the ground after having had shifting water beneath her for hours. There was little means of shore here, just a wooden pier leading along some rocks and onto the dirt of dry land. Nevertheless, it was welcome beneath her heavy work boots. Even with the sun overhead it was a lot colder here than it was back in Canterlot City. Sunset was glad she'd dressed in her proper work clothes for this job.

Said proper work clothes were of a rather heavy attire —a long, golden leather coat that matched the streaks in her hair featuring a long, flowing split tailpiece that fell to her ankles. Beneath that a thick, black strapped vest with three buckles holding it tight to her torso, and a tall collar that rose just below her hairline. Similarly colored black padded pants ran down her legs and were neatly tucked into her boots, held up by a squared belt buckle and a deep brown belt. Her sword was slung across her back, magically locked to her body until she needed it not to be, and she had holsters for her pistols tucked under her coat across her back. The look was sleek, stylish, and iconic- anyone that saw her would remember her.

Eve still wore her midnight dark outfit, the biker jacket and pants forming snug leather wrappers around her shoulders, chest, and hips, with the single shoulder pauldron giving a splash of color with its red and purple stars insignia. With her middle exposed and her layers light, it seemed a bit light for the chilly autumn forest they were setting off into, but she didn't seem to mind it all that much. Complete with the violet sunglasses, she looked like she could handle herself. Maybe demons didn't have to worry about getting cold.

The path out from the docks led to a sign nailed to a tree, pointing them in the direction of Hollow Shades. It was on a straightforward gravelly path through a very dense forest. Apart from the rocky coast and the docks, tall, grayish-brown trees dominated the landscape the further they went inland. Here began a walk in the woods.

As they walked, Sunset caught something out of the corner of her eye. Eve seemed to be fixated on the sword Sunset was carrying. Her greatsword wasn't usually that much of a focus for anyone, on its surface it didn't have many standout qualities, but Eve seemed to know what made it so important to Sunset.

"Is that really it?" Eve asked. "Daybreaker's sword?"

Sunset nodded. "Yep."

"Huh." Eve's expression deflated a little.

Sunset turned her head back slightly, looking at Eve through narrowed eyes and a blank expression. "This is it. The sword that split the world."

Eve was quiet for a moment.

"Not the sword you were imagining, is it?" Sunset asked.

"No. I thought it'd be more... legendary looking." Eve's head tilted. "And bigger."

"Yeah, I bet."

"Does it do anything special?" Eve asked.

"Not really." Sunset replied. "Daybreaker's power was what sealed the demon realm shut, the sword was just a conduit for it. Without her it's just a sword."

"She really must've been incredible, then..."

Sunset shrugged. "She was just a normal person, like you or me."

"She was anything but normal, wasn't she?"

"Eh..."

Eve again perked up as more questions filled her mind. "What was it like, training under her? Was she really everything they say she is?"

As she kept walking, Sunset had to shut her eyes for a moment. She sighed, because on some level, yes, the legends about the Platinum Knight were absolutely true. She was the mother of modern demon slaying, a swordsman unmatched, and the only person whose power ever inspired a sense of dread within Sunset. At the same time, Sunset knew her as a tired old woman. Someone who was hopeful and optimistic, but also honest in how vulnerable she could be.

"I met her when she was retired," Sunset said. "Reality is no match for the legends, anyway."

"But what about you?" Eve asked. "You're a legendary demon slayer too now, just like her."

"I think of myself as 'experienced'." Sunset knew better than to think she was ordinary, but she didn't consider herself particularly special. "I'm probably not as great as whatever you thought I was going to be like either."

"Oh, don't say that," Eve shook her head. "I've seen you in action, you're incredible."

"I didn't say I wasn't." Sunset's reply was almost instant.

"Oh. Er, right," Eve's head dropped. "Sorry, I guess I'm just interested in getting to know the real you, after having heard so much."

"Really?"

"Of course."

Sunset was very quiet in response to that. She felt like it was time to change the subject.

"So, what's with the outfit?" Sunset asked.

As they walked, Eve looked down at herself in slight confusion. "This is my fighting outfit. Is there something wrong with it?"

"Of course not," Sunset said. "Fight in whatever you like, but it just doesn't look like you're wearing much underneath that leather is all. I take it that a demon doesn't have to worry about getting cold?"

"Well, yes and no..." Eve crossed her arms. Seemed like she was unsure about something. "Isn't this style of dress supposed to be hot?"

Sunset stopped. She frowned, and took her lollipop from her mouth. After taking a breath, she turned towards Eve as if to say something, but then decided against it. To Eve's confusion, Sunset's expression shifted around a bit, becoming undecipherable as she processed what Eve had just said.

"You do know about how human languages have words with multiple different meanings, right?" Sunset's free hand cycled about slowly in a gesture of slowly processing perplexity.

"Of course I do," Eve nodded, unaware of why Sunset seemed to be confused. "This kind of leather clothing and exposed skin is attractive to humans, isn't it? Hot? As in cool? Or sexy?"

"I mean..." Sunset supposed a sigh of relief was in order upon realizing this girl wasn't totally naive. "Why does that matter?"

"It helps my confidence." Eve explained. "That's a really important thing for demons, y'know. If we don't believe in ourselves, we lose a lot of our strength."

Sunset knew that much. That was the core principle behind being stylish. She supposed it made enough sense for her to want to feel nice by dressing nice. In some part, Sunset did the same.

"So looking good makes your feel warm inside, does it?" Sunset's lip turned up into an amused smirk, but she was satisfied with that explanation.

"Body temperature regulation is one thing it does, yes." Eve replied, a tinge of exasperation on her tongue. Her arms crossed herself a little tighter as her expression crumpled up. "So... I do look attractive, right?"

"Yeah, you look fine." Sunset nodded.

"Just fine?"

"I'm not the one to ask about that," Sunset held her hand up. "You probably look perfect to the right person."

Eve let her expression loosen a little, but her arms didn't budge. "Probably?"

Sunset sighed. Rather than give her an honest appraisal, Sunset turned herself to fully face Eve, leaning in close but not letting anything show through directly on her face. "You're the one that has to believe in yourself, so you tell me. Do you think you look attractive? Do you feel attractive?"

Her feet didn't move, but Eve's head retreated back as Sunset neared her. There was something about the sudden closeness that unnerved her, seeing Sunset's face so void of expression made her want to shrink away, but at the same time she was following every word she said. Even through her polarized sunglasses there was palpable eye contact being made and it was actively causing her insecurity to shrink.

"Huh? I.. Uh, I..." Eve's words weren't given any stability, though.

"Well? Do you?"

Eve idly glanced down at herself. She straightened her posture out and held her eyes against Sunset's.

"Yeah. I think so."

Sunset held her expression, and very deliberately looked over her as well. Then after a pause, her blank expression went to a less serious yet just as uninterested one while she leaned back away from the tense and uncertain demon.

"Well I sure hope you do. You picked the outfit."

And then she turned away and resumed walking down the gradually darkening forest path. Eve remained still, unsure of how exactly she should respond, but ultimately decided to just continue their walk.

The further they journeyed into the forest, the darker the tree branches ahead seemed to get, and the less overall light passed through to the ground, making it that much harder to see where their path led. Sunset wasn't worrying too much yet, but they'd been walking for at least 45 minutes, passing several signs reaffirming their destination.

"How much further should it be?" Sunset asked.

"I'm not sure."

The ground seemed to be sloping upwards a little bit, each step requiring a little bit more effort. Eventually it evened out again, and when it did Sunset noticed something shining in the distance between the trees. A soft orange stream of light gradually became visible as they approached a clearing, and the pair suddenly found themselves staring at a small cluster of single story wooden structures with thatched roofs. Homes, from the looks of it, each one nestled in between trees and with simple fencing surrounding them. The houses themselves were just as dull and brown as the surrounding woods, it seemed almost uncanny how natural the clearly constructed structures were in this wilderness setting.

The houses were spread asymmetrically around the gravel path, not adhering to the direction it gave travelers, but Sunset and Eve still followed it as it wrapped around and snaked forward. As they neared, Sunset noticed something odd about these houses. The light shining from this area wasn't coming from any of them, rather, it was just reflected light from the now visible sky. The houses had no lights or sounds about them whatsoever, and a few even had their front doors left open.

The half-dozen homes in the immediate area were all like this, seemingly abandoned, like everyone had left in a hurry. Sunset assumed they might've just been out, but continuing further would only confirm the suspicions she was having.

Past the cluster of homes, back through much shorter dark passage of trees, was another, far larger clearing in the forest, this home to far more buildings of similar construction. This was clearly their remote forest village, what Sunset would call a center of town, with large spaces for gatherings, plentiful buildings in multiple stories with signage of varying function, and a robust circular well at the midpoint of it all. At the end of the town, Sunset could easily make out a tall, pointed stone tower as well, one poking just above the treeline and host to a lookout platform, where once could survey the entire village.

This place didn't seem like it was all that lively, though. Her first glance spoke of civilization, but as soon as she noticed one of the closest buildings to her was completely collapsed, as if crushed beneath something, she started to notice impact marks in the dirt around her and major structural damage to several of the buildings in the village square. One's roof was even still smoking, signs of burn damage on and around the place, and the tower in the distance seemed to have a top part that was broken off at some point.

And on top of it all, there was still nobody to be found. Something catastrophic happened here.

Just next to this opening in the trees framing this scene was a signpost, but one that had been knocked over. Upon righting it, Sunset read the words:

Hollow Shades

[Hollow Shades, Village Center]
[Saturday, 11:45am]

"This is the place." Sunset said. "Looks like it's seen better days."

Walking through the town gave rise to the scent of ash and burned metal. More alarming, what appeared to be a giant metal wing was blocking off a side path leading to more destroyed buildings. Long, sharp, and with unusual implements jutting out from it, like it'd fallen from some advanced aircraft and smashed into the ground.

"We should keep moving," Eve said. "There should be a path that continues north from the village, leading up the mountain."

Sunset was a bit taken aback by the destruction around her. "Do you think demons came through here already?"

"Something certainly was here. Do you feel that?" Eve asked. "That resonance in the air, that's chaos magic. But there's also... something else. It feels tight. Constricting."

The demon hunter took a moment to get in tune with her surroundings. She felt the resonance Eve described, it was like the faintest vibration in the air, a minute, nigh-undetectable disturbance. But she could feel it, and now that she noticed it she couldn't ignore it. The constricting feeling though, that wasn't as clear.

"I don't know." Sunset said. "Feels like there's demons nearby to me."

"Demons can't be summoned in an area like this though, not without-"

Before Eve could finish her thought, something burst from between two still standing buildings. A grossly distorted figure cloaked in a tan garment from the waist down, his skin a pale grey with a deathly purple glow behind his eyes. Two arms that were far too long for its body extended from very protruding shoulder bones, like his skin was wrapped far too tightly around his insides. One clawed hand gripped a long pitchfork, and the other held its claw out as it lunged for Eve. Two leathery, jagged wings flapped from the back of his exposed torso, pushing his attack forward at blinding speed as a short, sharply pointed tail trailed behind him.

Eve's eyes opened in surprise, but Sunset spun in front of her, kicking the oncoming demon in the back of the head and launching him across the village square into the front of a bakery. In an instant, her sword was out, and her posture snapped into a ready position.

Two more of the creatures appeared from atop the bakery, one with a woman's form, wearing only the minimum in way of decent torso coverage and brandishing a butcher's knife, and another man wearing long robes with tears in the back where his wings came through. He held a single-handed messer sword in one hand, and he and his companion dropped to the floor to challenge Sunset and Eve.

"You were saying?" Sunset held her ground, eyes focused as the two demons began encircling them. Two more made their presence known to their side, men in overalls and straw hats, hissing and growling in a distinctly unhuman way, these one brandishing farming implements.

"Sunset, these aren't ordinary demons." Eve noted. She too just as quickly rose herself to alert, drawing up the magic within herself and creating a small bubble of light that floated around her. She lifted her hands, both to invoke the necessary motions for spellcasting and also to cast bare knuckles if one of them got too close. In her mind, she studied these forms, trying to reason out what they were and how they got here before coming to a surprisingly grim conclusion.

OPERARII, The Discordant Villagers:These demons were made from the humans that lived here, once ordinary and peaceful people of the village twisted and turned into monsters by the Lord of Chaos. The purple flickerings from behind their eyes all seemed to distort and twist in unison, they had been made into physically stronger creatures but their individual wills were now lost. They were servants of chaos now, but how long had they been like this?

"These demons weren't summoned from the underworld," Eve explained. "The Lord of Chaos has already corrupted the people here! These people... they were just farmers, bakers, craftsmen..."

The Operarius tossed through the bakery window had righted himself and was climbing back through to join its corrupted fellow and the threatening circle they were forming around the two intruders. There were eight around them, now, all waiting for action to happen, all waiting for the right opportunity to strike.

To that, Sunset let her guard drop. She tilted her head, giving the nearest of the demons a challenging smile. "Come on, guys. Isn't this a bit much? We're all working class here, turning on your fellow laborers is not the answer."

Eve's elbow jammed into Sunset's back, and she strenuously scolded her just loud enough for her to hear. "Sunset, that's not going to work, I'm a princess!"

The first demon to expose himself, the bare chested one with the pitchfork, paid little mind to Sunset's banter and again charged straight for her.

Sunset kicked off the ground to the side, sweeping her greatsword around and guiding the demon's long, multi pronged weapon away from her. It wasn't anything special, just a sturdy, everyday tool. Her enchanted blade clanged loudly against the metal as she deflected and moved, weaving in and out of attacks as the others rushed into the fight.

The one with the butcher's knife moved quickly, her feet pushing and kicking rapidly against the ground as she spun into Sunset with her blade. Sunset had to block several angles in quick succession and the demon moved, then sidestepped, then spun again into another quick set of slashes. The pitchfork stabbed at Sunset's back again, and her block turned into a spinning parry, upsetting the demon's balance and allowing her to get a stab in at his bare chest.

A hooked piece of metal swung down on her sword though, causing Sunset to stumble down and readjust her stance. Another of the Operarii cut in with a short-handled sickle, hooking Sunset's sword away and then taking a swing at her neck. Leaning to her side, Sunset took a firm grip on her sword with both hands and smashed the end of the handle into the sickle wielder's head, pushing him away and allowing Sunset to twirl around and slice through the lady demon's hand just before her butcher knife made contact. The pitchfork stabbed her again, but she ducked and rolled under it, this time coming up with her two pistols drawn, wrists crossed and barrels lined up with the two demons she'd just stunned.

Bullets snapped and cracked through the short distance to their targets, each of the Operarii stumbling and staggering backwards as they were riddled with hot pieces of lead. In came the pitchfork for one more wide swing, but Sunset leaned back a full 90 degrees and shifted her aim to blast the bare chested demon instead of the one with the knife.

Two heavy footsteps sounded off behind her, and Sunset took a step forward and spun, extending one arm in front of and one arm behind her to shoot at the sickle wielder and this new opponent, a demon lady with a wood-chopping axe. In the center of four opponents, Sunset snapped firing positions back and forth, firing at each of her targets multiple times to ensure that they couldn't actively recover fast enough. The bullets pierced through them, made them writhe in pain where they stood, but demons were notoriously strong, and it'd take more than that to finish them off completely...

Eve found herself cartwheeling out of the way of the robed demon with the messer sword, dodging fast thrusts and wild swings from what seemed like a well practiced arm. The scraps of cloth armor on the demon's lower body lead Eve to believe he might've been a town guard when he was still human, and the proficiency with the sword further hinted at that conclusion.

The small sphere of magic hovering vigilantly around Eve, her locus, provided a point for her to cast projectile spells through. Right now, it was alight with an arcane fire, and between dodges Eve's hands lifted and extended to cast blazing fireballs from it. The demon's wings came around and blanketed it from the attacks, and as he recoiled, Eve's locus shifted at her will, becoming a crackling nexus of cobalt electricity. When the demon swung his sword out again, he received a sharp thunderbolt projecting from Eve's Locus as she dipped under his blade and stepped inside his swinging range. Her hands too became electrified, and she caught him with a lightning fast series of punches to the chest before finishing with a hook that sent off a blasting shockwave.

The demon was thrown to his back, but before Eve could finish him off another demon made from the form of an older man ran in to rescue him. He snarled, showing off sharp, distorted teeth, and although he only brandished a wooden walking stick as a weapon, he used it with the proficiency one would a staff. Eve's magic shifted forms again, the lightning around her locus suddenly dispersed into an icy white mist. In turn, her hands became encased in dense ice, which she lifted to guard her face. As the wooden staff swung down, it was locked in place against the ice protecting her, giving her time to immediately counterattack. With the added weight on her hands, her hits were powerful, but came out slower. One punch staggered him back, another sent him reeling, and a third took him to the floor. Eve's hits were focused, precise, she ensured that she used every bit of her demonic strength as efficiently as possible.

She looked up from her opponent and found another two approaching, these two with no weapons but still just as much confidence as the last. Eve took steps back as they swiped at her, claws coming in one after the other, and then one used its wings to jump high over the other and land opposite Eve. Her locus flared, and the demon in front of her was blasted with a flurry of tiny icy shards as Eve spun and backhanded the other across the face. As the demon spun off balance, Eve quickly shifted her magic again, the locus turning back to a burning point of light and her arms becoming wreathed in heated flames.

With nothing but heat surrounding her now she spun again and drove her burning fists into the demon she'd just covered in ice shards, launching him across the village square where he collided with a brick building, and letting her focus on the still standing demon to her back. One more spin, and one more shift of magic, this time back to lightning. The demon swiped for her again but she easily evaded the blow and snapped into an uppercut, launching the demon into air and setting it up to be blasted with another bolt of lightning from her locus. She jumped up after it, and with a flaming downward punch she send the creature slamming into the ground with a fiery explosion above it.

When she landed, she saw Sunset leaning perfectly back, sword in one hand, and slicing three demons surrounding her in half as she made a perfect rotary motion with the blade. One demon remained in front of her, and she placed one hand on the ground, shifting into a handspring to kick the demon's face with both boots before flipping above her, firing both her guns downward and with a slight spinning motion. Upon landing, she kept firing, firing so rapidly that as she twirled on her side, the bullet impacts sliced the demon in half vertically.

Sunset landed in a kneel with both her guns extended to the same side as the demon's halves flopped in either direction.

Before she could stand, she heard something hurtling towards the air, one of the demons had thrown a handaxe and it was spinning right for her. Sunset lifted her guns to shoot it down, but it instead became encased in a purple glow and suddenly came to a stop inches away from her face.

Eve held a hand out, her locus losing its flame for a bright purple aura. Her kinetic magic caught the thrown weapon from across the village square and tossed it to the side, allowing Sunset to shoot down the offender. The demon guardsman had picked himself back up after dropping his messer sword, apparently having kept the handaxe as a backup weapon. He leapt for Sunset as she fired both guns, his arc clearing the path of her bullets until he could bear down on her, but by then she'd already drawn her sword and blocked out his line of attack. Right as their blades collided, lightning struck into the demon's back, and the purple glow of Eve's kinetic magic yanked the demon's arms up and away from him.

Sunset spared no time driving her sword through the demon, then using her boot to force him to the floor as he seized up on it. The demon scowled, still writhing with some fight left in him, but Sunset drew one of her pistols and silenced him with a gunshot.

She let out a breath. It felt good to be back in action, but those demons bothered her. Her eyes studied the one she'd just shot, then to the four she'd bisected in various fashions prior. They all lay motionless, in pieces, with a black, inky blood slowly pouring from where they'd been opened up. It wasn't incredibly messy, but it wasn't quite what Sunset was used to when it came to fighting humans-turned-demon.

"They're not going to change back, are they?" Sunset asked. "My friends all got turned into demons once, but they all went back to normal after I fought them."

Eve shook her head. "Unfortunately, no. They were gone the moment the Lord of Chaos sunk his claws into them. The only thing we can save these people from now is eternal servitude to a demon lord."

"So much for going on strike, then," Sunset said. She holstered her guns and slung her sword over her back. "That's great."

"I know you said you don't like to hurt humans, Sunset..." Eve began, but Sunset wouldn't let her finish.

"It's fine. They're not human anymore." Sunset sighed. "They're like us."

Eve only nodded in a disappointed certainty.

"Where to now?"

Sunset and Eve both looked towards the path obstructed by the giant metal wing, having knocked over trees and part of a building to completely section off that direction.

"I'd say we go that way, but it doesn't look like we'll be able to get through," Eve said. "We need to head north. Maybe there's another way around on the other end of the village."

Heading further down through the rows of small town buildings, the two approached a much more prominent chapel made of stone, with a small, but smashed stained glass window on one side. Its front displayed well crafted archways and a short overhang walkway to get out of the sun if desired, and it was directly connected to the tall watchtower overlooking the village. Though, now that they were close, Sunset saw that it wasn't a watchtower, there was a section atop it that had been forcibly knocked away in rubble at its base, and several indent and impact marks suggested a much more devastating attack took place here. Across the way, a huge bell of dented brass lay half sunken into the ground, having snapped a wooden bench in half on the way down.

And there were charred black burn marks everywhere here. Sunset kept herself on guard.

Approaching the chapel, Sunset noticed a crescent shaped insignia mounted atop the long, extended awning, flush against the gray stone, white on a black background. It was strange, Sunset felt she'd seen this somewhere before, but couldn't put her finger on where.

"Hey, does that emblem look familiar to you?" Sunset asked, guiding Eve's attention to the metal ornament.

"Hmm. No, I've definitely never seen it before. Why?"

"Feel like I've seen it before. Dunno."

"Hmm..." Eve's lips flattened out as she gave it some thought. "Yeah, I've got nothing."

The doors beneath the chapel's awning suddenly closed shut with a noticeable sound, drawing both Sunset and Eve's attention down. Someone was inside. They looked at each other, then back to the door. Without a word, Sunset took steps towards the tall wooden doors and placed her hand firmly on one, pressing it open and taking a peek inside. The room wasn't terribly large, just a few rows of pews before a very simple stand, with a broken window on the left side, the scene its stained glass depicted now lost to time. The sun streamed faintly through this window, as it set it cast the room in a very serene and soft orange

Nobody was visible in here though, so Sunset opened the door all the way and let herself in. She scanned the room in front of her as she walked in, past the depression in the wall made for the doors, but heard something shuffling behind her just as she thought the room was completely empty.

Behind her, tucked away on the side of the door she hadn't opened, was a woman completely covered in a silky, navy blue robe, her head and face mostly obscured by a hood. A silvery trim and belt along with corresponding crescent-shaped patterns on the chest of her robe made it clear to Sunset that she was a member of the little chapel they had here, but she didn't seem to have transformed into one of the demons they met outside.

The woman was frantic and terrified, holding a wooden framed revolver in both hands, pointing it desperately in Sunset's direction as she turned around. Sunset tensed, but didn't panic, calmingly turning her head first, and then slowly facing the robed woman.

"D-Don't move." The woman took a timid step forward, still locked onto Sunset.

Sunset held her hands up at shoulder level and took a step back, doing her best to show this woman her intent. "Hey, I'm not here to-"

BANG!

The woman's revolver echoed out in the small chapel chamber, putting out a whole lot of smoke and a single bullet into Sunset's mouth. When the smoke cleared, however, the woman was shocked to see Sunset only leaning back slightly with her head thrown back.

Sunset pulled her chin back down, deliberately blinking several times as the woman watched her jaw shift, and her lips pursed out to reveal the bullet had been caught between her teeth. After a moment of letting the woman realize what had just happened, Sunset tilted her head slowly and spat the bullet out onto the floor.

"Don't do that."

"Demon!" The woman fired the revolver again, but this time the bullet was met by Sunset drawing her sword and slicing the bullet in half mid flight, either piece of it flying away into the wall behind her.

"Please. Don't do that," Sunset repeated.

The woman now seemed to be in a terrified state of awe. She recognized something in Sunset, eyes fixed on her sword as she held it at the ready. Rather than fire again, the woman took a step forward, and reached out weakly with the finger of her off hand.

"You..." She breathed, her voice choking what Sunset could only assume was terror, a sudden realization of some grave trespassing. "Child of Wrathful Sun..."

"The whatnow?" Sunset's head titled.

"Please!" The woman fell into a cowering plea on both knees, surrendering her weapon to the floor and almost reverently bowing her head to Sunset's presence. "Show mercy, o' Daughter of Daybreaker. My only intent was to ward off the demons assaulting this town with what meager munitions we have. I cannot fight you!"

"Daughter of Daybreaker?" Sunset asked. "What are you talking about? Who are you?"

"I..." The woman paused, looking up at Sunset with reluctance. "Are you not the Daughter of Daybreaker? You must be, you carry her sword. Your fighting stance is just as hers is said to be, you-"

"Yeah, sure," Sunset interrupted, finding the action generating a cowering flinch in the woman, her head again bowing to the floor. "But who are you?"

The woman didn't look back up this time. "I am but a humble servant of the Nocturna. A priestess-in-training. The custodian of this place of our goddess."

Sunset let her shoulders fall, and put away her sword. The Nocturna. That must be the town's religion, Sunset figured. This lady was just a scared survivor of whatever happened here, hiding out in the chapel since the demons showed up. No wonder her trigger finger was so itchy. She recognized Sunset as some kind of demigod, and clearly considered shooting at her to be a divine affront.

"I haven't heard of the Nocturna," Sunset said, crouching down to the woman's level, showing a bit less hostility. "And I forgive you for shooting at me, I understand things are crazy out there."

"You..." The woman finally risked a look back up, finding Sunset doing her best to show a smile and extending a hand to help her up. Her reverent and formal tone dissipated, making way for mounting confusion in a casual tone. "You're not here to destroy us?"

Sunset shook her head. "No. I heard the Lord of Chaos was in town. I'm here for him."

"The Lord of Chaos..." The woman nodded, allowing Sunset to help her to her feet. "He's supposedly up in the ruins on Mt. Eclipse. But... You're supposed to be the child of our enemy. You mean to say you're here to save us?"

"Whatever is left of you, yeah." Sunset nodded. "Why do you say we're supposed to be enemies?"

The door behind them opened, and Eve came through with an answer.

"Because the Nocturna worship Nightmare Moon," Eve had an almost hostile tone in her voice, accusatory and revelatory. "That's the only demon that insignia could belong to."

Sunset gave the priestess a suspicious look, but it quickly softened as she realized she wasn't a threat.

"Sister Moon," the priestess corrected. "She is our protector, our guardian of the night!"

"She took over the demon realm," Eve said, "And she nearly took over the human realm, too."

The priestess's head fell shamefully. "She fell to darkness long ago, but we still believe in her inner goodness."

"Inner goodness?" Eve shook her head. "Your Sister Moon was a cruel and wicked demon."

The priestess was no longer cowering, she seemed to have forgotten she was in mortal danger as her faith was challenged. "No, she's a protector, not a tormentor! She didn't become that way until Daybreaker cruelly cast her into the Inferno!"

"Daybreaker was saving you."

"Eve, that's enough." Sunset raised her hand to break their argument. She turned to the priestess to address her, letting a hand rest on her shoulder to ease her tension. "Sister Moon went through a period of darkness, but if you and your people believe in her goodness, that she can be redeemed, then that's good enough for me."

"How... How can you say that?"

"Because I believe she can be redeemed, too," Sunset said. "Daybreaker went through her own period of darkness after she fought her sister, you know. Having to hurt someone you're close with is never easy, especially when you know you'll never see them again. In her anger, I think Daybreaker also hurt herself."

It wasn't a completely accurate report, but Sunset was doing her best to speak in the Nocturna's terms. She didn't want this lady to have a total crisis of faith, she just wanted to express that she wasn't here as some divine punishment or whatever.

"A sympathetic devil," The woman remarked. "It's strange to think about her like that. But... She was here. Daybreaker came to us, she threatened us with judgement should we not comply with her."

"Daybreaker was here?" Eve repeated.

Sunset blinked. "You met her?"

"Well, no, it was Mother Evershade who told us about her. Appearing before her, demanding we surrender our village to her." The priestess recounted. "Of course, we never did, Daybreaker and her underlings are our enemy! I mean, er, not you, at least, but..."

Sunset and Eve met each other's eyes again. Something was wrong here.

"We can deal with that later," Sunset said. "Has anyone else been threatening this town, besides the Lord of Chaos and this 'Daybreaker?'"

"There..." the priestess let her head shift about as she recalls the events of the past few days. "There was an Order of Light assassin sent here too, I think to kill Mother Evershade."

The Order of Light. Another, much larger religious group that worshiped Daybreaker, obviously a group that would be at odds with the Nocturna.

"She..." the priestess continued, "I don't know what happened to her, though. I don't think she was successful."

"Is there anyone else alive here that you know of?" Eve asked.

"Oh, yes," she nodded. "There were two government men who helped evacuate the townsfolk, they're in a safety vault beneath the village. It's an old, underground temple the Nocturna converted into an emergency bunker. I tried to make my way there but got cut off... and there might be more survivors in our cathedral. But Daybreaker attacked us there, and not everyone made it out... most of us didn't make it out..."

Sunset gave the priestess another comforting shoulder hold. "We cleared out the demons in the town, do you think you can make it somewhere safer?"

"Yes. I know the way to the temple."

Eve brought up the other main concern. "There's a big piece of metal blocking the main path out of the town. Is there any other way to get to Mt. Eclipse from here?"

"Uh... This way, follow me."

The priestess led them to the back of the chapel, where a door opened into a small hallway, which then led into the fenced area out behind the chapel. A large pile of leaves had been raked up into either corner of the back half of the yard, but at the end of the fence was a locked metal gate leading to a narrow trail off into the woods. With a key, the priestess unlocked the gate and let the hinges swing open.

"If you follow this trail, it'll lead you to a river that flows down from Mt. Eclipse. Follow it up and you'll eventually come to the road that leads to the Cathedral, which sits in the shadow of Mt. Eclipse."

Sunset took a few steps past the gate before turning back to nod her appreciation to the priestess. "Thanks. Hopefully, you'll see us again after this is all over. Stay safe, okay?"

"To you too, Daughter of Daybreaker," the priestess nodded in return, "May moonlight walk with you."

Eve followed Sunset as she walked off, only giving the priestess a glance of acknowledgement, nothing more.

"A-and with you too, Follower of Daybreaker."

Further along the dark, narrow trail, once they were out of sight of the town, Eve spoke candidly to Sunset.

"Do you really believe what you said back there?"

Sunset turned her head back. "About what?"

"About Nightmare Moon."

"Yeah." Sunset had no tone of joking in her voice. "I'm more surprised by how you didn't recognize her emblem right away."

"Well I've never met her, or seen her before."

"She was in charge of the demon realm for the past thousand years, wasn't she?"

"It wasn't that cut and dry," Eve said. "It's not like her biography had been written at any point, I hadn't-"

"Oh, right, you're a shut-in, aren't you?"

"Yeah, I guess."

Sunset rolled her eyes. She reached into her coat and pulled out a fresh lollipop, offering it to Eve again as they walked.

"Lollipop?"

"No thanks."

With a shrug, Sunset unwrapped it and let it fall onto her tongue, taking the moment of peaceful walking to appreciate the sunlight streaming faintly from between the tree coverage overhead.

02 - THE CYBORG PALADIN

IUSSU ORDINIS LUCIS
MANDATUM AD AGENDUM

DECREE OF ACTION FROM THE HOLY COUNCIL OF CRYSTAL CITY

ADDRESSED TO CAPTAIN CAVALIERE SPARKLE, HEAD PALADIN, SANCTI MILITES

It has come to our attention that an otherwise insignificant cult calling themselves the "Nocturna Convent" have taken interest in acquiring a dangerous artifact. They have assembled multiple pieces of the Devil Sword wielded by the Sister of Darkness, our eternal enemy, in their headquarters located in the hidden village of Hollow Shades. Their intent is obvious: to reassemble the sword and use its power to their own ends.

These heathens worship the Sister of Darkness, and are to be considered an enemy unless they demonstrate willingness to fully cooperate with the Order.

Looking to intercept them is a far greater trespasser- the Platinum Knight, one who has falsely claimed the title of our Sister of Light in the past. She and her agents have been confirmed to have raided several remote locations in the past few months in search of the pieces of the same sword.

You are tasked with sending a single of your holy knights to infiltrate their headquarters and extract the fragments of the Dark Devil Sword, before the Nocturna can complete their plans to reassemble it. Then, the Platinum Knight must be eliminated, alongside any following threats she may pose.

We already know who you will be choosing for this mission. You have already been authorized to employ a Freefall Jet for a high-altitude insertion. Her pet may also be allowed to come with her, so long as it remains unarmed.

This is a matter we expect to be handled swiftly and succinctly. You have one week to take action.

PER REGIMEN AMORIS ET LUCIS

HIGH PRIESTESS AMORE IX

[Solar Sea, West of Mt. Eclipse]
[Friday, 7:00am]

"How is it, Starlight?"

"So far, so good..."

Starlight Glimmer looked down on the world through a camera feed, speeding across a cover of clouds through a dark sky at faster speeds than she was really comfortable with. Surrounding her was a total metal encasing, she lay prone in the belly of a small jet aircraft soaring above the clouds, a sealed steel visor in front of her face projecting an image of her surroundings from the jet's external camera systems directly into her eyes, making her feel as if she was flying uninhibited.

Of course, she was completely constrained to the jet's set course, operated by her commanding officer a thousand miles away at the Order of Light's HQ in Crystal City.

"Captain, I'm getting some weird weather readings from the Freefall Jet's display. This area isn't due for inclement weather, is it?" Starlight asked.

"Looks like there might be a storm on Sunday, but the region is supposed to be clear on the days leading up to that. You shouldn't be there that long."

Said commander, Captain Cavaliere Sparkle, more often called "Shining Armor", spoke to her through the jet's radio systems, and would be monitoring her mission. He was her direct superior, and the head of all of the Order's holy knights. In recent years, Starlight worked quite closely with him in matters of artifact retrieval and covert neutralization of powerful demons, her skillset developing from that of a general soldier to a specialized infiltrator. A portrait of his stern face and short, cobalt hair lingered in the corner of her visor's display as he spoke.

"Remember, Starlight, the main purpose of this mission is to retrieve whatever pieces of the Dark Devil Sword they have. Defeating the Platinum Knight is a secondary objective, if she can't get the sword, we can consider her a non-threat."

"Got it."

A higher pitched and more concerned voice came over the radio feed, following the portrait of a younger man with rounded glasses and a hair and beard of frazzled reddish-orange. "How's our readback, Starlight?"

"Crisp and clear," Starlight reported. "I read you five by five, Sunburst."

"And your body is still feeling alright?"

Sunburst was a talented arcane engineer in the Order's employ. He and Starlight were childhood friends that had grown apart, but after a fateful and nearly lethal injury Starlight would be brought to him, and he would reconstruct most of her body with cybernetics. Indeed, Starlight's body was mostly mechanical, a powerful, magically and technologically advanced metal frame that kept her heart beating, as well as supported the few remaining flesh-and-blood pieces of her. All that remained of her original body was her head, neck, left shoulder, and arm, a prominent reminder that she was still mortal. Sunburst always did his best to support Starlight when he could- almost obsessively performing maintenance checks on her body, upgrading and improving small aspects of her, like comfort and ease of motion, and of course providing emotional support as a friend.

"The new G4 nanites I gave you before you left should provide you with a link to the Freefall's radio systems once you're on the ground," Sunburst said, "So you'll always have a radio link to us as long as you have a clear line of sight to the sky."

Right, the nanites. They were a new hybrid technology that met halfway between magic and machinery, tiny machines that interacted with organic, living materials to produce a handful of effects. In Starlight's case, these extended the range of a radio system implanted into her ear.

"Hopefully they work..." Starlight muttered. She wasn't completely sold on the concept.

"Your new power cells haven't had any problems either, have they?" Sunburst asked. Even this close to her starting her mission, he was still worrying over every last thing...

"Yeah, they're good," Starlight reassured him.

"Remember, these new power cells are taking full advantage of your own unusual biology," Sunburst said.

It wouldn't be something Starlight Glimmer realized until many years after her reconstruction that the only reason she was even still alive is because her body had an incredibly powerful natural magic about it. Even with as little organic body she still had, her machine parts and neural controls to those parts were powered almost exclusively by the magic emitted by her natural body. It wasn't magic she could access anymore, the reconstructive surgery severed her ability to actively use it, but it still was the key that made making her into a cyborg possible. The power cells integrated into her were vital as well, of course, without them she could easily exhaust her body's magic if she overworked herself, which had led to her passing out in the past, and power limiters were put in place to further ensure that wouldn't happen.

"Some kind of hybrid cell, you said?" Starlight asked.

"That's right, they'll slowly recharge over time off of your natural magic field, but you can also recharge them by absorbing anything magical you come into contact with."

"Given that these cultists work with demons, I'd imagine I'll have plenty of opportunities to do that." Starlight said.

One more change of portraits appeared in the corner of Starlight's vision. A smiling woman with a swirl of purple-ish hair with a gold streak running through it. Her voice was more reassuring than Sunburst's worrying tone.

"Remember that this is an infiltration mission, Starlight. Your job is to not be seen if possible. If you do this right, you shouldn't have to recharge yourself that much at all."

This was Inquisitor Cadenza, and she acted as her intelligence specialist. Kindhearted as she was, she was known amongst the Order for her interrogation techniques, and on several occasions had turned several enemies of their organization into trusted allies. Her methods were obscured to most, the majority of other Order members hypothesized her methods of getting information from others were either ruthless and psychopathic, or that she was just so damn likable that even the most hardened types would open up to her. No in betweens.

As an Inquisitor, her duties also lied in the surveying of regions and identification of any magical or otherworldly entities that might reside there. It was she who was remotely piloting the Freefall Jet to the area of operation. Once Starlight had deployed, she'd take it to an orbital altitude and use its imaging systems to support her mission further.

Starlight nodded. "I'll keep that in mind, ma'am."

"Oh, please, you can call me Cadence, Starlight. We've worked together enough times by now."

"Sorry, Cadence." Starlight smiled a bit beneath her visor. She really was a sweet person, it was a testament to her character that she remained as nice as she was in a job that often demanded a cold heart. "Just like to treat the Inquisition with respect, that's all."

"You shouldn't have to worry about formalities right now, Starlight," Cadence said. "I'm not just here to provide you with intel, but psychological support as well. If you encounter anything that troubles you or disrupts your focus, I want you to call in and talk to me about it, okay?"

"Hey, it's not like I'm not ready for this," Starlight said. "I'm mentally sound."

"Yes, but stress doesn't care how mentally prepared you are. Especially since you're going to be alone out there..."

"Not completely alone," Starlight said. She knocked on the flat metal directly above her, signaling to the other passenger riding along on the jet. "Spike? You awake?"

"Uh... Huh?" A synthesized voice stirred around above her, a medium tone with a persistent growl behind it. Spike was, put shortly, a large robot dog built by Starlight's mentor as a pet and demon hunting companion. He was outfitted with a heavy, magic resistant frame, powerful jaws and had a cool pattern of pointed ridges running along his back. At one point he even had a sword on his tail, but it was removed and refitted with a prehensile cable tail. His AI was advanced and extremely intelligent, but he only had the emotional experience of a teenager, and so Starlight kept track of him as a guardian and friend. More often than not, he'd end up being her guardian, as he acted as an in field recon unit.

"You'll keep me company out there, right Spike?"

"Yeah, of course, Starlight!" Spike's enthusiasm to help Starlight was much appreciated as well. He was programmed to be an assistant, but as he developed further from his original programming he seemed to find that helping others was something he genuinely enjoyed doing. "I'm with you all the way."

A beam of light passed up over the cloud layer as the sky began to brighten in color. Dark surroundings slowly made way to a blue morning sky.

"Sunrise," Starlight reported. They were nearly at their destination.

"You're five kilometers away from your target zone," Cadence reported, "You'll be dropped off the coast of the Solar Sea to the southwest of Mt. Eclipse. Try not to land in the water, okay?"

"You've got an external battery pack in the Freefall with you," Sunburst added. "You'll want to constantly be firing your pulse-boosters to control your fall."

"Spike isn't going to need one is he?" Starlight had been loaded into the craft first, she wasn't sure how Spike had been equipped when loaded.

"Spike has a pair of disposable booster wings," Shining Armor explained.

"Wings? Why don't I get wings?" Starlight asked. "That sounds cool, I want wings!"

"She says, actively riding in a supersonic aircraft..." Cadence shook her head and smiled. "Hang on Starlight, I'm taking you lower."

The craft tilted forward, pushing through the clouds until a sea was visible beneath her. A vast, snow capped mountain was the first visible thing, the landmass it dominated being surrounded by a sea on both sides before widening out into a larger mainland. Hollow Shades was somewhere in the dense, sprawling forest at the base of Mt. Eclipse, but Starlight couldn't see anything resembling human structures as she neared the earth.

"Alright, Starlight," Cadence began, "We're going to dip down, then pull up then launch you in an upwards arc to the LZ. You want to hit the sand on the beach, it'll be the softest spot."

Shining Armor followed up with a mission recap. "Once you're on the ground, make your way through the forest to Hollow Shades. It's a secluded forest village, so you shouldn't need to worry about attracting too much attention until you've encountered the Nocturna. Once you've completed your mission, the Freefall will land back at the beach to take you home."

"Got it."

"Recovery of the sword is crucial. If it falls into the wrong hands, we could be looking at another Canterlot City Incident."

That wasn't a pleasant thought for any of them.

Cadence continued with a report. "Reaching deployment level in five... four... three... two..."

The bottom of the jet opened up, two mechanical arms lowering the prone Starlight and a folded up Spike beneath the sleek, triangular craft. Now outside of it, Starlight had an even better sense of just how fast they were going, and then a sudden lurching in her non-existent stomach as the craft dipped down. Disconnected from the jet's camera system, the visor completely covering her face instead gave her a view of what was directly in front of her, essentially giving her just as good of a visual awareness as her eyes could.

Each of her support team then all spoke their final gestures in unison, all broadcasting at once.

"Good luck, Starlight."

With the beachfront just barely visible in the distance, the jet, at that point tilted downwards, suddenly whipped its nose up, and the arms holding Starlight and Spike in place released them at the perfect moment. Starlight's medium cut length of violet and teal highlighted hair streaked behind her head elegantly as she shot through the sky, arms tight to her body and chin pointed forward. The long metal scabbard containing her weapon was held firmly to her back via a magnetic system. Her denim coat flapped in the turbulence she created, but otherwise clung tight to her as she ascended higher, higher, then spun into a front flip while engaging the impulse boosters built into her torso. Bright teal lights glimmered brightly all across her body, and the external battery around her waist began signaling it was close to being depleted by the time she felt the ground rushing up to meet her. The boosters stabilized her aerial motions though, and she careened into a perfect somersault at the end of her flip, crashing perfectly down into the sand on all fours with little in way of felt impact.

Her metal feet sunk into the sand, sending the shallow water around her up into the air into a million tiny droplets that soaked only the bottom of her gray tactical pants. The tail of her coat flowed perfectly as she rose to a stand, the droplets of water reflecting the rising sun to her back in a faint ring of rainbow around her. She unclipped the spent battery from her belt and unhooked it from the power slot on her back, letting it fall to the sand, no longer needed. The scabbard on her back shifted, the magnetic locks deactivating, rotating, and guiding the weapon to a more natural place resting on her hip.

Spike's landing was only a moment after her, two metal wings unfolding and guiding the mechanized canine to the ground to a similarly epic splash landing, after which his wings detached themselves and fell to the wayside.

Standing and now fully oriented, Starlight's visor unsealed, splitting into two halves and separating to either side of her neck, revealing two blue eyes that were ready to commence the mission.

The Freefall Jet was already a black dot heading far up into the sky above her.

"Let's do this," Starlight said. Spike was stretching out his legs and tail on the sand, his matte purple and green trimmed frame reflecting minimal light in the morning sun.

"Ready to go!" Spike said.

She took her first steps forward, surveying the beach. It was short, not a lot of space to it, and didn't seem to be very populated at the moment. Very impressive that Cadence was able to shoot her directly onto the spot. With that in mind, Starlight put a finger beneath her ear, activating her internal communications system and attempting to get in touch with Shining Armor.

"This is Starlight. I'm on the ground, making my way to the target now."

"Excellent, Starlight," Shining Armor said, "We're reading you perfectly on our end. We'll monitor your mission as you go, but feel free to call us when you need support."

"Will do. Starlight, out."

With that, she and Spike made their way up the beach and into the thick woods ahead. Spike went first, following a trail for a few minutes but ultimately deciding that an alternative path through the trees would be better, and Starlight was reluctantly left to follow him and only him as he navigated what seemed like an endless mass of woods.

"You sure about this, Spike?" Starlight asked.

"I have a feeling about this Starlight, just trust me," Spike replied, "We'll be spotted right away if we just go in through the main area."

"How far out are we?"

"Three kilometers."

"Spike, that's like a half hour of walking away, who's even gonna see us?"

She immediately regretted asking that question, as the moment she did, a pair of footsteps and voices were audible in the distance. Starlight instantly dove into the treeline, away form the gravel path, and laid herself in a bush next to Spike, who was looking at her with both of the protective lens covers over his optics half deployed- his version of giving her an 'I told you so' look.

They kept absolutely still, watching as two robed figures passed them, both carrying long, wooden stocked repeating rifles and talking to each other about the noise they'd heard. The figures seemed already on alert, like they were expecting an intruder. The Freefall was a stealth aircraft, it would've been hard to detect in any fashion until they managed to catch a glimpse of it overhead, but that also would've been hard given how thick these trees were. Once the two figures were passed, Spike and Starlight instead turned and headed deeper into the unmarked parts of the forest.

Spike guided her on, past brushes and grass patches and tall, light blocking trees. Even when unfolded, Starlight's visor still provided her with a directional compass and a visual indicator of where Spike or any other designated allies were. It could augment her vision as well, such as in the current low light environment, allowing her to see normally in most areas.

A soft wind blew through the trees, a sensation that tickled Starlight's left hand. In addition to her eyesight, her other senses were all also very finely tuned. Her hearing could pick up the rustling of leaves and gentle swaying of grass around her and of soft pops of gunfire in the distance. She smelled a fresh, crisp autumn scent from the nature around her, as well as the faint residue of metallic magic...

Gunfire? Magic?

"Spike, hold up," Starlight said. "I hear fighting somewhere."

It wasn't far, just up ahead the two came to a wide break in the forest, they were atop a hill looking down a small village scene, where several more of the armed figures fired rifles at a strange mechanical creature. Before she could question it, she heard a soft beeping on the inside of her ear. Her radio was buzzing.

"Starlight," Shining Armor said, "There's one other thing about your mission that you should know about..."

"What?" Starlight asked. "I went over all the briefing files before I left, I don't think-"

"It's not in the briefing files. It's not about the mission itself, or anything the Order is asking you to do..." Shining Armor paused, making sure he had Starlight's complete attention before he continued. "It's about Trixie."

