Metal Gear Pony: Day or Nightby Skittles the ButtChaptersChapter 1: Debriefing(Edited)Chapter 2: The Drop(Edited)Chapter 3: The Voice(Edited)Chapter 4: The Cyborg(Edited)Chapter 5: Shining, Fluttershy, and the SpyChapter 6: C3 the SunChapter 7: The Sorrowful RainbowChapter 8: What Is Even HappeningChapter 9: Do You Trust Me?Chapter 10: Pesky OcelotsChapter 11: For My SisterChapter 12: RecoloredChapter 13: Metal Gear SUNChapter 14: Mentor and StudentChapter 15: EpilogueChapter 1: Debriefing(Edited)~Chapter 1: Debriefing~ It is the distant future of Equestria, the Elements of Harmony are no more and the world has been split into two kingdoms. First we have the Solar Empire, ruled by a corrupted, tyrannical Princess Celestia. After the Elements of Harmony lost their power and disappeared, Celestia’s soul became corrupted and she took over most of Equestria and forced her sister out of Canterlot. Luna took action and helped her Lunar Guards seize control of the rest of the kingdom to keep it out of Celestia’s clutches. Luna dubbed her protected land the New Lunar Republic. She and Princess Twilight Sparkle rule together in hopes of someday freeing their sister and former teacher from her corruption. These kingdoms are stuck in a sort of Cold War, and either kingdom will strike at the first sign of danger. ~New Lunar Empire~ ~Pony-Hound Special Forces Group HQ~ Princess Twilight Sparkle and Princess Luna are standing in the debriefing room, and sitting in the lone chair is our hero. Flame-Tail, better known by his codename “Blaze”. Blaze is a soldier for Pony-Hound, a group of ponies specially trained for espionage and Close Quarters Combat. He received a call yesterday about a very important mission that required only the best of the best. Naturally he was surprised they had so much faith in him. For a moment he was tempted to decline. He had previous plans after all, but who was he to say no? He would do anything he can to help Equestria. That is why he joined Pony-Hound in the first place. Blaze stands about 5 feet, natural male Pegasus height. He has a fiery red coat, and a red and orange medium-length mane and matching tail. He was born several years before Celestia’s corruption. At age seven, when the corruption took place, certain things happened and he was left in the care of Twilight Sparkle. He doesn’t like talking about what happened. Only himself and the Princesses know. While growing up with Twilight, he met a pony named Posey. She helped him to brighten up his mood and turn him into a less sad pony as he was before meeting her. They would hang out whenever they had the chance. They haven’t seen each other in a couple years now, but they never forgot each other. Twilight Sparkle, the lavender Alicorn with the purple mane with streaks of dark pink, takes a deep breath and steps forward. “Flame-Tail. Codename 'Blaze'. We have called you here for an important mission, and only the best of the best will be able to handle this. That would be you.” Luna, the taller dark blue Alicorn with the blue mane and tail that sparkle like the night sky, nods her head in agreement. “We have seen what you can do. Your skills shown in the training were far better than what we have seen before. As such, we believe you to be the best choice for this mission.” At this point Blaze is feeling a little nervous. Receiving this much praise from the princesses from all ponies is not something you get every day. “Hn...thank you, Princesses. I promise to do the best I can...What is the mission?” Luna uses her magic to levitate a file of ‘top secret’ papers. “We have gotten word from our spy, Big Bro, that the Solar Empire is hiding something large..and very dangerous. We have not received any other intel, however we do know that it is a weapon of some sort created by the Empire’s most scientific minds and Equestria's most advanced technology. We do not know what it is, what it looks like, or what it does...but there is no doubt that it will throw this ‘cold war’ into their favor.” Twilight nods her head, but a slight look of sadness covers her face. “We...also lost contact with my br..I mean, Big Bro...yesterday at around eight in the morning. We do not know his current location. Your mission is very important. You will be air-dropped into a forest surrounding a top secret research facility. Your first mission is to use what you have learned in your stealth and combat training to sneak in undetected and gather as much info as possible on this weapon, as well as to hopefully locate Big Bro if possible. Should you succeed, make your way out and we will inform you of your next destination. You will be dropped in with only minimum medical supplies and a combat knife. If you need weapons, you will have to find them on your own. The fate of Equestria depends on your success...Now, move out and prepare for your departure. Blaze quickly salutes. “Yes ma’am. I will not fail you.” After being dismissed, he goes off to prepare to depart in the morning. The Princesses, however, stay behind for a moment. Twilight sighs and looks up at Luna. “Princess....has there really been no word about my brother..? Or Fluttershy?” Luna frowns and shakes her head. “I am sorry Twilight Sparkle...Both Shining Armor and Fluttershy’s communicators went silent and we haven’t been able to make contact since...We will keep trying. They are very important to this group, and to you especially.” Tears begin to fall from Twilight’s face, with light sobs escaping from her. “I miss my friends.....Fluttershy is missing...Applejack disappeared...and Rainbow, Rarity, and Pinkie are all-” Luna interrupts