Starlight let out a breath, and nodded. She ducked her head back into the treeline and listened intently. Trixie was Starlight's best friend, one who normally went out on missions with her and Sunburst, but she'd left to go visit family some six months ago, and since then, she hadn't been heard from. Starlight couldn't contact her, and it had begun to seem like something was wrong. It was something Starlight worried about constantly when she wasn't out on a mission, why was Shining Armor bringing her up now?

"We have intel from this month that suggested that Trixie was seen near Hollow Shades," Shining Armor said. "Given what we know about the cult and its recent activities, it's more than likely that she was abducted by them at some point."

"What?!?" Starlight had to work to keep herself from shouting. "You mean Trixie is being held captive by these guys?!? Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"Because we couldn't completely confirm it," Shining Armor said. "I thought you should know, now that you're there. It's off-the-records, not anything officially mandated, but you have a chance to rescue her if she's there. Just... make sure it doesn't compromise your primary mission."

"Yeah, I won't," Starlight rolled her eyes. "She's only my best friend."

Cadence's voice and portrait made themselves present over Shining Armor's. "It's understandable that you care about her, Starlight. If it's too dangerous to rescue her, we can send another strike team in just for her after you've finished this mission. You can even lead it if you want."

"Wait... You can authorize that?" Starlight asked.

"The Inquisition has a lot of autonomy. I can make it happen, just for you."

"Stay focused on your mission, Starlight," Shining Armor said, "And keep an eye out for Trixie if you can."

The call ended there.

Starlight turned her attention back to the small fight that was happening in the village. The robed people seemed to have successfully destroyed the mechanical creature attacking them. Unfortunately, Starlight didn't get that good of a look at it, and now it was a mashed up pile of metal being dragged off by the villagers.

"Starlight." Spike spoke to her as the two crept quietly along the treeline, getting closer to what seemed like a proper town. "There's a tall stone building with a bell tower nearby, it looks like a religious building. That's where the Nocturna would keep their magical artifacts, for sure."

Starlight could see the top of the building Spike was talking about over the treeline, just barely, but it was across the clearing, and past another patch of forest.

"Think we can make it? We've gotta clear past those guys down there..."

"Looks like they're members of the cult," Spike said. "And they're not friendly with robots..."

"Why are there even other robots attacking them here?"

As if on cue, two more machines of a dark metal color with red trims jumped from the treeline across, and Starlight got a better look at them. They were humanoid, standing on two legs with two arms, but had slightly hunched postures. Their arms ended in sharp metal claws, four digits on the end of each hand, and their backs extended into sharp, bladed tails. Very short appendages on their backs resembled blades, or wings, but they were far too short to be of practical use.

There were weird machine-lizard things, they moved in a surreal, too-human way. One lifted its arm, and began firing a wrist mounted cannon at the Nocturna cultists, sending them scattering. Armed with only old-school repeaters and taken by surprise, the cultists scrambled about, unable to properly fight back against their technologically superior attackers.

But as they fled, there was a flash of blue for a moment, and another, far faster figure appeared to aid the cultists. She was clothed in all black, just like them, but wore a far more form-fitting outfit and with a cape flowing behind her. She held a sword in one hand, expertly twirling it and deflecting the shots from the machine's weapons as the other cultists fled behind her. Another of these caped women appeared, shooting up the machines with a pair of revolvers and running past them.

These much more nimble fighters jumped and spun about, taking the machines' attention away, forcing them to chase them away from their chapel building.

"Someone else is here for their goods," Starlight concluded.

"Looks like we've got an opening to move, let's go!"

When the machines and the cultists were both out of sight, Starlight and Spike quickly leapt from their cover, running from building to building but finding each one strangely abandoned. These were homes, all empty during whatever attack was happening here.

Starlight wasn't quick enough to evade sight, though. An explosion blasted right in front of her as she made for the treeline across, cutting her off and forcing her into an evasive flip. Behind her, back towards the trail leading out to the beach, both of the machines had returned and were now targeting her. Spike had already made it to cover, but she was now forced into a fight.

The two machines fired their wrist cannons at her, then leaped in closer with some jet propulsion from the protrusions on their backs. They stayed close together, moving in synchronicity as Starlight evaded and recentered herself.

"Keep going, Spike," Starlight said. "I'll take these two out quickly."

BLASTER- Mechadragon Soldiers: The machines had many rows of developed optical sensors mounted on their heads, their angled faces providing them with a wide range of vision around them while also providing slanted surfaces to keep the armor hard to penetrate. Red dots within each sensor lens swirled and scanned about before all focusing forward on Starlight. She'd never seen mechs like these before, but they were clearly built for fast and close range engagements. As they locked onto her, metal visors closed up over their heads, fully protecting their sensors.

The metal scabbard hanging at Starlight's hip had two separate handles protruding from it, two separate weapons she kept within it. In her left hand, Starlight took the longer of the two and pulled, shifting her hip back and revealing a straight-edged, razor thin weapon that crackled and pulsed in time with her body's power cells. The sunlight struck its blade but it did not reflect, instead, it seemed to absorb the light and glow in the color of Starlight's realm magic of its own accord.

HR-LS "Remark": The weapon twirled in her left hand, her natural, human hand being the one more comfortable to fight with. It was a "high-resonance longsword", an ultra sharp weapon with a blade edge measuring only a few nanometers, featuring a short but lightweight crossguard and made of both high-tech and holy materials through the Order of Light's most advanced production techniques. The end product was a compact, vibrating blade of blessed alloys capable of separating matter on a sub-atomic and spiritual level; be it against man, machine, or demon, this weapon was more than capable of making the cut. In addition, it could conduct the arcane energies required to power Starlight's body right down to its hilt, giving it its pulsing and vibrant qualities.

"Hey there, boys," Starlight lifted her eyes and shot her opponents a grin, despite them lacking facial expressions to return the sentiment. The two machine dragons only prowled closer, bodies tensing up as they closed in for the kill. "Good day for a walk in the woods, huh?"

Starlight's own protective visor closed around her face as she brought her sword into a forward ready position. Her right, mechanical hand closed around it for support, and she bent her knees gently.

The first dragon dashed directly towards her, hopping with a short motion and swiping one of its claws in a downward motion. Starlight was already gone, sidestepping the attack and ripping down with her sword, slashing straight into the machine's shoulder once before circling around to attack again. The dragon tumbled forward, hastily trying to evade the cyborg now suddenly behind her, but still taking a swipe to the back as it recovered.

The second dragon took advantage of Starlight turning her back to it, stabbing a claw straight forward in an attempt to grab at her. Still following her sidestepping momentum, Starlight leaned hard to the side and held her blade vertical across her back, rotating her core and pushing the oncoming claw away from her as she turned to face her other opponent.

Starlight didn't let it process her move, she went straight into another set of sword strikes, carving a deep X shape into its chest with two swift cuts before it finally was able to deflect her sword off its arm. Rather than pull back, Starlight followed through with the dragon pushing her away, letting her sword spin and get thrown into the air above her. From there, she pivoted on one foot and snapped straight into a back kick that caught flat against the handle of her sword, locking into place against a groove in her heel and driving the point forward right into the machine's neck.

Heavy, lumbering stomps came from behind her, and Starlight reached to her scabbard again, drawing out the other weapon in her left hand while still holding her sword with one foot and balancing on the other.

RV-.600NX "Equilibrium": This weapon was a massive framed revolver made specifically for Starlight, firing giant bullets that could easily overpenetrate the sturdiest of mortal targets. Six shots, double action, and with an immensely heavy trigger, Starlight had gone her entire career in the Order with this weapon by her side. Despite her role shifting to infiltration, she refused to go anywhere without her "Giant Pissoff Monster Killing Gun". Like her sword, it too was built to channel her body's energy, allowing her shots to be given even more power and penetration ability.

The revolver twirled expertly in her hand as she leaned with it, held it behind her back, and pulled the trigger on the approaching dragon.

BANG! BANG!

Two shots ripped through the machine's belly, and Starlight leaned in further.

BANG!

Arm still behind her back, and her foot still keeping her sword in place, she fired straight into the dragon's visor, cracking and splitting the metal case open. She then dropped her extended leg to the side and put her other hand to the floor, sweeping her sword across her body by her foot, and slicing it straight into the stunned dragon's exposed face.

The machine seemed to writhe with a surprising amount of lifelike pain, letting out a distorted howl as what were effectively its eyes were sliced into. The dragon behind her did as well, its entire head coming loose as the sword was ripped from it. Starlight felt a wetness splash into her eyes as she worked her sword through the two machines more, accentuating each string of slashes with a shot from her revolver.

A dark red, crystalline liquid seemed to ooze from the machines as she tore them open, and as the liquid got on her blade Starlight felt an odd sensation. Cutting into these machines felt the same as cutting into a magical creature, this fluid within them sparked with some form of magical energy. What little power she was exerting to destroy them was easily replenished by the very act of destroying them.

Starlight returned her revolver to its holster and caught her sword in her hand as she let both of her feet take place on the ground once more. With one cut up and reeling mechadragon in front of her, Starlight focused, lined up her blade, and charging her power into it sliced the machine cleanly into two halves along the torso.

As she focused, she went into a state of slowed time, what she called her "Bullet Reflex", the surge of energy overclocking her body and allowing her perception and movements to act with hyper speed and precision. Curious, she held her focus as the two metal halves of the dragon came apart, and as she did she spotted the source of the red crystally liquid within the machine. A pulsating fibrous core lay in the machine's body, much like a human heart, though it was likely enhancing these machines and their combat capabilities.

Her Reflex still active, Starlight reached out with her right hand and punched into the machine's body, pulling the core all the way free and ripping it from its place. Her metal fingers caused the core to wither and dull, its electrified juice spilling onto her and being absorbed into her body.

Time resumed, and she turned just in time to see the other dragon behind her raising its claw back to knock her block off. With a similar motion Starlight swung her sword up and around, but this time reached out with her own metal appendage, her newly absorbed energy going directly to power it up.

C001- "Tetherhand": Starlight's metal arm was a weapon on its own, and not just a striking tool. As she focused her energy through it, it began to light up and glow, then a teal projection of a hand shot out from above her forearm. The projection was a much larger and further reaching utility, the Tetherhand shooting out and interrupting the dragon in the middle of its attack with a punch without requiring Starlight to make contact.

The dragon stumbled and was an easy finisher for Starlight, who split it open just like the other and yanked out its core. As it fell to pieces on the ground, Starlight hesitated in taking in the core's power as she looked over it. She put her sword away, and tapped into her radio system.

"Hey, Sunburst, do you know what kind of power unit this is?" Starlight asked. Her system was sending her visor's visual input directly back to their HQ, so her team was getting just as good of a look at the component as she was.

"Hmm," Sunburst mused. "No, I don't. It looks like it's an attempt to replicate living organs with inorganic materials."

"It's got weird magical robot juice in it," Starlight offered. "And it's compatible with my systems."

"That really is interesting," Sunburst said. "I don't know who would be able to create those kinds of machines though, they look like advanced versions of the old CANIS and ANUBIS mechs used by different government agencies, but they don't match any models I've seen before. Did they have any other fake organs in them?"

"Dunno," Starlight said. "This was what stood out to me, and-"

As she spoke, the core begin to quickly wilt, its fluids again spilling out onto both her and the floor. She didn't catch all of it in time though, and only got a partial recharge from it.

Shining Armor's voice came over the radio.

"The takeaway here is that whoever's employing these machines is using technology we've never seen before," he said. It was clear he wanted Starlight to get back to the mission.

"And that I'm apparently a cyber-vampire now," Starlight added.

"Right, don't get too excited about that," Sunburst said. "I don't know if the uh, what you called 'robot juice', will have any side effects on your body. Try to keep the blood drinking to a minimum, okay?"

"Yeah, yeah." Starlight let the call end there and kept herself moving. She made her way through the trees where she saw Spike disappear, and noticed that there was a much larger disturbance in the main town area. More machines like the ones she'd just destroyed were marching down the center of the road, doing battle with Nocturna members wielding some pretty archaic firearms and bladed weapons. Gunshots, clanging metal, and even the rippling swooshes of magic being cast made for a muddy and chaotic soundscape. The cultists did an okay job holding them off though, they had superior numbers and were able to effectively outmaneuver the handful of machine dragons attacking them.

"Hey, Starlight!" Spike's voice picked up over the radio. She couldn't see where she was, but she trusted he was closeby. "I saw what looked like the cultist's leader retreat into the back area of the chapel. You can sneak around through the backyard and cut her off there. She's the one who'll know where the sword fragments are."

"Roger that," Starlight said. "Keep an eye out on that battle happening in town, I'm going to use it as cover..."

Creeping up right to the edge of the treeline, Starlight made a break for one of the thatched roof houses at the end of the town. Two cultists ran past, too occupied with reinforcing their allies at the chapel to notice her. She broke off again, crouch running between two buildings and rolling through the window of an abandoned building as a mechadragon approached. This one wasn't as big as the ones she'd fought before, but it took a bullet from somewhere else before it could investigate Starlight's direction long enough.

Making sure it had walked off, Starlight slipped through the door and vaulted herself up onto the roof of an adjacent building, where she found a mechadragon facing away from her and firing down at the chapel's area with a rotating gatling gun on one arm. It didn't have as many optical sensors as the first two, instead it seemed like its single sensor was designed to hyper focus on a one target.

Starlight made the call to quickly sneak up behind it and slash through its legs, causing it to fall backward into her arm, where she then grappled it over her shoulder and into the floor. With her Bullet Reflex going off as it tumbled, Starlight sliced the machine in half, this time aiming directly for the spot she approximated its core to be, causing it to hit the roof in two separate pieces. It was instantly taken offline, but Starlight could no longer drink up its reenergizing fluids, as its core was split open and spilled about the floor.

This result was especially noted.

Before too much attention was called to her, Starlight rolled forward again, pushing herself off the building and onto a dusty path beneath it. She slid beneath the wooden fencing barring off the backyard of the chapel, and just as smoothly moved herself to the doors. Her feet made little noise against the ground, even as she moved at full speed, not that her footsteps would've been identifiable over the combat around her.

Opening the chapel's back door, Starlight found herself in a short hallway with one door to the side and one at the far end. She didn't have time to choose a direction, the door to her side swung open and a very confused cultist adorned in their now familiar black robes and hood stood facing the cyborg with a panicked posture and a frozen look of fear on her face.

The woman's eyes and nose were concealed by her hood, but Starlight still looked straight through them, knowing that her eyes were completely terrified. Starlight took no time, her sword came up and hooked around the cultist's neck, the weapon's flat edge pulling the woman's body in towards Starlight as she spun and dragged her into the small storage room she'd just come from.

"Shh..." Starlight's face was still, expressionless, but in that she expressed a dead seriousness as she pinned the smaller body of the cultist to the wall. Her robes seemed nicer than the others, crescent shaped iconography adorning it and a slightly lighter shade of navy blue. "Don't make a sound."

The cultist's lips trembled but she otherwise complied with Starlight.

"Your leader. Where is she?"

"Mother Evershade is..." The woman began, but then her head tilted in recognition as Starlight's eyes pressed further into her. "Starlight? Is that you? You're alive?"

Starlight blinked. She pulled the woman's hood back, revealing a head of blown back snow white hair and very familiar green eyed face.

"Night Glider? Is that you? Swoops?" Starlight whispered. This was one of the people she'd met before she'd joined the Order of Light, when she'd ran away from home and tried to found her own isolated community. She'd been a trusted friend of Starlight's, but at that time in her life, Starlight hadn't been a very good friend to her.

"Don't... Don't kill me, please...." Night Glider whimpered. "I'm sorry I helped those Order of Light goons find you and cut you up, I didn't mean for you to get hurt..."

"Night Glider, what are you doing here? Why did you join a cult?"

"Wh... What do you mean? I joined your cult, didn't I?" Night Glider kept herself as pressed back into the wall as possible. "E-except this cult has faith, and nice messages about helping people through the darkness, and doesn't involve brainwashing, and-"

"Nevermind that. You said your leader's name is Evershade? Where is she?" Starlight asked.

"Were you sent by Daybreaker? Look at you! You're one of her machines now, sent here to kill us all?" Night Glider's voice was frantic, but she still kept it a hoarse whisper as Starlight's blade came that much more pressed against her. "Uh.. Uh... She's in the main room, preparing to move our artifact to the Cathedral..."

"The artifact..." Starlight's eyes narrowed.

"Oh, no..." Night Glider started, "You're with the Order of Light... They realized you were brainwashing other people and decided to brainwash you as punishment!"

"Yes, but no." Starlight clarified. It didn't really matter though. "I'm going to let you live. Once you wake up, I suggest you get the hell out of here."

"But... But what about the rest of the Nocturna? We're in danger, we'll..."

Starlight took her and spun her around, pulling her left arm around her neck and pulling tight on her arm across. Night Glider stopped talking and held still as the sides of her neck were clamped against Starlight's bicep, blood flow to her head restricting and rendering her quickly unconscious. It wasn't something Starlight was happy to do, but given the circumstances she figured she could lock her in this closet and she wouldn't be a target for the machines outside.

She'd never really treated the poor girl well in the past, this just seemed to be another slap in the face to her. Nonetheless, Starlight sat her unconscious body down in the corner behind a shelf, then spotted something she'd dropped when she was grabbed. A small revolver pistol, nothing like Starlight's own but a reasonable means of self defense.

Starlight put the gun beside her sleeping friend and locked the storage room door from the inside. She went back out into the hallway, and made her way to the main room of the chapel. There were voices on the other side, some commotion happening. At least three different people, moving about with something.

There was no way to do this without alerting everyone in the room, Starlight understood. She'd have to act quickly.

The door on the far wall of the chapel's main room burst open, alerting the two elegant cape-bearing cultists standing watch near the window, but not so much alerting the Nocturna's elder preparing something on the stand at the room's center stage.

The cultists guarding her wore more distinguished veils over the faces instead of hoods, masking themselves but in a harder to decipher manner. They both brandished long, curved cutlasses, reacting very quickly and swiping for Starlight as soon as she stepped into the room. Bringing her sword to a draw, Starlight deflected both attacks and spun in place, placing a single sword slash on each of these elite cutlists before they could come for her again.

To Starlight's surprise, they kept up with her movements, safely blocking off her slashes as she counterattacked. Rather than stay in the doorway, Starlight made a beeline for their elder, but the weary, black haired woman calmly dropped her knees as the cyborg jumped for her. Instead of hitting her target, Starlight was now sending herself into the middle of the room, out in the open for all three of the Nocturna members to target her.

"An assassin sent from the Order of Light." Mother Evershade spoke slowly and methodically, as if she'd been expecting something like this to happen. "First your goddess sends her machines to our peaceful village, of course you wouldn't be far behind. But then, you're just another one of her mindless drones, aren't you?"

Evershade jumped from her stand and landed at the end of the row to face Starlight, her two ladies guarding her taking positions to either side. They drew fittingly old-school revolvers on Starlight, but their elder produced a large bore shotgun from her robes, a lever action model with a short barrel, held level in one hand. The shotgun seemed uniquely made from some dark steel, with turquoise engravings and a name she couldn't quite read written across its receiver.

"Never fought a Nocturna Witch before, have you?" Evershade smiled. "Of course, we're only shadows of what they once were. The pure blooded witches were far more capable, but they've long since died out. No thanks to you and yours..."

"The fragments of the Devil Sword," Starlight said, ignoring her taunt, "Where are they?"

"Hm... You do know we don't have all the pieces of it, yes? We're looking for it too," Evershade replied. She laughed a short laugh, but then raised a small attache case held casually behind her. "I'm only carrying one piece of it."

"That'll do." Starlight emphasized her cold reply by raising her hold on her sword. "Hand it over, and-"

"No."

Evershade immediately fired her shotgun off, jumped back over the stand and signaled for the two witches guarding her to take action.

Starlight's sword twirled in a defensive guard, her body rotating rapidly in just the right way that the spread of shotgun pellets could all be deflected in a single swipe and still allow her to end in a jumping sweep toward Evershade's guards. The witches' pistols fired off in sequence, each one taking time before it was ready to fire, but with their shots spaced out Starlight further had to focus on swatting bullets away from her.

Evershade turned to make an escape, but the stained glass window to her side suddenly burst inward, the serene image of a woman standing in moonlight shattering to pieces as a tall, wide-winged machine in a very deliberate color scheme of various blue colors jumped straight through it to cut off the Nocturna's leader.

This machine was another of the dragons, but it was less bulky, still sturdy, but it had a far prouder stature and its optics and jaw seemed to be quite articulate. Several pointed spikes ran down its head and neck, and it had two low hanging features protruding from either side of its head, appearing to be some form of conical radar antenna. The end of its tail spread out into a fan shape, and rather than having a weapon built into its hands, it curiously went weapon-free, with claws that seemed more designed for grasping things than slashing things.

Indeed, there was something different about this mechadragon, it moved just like a human, not too similarly and not too robotically, and it calculated the perfect route to cut off Mother Evershade and twist her into a bind.

Her two witches immediately turned away from Starlight to point their weapons at this new intruder, but the machine held up the woman as a hostage, binding her throat and shoulder with one arm and shielding its sides with its wide, pointed wings. With its free hand, it snatched away the attache case for itself.

Then, rather than make some animalistic cry, the dragon spoke.

"Don't try it. I know you want her alive."

The tone was feminine, rough, but though her speech had an identifiable synthesized ring to it, her ultimate intentions were clear. Evershade gripped her shotgun tightly, but found that her arm was bound against her body by the machine. Try as she might, she couldn't escape the dragon's grip.

"Let it happen, girls." Evershade let her body loosen and shook her head, shifting herself just so that she could tuck her weapon away, and then addressed the machine holding her. "You must be Ember. I'd heard you'd recently become one of Daybreaker's lackeys..."

"Daybreaker understands the value of freedom," Ember replied. "Something the rest of this world has forgotten."

"What do you want with the Nocturna's leader?" Starlight asked. Her weapon was aligned with this new intruder as well.

"Same thing you want, meatbag," She replied, "We're looking for the Devil Sword, same as you. Except I've got a piece of it now, and the mind that knows where the rest of them are."

Behind them, the chapel's doors swung open, and the bodies of two cultists were tossed through at the hands of two other mechadragons, coming in to back up their boss. As they did, Ember leapt back out of the window with Evershade slung over her shoulder and left the rest of them to their own devices.

"Starlight!" Spike's voice sounded off over her radio. "One of the mechadragons is taking off with the cultist leader to the north!"

She couldn't respond, the two mechs behind her were stabbing and firing at her, looking to make her their next kill, but as she started working them over, Evershade's two bodyguards jumped in and cut the machines down, then almost immediately turned to Starlight, blades alight with a glowing blue magic.

"Hey, woah!" Starlight looked between the two, backing away for a moment. She really didn't want to get caught up in a fight if it meant her target was getting away. "Let's not do this. We both want your boss back and alive. Enemy of my enemy? Maybe?"

Starlight kept herself at the ready, but the two witches gave each other wordless looks, and then nodded, motioning for Starlight to follow them as they ran after Ember.

The two witches moved at an incredible pace, surprising Starlight, their feet leaving lighted magical trails behind them as they leapt up atop buildings and hopped from roof to roof to just barely keep pace with the mechadragon carrying their elder off. Starlight's own feet left a similar electrical trail behind her, also just barely keeping up with the two witches.

They dashed through a much larger battle, dodging crossfire from battle the dragons actually seemed to be losing, the cultists and now identifiable witches supporting them gaining more foothold back with every dragon that fell, but now that they had what they came for they were beginning to pull out.

At the edge of the town, Ember leapt up to a two story building and turned to face Starlight and the two approaching witches. She seemed to have nowhere left to run, but she looked up to the sky expectantly and smiled. Seeing the machine's crude, angular jaw form into a satisfied expression unnerved Starlight.

"Give it up!" Starlight shouted. "You've got nowhere to run!"

Ember only looked down on her with her smug grin. Something caused the ground to shake in the distance...

"Starlight!" Shining Armor's voice came up over the radio. "We've got a visual on something huge moving towards you, it just surfaced from the coast out of nowhere!"

"It's heading towards us," Spike added. "I can see it, it's huge, it's-"

An enormous shadow cast itself over the village, heralding the arrival of a massive, five story mechadragon painted in a shiny red and gold coloring, with fully articulated plates, weapon mounts along its shoulders, and wide, powerful wingblades attached to its back, complete with built in thrust mechanisms. The dirt split where it landed, its tail taking a piece of a building down as it turned to look down on the three small humans standing in its path. A rumbling fire seemed to build in its abdomen, as if the beast were powered by an entire furnace generator.

A single, wide optic strip stretched across its face, and a long, pointed mouth opened up into a primal roar that defeaned any other combat going on. The entire village looked up to the creature, in awe or in fear, and they began to do the only thing they could think of: flee.

"You guys are the ones with nowhere to run!" Ember said.

MECHADRAGON RAZER, Supermassive Mining Platform.

"Razer!" She then called out her massive subordinate dragon by name. "Wipe them out!"

The huge metal dragon shifted its neck, and smashed its relatively short arms against the ground.

Starlight saw the two witches that were with her start to back away, but the cyborg stood strong, facing up against the dragon without a moment of hesitation. Shining Armor had other plans for her, though.

"Starlight, you need to get after Evershade. Forget the dragon!"

"No, he's going to flatten this town if I don't do anything!" Starlight replied. Was he crazy? Was he going to let this town get steamrolled?

There were more than just Nocturna in this town. Starlight now saw ordinary, fearful people were being rounded up by the chapel for safety by the cult's members. If Starlight didn't do anything, the dragon would likely crush them all.

"The mission is a priority, Starlight-"

"No!" Starlight said. "Not while civilians are in harm's way."

Shining Armor sighed. "Right. Make this quick if you can."

Looking up at the fearsome machine, Starlight's visor sealed over her face.

"Better believe I will."

03 - THE KILLER MACHINES

[Hollow Shades, Village Centre]
[Friday, 8:15am]

Mechadragon Razer tilted its head forward, opened its mouth, and let loose a searing jet of smoldering orange plasma and smoke from within its belly. The ground was almost instantly set alight as the beam struck the ground, burning brightly and stirring up an incredible blaze even as Starlight rolled out of its path.

With her sword held in a one handed, outward guard, Starlight glared up at the machine.

"Listen here, mister! Just because you're big doesn't mean you get to stomp on everyone smaller than you!"

The dragon's foot came slamming down in her direction, as if in response to her comment. This dragon seemed far less personable than their leader, and even the smaller types of dragons. It attacked far more like an animal, seemingly indicative of a less clever intellect. Starlight easily cartwheeled herself out of the machine's way, but then the dragon brought a claw down as a follow up attack right as her feet hit the ground.

There was no time to get out of the way, instead Starlight brought her sword into a guard and sliced out at the dragon's claw, a hit that did little damage but effectively stunted its momentum enough for Starlight to roll again. Mounted cannons on the dragon's shoulders took aim and shot off shells one after the other, and Starlight was again forced to move, breaking into a sprint further into the village. She zig-zagged her movements as the projectiles fired at her, weaving in and out of them and striking at them with her blade when the shots got too close. The rhythmic cannon blasts kept up as she ran, but the dragon didn't stay still, its legs stomped forward in a chase after her. All gaps were closed in just a few steps, and the dragon was once again in foot smashing range.

"Don't let that thing get above you!" Shining Armor shouted over the radio.

"Starlight, you need to focus on disabling its ability to attack you," Sunburst advised. "Go for the weapons!"

The dragon picked himself onto its legs and jumped up, flapping its wings for a large boost in height, then threw himself back towards the earth. Starlight just barely escaped again, feeling like she was closer and closer to finally being too slow, the tremor shifting buildings around her nearly taking her off her feet. As the dragon's guns lined up on her again, Starlight decided it was time for a change in tactics.

Rather than sprint away, Starlight bolted towards the dragon, getting beneath its feet so that its guns could not target her. She then put her sword to work, slicing into the dragon's feet and legs as it tried to reposition itself, turning quickly and smashing into more buildings as it fumbled. Starlight's shoulders and arms shifted back and forth, slashing apart the beast's armor plating until the gray interior was exposed beneath.

Razer recoiled as its foot armor was peeled off, dropping to an unbalanced knee as Starlight's blade bit into it. As its knee bent, Starlight hiked herself up onto it, then springboarded up to a higher target. While mid-air, Starlight focused into her Bullet Reflex right as she passed over the dragon's shoulder and swung her sword through the base of the cannon mounted there. Her blade crackled with power, carving apart the long barrel and smashing the swiveling turret at its base. For good measure, she cut again, and again, falling in slowed time and further damaging the dragon's shoulder and upper leg armor as she fell back to the ground.

As time resumed for her, the weapon system on Razer's shoulder ignited, blasting him back into another stumble. The dragon then turned, its good shoulder facing forward and firing its cannon in horizontal sweeps in Starlight's direction. Windows shattered around her and walls crumbled as they were punctured with new holes, but Starlight stayed mobile and unhittable. Adding to the barrage, Razer extended its wings, and from them opened up a multitude of long rectangular compartments in which great flashes of light were emitted.

Long silvery missiles arced up into the sky above the dragon, smoke trails curving in spirals until the tips of the warheads aligned with Starlight's position.

"What? It has missiles? Where did they get this thing?" Sunburst's voice was frantic. Before, he seemed curious about these machines, but now the unknowns culminated into a terrible destructive terror.

Shining Armor came through with more directives. "Starlight, those missiles will collapse the nearby buildings if they don't hit you, take them down!"

As the six gleaming warheads streaked towards her, Starlight went for her pistol. She drew in a perfectly smooth motion, her feet spread apart and her head level with the threat, and with the draw time slowed into her Bullet Reflex. Her eyes darted between each of the targets, and then in the breadth of a second she raised her sights up to each one and pulled the trigger, snapping quickly between them as she went. All six missiles burst overhead, well out of range of the buildings, only showering down small pieces of metal rather than chunks of buildings.

Starlight flicked the cylinder of her revolver open with one hand, and in the next fraction of a second she'd refreshed her ammo before charging back into the fight. The dragon's shoulder gun fired off again as it too moved for her, trading places with Starlight as she swept beneath it and kicked herself up onto a rooftop. The rotating turret swiveled after her, and the dragon's claw swung around to slap her back to the ground, but she held up a powerful block and shoved the mechanical beast back with the strength of her entire body.

Again, the dragon was recoiling, and Starlight leapt forward onto the dragon's extended arm, running up it's length and deflecting yet more shots from its shoulder gun until she reached it, slashed through its barrel, and diced it into pieces in slowed time while flipping overtop of it. On the way down, she lopped off more of its leg armor, and landed in a safety roll in front of the chapel building.

The dragon suffered another explosion igniting where its gun was mounted, and as it centered itself it seemed to look at Starlight with scorn. It opened its jaws again, and following a bright light it let out another jet of plasma that cut from the ground into the sky, charring the area around the chapel, but leaving its stone construction only slightly marred. The plasma beam cut up, the dragon's back fully straight and its body reared back, its glowing optics a death glare towards the tiny human it was failing to exterminate.

Another beam of plasma cut across, not targeting Starlight but this time aligned with the chapel itself, currently holding and protecting the townsfolk. The beam again lit the surrounding area in flames, but the solid stone structure was not phased.

Starlight jumped to the chapel's awning to avoid the blast, and as the dragon realized that its plasma breath wouldn't work, it heaved one of its great bladed wings back at full extension, then swung down in a towering arc over its shoulder. It was heavy, lumbering, but the massively sharp slab of metal sped back down to earth, its edge glowing in a golden light as some form of arcane power was channeled through it.

It was second nature by now. Rather than run, Starlight braced herself, summoning as much of her own power as she could and taking a firm grip on her own sword, a teal glow building around her to match the golden light of the dragon.

Sunburst was still in a fearful panic. "It's going to crush the chapel!"

Shining Armor already knew what was on Starlight's mind. "Starlight, stop that blade!"

With an overwhelming force, the dragon's wing blade dropped.

With an unbreakable resolve, Starlight stood her ground. Her sword held her sword above her head, one hand on the handle and one on the end of the blade, she stared up into the beast's eyes, and met it weapon to weapon.

She stopped the blade.

The entire building she stood atop shook, wavered, but as she exerted every ounce of strength she had in resisting the dragon it did not crumble. Sparks and violent lightning poured off of the cyborg as her body strained, the grinding between her weapon and the massive dragon blade a mere inches away a constant reminder of how little room for error she had. The force bearing down on her was incredible, and she was afraid the stone pillars holding the awning beneath her might shatter, but she eventually reversed the direction of the dragon's wing and forced it away from herself with a mighty cry of resilience.

Now with no momentum, Starlight wrapped her metal arm firmly under the dragon's razor edged wing, her natural arm going over its flat back end, and she shoved the dragon into a backpedal, walking it back away from the chapel as she jumped from the awning and drove its wing into the dirt. From there, her grip adjusted again, bending to get her entire body around the wing as the dragon was brought to lay flat on its belly.

Starlight heaved, feeling her power cells actively draining away, but also feeling herself being revitalized whatever magic was flowing through this machine's weapons. Pressed right up against the wing, she lifted the assembly back over her head and planted her feet, rotating her entire core taking the mighty metal monstrosity into a 360 degree spin over her head, high over the chapel, then flinging it off in the opposite direction to let it tumble through the air.

"Yes! Yes!" Sunburst's voice contained a still terrified but excited relief as the dragon was launched away from the building harboring the civilians.

She wasn't finished, though. The moment she sent the dragon flying, she leapt into the air after it, running along the length of its wing and dragging the tip of her sword all throughout it. Just as she suspected, more magical energy siphoned through the machines inside, down her sword, and into her body, allowing her to charge up another powerful strike as she reached the thing's back.

"Go! Light it up!" Shining Armor's voice was a hazy echo in Starlight's mind as she kicked off of the dragon, still careening upwards, and then slammed her sword downward through the joint where its wing connected to its body. Her newly absorbed energy was redirected right back out into a blinding flash of a cut that crackled like a bolt of lightning above the town, with a thunderclap following as the Mechadragon Razer was relieved of one of its wings.

The dragon and the cyborg were now both falling, and it still had some control of itself. Even with such a grievous blow, Razer was able to turn itself around midair and whip its tail around at Starlight.

In return, a giant teal projection of Starlight's hand materialized behind her, her tetherhand catching the dragon's tail just in time and redirecting the momentum it was generating. Twisting her body again, Starlight then yanked the dragon by its tethered tail and cast it back down into the trees outside of the village.

The ground shook again, trees parting and smoke billowing into the sky. Starlight dropped back to the earth, rising from a kneel and holding her metal fist up in front of her in a tense but victorious posture. She brought her sword around to the inside of her metal elbow and proceeded to wipe off the machine's glistening red fluid from her blade onto her forearm, where it sizzled and evaporated as her body absorbed its magic.

The dragon lay crumpled up on the trail leading out of the village, its severed wing laying smoking and blocking off the path entirely. Looks like it wouldn't be a problem anymore.

Carefully approaching were the two witches from before, now awestruck at the feat they'd just witnessed.

Starlight immediately turned her attention to them as they raised their blades to her, getting close but not fully committing to an attack.

Starlight, on the other hand, wasted no time getting to business. She brought her sword right into the first witch's guard to press her blade aside, then looped one of her feet between the witch's front leg to extend her nanoblade right across the woman's throat. In the same moment, the other witch brought her sword up from beneath Starlight's vision, and the cyborg in turn pressed her metal forearm against the blade and seized her attacker at the bicep, a tight death grip keeping her weapon bound to Starlight's metal wrist.

"Where is the dragon lord taking your elder?" Starlight asked.

Neither of them could respond, the lethal glare Starlight giving them freezing them in place.

"I don't know if you know this," Starlight explained. "But I drink magic right up... I need it to function, and the two of you are looking absolutely thirst-quenching after fighting that dragon..."

"She..." The first terrified witch began, only a moment of stuttering before Starlight firmly pressed her sword to the fabric covering the woman's neck. "She's likely being taken to the Nocturna Cathedral. Daybreaker's minions pushed us out of there, we regrouped here to evacuate the village!"

"Next question," Starlight still kept both witches bound to her, and they didn't dare make any further moves. "How do I get there?"

"Take the trail east! It'll turn north and just follow the path past the gate to town!"

Starlight shoved both of the witches away from her, one with her arm, and the other with a kick.

"Watch over your people here. I'm going after your elder."

"You'll kill her!"

"No, I'm going to try and bring her back to you alive, if I can."

"But she'll never give you the fragment of the Devil Sword..."

"We'll see who she'd rather have get their hands on it, then."

Starlight would've turned to the north and called in on her radio, but behind her she heard a great creaking, and the witches seemed to scramble backwards in fear.

The Mechadragon Razer suddenly lurched back to life, picking itself up of the ground and screaming out as it lunged for Starlight. She brought out her sword, but the dragon's jaws snapped around her body, and she found herself pressing frantically against the inside of its mouth to avoid being mangled. She reached out and stabbed the thing in the nose as it stood back to its full height, the witches below again fleeing to safety. From her place in the air, Starlight could see a small group of people being led out the chapel and to the east of the town, guided to safety by even fewer cultists and another pair of witches.

The crowd turned in shock as the dragon came back to life, and it flung its neck back and forth, shaking the firmly held Starlight in its mouth and then letting go, giving her a fast, uncontrollable flight through the air over the village. After a three second count, Starlight slammed back first into the very top of the bell tower, her whole body biting into the stone and lodging her in place there with a plain level view of the dragon. She shifted herself, doing her best to pull herself free as the dragon neared, swinging its remaining wing around at her line of elevation.

Starlight couldn't pull herself from the tower's flat wall fast enough. She broke free of the stone, but the wing was already tearing the stone tower apart, and without her own weapon she'd be unable to defend herself from it. The glowing golden blade brushed her chin as she kicked of the wall, her legs moving so fast as to run straight up it as the wing passed beneath her. Soon enough, the top of the bell tower began to crumble and fall with her on it, and she jumped up again, spotting the platform holding the bell itself still intact beneath her.

The dragon made a full spin, and its wing opened up to fire more missiles in the airborne Starlight's direction. Her feet hit the solid and flat top of the newly shaved tower, and she put all her strength into kicking the big, brass bell off its supports and off into the direction of the missile launching dragon. Seeing the spiraling smoke trails incoming, Starlight focused into her Bullet Reflex and jumped forward off the edge, catching her foot right atop the closest missile.

With time still slowed, Starlight kicked off of it, launching herself towards the next missile, and the next, reaching the last one right as the brass bell cracked into the dragon's head. The metal on metal reverberation rang out throughout the entire town, a visible vibration wave shifting through the machine as it stumbled back in a stunned haze, unable to respond as Starlight leapt from its last missile on right onto its snout.

Her sword now right at her feet, Starlight braced her entire body against the mechadragon, locked her weapon's hilt against the groove of her foot and kicked down, tearing through the steel skull and popping her sword up into the air. She caught the weapon and brought it right back down into the top of the dragon's head with a firm grip, and with a full charge from her power cells she dragged her blade straight along the back of the beast, sliding all the way down the length of its tail with her sword dug right in and drawing copious amounts of neon red fluids form the machine.

As she reached the tip of its tail, it curved upwards and she soared back into the air, where she hit the ground in a controlled shoulder roll and stopped at a kneel. The dragon stood behind her, back straight and head tilted to the sky, unmoving as Starlight swiped her sword in front of her, put a hand on her scabbard, and slowly sheathed her blade once more.

Only after her hilt clicked against the scabbard did the dragon finally split in two, separating in a perfect vertical halves for a few moments before violently exploding in a contained yet violent ball of plasma that drenched the surrounding area in black, dusty carbon. Any pieces of the machine that didn't get blown into the sky fragmented and melted, a glowing golden core hanging in place around what remained of the dragon's frame.

Starlight turned to look at the oversized core, a huge, superheated ball that seemed to drip and ooze the same red machine fluid she'd seen from all the others. It began to fall, but Starlight's Bullet Reflex went off a final time, and she jumped forward to snatch the core from the air before it landed.

It pulsed and seared against her metal hand, but its size shrunk as her body got to draining it of its power. The metal of the dragon was melting away in the core's light, but Starlight felt more than invigorated, she felt like she was being breathed into by something very, very hot. Her chest felt tight, her blood seemed to start boiling, and her metal exterior seemed to change as the dragon's core shrunk in her palm. Her breath began to burn and she doubled over, refusing to let go of the core but also struggling to keep herself upright.

By the time the core had shrunk to the size of a softball, Starlight squeezed her fingers tight around it, crushing it in her palm and bringing whatever process was happening to an end. By some magic, the few remaining scraps of the dragon swirled around Starlight, converging on the point she just crushed. The extra-powerful robot juice had a very strong aftertaste, for a moment Starlight's vision was spinning, and the burning in her chest did not fade, but as she got a hold of her senses and the metal fragments spinning about her subsided she noticed her body had changed quite dramatically.

Her left arm, what she had just consumed the dragon's core with, was now a massive, four fingered claw with red trimmings and glowing capsule running up her forearm. In absorbing this machine's power, it appeared Starlight's had taken on one of its attributes.

C010- "Dragonheart":This arm was a complete change of style from her normal one. It was a total recreation of the dragon's claw, a powerful set of digits with far more grappling power than a human-shaped hand, and also featuring a round barrel flush with the base of her palm. An opaque capsule was affixed to her forearm, from which a series of mechanisms seemed to pipe power from it to her hand. How it functioned, or how it even changed, Starlight was unsure, but it was clear that a new type of weapon had anomalously attached itself to Starlight's elbow.

At her feet, Starlight's other arm, the Tetherhand, had detached itself. It was still functional, her limbs were designed to be modular, and so she picked it up and fiddled with the magnetic strips built into her belt until she got it to hang securely off it on her right side, just beneath the edge of her jacket. With a bit of experimenting, she could manually detach her new arm onto her belt, and then pick up her old one very reliably, almost like drawing a pistol at the joint.

"Sunburst?" Starlight's left hand pressed into her ear to listen to her radio. "You're going to want to take a look at me when we get back..."

"That's incredible! Taking in its power changed you..." Sunburst said, "There has to be something up with how these dragons are powered. Keep an eye out for any other side effects, okay?"

"Yeah, will do. I'm feeling a little... ravenous, to tell you the truth." Her settled on her new dragon claw for now, gripping her midsection with the sharp edged appendage. "I don't have a stomach, but I feel... almost hungry."

"You're feeling a form of combat high," Cadence said. "I'm sure you're familiar with it, but I'm monitoring your vitals and these dragons must have some sort of neural stimulant in their.. erm, blood. It's amplifying the experience."

"You think so?" Starlight wondered how much of a machine they really were. These were robots made of metal and magic, but did they have any living components to them? Starlight couldn't see any other types of insides while opening them up...

"It's definitely correlated to your magic intake, Starlight," Cadence said, "Please be careful with how much you take in at once, you seem to be suffering sensory impairments right now."

"No, no..." Starlight shook her head. Things were clearing up. She was in control. "I'm fine."

"Hey, Starlight!" Spike's voice came over the radio. "I was tracking the lead dragon's movements, but she got away from me! I'm cut off near a farm to the east of the village, I need help over here!"

"Get a move on, Starlight," Shining Armor said. "You and Spike need to catch up with Ember and secure Evershade."

Starlight nodded, and took off down the trail to the east, climbing up and over the fallen dragon's wing, the only remaining proof that it had been there in the first place.

[Farmstead, East of Hollow Shades]
[Friday, 9:00am]

Starlight sprinted head at full speed, not paying any mind to staying concealed. She instead followed the sounds of mechanical feet crashing against the ground until she could see the purple and green exterior of Spike, jumping from the roof of a barn and sliding along the ground as a mechadragon with a gatling gun on its arm chased him around with a stream of bullets. Spike tore his metal tail through the yard, barreling behind an out-of-action combine harvester that had smashed into the side of the barn, but the dragon chasing him shot it to pieces, creating a fiery explosion around the vehicle that shook the barn's walls.

GUNNER- Mechadragon Fire Support: This mech wielded a large, six barreled machine gun integrated into its right arm, its wings curved back and with scarce gold plating around a thin and lightweight frame. Its off hand was a basic claw that clamped the side of its weapon for support, firing in controlled bursts at its nimble target. Its face was streamlined, featuring just one sensor with multiple scanning beams within it that could all converge on one target, or split to track multiple things simultaneously within its field of view.

Some of its scanners did just this as Starlight approached, shifting from Spike to her as she darted into an open shed and rolled past a fence in the yard. She'd run into what seemed like a simple farm, a home a bit further off in the distance, abandoned at this point, but very recently.

As Spike bolted off across the gravel road, Starlight stepped in to protect him, drawing her revolver and snapping off three shots at the Gunner. The Gunner's weapon shifted, and it easily shot down her bullets with an overwhelming volley of return fire. Bullets streaked by her, and she dashed behind a string of hay bales, rolling through one and closing the distance between her and the mech.

The Gunner dragon still kept its barrels spinning and its gun firing, but Starlight drew her sword and kept it twirling in time with her attacker, nearly effortlessly deflecting the bullets ripping away at her as she kept moving forward. When she was in striking distance, the mechadragon was surprisingly ready, it stepped back and blocked her blade off its barrels, and then swung its claw at her.

Starlight easily batted its arm out of the way with her nanoblade, and then laid into it with a series of cuts. On its own, the Gunner had little in the way to defend itself up close, but it led out a short jet of flame from its wings and dashed itself backwards while Starlight was swinging on it.

"Huh?" Starlight wasn't expecting such a quick evasion, nor was she expecting the followup of bullets from the repositioned dragon. Its rounds penetrated the walls of the empty barn as Starlight dove to cover, and it kept dashing around, putting itself right where Starlight wanted to run to so it could open a line on her. Just as she thought she was close, she thrusted her sword out and it backed off yet again. She snapped off more bullets at it, but as long as it was looking at her it could shoot them out of the air.

It was as good a time as any to give her new dragon claw a spin...

Her energy charged into it, the capsule lightning up with the color of her teal magic as she extended her palm in the direction of the Gunner, taking a moment before letting loose a bright blue plasma beam from her claw that blew her hair and jacket back for a split second. It was a piercing ray of bright light that shot off for only a moment, but try as it might, it was an attack the Gunner couldn't shoot down. It seized up as the plasma tore through it, stunned and damaged from the searing heat, and Starlight was easily able to rip into it from there, slashing it up into the air and catching it in her dragon claw.

The Dragonheart claw felt like it had a much stronger grip than even the Tetherhand's projected grasp, and the sharp ends of her fingers grasped tightly against the metal of her foe as she lifted it up and smashed it to the ground several times. From there, she lifted the Gunner up by the head and fired off the plasma cannon at point blank range, the headed beam piercing straight through its hardened body and sending it several feet into the air. It slammed back against the wooden bar of a fence on the edge of the farm property, shattering the wood and landing in an unmoving heap on the grass below.

With the battle over, Starlight put her sword away and looked around for Spike. He crawled out from beneath a collapsed shed across the road, and made his way to Starlight and the destroyed dragon with curiosity.

"Thanks for the save, Starlight!"

"I thought you could handle yourself, Spike." Starlight said. "It was just one guy, did it really give you that much of a hard time?"

Spike turned to the destroyed machine, inspecting its shredded steel exterior from afar. Its glowing fluids leaked from the blown out hole in its face, quickly drying up as they spread across the now inert metal.

"These machines are intelligent," Spike said. "On the cusp of being sentient."

Starlight's head titled. "Like you, right?"

Spike nodded. His mind was an unique and well developed system, having had nearly fifteen years to fully form his own type of consciousness. It wasn't something that modern robotics often allowed their machines to do, making Spike a one-of-a-kind thinking machine with his own personality.

"It spoke to me," Spike said, "In a way that only machines can talk to each other. It was like it was a living thing trapped in a metal body. I think it thought I was one of theirs, but then it realized I wasn't taking orders from their boss."

"Well, you are sort of like them, right?" Starlight replied. "You're made of metal and magic too."

"Not to the same extent. I lived my entire life around humans, I might as well be one." Spike looked away, his front paws shifting himself back towards the road. "And besides, I have free will. These machines don't. Even if they can think, they have to obey their master."

"Do you ever wonder about that, though?" Starlight asked. All of her time working with Spike, she'd never known him to be a particularly deep thinker. Not by lack of thoughtfulness, but just by virtue of his personality. "I know you're not being dictated by anyone anymore, but how much free will can one person really have?"

"Eh, I dunno. Enough. It's not a problem I worry about." Spike's optic lenses shifted as his voice took an annoyed tone. He took a few steps forward, back towards the road.

"Let's just get moving, Starlight. Waxing philosophically is a thing for comic book villains."

They moved further up the road, past the farm, into an upward path through the forest. It looked like there were more houses not too far ahead, four of them to be exact, all positioned at the end of the road where a tall gate made from thick logs blocked the path. The gate's entrance had an electrical gear system attached, and it was actively being rolled shut from either side as Starlight and Spike got closer. A running river blocked one side, and more dense trees covered the other, leaving the alternative methods around the gate as swimming upstream or chopping through the woods. The road was gradually widening out from here though, becoming less of a nature trail and more of something one might see an old busted up car driving along, so they had far more space to maneuver.

To the side of the road was an interestingly modern feature, Starlight spotted a set of power lines running along the way on the same side as the river, stretching back the way they'd come from and connecting to a power box by the gate.

More interesting was a very dense resonance in the air, one that Starlight could begin to feel like an invisible fog as she approached the gate. There were more people up ahead, robed figures, members of the cult, clearly gathered in a defensive formation facing the gate. Villagers dressed in ordinary clothes also moved behind them, running back with looks of panic on their faces as four separate shapes streaked up and over the gate wall with a dark blue glow trailing behind them. They wore elegant, glistening robes with faces covered by black veils, long caped fabrics streaking behind them as they hit the ground and glided toward the other cult members. That same strange blue aura permeated their bodies, these were more Nocturna Witches, but...

With curved swords in hand, they began to attack their own.

The lesser cultists intervened first, one struck out with his own sword, but was parried, tripped, and disarmed by one of the witches before finding her cutlass tearing through his back. One cultist raised her gun on another witch, but the witch responded with a pair of guns in return, her magic flaring as she dodged the bullets and perforated her victim in the same action.

These Nocturna were taking out their own people!

Starlight was almost too taken aback to respond, but the moment she came to her senses she rushed up the road. In an instant, she came between a witch and a cultist trying desperately to evade a sword blade, blocking the witch's edge and motioning for the man to make a run for it.

"Spike, make sure these people get out here! Back to the town, wherever is safe!"

Starlight kicked at the witch's knees before stepping into another's blade to defect it from a cowering overall-adorned farmer. Holding the bind, Starlight could see the otherworldly blue glow that surrounded them also emanating from their eyes behind their veils.

Her dragon claw balled into a fist and she punched the witch from behind, then switched to her pistol and snapped right at a third witch in the corner of her vision, chasing after other cultists with her dual revolvers.

The gunshots from Starlight's massive barrel easily overshadowed the average weapons the witch wielded, and she jumped directly into a sideways spin to avoid getting splattered against the nearby house. Starlight's round punched through the wooden wall of the house and shattered the window on impact, but giving her intended target something to think about as she shifted back to the fourth and last witch.

This one was using her sword and a gun at the same time, quite skillfully dueling three cultists at once as they surrounded her with short blades and daggers. The cyborg arriving toppled the score, though, and Starlight would bounce a bullet off her nanosword and reach directly out to toss the witch over her shoulder, firing the Dragonheart's plasma beam into her and sending her scraping against the ground.

With the cultists and civilians now able to guide the others to safety, Starlight slowly held the tip of her sword towards the witch she'd just down and eyed her up. There was a huge tear in the front of her garment, but her body had somehow survived a high intensity plasma beam. The burn mark covered her chest and ribs, but her skin seemed unnaturally pale for a human, graying, like her body was beginning to die while she was still inside of it.

Starlight recognized what this was.

NOCTURNA WITCHES- Protectors Possessed: It was clear the Nocturna had practicing magic users, but humans delving too deep into magic without the proper precautions could be rendered vulnerable to dark forces. Somehow, for some reason, these witches were being possessed, or were corrupted by some force they'd otherwise have control of. She could reason with the ones back in town, even if they hated her, but these women had functionally no control of themselves beyond the force that compromised their minds.

They regrouped into tight formation as Starlight squared up to fight them.

The comment by the Nocturna's elder was true, Starlight had never faced anything like one of their trained witches before. Formal magic users, contemporary demon slayers, other knights and proficient swordsmen, robots programmed to fight with modern tactics, all of those she had plenty of experience with. Animalistic monsters and emotionally charged demons were also a part of that list.

Nocturna witches moved almost as fast as she could, appearing to slide across the rough ground as they moved, and keeping their swords level with her at every given moment. With their wide ended, curved swords, they liked to cut, and their magically enhanced speed let them strike at Starlight from multiple directions within moments of Starlight stepping into a block. And unlike the ones from the town, they weren't scared of a magic-drinking cyborg.

Starlight's sword shifted to her left, blocking off one blade, and her metal forearm shot up to cover her head as another blade came at her neck. Her sharp, clawed fingers extended and she swiped in a wide arc, but the witches could easily back away from the attack before stepping in again. Even the pistol toting witch was right in her face, punching at her with her revolvers and firing them off like the bullets were just an accessory to a metal-framed melee weapon. The sheer amount of arcane steel coming her way was overwhelming, but as Starlight backed off to reposition herself the gun witch leapt to the roof of the building behind her and fired both of her guns down, forcing Starlight to twirl her sword above her head to intercept the raining lead.

Thinking fast, Starlight detached the Dragonheart claw, slapping it against the magnetic belt strip and swapping back over to her Tetherhand. The moment her elbow connected into it, she summoned the huge projection of her fist and swept it in front of herself, shoving back the three other witches all lunging for her as her sword was preoccupied. This was the Tetherhand's advantage: reach. It couldn't pierce like the claw's sharp ends or plasma blaster, but it could attack in a much wider arc.

It was a desperate move, but it paid off, and Starlight pivoted to throw a tether out to grasp the witch on the roof. The projected fingers wrapped around the witch's leg, and she was yanked down to the ground. The Tetherhand was also perfect for displacing opponents, bringing them into attack range when they were off guard.

As the witch tumbled downward, Starlight's Bullet Reflex went off and she swung her sword diagonally into her target before she hit the ground. The nanoblade sliced straight through her fabric and flesh, and the blessed metal also reacted with the witch's magical aura. In the trickling seconds that followed, Starlight watched the witch split into two pieces, and within her body saw something she shouldn't have found surprising.

The witch's heart was overly swollen, a deformed mass that glowed in a neon black color. Starlight had seen plenty of these before, this was a demon heart. The corruption of these witches was deep and permanent. Just as she'd done with the machines, Starlight snatched the severed heart from the air to confirm what it was, and upon feeling its magic she crushed it. Very little blood splashed away from it, demons instead bled a thick black substance that dried quickly and left little mess. The magical boost was still present to Starlight though, a powerful resurgence of energy filling her as time resumed and she looked to the other corrupted witches.

A sword was in her face a moment later, and Starlight spun to brace herself against the wall of the closest building. Two witches swung for her, and she kicked off the wall, backflipping herself behind them and landing feet first onto the third witch. She slammed into the floor as Starlight kicked off of her in sequence, and then twirled into a double slash that put the two witches behind her on the back foot.

Starlight drove herself forward, coming into a quick bind with one witch and immediately crossing her metal hand over to draw her revolver and fire. The witch ducked down, but as she did Starlight titled the angle of her sword and drew straight across her chest, then followed up with a cut to the back of her neck. Directly following that, there was a curved blade swinging for her pistol. She let the metal strike metal, tilting herself to bring her sword to the threat, the witch meeting her in equal exchange.

The kicked-over witch jumped to her feet and raised her pistol at Starlight's back, but the witch with the sword swiped across at her in the same moment. Starlight leaned all the way back, and when the witch's gun went off, the bullet passed over the cyborg and struck its ally. Starlight's own gun was aligned with the shooter, and she fired off two rounds into the witch before spinning back around to cut the last one down.

On her knees, the final witch received the full experience of Starlight's developing mincing abilities, being sliced across precise lines repeatedly until her demon heart was exposed and extracted from her body for the cyborg to consume.

"Demons are corrupting the Nocturna." Starlight's first thought was to inform Shining Armor of the situation, even though he likely watched the fight that just went down through her visor's video feed. "These witches have demon hearts in them."

"You need to be careful, Starlight." Shining Armor's held a harsh seriousness. "You don't know who's been corrupted and who isn't, anyone with magic is susceptible to turn. Are you sure that letting those other cultists go was a good idea?"

"Yes," Starlight nodded. "The ones in the simple robes, they weren't fighting using magic. They're just normal humans."

"But even normal humans can be possessed by a strong enough force." Shining Armor said. "Hollow Shades may need a Burning Ground enacted on it if this gets worse."

"No!" Starlight's response was almost immediate. A Burning Ground- a systematic annihilation of a tainted area to stop the spread of demons- was something Starlight despised about the Order of Light. She accepted her position as a covert infiltration force so that her superiors wouldn't have to drop the hammer on the innocent majority of people that suffered from demon attacks. "No, I'm going to get to the bottom of this."

"Your mission is to secure the Devil Sword and neutralize any threat the Platinum Knight poses. I understand your concern for civilians but a widespread demon invasion is-"

"I know!" Starlight was feeling that burn in her chest again. The thought of seeing the Order strike another village almost made her sick. She put a hand to her head, growling through the processing of mounting frustration "I know, I know, just..."

"Starlight, calm down, please!" Cadence's gentler voice intercepted the stern order of Shining Armor. "Just breathe, okay? We're not authorized for anything yet. Just take a few deep breaths and stay focused, okay? Your stress levels are spiking to unusually high levels for you, Starlight."

Deep breaths. In, hold, out, pause. In, hold, out, pause. Starlight's lungs may have been cybernetically augmented but they still benefited from having more oxygen to work with. She wasn't told there would be demonic forces here, their presence was going to make everything that much more complicated...

She was going to get through this though. She looked up at the big gate blocking her way, and reinforced the mission in her mind. Get the sword fragments, get Mother Evershade back. Cut down bad guys, save innocent people. Breath in, hold, breathe out.

"Okay," Starlight said. "I've got this."

"And please..." Cadence kept her concern for Starlight's well being front and center. "Try to take it easy on the 'eating people's hearts' thing, it's unnerving watching you do it to a human."

"They're demons, Cadance," Starlight clarified, "And I'm not eating them, I'm just... absorbing them..."

"I just don't know if the oversaturation of magic is good for your psyche, is all."

"Cadance is right," Sunburst added. "Your spirit is separate from your body's magic, but you're still indirectly experiencing its effects on you. You can't get corrupted like they can, but..."

Starlight nodded, rolling her eyes a little.

"Yeah, I get it. Ripping people's hearts out isn't good for the soul, right? Don't want me to turn into the bad guy here?" She let her combination of anxiety and annoyance turn into a bleak playfulness. "But what if I like the feeling it gives me?"

None of her support team responded to that, but she didn't hear any of them hang up the call. Cadance made an uneasy sound.

"You wouldn't be the first of the Order's knight's to go rogue on us, Starlight." Shining Armor eventually broke the silence. "Tearing out the hearts of your enemies is a pretty grim thing to be reveling in."

"Er, sorry. I shouldn't joke about that."

"Just listen to your specialists, here," Shining Armor continued. He seemed the most undisturbed by Starlight's new trick, wanting to fairly appraise it for its tactical value, but still had a strong enough sense of ethics to want to keep the conversation focused. "Proceed however you feel you have to, but keep in mind that overcharging your body could have negative effects on you, okay?"

"I get it. I'm going back to the mission now. Sorry."

Starlight looked up from her visor readout as the portraits of her team faded away. Her comment about turning into a bad guy wasn't unfounded, she herself had been a dangerous young sorceress before she'd joined up with the Order. It was almost ironic, her talent back then was in the manipulation of magic itself; she could drain the arcane resonance from things to an incredibly acute degree, even to the point of completely removing the magical essence that all living things possessed. A person would become a weakened and emotionally stunted version of themselves when sapped in this way, and Starlight would go on to take advantage of people she drained, convincing them to help her build a completely magic-free society where she could dictate over them.

It was in this dystopian village she'd constructed that she first encountered the woman that would become her mentor, an Order of Light soldier tasked with securing an artifact Starlight held and neutralizing her. The people Starlight had subjugated were freed by this soldier's hands, their essence returned to them, and Starlight herself had been sliced in two after losing a swordfight with the knight. Rather than leave her to die, however, Starlight had been brought back to the Order in two pieces, where she was remade into a magic-draining cyborg and given a chance to redeem herself under the guidance of the knight who spared her.

But in a cruel twist of fate, that very mentor would defect from the Order after falling to darkness, and Starlight would be the one sent to eliminate her. In that light, it made sense that her team wanted her to keep a clear head throughout this mission. Dealing with demons always seemed to provoke introspection in Starlight...

A scathing and coarse shearing sound broke Starlight away from her inner musings. She looked up to the road ahead of her, where the wooden log gate had been shut, only to see it being bisected by a giant, pitch-black sword. The blade was thick, a part of it jutting out into two spikes a third of the way from where it pierced the wood, and it effortlessly dragged itself through the material as if it were a loaf of bread. The gate creaked, and then the black blade retracted.

Starlight readied herself, watching the wooden structure with both hands in preparation for what might come behind it.

The gate exploded outwards, not just into two chunks, but into dozens of them that kicked up a huge dust cloud over the road. Starlight's visor immediately came up to protect her, and she caught a glimpse of sharpened tree carcass barreling right for her. Instinctively, time slowed for her, and with three perfectly angled cuts she split the wood apart into smaller pieces that flew off in directions opposite her.

Even before the dust settled, Starlight saw the silhouette of a tall, armored figure stepping through the door. As features became visible, it was clear this person was a demon of some kind. Their heavy steel boot was responsible for kicking the gate in, and a massive zweihander sword was held over their shoulder as if it were a one handed blade, it's hilt in a curious crescent shape that almost seemed mismatched with the blade itself. Dusty and scratched up plate armor adorned their entire body, encasing them in an infernal steel colored like a dead midnight sky, and they wore a tattered and shadowy cape over their shoulders.

Most curiously, their chestplate held a heavily damaged and scratched icon of a silvery moon, and the demon's helmet was a domed piece, fully concealing their face with vertical slits, and with a broken and jagged spike protruding from the forehead.

Starlight was familiar with this demon, or, at least the demon this one was trying to imitate. She'd seen that very helmet and insignia before, but their stature was all wrong. Their demeanor was all wrong.

"Nice costume," Starlight taunted. "But you're a little short to be Nightmare Moon, don't you think?"

The figure kept their sword relaxed over their shoulder, and only took threatening steps toward Starlight. There was no air of pride around this figure, no brutal confidence. Starlight had fought Nightmare Moon once before, this imitator had the atmosphere all wrong. The helmet looked almost identical, though, right down to the slits in the visor and a small dent in the side.

"You're probably pretending to be these people's goddess, aren't you?" Starlight asked, her arms opening up as she properly addressed her opponent. "Y'know, the Order takes impersonation of a deity as a serious offense."

At the mention of the Order, the demon's stance shifted. They looked towards Starlight fully, as if they hadn't considered them as a threat before, only something to step on, but now she had gotten the thing's attention. Their blackened blade spun around to both hands, and from behind their helmet Starlight could feel eyes locking on to her.

No, this demon wasn't actively trying to deceive the people here. If anything, Starlight was starting to get the feeling that the demon was connected to the possessed cultists she met before. They walked with a persistent dismissal of the world around them, and they certainly were a source of strong arcane radiation. This demon was here to be a menace.

"Or, maybe you're just a fan."

The demon took several steps further forward, gaze fixed firmly on Starlight as they brought their sword from their shoulder plate to full bearing in both hands. Their blade was held perfectly vertical, just a thin metal bar form Starlight's perspective, one that allowed the demon's aggressive stance to display fully. The demon's head then lowered.

A challenge.

"Okay, pal..." Starlight took her own sword to the ready as she let her feet become lighter, switching her footing so that she was better aligned with her opponent. "Let's dance."

The demon didn't move so Starlight took initiative, jumping forward and swinging her sword down. She aimed past their guard, but as expected, the demon stepped back and brought their blade to the side in a block. Starlight redirected her strike with a sidestep, but the demon simply shifted their core to follow her attack. Their shadowy zweihander blade twisted and slashed in a very short arc right by Starlight's torso, shoving her smaller weapon to the side and nearly catching her immediately. The motion was fast, calculated, and minimalist.

Rather than block, Starlight opted to bend her knees and roll before the sword bit into her, and when she came back up the demon's sword was mid-swing again, this time nearly taking her nose off as she kept her momentum going backwards. The demon's cape twirled behind them and they spun into another angled chop downwards, and Starlight was forced to again get out of the way, this time leaning back into a handspring towards the busted gate.

One more spinning strike from the demon, continuing their momentum into a jump and swinging straight down into the still dodging Starlight. As soon as her feet touched the ground she brought her sword up into a guard, but her balance was knocked off guard as the demon's sword crashed into her. She held strong, but the demon's momentum shifted far faster than expected, not letting the bind last for more than a second, and Starlight felt their boot suddenly whipping around into her side.

She was knocked to the side behind the gate's wall, rolling through a patch of grass and dirt before finally catching herself on a small hill that leveled up over the river. Starlight rose, her nanosword readying to find the demon not charging but steadily walking towards her. She'd rush into meet them, but her sword strikes were again easily deflected, and the demon would not allow for a bind to last. One of Starlight's slashes bounced off their guard just right and bit into their shoulder armor, but rather than recoil or even brace themselves the demon violently shifted their shoulder up to meet her sword, deflecting the sword a second time off the rounded surface and leaving Starlight vulnerable to having her face pounded directly by the demon's metal gauntlet.

Again, Starlight was sent flat onto her back just before the ground dropped off into the river, only a half a meter away from going for an unwanted swim. This time when she stood back up she drew out her revolver and took aim, only to find the demon drawing a short-barrelled lever action shotgun from behind their back and taking aim between their slow, menacing strides. Like Starlight, the demon held their shotgun in their left hand, and they fired in match with each other.

Starlight got off three shots on the demon, each one barely causing them to flinch, but the one shot from the demon's shotgun took Starlight right in the stomach and flung her back to the ground behind her.

Except there was no ground behind her. Starlight's foot caught just in time on the edge of the hill, but even as she went into her Bullet Reflex she found that there was nothing she could do to save herself. The demon seemingly ignored her state of slowed time, suddenly appearing right in front of her and knocking her foot out from under her with a swipe of their massive blade.

Starlight spun in the air, tumbling down into the river with a splash, where she struck hard against the rocks at the bottom and felt the stream pulling her away. Water filled her mouth, but the blow left her head going hazy and her vision spinning. She felt her face break the water, barely floating on its surface as the demon looked down and watched her get carried away, before turning their back and continuing down the road.

She was struggling to remain conscious. Her radio was alight with voices, but she was struggling to make them out or even respond.

"Starlight? What's going on? Answer me, Starlight! Starlight!"

04 - THE GUARDIAN ANGEL

Three days ago, a National Defense Agent went silent near the town of Hollow Shades. Her mission was in tracking a known terrorist cell and discovering the location of their secret weapon, but she has not reported to her superiors and her last report mentioned strange activity from the local cult, a group called the "Nocturna Convent". Given the group's ties to magic and the occult, it is only natural that the federal-level division of the Supernatural Response and Protection of Humanity Agency would be requested to act in accordance.

Your mission is to head to Hollow Shades and find out what happened to the missing agent. Unfortunately, Hollow Shades is located on the Umbran Peninsula, in the gray zone between the Harmonic States of Equestria and the Republic of Griffonia. Given current international tensions following the Canterlot City Incident and the resignation of the president, direct military action from the H.S. cannot be taken there without prompting immediate response from Griffonia. This agent must be recovered if she is still alive, however, so you will be sent in independently to investigate her disappearance. If she is alive, she must be extracted. If not, any sensitive data in her possession must be recovered.

We are unsure of the hostility of the Nocturna cult at this time. They may be willing to cooperate with you. If any supernatural threat is present, however, your priority is in seeing it eliminated.

This will likely be a several day mission. Ensure you are prepared. Attached is a profile of the agent and information of the surrounding geography. Good luck, Agent Sentry.

-----

Agent Flash Sentry looked lazily out of the side door window of the small, navy blue car he was loosely seated in. All he could see was lots of dull browns and greens from the woods surrounding him. In the driver and passenger seat in front of him were two local police officers that had offered to give him a ride to the town from the nearest airport. It was quite a long drive, and immediately from talking to the officers, Flash was given a good idea of just how middle-of-nowhere Hollow Shades was.

The officers seemed a little too friendly in their attempts to make conversation with a far more stoic Flash, sitting in the back seat of their cruiser in a deep blue leather jacket with white and red stripes across the upper arms, and spacious cargo pants of a flat gray color. His hair was a short, slicked back set of blue-ish spikes, a clean yet casual style for someone in his position. He was fit, but not overly muscular; especially when relaxed it was hard to tell just how strong might be from the frame of his body alone. Overall, everything about him suggested he was in law enforcement of some kind, but he was far more low profile than the two giving him a ride in bright blue uniforms marked with 'POLICE'.

"Now, how's bout you tell us who you really are, big guy?" The officer in the passenger seat looked back to him with a smile that was half suspicious and half patronizing. His voice was rough, and his accent was something Flash hadn't traveled enough to place. They clearly didn't take him seriously, despite Flash's clear insistence on getting to his mission.

"Yeah, you're quite the long ways from home, city boy." The driver spoke with a slower, far more rural drawl than his partner. "On a confidential mission, Mr. Secret Agent?"

The two officers chuckled amongst themselves, content to pick on the continuously unflinching agent in the seat behind them.

After a few pronounced moments, Flash spoke.

"Just following up on those strange reports from Hollow Shades," He said. He was genuinely unphased by their prodding, and not in the mood to share all the details of his mission. "Reports say there's something going on with the cult that operates out of the town, I'm sure you've heard it all before."

"Oh, those nice old ladies and their shadow church ain't nothin' to worry 'bout," the officer in the driver's seat said, dismissive smile on his face, "Don't let the magic rituals and spooky getups fool ya, they're just serious on the whole faith business."

"Yeah, pal. We never hear anything but good things about them," The officer in the passenger seat said. "They even send folks to Southumbra to sell some of their farmed goods."

"Nothing but saints, huh?" Flash wasn't sure how seriously he should take these two. Even if the cult was benign they seemed to be held with a healthy suspicion according to the reports he'd read.

"Yeah, saints... heh..."

"What are you really here for, pal?" The passenger turned in his seat to give him a look of playful suspicion.

"Maybe he's here looking into the rumors."

"Rumors?" Flash's head titled.

The two officers looked at each other again in disbelief, and Flash got more derisive laughter in response.

"Yeah, they say a mysterious black knight stalks the woods when the sun goes down..."

"And the townsfolk hear the sound of the living dead shamblin' around in the trees..."

Their sarcastic tones quickly devolved into jestering about again, clearly getting a kick out of whatever kind of prank they thought they were playing.

Shifting his gaze back out the window, Flash scoffed and shook his head. Some help these guys were. He figured he should tell them off somehow.

"I'm sure you boys didn't just tag along so we could sing kumbaya together at some boy scout bonfire." Flash paused for a moment, then added. "Then again, maybe you did."

Yeah, that sounded cool.

Flash himself had seen his fair share of supernatural disturbances since his time as a federal monster hunter. He saved a town called Sire's Hollow from complete destruction, and helped defend Canterlot City from a demonic invasion a few years later. SRAPH was an agency established to provide support to any manner of otherwise "mundane world" groups, be it police forces, intelligence agencies, or paramilitary units. But in the five years following Canterlot City, his experience and reputation grew as he undertook wider and more varied missions until he was almost exclusively working with high level government security groups.

This was one such mission. The agent he was here to find was no ordinary operative, she was a top-level intelligence specialist for the National Defense Agency and had previously served as the former president's personal archivist and bodyguard; a woman privy to many of the H.S.'s internal workings and secrets. Among governing higher-ups, this rescue operation was of extreme importance. The agent needed to be found one way or another.

The officers seemed only further amused by his comment, but the passenger seat guy straightened up a little as he responded.

"Tsk. The chief just wanted to make sure you didn't get lost on the way, the two of us just drew the short straw."

"After that, you'll be back on your lonesome," The other added. "But I reckon you spooks prefer it that way."

The rest of the drive was nothing special. Just a winding drive though country backroads. It was about noon by the time they'd finally turned onto a major road and seemed to be approaching something that could be called civilization. They passed by coast for a few miles, giving Flash a nice view of the tall mountain range stretching out across the north, overlooking the overwhelming auburn forest. Soon enough, they were taking another turn into a backroad...

More trees awaited Flash's window. Shame, this area really seemed like a beautiful place, but he'd only be seeing it from the middle of the forest.

Eventually, the police cruiser would roll to a clumsy stop at a crossroads, just past a bridged gap holding over a flowing river. An old guidepost with a single marker on it was visible ahead, pointing off in the direction of a thinly marked passage through the treeline. There wasn't much visible from here.

"This is it, huh?"

"Yessir," the driver said. "This is as far as she goes, partner."

"The village is up the road that way," the other officer said.

"What's the matter?" Flash asked, cracking the backseat door open and putting a foot outside the vehicle. "You're not scared, are you?"

Again, the officers didn't seem to be taking him seriously, eyes darting to each other and still exchanging grins.

"Nah, we just don't want to get in the way of your secret mission."

"Yeah, you mosey along now. We'll wait out here for a bit, just in case you come back runnin'."

Flash stood from the car, rolled his shoulders and refastened the gear straps beneath his jacket. He'd opted to pack light for this trip, figuring he might be able to get any longer term assistance from the town, but clearly he underestimated how much anyone was willing to come all the way out here. Walking away, Flash shook his head, muttering under his breath as a chilly breeze passed over him.

"Some help you two are."

[Blacktail Forest, South of Mt. Eclipse]
[Thursday, 11:45am]

Fallen leaves crunched softly beneath Flash's boots as he walked down the forest trail towards what he assumed was civilization. The sun was filtered through the tree branches overhead, creating an irregular cascade of shadows surrounding the road ahead. Things were chilled, calm, and quiet.

Flash Sentry took a deep breath, and upon breathing out he could faintly see it cast a fog in the autumn air.

The silence around him was broken by a soft buzzing beneath his jacket. It was the compact, long-range radio he kept attached to his shoulder strap holding the rest of his gear, receiving a transmission. Brushing his jacket open, he pulled up a wired earpiece and put it to his right ear, where a friendly voice greeted him.

"Flash! It's MC. In case you forgot, you were supposed to check in with me after you were on your way to the village."

Right—MC, codename "Microchips". He was Flash's assigned operations support for this mission. The two were old friends, they'd met in high school, and later on Flash would learn that the guy joined up with SRAPH as a systems technician. MC was a through-and-through nerd, but he and Flash found they had a strong working dynamic despite their differing personalities. They'd both had their highschool experiences shaped by bizarre and uncontrollable circumstances, and found solidarity in that as they were now working as supernatural responders.

MC would be his lifeline back to SRAPH HQ, and the one person he knew he'd be able to trust for information on anything related to the mission at hand.

"Sorry, I spaced out on the drive up here," Flash responded. "I nearly passed out a few times."

"Don't fall asleep on me now, Flash," MC said, a bit of a huff following his words. After the jeering from the police officers before, a friend joking around with him put him in a slightly better mood. "Remember, you're here to locate Agent Raven Inkwell. Her last known transmission came from within Hollow Shades, four days ago, and she mentioned strange activity from within the Nocturna Convent."

"You don't think they grabbed her for snooping around, do you?" Flash asked. All the information he could find on the convent suggested they were mildly suspicious in most acts, even though they purportedly protected the town and offered its people a faith. Though, the faith they followed was dedication to a demon, a demon scarily similar to one Flash was familiar with...

"It would be the most plausible conclusion. The alternative is... well, grim." MC seemed a bit uncomfortable at the thought she might already be dead.

"Her file mentions she was the bodyguard of President Burns throughout both her terms," Flash said. "She's gotta be tough enough to survive some religious weirdos."

"Also quite probable," MC noted. "Make your way to the village, then. Maybe some of the locals saw her at some point."

"I'll get right on that."

Hanging up, Flash reached into one the soft pouches on his belt. From it, he produced a small photograph of the agent in question. In the depiction, she was standing in front of a window on a sunny day, facing the camera with a very subtle smile held between very distinguished cheeks and a pointed chin. Agent Inkwell's wide, amber eyes held very little apparent expression as well. Her darker brown hair was parted neatly into bangs swept to either side of her face, and the length falling from behind her head was held up in a bun. Rectangular glasses adorned her face, and combined with a gray suit and red tie she looked like an ordinary and boring white-collar professional, were she not standing at the side of the president obscured by the frame.

Refreshing her facial features in his mind, Flash put the photo away and set off on the path ahead. The photograph had more significance than just identification, though. It was one of the few leftover sentiments from the office of the president Inkwell served under. Nowhere was it outright stated in the documents, but Flash got the idea that President Burns and Inkwell were close friends. Anyone wanting to know the secrets of the H.S. could likely get them from her.

A loud caw suddenly sounded off from overhead, taking Flash's attention up as he continued his relaxed walk. It was just a bird flapping about in the trees. Nothing to be worried about.

Much sooner than expected, Flash came across a short, two story home amidst the trees. It was a bland off-white color, with an angled and dark roof and a porch-balcony combo framing the area in front of the door. It seemed a pretty rustic construction, with an old, rickety looking flatbed truck parked out front and a simple wooden fence surrounding the front yard to the mailbox. Smoke gently rose from a chimney, but faded quite quickly as it dispersed into the air above.

Someone was home.

Someone was home, Flash realized, but the front door was also wide open. Why would that be? With a shrug, Flash walked himself up to the porch, leaned in past the door frame, and gave the open door a polite trio of knocks.

"Hello?" Flash asked. "Anyone home?"

There was no direct response to his call, but from within the home he did hear a gentle sing-song humming, and what was clearly a fireplace going. Slowly, Flash crossed the threshold of the home, making his way through the short entrance hall then turning a corner to see a small kitchen area, where a tall, burly, man stood washing dishes at a sink. Just an ordinary guy, a bit on the round side, wearing a plain shirt and overalls as he worked away, seemingly lost in his thoughts.

"Excuse me, sir?" Flash asked, unsure of how much further he should step into the man's home. There was no response right away. "Uhm, sir?"

A few moments passed, the man's head rising up and slowly turning around to reveal his facial features. He had a calm look on his face, short black hair and a trimmed beard. When he saw Flash, his eyes lit up in a friendly recognition.

"Oh, howdy there." His voice was deep, thoughtful, and he put the dish he was working with down and turned to face Flash fully. "I left the door open again, didn't I?"

Flash nodded. "I'm afraid so. I'm just in the area looking for a missing person. Have you seen this woman?"

From his pouch, Flash offered the photo of Raven Inkwell to the man, who studied it for a moment without any real recognition.

"Sorry, stranger. Don't see many folks dressed like that around here. Might wanna check in with the Convent down in the village square. They keep an eye on things closer'n I do."

Putting the photo away, Flash nodded his understanding, raising a hand to signal his appreciation. "Right... Thanks for your time, anyway. I'll go to the Convent, then."

"Would you close the door on your way out, stranger? Please and thank you."

Flash did so as he left, another burst of soft static coming from his radio as he stepped onto the porch. MC was calling again.

"Flash? How are things going so far?"

Flash shrugged. "I talked to a local, but didn't find out much. I'll have to go see what this Nocturna Convent is all about."

"Be careful when dealing with them. We still don't know if they're involved in this or not."

"Well I'm about to find out."

Back out by the forest path, Flash saw a signpost pointing him towards Hollow Shades proper. The path dipped up and down, the ground elevation shifting along the way. Things were quiet and still, and for some reason he felt like something was wrong. Along the pathway he saw a large, metal bear trap concealed poorly in a pile of leaves. Anyone could step on it, and it'd take their leg off, why was it just laying here?

He heard rustling behind him. Something moved.

Looking back, Flash saw nothing, but he was now on full alert, scanning the area around him for any potential danger. A trap had been laid for something, meaning someone was expecting a threat to be here. He'd like to think they just had a problem with predator animals, but years of tracking supernatural entities told him to eject his hopefulness with cynicism. Another rustle. Birds dispersed from another bush in the distance. Flash's only option was to keep moving despite his mounting paranoia.

Ten more minutes of walking ahead past a small, seemingly random storage shed, Flash started to make out the shape of more buildings through the treeline. Off in the distance was a tall, pointed stone tower stretching above a spread out group of thatched roof houses of varying size and shape, all circled around a well. This had to be the village square the local had mentioned.

Something was going on there, though. A large gathering of villagers all crowded around a standout stone building at the furthest edge of the village, next to the tower now identifiable as a bell tower. These people looked very ill, agitated and pale beyond belief. The dozen people here angrily assaulted the walls and door of what looked to be a moon-themed chapel. It was a furious mob, some unarmed but some wielding farming and construction tools in a very unconstructive manner.

They didn't seem to be shouting any distinct words, either. The closer Flash got, the more he heard guttural growling, rough and meaningless vocalizations, and just overall alarming sounds. Something was wrong with these people, and it became all the more evident as they noticed him approaching. They stumbled forward, hurriedly trying to make their way to him with very clear violent intent.

POSSESSED VILLAGERS, Playthings of Evil: The distinct purple glow behind the eyes of these villagers tipped Flash off to what was really going on here. Something dark had infiltrated their minds and turned them against their fellow townsfolk. The man he met on the edge of town must've been lucky enough to have been spared from whatever was afflicting them, but here Flash stood with at least twelve of them bearing down on him. He was going to have to fight....

"What's the matter?" Flash asked the crowd as he backed into a defensive stance. "It's a little late in the week for church services, don't you think?"

Flash felt himself backing against the well in the center of town, and at the peak of the rising chaos he reached beneath his jacket, under his left shoulder, and drew out a wide, black framed handgun into a stable, two handed grip. To his shock, the villagers didn't even flinch when he presented them with a threat. He was now certain of supernatural activity here.

Sabre 9mm:This handgun was SRAPH's standard issue backup pistol, made for easily concealed carry and comfortable firing, with a large capacity chambered in one of the most common ammunition types in the world. Flash's current load was of special SRAPH custom magic disruptor rounds, his own standard carry when on the job. Mounted beneath its muzzle was a laser sight, a focused guide in the form of a bright red point of light at his exact point of aim. Flash held it confidently and squeezed its trigger with practiced precision and unparalleled recoil control, his closest target receiving both bullet holes and arcane burns as the munition tore away at both flesh and essence.

BANG, BANG, BANG!

The villager stumbled back, but another one came running at him from the opposite side, nearlying taking him through with a pitchfork. Shifting onto his back foot, Flash sidestepped the lunge and threw a punch for the man's throat, immediately stumbling him back and forcing him to drop his weapon. Flash followed up with another two shots from his pistol, but was forced to fire at a third of these possessed residents on rapid approach.

Two bullets reliably stumbled the man back, but this time Flash moved forward into him, reaching to his gear straps with his off hand and drawing out a rigid combat knife from a chest sheath.

Resentite Combat Knife:Flash's signature bladed weapon was made from a special, magic nullifying alloy. It was the perfect answer to anything magical, be it a monster, demon or corrupted human.

His blade plunged into the man's chest, taking him to the floor and properly releasing him from whatever was possessing his body as he collapsed. More of the villagers presented themselves, one of which he'd already shot several times latching onto his arm from behind. Flash shoved this man away, knocking him against the lip of the well and then kicking him in, where he landed with a resoundingly splashy crack.

Pivoting back, Flash shot down the villager he'd fired on previously, finishing them off with several more rounds to the chest. He didn't have a lot of space, Flash had to turn and run as two woodsman's axes came in from two different directions at once. A lady with a butcher's knife went for him, and a man seeming to have once been a town guard rushed him very unsteadily with a sword.

Flash found himself quickly running back the way he'd come. The trees wavered and shuffled as the possessed villagers chased Flash between them, but as he neared the house at the edge of town he heard an engine revving, the sounds of screaming, pistols firing, tires screeching, and then the gut wrenching sound of metal-on-metal collision.

When Flash made it back, the truck out in front of the house was gone, and so was the police car that'd brought him here. He could easily put together what had happened. That first man he'd talked to had been affected by whatever was possessing these people. Confirming his suspicions, looked over the edge of the bridged gap to see the police car in a flaming wreck at the bottom by the river, having been rammed into and off the bridge by the man's truck. There weren't any survivors...

The still formidable mob chasing Flash spilled into the area, but instead of continuing to run he steeled himself and rushed to fight them. They were slow, uncoordinated, and as Flash raised his pistol he pivoted between his targets, shooting one after the other in quick succession to keep them all stumbling back. Whatever was affecting these people almost made them incredibly durable, even after landing multiple shots to the head, they still had relatively little trouble coming at him.

Flash threw his body into one of them, bashing with his elbow after a first shot stunned, and then punching downwards into the villager as they tried to raise a short dagger to attack. A straight kick to the chest took him to the floor, but before Flash could finish him off he saw another several meters away raising his arms over his head to toss a farming sickle at him.

The weapon tumbled through the air but Flash's entire body pivoted, and aligning his barrel with the twirling thrown projectile he got a split second glimpse of his laser sight reflecting off the metal blade, all the confirmation he needed to pull his trigger and send a bullet to knock it off its trajectory. The tool was sent clattering to the ground, his sights already shifted to the villager that had thrown it, but when he pulled his trigger again his weapon clicked empty.

On instinct, Flash snapped his weapon to the side while engaging the magazine release, tossing the empty pistol magazine from the handle and reaching to his ammo pouch to replace with it a new one in a single, swift motion. In a matter of seconds the slide of his pistol snapped forward and he was ready to fire again, but instead of shooting he sprung into a spinning kick that cut through each of his still stunned opponents in front of him, scattering all three of them to the ground.

Right behind him, Flash heard a grunt of exertion, and pivoted again just in time to avoid an axe chopping down on him. With the back of his arm, he cleared his attacker's arm and struck him in the chin with the back of his elbow, wrenching the axe free from his grip. As the villager reeled, Flash swung the axe back at him with his free hand, lodging deep in his shoulder and then letting him fall unmoving onto his back.

More movement to his back. Flash spun to face the house again, and saw one of the bodies he kicked over jumping to life and charge-tackling him. Or he would've, had the villager not been stopped in his tracks by Flash bracing himself and catching the guy, flipping him over his shoulder and slamming him back first onto the ground. Flash then dropped to a knee on the villager's chest, firing his pistol into the still struggling villager's forehead, and then again as the injury seemed to not be enough. And again. And a third time.

The third shot did it, and Flash found himself back to silence. None of the bodies around him moved. His eyes scanned around, looking for something. Flash felt like he'd missed something entirely. Wasn't one of the villagers a lady with a butcher knife? Where'd she go? He could've sworn...

She was in the group of them he knocked over with the spin kick. He hit three in total, but when he checked again... Only two bodies.

The sound of footsteps on a wooden floor echoed from the house's window. Flash thought he saw movement, but was too on edge to tell if it was really there or just his nerves. He had a choice now, either move forward into the town, or investigate the one lone hostile in this house.

Resuming a stable, two handed grip on his pistol, Flash turned to the house's door and carefully paced towards it with his weapon at a low ready. This time, he didn't knock, gradually pressing the door open and checking both sides before entering back into the main corridor and rounding into the kitchen. This time there was nothing there but a still burning fireplace. Past that, there was a doorway leading to a staircase, but there was a small cupboard beneath it, a closed door just large enough for someone to hide inside.

Flash judged against checking it, going straight for the stairwell. The hostile villager had a knife, he had a gun, he wanted to be out of her reach if she sprung out from somewhere. The stairway was tight enough as it was, though. Slowly and methodically, he kept his head up at the landing above him as he put his foot on each step and brought himself higher, periodically glancing back down to ensure nobody was there. These people still fought like people, even if they were oddly strengthened by whatever force was afflicting them, he was easily capable of taking on just one person in regular conditions. His strength and combat skill gave him no benefits though, not when he was clueless as to where the threat was hiding.

Upstairs was just a simple bedroom, with a dresser, a bed, and a tall clothes cabinet next to the window. Something on the dresser glinted softly. A key of some kind. What was it doing here? Folded on the dresser next to the key was some kind of black garment, neatly folded into a square with a crescent-shaped insignia facing upward.

As he approached the dresser, just crossing the horizontal of the cabinet, there was a creaking sound behind him. The cupboard downstairs opened, maybe?

Flash rapidly turned himself back towards the door, but his focus was completely disrupted as

CRASH!

The dresser beside him burst open, the lone, possessed woman with the butcher's knife suddenly revealing herself to be right next to him with a horrifying scream of inhuman bloodlust. Flash tried to bring up his pistol on her, but she swung her knife right away and caught the end of his weapon. The blade slashed through the top of his fingerless leather glove, and in a recoil of pain Flash retracted his hand and dropped his weapon entirely.

Franticly stumbling back, Flash reflexively went for his knife and hooked it down on the woman's knife hand. She pressured him further and moved to stab him, but Flash crossed his forearms and stopped her at the wrist, pressing against her as she brutishly attempted to power through him. Flash was still shaking from the surprise, but after getting his footing back he resisted, twisting the possessed woman's arms back and levering the knife from her hand using the back of his own blade. Having disarmed her, Flash shoved her back and sliced outward, his resentite blade sizzling as it reacted with dark magic overtaking her.

One more slash and she collapsed, slumping beneath the window overlooking the broken bridge and crashed vehicles outside. Flash wouldn't be getting out of here the way he came, but he still had a job to do here. He reached for his radio earpiece and turned his head to speak into its receiver.

"MC. It's Flash. I encountered a group of hostile locals, they were all possessed by some kind of dark force."

"Dark force? Some kind of magic?"

"I think so. Possession, but I've never seen anything like it before," Flash explained. "They moved like ordinary people but were far stronger than they should've been. Had no choice but to use lethal force."

"You need to find Agent Inkwell, then," MC replied, "I'm going to search through our database to see if I can find any information that might help."

"Sounds like a plan. Flash out."

Flash put his earpiece away, feeling the open cut on his hand sting as his blood began to leak out. Gritting his teeth, he squeezed the top of his hand, holding it still for a few minutes until the blood subsided and he just left with a burning, deep red mark. Thankfully it wasn't that deep of a cut, but he knew from experience that coming out of a knife-to-knife encounter unscathed was virtually impossible.

Turning to the dresser next to him, Flash reexamined the key as he picked it up. The back end was a flat disk with the same crescent shape engraved into it as the dark clothes next to it. It tapered off into three flat teeth bits, far larger than any conventional door might need.

The key was pocketed. Though it didn't seem to fit anything in the house, it might go to something in the town if Flash's suspicions had any merit. Just as slowly and carefully as he'd entered, Flash exited the now empty house, then made his way back to the village proper. As he crossed back through the path in the treeline, though, he found another startling figure writhing and hissing in the leaves.

It was another villager, but this one with far more distorted features. His skin had grayed and his eyes were glowing an unsettling purple color. Torn black robes adorned his body, exposing a muscular figure beneath them, and a thin pointed tail extended from his back. Most shockingly was a pair of leathery wings sprouting from his back, further evidence of this magic twisting and corrupting the people here. This one had been turned into a demonlike creature, and as Flash approached he took notice. The demon growled, but it couldn't quite move normally—the concealed bear trap had closed completely around his leg and was forcing him to a staggered strut forward as he dragged it behind him.

Flash fired off four shots at the demon, but his rounds didn't do much to impede the creature. The demon still trudged towards him as quickly as possible, but Flash was able to run around him and escape further up the path. The bear trap clanked behind him as the demon tried to pursue, but he couldn't keep up with Flash's brisk run.

Arriving back at the village, Flash took the time to look around now that the coast was clear. None of the buildings here were occupied, but they clearly were shops, storefronts, and other places of business at one point. Flash wondered just how long it had been since things went downhill here, how long it had been since the people of the town had seen a normal day. In the center of town was a well, and looking down into it Flash noticed he couldn't actually see the bottom, it was too dark and steep even with the sun overhead. The guy he tossed down here earlier would not be having a comfortable landing.

At the end of the town there was a long stone building, a chapel by the looks of it. A crescent mark adorned the top of the awning before the doors, doors that were locked tight when Flash reached out to push it open. Locked, but the tall door had an obvious keyhole near the handle, a keyhole Flash was certain he would be able to access.

He produced the moon key from his pouch, and sure enough, it fit the lock. The doors swung open this time, and Flash made his way into the small hall of worship, the dimly lit room with a few rows of short pews and an elevated stand at the end. Flash swept the room once, checked his corners, and concluded that there was nobody here. Next, he checked through the door in the back of the room, following the short hallway to a storage room. Several shelves with various boxes lined the walls here, but the standout area was the short table up against the back wall. On it were two connected tubs of flat gray steel with a wooden back end and a sliding, hand-molded groove affixed to the front. Small, green cylinders with brass covered ends lay in a disordered pile on the table nearby. It was a sturdy hunting shotgun with a wooden stock and long front end, with ammunition sitting next to it.

Another weapon.

"Nice," Flash said. Taking the weapon and its ammo for himself.

Magnus 500, 12g: The weapon even had a carrying strap, perfect for Flash to stow on his back while not using. It was an older style of firearm from a manufacturer that wasn't his favorite, but a shotgun was a welcome and useful tool for any kind of monster hunter. He pulled the grip back and checked its chamber, then fed it in shells until he felt the tube magazine was fully loaded. Six shots. More than enough to kill anything that moved. Satisfied, Flash pushed the grip forward and primed the weapon to fire.

Also coming to his attention was a small folded note placed next to the shotgun. Unfolding it, he read:

We have captured the spy sneaking around our village and are holding her in the Cathedral to the north for questioning. We do not know where she came from or who she serves, but she will tell us in time.

As chaos circles around us and the Wrathful Sun bears down on us with judgement, we advise all our Sister Moon's children to watch over each other during these trying times. Mother Evershade has instructed us brothers and sisters of faith to stand vigilant against all intruders, and has provided us with armaments from the Cathedral's saferooms.

Didn't seem like they did a good enough job defending themselves.

Just then, Flash heard something clattering behind him. The demon with the bear trap stuck around his leg burst through the doorway and reached out with sharp clawed hands. Facing the threat and raising his new weapon, Flash unloaded a shell of buckshot into the demon's chest, pushing him back through the doorway. Confidently pumping his weapon's grip, Flash fired again, this time blasting the demon all the way into the chapel's main chamber. Once more, he cycled his weapon and followed the fallen demon through the doorway, but a smaller and more human looking villager grabbed at him from his side before could let off a third shot.

The villager tried to wrestle the gun away from him, overpowering Flash in the moment of surprise. Both their knees bent, but Flash turned himself in towards his attacker and swept his leg out. The villager tumbled forward, and when Flash bent his knee the villager fully tripped and spilled out onto his front. Keeping the shotgun's grip secure in off hand and using his main hand to draw his pistol,, Flash quickly snapped off three rounds into the back of his foe's head, and then looked over to see the beartrapped demon taking another swing at him. The massive clawed arm went right over his head as he knelt down and pressed his pistol up against the demon's body and fired away, not bothering to readjust his aim while so close.

The specialized anti-magic rounds burned away at the demon's body, each shot causing the creature to flinch a little longer than the last. Now with breathing room, Flash holstered his handgun and took a hold of his shotgun again, leveling the dangerous end with the demon's face before pulling the trigger.

BOOM!

The shotgun pellets ripped straight through the demon with incredible impact, mangling the thing's face and sending it sprawling out into the center aisle. A thick, black goop oozed out of the demon's wounds, his body not filled with blood but something else entirely. Regardless, the possessed villager did not get back up.

"One less demon to worry about..." Flash mused. He recalled seeing the mob of villagers trying to get in here before, though. "What did they want in here, though?"

Behind him, through the open door to the back hallway, Flash noticed yet another door that led outside that was left open. Out behind the chapel was a backyard with a short fence, and a locked gate leading off somewhere else. The moon key he used on the front door didn't fit the lock here. The fence to his left was broken slightly though. Had someone else been through here?

Nobody else was in sight. Hopping the broken fence area, Flash found himself back out in the center of the village. He went to his radio again.

"Hey, MC. I read something about a cathedral to the north. Do you have any maps of the area that can show me the way there?"

It took a moment, but MC eventually responded. "Hmm. Satellite imaging shows a road to the east will eventually merge north and take you to some kind of big building to the north of the village. What did you find?"

"It looks like they've got our agent doing mandatory church service," Flash said.

"Church service? What do yo-" MC paused, took a moment to think, and then corrected himself. "Oh, she's being held in the cathedral. You could've just said that, you know."

"What?" A grin flashed on his face as he shook his head. "Am I not allowed to make light of a tough situation?"

"I guess not. It's just seriously disheartening what's happening out there," MC explained. "I'm not all data calculations and information recitation, you know. I feel for these people..."

"You don't have to tell me," Flash replied. "I'm out here seeing it first hand. I know this is a rescue mission, but if I can I'm going to put a stop to whatever demon is behind all this."

"You really always go above and beyond, don't you, Flash?"

"Hah, guilty as charged. I always try when I can."

Another breeze blew through the area, and Flash started to get uneasy just standing around in the open.

"I'm going to get a move on now, I'll radio you again when I've got an update."

"Remember, take the road east until it turns north. Good luck, Flash."

[Farmstead, East of Hollow Shades]
[Thursday, 1:15pm]

Flash had no further encounters as he left the village square off the eastern path. Twenty minutes of walking through the quiet brown and green forest landscape was a lot more tense than it had been when he was watching it from the car window. Just knowing that something could possibly jump out at him was enough to keep him from running blindly down the trail. He opted to keep his pistol drawn and in a lowered position, keeping the shotgun slung over his back to conserve its ammo. Its laser sight would help him engage targets from a further distance than the shotgun as well, especially if he was ambushed.

Up ahead was a clearing, the site of a moderate farmstead with some crops growing in a field left of the road, and a more open and grassy area with a barn to the right. Trees still were dotted here and there, but this was another respite from the oppressive shade of the forest trails so core to this place. Just as he approached, he made out more figures ahead. The farm itself looked abandoned, no animals were around save for a single chicken, and when Flash neared it spotted him and fearfully clucked for its life. The sound of its terror and running away caused the three other figures to turn their heads towards Flash, all revealing them to be more hosts of the chaos consuming this place.

He took a turn into the open field to his right as this smaller trio of villagers menacingly shambled towards him. If it was just the three of them, he wanted to face them in the open if possible. As long as he could keep them in front of him they wouldn't be a major threat. Unfortunately, his in-the-field strategizing was interrupted by the roar of an engine starting up at his back that ripped his attention away.

A nearly deafening eruption of smoke and dust was thrown into the air out as a huge combine harvester emerged from a hiding place in the treeline, one of the possessed farmhands behind the wheel and taking the massive cylindrical blades mounted to its front directly at Flash.

All manner of cautious movement was thrown out the window. Flash sprinted forward as the harvester accelerated behind him, he pumped his arms and stretched his legs as far as he could with each rapid step he took, trying to put as much distance between himself and the oversized lawn mower currently shredding the ground at his heels. The machine's pace kept picking up, and Flash could only run so fast.

His limbs started burning, and the machine was only getting closer. He focused on keeping his breath steady and kept his eyes on the barn at the end of the field. That would be his best bet for cover, if he could make it. Kicking up onto the wooden fence post, Flash leapt towards the barn's open doors at the last moment and landed in a roll past the structure's walls.

The harvester crashed through the fence, but the bump broke a lot of its momentum, and by the time it hit the barn it was stopped in its tracks. Flash picked himself up and took aim at the driver, shooting him until he fell from the seat forward onto the blades, and then shooting the machine's engine block until it sputtered out.

Still tense from the chase, Flash fell into a coughing fit and backed away. He held his hands to his knees as he doubled over, trying his best to catch his breath, but nearly had a heart attack when he felt the farmhand's grip on his ankle. Despite having been torn up in the harvester's blades, the man was still alive and crawling desperately along the ground. Two more pistol shots did the trick, but it didn't make the initial shock of it any less disturbing.

The others were still outside, too. He didn't have time to waste here.

Through the barn's backdoor Flash could make out a farmhouse. With more of those guys lurking out there, Flash figured that he should probably take cover in some fashion before engaging them again, especially if they had another trick up their sleeve. The three from before were cut off by the harvester blocking the barn's front, so he should have the lead on them if he went through the back.

Crossing out in the yard leading to the farmhouse, Flash only saw one more figure loitering about, not even trying to look natural anymore. The woman, wearing a straw hat and a sundress, took a swing at him with a farming scythe as he ran past, but her possession made her too slow and too clumsy to keep up with him. Flash turned around to spare a few pistol rounds in her direction to take her out, but otherwise didn't break his momentum as he stepped up the porch of the farmhouse.

It was much larger than the home he'd first seen here, still two stories, but painted in a beige color and looking to be in better standing. Its door was also open, and Flash had no problems letting himself in and clearing through the living room. All there was to see was an empty couch, a dining table, a few bookshelves, nothing special. As expected, nobody was home. At least, this is what Flash assumed before he heard a soft banging coming from the floor above him.

He'd resumed his normal combat pace as he went up the stairs, finding a long hallway that had a few doors leading to several different rooms, but following the much clearer banging sounds lead him to what seemed to be a spare bedroom, with a bed, dresser and closet available for guests but no real personal touches that would suggest ownership.

It was from the closet that the banging was coming from. Flash's eyes narrowed. He wouldn't get fooled twice by that trick. With his gun raised, he very carefully approached the closet door and pressed himself flush against the wall next to it, and then quickly opened the door away from him with his weapon barrel still aimed at the entrance.

To his surprise, it wasn't a hostile that spilled out of the closet, but rather a lean, platinum blonde guy with his arms tied behind his back and a gag in his mouth. He seemed young, a late-twenty something with piercing brown eyes that looked to be outlined with a face paint or makeup with a color just lighter than his skin tone. His cheeks, jaw, and nose were all angled and sharp, held in a permanently irritated expression, though not nearly sharp enough to cut through the fabric clogging his mouth. Beneath the restraints he wore a brown flight jacket with a feathery white lining on the inside and tan aviator pants were tucked tightly into a pair of military boots. Slamming to the floor the man struggled against the rope, eyes resistant and alert as Flash warily stood over him with gun drawn. He was only able to let muffled vocalizations out through the gag, but they were controlled and clearly meaningful.

Hesitantly, Flash leaned down and pulled the gag from the man's mouth. He calmed down and raised an eyebrow, tossing his head to the side to move his disheveled hair out of his face.

"Easy there..." With narrowed eyes he spoke in a gravelly tone, and in a faint accent that Flash could barely trace. "You ain't one of them, are you?"

"No, I'm not," Flash said.

"How do I know you're telling the truth?" The man replied. He was totally collected now, letting himself hold still despite his limbs being held against his body. "I've seen them act normal before, and then when you're not looking they turn on you."

"I could ask you the same question," Flash asked. "How do I know this isn't a trap to lure me into a sense of safety?"

"You really think those things would just hide one of their own in an abandoned house?" The man laughed, almost insultingly. "Just to catch some schmuck that wandered too far in?"

Flash supposed he had a point. Being the one not tied up, it was up to him to prove he wasn't an aggressor here. He put his pistol away and instead drew his knife.

"Here," Flash leaned near the man's hands and sliced away at where he was tied. "Would one of those things go to the trouble of tying you up just to have another one come cut you free?"

With the rope falling away, the man wrung his wrists out and rolled onto his side, still looking at Flash with no further questions. "I guess not. Okay then... Just one question for you."

Flash tilted his head expectantly.

"Got a smoke?"

Great. Another cool guy.

"I got gum."

The man's already flat expression seemed to flatten further, but their conversation was interrupted as the door to the bedroom swung open.

Heavy thumping and creaking floorboards heralded the entrance of a tall, looming figure in black metal armor with a broken spike extending from their helmet. A tattered cape spread over their shoulders, and they gazed darkly in Flash's direction. Slung over their back was an enormous greatsword, and on their dented and scratched up breastplate they wore the same crescent moon insignia that adorned the chapel. Two of the possessed villagers followed this shadowy and powerful individual, a strange resonance seeming to radiate off of them and fill the air with an oppressive atmosphere.

"Would you look at that..." The man Flash had just saved looked up from his place on the floor as he rose to the kneel. "The boss, it would seem. The Shadow Angel."

"What?"

Indeed, this mysterious black knight seemed both source and superior of the possessed townsfolk, clearly a demon of some kind that was taking advantage of their religion for their own gains. The Shadow Angel, as they were called, held a gauntleted hand up to its subordinates, telling the two to hold their position as the Angel themself stepped forward.

In retaliation, Flash jumped into a sharp axe kick that hit the Angel's chestplate with full force, but completely failed to impart motion into the densely armored demon. It was like kicking a brick wall, Flash's heel just stopped flat as the Angel seized his ankle and flipped him upward with what seemed like minimal effort. Flash slammed hard into the opposite wall, collapsing on the man he'd just saved and rendering him in a hazy state almost immediately.

Laying on his back, Flash looked up to see the Angel still walking towards him, but the world was still spinning, and moments later it would fade into unconsciousness.

05 - THE LURKING TERROR

"Rise and shine, Agent Sentry."

Flash's eyelids felt very, very heavy. For some reason, he couldn't open his eyes. In the blackness inside his mind, Flash felt his wrists were bound together behind his back, with his back held firmly to some kind of thick wooden pole. Constrained too were his ankles, tied to the pole and leaving him completely suspended in the air. The atmosphere around him smelled of ashen, burning metal, and the sounds of burning flames were present in the environment around him as the heat slowly rose to an unbearable level. He didn't know where he was, but things around him were quickly getting worse.

He heard footsteps and a woman's voice. She spoke in a dark, sultry tone, a voice that seemed to revel in the chaos she was witnessing.

"Look around you. You were sent here to save this place and it's already falling apart," She said, "Pathetic. Humans are always so predictable, aren't they? Playing with forces they don't understand."

Flash Sentry knew that voice. The condescending tension it brought, the total arrogant confidence that the words she used spoke to, all of it was something Flash had heard somewhere before. But his head was too hazy to connect the pieces in his mind, and he could feel smoke filling his nose as his breathing became heavier. He tried to open his eyes...

"Do you feel it?" The woman asked. "Do you feel the chaos deep within this place? Stirring, waking up, returning to this fragile world it left in its wake? It's not going to bend its knee to the powers of old, you know."

Slowly, his eyelids parted, and through the foggy organic lenses encasing his retinas he saw a bleak, pitch black sky, burning plumes of fire drifting throughout it, framing a mountain completely split at the top, allowing a hellish inferno of lava to pour from its shattered peaks. The forest and town within it were consumed by fire, death, and what shadow of whatever oppressive magics caused this nightmare.

And before him, facing away, stood a woman in a long, black trench coat, with swirling orange curls of hair running down from every angle of her head. Both of her hands were clasped behind her back, a strange and unnatural color of orange tainting her skin, and as Flash's eyes fully took focus he watched in horror as she turned around to face him.

The recognition was already there, he knew in his mind who he was going to see when she turned, but he was too frozen in place to do anything about it. Even if he weren't tied to this impossibly tall electrical pole, he didn't think he could muster any meaningful action.

So the woman turned, and he saw her face. A cruel smile was permanently affixed across a smooth, unnaturally perfect face. Clothed in all black tactical gear beneath her coat, but the woman's features were beyond conventionally attractive, which made Flash's terror only rise further. Perfectly black sunglasses hid her eyes, but did nothing to mask the maniacal and twisted expression on her face as she approached him. Evil that masqueraded behind beauty was repulsive to Flash, and he knew already that this woman was pure evil.

"Why such a sour face, Agent Sentry?" The woman leaned in close to him, a devious wrinkle in her cheeks following an intrigued raise of her eyebrows as Flash let his vision drop. "Are you... surprised to see me?"

A choking sensation built in Flash's throat as he tried to say something. The woman didn't touch him, but stayed uncomfortably close as he did his best to muster a response.

"Adagio..." Flash whispered the woman's name. Adagio Dazzle, a former ally that betrayed his unit and supposedly died amidst a demon attack. Someone he met and fought again as a demon during the Canterlot City Incident. A person he never wanted to see again in his life, but somehow kept finding a way to worm her way back into it.

"Yes?" She let the word linger for a very, very long moment. Adagio's lips seemed to peel up and away even further as Flash spoke her name. She was absolutely delighting in the mental agony and confusion she was inflicting upon him.

"You were supposed to be dead..." Flash closed his eyes again. She was supposed to be dead. He opened them back up, and he was still there. She was supposed to be dead.

Adagio let herself lean back, standing at her full height but still keeping direct eye contact with him. She'd always been slightly taller than him, but with him bound up on the pole they were just barely at eye level. Her teeth, seemingly drawn to razor points parted away from each other, and she let out a wicked cackle, Flash's bewilderment igniting some kind of black-hearted joy as she fell into a total bout of villainous laughter.

"Dead! Me? Oh, how naive you are, living in your own little fantasy world..." Adagio calmed herself, shaking her head and raising a hand in a threatening gesture.

Flash still couldn't believe he was seeing her again. She was supposed to be dead.

"But it's time to wake up, Agent Sentry. Wake up, and breathe in the chaos."

Her hand shot forward and grasped his throat tightly, and for a split second Flash felt his airways constrict, leaving him choking as he screwed his eyes shut and awaited the end.

"Wake up!"

...

"Hey, wake up!"

[Somewhere In the Blacktail Forest]
[Thursday, 5:45pm]

Flash Sentry's eyes suddenly jolted open. He took a breath, completely free of any hands around it, and found that he could move his body freely. At least, more freely than he could've when he was unconscious. Looking down, he saw that his ankles were chained together, and his wrists were secured just as tightly behind his back. He wasn't strung up on a pole somewhere, though, he was inside a dank and dusty room, with something else behind him that shifted and squirmed on its own accord.

His neck felt stiff, but Flash let his muscles there stretch out as he looked around this room he'd been confined in. From his place on the ground, he saw a few empty shelves, a tightly shut door, and a very dangerous looking hook hanging from the ceiling. A short slit in the wall to his right acted as a window to the outside, where he could see the sun beginning its descent in the sky and the bright blue of midday exchanging for a darker tone. Whatever catastrophe he'd seen in his dream was just a figment of his mind. A relief on that front, but he was still knocked out by a demon, chained up, and then brought here for whatever reason, alongside...

"You awake now, bud?" The young, silver haired man he'd found captured in the farmhouse was right behind him, the two having been chained back-to-back together at their wrists, completely incapable of going anywhere. "You sounded like you were having one hell of a nightmare."

"I don't know if this is any better," Flash replied. "Come out of one nightmare and straight into another."

"You can say that again..." the man said.

"You want to tell me what's going on here?" Flash asked. He tried to look back at the man, but only could see a small sliver of him out of the corner of his eye.

"You're a horse-rider, aren't you? Equestrian man, from the so-called Harmonic States?" The man's faint accent became a bit more pronounced when speaking of Flash's country, and the diminutive title of "horse-rider". It was apparent this man wasn't fond of the place Flash called home. "Tell me first, what's a guy like you doing all the way out here?"

"I could ask you the same thing, bird-boy." Whoever this guy was, Flash could now clearly tell he was from Griffonia, one of Equestria's largest rival states. Unlike the H.S.,the Republic of Griffonia had a mythical creature adorning their flag, and aligned their national heritage with that of mountains, the sky, and as the technology developed, proficiency in flight. That fancy feathered jacket he wore must've been Griffonian made, and the way he spoke and the styled spikes of his hair told the exact same story. On top of that, there was a large amount of animosity between the two countries, even in times of peace. "Little bit far from the roost, aren't we?"

"Ha-ha, very funny," The man said dryly. "Bet the pony you rode in on had a laugh when you thought that one up."

"Unfortunately, the pony I rode in on is crushed at the bottom of a ditch," Flash said.

"Ah, yikes."

"My name's Flash Sentry," he continued, shifting his bound hands in an attempt to reach for something one of the pouches on the back of his belt. As his wrists shifted, the man he was tied to expressed discomfort as his own wrists shifted opposite.

"Ah! Careful, bud..." The man's dry jesting dropped for a scowl and a rough tone. "I can wrench your cuffs as hard as I want too, y'know."

"Sorry," Flash said, but he had what he was looking for. He flipped the photo of Agent Inkwell over in his thumbs and did his best to show it to the man behind him. "I came here looking for this woman, have you seen her?"

The man looked over his shoulder, craning his neck as far as he could to get a good look at the small picture that was behind, held just above the floor. Flash couldn't completely tell, but it seemed like the man did show some level of recognition. He wouldn't be given a formal confirmation on that, though.

"What, your date ran off on you?" The man teased.

"Have you seen her or not?"

"What are you, some kind of cop?" Still with a teasing smile, the man laughed a little. "Nah, you don't look the type. You're a government man, aren't you?"

Flash rolled his eyes. This frickin' guy...

"How about you tell me what you're doing here first? Or maybe who you are?" Flash responded. "Thinking of you in my head as 'this frickin guy' is getting tiring, you know."

"Call me Gabriel. Gabriel Gale." the man responded, finally ending his toying with Flash. "I'm with the... how is it said in your language... then Griffonian Tactical Force for the Otherworldly."

Right, the Griffonian TFO group. Their government's division of supernatural investigators and monster hunters. Gabriel's acronym wasn't their actual title, but it was the closest approximation from their language that retained their acronym. From what Flash knew, the TFO did roughly the same thing as Flash's own SRAPH agency, meaning that Griffonia was just as interested in whatever was going on in Hollow Shades as the States were, if not moreso.

"Okay, Gabriel..." Flash nodded his head. "So you're a government man too. What are you doing here?"

"Military intelligence back home has been tracking a terrorist that's potentially connected to the paranormal activity in this area," Gabriel explained, a bit of jadedness seeping through into his explanation. "Put shortly, the guys up top requested an investigation, and I, being a capable and beloved member of my division, was sent out into yet another hellhole to get thrashed by monsters and possessed zombie-people."

Flash couldn't help but relate, given his own situation. "I feel you there."

"So what about you, pony-boy?" Gabriel asked. "Let me guess, that woman is another one of your spies, and the people here have kidnapped her for intruding?"

Flash scoffed. "That's a bit too good to be a guess."

"It's the nanites in my brain," Gabriel smiled again. "They let me read your thoughts like a book..."

Flash paused before responding. His eyes narrowed.

"Nah, I'm just messing with you. The nanites only help block out the demonic funk in the air," Gabriel shook his head. "I heard those villagers at the church talking about catching a woman sneaking around their big cathedral. And you already met their big boss, the guy in the black armor."

"What's their deal, anyway? That knight?"

"I wish I could tell you. All I can put together is that the Shadow Angel resembles the demon they worship, so they let the thing in and now it's taking hold of their minds. I've seen the process happen. The knight casts some kind of spell over them, and by the next day they've lost their mind."

"You don't think we got the same treatment, do you?"

Gabriel was quiet. "I dunno. Like I said, I've got nanites that are supposed to block out that kind of magic, but I don't know what kind of protection they give you in the States..."

"Yeah... I think I should be fine..." Flash muttered after a moment of thought. He hadn't been given any specific form of immunization, but he'd noticed that his tolerance to magical effects had increased drastically after the Canterlot City Incident. His department heads noticing this resistance may very well have been the reason he had seen far more sensitive and dangerous missions, but internally he wasn't willing to say he was completely safe if the Angel had attempted some sort of conversion of his mind. "I've got something of a high tolerance around spellcasting."

"Ah, a natural gift for this line of work, then..." Gabriel said. "Keep an eye on yourself, though. If you start feeling like you're not yourself, well... You may be in trouble. I'm not sure about myself, tell the truth. Leaving my protection completely to tiny machines in my brain doesn't feel right, either."

There was a shuffling sound near the door. Both Flash and Gabriel looked towards it, and a moment later it burst open. Two women cloaked in dark robes sporting capes and veils over their faces barged through the door with revolvers held at the ready. The two restrained men tensed up, starting to push against each other in an attempt to stand up.

The veiled women did not seem intent to threaten them though, as soon as they saw the room only had two captives their weapons lowered and they signaled to someone standing just outside the door.

Another robed woman stepped through, this one taller and with nothing to hide her face. She looked quite old, her hair a stark black color that held no shine or vibrancy, her eyes and chin both with a bit of skin sagging beneath them, this was clearly someone straining their longevity. The woman looked over Flash and Gabriel momentarily, and then looked to one of her followers.

Without a word, her veiled subordinate crouched down to their level and waved a free hand in the air around them in some mystic fashion. A blue aura sparkled into view for a moment, holding around them as the woman seemed to analyze the magic, as if she were getting some kind of information out of it.

When it faded, she looked back to the older woman and spoke in a satisfied tone.

"They're clean. No magic signatures, period."

The older woman looked a bit concerned. "If they're not magic users they'd be prime targets for direct possession. Curious that the Angel was unable to corrupt them..."

"You ladies wouldn't mind helping us out, would you?" Gabriel tilted his head with annoyance. "Kinda getting tired of sitting here."

The two veiled women looked to their elder for confirmation, and when the older woman nodded both of her subordinates drew out swords and sliced twice the direction of Flash and Gabriel. Rather than feel cuts, the steel cuffs holding them down were split apart, allowing both of the men freedom to stand.

"Much appreciated," Gabriel said. "You wouldn't happen to have any cigarettes on you, would you?"

One of the veiled women shrugged, reached into her robes, and flicked out a white rectangular packet. Her middle finger pressed the lid of it open just so that a single cigarette flew out, which Gabriel promptly caught with a swipe of his hand. He put the thin, rolled up tube of tobacco between his lips and promptly felt down the sides of his pants for something that wasn't there. He was patting his pockets, checking inside them and disappointedly finding nothing.

"Ah! Those jerks took my lighter."

Putting the pack away the woman then extended hand to Gabriel, swiping her index finger across her thumb in a snapping motion but instead creating a small, controlled flame from the tip of her thumb. Gabriel's irritated expression softened, and he graciously leaned forward to light the end of his cigarette off of the anomalously produced light.

He took a breath in, and then let out a small puff of smoke in the other direction.

"Thanks, miss."

"I'm guessing you're not like them, either?" Flash asked. "Not like those possessed people?"

"Obviously not, since we came here to free you," the woman replied. There was a condescension in her response, not as if she was bothered with Flash's question but more as if she felt her actions had completely obvious intention. "I am Mother Evershade, elder of the Noctuna Covent. This village, Hollow Shades, is the home of my people, and as you can see we are in a moment of crisis. I don't know what the two of you are doing here, and I don't much care, but I must ask you to assist us given that we are all placed in jeopardy by this threat."

Gabriel was preoccupied with his smoke, so Flash continued with his line of curiosity.

"I'm here because I'm looking for someone."

"The intruder, yes," Evershade nodded. "We found her attempting to break into one of our places of worship, so she was detained."

"And she's alive?" Flash asked.

"I don't know. Our crisis began shortly after we captured her. We had no intention of harming her, but she was a stranger trespassing on our grounds. Now a greater enemy occupies the place we once held her."

"I need to link up with her," Flash said. "She's an H.S. federal agent, my mission is to get her out of here."

"Do for us first, stranger," Evershade coldly replied. "Help see our townsfolk safe, and help us take back the cathedral from our enemies. After you've proven yourself an ally, we'll let her over to you."

"Prove myself?" Flash didn't quite trust that sentiment. "What do I have to prove so far?"

"Everything, boy. We just met." Evershade shook her head in dismissal. "Please understand, the Nocturna have many, many enemies, and we are just trying to ensure our own safety."

With another puff of smoke from his lips, Gabriel gave an understanding nod. "Sure. We'll scratch your neck, and you scratch ours."

Evershade lifted an eyebrow. "And you've yet to tell us what your purpose here is, stranger. You were captured separately, came in several days prior, and speak like a Griffonian."

"You're right. I'm here tracking down a group of bad guys..." Gabriel said. "Led by a character calling herself The Platinum Knight."

Flash's eyes lit with recognition at the name, but he kept himself relaxed.

"We have a common enemy then," Evershade concluded. "Very well."

Evershade shifted her body, revealing herself to be carrying a brown duffle bag with quite a bit of heft to it.

"Most of your possessions should be in here," she said, dropping it to the ground at their feet. "We were able to locate where they stored your items."

Inside the bag, Flash found his handgun, knife, and shotgun, as well as his radio and all of the ammunition he was carrying. In short order he was rearmed, pulling his jacket back over him and adjusting it back into place after having removed it to re-equip his gear. Gabriel was doing the same, but he seemed to have far less equipment on him. He had a sling over his shoulder where he kept a sheathed hunting knife, and a drop holster on his thigh that held a handgun of his own.

"What gives?" Gabriel asked. "Was this all you found?"

"Yes. This was all we found in their storeroom," Evershade said, not an ounce of apology in her tone. "If you had anything more, they must've taken it elsewhere."

Gabriel grumbled. That seemed to be a serious concern to him for some reason, but he opted to hold his tongue for now.

"Let's not linger here any longer," Evershade continued. "The demons will notice your absence. Come along."

"MC, it's Flash. Come in."

"Flash? Thank goodness you're okay. You were radio silent for five hours!"

"Sorry, I was in a bit of a bind. I've met up with the Nocturna people and they're willing to let Agent Inkwell go if I can help them repel the monsters from their town."

"Just like that?"

"They had no idea who she was, and their demon problems began before they could talk to her. There's an agent from Griffonia investigating the area too, we're going to be working together from here."

"Right... Just be careful, Flash. Keep contact with me, okay?"

"Will do. Flash, out."

Flash followed Mother Evershade and her two witches out of the condensed shed he was being held in, with Gabriel following a ways behind them. He was keeping the last of his cigarette to himself, he said, didn't want to bother them with the smoke if he could help it.

They left the shed into an area of deep forest, with no apparent trail in any direction and very little available light overhead. Four more of the cult members waited for them outside, ones just wearing hoods rather than veils, and armed with simpler weaponry compared to the witches' elegant blades. He would learn that these people were followers of a "Sister Moon", a demon Flash was certain was the same as the one responsible for the Canterlot City Incident. There was surprisingly little malice from these people, though. Rather than an ominous and controlling organization, this genuinely seemed like a quaint little religion surrounding an older, benevolent version of a threatening figure.

The one cultist he was making conversation with, calling herself Night Glider, had found much comfort in the simple living of the community in Hollow Shades. She didn't have access to any magic, most of the cultists didn't, she was training to become a priestess, someone who could lead rituals or prayer ceremonies. Apparently finding faith was a really good thing for her. Or maybe it was just a supportive group of people surrounding her that provided most of the benefit.

"What about those witches?" Flash asked. He looked ahead to the two women leading their small group, vigilantly watching either of their flanks. "Are they unusual to be around?"

"Oh, they're fine, really. Just like anyone else, despite all the magic and battle training..." Night Glider said. "They don't talk much, though. Something about the training makes you kinda quiet."

"You don't say..." Flash looked up ahead at the witches again. He'd only ever heard them speak when giving an update on their surroundings or responding to instruction from Evershade. Even then, they hardly gave affirmative responses, they just did as they were told. Flash understood the idea of being in "battle mode", keeping yourself in a state of high focus when things were dangerous, but it just struck him as odd that a primarily religious group would train their members in such a way. It would seem being a formal witch was as much of a guardian role as it was a spiritual one.

"Well, except for one of them..." Night Glider started, "she talked a lot, but she was pretty different from the others. I think they said she was-"

"That's enough, Night Glider." Evershade turned her head back to the younger cultist with a look of disdain. "The Nocturna's inner practices shouldn't be discussed with outsiders."

"Oh, right, sorry..."

Fair enough, Flash supposed. It didn't matter too much, he was more just trying to make small talk and get comfortable around these folks. The only one that would talk to him was Night Glider, the other three regular members all seemed occupied with keeping a lookout in any given direction as they walked.

Gabriel had little more to say either. He was wary of the Nocturna, but more than willing to help their people out.

"It's just really messed up that demons and other monsters should have this much power over regular people," Gabriel said, upon Flash asking him about it. "Of course I'm willing to stick my neck out for them. It's just the old lady that I don't fully trust. Seems like she's got her own plan with all this..."

"You think so?" Flash asked. The two had moved far enough back from the others to where their quiet conversation wouldn't be overheard.

"I don't fully trust you either, pal," Gabriel continued. "But we're both soldiers, at least. Demons aside, anyone in the position this lady is in has influence over a lot of people. And people in her seat rarely ever have those people's best interests in mind."

It wasn't a completely unfounded position to have. Flash had a healthy amount of suspicion about the cult as well, but was willing to trust they were at least looking out for their own. There was something to be said about their willingness to rescue the two of them, though. Even if it was a sensible move to reassure their survival, it was a risk to come after them, a risk they didn't have to take.

Night was beginning to fall as they came back into view of the town. After crossing a bridge that passed over a river, they came back into view of a familiar gravel road. Insects buzzed and chirped around them, and the cool air dropped to a very crisp chill. They came to a small clearing where four homes stood, each one having already been abandoned during the crisis, and several possessed bodies stood milling about in the road.

"We must travel through the village, to the north is the entrance to our safehouse where survivors are hiding," Evershade said. "I'll send the witches ahead to ensure no demons are in our path. I need you two to help us clear out the possessed."

There were four of them in total visible on the road. Giving Gabriel a nod, he and Flash crept out from the treeline with their handguns raised, trying to get as close as they could to their targets. As the witches stuck to the treeline and quickly and quietly dashed ahead, Evershade and the rest of her followers stayed crouched in the brush.

Flash pressed his back against one of the house's exterior walls for cover, but he saw Gabriel brazenly rolling out into the open, taking a single handed firing position on the closest possessed villager the moment he came into view. The sudden breaking of cover surprised Flash, but he wasted little time turning his corner with pistol drawn and moving to a firing position on the first hostile that turned to approach him.

Gunshots echoed in the clearing as Flash and Gabriel both fired away, finding that all four of the possessed had been shot down as quickly as the fight started. They signaled for Evershade and the others to follow, and moved a bit further up the road. As they passed through the treeline a pair of clever possessed jumped from the shadows, bladed farming tools brandished with lethal intent, but Flash was able to quickly back himself up and catch his assailant's arm mid-swing. With an elbow strike he broke his attacker's arm and flipped him onto his back, then proceeded to drop his knife into the possessed man's chest to seal in the takedown.

The other one attacking him met Flash blade to blade, but only for a moment before Flash thrust his shoulder forward and drew his pistol back out from his under-arm holster. From there, he dropped several more rounds into the possessed villager, not stopping until the second man also fell to the ground. Gabriel was similarly dealing with threats from the other side of the road, fending off an attacker of his own as the cultists and Evershade crossed between them. They took very few shots at the targets presenting themselves, seemingly very hesitant in attacking what was once the bodies of their own.

Evershade herself had no qualms with combat, though. She stood at the front of her group, holding an elegantly made, short barreled lever action shotgun in one hand and firing readily at approaching possessed to the front. The weapon she had was made of a pitch-black metal and had some turquoise trim done in the shape of a heart on its receiver, alongside a name that Flash couldn't quite make out on the barrel.

The weapon was incredibly effective, though. Their group's momentum was maintained as one shot was enough to fully knock down any given approaching enemy, and the weapon seemed to have a bottomless magazine. Evershade flipped the gun by its lever in a stylish manner a seemingly endless number of times, each cycle giving her yet another shot to fire off.

They cleared enemy contact by the time they made it back to the village proper, but darkness was beginning to engulf them properly, and it'd soon be far more difficult to keep fighting. Across the village, several panicked townsfolk ran in fright from a group of the possessed, and the two witches that scouted ahead were guiding them towards the chapel as a defensive point. The possessed gave little issue to the witches, but as proper demons began encroaching on their territory, their skills were put to the test.

No moments were spared, Flash pushed and staggered his way through the possessed in front of him until he reached the lit doors of the chapel building. A large mob had formed around them, and by the time Evershade and the others made it through the door the threat was already right on their heels.

"We can't continue with such a force outside," Evershade said. The ordinary townsfolk all seemed to hang on her every word.

"We can't hold here forever, either," Flash said. "You need to get these people out of here! We'll cover your exit!"

Evershade disappeared into the back room, and came back with a long barrelled and scoped hunting rifle. Looking at Gabriel, she tossed it to him and gave a nod.

"There's a bell tower just outside the chapel. Climb it and use that to cover us." Evershade then turned to Flash, lifting her shotgun again. "You and I will push through the front door."

She then turned to her two witches. "And you two will guide everyone else through the back door. We'll fall back once you've made it out."

With everyone understanding the plan, Flash and Evershade exchanged prepared looks. His handgun at the ready, he kicked open the chapel's doors and swung out into the open to start taking shots at the closest of the possessed approaching him. He walked forward, keeping his gun trained and level as he moved between targets. Some of them were armed, and some weren't, but it made little difference as their coordination was poor and their attacks well telegraphed.

The winged demons that started to support the possessed proved a far greater threat, their skillful use of ordinary implements as weapons forcing Flash to think on his feet and make use of his hand to hand techniques. As one demon swung a cleaver at him, he managed to duck down and pop back into a spinning kick to the head, and following that Evershade finished it off with a shotgun blast.

Evershade herself was very proficient with her weapon, steadily moving forward and keeping her barrel alight with an endless barrage of magical buckshot in all the directions that it needed to go. After a minute or so, Flash heard the further crack of Gabriel's rifle firing down from behind them, taking another of the demons to the ground.

The battle was frantic and close, but in his mind Flash knew he had control of the situation. Even when monsters got far too close and pushed his limits, he had a shotgun of his own that he put to good use. Between himself, Evershade, and Gabriel, the chapel had a strong defense, more than capable enough to hold the line as the others were evacuated out the back door.

That confidence Flash had was suddenly shaken to its core as he heard the pronounced and rhythmic thumping of boots and clanking of plate armor amidst the gunfire and chaos of the battle.

The smallest droplet of fear made its way through his body as he looked over to see the oppressive glow of Shadow Angel walking through the thinning mob of possessed bodies and demons. It was a slow, steady walk too, they were in no hurry. When the last demon fell, the Angel drew a short-barreled shotgun of their own from behind their back, one made from dark metal and with crimson engravings along it, snapping it up to a firing position.

Flash dove for the nearest cover, a rounded stone well sticking up from the center of the village, and as the shotgun cracked off he heard the projectiles whirring through the air around him. One of the cultists behind him cried out as they ran from the back of the chapel out into the open treeline, their leg taking a hit from the shotshell and crumpling to the floor in an attempt to flee. Evershade's eyes immediately locked with the Shadow Angel, and with her own shotgun raised she returned fire.

"Begone, fallen creature!" Evershade's weapon seemed to heavily affect the Angel, staggering them back and making them almost seem to reconsider moving forward. She fired again as she ran back to help the injured cultist up. He was the last one, it would seem. The bullet struck through his calf, and he had to lean on Evershade for support as she guided him back up the road north.

Flash snapped up from his cover with this pistol raised on the Angel, shouting back to Evershade before opening fire.

"Keep going, I'll keep 'em occupied!"

The Angel was already moving around his cover, trading their shotgun for the huge sword slung across their back. In both hands it swept across at him, forcing Flash to jump back and nearly fall over. As the Angel pulled the sword back over their head, Flash brought up his pistol and lined the laser sight up with their forearms. His trigger pulled, and the magic-disrupting rounds proved enough to at least make the Angel flinch and lose the tension in their strike.

He traded his pistol for his shotgun and found that a single blast up close scattered the Angel backwards, but didn't puncture their armor. Before they could recover fully, Flash saw Gabriel sprinting across the ground from the bell tower and launching into a side kick into the Angel's helmet, spinning them off balance and firing several more pistol rounds into the demonic knight. Like Flash's rounds, the bullets merely bounced off of the Angel's sturdy infernal armor, but the impact still disrupted their focus if nothing else.

Gabriel jumped into the cover of a building as Flash continued to run about in the road below. He kept his head low as he led the Angel's attention away, acting as a distraction while Gabriel climbed to the roof of the building on the other side of the village and took shots at the Angel with his scoped rifle. The Angel flipped back around and fired their shotgun up into the rooftops, but Gabriel was already gone, and Flash was able to pop back out from his hiding spot and blast the Angel with his own shotgun. Neither of them were doing serious damage, they just needed to buy Evershade as much time to get her people to safety.

How they could be truly safe with this strong of a monster chasing them was going to be a completely different challenge to tackle.

Flash felt his shotgun go empty as the Angel again turned to him, but Gabriel jumped from his rooftop perch and caught the demon knight with another flying kick to the head. The hit put Gabriel off balance and he landed on his back, but the impact sufficiently sent the Shadow Angel into a daze. Flash took the opportunity to rush forward and grapple the demon around the neck using his shotgun as a lever, pulling hard against the gap between their helmet and collar. The demon was much larger and heavier than he was, but with the proper force around their neck Flash was able to restrain the Shadow Angel long enough for Gabriel to run up and stick his pistol down into the gap between their left shoulder pauldron and squeeze his trigger until the magazine ran dry.

"Eat lead, punk!" Gabriel kept his knee pressed into the Shadow Angel's torso for as long as he could until they lashed back against him, throwing him back to the ground with one arm, and then doing the same to Flash with a spinning motion and a flailing punch behind them.

Picking himself up, Flash saw the Angel reaching behind them for their shotgun, but their left arm twitched and seized up before they could reach it in a now visible holster. The bullets in their shoulder seemed to be an actual issue. Flash knew it was only temporary, demons normally possessed incredible healing abilities, but for the moment they had the Angel on the back foot.

Gabriel dropped the magazine from his handgun and moved to put a fresh one in, and Flash pulled the handle of his shotgun back to start his own reload process. He only had a handful of shells left, now that he knew the Angel could be temporarily wounded, he was going to save them for moments that he was right up in their face.

Assessing the threat of each of them, the Angel drew their sword with their right arm and slashed at Flash one handed, getting far more range from the swing than if they had a two handed grip. In the moment, Flash's best move was to roll to the side, but he fumbled with the shotgun shell in his hand and couldn't manage to get it into the breach in time before a second downward swing came at him. His second dodge was far more sloppy, and he ungracefully scraped along the ground to avoid getting chopped in half.

The third sword swing was interrupted by Gabriel, who again landed his shots in the perfect spot. Just like Flash he targeted the Angel's sword hand, and they faltered in their flinching and allowed for Flash to pop up and deliver a front kick directly to their chest. He dropped a single shotgun shell directly into the chamber via the side port and snapped the action forward, following his kick directly with a twelve-gauge blast at point blank range.

Again, the Angel was more inconvenienced than injured, but they seemed to back away and resasses the battle as Gabriel and Flash closed in on them. Flash had foregone reloading his shotgun and was back with his pistol out, standing across the well from Gabriel and fending off the Shadow Angel little more than a focused glare and raw confidence.

But before their battle continued, a long pointed projectile fashioned from metal and wood spun into the village and struck the Angel right in the back. Two more followed suit, but the Angel promptly spun around with their sword and sliced them out of the air to face the new threat.

From the road east of the village several more armored figures marched forward, a completely uniform thumping of boots stomping in unison growing louder in the distance. They had archaic looking iron helmets that were scratched up and tarnished with dirt and rust, only barely glistening in the moonlight, and similarly decaying armored chest plates. Each body beneath the armor was a decaying, skeletal corpse, an exposed body of flesh that was long since expired and only moving about due to some manner of magical influence.

These were soldiers, ten in total, wielding spears, swords, rounded shields, and two in the back holding crossbows. Unlike the possessed villagers, however, they moved with confidence, coordination, and poise, holding their formation as they moved in on the town.

UNDEAD LEGIONNAIRES, Ancient Guardians of Harmony: Just when this situation couldn't get any more unexpectedly bizarre, Flash found himself, Gabriel, and the Angel being closed in on by a group of undead warriors. The Angel glanced back to the two men, then to the undead in front of them, warily waiting for one of their two enemies to make a move.

The hurried and off beat clacking of horse feet in the distance quickly followed the arrival of the legionnaires, and in short order another armored warrior riding what appeared to be an undead horse leapt over the line of armed men and challenged the Angel directly. The warrior riding the horse too was a living corpse, but his helmet was far more distinguished, with a polished shine and red plumage sticking up from the top. He had far greater armor coverage as well, his shoulder and wrist guards completely intact, and his ankle plating and sandaled feet showing little signs of wear. The same couldn't be said for the flesh beneath the armor, the man's skin and muscle were peeling away and no color was left in him but a completely drained white.

Still, he moved with vigor, a golden light behind his eyes as he grimaced and swung a huge ball-and-chain weapon from the back of his equally decaying steed. The equine let out a ghastly, spine chilling whinny as its hooves smashed into the ground, and its rider's weapon whipped around with an audible crack as it lifted its stringy and mangy mane back up to the wind.

"Nightmare Moon!" The man howled, his voice both a gutteral rasp and a prideful bellow. "I have come for you!"

The Angel tensed up, lifting the sword and lining it up with what looked to be the end of a winged bell rotating around the horseman's chain, but even as the Angel perfectly blocked the weapon it exploded into a violent lightning bolt that casted a bright light throughout the entire village for a split second. The impact and the lightning blast cast the Angel onto their side, where they rolled to a controlled slide and stopped against a doorframe. When they stood, they rushed to the side to avoid another whip of the strange chained weapon.

The soldiers immediately rushed the Angel down, thrusting spears and swords in their direction and effectively pushing them back and away from the center of the village. This sudden upset from another force seemed to be enough to get the Angel to think twice, and they slowly backed their way out of the village.

The undead soldier atop the horse glared after the Angel, but as they retreated he shook his head. He held up a hand to his soldiers below. "Let the traitor go! Our orders are to secure this village!"

With varying sounds of affirmation from his men, the group turned their attention to Flash, who was now peeking over the wall of the well he'd chosen to hide behind. The horse suddenly lurched forward, hopping up and over the well to land on the other side so its rider could confront him there.

Looking up, Flash was struck with the shock of recognition, a famous visage glaring down upon him with a shortsword drawn and held low.

COMMANDER HURRICANE, Living History: This ancient warrior was one of history's most famous military leaders, one of the original founders of what would eventually become the Harmonic States. With a golden light behind his eyes and a scowl of disgust, the man cast his shortsword in the direction of Flash, demanding both respect and awe at his reanimated presence. Why he was brought back to life and had come to this place, Flash had no idea, but the ancient commander had seemingly no patience or will to explain himself.

"Surrender yourself, living man!" Despite being only a foot away, Hurricane spoke at maximum volume, his words bitter yet confident. "By the order of Daybreaker, this town is now under martial law! You will submit to the superior strategy and combat prowess of my undying All-Weather Brigade, or face dire consequences!"

Flash looked around himself in a panic, only seeing the undead brigade coming up on all sides. Where had Gabriel gone? He'd probably run off during the break in the action...

As Flash took a cautious step back, he felt only one way out of this predicament. Looking behind him, he saw the open well and the long drop down, but in the darkness there seemed to be a small flickering light only visible with the night blanketing overhead. There was something down there...

"I don't think so," Flash said. Even against one of the founders of his country, Flash found himself hesitant to put his weapons down without a fight. "This town isn't yours to take."

"I dedicated my mortal life to keeping the spread of chaos from this land..." Hurricane hissed. "Let me be damned if I allow it to happen again!"

"And what are you going to do if I just surrender to you?" Flash asked.

"The people that govern this town, the Noctura, shall be eliminated as a threat to the world, and their secrets shall be granted unto Daybreaker."

"Yeah, I'm gonna have to say no to that," Flash smirked. Hurricane's eyes widened in anger, but as he swiped his sword across Flash backflipped up to the lip of the well and raised his pistol, firing a single shot into Hurricane's helmet before allowing himself to fall backwards into the opening of the well.

With a spark of rage in his eyes, Hurricane looked furiously back at the now disappeared Flash Sentry, hearing only a distant splash from the bottom of the well below.

[Well of Shades, Beneath Hollow Shades]
[Thursday, 8:50pm]

Flash kept his body curled as he fell, and then straightened himself out as he neared the bottom of his descent. From his first encounter in the village, he knew that there was at least water down here, but what he wasn't expecting was a break at the bottom before a wide pool opened up. He splashed into the narrow but deep pool, getting completely soaked as he pulled himself up to the break in the stone shaft. It was here where the glint of light came from, there was a short cavern here with the source of light emanating from deeper within somewhere.

With his heart racing, Flash knelt and took a minute to center himself. Neither Hurricane nor his undead forces seemed willing to jump in after him, so he had a moment of reprieve before he could carry forward. However, this little town was in far deeper trouble than just demons, as it would seem that Hurricane and his men were also here to conduct war on both the Nocturna and the demons harassing them.

He followed the light through the narrow rock tunnel. It was cold and damp, but it seemed like it was dug out by hand and eventually opened up into a much larger cavern with straight shadows being cast by a strange magical light source. A completely smooth stone wall with ridges carved into it stood facing the cavern, an arched overhang and still standing pillars supporting the walls of some grand underground temple. The light itself was hung from the overhang, a magical casing firmly affixed with some kind of flameless, non-electric yellow light pointing straight down into the floor. The light came out from the rounded metal case in a wide cone, brightening up even some of the area behind it, but leaving everything missed by it in a hard shadow.

Flash looked a bit closer at the wall, the centermost slab having a horizontal split across it that was framed by a simple painting of the moon circling the sun, each celestial object being slightly inset on the wall. They each glinted with some kind of inner light, and Flash suddenly understood what he was looking at: an entrance. This wall was a door, and it required some kind of interaction to open. Given that he had no other direction to go, Flash immediately went to work figuring out what might be needed to get inside.

No apparent place for a key, just a light and a few panels. Did the light need to point somewhere? Flash reached up for the magical lamp on the ceiling and found he could rotate it around in just about any direction. The shadows spun and flitted about the cavern as Flash spun the lamp up, focusing the beam directly on the sun panel. It was on the top, so maybe it needed light? The sun lit up, and in turn the moon panel seemed to glow a bit brighter too, but this accomplished nothing. He tried the moon panel next. Only it glowed, no connection to the sun this time. Also a dead end.

Flash was starting to worry that this was one of those doors that needed a specific magical item to open up, he'd dealt with plenty of those before, but as he was swinging the point light around he noticed an inscription on one of pillars close to it. It had two sections, one written in a language he didn't recognize, and one that he did.

"Here lies the Well of Shades. It welcomes only those who have turned their back on the light."

He read the words, and then again in his head, and then a third time, squinting at them. He looked up at the light source above him. It was close enough that it was going to cast at least a little bit of light on the door no matter what, but...

With a sudden idea, Flash began to orient the light so that it was pointing away from the entrance, away from the two inset disks on the front door, and sure enough, he saw that a pitch black shadow was cast from the back of the lamp itself. This was what Flash needed, and he correctly intuited that the shadow could perfectly cover up the image of the sun, which in turn caused the inscribed moon beneath it to also cease its faint glow.

Some rumbling was felt beneath him as each of the disks upon the entrance slowly receded into the wall, and the wall itself opened to him by some machinations within the temple walls. Beyond the entrance further darkness awaited, swallowing the arcane light from the outside.

"Okay, so you're a puzzle temple, huh?" Flash stared into the long black of the entrance hallway. "I really hope there's a way out through you."

Flash turned the magical point light back towards the entrance, but it didn't offer him much reprieve. The hallway that'd seemed long before turned off in both directions fairly shortly after the entrance, leaving him with just a graying-green wall of stone to look at with dark corners beyond.

He sighed. There was only one way through this. He fished through one of his belt pouches for something, and was glad to find it relatively dry and intact. Flash clipped on a small tactical flashlight to his shoulder strap and clicked it on, and he now had his own small point light shining from his body.

As he pressed forward he'd find it was his only reprieve, as the first room of the temple was completely void of light. He moved cautiously and with his gun drawn, shining his own light around the four corners of the room to get a sense of its scale. There were more columns near the side walls, a slightly crumbled ceiling, and a set of shelves inlaid with delicate looking vases and urns.

To his surprise, there wasn't another locked door with some complicated mechanism requiring it to be opened here, just passages and rooms filled with various old-world pottery. As Flash explored, he was only filled with questions. What was this entire temple doing just sitting beneath the town? Why was it connected to the well? Did the Nocturna know of this place? They had to know. They ran this village, there was no way they couldn't know.

Eventually, up ahead, Flash saw another source of light through a doorway. He heard voices. Footsteps.

Now on alert, Flash cut his own source of light and crouched down low near the doorway. As the footsteps grew closer, Flash held very still, until a robed figure came through the doorway carrying a conventional torch. The smoke from the flame was instantly recognizable by smell, even as Flash's line of sight was blocked.

The figure passed, and Flash stepped out behind them with his weapon at the ready.

"Freeze."

"Huh? Flash?!"

The figure turned, a surprised look on her lips beneath the hood. Flash immediately lowered his weapon when he saw Night Glider staring back at him.

"How did you get down here? I thought..."

"The well in the village drops directly to an entrance to this place. Where are we?"

"This is the underground temple the Nocturna use as a safety bunker," Night Glider explained. "They've reinforced the main room and one of the passages to the surface. We're working on getting anyone left alive in the town here..."

Flash breathed a sigh of relief. "Then we're safe down here?"

Night Glider nodded. "We should be. Come with me, I'll lead you back to the others."

She led him through another bending hallway and up some stairs to an enclosed chamber, a spacious room with a few lanterns illuminating the walls and ground. Several of the townsfolk were huddled up here, blankets and bags spread out across the floorspace, and several more of the cult members were set up against the wall or leaning on one of the many stone pillars supporting the room.

Near the end of the room Flash saw an engraved stone slab set into the wall, one depicting a strange horned creature with many wings and a rather imposing face. Flames or smoke of some kind was depicted behind it, and its eyes glistened a silvery color. Some kind of superior being by the looks of it, as the walls surrounding this depiction showed people in submissive and fearful postures.

Mother Evershade stood facing the mural with an attache briefcase, just closing it up as Flash approached her.

"I see you've made it." She said, not turning to him. "Thank you for assisting us."

"You weren't going to mention the well in town was directly connected to your hideout?" Flash asked.

"I wasn't sure if it could be accessed, or if it had been completely sealed up," Evershade replied. "You seem resourceful, though. Where's your friend?"

"I thought he followed you," Flash said. "We got separated after a guest showed up."

"Likely an envoy of Daybreaker?" Mother Evershade asked. She didn't need to ask, it seemed like she somehow already knew. "Undead fellow, rides a horse, has no concept of an inside voice?"

"Yeah. And part of my national history." Flash replied. "What's this Daybreaker character about? I feel like I've heard the name before but it's not bringing anything to mind."

"Daybreaker is the sworn enemy of the Nocturna. An glorified deity to some, but we know she's just as vulnerable as our own Sister Moon," Evershade explained. "She goes by many names. 'Sister of Light', 'Platinum Knight', and 'Wrathful Sun', are ones that come to mind."

Oh. Flash recognized a few of those names. He didn't think he'd be hearing any of them again.

"Daybreaker, or someone claiming to be her, has made contact with me personally on several occasions, threatening a takeover of our town should we not submit to her and her cronies," Evershade continued. "Deity or no, she is a terrorist and a threat to innocent people. We may not have a technological edge, but our magic has proven more than enough to keep her on her toes. Until the chaos set in, at least."

"Taking advantage of the demon attack." Flash nodded, putting two and two together. "What does she want from you?"

"This." Evershade raised the attache case she carried. "Inside is a piece of a relic that once belonged to Sister Moon. Daybreaker wants its power to bolster her own."

This confused Flash, as his understanding of this 'Daybreaker' character was far more benevolent until now. The 'Sister of Light' was a celebrated saviour figure, but these Nocturna folks seemed to have a different perspective.

"What does Daybreaker want with this place?" Flash asked.

"She claims she is here to cleanse this place of chaos and evil," Evershade replied, "And I have no doubt she intends to do so. However, her methods are dangerous, and I'm certain she has motives apart from protecting the world."

"Like what?"

Evershade looked troubled at the notion of the question. "I don't know. But to her, we just are just as deserving of erasing as the demons invading us."

"Speaking of, Hurricane and his forces are going to be searching for this place," Flash said.

"Which is why my bodyguards and I will be moving to recapture our Cathedral," Evershade said. "The undead one paid us a visit earlier today, and alongside a machine dragon we were overrun."

"Machine dragon?" Flash asked.

"More remnants of the ancient world. Daybreaker draws on long forgotten history for her allies," Evershade shook her head. "I have my strongest witches searching north of here for any other survivors. We need to make our way back to the village, take it back first, and use it as a foothold to push back into the cathedral grounds."

It seemed like a sound plan, but he was concerned at the state of their forces.

"Can your people fight?" Flash looked around. The cultists were the ones with the most firepower, but they looked the most worn out, and while their witches seemed quite capable with swords and magic, they were few and far between.

"With coordination and leadership, yes," Evershade said. "Take no more than an hour to rest and collect yourself. We need to act quickly, but we should also ensure we're ready."

An hour was more than enough time for a breather. Flash had a long night ahead of him.

06 - THE LIVING DEAD

[Blacktail River West, Southwest of Mt. Eclipse]
[Friday, 10:40am]

Starlight spent nearly twenty minutes flailing around in the powerful river current, just fighting to stay conscious and above water as the flow swept her away. Her powerful mechanical body was waterproof, but it had nothing to perch on to give her any sense of control of herself. If only she could get a grip on the riverbank, she could pull herself up, but she hardly had a grip on her own center as she bobbed up and down and thrashed in the stream.

She had a single thought bouncing around her head that she had to catch.

Close your visor, idiot!

The moment she closed her mind around the thought the metal cover shot up and sealed around her face, keeping the water from getting into her eyes, nose and mouth and giving her just a little more mental foothold.

As she eventually got a handle on her senses, she realized she'd been tightly gripping her sword in her left hand the entire time. Doing her best to flip herself so that her chest and stomach were facing down, she stabbed straight below with her sword in an attempt to catch herself against the bottom of the river. Unfortunately, the tip of her ultra sharp and molecularly slicing nanoblade bit right through the soft rocks and sediment of the riverbed and proceeded to carve straight through it with no resistance whatsoever. She was, however, pulled down further into the water where she received a faceful of dirt and debris blasting up from the crevice she was making beneath the river.

Unable to slow herself down but now with a focal point, Starlight steadied herself and pulled her sword from the mud and kicked her legs against the water beneath her. She concentrated on pulling energy from her power cells into her torso and engaged her impulse boosters. Teal lights lit up over her body and a short pulse of energy was released to her left side, but it did little more than splash the river water away from her while pushing her only a small bit. She focused what little tilt she did get into a roll and paddled her arms in an overhead motion, engaging her legs to start properly swimming against the current. It took so much concentration with ice cold water slamming into her head and shoulders every second but she eventually got the rhythm right and swam against the river, slowing herself down and immediately redirecting herself to the edge of the riverbank.

She desperately reached out with her cybernetic hand and gripped firmly against the dirt, then joining her natural hand in as well to eventually heft her entire body out of the water. Letting her sword fall out of her hand she rolled onto her back, let her visor recede, and just stared at the sky, breathing heavily and letting the feeling of stillness comfort her.

"Starlight? Are you okay?" She heard Sunburst calling over her radio.

"I'm okay," Starlight breathed. "But I just got kicked into a river and have no idea where I am..."

"The Freefall shows you as west of the mountains," Cadence said. "You just took a heavy hit, how are you feeling?"

"Feeling fine, Cadence." Shaking some of the excess water from her clothes and body, Starlight stood. From her sword too, she swiped the blade around in a single crisp motion to flick all the water free from it, and with a brief pulse of power through the casing of her scabbard the inside of it heated up and flash-evaporated the water within it. Now relatively dry, Starlight sheathed her blade and studied her surroundings.

She was back in a forested area, far from any buildings or manmade features.

"Guess I should follow the river back up?" Starlight was on the opposite site of the river from where she started.

"Yes, but it looks like there's no easy way to cross the river until quite a ways ahead." Shining Armor was in her ear now. "It looks like there's more activity going on around the Cathedral. You need to get there ASAP. Follow the river."

"Mind telling me what that demon I saw back there was?" Starlight asked. "It looked an awful lot like Nightmare Moon."

"You witnessed and confirmed the neutralization of Nightmare Moon yourself, does it really seem like her?" Shining Armor asked.

"No, not really. Seemed more like it was someone wearing her old suit of armor."

"It must be some demon that the cultists were interacting with, then. An imitator," Shining Armor said, "That area is mostly sterile, the only kinds of demons that can breach the barrier between worlds are ones directly summoned by the people there."

"Whatever it was, it kicked my ass," Starlight said.

"You'd do best to avoid them for now, Starlight," Cadence offered, "I know you might want to battle them again, but fixating on that might get in the way of the mission."

"That's right," Shining Armor continued, "The number one priority is the Devil Sword fragments, then dealing with the Platinum Knight."

"And finding Trixie, if she's here..." Starlight mumbled. "Yes, sir. I'll avoid combat with the demon knight if I can. Proceeding with the mission."

Starlight shifted her legs in the grass, passively directing a bit of her energy to repairing the damage she'd received. The dents and bullet impact on the lower portion of her body slowly smoothed themselves out, and the electronic insides beneath Starlight's knees mended themselves as magic coursed through her system. She needed to be careful with her power cells though, her energy reserves were running low.

As she gradually made her way back up the side of the river, Starlight made another call on her radio.

"Spike, where are you now?"

"Starlight!" Spike's synthesized voice seemed as eager as ever to talk. "I'm headed back up the road we were on, have you cleared out the hostiles there?"

"The minor enemies, yes, but their boss showed up and threw me into the river. Watch out for a big demon knight guy if you're coming back through the main road. I'm somewhere downstream now, making my way back up."

"Got it. I'll keep moving ahead and let you know what I see."

The call ended, and Starlight let herself break into a proper run, wanting to recoup for the greater distance now imposed between her and her objective.

Her support team was right. Fighting that demon was out of the question for the time being. She was a stealth specialist, she needed to use her skills to subvert enemies rather than take them head on. Running headfirst into an armored wall was asking for a beatdown. Best way was to attack from behind or with superior numbers. Spike had limited combat capacity, but he might be able to pose enough of a threat to allow Starlight to strike from a different direction. There were also environmental factors in play as well. The demon's big sword might be harder to swing around if they were in thick with the trees, and their shotgun could only have so much penetration power and range.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a large rumbling of footsteps somewhere off to her left. Metal clashed against the dirt and gunshots rang out, pulling Starlight out of her run and making her rush to the bushes for concealment. There wasn't a path through the trees here, so making anything out clearly was difficult, but she thought she could see the shape of a person running parallel to her. Following the one were ten others, all similarly sized and shaped but in varying amounts of armor.

Curious. Starlight pursued from her position of relative stealth, inching closer and closer to the chase scene playing out in front of her until she could see things in greater clarity.

The man being chased suddenly pivoted as he crossed a tree, raising a pistol and taking out one of his pursuers with a headshot.

To Starlight's surprise, the bodies chasing him all appeared to be living corpses, ancient warriors with decaying flesh and rusted armor, yet they still moved with sound mind and proficient mobility. The man being chased wasn't one of them, Starlight saw, he was still living, with slicked spikes of blue hair and dark leather jacket, he was still alive and facing an entirely different kind of threat from the machines Starlight had to deal with.

The man blasted another of the undead soldiers, and then turned to keep running. The living dead were showing up here too? This was getting crazy. Starlight resolved to help this stranger as he continued his run through the trees. She jumped from a hiding spot and rolled through the woods as a teal and gray blur, drawing up her sword and slashing through the furthest of the undead from the front, catching him right across the back of the neck. As he fell, the chase screeched to a halt, but when the others turned to look, Starlight was already back into hiding.

Noticing the chase had stopped, the man turned again and dropped another of the undead mob with precision. One of them rushed towards him with a spear, but he twirled around the weapon and elbowed the reanimated legionnaire in the side of the head. The undead's jaw shattered, and the man he was trying to impale promptly broke his nose with a fist and knocked him to the floor with two more bullets. Starlight dashed across the trees with her sword again, stabbing straight through the back of an undead taking aim with a crossbow before he could fire. Another soldier took notice of her, but his head was quickly taken off his shoulders with another swift slice of Starlight's blade.

As the group of living dead were getting picked off, they began to scramble, some looking about for Starlight and the rest all focusing on their original target. The man they were chasing threw a roundhouse kick into one of them, then shot up another at close range, then switched to a knife to slash the sword out of a third's hand before they could swing it. The knife plunged down into the first corpse he'd kicked, and his pistol reached over to finish off the one that dropped his sword.

Starlight cartwheeled out of the way of a crossbow bolt as it hurtled towards her, and she punched her Tetherhand out into an undead soldier rushing her with a spear. With her Bullet Reflex active, she carefully lined up a slice with the spear and cut it in half, and smashed its wielder back into a tree with an explosive palm thrust. She quickly had to intercept another bolt with her sword, but the man she'd come to the aid of gunned the crossbowman down from his end of their little thicket.

"Starlight Glimmer?" His voice was familiar, and when she saw his face she knew why.

"Flash Sentry." Starlight had met the man five years ago during the Canterlot City Incident. A SRAPH operative, highly trained and competent. Someone who valued civilian lives just as much as she did.

They both seemed to regard each other with suspicion rather than surprise. Neither of them seemed very surprised to see the other here to begin with, but they weren't exactly expecting to cross paths.

"I guess the Order of Light is interested in whatever's going on here, then?" Flash asked.

"Yep," Starlight nodded. "And the Seraph Agency is too?"

"Yeah." Flash nodded in kind.

They were both silent for a moment, just looking over each other and seeing how much had changed in five years.

"When were they going to tell me about the living dead?" Starlight asked.

"Same time they were going to tell me about the killer machines," Flash replied. "How long have you been here?"

"Just since this morning."

"I got here yesterday," Flash replied, "Things got crazy."

Another loud sound took both of their attention again. A small red bird fluttered up through the branches overhead, and the air around them suddenly seemed to hold its breath still. Charging through the thicket came a heavily armored undead soldier in polished bronze armor, riding on the back of a half-skeletal horse clad in similarly pristine armor and swinging a massive meteor flail in a circle above his head.

Commander Hurricane whipped the flail around right for Flash, but he leaned back and rolled to safety beyond a tree. Starlight too flipped out of the way, and the end of Hurricane's weapon sliced deep into the trunks of the trees it passed, igniting each of them with a bright lightning. As Flash and Starlight evaded, another undead body sprung out from hiding from behind a wide tree trunk, armored just as the other soldiers were but carrying a composite bow. This one was an archer, with a quiver full of arrows slung across the back and one already pulled tight against the drawstring.

Flash noticed the archer first, redirecting his roll as arrows began to fly in his direction. Starlight spread out in the other direction, the two scattering as they finally broke from the treeline and onto a narrow dirt road The agent and the cyborg both came out into the pathway with two directions of visibility. They saw each other, but then both turned around to see Commander Hurricane and his horse cutting through on Flash's side, and the archer rolling into a firing position on Starlight's side.

Starlight felt her back press up against Flash's as she held her sword at the ready. Looks like they weren't out of this yet.

"Looks like I'm not so outnumbered anymore," Flash said in a challenging tone, "Face it, Commander—You're already history."

"Interesting observation," Hurricane replied laughing, his scratchy and booming voice filling the open and cold air. "But there's always more history to be made! Private Pansy?"

"Yes sir!" The archer responded to the name, her voice distinctly feminine and soft but also gravelly and scratchy in a weird way, coming from half-rotted vocal chords.

"Take the half-machine. This little soldier is mine."

Pansy immediately drew a different type of arrow from her quiver and let it loose in Starlight's direction. As it impacted the ground, a small charge on the arrowhead exploded into a fiery blast and left a cloud of smoke in its path. Starlight's visor had already come up, but another arrow flew through the smoke and struck her directly in the visor before she even had time to process what had happened. The metal tip deflected off the metal plate, but the impact rocked her head and she nearly fell flat on her back.

When Starlight caught her balance and looked through the cleared smoke, Private Pansy had disappeared. Confused, Starlight ran to where she'd just been, expecting a sneak attack at some point, but nothing seemed to happen. The cyborg turned back to her ally and saw Flash rolling and maneuvering out of the way of a charging Hurricane on horseback. The horse seemed to have its own energy about it, sparking and slightly distorting the air around it as it pranced and leapt back and forth with blinding speed and remarkable agility.

As Flash took aim and fired, he found that his pistol rounds were just bouncing away from Hurricane's armor as if caught and flicked away by some unseen force. So too was the horse's armor, the covering over its head, neck and chest repelling bullets before they even made contact. When he got close, it seemed like the bullets at least bounced away, but something surrounding them kept projectiles from hitting with full force.

He had little chance to get close, though. Hurricane and his horse had plenty of room to rush up and down the road, taking swings at Flash with his flail and easily recuperating when he missed. Flash adjusted his aim towards the horse's unarmored sides and legs, but the undead steed was unnaturally tough, tanking the bullets through its legs and eating up what few shots Flash scored on its underbelly. Shooting the horse only served to piss it off, it now seemed to want to directly charge into Flash with each pass, rather than allowing its rider space to swing his weapon.

After a swing of the flail came way too close to his cheek Flash switched out his weapons, taking up his shotgun and waiting in the center of the road for Hurricane to come at him again. Another gunshot rang out behind Hurricane though, following a bullet pinging off the back of his helmet.

Furious, Hurricane turned to see Starlight with her revolver drawn and aimed at him. The much wider bullets she had loaded proved enough to breach Hurricane's unseen defense, but the hit was still only a glance.

"Private Pansy! I ordered you to support me! What is the meaning of this?"

"Uh, can we trade opponents, sir? The metal lady looks very scary."

Neither Flash nor Starlight could tell where Pansy's voice was coming from. She was very good at hiding.

"I will not tolerate cowardice in my ranks, soldier!"

"Oh, not cowardice! It's uh... tactical reassessment, sir."

Hurricane grumbled, but did indeed turn his horse around to face Starlight. Starlight fired her revolver again, but even against the large round he simply grit his teeth and ignored the bullet, working his meteor flail into a spin that gathered sparks of electricity around it. He guided his steed forward and sent the round end of his weapon screaming in Starlight's direction, but she drew up power into her metal arm and punched the solid sphere with her Tetherhand balled up into a fist, the glowing teal imprint of her hand knocking the ball back up into the air and shifting Hurricane's balance.

Starlight leaned in and drew her blade, running up to Hurricane's mount as it reared back to kick its front hooves into Starlight. She did a short hop to the side as the horse slammed down, and then swiped up and across at Hurricane himself. In his off hand he drew a shortsword and deflected her weapon away, quickly running his horse a short distance forward out of Starlight's reach.

Flash immediately had a trio of exploding arrows fired out at him from behind the trees. He tracked the movement as well as he could, but as the arrows blasted into clouds of smoke his vision was completely obscured. Pansy quite bravely jumped from the trees and sent another arrow in Flash's direction, but rather than fall back as she expected, Flash came forward and fired his shotgun off, just barely missing the undead archer. She spun and swung her bow out in front of her, hooking the end of his firearm between the body and drawstring to pull it from his hands and close in on him.

His reaction was quick, coming up with his knife and catching the bow before it could strike him in melee, and then catching Pansy's foot as she attempted to kick at him. Twisting his shoulders, he rolled the archer to the ground behind him in a kneeling position, then rose with the knife still at the ready. No follow up attack was available though, as Hurricane's flail smashed down on his position, just inches from hitting him as he fell away onto his back.

Again, Hurricane's steed charged him down, but Flash reached out for his shotgun and fired right up into the horse's underside while laying flat on his back. That was enough to stumble the mount back, shaking Hurricane from his position atop it. The horse snarled and huffed, angrily attempting to crush Flash beneath its hooves again. Once more, Flash caught it right in the act of rearing back with a full spread of buckshot, causing a pained whine as the undead beast finally toppled over and sent its rider crashing to the ground.

Hurricane rolled along the road but gracefully caught himself on one knee, and the horse also managed to stand again after being shot twice. While Hurricane reoriented himself, his horse committed to running Flash down one final time. Pulling the trigger of the shotgun only yielded a discouraging click, but Flash quickly switched to his knife and spun out of the way just as the horse passed him. Sweeping his arm out horizontally his blade caught the horse just beneath its plates, but felt a sudden jerking downward in his wrists. A magnetic force pushed down on his knife, but for the second he felt it he pushed back with all his might and pierced through the decaying hide of the ancient creature, slicing through the length of its body as it charged past him and leaving it with a sizzling wound as whatever magic that kept it reanimated was disrupted by the blade.

The equine finally knelt in defeat, eliciting a neigh of surrender before fully collapsing.

Now off of his horse, Hurricane had engaged Starlight in sword-to-sword combat, putting his flail away and focusing on defending against the cyborg's powerful bladed offensive. His own blade, a single handed gladius, surged with lightning as it bound against Starlight's own energized nanosword. It was arcane in nature, the Commander clearly having some manner of control over electrical forces.

Private Pansy had gone and disappeared again, Flash unable to locate her after defeating the horse, but he'd soon have his answer as an explosion blasted between Starlight and Hurricane's battle. Taken aback, Starlight was kicked onto her side by Hurricane, only spared from being impaled as Flash put pistol bullets into the undead soldier's back.

Hurricane spun to face him, his off hand outstretched and drawing in a swirling cloud of electricity around it. After a moment of charging, he brought his meteor flail into a tight circle over his head and supercharged it by twirling it through the lightning around him. A moment later he cast the weapon straight at Flash, who panickedly dropped onto his side to dodge the massive end of the weapon. Crackling over and past his head the flail crashed into the trunk of a tree, where it sliced through the trunk and struck with an explosive discharge of electrostatic energy. With only a few seconds of notice, it began to fall in Flash's direction, slowly at first but then coming at him just as fast as the flail.

Not bothering to stand, Flash shifted his weight on the ground and rolled along the gravel road as the towering pillar of wood and browning leaves collided with the earth just a few meters from him. He covered his face as branches broke off and splinters shot out in his direction.

He heard Hurricane calling out to his subordinate through the violent splintering and snapping of the tree.

"To me, Private Pansy!" Hurricane called. "We need to fall back and regroup!"

"Finally, an order I can get behind..."

"I did not ask for your opinion on my order! Fall. Back!"

Before Flash could recover fully, the two reanimated soldiers were making their way back up the road north, leaving Flash alone with the defeated horse.

He looked back at the tree and found Starlight in a kneel, the entire top third of its trunk being cleanly sliced through and in several pieces behind the cyborg. Flash could faintly smell the wood burning from her direction, with scarce ashes even blowing away from her feet in the wind. He was relieved, Starlight had survived too.

"You okay, Flash?" Starlight approached him as he pushed himself up from laying flat on the ground.

He tried to respond, but there was a dusty feeling in his throat and so he coughed instead. After a moment, he managed something. "I'm alright. That's not my first run in with Hurricane, his men ambushed me and some of the local Nocturna people on our way up this road."

"Let me guess," Starlight interjected, "On your way to their Cathedral?"

Flash nodded, but seemed amused. "That's a good guess. I'm guessing you've met the Convent already?"

"The Order and the Convent aren't exactly friends," Starlight replied. "I had to—ahem, 'persuade' a few of them to tell me about their situation."

"Hey, go easy on them if you can." Flash looked a little worried at Starlight's demeanor. "I was helping them evacuate the townsfolk here."

Starlight's eyebrows raised. "You're working with the cult?"

"They're mundane," Flash said. "The real problem is the demons, and this supposed 'Daybreaker' character."

"Someone claiming to be Daybreaker is one of my targets," Starlight said. Flash had a confused reaction to that.

"You don't think it's really her, do you?" Flash asked. He knew Daybreaker's true identity, and he knew that Starlight should too. Starlight wasn't sure what to believe, even though the two of them had witnessed the unmasking of the Platinum Knight, or Daybreaker, or the Sister of Light or whatever she called herself.

"It doesn't matter," Starlight replied, tone mechanical and cold, "The official stance of the Order is that the Platinum Knight is an imitator of the true Sister of Light. Whether it's the 'real' Daybreaker here doesn't make a difference, I'm here to make them stop threatening this region."

"But we know who the Platinum Knight is..."

"I know, but..." Starlight shook her head. "Look, the machine dragons captured the Nocturna's leader while I was in the village. I need to get to their cathedral and get some answers from her."

"They what?" She was supposed to be secure there. "Did the civilians make it out?"

Starlight decided not to mention the fact that she might've accidentally aided in the dragon's ability to capture Mother Evershade.

"Yes."

Flash shook his head, running a palm across his forehead in frustration. "Dammit. We need her alive."

"I know," Starlight said, voice still cold. "Word on the street is that the Nocturna have kidnapped Trixie as well. And I'm going to make the old lady tell me where she is."

"They what?" Flash didn't believe they'd do something like that, but he'd certainly felt like they had something to hide during each of his interactions with them.

"Watch your back around them, Flash."

He nodded, only exhaling softly in thought.

Off to their side, the defeated horse that Hurricane left behind seemed to twitch with a residual spark of life. Its legs shifted as it let out another pained yowl, and then began to glow brightly with a golden surge of magic. The horse couldn't get back up, but a low whine burned out and away from it as it heated up, its undead body starting to shift apart and melt away beneath its armor. Electricity pulsed through the creature though, keeping it from dying completely as it started to twitch further on the ground.

Flash and Starlight slowly approached to get a better look, and got a clearer understanding of what was going on.

It was in pain, but something about it the magic within it was keeping it from dying completely.

"Poor thing," Flash shook his head. "It was a normal animal once upon a time, wasn't it?"

Starlight didn't respond, she seemed to be in thought, studying the magic coursing through the undead beast. Its bones were becoming more visible in some spots now as what was left of its coat burned away.

Flash drew his shotgun and loaded a single round into it, closing up the action with a dissatisfied look on his face.

"Guess we shouldn't let it keep suffering."

Starlight held out an arm to stop him. "No. Let me."

She knelt, the strange electromagnetic magic repulsing her entire body slightly as she leaned over the fallen creature and held her mechanical hand out. The golden electricity was drawn to her hand, and she felt the now-familiar surge of magic beginning to absorb through her rigid, metallic skin and empower her body. The horse was very still as the magic left its body, allowing the energy to be released from itself and eagerly accepting the offer to finally shed its earthly form in full. The arcane power was concentrated and glowing brightly, balled up under the now visible rib cage of the wilting creature, and with grit teeth Starlight bit the bullet and stuck her hand in to grab it.

There was little in the way of flesh left as the creature was now rapidly melting away, and by the time she'd taken the strange ball of lightning in a closed hand the horse was just a skeleton surrounded by plated metal and scraps of chainmail. Starlight herself felt fuzzy in the head, like a static was building behind all of her senses and leaving her overcome with a rapidly swelling numbness. The lightning in her hand was starting to push back against her fingers, threatening to jump out and escape, and with her fleeting will Starlight squeezed her fist as tightly as she could around the magical sphere and crushed it in her palm.

A self-contained wind rushed around her for a moment as the magic infused with her cybernetic body, a blinding flash of light causing something from the horse's remains to quickly shift and also swirl around her until she finally regained control of herself and her head began to clear.

Starlight found herself kneeling, with her metal hand pressed against the ground for support. Her vision came back in full, and she saw that her left forearm had taken yet another strange new shape. The metal was a bronzed color, a smooth and round shape along the sides until forming into a large flat toe on one end, one with a smooth casting around its edges.

C-011- "Stampede": The new metal limb was made in a bronzed shade, standing out against the gray of the rest of Starlight's body. It had a smooth, round profile and a slightly curved length, ending in a single large and flat toe with a hardened casting around its edges. The same golden sparks emanated from the limb, as well as the slight pusles of distortion from some kind of arcane magnetic field surrounding it. Beneath her, Starlight saw that some of the defeated horse's armor was missing. This material had taken the form of a dense horse leg on the end of her arm.

Flash wasn't sure how to respond to Starlight's sudden transformation. He just waited patiently as she stared at her new hoof, then reached down to pick up the previous forearm that had detached from her elbow during all of that. Without even thinking about it, the detached hand just sort of stuck to the end of her hoof, and she was able to awkwardly fix the spare limb to a strip on her belt.

"How... How are you holding things with a hoof?" Flash asked.

"Magnets? I think?" Starlight answered. "I'm not really sure."

She passed her sword from her left hand to her hoof, finding it hard but not impossible to manipulate it. She couldn't really use it to fight with a weapon due to not having a very flexible wrist joint or fingers, but the energy contained in the horse leg made her feel jittery and restless, she could just feel an electrical discharge occurring were she to smack something with the solid metal hoof. It even had a horseshoe built into the foot part, giving her a nice ridged edge to crack against an enemy.

Flash had idly shifted his shotgun into a reverse hold over his shoulder, and with its magazine feed facing up he began to reload it as he looked over Starlight.

"So are arm exchanges a new thing you're doing, or..."

"I just found out I could do this a couple hours ago," Starlight looked impressed with herself, but also seemed the slightest bit twitchy. "Pretty cool, huh?"

"Are you feeling okay?" Flash asked. Starlight flexed her shoulders, let her feet bounce one after the other in place.

"Of course, I'm just..." Starlight's eyes darted around for a moment before fixing back on the road north. "Just... We've got places to be, don't we? We should keep moving."

"If you're feeling weird we should take it easy-"

"No, no, I'm fine, really." Starlight held her hoof up in protest, and it seemed to want to dig at the air of its own accord. "Just feeling energized after taking in that magic. It's like drinking a coffee, we really should make the most of that before it wears off right?"

Flash finally relented. "If you say so. We've just gotta follow the road north."

"North, got it." Without another word needed, Starlight immediately took off up the road, vaulting over the fallen tree like it was nothing and quickly bolting down the path. Flash was startled, but quickly moved to run after her, keeping pace just behind her. She seemed a bit too eager to run for some reason, not in an attempt to get away from him, but to move in general.

"Hey! Wait up!"

"Starlight, hey, where are you?" Spike's voice picked up on Starlight's radio.

"Spike! I had a run-in with some zombie soldiers and met an old friend. I'm heading north along a road now."

"I've got bad news," Spike said. "It looks like there's a bunch of demons or something crowding the Cathedral. I can see some dragons inside trying to fight them off, but I don't know who's gonna win..."

"Does it make a difference?" Starlight asked. "I'm fighting both of them right now."

"Well the demons are probably just going to kill Evershade, the dragons at least want to keep her alive."

That was a good point.

"We're on our way. Does it look like we can cross the river at any point up ahead?"

"There seems to be a very shallow crossing just before a lake, but that's all the way at this end of the river," Spike said. "Oh yeah, and there's also a lake. Between me and the Cathedral. There's a few boats here that you can take, but I can't really stop anyone else if they want to use them."

"I don't know how far away we are. Just hold position there, me and Flash are on our way."

"Flash?" Spike's synthesized voice peaked with interest. "Flash Sentry? He's here too?"

"Heh, yeah. Looks like the Seraph Agency on the case too."

"Cool, it'll be good to see him again."

"Hang tight, Spike."

[Blacktail Forest, South of Mt. Eclipse]
[Friday. 11:30pm]

"Starlight, your heart rate is spiking, slow down!"

Right after she'd ended her call to Spike, Cadence's voice broke right through her comms. The whole time, she'd been at a full sprint down the road, very much enjoying the feeling of speed her mechanical body allowed her. When she heard Cadence's voice, she let her legs slow down and gently stopped her run. She hadn't noticed that the environment had changed, the path she was on was less populated with trees and instead there was a valley of raised earth picking up to either side of the road. Trees were still covering her surroundings, but the lifting hills to either side just made it so they were less noticeable from the ground.

Starlight's heart was racing, but she only noticed now that she'd slowed down. Her breathing was rapid, but it was almost automatically brought back under control after just a few moments.

"Am I really doing that bad?" She asked.

"You just took in another seriously large surge of magic," Cadence explained. "You need to let yourself return to normal before doing anything seriously strenuous."

"I feel like I could run a marathon right now, it's really not a problem."

Sunburst had a thought he wanted to add. "I don't know, I think it makes sense."

"What do you mean?" Cadence asked.

"Think about it. She just took in the energy of a magical, undead horse," He explained, "It just seems like some of that equine spirit is in her now."

Cadence was quiet to that, as if thinking it over. "Do you think so?"

"At least, that's my best hypothesis," Sunburst said.

"Makes sense to me," Starlight said. "That's not a bad thing, is it?"

"Well, not necessarily," Sunburst replied. "Just let us know if you feel the sudden urge to lick salt."

"Heh. Will do."

Flash caught up with Starlight just as her call finished. He was nearly left in the dust, but his physical endurance let him keep after her even when she moved so quickly. It took a bit more time, but he was again close enough to call out to her before too long.

"Starlight! Are we doing this together or what?"

Starlight turned back with a slightly apologetic look.

"Sorry about that. I just don't want to lose them."

"It's fine, but there might be more enemies ahead. We don't want to get separated." Flash took a look around them as Starlight shrugged her shoulders. The raised ground around the road made it seem like they were still going to be moving uphill from here.

"Come on, I can take care of myself," Starlight replied. "Don't tell me you still need babysitting."

"Not at all." Flash shook his head. "Don't tell me you forgot that nobody wins on their own?"

Starlight's eyes fell in thought again, her lips tightening as she prepared to make a remark but failing as she remembered the time she'd instilled that very same point in him the last time they met. Maybe all of the solo operations she'd done were starting to warp her perception.

"Point taken."

Starlight kept walking forward, but at a pace that Flash could more easily keep.

"One question, though," Starlight asked, still looking back over her shoulder as she walked forward. "Is that really Commander Hurricane? Like one of the guys that founded your country? As a zombie?"

Flash gave her an incredulous look. "I don't know what to tell you. He looks and acts the part. Seemed a little more focused than the history books would tell you, though."

"How many men does he have with him?"

"More than you'd think. No idea how they got here, though."

Their conversation and forward momentum was harshly cut off as a long, spiked shaft hurtled in from the sky from further down the road. The leaf-shaped metal tip crunched into the dirt path beneath them, both Starlight and Flash already stepping in separate directions to get out of the way. The javelin they'd been airmailed was followed by half a dozen more, all following a dangerous trajectory that spread across the road in a wide arc.

Starlight pushed forward and Flash jumped back, the volley of javelins separating them as they both snapped their attention to the small group of undead soldiers pushing from further up the road. In the distance they ran in a wedge formation, carrying tall, slightly curved shields and preparing to throw a second volley of javelins their way. In unison, they all popped up and hurled their own two meters of weapon out with incredible precision, forcing their two targets to worry about evasion as they continued to charge closer.

Flash took cover behind a tree, feeling a close cracking of wood as one of the javelins punched through a branch above him and snapped at the midpoint. When he peeked around the corner again he saw the line of legionnaires was close enough to draw swords and engage Starlight. She held her revolver steady but the wall of metal shields was enough to repel her bullets, and a flurry of shortswords made their way for her immediately after her cylinder went empty.

With a lean back into a handspring, Starlight replaced her revolver with her sword and immediately pushed an oncoming spearpoint away from her, this one held by the group's leader. This soldier, with a more decorated helmet and a brighter red covering on his shield, stood a few heads taller than his followers and expertly pushed Starlight back and away with the reach of his spear. He held it steady in an overhand grip, and had a larger amount of reach than the sword wielders at his flanks.

UNDEAD CENTURION- Control and Conquer: This soldier was clearly an officer, standing with a far more complete uniform than his subordinates. A dark red skirt, a fully protected front chest plate, and a well preserved shield with gold and red colors across it. Along the bottom of the shield were the words "LEGIOS X", something that appeared to be worn away or just barely legible on the other shields in the formation.

The Centurion's spear went straight for Starlight again, but as she sidestepped it and thrust her sword out he was able to deflect her nanoblade away with his shield. Sparks sheared away from the shield as Starlight's blade bounced away from it, an arcane interaction between the two weapons occuring. Starlight recognized this, whatever magic was powering the undead's resurrection was channeling through their weapons and armor. The magic formed some kind of barrier that kept other forces out, but also served as an insulation that prevented Starlight from absorbing it.

The legionnaires to either side of the officer jumped to his support, all stabbing forward while keeping their shields presented. Starlight was forced into a rapid series of deflections, unable to single out just one opponent as each of them worked in cohesion with each other. When she was hidden from sight she could take them out one at a time, but fighting them all at once...

Bullets streaked in from behind Starlight, striking the Centurion and forcing him to keep his guard up and back away from the melee. Flash came through with his handgun raised, shifting his aim to the edges of the formation closing in around Starlight. Half of the line split off from her, shields lifting to cover from the projectile fire, but Starlight took a swing at the soldier closest to her and caught him between the shoulder and neck, tearing into him and then kicking him to the floor.

Three of the soldiers charged in on Flash, his pistol only staving one of them off as the others thrusted their weapon points forward. Very quickly, Flash replaced his gun with his knife and swiped down at the oncoming swords, engaging the soldiers in proper melee combat. His shorter blade managed to hook one of the swords, allowing him to bind its wielder's arm and land a stab into the side of the undead's neck. Little blood was spilled, but the ghastly glow behind the living corpse's eyes flickered as his body seized up, and then toppled to the floor as Flash kicked his legs out from under him.

Two more swords tore across his vision, and Flash had trouble getting another one of them off balance with an outright counter. When one of the blades came back around for him he ducked, and from a crouch he fired off two rounds into the legionnaire's leg. The undead soldier had little in the way of shin protection, the rounds punching through his wasting calf muscles easily bringing the warrior to his knees before he could swing his sword again. With the soldier crippled, Flash took him by the shoulder and forced him to the ground by the back of his helmet. The other undead quickly stabbed his sword down at the crouched Flash, but Flash put a hand on the ground and kicked himself into a pivot, his boot striking his ankle right as he came in for a downward stab.

As the second legionnaire fell, Flash came back up to a kneel and caught him by the neck, then slammed the soldier's head against the grounded soldier's head. With both his opponents stunned and disoriented, Flash pressed the barrel of his weapon against the side of the top soldier's helmet and fired twice. Each shot punched through the metal at such an immediate range, passing through both of their heads and rendering them lifeless once more.

When he looked back up, he saw Starlight smashing her metal hoof against the shield of one soldier while slicing apart another at the arm. Her blade drove through the chest of a third, but as the impaled soldier pulled away she lost grip on her weapon.

Another of the undead stepped in to her side and struck against her, but she deflected the blade away with her metal horse leg and began to charge her energy into it. The hoof crackled with arcane lightning for a moment before the curved metal plate at the end suddenly blasted off of its base with a high pitched boom and a rippling shockwave. The electrified horseshoe smashed straight into the legionnaire's shield, easily shoving it out of the way and continuing in a rigid line through the soldier's chest to launch him straight to the floor. The horseshoe did not fall, it harnessed some sort of magnetic force to resist gravity, staying put above its target even as Starlight twirled out of the way of another attack.

When Starlight pointed her hoof towards the next closest soldier, she sent a pulse of her energy through her arm, and the horseshoe very rapidly shifted its position. The solid metal flew into the side of the soldier's helmet and sent him into a horizontal flip, giving Starlight the opportunity to pull her sword from his chest and slice him apart.

The Centurion's spear immediately filled the corner of her vision. With a quick deflection she backed away, and then with another pulse of energy through her arm her horseshoe returned to her limb with a snap. Starlight fired out the Stampede's horseshoe again, but the Centurion immediately knocked the projectile away with a powerful and directed shield bash.

As Starlight brought the horseshoe back to her, the tip of the Centurion's spear stabbed at her again, well out of the range of her blade. Before she could be pushed back too far, Flash jumped to the other side of the Centurion and lit up his shield with the last of the rounds in his magazine. The Centurion recoiled, but jumped in Flash's direction, only to have his spear redirected by Starlight's sword.

Sliding a fresh magazine from his pistol, Flash crossed behind Starlight and fell into a tight formation with her. The Centurion was on his own now, no other soldiers to back him up or hide behind. His shield glowed for a moment as he straightened his body out, and the collection of dents in his shield straightened themselves out in kind.

"One left," Flash said. "Let's wrap this up."

Starlight nodded, a quick sword flourish following a shifting of stance as she bent her legs slightly and prepared for another round.

And then leapt back into combat.

[Blacktail Forest, South of Mt. Eclipse]
[Saturday, 12:25pm]

The sun was just beginning its descent from the sky, just barely visible to Sunset Shimmer as she looked up through the thick blanket of trees overhead. She and Eve were following along the side of a river, pushing up a gradual slope until it turned to a steep incline. There was a small break in the trees here, and they both got a good look at what lay ahead of them.

The land sloped back down and Sunset saw a wide, calm lake resting at the foot of the mountain. She couldn't see where the river connected, but it must've been from here that the river flowed. A short pier and a dock house was close on Sunset's side of the lake, but she couldn't see any boats around. There was a path branching off to the right of the lakeside, but that path dipped back into obscurity of the forest. It was a nice change of pace from the tree-filled hike, but what caught Sunset's attention the most was the structure at center stage just beyond the lake.

Other rather, the remains of what structure had been.

A huge, dark stone building lay in total ruins on the backdrop of Mt. Eclipse. Rubble, ashes, and broken glass glinted in the light of the setting sun. A few walls still stood in various conditions, giving a sense of its previous shape but its height and any grandeur it might've held before was completely unrecognizable now. Some of the trees surrounding it had been burned to a crisp, and the entire area seemed to be the epicenter of an all encompassing blast mark.

This was the Nocturna Cathedral. Or whatever was left of it.

"Destroyed..." Eve whispered. "We were too late to do anything here."

"We would've been too late anyway," Sunset said, taking note of the blasted out building's general features far in the distance. "There's no smoke or fire present. It had already been destroyed by the time we got here."

"If only I had found you sooner, we might've-"

"You didn't know, Eve."

Eve was quiet as Sunset cut her off, but the demon didn't look any more consoled by the situation.

"We might as well check the place out, see if anyone survived," Sunset said. "C'mon."

They still had a ways to go, so they set off down the slope. Eventually, they made it to the lakeside, still far from the cathedral, but able to see the coast on the other side from the pier. Looks like someone else had taken a boat over, but there was nothing left for Sunset or Eve.

Sunset spotted something else across the water as well.

A tall figure fully adorned in dark, plated armor stood at the tip of the cliff opposite the lake, looking down from in front of the destroyed cathedral directly at Sunset and Eve across the lake. A tattered piece of cloth formed a cape around their shoulders, and a huge two handed sword was slung over their back. Sunset knew a demon when she saw one, and Eve quickly picked up on where Sunset's eyes were focused.

"That demon," Sunset said, her eyes struggling to make out the details on their armor at this distance. She thought she saw a jagged spike on their helmet and a crescent moon on their chest, but that would mean...

"It can't be. Nightmare Moon? Here?"

Eve's head fell. She recognized the demon as well. "No, not Nightmare Moon."

"How can you be sure?" Sunset didn't let her eyes drift away.

"I've seen that demon before." Eve said. "Umbra Angelo, a powerful warrior that serves the Lord of Chaos."

"What's with the getup?" Sunset asked. "That looks like Nightmare Moon's suit, at least."

Eve nodded. "They say it's the very same armor. Nobody knows how they acquired it, or even who they are underneath it. Even their name seems to confuse their identity, Umbra suggests they'd be feminine, but Angelo suggests they'd be masculine. Nobody knows anything about them, the only thing certain is their strength."

"Is that so?"

"It's said that Umbra Angelo has slain countless powerful demons in their pursuit of power. It's rumored that they've even killed another disciple of Daybreaker."

That was enough to break Sunset's eyes away from the shadowy knight in the distance. With a deadly serious look in her eye, Sunset snapped her focus onto Eve immediately.

"Killed?" Her face held as straight and neutral as it always was, but Sunset's heart rate slowly picked up at Eve's words.

Eve nodded, a bit surprised at Sunset's expression. "I... Yeah, I heard that there was another that studied under Daybreaker. She traveled to the demon world to confront the Lord of Chaos, I think, but... she was unable to overcome Umbra Angelo."

Sunset's eyes floated away from Eve, back across the water, but when she looked back to where the black knight once stood, she found nothing there. Umbra Angelo was gone, they must've moved along.

"Are you okay?" Eve asked. She didn't seem quite in tune with what about Sunset was changed, just that something within her had shifted. "Did you not know there was another Daughter of Daybreaker?"

Sunset's head shook, and her breathing started to pick up a little. She took the lollipop she'd idly been sucking on from her mouth as her lips twitched softly. "No, I knew, but I didn't know that she was... killed."

Eve had a sudden moment of realization, her hands raising to cover her mouth. "Oh my gosh, Sunset—you knew her, didn't you? I'm so sorry..."

"Twilight Sparkle was my best friend," Sunset said, her gaze falling to the lakewater as her tone was pressed flat of any emotion. "You're telling me that demon killed her?"

Sunset's cheeks felt tight, and for a moment her eyes went blurry. Keeping her mind focused on her air intake, she shut her eyes, pushed her lollipop back through her lips and breathed out through her nose. It'd been five years since she last saw Twilight Sparkle, but she always hoped that she'd somehow see her again. Twilight always had a plan for everything, always, but it seemed like she finally bit off more than she could chew. It was easier to think about her just being gone, somewhere else, but dead?

There was a pain in Sunset's heart, a gap that suddenly made her feel like she was exiting her body. Her hands trembled, but she reminded herself to breathe. It was something beyond her control. All she had to do right now was breathe.

"Are you okay, Sunset?" Eve asked.

Then, Sunset had control of herself again. There was never any confusion or conflict in her mind despite her feelings. She knew what to do with her pain, she always did.

"Yeah," Sunset replied, back to her cool and confident demeanor. "Nothing's changed. I'm going to tear down everything the Lord of Chaos is building here, and if Umbra Angelo gets in my way then that's just one more devil to pull the trigger on."

"To avenge your friend, right?"

"No." Sunset shook her head. At this point in her life, she knew better. She was angry and hurting, but she knew that vengeance wouldn't solve her pain completely. "It's not for the dead. It's for everyone still alive. So nobody else has to lose people to this kind of thing."

Behind her, Eve suddenly had a wild smile on her face, seemingly in response to Sunset's strengthened resolve. Sunset noticed this, but when the taller demon hunter turned around Eve was doing her best to straighten that smile back out. It was too late to hide, though, and Sunset was already intrigued.

"Why are you smiling like that?" Sunset asked.

"Nothing! It's just that... your confidence is infectious, I guess..." Eve trailed off. "I, uh..."

It took Sunset a moment, but after seeing the way Eve's face was quickly flushed with faint color and her smile going from enthusiastic to embarrassed, she figured out what was going on here.

"If you have something to say to me, please just let it out before we get surrounded by monsters again..."

Eve's eyes lit back up and she put a hand on her chest in an attempt to refocus herself. Whatever was on her mind, it was really sending her demonic heart flipping.

"It's just..." Eve started up again, trying to find the right words to phrase her feelings. "You're so much like how I imagined Daybreaker to be. Listening to you talk so seriously about all this is so exciting! Even if it's... kind of dark."

Sunset let a smile of disbelief grow on her face for a moment. "Uh huh. Forgot I was talking to the president of her fan club for a minute there."

"A fan club? Do you think that's a good idea?"

"I think a better idea is to keep moving."

07 - THE LOOMING DARKNESS

[Blacktail Forest, South of Mt. Eclipse]
[Friday, 12:00pm]

The undead Centurion held its ground for a far longer amount of time than Starlight or Flash could've anticipated. The soldier was pushed back further up the slope it came down, skillfully defending against both Flash's rigid firearm tactics and maneuvers while also keeping Starlight's precise and rapid gunslinging and swordplay at a distance.

Opposed to the average legionnaire, this officer's armor and shield had the same regenerative properties as Commander Hurricane's own. Bullet holes and dents wouldn't last, keeping the metal from breaking, but the undead soldier didn't have the endurance to keep two evenly balanced opponents back forever.

Evenly balanced was a surprising detail that Flash took note of as he fought. In the past, a superpowered combatant felt like an overwhelming force, but the more experience he gained in fighting threats that were faster and stronger than himself the more he came to understand how to engage them. He kept himself calm, paid close attention and made sure he was constantly thinking ahead. Fighting larger and more intimidating threats became routine with experience.

What still felt surreal was how well he was keeping up with Starlight. Flash watched Starlight pull away the Centurion's guard and he promptly recognized the opening, launching into a jump kick that spun the Centurion off balance for Starlight to then follow up with a heavy straight punch from her steel hoof. The Centurion reeled back but readily recovered with a wild forward slash, but Flash had positioned himself to catch the shaft of the undead soldier's spear and counterattack with a knee to the chest. Starlight came flying in with a dropkick as Flash ducked to the side, and from his kneel he finished their team combo by springing into a high roundhouse kick. With a resounding clang, Flash's boot rocked the Centurion's helmet off his head, and in a stunned daze the ancient soldier lost grip on his shield.

Behind Flash, Starlight stood with her sword completely sheathed, a soft light glimmering behind her eyes as a pulse of magic lit up through her scabbard and radiated from its edge. She concentrated on the stunned Centurion, her hips shifting as her hand fell into grip around her weapon. Flash knew she was about to do something, without her saying anything he leaned back and fell into a controlled backroll away from her sword's reach.

As the Centurion regained his senses and raised his spear again, Starlight still stood motionless and in a state of concentration, the light behind her eyes intensifying for a split second as the enemy spearhead raced pointfirst towards her chest. In a split second Starlight drew her sword into a perfectly horizontal cut against her attacker and made a single step past him, body rotating to steer clear of any retaliation. Her sword came out in a reverse grip, but by the end of her motion she'd given it a spinning flourish and was holding it pointed forward.

The slice did not appear to make contact with the Centurion at first, at least not as far as Flash could tell, but the Centurion still stumbled past Starlight nonetheless. The undead warrior's footsteps staggered out and he wobbled precariously as he weakly clutched his weapon in both hands. Starlight didn't look back, rather, she was already slowly sheathing her blade and remained in her focused stance. A soft click accompanied her left hand bringing her blade to a complete rest within her scabbard, and just as quickly as she'd drawn four bright teal beams curved into cuts across her opponent. One perfectly vertical, one perfectly horizontal, making a cross, and then two at intersecting forty five degree angles, making an X shape.

The hardened armor of the Centurion split into several pieces and fell away, and after a moment of hesitation and a groan of defeat his body followed suit. Cocking her metal limb back, Starlight's horse leg briefly crackled with sparks for a moment, before her horseshoe projectile shot straight through the Centurion's core and pulled his heart straight from his chest, where she then crushed it on the flat of her steel hoof. The horseshoe fit neatly back into normal place as she drenched herself in the undead's magic and expired blood.

"The hell was that?" Flash was in awe of what he'd just witnessed, a sword attack that Starlight could direct at an opponent behind her, one that struck several times with just one swing. As he resumed a standing position he didn't quite let himself relax until Starlight gave him an answer.

"Lightning strike quickdraw attack," Starlight replied. She stood and faced him, far more relaxed despite having a far larger quantity of blood on her face. It didn't occur to her that Flash was so unnerved by her takedown.

"Where'd you learn to do that?" Flash asked. Last time he saw Starlight, her weapon of choice was far less nimble and her fighting style was a lot more abrasive.

"My mentor. It was one of her favorite techniques with a single-edged blade," Starlight said. She sounded a bit uneasy now that she was recalling it, mention of her old mentor stirred up uncertain emotions. "She called it a 'decisive cut'. Her Iridescence sword style was one of the first proper combat styles I learned. It's apparently connected to the Sister of Light, which is obviously important to the Order."

Of course, Flash knew Starlight's mentor, knew that she was at the heart of the Canterlot City Incident as well, even though he'd only crossed paths with her once while there. She was a powerful magical swordsman that once hunted demons for the Order of Light, disgraced and excommunicated. He knew her as being proficient with a samurai sword of all weapons, so it made sense to see her techniques reflected in her student.

Flash let his shoulders drop a little, content with her answer. There was another question though.

"Why didn't you fight like that last time we met?"

"Eh, it's complicated," Starlight shrugged. "I was conflicted about using the style of someone I was told was a traitor, when she got banished from the Order I started training my own way again, mixed in with the Order's Catenacus style. That was with my old chainsaw sword, if you remember that, but now I'm using a single-edged sword again, so what Tw-"

Starlight stopped herself mid-sentence.

"What she taught me is relevant."

"How do you feel about using her techniques now?"

"Still complicated," Starlight said. She then nodded to Flash. "What about you? Didn't realize you were trained to do kung fu on zombies."

"Seraph training programs improved drastically after the Canterlot City Incident," Flash said. "We're doing just as much physical combat training as we are weapons training now."

Starlight chuckled, as if not totally convinced of his claim. "Normal humans doing that kind of stuff on supernatural threats? Yeah, right. What, are you gonna suplex an archdemon or something?"

"You seemed just fine with your flashy dropkick."

"Yeah, but I'm a magically augmented cyborg ninja." Starlight lifted her hands in a way that suggested the statement was clearly obvious and intuitive. "I can do that kind of stupid stuff because... y'know. I'm a cyborg ninja."

Flash gave a shrug of his own. "The combat data speaks for itself. Increasing your mental focus and confidence is proven to give significantly better odds against monsters. Practicing hand to hand martial arts? Great way to build mental focus and confidence."

"I guess. I'm not going to say we didn't fight well together."

Their attention turned back forward. They followed the road ahead of them, now clear of enemies, until it came to an end along the shore of a lake. There was a small dock house and a pier visible where the land met water, and another road picked up in the distance that lead into a forested area to the east. More prominent was the landscape directly north, straight ahead of them, where a great black building dominated the side of a cliff overlooking the furthest end of the lake.

It was a grand structure of brick and stone, with tall arches and pointed roofing, elegant windows and sturdy columns supporting it. As with the rest of the Nocturna Convent's territory, it was adorned with a silver crescent moon icon mounted along its front wall at the highest point, and held a serious and imposing atmosphere in its silhouette. A gated wall ran its perimeter, blocking off a cemetery to the side and a gathering area out front. This was it, this was their Nocturna Cathedral.

And it was under obvious occupation.

Soft pops of explosions rang out as machine dragons fired on the last remaining cultists alongside the sharp ringing of steel on steel as undead warriors beat back a scarce handful of witches. It was a clean sweep, the combined forces of Daybreaker were easily superior to the disjointed cultists especially as both Commander Hurricane and Ember converged on the battle.

Hurricane joined the defensive perimeter and Ember made her way inside the cathedral with a captive Mother Evershade. From where they stood, Flash and Starlight couldn't do anything but observe from great distance, there were still quite a ways of walking and quite possibly paddling across a body of water. Walking down the hill and through a shallow patch of water where the river began to form out of the lake, the two found themselves on the short beachfront, the dock house on the farthest end holding a single wooden boat large enough for three, maybe four people.

Flash and Starlight gave each other knowing glances as they approached the boat.

"Freeze!" Another voice called out from behind the two of them as they stepped onto the pier. Crouched behind the outer walkway of the dock house, a lean, platinum blonde man in a brown flight jacket held a scoped, bolt-action rifle at the ready.

"Gale?" Flash recognized him right away, and as he spoke the name Gabriel lowered his weapon. Tensions seemed to cool for the moment.

"Sentry. Figured I'd run into you again." Gabriel pointed the rifle up past his shoulder and let it rest there as he looked over Starlight with suspicion. "I'm guessing this isn't one of those machines out to kill us, then?"

"She's not." A cold, synthesized voice sounded from atop the dock house as a mechanized purple canine dropped to the beachfront, startling Gabriel but eliciting a smile from Starlight. "And neither am I."

"Spike! Finally caught up with us, have you?" Starlight crossed her arms and nodded to her companion, only leading Gabriel to stir with concern. Seeing a cyborg and a robot wolf approach him put him right back on edge, even if they weren't outwardly hostile.

"Easy, bud," Flash raised a hand to dissuade Gabriel's obvious unease. "They're friends."

"Friends, huh?" Gabriel's eyes narrowed, still fixed on Starlight and her inhuman form. "You sure have some weird friends."

"Where'd you run off to last night?" Flash asked.

"I was..." Gabriel paused. He was still distracted by Starlight and Spike, apparently. "I broke off to make sure the villagers could escape."

"I didn't see you in their bunker," Flash said.

"Yeah, well I got cut off from them." Gabriel walked down to the pier where Starlight and Flash stood, his eyes darting off of the Cathedral in the distance. "I had to go... looking for something."

Flash tilted his head. "What are you talking about?"

"Look," Gabriel sighed. He was worked up over whatever this was, and Flash's questions were only agitating him. "I'm not supposed to talk about what it is, but when we got our gear back from those witches, I had something important missing. I had to go looking for it, okay? My bosses would be pissed if I didn't come back with it."

"I'm guessing it's not something you'd accidentally drop in the woods, no?" Flash asked.

Gabriel shook his head. "It's more complicated than that. It... got away from me."

"Got away?" Starlight repeated. "What's that mean?"

"Did someone take it from you?" Spike asked.

Gabriel again became unusually tense. "Look, I don't trust any of you to talk about this. We're not friends. Let's just get through this, okay?"

Flash nodded. They were all here as independent agents of different nations, solving each other's problems shouldn't really be something they were concerned with.

"Okay, fine," Starlight said. "We're on our way to the Cathedral across the lake. If you want to get there, we'll have to take that boat together at least."

"Yeah, sure, okay." Gabriel finally let his guard down with an eye roll.

As they turned to walk down the pier, though, Spike's tail suddenly flicked up, and his head turned around.

"Starlight, I've got a blip on the radar approaching us very quickly!" Spike looked about frantically, and Starlight lifted a hand to her ear to check in with her radio team for confirmation.

Gabriel's tension redoubled itself. He seemed to know what was coming, leaving Flash the only one out of the loop.

"What's going on?" Flash asked.

The faint whine of a thruster engine whirred in the distance, gradually growing in intensity.

"Get to cover," Gabriel said.

Flash immediately made a break for the dock house, passing by Starlight right as a violent soundwave shook the sand of the beachfront. A silvery body broke through the forest treeline, an all metal construction that sped through the air on a set of icy blue jets. Around it, the air seemed to grow chilly and foggy, contrasting the warm ground beneath them. The figure cartwheeled forward and landed on the sand, and from its feet a rigid wall of ice suddenly shot up from the ground and raced towards Flash and his group.

The frigid ice barrier cut Flash off from Starlight and Gabriel, the hot sand slowly working to melt it but not nearly acting fast enough. Just barely jumping out of the way of the wall, Flash saw another, much more pointed shard of ice hurtling towards him, but Spike spun his body and slapped the projectile away with his tail. The mechanical hound slid to a stop beside Flash, and the two were able to look up at their attacker. Standing atop the wall's chilly peak was the figure assaulting them, clearly visible to the parties on both sides of the wall.

POSSESSED TALON COMBAT ARMOR, Demon Hosted Mobility Suit: The thing standing above them was a foreign, spacey mass inhabiting a suit of modular, high-tech metal plating. Its chest was a plate of angled white armor, and on it back a pack with stubby, bronze paneled, folding wings that allowed it to glide across the ground. Wrist guards formed into sharp, gloved hands, and sealed greaves formed sleek, rounded boots. Covering its head was a rounded helmet with a domed visor, and covering its armor was an array of white lights.The suit wasn't a full covering, there were plenty of spaces where the demon inhabiting it was visible. Rather than be a means of full protection, this suit seemed to focus on enhancing the wearer's abilities, as the demon within it quite nimbly slid across the length of the ice wall and spun into a jump above them.

With its bronzed wings fully extended, the demon lifted its left hand and snap-froze the air in front of them, forming into another spear of ice that shot down towards the ground, this time towards Starlight and Gabriel.

Starlight wasn't expecting the sudden use of magic. She reached for her sword and prepared to go into her Bullet Reflex, but before she had the chance Gabriel had already shot the shard of ice out of the sky with his rifle.

Seemingly angered, the demon dove down and kicked the center of the ice wall, sending smaller splinters in all directions and scattering the group further.

"What the hell is that thing?" Starlight eyed their assailant down with her sword drawn, watching as it turned to size her up in kind.

"Experimental Talon Suit," Gabriel said. "I used it to deploy and infiltrate into this area, and now some demon has a hold of it!"

"This is the kind of thing you might want to warn us about, y'know!" Flash called to him.

"It's supposed to be top secret, okay? What do you want from me?"

The Talon Suit dashed for Starlight, moving extremely quickly, but she was able to retaliate and respond by slipping into her Bullet Reflex. The suit's hand had formed into a sharp dagger, stabbing directly for her, but she easily parried the attack and kicked the possessed armor away from her.

Gabriel seemed surprised, but kept his response cool and collected. "Sheesh, you're quick..."

"Yeah, try to keep up." Starlight gave her sword a twirl and turned her attention back to the battle.

Spike jumped against the Talon Suit, repeatedly slashing his claws against the demon's body, but the armored forearms quickly and expertly blocked his blows and kept the machine at arm's length. It pushed Spike away, but immediately had to bring its arms back up to form a smaller ice barrier to bear as Flash Sentry opened fire with his pistol. The suit ducked behind the low cover it summoned for itself and held its ground as Flash grew closer, only jumping out from its cover when he was in range for an overhead kick. The Talon Suit's boosters engaged as it placed its hands on the ice barrier sticking up out of the sand, and its boot rocketed towards Flash in a blinding fast arc.

Flash was already spinning out of the way, spinning his own kick into the Talon Suit's side, then pointing his pistol at point blank range for three followup shots. The bullets pushed the suit back, but the demon inside quickly recovered and grabbed for Flash's weapon. As soon as its hands touched the frame, a quick pulse of light emanated from the suit, but the light was masked by Flash and demon wrestling for control of the pistol. After a brief struggle, Flash would break away, but he would find that the suit was materializing a simulacrum of his own pistol in its hands, assembled from the same silvery metal that composed the rest of the suit.

With a gun of its own, the Talon Suit quickly fired back at Flash, who went straight to batting the demon's arm out of the way with his off hand. When Flash pushed his pistol out to fire back, the suit mirrored his actions, and then engaged its boosters to kick him in the chest. Flash fell onto his back, but Starlight stepped in with her sword, striking at the suit's pistol arm and then stabbing for its core. The suit pulled itself in and turned with the swing, stopping Starlight at the arm and catching her sword by the blade, where that same flash of light occurred. Following Starlight's escape from the bind, she would see the Talon Suit also had a copy of her sword in its hand, raising it to push her nanoblade away.

Their swords clashed briefly before the suit stomped its boot and summoned a pillar of ice at Starlight's feet, launching her into the air and forcing her to control her sudden fall. She landed perfectly, but the suit was now inches away from piercing her through with a followup attack.

A crack of gunfire behind her would knock the suit off course, though. Gabriel kept a healthy distance from the demon, using the haphazardly and spontaneously summoned ice structures as points to rest his rifle against for stability.

"Gah, quit fighting it in melee!" Gabriel called out. "It's going to try and get its hands on your weapons!"

"What's this thing supposed to be for, anyway?" He had taken to ducking behind the central ice barrier as the suit began firing at him.

"Fast combat and infiltration." Gabriel said. "It has no thermal signature, expels no heat, and it's extremely fast."

Gabriel took another shot at the suit with his rifle, only glancing its helmet as it engaged in a sword duel with Starlight.

"How do we take it down?"

More pistol shots came Flash's way, the bullets starting to crack and break the ice he hid behind.

"It's hardened against most bullet types, but it's not designed to totally protect the wearer. Aim for the joints, you can see whatever the hell is inside it."

"Kinda hard to hit it with my pistol from here..."

"I saw a box of shotgun slugs in the dock house. Those should do plenty against it."

Shotgun slugs, of course. Flash still has his shotgun slung across his back, but he was low on ammo for it, and he wasn't sure how effective a spread of buckshot would be against the armored demon. As he observed the thing, he saw it moving just as fast as Starlight was, faster than the eye could follow in lightning fast yet controlled motions.

Spike jumped back into the battle too, striking with his tail as Starlight kept the Talon Suit's sword busy. It was far more aerially nimble than Spike was, but Starlight had no problem jumping after it, and the two would inevitably have to come back down to Spike's waiting claws.

Flash sprinted across the lakefront, back to the dock house, where he indeed found a box of green shotgun shells sitting on a plain wooden cabinet inside. A full sixteen rounds were there, more than enough for him to refill the six shots in his magazine. Racking the pump grip back, he carefully extracted the loaded shell and let the first round of the magazine fall out the bottom of the weapon. These two red shells were 00 buckshot, not what he wanted. The shells were replaced with the green cased slug shells, carrying a powerful, solid single cartridge rather than a volley of pellets. This payload would fare far better against armored targets.

One shell went into the shotgun's side gate, then Flash snapped the chamber shut. Then, one after the other, six shells went into the weapon's magazine tube, and he readied himself to head back into the action. He took a deep breath, then let it out.

Back outside, the Talon Suit was keeping both Starlight and Spike at bay, but seemed more intent to strike at Gabriel, who opted to stay as far away from it as possible. It wouldn't work for long, however, as the demon inside of it evaded the cyborg and her canine assistant and engaged the Talon Suit's boosters to launch itself at Gabriel.

The suit's owner would respond accordingly, though, rolling out of the way and simply opting to shoot while running away. Fast as the suit may be, Gabriel seemed to have a good sense of where it would appear, managing to hit it several times before ducking under it swinging its sword. Forced into melee, Gabriel came up behind the suit and threw a side kick into its backpack, disrupting its wings and actually forcing some kind of stunned reaction from it.

Gabriel cycled the bolt of his rifle, but the stunned state was short lived, the suit spun about quickly and slashed for its owner. The blade nearly took his neck, but he fell to his back with a split second to spare, just as a whistling crack of a bullet passed over him and a hole was punched into the suit's wing.

Flash's shotgun howled out from the dock house, a shotgun slug forcing its way through the hardened armor plates. Running the action, Flash fired again, hitting the Talon Suit square in the chest and demanding its attention.

From the side, six quick revolver shots slammed into the Talon Suit as well, a flick of Starlight's wrist heralding more projectiles being aimed its way. Before it could get shot again, the suit dodged towards the shoreline and punched the wet sand beneath it, bringing up a half cylinder of ice for protection before a light charged in its backpack.

Starlight's body charged with light as well, and she dashed forward with her sword drawn to slice the ice apart, shearing and then shattering it to reveal the suit blasting itself away over the lake, retreating from the battle as quickly as it arrived. It passed the Cathedral, seeming to aim itself towards the mountain in the backdrop.

Gabriel was the first to let out a breath. "Damn it. I'm going to have to hunt that thing down again."

[Lake Eclipse, South of Mt. Eclipse]
[Friday, 3:30pm]

"So what's the deal? What the hell is that thing?"

Flash Sentry stared up at the looming Nocturna Cathedral from the relatively tiny boat that his group was riding across the lake. Starlight offered to take up both oars and very easily rowed the wooden craft across the stretch of water, but she had a standoffish list of questions for the newly met Griffonian operative and his rampant suit of armor. Starlight's question was asked with equal parts annoyance and disdain, a reflection of Gabriel's evident unease around herself.

Gabriel sighed.

"It's an experimental exo-suit with ice powers, the ability to replicate any weapon it touches, and the ability to move faster than you can think."

"Uh-huh." Starlight didn't seem particularly impressed, nor was she receptive to the urgency with his description. "I was talking about the demon in the suit."

"I... can't say. I only saw it briefly, the thing got the drop on me before I could get a good look at it."

Spike, who was laying on the floor of the boat with his legs folded up neatly and his tail tucked beneath him, lifted his head in recognition. "It seemed unusually capable and intelligent. Most demons don't bother with co-opting equipment like that."

Gabriel's persistent glare at Starlight made its way to Spike. "And what are you supposed to be, anyway? Some mystery solving robot dog?"

"Spike is a reconnaissance specialist," Starlight said. "He's supposed to be helpful."

The shape and form of the demon seemed really familiar to Flash, though he didn't speak up over the conversation. As Starlight and Gabriel continued their back and forth, Flash kept his thoughts to himself and just focused on their destination. The conflict surrounding the Cathedral had died down; he could only assume that the Nocturna followers had been driven away from their center of worship. Mother Evershade was held inside, as were the artifact pieces she was trying to protect. Hopefully Flash and this small group he'd stumbled into would be enough to take this place back.

A faint ringing pulled Flash from his thoughts. Gabriel and Starlight took notice of the notice, but Flash waved them off. It was just his radio, MC was trying to get in touch with him.

"I've got to take this call," Flash said. Very carefully, he listened into his earpiece and touched the receiver of his radio.

"Flash, it's MC." The voice of Microchips came through the call, audible to Flash and Flash alone. Anything Flash said would be heard by Starlight and Gabriel, though. He trusted information with Starlight, but Gabriel was a different story, so Flash ensured to choose his responses carefully.

"I read you."

"I did some research and a little outreach and I have some information that you might want to hear."

"Alright, go ahead."

"On a hunch, I asked command if they could get in touch with the Griffonian TFO agency regarding our little operation here..." MC began. "And they were able to confirm that they have no active agents in this area at this time."

"Are you sure that's accurate?" Flash asked. Tensions were high between the Harmonic States and Griffonia, it wasn't out of the question that they'd deny the reality of any secret operations they were running.

"Look, I can't say for sure, we're all doing clandestine operations here, but an intelligence exchange was made. Griffonia does have an eye on the situation here, but they have no agents sent to investigate Hollow Shades."

Flash kept his expression as neutral as possible, but couldn't help to steal a glance at Gabriel.

"You mentioned you'd met up with a Griffonian agent, but I'd watch your back around him if I was you."

Flash nodded. "Thanks for the update."

When the radio transmission ended, Flash put his earpiece away just as casually as he'd brought it out. Starlight and Gabriel took notice of him again.

"What's up, Flash?" Starlight asked. "Everything okay?"

"Just a regular check in with HQ."

"Sounds like you got some new intel," Gabriel said. "Anything you want to bring up now?"

"No."

"Look, I'm sorry about the lack of warning on the Talon Suit," Gabriel lifted his hands in an annoyed concedence. "We really shouldn't have surprises ahead of us."

"It really wasn't anything worth bringing up." Flash held his position. He wasn't about to call out his suspicion toward Gabriel so soon, not without taking the time to plan things out. Not while they all were forced so close together.

"Yeah, well, it doesn't matter anyway." Gabriel said.

The boat slid up against the rocky shore on the opposite side of the lake, coming to a stop and allowing Starlight to let her arms relax for a moment. Gabriel immediately stood up and planted his feet back on the earth, shifting his shoulders and looking up and away from the group as he took a few steps away from the boat.

"What makes you say that?" Flash asked.

"We're gonna have to go our separate ways here." Gabriel glanced back over his shoulder, shaking his head as his eyes moved back to the path in front of him, leading up a steep cliffside back onto land. "Hunting down my suit comes first."

Starlight and Spike had little to say to that, but Flash raised a hand in protest.

"What about the Nocturna cultists? Or the villagers?" Flash was still firmly dedicated to helping them out. He knew that Gabriel had a different mission, but they'd both agreed to help out the locals.

"They'll have less problems without a demon in a power suit running around."

Flash was left to watch Gabriel set off down the lakeshore away from the Cathedral building with rifle slung over his shoulder, eventually disappearing among the uneven brush and trees in the distance. With what new information he had, he couldn't trust that Gabriel was working for who he said he was working. But what was the alternative? Was he a spy from another country? Was he working with the terrorists? The demons? Maybe he had a completely separate agenda, separate from anything Flash was concerned with? Or maybe he was a TFO operative, and they'd been given bad intel to obfuscate his mission. Maybe-

"What's with that guy?" Starlight's voice behind him cut Flash from his thoughts.

"Told me he was a Griffonian TFO agent. We met back in the town. Don't know much more than that."

"He seemed really jumpy around me and Spike, any idea why?"

The path forward took Flash and Starlight up a steep, rocky incline that hung over the lake, where they were witness to the site of a very recent battle between machine dragons and a group of Nocturna witches. The witches were all dead, cloaked bodies strung between the gravel road and harsh treeline, paving the long path leading to the front gates of the looming Cathedral. A single machine dragon lay defeated near the cliffedge, glowing liquids still dripping from its torn frame, but other than the one, it seemed there were few losses amongst their enemies.

"Starlight, I'm going to scout the path ahead." Spike prowled about the left flank of the road, keeping his frame low and crawling towards their destination from the furthest edges. "I recommend Agent Sentry follows me so we can attack the Cathedral from multiple sides."

"Only if you're acting as my spotter," Flash replied.

"Oh, come on. I was gonna offer to," Spike said, a bit annoyed by Flash's less serious tone.

"Alright, lead the way."

[Nocturna Cathedral South, Front End]
[Friday, 4:00pm]

Starlight was left to walk the main road forward on her own. A lot had unfolded, but her mind was slowly but surely coming back to one thing: Trixie. The two cultists confirmed that they had someone held in the Cathedral, and if Trixie could be connected to this, then... Starlight's hand tensed at the thought. The metal hoof she had attached to her right elbow would've done something too, but it was hard to emote with it.

Her footsteps were agitated, and her breathing started to stutter as she felt moisture in her mouth. It was cold, externally so. Paired with that, she noticed the sky above her was beginning to grow gray and cloudy- not a good sign of things to come in her experience.

"Starlight, you're-"

Starlight heard Cadence over her radio and she immediately cut her off.

"I know, Cadence. My heart rate is irregular. No need to point it out to me when there isn't anything happening."

Starlight sighed. Nothing notable happened yet, she just had a moderately paced walk through what was a war zone. She was trying to brace herself for the worst, because if these machines had Trixie held up, and they were this brutal, then...

"Starlight, what's wrong?" Cadence's voice broke up her thoughts again. "You're clearly stressed out, something is bothering you."

"I don't want to talk about it."

"It's better that you do, Starlight." Of course, Shining Armor would be right there to back Cadence up in scolding her. "We don't-"

"Yeah, I know, we don't want it to get in the way of the mission!" Starlight stopped walking and threw her hand up at the sky in frustration.

A moment of silence followed.

"I'm worried about Trixie," Starlight admitted, as if anyone that had been following along couldn't have guessed.

"She's really important to you, isn't she?" Starlight couldn't see her, but she felt the empathetic head tilt and comforting caress on her shoulder just from Cadence's words alone. Starlight shook the non-existent comfort off of her.

"She's my friend, of course she is."

There was a moment of doubt on Cadence's end. "This is an awful lot of concern for someone that's just a friend..."

"My best friend, okay?" Starlight emphasized the key descriptor.

"Best friend, huh?" Cadence repeated. Starlight felt a simulated comfort that accosted her senses. There was some deeper level of understanding in Cadence's words, but Starlight didn't want any of it. She wanted to brood and be angry, but Cadence clearly could read straight into her emotional state.

"Yes, and she's been kidnapped by a weird cult!"

"Right..."

Shining Armor got them back to the task at hand.

"Your findings suggested that she's being held in the Cathedral, right?" He asked.

"That's right. And I'm standing right in front of it."

When Starlight looked up at the towering structure, she saw that the clouds overhead had grown in concentration, and the air grew heavier and more precipitous.

"We wouldn't be able to tell, unfortunately," Cadence reported. "The clouds overhead are making imaging from the Freefall difficult. Our video feed from your visor is starting to hitch, too. Until the weather clears up we won't be able to see what's going on there."

Very gently, rain began to fall. Great.

"Got it," Starlight said. "I'll relay any important updates via comms."

Just as she was about to hang up, Spike's portrait appeared in the corner of her vision.

"Starlight, we've got trouble on the west side of the Cathedral, near the graveyard. Zombies? I think?"

Flash's voice came over her communicator as well, though he had no accompanying portrait due to his conventional radio.

"Hurricane's men are patrolling the perimeter, they're more than ready for us." Flash paused, presumably to survey the area again. "They haven't spotted us yet, so we're going to try and maintain our cover."

With this in mind, Starlight approached the Cathedral's front gate with caution. She pressed herself against the solid stone and peered through the gaps in the metal framed gate leading into a well kept courtyard.

As expected, there was a similar level of security in the Cathedral's front. Two machine dragons, one Gunner and one Brawler, stood watch under an overhang before the building's large, wooden front doors. They seemed to want to stay out of the rain, but their heads swiveled vigilantly across the walled courtyard, scanning the features there. A few flower bushes along the walls, a round fountain in the center, a pair of arches leading off to other areas within the Cathedrals perimeter. Starlight had no real way to approach them without being spotted immediately.

"There's similar security on my side," Starlight reported. "Do you think you can make some kind of distraction?"

Flash's voice came back quietly. "We don't want to give away our position yet."

"Yeah, roger that," Starlight looked up to the top of the wall she was pressed behind. It was pretty tall, and looked just wide enough for a single person to stand atop. Maybe she could get in via an unconventional route. Her body only creating a barely audible whirr, a small amount of power began to course through her as she prepared to make a move. In a single, brisk motion, Starlight hiked a foot up on the wall and kicked herself upward, leaving a faint trail of glowing sparks behind her as she did. Right after, she did this again, and again, and again, her legs giving enough momentum to move straight up the wall at a 90 degree angle.

When she reached the top of the wall, she grabbed onto the edge and pulled herself up to a crouching position. The stone bricks were cold and wet, but it wasn't a problem for her. As suspected, she was well above the perception of the two mechadragons guarding the entrance. The Gunner was the largest concern with its extended optical sensors, but it seemed its vision was augmented to only be horizontally longer, and not taller. The clouds and rain overhead created considerable overcast as well, washing out any shadow she may have created moving above them.

The two paths leading out of the courtyard to the left or right seemed to be light on patrols, but Starlight spotted mechadragons stationed periodically around the area. It wouldn't be straightforward to move around on the ground level. She moved quickly across the wall, perfectly balancing herself even at a running pacing and generating little noise as she did so. Where could she go from here? She looked upward at the pointed top of the Cathedral, seeing that there was purchase for her to pull herself further up its height. Perhaps she could get a better sense of where to enter if she could get to the roof.

Starlight lifted a finger to her ear and activated her communicator.

"Spike, Flash, can either of you identify a possible entryway on the upper level of the Cathedral?"

"I saw a balcony walkway on the back end of the building," Flash said. "It overlooks a drop though, it's going to be hard to reach."

"I've got a plan, don't worry," Starlight said.

"You're climbing to the roof, aren't you?" Spike had her figured out immediately.

"Yep."

"I've got eyes on what looks like a basement entrance." Flash said. He seemed to react to something, making a quick gasp, and then Starlight heard something brush against his radio. The next part of his report came in a hushed whisper. "I'm going to have to get inside quickly, which means I can't give you cover if you're up top."

"That's fine, as long as you can get in we'll meet up later."

Starlight switched off of the Stampede, her steel horse leg attaching to her belt and allowing her to attach a new limb to her elbow. The Tetherhand would be needed for this, as she was currently pressed against the side of the Cathedral where the perimeter wall intersected with it. The angles of its archway gave her perfect space for the teal blue projection of her Tether to reach out and pull her up, allowing her to quickly scale the front of the Cathedral without alerting anyone to her presence.

She moved parallel a sizable stained glass window as she clung to a stony pillar at the Cathedral's corner, the glass only depicting the silvery crescent moon that was now firmly associated with Nocturna's religion. Seeing it this close surprised Starlight, as it was far larger than she expected it to be. Eventually she reached the peak of the Cathedral, also far higher than she initially thought it would stand. The rain felt colder and more crisp up here, and it had definitely picked up during her ascent.

She put her back to the tall pointed spire at the Cathedral's crown, and looked at the landscape around her. Beyond the lakeside overlook, the most she could see was the thick forest surrounding the region. Trees and more trees, nothing interesting. Directly beneath her was the courtyard with its fountain, bushes, and two guards, and in between the two edges of her vision she could see something else emerging from the treeline and slowly making its way towards the Cathedral.

It was a group of villagers led by the same type of witches and cultists she'd met earlier. It would seem that they too were prepared for action, as they'd assembled into a quite formidable looking torch-and-pitchfork mob to take banck their place of worship. Hopefully Starlight could get in and out before things got too rough, all she needed was to locate their leader and get the location of the sword fragments.

"Spike, Flash, it looks like we've got an angry mob en route to the Cathedral. Let's make this quick."

"Got it, Starlight." Spike confirmed. "I'm going to be keeping a lookout outside of the Cathedral. You'll know the moment someone else is here."

"Bad news, Starlight." Flash said. "Someone's up on that roof, be careful."

"No problem, I'll deal with it."

"I'm going to focus on finding my VIP and Trixie, then," Flash said. "You go after Evershade and any big threats inside."

"Will do." Starlight ended her call and checked her corner, looking back to see that the wide rooftop of the Cathedral was mostly uneven ground, angled up and down at regular intervals and rimmed with decorative spines and spires near the edges and corners of its geometry.

Surprising, there was no sign of anyone up here...

More surprising was that the rooftop seemed warm, as Starlight stepped into the open to cross it she found that the cold rain was sizzling and turning to steam very quickly after reaching the surface. Strange...

Halfway across the rooftop, Starlight heard a shift above her. Mechanical gears locking and pushing against each other, a soft rumbling of an engine breathing, and a loud rattling of metal as two clawed feet launched from one of the pointed spires jutting up from the back of the Cathedral.

The form of a large, sleek mechadragon crashed directly in front of Starlight, and had she not taken evasive action she would've been crushed instantly. Time slowed for her as she reacted though, and halfway through performing a backflip and landing to start a handspring she caught full view of the angled and distinct silver, teal, and blue form of the dragon attacking her. With pronounced wings, a sturdy yet streamlined body, and two distinct horn-like radar pieces extending down the head, Starlight knew immediately who she was up against.

Dragonlord Ember stood to her full height as Starlight landed facing her on both feet. The dragon twirled an enormous powered polearm in one hand to bear behind her, wasting no time swinging it around as a followup attack. It was built like a poleax, with a spike at the tip, but where the edge would usually end in the razor sharp edge of an axe blade, this weapon had a hundred rumbling chainsaw teeth buzzing about its business end.

A rocket booster on the back of the chainsaw-axe sent the thing in a blisteringly fast arc towards Starlight Glimmer, and as she leaned back to avoid it she felt a single lock of hair getting shaved off, dangling in front of her face for a moment before blowing off in the wind. With her nanoblade out and in the middle of her third evasive flip Starlight rose her weapon to parry the next swing of Ember's chainaxe, leaning past the swing and pushing it to the side before thrusting straight for the dragon's chest.

In response, Ember's knees bent and her wings rotated back, and she was quickly blasting herself up and over Starlight with a kick and push from her body. Another set of rocket boosters on her back engaged, and with a fiery trail behind her Ember whipped around and swung at Starlight again mid-air. Starlight's back straightened out immediately and she held her sword at a perfect 90 angle, pushing against the swing and successfully halting Ember's rotation and rocking her back in the other direction. Her clawed feet dug into the stone of the roof as she landed, and the dragon and a cyborg properly faced each other through the faint mist and steaming rain.

MECHADRAGON LORD EMBER, Liberator of Dragonkind: Ember's body seemed to radiate with anticipation, lighting up and glowing in the gloomy shade of the stormy sky. It was clear that while she was expecting someone, but she wasn't expecting Starlight, and she slowly stepped to the side and allowed a window of conversation.

"Oh, it's you."

Starlight didn't let her guard lower at all, her eyes only narrowed as she kept her sword held at the ready.

"Expecting someone else?"

"Actually, yes," Ember replied. "Since you're not who I was expecting, I'm going to give you a chance to turn back and go home."

"Huh?" Who else would they be expecting here? "Turn back? I'm not leaving until my mission is finished. You and yours are going to hand over Mother Evershade and leave, or you'll be leaving in pieces."

Ember's demeanor seemed to shift in response to Starlight's sudden resolve.

"So you're... Twilight Sparkle, right? Top goon from the Order of Light?"

"What? No!" Starlight was taken aback for a moment. Proper anger washed over her, before her internal regulators suppressed it. How could anyone mistake her for her mentor? "She's not with our organization anymore, I'm our executive enforcer now."

"Huh. Okay, so I was doubly wasn't expecting you," Ember said. "Sorry, the description I was given said 'purple hair and a ninja sword'."

"I was her apprentice, so I guess you were close..."

"I'm sure if you were standing next to each other I wouldn't have made that mistake."

"Uh-huh," Starlight said, "And you're the boss of these machine-dragons I've been taking so much flak from, right?"

"My name is Ember. Dragonlord Ember." Starlight already knew this, but she detected a hint of sensitivity over her identity. Being misidentified was a feeling Starlight supposed she understood to some degree. She displayed none of this to Ember, of course. "What's an Order grunt doing sticking up for a Nocturna town? Aren't you here for their sword, too?"

"We may have our differences, but the Order values the safety of the people." It wasn't entirely honest, she was in fact here for their demon sword, but Starlight personally put her priority to protect civilians from harm over any mission parameters she'd been given.

Ember seemed on the verge of frustrated laughter. "Heh Heh. Is that how they programmed you to think?"

"Funny words, coming from a machine."

"You're looking pretty machine yourself," Ember nodded to Starlight, "The two of us might not be so different, you know."

"Oh, shut up." Starlight took offense to that. "You don't get to say that when you're putting innocent people's lives in danger!"

"We're here for the freedom of these people, you know," Ember's own voice rose from a low-heat simmer to a much more intense boil. "It'd go a lot smoother if you meatbags would quit standing in our way!"

"Freedom? What could you possibly know about freedom?"

"We'd know more if your kind hadn't taken it from mine!" Ember's foot pressed aggressively forward as she leaned towards Starlight. "We were more than this..."

"What?" Starlight wasn't sure how to react to this information. "And what does that have to do with the Nocturna?"

"The sword they have is the key to freeing dragonkind. With the Devil Sword, Daybreaker promised to give us another chance to live. Promised me a chance to see my father again..." Ember seemed wholly invested in her claim. There was something sympathetic there, in someone willing to do anything for their cause. It wasn't something Starlight was willing to entertain, though.

There was still one problem with her claim.

"You're following a fraud. Whoever promised you this is not the real Daybreaker."

Ember shook her head. "No. The human I follow is the real Daybreaker. The same squishy bag of blood and bones that fought alongside my father two thousand years ago. Dragons can tell, we can sense bio-signatures. She's the real thing."

"What? That's impossible..." It wasn't just the conventional teachings of the Order that were barring Starlight from believing her claims. Starlight had met the person who supposedly was Daybreaker face to face, there was no way she'd blatantly antagonize a peaceful village.

"You people that worship her don't know the first thing about her," Ember shook her head. "She doesn't care about your stupid Order or their religion. In fact, the Order has made her their enemy. Their own goddess is enemy number one."

Now this was something Starlight could confirm. She would never bring it up around her superiors, nor let them know she had this information, but she kept this sacreligious knowledge in the back of her mind at all times when on the job. Still, Ember confirming something she knew didn't validate her claim of the Daybreaker she spoke of being genuine.

"That doesn't matter. The Order of Light stands for justice and harmony," Starlight replied. "Something you're directly jeopardizing."

"Don't lie to me. You suppress anything and anyone that challenges your dominance, it has nothing to do with justice or harmony."

Starlight could only make a frustrated grumble in response. Ember clearly wasn't going to budge.

"The real Daybreaker wants true harmony," Ember continued, "Harmony for all creatures. Whether they're flesh, or demon, or steel. We don't have to be friends, but we don't need to invite chaos either."

"This is what you call true harmony? Bulldozing a town is acceptable collateral?"

"The Nocturna are no better than the Order. You both stand in the way of our freedom."

"No better than-" Starlight felt her fingers slip around the handle of her weapon for a moment as she came to a realization. Understanding Ember's perspective wasn't really necessary for the task at hand. "Oh no, I am not arguing ideology with a terrorist!"

Ember's jaw subtly shifted, and she shrugged her shoulders. Through the rain and mist rising around her she remained relatively dry, the droplets touching her evaporating quickly after making contact with her heated metal frame.

The clouds overhead began to rumble and grow darker as the rain fell steadily faster.

"Oh well. If you don't understand freedom, I don't expect you to get our cause. But I'll gladly crush you for it all the same!"

Lightning flashed in the sky beyond the mountain behind them.

"Oh yeah?" Starlight's visor closed over her face as she took a step back, pulling her sword into a high guard. She was far more comfortable engaging in combat than she was in conversation, and was fully ready to embrace that.

"We'll see if I don't cut you to pieces first."

08 - THE CONVERGING PATHS

[Nocturna Cathedral Front, Courtyard]
[Saturday, 1:00pm]

"Damn. I still can't believe it."

Sunset Shimmer approached what was left of the Nocturna Cathedral's front gate. It wasn't just the building itself that was in ruin, there were numerous cloaked bodies lying dead across the gravel road leading to the building. More members of whatever church she and Eve came across back in town, from the looks of it. More bits of crumbled up machinery as well, and even further in, more demonic and possessed villagers, were all lying dead. Through the crumbled stone, burnt out support structures, and broken glass, Sunset could not see a single trace of anyone left alive.

Curiously, many of these villagers had been killed by bullet holes, not any slices or wider lacerations.

"How far is it from here?" Sunset asked. "The castle of the Lord of Chaos?"

Eve had been shadowing her quite closely through the forest path, but seemed hesitant to follow Sunset through the rubble of the outer stone walls. When Sunset looked back, Eve was playing with a small lock of her hair, a bit of the silver strip in between her wider length of indigo. She adjusted her sunglasses as she gave a shy response.

"Uh, I'd say we're... two thirds of the way there, if I remember correctly" She said, "It isn't far from the Cathedral to the front entrance of the castle ruins... but the gate is magically sealed. You'll need a magic weapon to break the lock."

"Remember correctly?" Sunset asked. "I thought you'd never been here before."

"I-, uh, well..." Eve's face immediately turned a strange shade of dark violet, and she tried to cover it with a hand. She was flustered by the looks of it, blood rushing to her cheeks. Oddly colored blood, but she was a demon, so Sunset didn't think too much about it. "I, uh... I'm just making an estimate?"

Sunset's eyelids kept at a half raise, and her lips stayed perfectly flat. She stared at Eve and her flimsy response, trying to think of how to even begin approaching such an obvious attempt to cover up a lie.

"Uh-huh," Sunset said. "Forget I asked. How do we get through here?"

"We'll want to go through the Cathedral and leave through the back of the graveyard, it'll put us on a path around the mountain."

Sunset kept walking, but as she did she felt something appear behind her, heard a heavy and raspy breathing accompany the shuffling of cloth and metal.

Eve, from her delayed distance, immediately called out to Sunset.

"Sunset, look out!"

Sunset spun around and had a pistol drawn in a flash, looking down the visage of a fully formed, shadowy monstrosity of a demon, not one of the possessed villagers but a far more advanced specimen. This demon held the form of a woman, presumably one of the Cathedral members as torn robes still clung to her body and a hood and veil covered her face. She was taller, bulkier, more powerful in form and stature now, something Sunset recognized as the sign of possession of a magic user. Most prominently, the demon's right arm was completely transformed into a long, bony, bladed appendage, bleach-white skin seemingly torn apart and fused back together to make space for the integrated weapon. In the demon's offhand, a wooden-handled revolver pistol was carried, likely the weapon of choice when they were still human.

Such a prominent mutation indicated a stronger presence of demon corruption over a longer period of time. This place had been sitting in chaos for far longer than the village proper.

For the mere second of slowed time that Sunset got a visual of her opponent, the demon flickered into a perfect pitch black color, and then dissipated into nothing. Sunset immediately whipped her attention and weapon sights back forward.

VANTA, Fully Corrupted Shadow Guardians: Two more of these demons appeared off of the centerline of her vision in front of the Cathedral, one standing beyond a ruined fountain and one crouched near some bushes to the side. Their robes were of the slightest difference in color, deep navy blue rather than full black, but they had all formed the same way, one arm splitting into a bony blade and their hand carrying a pistol. Sunset was aware that they could easily brandish any type of weapon in which their human host was familiar, it was a trait of high-level possessions and manifestations for a demon to inherit memories and personality quirks from their human. This type of demon could only manifest itself within a powerful, magically aligned force, giving Sunset the clear indicator that this Nightmare Moon cult was host to some brand of witchcraft or sorcery. Judging by their all black or near-black clothing, the fact that they all appeared to be women, she would assume that they were probably witches.

The minutiae of magic-wielder classification was pretty meaningless to most people, but as Sunset figured, sorcerers wouldn't have used weapons so readily, they preferred purely arcane attacks, and warlocks probably would have a lot more skin showing, they liked to show off their physical forms. They certainly weren't wizards, wizards were far too paranoid to even get possessed by a demon in the first place. Witches, as far as Sunset knew, liked their tradition and were very steeped in convergence with the demon world.

Though, that brought up the question of how this all came to be. Witches were supposedly experienced with demonic interactions, some were even said to be immune to corruption. Some catastrophic mistake must have occurred here to cause such a widespread chaos outbreak.

Or maybe this was just an inexperienced group of magic users making stupid mistakes. Sunset really wouldn't know the difference unless she investigated further, but that wasn't what she was hired to do. She was hired to...

The first Vanta she saw snapped back into reality right in front of the fountain with her pistol held outstretched, clawed finger curling around the trigger and hissing aggressively.

Oh right, she's here to kill stuff.

Three bullets fired off in quick succession, each of the three demons firing their guns in quick succession, but just as quickly Sunset returned fire with both guns drawn, cycling them between each target with hyper fast reflexes and her trademark impeccable accuracy. Each bullet she fired intercepted the ones fired at her mid-flight, and as the two demons to the side jumped to flank her, Sunset locked both of her guns on her front target and fired away.

The bullets phased through the Vanta, the demon willing herself into a shadow and disappearing once more. Sunset bolted forward, running to where the demon once was and opening her arms to target each of the opponents to either side of her. Her guns went off, slides snapping back and forth as she worked her triggers, and those demons too evaporated before any impact was made.

The first one reappeared behind her, bladed arm coiled back and releasing into a wide, spinning slash, but Sunset rocked her head forward and spun on one foot, holding up one of her pistols to deflect the blade and pointing her other down at the demon's leg. One bullet pierced the demon's calf simulation with Sunset's parry, giving the demon no time to phase away. Stunned, Sunset dropped her other leg and kicked up into the Vanta's neck, stumbling her back while Sunset cartwheeled up onto the ridge of the ruined fountain. It was cracked on her side, and all the water had drained out of a gap on the other, but she kept her balance as she fired down on the recoiling Vanta.

The two others reappeared to either side of her, both lunging in with equal intensity, but Sunset jumped again, this time landing on the raised center platform of the fountain. The flat space was incredibly thin, Sunset was balancing on just one foot, but she kept her arms raised and shifted her aim to the two closer enemies, knocking them both off the fountain with a shower of bullets as they attempted to close the distance.

From her spot atop the fountain, Sunset saw Eve back beyond the crumbled front gate wall, fighting back a crowd of Operarri, more demonic villagers from back in the town. While they weren't as powerful as these transformed witches, they were certainly more numerous. Eve was moving quickly, her magical Locus putting in work as she kept the crowd at bay. Her arcane fire and lightning attacks rang out even as she dipped out of sight. Sunset trusted she could take care of herself, but made a point to drop these demons as quickly as she could so she could go help her.

Sunset kicked off of the fountain, inverted her body into a flip, and fired her guns down at the demons below her in a circle. Her descent slowed for a moment, not firing with precision but focusing on saturating the ground beneath her with bullets. Only one of her targets failed to escape, the first taking a few hits but pulling away, and the second turning to a shadow the moment she saw Sunset getting ready to fire.

A most unlucky third demon caught both of Sunset's boots on her chest as she completed her flip, and then the full weight of the redhead's tall and athletic body as she drove the demon straight into the ground. Both of Sunset's knees bent as she crushed the demon's shoulders down into the dirt, then fired one of her pistols five times right down into her face. The Vanta screeched in agony, the bullets piercing the skin and eliciting a light spray of thick ink-like blood from the creature, but the injuries seemed minimal at best. Sunset wound one of her legs back and kicked hard into the demon's thigh, suddenly launching her target into a spin. The demon crashed into the base of the stone wall furthest from Sunset, crumpling to the ground and struggling to right herself as Sunset redirected her attention to the next threat.

One of the navy-robed Vantas swung her blade around at Sunset from the side, but vanished as soon as Sunset dodged and fired a counter shot. When the next one swung for her, Sunset holstered her pistols and switched to her sword. Rather than dodge, this time she barred her blade against the Vanta's sharpened limb. She made contact, a distinct scraping of metal on bone following, and then she tilted the pommel of her sword to force a close blunt strike on the Vanta's forehead.

With the demon now stunned, Sunset returned the side slash with her own sword, cutting the Vanta across the stomach and coincidentally slicing through the other right as it reappeared beside her. More dark blood splattered across the ground as Sunset's sword completed its arc. The two demons reeled back, not defeated, but visibly injured more than the gunshots.

Still, Sunset opted to switch back to her pistols, pointing one at each of the demons before her and focusing her magic forward into her weapons. After a moment, her guns began to glow, and bright red flashes burst from both muzzles. Bullets ripped from two angles, each round imbued with demon power, and they exploded against their targets on impact. Both demons were blasted backwards into the walls on either side of the courtyard.

They weren't out of the fight yet, but Sunset had established her edge on these creatures.

She saw a shape move in front of her, running out of the blown out doors of the Cathedral and hiking a foot up on the edge of the fountain. It was another Vanta, this one a black robed one, but rather than strike with her blade arm she fired her revolver down in three quick shots. Sunset dodged backward, the bullets striking near her feet, but before the Vanta landed on the ground she faded into shadows. A moment later, she reappeared at Sunset back, still traveling through the air with her gun pointed down. Three more bullets spat out at Sunset, narrowly missing her as she twirled herself and readjust her mental target lock.

Sunset tried to extend her arm to fire again, but the Vanta quickly shifted from firing her gun to stabbing with her blade arm, catching Sunset off guard. Reacting quickly, Sunset pulled her pistols towards her chest just in time to block the point of the Vanta's blade. The impact came quickly, the blade's point shoving her guns against her and actually managing to shove her backwards.

Her legs braced, but the Vanta's arm rolled back in a fluid motion and reloaded itself for another stab just as quickly as the first came. Sunset was ready, holding her pistols crossed again as the pointed blade came for her again. It hit even harder, though, and Sunset was forced back into a slide all the way to the rim of the fountain. The back of her legs smacked against the broken stone, and for a moment Sunset lost her balance. Her feet shifted back to catch her weight, and she saw the Vanta that landed a hit on her, widening her stance and raising her arm blade to strike again and glaring at Sunset through her dark veil.

The other Vantas surrounding her were all back on their feet, and each one closed in from a different direction.

Sunset's head tilted to either side, and she held her pistols at the ready.

"I sure hope you've said your prayers..." Sunset said, a cool smile crossing her face as she eyed up her opponents.

The Vanta directly in front of her cocked her head in curiosity, taking the time Sunset spent taunting to reload her revolver in a quick, snappy manner. As the gun came back up to target the demon hunter, Sunset's eyes narrowed again.

"'Cause church service is canceled."

[Nocturna Cathedral West, Graveyard Area]
[Friday, 4:15pm]

"Corpses in a graveyard. Who would've thought..."

Flash Sentry stood over the last of the undead soldiers patrolling the graveyard out behind the Cathedral. It was a wide stretch of land, but it felt pretty confined by the tall stone walls surrounding it. Two parallel slab walkways were the main features of the graveyard areas, lining large groupings of various sized headstones all arranged in neat rows. Smaller pathways branched between the two main ones, and guards had been posted between them to watch over the area.

The Legionnaires had proven little match for Flash, however. As clouds rolled in and the sky darkened, Flash kept his profile low and ducked between headstones and some of the taller grass on the edges of the walkways. Spike had followed with him, but the mechanized hound opted to stay near the side entrance, using his limited radar capability to relay the positions of the undead guards to Flash as he crept around undetected. The communication system that Spike and Starlight used was unfamiliar to Flash, unlike anything he'd ever seen before in terms of wireless communication technology, something about utilizing some combination of magic and nanotech, but it apparently was compatible with his own analog radio system.

With Spike's assistance, Flash's resentite knife easily dispatched each of the patrols, all he needed to do was get behind them and deliver a quick stab to the neck or arms, anywhere there was a gap in the armor. The magic-nullifying effects of his knife blade readily did its work on whatever force was keeping the soldiers reanimated. Each of the corpses collapsed to the ground in near silence as they became inanimate once more. Normally they would've put up a considerable fight for a lone operative, Flash counted eight soldiers in the graveyard, but none of them got the chance.

Flash kept out of sight, listened closely to Spike's information over the radio, and moved decisively, taking down each of the patrolling soldiers in quick succession without any alert being raised. He kept his momentum forward, not letting his awareness drop as he pressed himself up against the side of the Cathedral's far wall, walking along the side and scanning the perimeter to the best of his ability.

By now it was raining softly, Flash worried that the storm would impede his vision if he didn't get inside quickly.

"Spike, the graveyard looks clear. You can move in."

"Got it."

Spike slowly crept through the gate headfirst, his optic sensors fully open as he kept himself pressed as low to the ground as possible. Flash watched him move, but then lost track of him as he crossed through a row of bushes. His eyes shifted over to the Cathedral building itself. He was looking at the back end of it, there was a balcony overlooking a straight drop downhill. The entire building was built on an incline, it appeared, and the sturdy brick wall only encircled the flat ground around the building. Around the back, the cliff downhill served as a natural barrier, and it wasn't one anyone could easily traverse.

From the angle he was observing, there was a slow rise in the middle of the graveyard with a particularly large headstone atop it, and then there was a view of the back corner of the Cathedral. On an upper floor, Flash saw a pretty spacious balcony near the corner overlooking the drop, and there was no door but the one on that level. No ground level entrance from the back, just a tall stained-glass window running up the center of the back wall.

Interesting imagery in the window, of a woman kneeling before the moon. Unfortunately there was no light to stream through it, and it mostly looked dull with the dark clouds forming above him.

There wasn't a way in through the back, but Flash spotted what looked like a hatch to a cellar or basement near his side of the building. That was something to work with...

The rustling of metal boots on the ground took his attention away from his surveillance, and Flash immediately dropped to a prone position.

"Flash, someone's coming!" Spike's voice buzzed in his ear.

"Way ahead of you. Stay low..."

He slid himself up behind another of the bushes, the gently falling rain masking any of the subtle noises he was making. In the distance, coming through the same entryway they'd come through, three more Legionaries came walking through the area.

Just then, Starlight's voice cut back into Flash's ear. They'd been in contact quite recently, while Flash was first scoping out the graveyard.

"Spike, Flash, can either of you identify a possible entryway on the upper level of the Cathedral?"

Carefully, Flash adjusted his radio set.

"I saw a balcony walkway on the back end of the building," he said. "It overlooks a drop though, it's going to be hard to reach."

"I've got a plan, don't worry," Starlight said.

"You're climbing to the roof, aren't you?" Spike said. Could he see her from his current location? Flash wasn't sure.

"Yep."

"I've got eyes on what looks like a basement entrance." Flash said. Just as he did, the three Legionnaires suddenly became alerted. One barked an order to the others, motioning for them to spread out and search the area. They must've noticed that their companions were dead. Flash ensures to pull his entire body as neatly into his hiding spot as possible before whispering the rest of his report.

"I'm going to have to get inside quickly, which means I can't give you cover if you're up top."

"That's fine, as long as you can get in we'll meet up later."

Flash exhaled as the conversation ended, and he turned his attention back to the three soldiers now actively alerted to the presence of intruders. With the captives inside and their group so close to their target, Flash knew they were working on a timer. They needed to be quick about this, Flash didn't have time to fight these guys head on.

One of the soldiers was sweeping near his hiding spot. The undead soldier's metal boots clanked against the stone tile walkway, footsteps growing nearer as Flash prepared to make his move.

"Spike, can you track the other soldiers?" Flash sneaked a quick whisper over his radio.

"They're near me, but I can only eliminate one at a time..." Spike said.

"I'm going to take this one out, get ready to pick a target and attack him."

"Got it..."

Flash heard the footsteps going nearer, and from his pouch he produced an empty magazine. He tried not to leave things behind if he could help it, but he was about to make tactical use of littering.

The soldier stood right next to his bush cover, looking around the nearby headstones but not quite honed in on his location. Carefully, yet intently, Flash reeled his arm back and tossed the magazine out from behind his cover, towards the back of the soldier looking for him. It clattered against the ground quite audibly, and the soldier immediately snapped his attention towards the source of the sound. Flash could hear the creaking of his bones and the raspy breathing from beneath his decaying throat. A grunt of confusion and a cautious drawing of his sword.

The soldier's response wasn't enough though. Flash immediately lunged out from his hiding spot and plunged his knife into the side of the soldier's neck, wrapping his other arm around the soldier's torso and kicking him in the back of the leg. The hapless soldier was yanked back into the bushes seconds later, completely unable to alert his companions to the disturbance.

Not wasting time, Flash pushed forward from where he stashed the soldier's body. His knife still drawn, he scooped the tossed pistol magazine off the ground and made into a sprint across the graveyard.

"Now, Spike!"

The two soldiers on the further side of the graveyard turned to see him running for them, and Flash immediately tossed his magazine again at full force mid-run. The metal casing knocked against the closest soldier's helmet, disorienting him with noisy THUNK! The motion gave Flash enough time to close the distance and land another quick throat slash takedown on the soldier, and in the same moment Spike jumped from behind a cut down tree stump to take down the last soldier.

Pulling his knife free, Flash pushed the now dead soldier to the floor, and watched as Spike tore into the back of his target's neck. Spike's front paws ended in sharpened metal claws, perfect weapons for stealth attacks despite Spike's lack of primary weaponry. There would likely be more soldiers sent in to investigate, so they had to move again. Inside, preferably.

"Spike, hold position out here in the graveyard and radio me if more reinforcements show up. I'm going to go in on my own."

"Are you sure, Flash?"

Flash nodded. "Absolutely. I'm going to need you to watch my exit."

Spike nodded his understanding. His optical sensors seemed to close for a moment as his head tilted, as if he was thinking about something. Flash found his attempts at face expression intriguing, but didn't say anything about it.

With the coast apparently clear, Flash moved directly for the basement hatch on the side of the Cathedral, but caught a glimpse of something moving at the very edge of the roof. Something was up there...

He pressed up under the roof's overhang, well out of the way of whatever might be looking down from atop the roof, and he heard a distinctly synthetic voice speaking. It was like Spike's voice, but with a rough, feminine tone to it. She was talking to someone, likely over a radio...

"Queen. It's Rook."

It was a faint voice, but Flash listened closely...

"Looks like our Knight has been slacking on his guard duty."

There was a moment of pause, presumably while her radio contact gave a response.

"I mean his men watching the west side of the Cathedral are all dead."

Another pause.

"No, like regular dead. Again. I know they're all undead, I'm not stupid. I didn't see anyone here, but it must have been the Nocturna's champion."

Flash kept his breath held and his body still, hoping Spike was somewhere out of sight as well.

"What do you mean 'the other intruder'? The man Knight talked about? I doubt he'd make it past us if he was just a normal human."

They were talking about him, and were those code names they were using to talk to each other?

"The irregular I ran into? I, uh... Didn't get a good look at her. Razer is dead, though, as well as several dozen others of mine. Why? Do you know something about her?"

The 'irregular'? Must be Starlight...

"Maybe. My gems are still on that Nocturna Witch, though. You have their elder as a hostage. Speaking of, how close are you to getting the information from her?"

Mother Evershade. They had her inside...

"Right. We'll give you time, but we can't expect the people here to not retaliate eventually. Have you heard anything from Bishop?"

Bishop? Another member of their team, supposedly...

"Understood. I'll be waiting up here for the Nocturna Witch to arrive. One step closer to freedom."

Over the slowly increasing rainfall, Flash heard the distinct thud of something heavy pushing itself off the ground, but nothing seemed to hit the ground in the moments following.

Great, Flash had a whole mess of information to figure out on top of everything else. He needed to just keep focused on rescuing the VIP...

But Starlight's voice came over the radio again.

"Spike, Flash, it looks like we've got an angry mob en route to the Cathedral. Let's make this quick."

An angry mob? Hopefully that meant more of the Nocturna cultists coming to fight back.

"Got it, Starlight." Spike confirmed. "I'm going to be keeping a lookout outside of the Cathedral. You'll know the moment someone else is here."

Out of the corner of his eye, Flash caught movement on the edge of the rooftop.

"Bad news, Starlight." Flash said. "Someone's up on that roof, be careful."

"No problem, I'll deal with it."

"I'm going to focus on finding my VIP and Trixie, then," Flash said. "You go after Evershade and any big threats inside."

"Will do."

Flash cautiously moved towards the hatch on the ground, lifting the door and dropping himself down inside the dark stairway beneath.

[Nocturna Cathedral, Roof]
[Friday, 4:25pm]

Starlight Glimmer wanted so badly to just lock blades with this mechadragon, so she could then proceed to punch her in the face a whole bunch with her metal fist. The problem was that Dragonlord Ember had a giant chainsaw blade on the edge of her rocket-powered axe, and any prolonged blade lock would end poorly for Starlight. She had to move quickly, dodging back and back as Ember dominated the roof with her huge weapon.

On flat ground, Starlight had to remain fast. Her body was fully powered up, glimmering its soft teal color as she made herself into a blur just to stay alive.

It wasn't a tactic she could rely on to win this fight...

"Aw, what's the matter?" Ember taunted, her chainaxe tearing up the roof of the Cathedral as she narrowly missed Starlight's feet. "You were talking so tough, what was that about cutting me to pieces?"

Starlight let the chainaxe pass over her, and then made a move. She drove herself straight forward with her nanosword outstretched, kicking off the ground and thrusting in the small window she was given. Ember easily twisted her body around and evaded the attack, and in the same motion she was swinging her axe to counter. Starlight rolled to her knees in response, sheathing her sword and drawing her revolver instead. As the axe passed over her a second time, she kicked up off the ground and used the opening to fire two shots off into Ember's chest.

The impact did nothing to stop her momentum, but it was apparent some small damage was done. Her axe came around again and Starlight jumped over it this time, putting two more shots into Ember's shoulder and landing right in front of her. Her right arm light up with power, and she thrust her Tetherhand out in an attempt to grapple the taller dragon. Ember reacted accordingly, her off claw meeting the glowing projection of Starlight's hand halfway and exerting just as much control as Starlight could force on her.

They rocked back and forth in close quarters, both of them putting their entire bodies into toppling the other, but Starlight prevailed even as she started to get overpowered. She deactivated her Tetherhand just as Ember was making her push, causing the dragon to suddenly be holding nothing while Starlight properly bent her knees and braced for impact. With both arms she caught the dragon as she fell forward, then arched her back and extended her legs fully.

In frantic surprise Ember flailed as Starlight flipped her over in a full suplex, causing her to roll and spill out on the ground behind her. Starlight too was grounded, but she made a far faster recovery, resummoning her Tetherhand into a fist to punch down on her prone foe. The hit went through, and Ember was smashed against the Cathedral's roof, but right after she thrashed her entire body with open jaws.

More steam enveloped them as Ember let out a jet of orange flame from her throat, aimed right for Starlight. The cyborg wasn't touched, but she hurriedly backed away, giving Ember time to stand and ready her weapon amidst the thick concealment of steam now surrounding her. Starlight could only see a faint outline of the dragon as moisture dragged at her skin and steel, a gleaming pair of red lights where her eyes should be as she scanned the area.

"Dammit! Where'd you go?!" Ember's frustrated growls were heard as she stomped through the white, foggy cloud she inadvertently created.

"Starlight!" Sunburst's voice called through her radio. "If she's anything like Spike, she probably uses infrared imaging to see! That cloud of steam around her is probably limiting her vision more than yours!"

Taking the hint, Starlight immediately dashed to the side, slipping behind one of the tall, pointed spires atop the Cathedral. It was just in time too, as Ember came angrily barreling out of the cloud of steam, angrily searching for where her opponent had gone.

She'd soon find out, as Starlight emerged from behind the spire and landed a slash across Ember's back, cutting into one of her wings and getting another angered, synthesized growl from her.

"Agh! Why, you..." Ember's chainaxe lit up and spun her around on a dime, the rocket booster and chainsaw blade rumbling and roaring to take Starlight's life. Starlight nimbly leapt into a flip, and cut across Ember's shoulder again. Her nanoblade wasn't digging deep enough to disable her, but the cuts were getting through. She just needed to keep up the pressure.

As Ember spun for her again, Starlight switched off her Tetherhand. The arm secured itself on her belt, but before she could pick another one she felt the heavy axe blade digging into her back, ridges of chainsaw teeth all biting into her one after the other, and then suddenly she was slamming face first into one of the spires on the other end of the roof.

She felt her frustration spiking at the disruption, but right as her emotional state changed she felt herself internally soothed, and her power cells getting recharged.

The world spun, she hadn't even realized what hit her until she unsteadily looked behind her to see Ember raising a claw balled up in a fist in her direction, pointing a wrist mounted cannon in her direction. Two barrels shot out red hot rounds one after the other, pummeling the stone spire under repeated blasts. Stone chunks flew away from the protrusion, and Starlight too would've been taken apart had she not ducked out of the way.

Ember was right back on her, using the boosters on her back to close the gap and get right back to hacking away with her chainaxe. Starlight didn't even have time to reequip an arm, she had to make do with her natural arm and her footwork. She could only back up so far, as she eventually found her back brush against a raised, A-framed section of the roof that extended above her head.

Both hands on the shaft of her weapon, Ember brought her axe back and chopped down in a powerful strike that put a nasty looking crack down the roof. Starlight backflipped up and out of the way, landing atop the ridge of the A-framed roof section to then fire her pistol down at the dragon's face. She fired until her cylinder was empty, the headshots successfully stumbling Ember back, and then jumped from the raised roof into a dropkick on the dragon's metal jaw, both of her feet making contact and knocking her flat onto her back.

With time to reorient herself, Starlight attached her Dragonheart claw to her right elbow stump, and flexed the claws in sequence as Ember righted herself.

"You're the one that killed Razer..." Ember's optics narrowed as she saw Starlight's new appendage. "Not the Nocturna Witches?"

Starlight smirked. "Believe it."

"And here I thought some random Order goon wouldn't be worth my time." Ember's jaw shifted into an approximate smile. "What's that about you not being anything like me? You've got dragon parts on you!"

Another moment of distinct fury from Starlight that was gone the moment it came. She didn't appreciate the comments on her character.

With a rumble and a streak of fire behind her, Ember jumped for Starlight and swung her axe around again. Starlight was prepared this time, though. With her blade at the ready and her claw extended, Starlight engaged her Bullet Reflex as Ember made a midair swing at her. Fully watching the arc of her weapon in slowed time, Starlight learned forward and stepped into Ember's attack radius, but aimed her sword for the shaft of Ember's weapon.

Finally, a good bind.

The edge of the chainaxe was inches from Starlight's face, the teeth not touching her but the heat radiating from the weapon easily beginning to dry her skin. She kept it at bay with her blade pressed against the shaft, her balance precariously placed on how well her feet could keep her right in the sweet spot as Ember tried to back away. Too far back, and Ember would be able to strike with her axe, but too close and she'd have more leverage on Starlight.

They tipped back and forth again, turning around each other and rapidly adjusting the angle of their bind, but Starlight kept herself right where she needed to be, wearing away at Ember's balance until...

Starlight balled her Dragonheart claw into a fist and punched up into Ember's chest, a perfect strike to open her guard and land another sword slash across her shoulder. As Ember retaliated with a swing, Starlight's Bullet Reflex activated again. Her focus this time was on the mark her blade dug into the shaft of Ember's weapon during their bind.

With a perfect slice in slowed time, Starlight's nanoblade bit right into the groove it started and cut all the way through the handle of the chainaxe, splitting the weapon in two and slashing straight through to Ember's face. Her weapon pulling apart, Ember recoiled as the right side of her face had a new mark dragged across it. The dragon stumbled back, making an attempt to claw at Starlight as she lunged for her, but Starlight's own dragon claw led the charge.

Their claws clashed together again, but Starlight wouldn't let the grapple last. She whipped her sword around, but Ember blocked the blade on her forearm. She again let loose a jet of fire from her mouth, successfully pushing Starlight away but again creating a great cloud of steam around the two of them. This time, she was ready for the sudden vision loss.

Her wings spread wide and she kept her eyes focused on Starlight's last known location, firing her wrist cannon off into the ground in front of her before dashing forward through the steam.

Unfortunately, Starlight was ready for her. With power charging into her Dragonheart claw, she stopped Ember's motion in full with a palm thrust to her throat. Her claws dug in completely, and she drove the dragon down into the floor, scraping apart the stone construction with the metal exterior of the struggling creature. She ran forward, pushing towards the edge of the roof and pivoting into a spin. From there, she slung Ember over her shoulder like a trebuchet, sending her skyward before engaging her Bullet Reflex again.

Carefully, she aimed her Dragonheart claw at full extension, targeting Ember's torso as she slowly dropped through her perception. At her will, the plasma cannon built into her claw fired off with a concussive snap, sending a bright blue beam tearing straight through the dragon, knocking her further back and sending her tumbling down off the Cathedral.

Not even a word or a scream came from her as she dropped, and Starlight just watched her disappear into the trees.

She took a deep breath and steadied herself after that ordeal. Then, more frustration.

"Damn it."

"What's wrong, Starlight?" Cadence's portrait popped up the corner of her visor. She was clearly about to ask about her mental state.

"I would've liked to confirm that kill," she said. "She's going to be back."

"You think she survived that?" Shining Armor was on the radio now too.

"Look, I don't trust anyone I end up fighting like that to stay down until I watch them get cut into pieces," Starlight said, "Preferably by me. In slow motion."

"Finish the mission, then," Shining Armor said. "You're close, you've got this."

"Right."

Starlight looked down along the Cathedral's wall. Right in front of her was a giant stained glass window with a crescent moon close to her and a woman kneeling before it close to the ground. To the side, she could see the balcony walkway that Flash told her about. A door led inside the Cathedral to somewhere on the second story. All Starlight needed to do was drop down and she'd be in.

She spared a glance behind her first. Just a steaming rooftop with a few broken spires atop it, and a lot of structural and burn damage. Nothing left for her here.

With a concentrated use of energy, Starlight vaulted over the edge of the rooftop and engaged her impulse boosters right as she reached the walkway. Her landing was silent, though she was sure any pretense of stealth had long since been broken. Regardless, she found the door leading into the Cathedral and slipped inside.

[Nocturna Cathedral, Basement Level]
[Friday, 4:30pm]

Flash heard a crash of thunder above him, but then shortly after a more familiar sound of sword on metal. Sounds like Starlight found whoever this 'Rook' was.

Nothing else but the sound of rain accompanied him as Flash entered the warmly lit basement. The scent of a controlled torch burn filled this area, firelight sprawling out through the tight hallway and around the corner as Flash passed through it. He defaulted to drawing his pistol, the shotgun he'd acquired being a bit too long for combat in such tight quarters, but he wasn't sensing that anyone was on this level of the basement.

He came into the basement's main room from the corner hallway, a storage space with several chests and trunks scattered about, as well as a small wooden table and a simple chandelier hanging from the low ceiling, providing more than enough light for the area. The place was spacious, but cold and empty. As he paced across the room at a low ready, Flash spotted the bodies of two Nocturna Witches facedown on the floor. Both of them had been killed by a cut to the back of the neck, and neither of them showed signs of possession. They were human when they died.

They seemed to be guarding a closet door, one that had its handle broken off and was wide open. When Flash leaned inside, he saw clear signs of someone having been taken hostage. A thick rope was tied up on the floor, but had been cut, and there was a button from a suit jacket that had been torn and fallen away here.

Flash checked his picture of Raven Inkwell again. She was wearing a suit in the photo, and the button looked like it could've easily been from it. He wanted to believe he was on the right track, but...

Had she escaped her captors? Or did her new captors execute the old ones and move her somewhere else?

On the far end of the basement there was a staircase leading up into the Cathedral proper. From the doorway at the top, he could hear voices talking...

"Our visitor is engaging our Rook," a woman's voice said. It was refined, aged, and... almost familiar. It had an air of authority surrounding it. This was someone who was confident in their plans. "Have our Knight be ready to greet them."

"Problem." The response came from a much more clinical voice. Also a woman, but younger, and more skeptical of the world. "We have more contacts coming right through the front gate and we need to fortify it."

"Have our Knight solve that problem then. I'm in need of more time, Bishop. She'll fold when she sees how dire the situation is..."

"Certainly, Queen."

Two pairs of footsteps were then heard moving away from each other.

Flash took this opportunity to sneak up the stairs and through the doorway, leaning out into the corridor on the main floor and ensuring nobody else was present. Where would they have taken Inkwell, if holding her in the basement wouldn't suffice? Were they questioning her for intel as well? Possibilities flooded Flash's mind, ones that he tried to drain out so he could focus on his mission.

He'd done it, he'd successfully infiltrated the Cathedral, but he now needed to extract his target and safely exit. The interior of the corridor he was in was quite grand in it's construction, with rounded stone pillars sticking out in the walkways at fixed intervals. Much like the Order, the Nocturna Convent seemed to like their stained glass window art, as along the sides of the building several elegantly made and colorful panes had been installed. What was far more unsettling were the stone warrior statues dotting the ends of the hallway, ones bearing a similar resemblance to Nightmare Moon...

From around the corner, Flash could hear the footsteps picking up, and he stuck himself to hide behind one of the statues. He picked the recess in the wall that had the least torchlight illuminating it, and was at the furthest end of the hallway from whoever was coming. The figure approached, but Flash didn't dare peek around to get a visual. He was just going to hold his breath and wait until they passed him.

They got closer, whoever it was they were walking at a ready pace, but Flash heard another set of steps approaching from the bend in the hallway, and slumped slightly in his hiding spot. Someone was coming from the other direction as well, but these had the familiar clanking of metal and heft to them. He could infer that these were the footsteps of Commander Hurricane, and confirmed that as he heard the undead rasp of the man as he neared.

"Bishop," he growled. "My men are dead. We have an intruder."

The cold voice of Bishop responded, the same woman that was speaking to 'Queen' just a moment ago.

"The intruder is on the roof. Rook is dealing with them, and we have pressing issues here."

"No!" Hurricane's foot stomped. "There is another, I swear. The toy soldier, the rest of you have underestimated him."

"I highly doubt it. We need your forces defending the Cathedral."

"Have the dragon do it. This is the perfect opportunity for someone to breach our defenses. My men will maintain their post within the building."

Bishop sighed. "Holding this position is not the objective. Getting the location of the demon sword fragments is. We're supposed to be letting the enemy push us back to put pressure on the old lady. We need to have a concentrated force at our front to control their push back."

"I will not suffer defeat to a group of farmers and heathens!"

"Inside voice, Hurricane," Bishop said. "We're here to fight chaos, not civilians."

Hurricane only grumbled in response.

"If Queen demands defense, I will fortify the front entrance myself, so that my men may stay stationed inside. I assume you'll sit at our Queen's feet as she finishes her interrogation, then?"

"That's my job, Hurricane."

Without a word more, Hurricane turned and stomped off the way he came, while Bishop stood and let the moment linger. Flash now had a direction, all he had to do was follow Bishop back to where Queen was, and he'd at least have a shot at locating Mother Evershade. With a sigh she turned and walked back down the hallway, footsteps softly echoing against the drizzle of rain outside. Just as he heard her turn the corner, Flash emerged from his hiding spot and quietly made his way after her.

He followed her down another, thinner hallway, and then she turned off just before the Cathedral's main chamber, up a flight of stairs to an inside walkway overlooking the Cathedral's foyer. He could see several of Hurricane's soldiers waiting tentatively here, clamoring and voices growing beyond the front doors. Two of Ember's mechadragons came through the center hallway, giving nonverbal signals to the undead soldiers.

They were all bracing for something, it would've been a nightmare to sneak past them all, but from this vantage point nobody would see him unless they bothered to look up, and they never would. Still, he kept himself pressed to the half-columns protruding from the walls and stayed out of any potential sightlines Bishop may have should she turn, but she never did. He never got a clear look at her at all, he was only following her by her charcoal suit jacket and the brown bun of hair on the back of her head. As she crossed the second floor walkway, she stopped directly in the center, turning herself to a doorway on her left side. No door separated the room inside from the walkway, and so Flash could follow her without making too much noise.

Carefully, ever so quietly, he turned the corner, only to find that Bishop had disappeared into this long meeting room. Like the rest of the Cathedral, it was lit by candlelight, and had a density of contained clutter in its decor and furnishings. Tables, bookshelves, trinkets hung from the walls, all of it telling the story of a place frequented by quite devoted people, but unfortunately nobody was here to be seen. The door ahead into the next room was already shut, Bishop must've been in a hurry to get to where she needed to go. Flash still walked softly, his handgun raised and held forward, but nobody would be there to greet him.

Nobody in front of him, at least.

"Put your hands where I can see them." Bishop's voice came from behind him, accompanying a cold piece of metal up against his back.

Out of the corner of his eye, Flash saw the silhouette of the woman standing with a pistol at full extension. With a subtle nod of his head, he set his pistol down on the table in the center of the room and put both of his hands up. It wasn't totally unexpected. From what Flash could piece together, Bishop was something of an intelligence specialist, a coordinator between each of the other members of their group.

"Sure." Flash kept his response cool. "Wouldn't want to make you use that, would I?"

"Were you expecting to be held at gunpoint today?" Bishop's inflection titled, a dry sarcasm in her tone. "Interesting."

Flash said nothing, letting the tension of the moment build into preparedness for his next move.

"You're going to walk into that closet and handcuff yourself," Bishop said.

"Heh. You first."

Flash quickly turned opposite to the direction he dropped his weapon. He reached his right arm behind him and grasped Bishop by the elbow, shoving her gun out of the way as he drew his knife from his sheathe with his left hand and swiped across for her. Still leading with his right, he kept pressure on her gun hand, stepping forward and ensuring that she couldn't redirect it at him even as she tried to back away.

In the split second he shoved the barrel of her weapon to the floor, Flash swiped back across at Bishop, reorienting his left side to lead him as he followed through with a thrust. Bishop could only sidestep and lean out of the way, raising her arms to fire her weapon too risky of an action while Flash was in a proper fighting stance with his blade. She shuffled her feet closer and caught his arm in a thrust, returning the violent sentiment by holding his limb locked and stepping into a front kick. He readily swatted down at her ankle and pushed her away, giving him just enough of a window to redouble his attack while she released him and caught her balance.

As she moved, Bishop pulled her arms close in and pivoted, bending her knees to duck under Flash's next knife attack and uncurling her arms, attempting to press her pistol directly into his chest. Her stance was stable and low, but the motion was still brought to sudden halt. Flash's free hand caught her wrist and pulled her back, sending her balance spinning as he jerked her over and brought his knifepoint to her throat. He was in control here, she wasn't strong enough to pull away from him.

"Really, I insist," Flash said. Bishop was silent, quietly taking in what had just happened as she studied Flash's facial features. She recognized him after a moment, this was the "toy soldier" Hurricane spoke of before. A stranger from an unknown organization.

Flash had a far quicker reaction. All of the questions in his mind suddenly converged into one as he saw Bishop's face in full.

He immediately recognized the woman at the end of his knife.

He stifled his own startle. His body remained cool and composed but he was certain that his eyes betrayed his disbelief. Rectangular glasses adorned her face, held in front of wide, amber eyes and sitting neatly above distinguished cheeks and a pointed chin. Her dark brown hair was parted neatly into bangs swept to either side of her face, and as he'd seen while following her, the length falling from behind her head was held up in a bun.

He couldn't believe who he was looking at.

"You're-"

The woman stared at him, what could only be described as a subtle smile forming on her lips.

"Go on," She replied.

She was the woman he was here to rescue.

"Agent Raven Inkwell..."

She was working with these terrorists? Reporting directly to their leader?

"Ah. I suppose you were sent to silence me?" She asked.

"Silence you? I was sent here to-"

There was a crash behind him. The "closet" he'd been instructed to enter actually led to another room, and there was now a small group of undead legionnaires flooding into the room. Two held swords, but two others held crossbows trained on Flash's position. To his surprise he released Inkwell, and she readily ducked away. Flash was forced to raise his hands again, this time without a convenient way to escape.

"Take him in," she said. "Leave him alive, we'll let the boss decide what to do with him."

There wouldn't be time to apprehend him properly though. From that same door that the soldiers came through, the bisected body of a mechadragon was cast into the room hard enough to slam the door open. All eyes snapped to the doorway just in time to see the grey metal and denim jacket of a purple haired cyborg with a ninja sword barreling through, kicking the top half of the mechadragon apart from the bottom half and yanking a throbbing internal piece of the machine from its place in its core.

Starlight Glimmer reeled in surprise, a clear signal of alert on her face as she realized she just jumped into a room filled with mostly more enemies. The soldiers closest to her fired off their crossbows, sticking her in the back and in the shoulder, but she crushed the dragon heart in her hand and absorbed its juice to power through the pain.

As she cut down the first crossbowman, Flash saw Raven make a break for the opposite side of the room, sliding over the long table and ducking behind it as she raised her pistol to fire at Starlight. As her bullets snapped off, Starlight lifted her eyes and deflected the bullets off of her blade, which took her attention away from the two soldiers bringing their blades to bear on her.

Flash was now completely unoccupied, however. Ally or no, Raven Inkwell was still his target, and he needed to ensure that her knowledge wouldn't aid the enemy. As she made her way to a side door, Flash vaulted the table after her, scooping up his pistol but looping his leg around one of the wooden chairs seated near the table's end. As he landed, he kicked the chair at Raven, aiming it towards the door she was running for, but she just nimbly reacted, snapping her own leg around and smashing the chair mid-flight with a powerful spin kick.

His pistol was recovered, but Flash opted to switch to his shotgun as he chased Raven through the side door. She ran down a short flight of steps and took a right, peeling right through a pair of mechadragons that had come to investigate the commotion. Upon seeing Flash, they opened fire with wrist mounted guns, but quick use of a nearby stone statue for cover allowed him to avoid damage. When he peeled back into the hallway, he took aim with his shotgun and charged forward, blowing holes straight through the first dragon's torso with his newly acquired slug rounds. The second adjusted its aim, but Flash was now too close to get a shot off before receiving another shotgun slug to the head.

The dragon stumbled and swiped a claw at him, but Flash dropped to his back while still at a full run, sliding beneath the mechadragon and firing his shotgun up into its core as he passed under it. It collapsed to the ground behind him as he popped back to his feet and kept running, watching Raven now at the end of the hallway and hanging another right.

Even if she was an enemy, he couldn't kill her, not until he'd gotten answers out of her. She'd probably already long since leaked information to the terrorists if she was cooperating with them, and but he'd have to ensure there was no physical traces of intel left behind.

He turned the corner after her and saw the body of an undead legionnaire get tossed into the wall behind him. Starlight Glimmer stood at the furthest end of the hallway, and Raven hastily turned a left into a doorway as she saw both other sides were cut off.

Starlight was in little shape to give chase, though. She was laying waste to the troop of ancient soldiers attacking her, but she was definitely unable to join Flash in chase.

Flash's side was mostly clear, though. Only one legionnaire to blast with his shotgun before sprinting through the tall door halfway down the hall.

He charged through the doorway, and found Raven standing at the guardrail of a wide walkway overlooking the largest, most central room of the structure. Beneath him he saw rows of pews arranged between three aisles, all facing an elevated pedestal and that big stained glass window that he saw from the outside. There was nobody there, surprisingly, the Cathedral's main hall of worship was empty, save for himself and Raven overlooking it.

Raven turned her head back to Flash as he slung his shotgun over his back and brought his handgun up on her. There was nowhere for her to run from here, either side of the guard rails were only a path to a short row of seats. Still, she didn't panic. Flash slowly moved towards her, but with a twitch reflex Raven jumped up onto the railing and balanced there with perfect prediction, and reached in her still neatly worn suit for something tucked beneath her shoulder. Rather than a handgun, Raven produced a pistol-shaped object with a small coil bolted to one side and a strange claw piece protruding from the barrel. Before Flash had the chance to register what it was, Raven pointed it at a support beam on the ceiling and pulled the trigger.

The claw blasted out from the device with a steel cable whispering constantly behind it, unrolling down the barrel of the gadget from the coil mounted where a practical handgun would have a slide system. After the claw dug into the ceiling, the cable pulled tight and Raven leapt from the top of the overhang, sweeping over the hall and arcing her towards the furthest end.

Flash took off after her, holstering his gun and throwing himself over the guard rail. Rather than let himself plummet, he twisted his body around and grabbed onto the overhang, his fingers grasping the ledge being the only thing stopping his fall for a few moments before letting himself drop in full. It was going to be rough, but by doing this he was ensuring he had the shortest fall distance possible.

Flash twisted as he dropped, reaching out to catch his fall and transfer his momentum into a roll. He took care to shift his weight across the shoulder not currently slinging his shotgun, and rolled smoothly onto his feet with his pistol once again drawn. Raven was making a run to the left of the room, but as Flash closed in she quickly had her pistol raised back up and fired blindly backwards in Flash's direction, forcing him to duck behind the rows of seating and run at a crouched stance. Her rounds took chunks out of the wooden pews, but none struck their intended target. Flash returned fire, purposefully aiming low but ultimately not hitting her either.

They both slowed to a halt though, taking active cover as gunshots were traded from across the room. Flash still had the advantage, he was in the centermost aisle, and the exit was parallel with him. He could keep her from leaving so long as he held that center position.

"Stand down!" Flash shouted "You have nowhere to run!"

"I don't think so." Rather than seeing her make a break for the exit, Flash heard a metallic click and a clanging shortly after, which then proceeded a heavy grey canister being tossed up and over the pews.

A grenade!

Flash instantly shifted his aim up and lined the arcing explosive up in his sights. At the peak of its toss, the metal canister was pierced with a bullet and exploded into a wide, white fog with a loud crack and hiss. His vision was suddenly obscured, a dense, thick haze engulfing the room.

A smoke grenade?

He heard Raven's footsteps immediately pick up afterward, but she wasn't headed for the exit. Her footsteps were getting closer, and soon enough Flash picked her out between the pew rows, her head ducked low but her pistol raised up.

Raven fired off aimed shots while on the move, sliding between the pews and forcing Flash back into cover. It was an aggressive tactic. She was really pushing Flash's temptation to hit her. Did she know he needed her alive?

Flash took that risk. He fired back at Raven as she came into view through the smoke, but aimed slightly behind her. It was enough to make her stop firing back, but she still kept her momentum moving forward.

She cleared the seating row and rolled out into the center aisle with her gun out only a few meters away from him and with her back to the stained glass window. Flash returned the sentiment, keeping his gun trained on her as she just stood there in front of him.

They stared each other down for a moment, but neither of them fired. Raven was the first to speak.

"You were missing me on purpose."

"How would you know that?"

Raven's expression didn't change. "You nailed that grenade like you've made that shot a hundred times. You couldn't possibly miss a human sized target twenty meters away."

"And I suppose you were intentionally missing me, too?"

"I'm just a secretary. I'm shooting to keep you away."

Flash smirked. "A secretary with a grapple gun and smoke grenades?"

Raven sighed. "You know who I am, apparently. But I don't know who you are or what you want with me."

Another voice called out from behind Flash, up on the overhead walkway seating. It was stern, more commanding, but a woman's voice, and a familiar one that spoke in a familiar tone.

"He wants to bring you back to you-know-who, Bishop."

She was tall, had impressively wide shoulders and a powerful, bulky build, or at least that's what Flash inferred from her cloaked silhouette. Over said shoulders was a brilliant white cloak that cast straight lines down and obscured her body from collarbone to ankles, where heavy black metallic boots could be seen in her wake. Over her head and concealing her face was a hood, just as white as her cloak, leaving only the outline of two pink lips visible. She had to be at least six and a half feet tall, taller than anyone Flash had ever seen save for the supernaturally enhanced. Flash could only assume that was the case, as the woman leapt down from the second floor seating and landed square in the middle aisle, going up several feet in the air, with so much effort as moving down a single step on a stairway.

With a loud thud, she crashed to the ground and drew a straight edged sword from a sheath beneath her garment. It was an unusually thin, rectangular blade with almost no handguard. Some manner of electricity faintly pulsed from the handle through the blade in a very similar manner to Starlight's weapon.

Raven seemed to tense up at the mention of 'you-know-who'. Flash kept himself ready to move the moment something happened, but still asked the obvious question.

"What are you talking about?"

The woman ignored him. "Bishop, the cultist leader has told me what I need to know, but she's escaped me. The forces of chaos are encircling us, it's time to leave."

"Where's the sword fragment?"

"She didn't have it. The case was empty, it was a decoy."

"Then where is it?"

"It's with the Nocturna's Champion."

"And where are-"

More hurried footsteps cut their conversation short. Running through the upper walkway doors was an aged woman cloaked in dark colors and carrying a short barreled, all black lever action shotgun in one hand.

Mother Evershade came barrelling into the room, diving over the edge and firing forward towards the woman cloaked in white. There was no time between her entrance and the woman's reaction. Immediately, the white cloak spun and a sword cut through the air, the woman wielding it sidestepping a spread of buckshot and slicing straight into the side of Evershade's weapon.

Flash heard a ringing and a bright set of sparks fly up as Evershade kicked off of the shoulders of the woman and landed back to back with her. Each of them quickly turned to face the other, Evershade's shotgun going off just moments after the woman's blade pointed it away. Evershade moved surprisingly quickly, her shotgun clashing against the woman's sword again and again, and then Evershade backed out of sword range and fired straight forward.

The woman snapped out of the way of the shot automatically, leading Flash to narrowly throw himself to the floor as the shot passed its target and streaked over him. Raven too dropped herself back to the edge of the aisle, leaving her and Flash on the ground as clearly superior combatants continued combat.

"You came after me," the woman said, eying Evershade with a curious glare. "You escape my capture, find your weapon, and come back after me? Interesting."

"I told you already..." Evershade said. "You'll only take the Nocturna's treasure over my dead body."

"I suppose we have time to arrange for that," the cloaked woman said.

Flash had heard enough. He jumped to the ready, taking aim and firing his handgun at the woman in white, but she twirled her sword behind her without looking and effortlessly deflected his shots. Raven was right there to respond as well, and the two fell back into a close range gunfight.

Evershade's boot slammed against the woman in white's chest, the hit startling her and pushing her back far enough for Evershade to ready another shot on her, but before she could pull the trigger a teal light streaked down from the same angle that she'd entered the room.

Purple hair, a blue denim jacket, and purple eyes. A momentum filled and motivated cyborg crashed blade first into the woman in white, forcing her into a high block as she landed on her feet with her sword held forward.

"Starlight?" Flash looked up to her from his cover.

"Flash! Evershade!" Starlight called. "Get out of here, she's mine!"

The woman in white seemed amused at Starlight's sudden and dramatic entrance, only holding her sword out to the side as she adjusted her footing and lifted her chin.

"Is that so?" The woman spoke slowly, but with enough volume to fill the entirety of the Cathedral chamber. As Starlight met her eyes beneath her hood, she saw confusion in the cyborg, a sudden burst of recognition, of confirmation of a truth she was trying to avoid. The woman in white posed a question that targeted that aversion.

"Do you even know who I am?"

"I... Of course." Starlight's voice wavered for a moment, but she steeled herself and prepared to battle the impossibility with which she was confronted.

"You're The Platinum Knight; Daybreaker."

09 - THE PLATINUM KNIGHT

[Nocturna Cathedral, Main Hall]
[Friday, 4:45]

Starlight's blade met Daybreaker's, both weapons emitting a shower of sparks as they collided and attempted to wear away at the other. This close, one would notice the subtle vibration and pulse of Starlight's sword behaved in the exact same way as Daybreaker's, though Starlight's crackled with a noticeable teal tinge of power compared to Daybreaker's pure white. The revered, legendary knight was not in possession of the revered, legendary blade bearing her name- instead she wielded what was a relatively ordinary and low power nanosword. This fact would be strange to some, but Starlight knew the mythical devil sword was in the hands of another. Flash looked on in both shock and disbelief as Starlight held her own against a presumed demigod, unable to fully parse what he was seeing. Daybreaker was a heroic figure that sealed away the demon realm two thousand years ago, and yet here she stood in the wake of all this destruction. Here to smite the worshippers of the Sister of Darkness, perhaps?

No. Flash had personally witnessed the reunion of the two legendary sisters, saw them set their differences aside and embrace each other in the aftermath of an explosive conflict. They'd disappeared with the sunrise, but Flash got the impression they both intended to live quietly as mortals, as Daybreaker had for the thousand years prior to her sister's return from banishment. It very much seemed they wanted to mend their relationship and seek out peace for themselves, with the expressed desires for the balance of the world to no longer rest on their immortal shoulders. Even if Flash witnessed only part of it, it felt like a clear resolution.

Why was she here, then? What changed?

The questions were pointless in the moment as Flash watched Starlight valiantly duel the once-heroic figure, the cyborg inevitably showing weakness to a veteran swordsman without peer. Starlight cut off Daybreaker's sword as it swung for her relentlessly, holding it in a strong overhead block with her own blade, but this only invited Daybreaker to kick her in the stomach as her arms became occupied.

Daybreaker's dense metal boot sent Starlight rocketing back, spinning her onto her side to then slam against the floor of the hall's center aisle. She had limited interaction with Daybreaker the last time they crossed paths, but the way she fought seemed ever so slightly slanted from what Starlight remembered. There was a malevolent kind of grace in her attacks, and elegance formed through calculated efficiency. A disoriented Starlight rose warily, only hearing heavy footsteps echoing throughout the open space, each one focused and intent. All the while, as she had this entire time, Daybreaker held her sword in just one hand, keeping it low and pointed down from her side as her chest and chin stayed fully aligned with her target.

Gunshots popped off to Starlight's left side, Flash rose from his place in the pews to fire at the approaching Daybreaker with unflinching resolve. Daybreaker's gaze didn't break from Starlight as her sword lifted and slid between blocking positions within fractions of a second, rendering Flash's pistol completely useless with zero effort. Mother Evershade stood from the other side and fired her lever action shotgun alongside Flash's volley of pistol fire, but Daybreaker's deflection of the buckshot spread was just as total and thorough. Starlight sheathed her sword and instead drew out her revolver, her power cells glimmering momentarily as she lined her sights up on the approaching foe.

Time slowed down for her, her Bullet Reflex engaging and giving Starlight all the time she needed to ensure the perfect shot, but even as she focused in on Daybreaker's core there was unexpected resistance. She showed no signs of surprise, her right arm moved in total synchronicity with Starlight pulling her trigger. Starlight watched her bullets travel in slowed time, only for Daybreaker to swat them away with her sword with a perfectly smooth level of premeditation. Looking closer, she wasn't even deflecting them, the edge of her blade was perfectly meeting each bullet in flight and cutting it in half with its own momentum, then sending the two halves ricocheting behind her. It was unnerving, because Starlight sensed no magic coming from Daybreaker whatsoever. She was blocking bullets with what seemed to be raw reflexes. This had to be her.

The next moment, Starlight saw both Flash and Evershade jumping in to keep Daybreaker from reaching her. Another crack from Evershade's shotgun lead her into close quarters, attempting to drive her barrel straight past Daybreaker's sword so she couldn't possibly deflect her shots. The move failed though, as Daybreaker leaned to the side and twisted her body, letting the shotgun pellets hit nothing but the air behind her. Daybreaker countered with a fast jab of her sword to Evershade's side, and though Evershade was able to block the swing with the body of her weapon, Daybreaker's foot immediately caught her on the other side. There was a crunch as Evershade promptly was thrown to the front of the room, only stopping as she crashed against the steps up to the altar. She let out a pained groan and dropped her weapon, struggling to get herself back to her feet.

Flash was far more swift in his attack, leading with an elbow stroke and then snapping his knee up to take on Daybreaker with direct physical attacks. She allowed herself to take the elbow and knee straight on, and he found out the hard way that she was wearing some form of plated armor beneath her cloak. His strikes, though powerful, did very little, but he didn't let the fact that he'd just struck a metal wall slow his momentum. He brought his pistol up and fired twice, forcing Daybreaker to step back and deflect the shots, only for him to then drop to a knee and sweep across at her feet as she shuffled back.

His boot caught her ankle and she actually stumbled for a moment, only to immediately put her foot down and redirect into a sword slash at him. Flash quickly threw himself onto his back, holstering his pistol and bringing out his shotgun as he lay on the ground. The much longer weapon was brought to bear, the slug round erupting out of it another surprise for Daybreaker as she made to deflect it. But the solid, steel cored projectile would surely power right through her sword, and so with only a fraction of a second to adjust course Daybreaker ducked down and twirled herself out of the way with the first hint of panic streaking across her lips. Flash racked the handle of his shotgun and let another slug round her way as he jumped back to his feet. Again, she couldn't deflect the shot, so she was forced to dodge.

Flash checked his surroundings as Daybreaker recovered from her sudden evasive movement. Starlight was behind him, and she was bringing her sword out to step in on Daybreaker. Mother Evershade was still grounded at the front of the room, clearly too injured to continue fighting. Raven was...

Where had Raven gone? Flash hadn't seen her leave. She still had to be in the room, she was just hiding somewhere. She was his priority, he needed to ensure she didn't escape, but...

A straight edged blade came for Flash, preceding the flowing, white cloaked body of Daybreaker making her move. He only had time to take a single step back, but Starlight's sword intercepted Daybreaker's, bracing against her with another rigid bind.

For a moment, Daybreaker seemed to pause, as if in awe there was someone fast enough to cut her off. She and Starlight met eyes as they stepped into each other's push, but Flash still couldn't make out Daybreaker's face beneath her hood from his place behind Starlight. He couldn't see what Starlight saw, but he partially understood why Daybreaker then paused when he heard her stern voice in the faintest of whispers.

"You... Where have I seen you before?"

"Forgot about me already?" Starlight seemed just as confused as Flash, but kept her mind occupied with holding against the clash with Daybreaker. She moved her feet to the side and tilted her body, allowing Flash the opportunity to shoot over her shoulder.

His shotgun came up, and Daybreaker leaned back just in time for his muzzle to flash and a chunk of lead to shoot downrange and smash through the altar behind her. In that same lean she jabbed at Starlight, forcing her to back away with a block and by proxy shifting Flash as well. Starlight only let one more attack come in, deflecting Daybreaker's sword at the tip before jumping back and letting Flash pace in front of her, his shotgun shouldered and ready to fire again.

This slug barely glanced off of her shoulder this time, again confirming some kind of armor beneath her cloak, but the fabric itself did not tear. With Flash at the front, Daybreaker moved forward again, but he and Starlight just switched positions and she intercepted any incoming sword strikes.

"Starlight, we need to get Evershade out of here."

"We need to kill Daybreaker first!"

Daybreaker seemed to relax as Flash and Starlight squared up their stances. She looked over them, still thoroughly unamused with their resistance.

"I don't think you can accomplish both of those things right now." Daybreaker said.

Starlight and Flash gave each other quick glances, but didn't give any ground to Daybreaker.

"This conflict doesn't involve you two children." Daybreaker spoke roughly, her head lowering and her stance staying overall composed. "If you care about the future of this world, you'll go back to whoever sent you and tell them you've failed your missions."

"Not until you hand over the sword fragments," Starlight said.

"Hand them over? To you?" Daybreaker spoke with a very calm derision. "You have no idea what kind of danger we're in, do you?"

"What are you talking about?" Starlight didn't let her guard falter to curiosity.

There wouldn't be time for her question to be answered though, as the fully armored body of Commander Hurricane would suddenly burst through the main hall's doors with the force of a tank cannon, slamming the walls and causing Flash and Starlight to throw themselves to the floor. The undead warrior tumbled through the air and landed on his back, still undead but with his armor scorched as he stared up at his master in a daze.

"You're certainly taking a lot of beatings today, Hurricane." Daybreaker said.

"It's them. The imposter..." He rasped. "They're here!"

Hurricane rolled himself to his knees and stood with as much urgency as he spoke. There would be no room to wonder what had just kicked him through the door, as a persistently dark aura and feeling of certain death would follow him slowly through the threshold of this holy place. Even as a living corpse, Hurricane's life and afterlife seemed to flash before his eyes before he steeled himself with indestructible bravery to face this new opponent.

Flash and Starlight both understood the looming sense of dread. A tall, looming figure in full midnight dark plate armor stepped into the room, a jagged, broken spike on the forehead of their domed helmet and with a slitted visor masking their face. Their shoulder pauldrons came to wicked points, and their chestplate looked as if it'd been beaten in with a pollax, yet it still bore the iconic crescent moon across the front on full display. Over their shoulder they carried a massive zweihander sword, with a crooked hook shaped crossguard in just one hand. A cape of pure, pitch black shadow trailed them as they approached, each heavy footstep rivaling the severity of Daybreaker's own.

The Shadow Angel stood beneath the overhanging balcony and stared down Daybreaker as Hurricane righted himself. This was the same demon Starlight encountered near the river, and the one that captured Flash at the farmhouse. This demon appeared as the ringleader of the darkest forces at play here, and their intimidation factor was beyond comparison.

"You..." Daybreaker finally raised her head to address the Shadow Angel. Flash saw the exact same eyes he saw the night of the Canterlot City Incident, and strands of the same faded, rosy pink hair he expected her to have. Her face matched his memory as well, though she looked less youthful than he remembered, likely an effect of her relinquishing the last of her magic. As far as Flash could tell, this really was her.

"Tread carefully, demon," Daybreaker warned. "Your master's days are numbered."

The Shadow Angel didn't seem to even register Starlight or Flash as they slowly inched themselves away from the building tension. Daybreaker and Hurricane were their primary targets, and nothing would break their focus away from them.

Hurricane looked back to the still prone Evershade at the front of the room.

"Have you discovered the location of the final fragment?" Hurricane asked.

"Yes." Daybreaker replied. "We are free to leave."

"Good, because I've already ordered my men to retreat, and the dragon has been bested."

As if on cue, a group of black cloaked figures with a purple aura emanating from their eyes dropped in from the second floor seating rows, carrying wooden-framed revolvers and curved sabers. Nocturna Witches, but ones that were clearly overtaken by demonic forces. They all pointed their weapons in towards Hurricane and Daybreaker, not hesitating or fearing either of the legendary figures. Six of them moved in from either side, and six more waited with their guns drawn. Hurricane's sword came out, and Daybreaker's eyes rose to count the opponents surrounding her.

At once, the six possessed witches all moved in to attack, but both Hurricane and Daybreaker moved in perfect step with each other. Hurricane stopped three of the incoming swords with a single swing, and then switched weapons to his meteor flail, taking the solid, blunt end of his chained weapon and smashing it against the closest of the witches to him. There was a surge of lightning and a thunderclap as the witch's body was launched in the other direction, and then another startling crack as Hurricane pulled the chain of his weapon tight and whipped it into the second stunned witch. The third witch saw the rebound and jumped over the chain, but Hurricane angled the swing up and over his head, passing it over his ally and forcing it to fall right in front of his shoulder. With his off hand, he punched the bladed metal weight that his chain commanded and knocked it right into the last witch in front of him, taking her off her feet despite her attempt to hold up a block.

Daybreaker nimbly ducked under Hurricane's chain, driving her sword past her first defender's guard and stabbing the witch with no trouble whatsoever. The trouble arose as the Shadow Angel's blade came crashing down at her, the massive weapon cutting off her next move and forcing her focus off of the two other witches engaging her. Daybreaker leaned and ducked out of the Shadow Angel's quick, precise swipes, not daring to clash swords with the overwhelmingly massive weapon they wielded.

Behind her back, Daybreaker deflected one of the witch's swords, slashed through the partner standing next to her as she made for a followup strike, and then pierced the initial offender through the heart as she recoiled. As she prepared to strike at the Angel, Hurricane's meteor flail swung around and wrapped the Angel's blade before they could fully swing it. Hurricane pulled the chain tight and the Angel reeled back, but they still managed an unexpected kick in Daybreaker's direction as she went for the throat. The Angel successfully kicked Daybreaker's weapon from her hand, and in the process caught their balance to reel Hurricane back their way.

Hurricane took his sword in his off hand and stabbed at the Angel, but the Angel was able to expertly catch and hold his sword still by its blade in an ironclad grip. The two armored warriors each had the other's blade locked, but Hurricane's meteor flail gave him far more leverage and he twisted the Angel to the ground. Unfortunately, more possessed witches would arrive to support the Angel, firing pistols that put serious dents in the back of his armor. Hurricane was forced to turn and face them, putting away his flail and putting both hands on his sword to charge it with a pulse of arcane lightning.

Daybreaker and the Angel were both weaponless now, but the Angel was far closer to their weapon. Rather than run for hers, Daybreaker just jumped for the demon knight, her foot leading the way for a kick of her own on them. The Angel reeled back and brought up their arm to block, but then immediately threw a hammer fist into Daybreaker's side. It would've hit her, but she cartwheeled up and over onto the adjacent pews, landing perfectly on the back ridge of the seat and balancing into a spin kick level with the Angel's head. Rather than block, the Angel spread their stance and ducked, returning with a high overhead kick targeting Daybreaker's center. She jumped away, but the Angel's kicked shattered the wooden seating completely, sending long chunks of wood into the air and forcing Daybreaker yet another few steps back.

The Angel recovered their sword, but Daybreaker was now holding a particularly large shard of broken wood in her right hand and wielding it as its own weapon. As the Angel took a proper fighting stance, Daybreaker circled them at an angle, bringing the wooden shard past the Angel's predictable swing and preemptively thrusting it forward. The Angel kept their blade held in a high guard, slightly angled back and ready to strike, but Daybreaker was consistently in a fool's guard, threatening to poke with a totally inferior weapon from any angle. There was a moment of recognition, the Angel pretending to commit to an attack. but the moment their feet shifted and suddenly canceled their strike, Daybreaker's momentum did the same, except she kept herself committed to her adjusted attack angle. The Angel properly stepped back to counter, but as if expecting such a response Daybreaker twirled her body and pulled her makeshift weapon in, ultimately breaking the shard of wood over the Angel's head as the Angel totally misplaced their guard.

The Angel stumbled back, but before Daybreaker could follow up with another attack more witches came after her, and so she threw the shortened stump of wood towards the furthest witch and shifted her left shoulder upwards. The jagged wooden stump flew with enough force to pierce its target through the stomach and took the witch to the floor. In the same moment, Daybreaker's cloak finally fluttered upwards, allowing all to see a glimpse of the stony grey body armor covering her entire form beneath the white garment, and furthermore allowing access to the secondary weapon she'd kept hidden all this time.

In her left hand Daybreaker held a quite modern looking firearm, a black, boxy gun only the length of her forearm and fitting snugly in her palm at its grip. It was all black, made of some military-grade polymer, and had a short barrel protruding from its front, which was strangely right over the trigger guard. Unlike most conventional firearms, the trigger mechanism was far to the front of the weapon, and the magazine lay vertically along the top of its frame, loading ammunition towards the back end of the weapon. Right above that was a railed sighting system that helped form a little groove for the magazine to slide under.

Daybreaker let the weapon twirl around her thumb, the back end of the weapon having a thumbhole for an easy grip, and then once in came into forward position she pulled the trigger and let loose an terrifyingly fast rain of bullets at her given targets. The weapon's rate of fire was immense, but she controlled the recoil readily and turned what would've been a wild spray into a focused stream. All three of the witches doubled over before they even got close to Daybreaker, a dozen bullet wounds perforating each of them from across the room.

The Angel's sword came around again for her, but as expected she avoided the attack and brought her machine gun to bear on the demon. Unbothered, the Angel kept their sword propped over their shoulder and reached beneath their cape, producing a smooth, short barreled, black and red lever-action shotgun from their back. With their left arm they guided their gun to meet Daybreaker's, cutting her potential shot off and being the third being to threaten her with a shotgun over the span of this encounter.

As both of their guns went off in separate directions, they kept up their fast and frantic close quarters fight, this time with just their guns in hand. Flash watched with concern, but he and Starlight had successfully gotten Mother Evershade up and moving away from Daybreaker and Hurricane's back to back battle. Flash's eyes snapped forward, a stray possessed witch had made to cut them off as they moved along the farthest end of the hall. Starlight was occupied, currently supporting Evershade with an arm around her and helping her keep a walking pace. Starlight only was able to draw her revolver and fire once at the possessed witch, and her target would dance around her bullet easily with sword extended.

Flash however was far quicker to react. As the witch dodged, he slammed his shoulder into her and readied his shotgun at point blank range, firing straight through her and delivering a solid hit to her forehead with the back end of his shotgun when she refused to go down. The witch tried again with her sword, but Flash guarded against the attack with the body of his shotgun and again kicked her back against the wall. She was stunned, an easy target to shoot, but when Flash racked his shotgun and pulled the trigger, he heard the inevitable hollow clack of an empty magazine. As the witch regained her focus, she felt Flash promptly pressing her against the wall by her neck, the barrel of his shotgun pinning her by the throat and inhibiting her movement as he fished through the pouches on his belt for something. Keeping the pressure as concentrated as he could, Flash pulled back his shotgun handle, dropped a single shell directly into the chamber through the gate on the side, and then snapped the shotgun back shut. Ready to fire, he backed off of the pinned enemy and did just that, blasting the possessed witch again as she blindly lunged forward at him. The slug struck through her head this time, properly dropping her against the wall for good this time.

Flash kept pressing forward, leading the way for Starlight to carry Evershade to an actual place of safety, opting for the pillar closest to the entrance. It was out of direct sight of the proper battle in the center of the room, but they could duck behind enough things for the time being.

"Stop..." Evershade said, a pained croak in her throat just barely making its way out of her. "We can't leave, not yet..."

She pushed away from Starlight and immediately collapsed again, her left leg clearly incapable of supporting her.

"Listen, lady," Starlight said, "Your people need you alive."

"No," came her grim reply, "My people need Daybreaker dead."

Flash shook his head and knelt to her level. "You're not going to kill her in your state."

"It doesn't matter, she knows the location of all of the devil sword fragments." Evershade shifted to a sitting position, leaning back against a column supporting the upper seating platform. "She needs to be stopped before..."

"I'll do it," Starlight said. "Part of my mission is to kill her anyway. But first..."
Starlight drew her blade and pointed it towards Evershade, eliciting a surprised jump from Flash, who immediately pointed his weapon at the cyborg.

"Starlight, what the hell are you-"

"Tell me where your captive is," Starlight said. Her tone was collected, but was deadly serious. Evershade only scowled in return, but did not try to openly defend herself.

"Our captive was the woman Sentry was after," Evershade growled, as if offended by the threat. "And it appeared that we were right to capture her, she was in league with Daybreaker."

Starlight shook her head.

"No. Your other captive. A girl you took here six months ago. A short, cute girl with violet eyes and periwinkle hair that curls a little bit at the ends. Likes to talk about herself."

Starlight's eyes seemed to pierce through Evershade as she recounted the description, as if she couldn't see the old woman through whatever vivid imagery she was conjuring in her mind. Flash lowered his weapon, he understood what Starlight was asking about now, he remembered that there was a good reason for her to be hostile with the Nocturna Convent.

"Your people took her from me and you are going to tell me where she is."

Evershade's eyes lit with recognition as well. She smirked, dark hair falling in front of her darkening eyes as she looked towards the floor.

"I don't think so. I'd rather you just kill me, if you're going to."

"What?" Starlight's eyes streaked with anger, but then she felt the emotion fizzle out again as she refocused on the convent's elder resigning to her fate without elaborating further.

"I know what the Order wants with the girl. And I know what you'll do should you get her, and I'll-"

Evershade was abruptly silenced by Starlight's metal hand yanking her to her feet by the cuff of her blouse, then slamming her hard against the pillar she was just leaning against.

"What are you talking about?" Starlight glared again, but again felt her anger being not so subtly soothed. For all of her attempts as raw expressions of anger, there was something in play keeping that from occurring. "Why did you kidnap Trixie?"

Evershade showed a faint smile as she was pinned against the column. "Your Order didn't tell you? You don't know? What is the girl to you?"

Starlight wasn't fully sure how to respond. She was hesitant to offer up information to Evershade, but also, she was aware that her Order superiors were monitoring her actions. This wasn't a question she wanted to give a straightforward answer to for both of those reasons, but it didn't feel like she'd get anywhere with physical intimidation.

Starlight let her sword relax slightly, accompanying the tonal shift with a sigh.

"She's my best friend."

"Best... Friend?"

There was a weight in Starlight's chest as she gauged Evershade's response. She seemed to loosen up, her smile changing from one of superiority to one of amusement. She seemed to find Starlight pitiable now...

"A friend? Sent by the Order?" Evershade treated it like it was a joke. "And they told you nothing? Or... Perhaps the Order doesn't know anything either. Wouldn't be out of character for them."

Starlight's arm tightened up against Evershade's collarbone. She struggled for breath, but didn't offer up any more of an answer for Starlight.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"I... Can't tell you..."

"Why?"

"Daybreaker... Can't know either..." Evershade coughed. "Asked... the same question..."

Starlight started to ease up as she processed that information. What would Daybreaker want with Trixie? Evershade's tone was no longer hostile, it now felt like she was trying to hide something. But what?

"If Daybreaker dies," Evershade finally said, recovering her breath as Starlight let go of her. "...I will tell you."

"Then I'll kill her," Starlight said. "I have orders to stop her, anyway."

Flash out his hand on Starlight's shoulder. "Starlight, let's get her out of here."

"No..." Evershade whispered, then repeated herself a little louder. "No, I'm not going to make it any further with all of these demons outside..."

In the center of the auditorium, all of the possessed witches had been defeated, and both Daybreaker and Hurricane were successfully throwing down with the Shadow Angel, keeping the demon knight at bay and pushing them back, having moved back to sword on sword combat. As Flash and Starlight looked to see how the battle was progressing, there was another disturbance as a large hole was blasted through the ceiling and sent a chandelier falling to the ground right where Daybreaker stood.

Daybreaker's response was immediate, as soon as her head adjusted to view the threat she was snapping her sword in an arc above her and cutting the metallic obstruction into pieces, the lit candles extinguished with each precise swipe of her weapon. Bits of the ceiling came down with it, and they too were reduced to harmless rubble that did no more than grey her perfect white cloak.

"Starlight and I can clear the way for you, we can't stay here," Flash said.

"No," Starlight shook her head. "I'm going to stay and fight."

"You sure?"

"I'm not running away this time," Starlight said.

Before the dust could settle there was a new intrusion diving through the fresh wound in the ceiling, a sleek silvery beast of a machine with short, spread wings and a rounded helmet, a highly advanced suit of armor being piloted by a creature whose body knew no light. The Talon Suit was back, and it was set to target Daybreaker the first opportunity it had.

The Talon Suit twirled once into its screwdriver dive, brandishing a nanosword in one hand and firing a pistol forward with the other. Rather than deflect the bullets, Daybreaker backed off, allowing the suit's trajectory to let it crash right in between herself and the Shadow Angel. The Angel deflected a blow from Hurricane and briskly repositioned themself as well, forming up with the Talon Suit in a clear gesture of support. The demon within the suit rose, silent in all ways but the soft mechanical whirring of the powered exoskeleton surrounding it, and kept its focus squarely on Daybreaker.

"The Tantibus." Daybreaker addressed the demon with a mixture of respect and dismissal. "Come to save the shattered remains of your master, but fight a losing battle."

Flash and Starlight both froze when they heard the name, dots connecting in their head as they looked again at the creature beneath the suit. The Tanitbus was one of the demons at the core of the Canterlot City Incident, a monster that fed off of guilt and inflicted nightmarish transformations on the people around it, and it was assumed to be defeated!

Daybreaker kept her posture straight and faced the demon directly without even so much as blinking.

"You'll only die here, demon." Daybreaker's head tilted down, and her guard held almost completely open as if to invite an attack. Commander Hurricane kept in formation with her, holding his own sword in a far more aggressive and forward stance. He seemed to have second thoughts about the decision to stand their ground.

"Are you sure that we should fight here?" He asked. "We have what we need, we can force these demons to fight us in a more advantageous position."

Daybreaker shook her head. "We should eliminate our enemy's pieces now rather than later."

"Then let us end this with haste!"

Hurricane leapt forward and targeted the Shadow Angel with diving thrust. As his blade cut through the air, lightning charged through his body and split the cold space between him and the Angel with dangerous live sparks. The Angel was quick to deflect the attack but had no room to advance, as Hurricane's offense was swift and decisive. The Talon Suit made only one move to defend them, it fired its pistol in Hurricane's direction, only to have the weapon's slide cut into by Daybreaker's blade, immediately causing a failure to cycle as the pistol's action was interrupted. The Talon Suit directed it's blade to Daybreaker's, both nanoswords clashing for a brief moment before pulling and twisting back and forth in further attempts to strike the arm of their opponent. The Talon Suit had an interesting form of swordplay, it was always pushing into Daybreaker's guard and rolling around her, doing its best to avoid a head on exchange. It had some level of understanding to how and where Daybreaker would target it, but with just a sword it could only keep from getting hit. Before long, the air snap-froze around the suit's offhand, a sheet of ice suddenly materializing at its palm and forcing a stop to one of Daybreaker's counter swings. The ice cracked and was sheared apart, but the sudden obstruction slowed Daybreaker's attack and caused her sword to get stuck just long enough for the suit to get a quite accurate stab in towards Daybreaker's stomach. Rather than back away, Daybreaker opted to let go of her sword and block the sword strike with her forearm, the material beneath her cloak hard enough to simply deflect the sword when met head on. The Talon Suit did not pull away, rather it kept its pressure and raised its sword for Daybreaker's exposed head.

Daybreaker dropped her knees and ducked, readily expecting the return, and then thrusted her balled fist directly into the suit's chestplate, shifting all of her weight forward and putting a notable dent in the metal of the suit with just her fist. The suit stumbled back, and Daybreaker stepped into another swiping movement right after catching her falling sword. The suit brought its hand up again and caught the tip of her sword in another cast of ice, this time holding onto the weapon and trying to force it in any direction other than right at its core. Its own sword swung for Daybreaker's leg, but it was intercepted by her boot kicking it back to the ground. She pulled her sword from the ice bind, aimed a swing for the suit's wrist, and the immediately kicked it in the chest as it tried to block the blade.

As the Talon Suit tripped over itself and crashed into a row of pews, Hurricane and the Angel found themselves locked into a sword bind. The Angel had a weapon with far greater reach and cutting power, their zweihander easily forcing Hurricane's smaller sword away. Hurricane let his blade get shoved to the side but grabbed the Angel's arm as their weapon passed by him. From there, the swordfight turned to a grapple, both of the heavily armored fighters bracing arms and hands against the other and trying to push the other one over. Rather than the ringing of swords colliding, their combat became scored by the flat clattering of armor plates. It was quick, the Angel immediately overcame Hurricane's strength and threatened to throw him to the ground, but would receive a blow to the side of their helmet from Daybreaker's blade. They forced Hurricane away and held their forearms up to guard against the next strike, but the Daybreaker's powered blade did considerable damage through the demonic plate steel.

The Angel ducked and reached directly for their dropped weapon, and Daybreaker pressed her opening for just a little bit too long, finding another nanosword flying towards her throat the moment she felt she had a solid advantage.

Starlight had pressed her way back into the battle, her first move a direct attack on her primary target. Daybreaker leaned all the way back and slipped beneath Starlight's blade, holding herself upright with a hand and flipping herself into a backwards kick in the cyborg's direction. Suddenly pressed to evade the counterattack, Starlight ducked her head down and punched her cybernetic limb forward. The air crackled as her steel horse leg fired off its horseshoe, the projectile prompting another spinning dodge from Daybreaker but allowing her entry to punch her own fist into Starlight's chest.

Stumbling back against the wooden seating, Starlight switched to her revolver and fired a shot off over Daybreaker's shoulder. There was no intent to directly hit her, as Daybreaker dodged again the bullet struck the magnetically suspended horseshoe and ricocheted off in a controlled manner. Starlight's magical grip on the horseshoe let her flick the bullet back towards the white-cloaked swordsman she initially missed, a surprising way to attack her from behind, but Daybreaker was just too fast for that to work.

The legendary warrior spun in place, her sword swiping once to bat the bullet away, and then twice to knock the horseshoe out of position. It became a bullet in its own right, rocketing off in the direction of the Shadow Angel as they made a move to attack Daybreaker further. They too stumbled back, and Starlight fired her revolver again, and yet still Daybreaker was unmoved. The Talon Suit shifted in the crowd of seats, bursting from the floor and throwing one of the pews at Daybreaker, but she easily sliced it in half and drove her boot into the possessed armor.

Starlight's sword was batted away, her dragon claw easily dodged, and her tether hand stunted as Daybreaker slashed at its projection. Watching the Talon Suit and the Shadow Angel faring no better, Starlight took a step away from the battle and steadied herself. She took a deep breath and stared her opponent down, sheathing her sword but keeping it ready to draw. She summoned up her energy in preparation for an attack, but did not press in until she had Daybreaker's complete attention.

The older woman looked intrigued, her head tilting but her stance remaining relaxed, and with her sword at her side. She waited, gave Starlight just as intense of a glare, and invited her to do whatever she thought she was going to do.

A light grew behind Starlight's eyes and in a split second she'd drawn her sword out into a single cut, a release of teal energy following a crisp X shape being cut into the air right where Daybreaker was standing.

... where Daybreaker was standing.

A hard metal boot shot straight into the back of Starlight's head the moment she committed to her quickdraw attack, and then she was slashed down into the floor as a vertical cross was sheared into her back.

Daybreaker scowled, her glare posed over her shoulder as she stood opposite to the crumpled cyborg. In that moment her sword wasn't drawn, rather, she stood with sword sheathed, facing away, to conclude the same attack Starlight just attempted. Only hers hit her target dead on. To Starlight, it was a humiliating blow, and her first thoughts after processing the pain was of that foolish realization.

"Who do you think you are?" Daybreaker's voice was a growl through her teeth. Starlight picked up on something else here, a faint sign of vulnerability in Daybreaker's tone. But then, as she turned and readied her sword and looked down at a Starlight rising to a kneel ready to continue the fight, she hesitated. For a split second, there was recognition in her eyes, the lightest trace of reservation across her lips, and a surprised intake of air passing through them.

Then, there she pivoted into immediate resolution and followed through with a downward sword thrust.

Starlight rolled to the side as the blade came down, now finding herself in the vicinity of the Shadow Angel and the Talon Suit moving back to attack Daybreaker, completely ignoring her as they were fully focused on nothing else. Rather than directly engage them, Daybreaker brought her wrist up and spoke directly into a device on her gauntlet.

"Go for the Cathedral window. Dead center. Three targets."

Before Starlight could register anything else, the great stained glass framing the entire room burst inwards as a flurry of gunfire erupted through it, a loud and distinct whine of an aircraft engine suddenly blaring into earshot. The tiled floor was shattered and blasted upwards as a line of lead carved its way up the main aisle and straight through the Shadow Angel, who raised their blade in a shoddy attempt to shield themself. The fire tore around them, but their demonic armor resisted puncture, the Angel forced onto their back by the sheer force of the repeated hits.

With the dark and rainy sky now exposed to the Cathedral's insides, Starlight could see the shape of the oncoming aircraft growing ever closer. It was built like an oversized fighter jet, two engines mounted on both sides of its core, with two broad bladed wings to support them. A cockpit in front had room for a pilot and co-pilot, with a cannon barrel mounted in the craft's nose- the weapon responsible for its dynamic entrance. Brown and steel gray paint covered the machine, but surprisingly Starlight found the details getting clearer, as it was slowing down as it approached, first racing but now dropping to a dangerously slow crawl as it aimed for the space left by the gap in the window frame.

Its engines pulsed and roared, shifting direction as the jet swooped in, fully stopping its momentum and hovering in place. Surprising, as most jets needed to keep their momentum to stay airborne...

"Starlight!" Flash's voice buzzed over her comms as she scrambled back as quickly as she could. Looking around, Starlight couldn't see where he was, but assumed he too was getting the hell out of the way. "That's a Manticore VTOL gunship! It's equipped to make short work of ground targets. You need to retreat, you can't fight that thing mono e mono."

Common sense wrestled and overpowered any daring impulse she might've had, and Starlight opted to turn and bolt for the hall's main entrance just as the gunship opened fire again. Rapid impact blasts and explosions followed her as she ran at top speed, vaulting over pews and pushing herself as quickly as she could towards the entrance, but the gunship's pilot was quick to respond. The craft's guns targeted the pillars holding up the balcony row overhead and shredded them to pieces, sending huge chunks of rubble crashing down on the ground floor entrance and blocking off Starlight's escape.

With the exit blocked off, daring impulses were starting to muscle their way back into her mind.

Several loud clicks sounded off from the gunship, and Starlight turned just in time to see a set of missiles firing off from pods mounted beneath its wings. Four flashes, four explosive blasts rang out, and Starlight immediately switched to her revolver and steadied her aim. Time slowed, but rather than gun the oncoming missiles down herself Starlight watched as the Talon Suit jumped into her view, halfway down the center aisle, and gunned the missiles down with its own pistol. For a moment, Starlight mistook it for attempting to protect her, which caused her great confusion, but she then saw it crouching over the Shadow Angel in a mournful stance, one demon urging another to rise and continue the fight.

With Daybreaker apathetically approaching the downed Shadow Angel, and the Manticore jet hovering menacingly behind, Starlight couldn't help but feel a hint of pity for the two creatures.

No. She shook her head. She wasn't about to sympathize with a demon that was trying to corrupt the town. But they weren't enemies at this moment. The Angel was here to take care of Daybreaker, and currently, so was Starlight. They were the enemy of an enemy, so she might as well capitalize on that.

Daybreaker approached calmly, her white cloak flowing in the gusts of wind pouring from the open window as the jump jet held its place just beyond it. The Shadow Angel was still flat on their back, head active and focused but body still struggling to recover. The Tantibus had no luck stirring them, and with its hardened Talon Suit it made for Daybreaker with a sword lunge, only to have its right arm severed through and the rest of it kicked to the ground. It was a minor setback for Daybreaker, a parry and a slash with perfect timing, and she continued her stride to the fallen Shadow Angel.

"Servant of Discord," Daybreaker's dry tone almost sounded like it would warrant a derisive laugh. "I'll make this clear, you won't defeat me. Tell your master that he stands no chance either."

Daybreakers gaze turned to the Angel's sword, the massive zweihander had fallen to the floor some ways away from its owner and was open to be taken. Upon inspection, Daybreaker seemed amused with the weapon.

"I see now..." She smiled slightly, mockingly. "You've used your devil sword fragment to make a new one. Resourceful, but you've only made an inferior weapon. Though I suppose it's a fitting one for a creature of brute force."

The Angel seemed to stir at that remark, recognising Daybreaker's intent as they watched her reach down to collect their dropped weapon. Before they could move, Starlight Glimmer passed over them with a wild overhead sword swing that forced Daybreaker away.

"Hey, jackass!" Starlight shouted, twirling her blade back into a ready position as she eyed up Daybreaker for another round. She let a teasing smirk shine through her stressed composition. "Didn't anyone ever teach you not to touch things that don't belong to you?"

Just like that, the Shadow Angel was back in the game, jumping to their feet and scooping up their weapon with a renewed energy and rushing in to take a swing at Daybreaker for themself. This was it, they had her on her back foot. Looking around, she found that Hurricane already had taken his leave, and her resistance wouldn't last long either. Daybreaker blocked off both Starlight and the Angel's attacks before turning and leaping up to the edge of the window frame, just beneath the jump jet's hovering zone. Before leaving for herself, she turned and issued an order to the gunship overhead.

"This means nothing. Raze this place to the ground!"

Both Starlight and the Shadow Angel braced themselves as the Manticore gunship readied its weapons to fire once again.

[Nocturna Cathedral, Main Hall]
[Friday, 5:15]

Flash picked up Mother Evershade over his shoulder as the Manticore tore the room apart with its 20mm nose cannon. He made a quick dash for the exit, sloppily tossing Mother Evershade through the threshold right as the explosive rounds rocked the walls and floor to bring brick rubble down around him. With a moment to spare he slid through the main hall doorway right as it got blocked off, rolling to a stop in the hallway leading to the front of the Cathedral.

"Evershade!" Flash coughed, brushing himself off as he shifted his attention to her. "Are you okay?"

"I'll live." She remarked cooly, but then winced in tightness for a moment. "For now..."

"Come on, we need to keep moving."

Flash went to lift her again, but she only shook her head in reservation. "Your friend isn't going to finish the job."

She still was fixated on killing Daybreaker. She was resisting his attempts to help her up. This was starting to get frustrating...

"At this rate, we're not going to finish the job either!" Flash said. "Will you please just work with me? All hell is breaking loose, we need to fall back and regroup. Your people are counting on you to get them through this."

"I'm not going to survive this, boy." She gritted her teeth and glared up at him. "I was never going to survive this. Leave me and go, will you?"

Flash didn't understand. First Raven had been revealed to be working with the enemy, and now this? He'd come all this way to rescue her, and now she was telling him to leave her behind?

"My role was to hold Daybreaker off long enough for our champion to get away," Evershade explained. "To buy time."

"Your champion? What?"

"The Nocturna's champion possesses the last fragment of the Dark Devil Sword," she continued. "Daybreaker needs the sword completely reforged to follow through with her plans. If you want to defeat her, you can't let Daybreaker find our champion... She's been sent on a mission to the castle ruins in the mountains, to defeat the Lord of Chaos, but..."

Evershade's breathing seized for a moment, and she let out a cough before continuing.

"She'll see the Cathedral under attack. She'll see us burning and want to come back for us... Daybreaker will be waiting for her."

"No." Flash shook his head. "We're going to make it out of here, and we're going to find her first. Starlight is here to stall Daybreaker, so there's no reason we can't walk out of here together. I know you want to keep me away from your secrets, but I'm not here to put a spotlight on you. I'm here to help protect you, all of you."

Evershade's expression seemed to soften for a moment. Even as the sounds of explosions and gunshots enveloped them through the walls, she remained focused on his words and their effect on her. "Perhaps I'm getting tunnel vision. Very well, Agent Sentry..."

With some effort, she rose to her feet on her own, taking up her shotgun with a nod and carefully limping forward in a gesture for Flash to lead the way.

As he turned the corner, he found the Cathedral's front entryway in ruins in the immediate aftermath of a battle between the Nocturna cultists and the demonic invaders. The way out was clear, save for a single figure standing in the wake of two collapsed wooden doors, holding a wooden-stocked scoped rifle at full extension towards one of the prone bodies for a killshot. His head tilted back as he turned to see them approaching. Flash's eyes lit up in recognition.

"Gabriel!" He relaxed a little, the sight of the rugged Griffonian coat enough to relieve his stress of fighting with so few allies. Now that he was here, they could better get a plan together and figure out a way through this mess.

Except, Gabriel didn't look nearly as pleased to see him. As the silvery haired man turned, there was an almost disappointed look streaking across his face, and to Flash's horror he immediately raised his weapon in their direction.

BANG!

A single shot startled Flash, sending his thoughts into a scramble as he dropped to a kneel and leaned aside out of instinct. Did Gabriel not recognize them? Maybe he'd been fighting demons out here, and reflexively fired at them out of surprise. What did-

BANG!

The second shot made everything clear. The first shot wasn't intended to hit Flash, it instead hit Mother Evershade directly in the chest, sending her reeling back against the wall. It was a calculated and intentful shot, not aimed at the closest target, but the highest value target. Gabriel meant to shoot her, and he'd just cycled the bolt of his weapon and shot her again.

BANG!

The third rifle round piercing into her slumped Evershade down against the wall, where she fell back into a sitting position and let her head fall limply. Gabriel's weapon turned to Flash next, but he was already drawing his pistol and returning fire. The red beam from his laser sight traced its way onto Gabriel's body as he moved, but-

BANG!

BANG BANG!

Gabriel bolted to the side as he fired, putting his back to one of the few remaining support columns and taking cover as Flash lit up his end of the room. Pushing all confusions to the back of his mind, Flash moved in on the row of pillars, keeping his gun level and scanning each obstacle for movement. He was now in attack mode, ready to fire at a moment's notice.

He turned the corner Gabriel hid behind quickly, firing his pistol before even properly getting a shot lined up. Rather than back out, Gabriel kicked Flash's gun hand away and quickly drew out his own pistol in one hand as Flash approached, his off hand still gripping the barrel of his rifle. Redoubling his stance, Flash gripped his pistol with both hands and shoved Gabriel's one handed grip into the pillar beside them, pinning his hand there but also unable to properly fire his own weapon.

They locked eyes, Flash's gaze still carrying a subtle surprise, and Gabriel's a look of contempt.

A spin kick came Flash's way as Gabriel pulled his core back. Flash kept up with him, dropping to the floor and countering with a leg sweep- both dodging Gabriel's striking leg and knocking his supporting leg out from under him. Gabriel's fall was controlled though, he plummeted onto his back but brought his gun in towards his chest to fire inaccurately at Flash through his drop. Flash himself could only duck back behind the pillar to keep the stray rounds from hitting him, and Gabriel rolled himself back to his feet.

"You're working for Daybreaker, aren't you?" Flash called from his cover.

"Like I said, we're not friends," Gabriel replied.

Flash didn't have time to fully analyze the position he was in. He had to make a move before Gabriel made a move first, but the only thing he could do was pop out from his cover and try to shoot the other agent down. He could turn near the close side, the same way he'd turned into cover, but Gabriel would be right in front of him and would likely expect that angle of attack. Alternatively, he could circle around the pillar and shoot out from the opposite side. Longer move, but it might be safer...

Flash turned himself and lined up his sights to fire as he peeked around the far side of the pillar. Tense, but ready, he kept peeling off more and more of the sightline. He kept his guard up and anticipated where his opponent might stand, but after a painfully long minute he realized that Gabriel had fled.

The powerful blare of aircraft engines echoed throughout the Cathedral and the scathing hiss of missiles repeatedly firing off followed.

Explosions rocked the entire building. Deafening blasts surrounded Flash as the pillars and walls began to shake around him. Smoke and glowing heat filled the air, giving Flash the sudden and shocking revelation that the gunship was demolishing the Nocturna Cathedral with them still inside. Daybreaker had what she needed, and this once holy place had been turned into a deathtrap for all of her enemies.

All Flash could think to do was run to Mother Evershade, seeing that she still had the faintest trace of life in her. If he could get her out of here, he was-

"Find her..." Mother Evershade shoved him away, raspily coughing out her final request. "Find our champion. The last pure-blooded Nocturna Witch. She's the key to stopping this chaos."

More explosions came through. The wall behind her began to crumble. Flash needed to accept he couldn't save her, but the notion caused his stomach to twist. Evershade had a sizable pool of blood painting the floor beneath her, and her leg had already been injured. He couldn't save her.

He stoically pushed himself away from the Nocturna's elder, leaving her against the half-collapsed wall surrounded by fallen debris and faintly lit by the clouded moonlight streaming in from a new gap in the ceiling. By the time he turned to run, the gap in the ceiling grew, and a massive dust cloud suddenly kicked its way into Flash's lungs. It burned to breathe, and the ground shook his feet out from under him.

He felt something strike his back as he fell, and then a cold numbness as he was crushed against the floor.

Then, darkness.