her before she can finish. “Enough Twilight. You need to stay positive. We WILL find your remaining friends. You must have faith. Your powerful friendship with them will most certainly guide them to you. We just...need faith.” Chapter 2: The Drop(Edited)~Chapter 2: Free Fallin’~ ~Solar Empire Skies~ ~Above cloud layer~ Our hot-headed hero is sitting in a jet, which is just big enough for a pilot and a passenger. He is wearing a camouflage sneaking suit, and his wings are tucked inside to so the red of his wings doesn’t stand out. He is wearing a bandana to hold his mane out of his face, a small bag strapped to his side, and he has a combat knife strapped to his left front leg. He also has a bored look on his face. “Are we there yet...?” "Yes, thankfully..now you can stop asking.” says the pilot, not even bothering to hide how annoyed he is. Who even is this guy...why is HE so important all of a sudden......hey... ”HEY!!! Wait until I give you the signal you idiot!” While the pilot was busy with his thoughts, Blaze pressed a button that opened the door on the bottom of the jet and the wind quickly rushes in on them. “About time." He checks himself to be sure he’s ready, then leaps out of the plane, not realizing that he jumped out too early. Okay, mental checklist.....First, I need to stock on food. Hopefully I don’t need to resort to eating meat...bleh...After that, I need to scout the area for hostiles... As he goes through his mental checklist, something he picked up from Twilight, he lets out his wings and uses them to slow his descent, like a parachute. Its a good thing he’s a Pegasus, because he doesn’t have one of those. After a few minutes, he finally reaches the forest.....and lands stomach first on a tree branch. “Ow...” After struggling for awhile, he finally ends up falling right out of the branch to the forest floor. “Ow...well this is a great sign of things to come....” BEEP BEEP “Huh..? Oh.” He pushes a button on his earpiece and quickly wishes to turn it off. “MORON!!!” “Hi Twi...” “That’s COMMANDER to you. You need to learn to listen you know that?? Black Hawk told you to wait for his signal!” “Okay okay....I’m only half a mile from the drop zone though, so don’t worry.” Twilight sighs. “Alright..at least you made it down safely. Okay, as of now, you need to refer to me by my codename. Commander Sparks.” “I like it.” “Good. Okay, before you head off we need to go over a few things. First off, you won’t be completely alone.” “But I thought this was a solo mission..” “It is, but you will have help via radio. If you need any tips, talk to me. My radio signal is 145.1.” “145.1...got it.” “Next, there’s someone you might know...” “...Who?” His jaw drops slightly when he hears none other than Posey’s voice. “Hello Flame...oh! I mean Blaze..” “Posey...what are you doing with Pony-Hound??” “Well, I joined up a few months ago. I was excited to see you again, but we were both so busy that we never got to talk until now...” After an interrupting cough from Twilight, she realizes the situation again. “Oh, Right. I will be your medical aid. If you need any help with treating wounds and such, call me at 145.2..my codename is Doctor Flower.” “Got it doc. Oh...and uh..” He blushes a bit, thankful she can’t see him. “Yes..?” “Its uh...its good to hear your voice again..” Chapter 3: The Voice(Edited)Chapter 3: The Voice ~Forest in the Solar Empire~ We find our fiery friend making his way through the jungle in absolute silence. After hearing word of something falling from the sky, the enemy soldiers were sent out to investigate. We now come to Blaze taking refuge in a tree, with a couple guards talking to each other below. “There’s nopony here...you think it was a mistake?” “The watchtower doesn’t make mistakes you moron. Keep looking..” Blaze takes this chance to jump down silently behind them. He then sweeps one off his hooves, making him fall and hit his head and effectively knocking him out. Then he quickly kicks up onto his front hooves and sends a powerful kick to the other guard’s face before he could react, knocking him out as well. “That was too easy..” He picks up one guard on his back and drags the other with his mouth and takes them behind a bush to hide them. Then he kneels down in some tall grass for cover and switches on his radio. “Commander...it looks like some ponies in a watchtower spotted me on the way down. I just knocked out a couple guards that were sent to investigate.” “Blaze, they’re going to know something is wrong when those two don’t come back. Stay alert. Keep your head down and your ears high. The facility should be a few miles to the west of your position. Can you handle that?” He smirks and chuckles a bit. “Course I can. After all, I am “the best”, as you put it.” “Geez..Somehow I knew that would go to your head. Just get to the damn research facility.” “I was kidding Twi, but alright...?” Another beep sounds on the radio and a mysterious voice starts speaking. "South...Ruins of Ponyville...” “What? Who is this? Commander, track that call quick!” “Way ahead of you. Tech, you get it?” Blaze can hear the voice of a male pony in the background. “Got it. Its coming from...Uh..damn, we're being blocked out. I can't get a location, but the signal is 203.6.” “Should I go there...?” “Ponyville...No. Blaze, this mission comes first. We will worry about this mysterious message later. You have to find the facility.” “...Alright...On my way..” He switches the radio off and continues his journey through the forest. After clearing his head of what happened, Blaze comes across a clearing with 5 guards standing around keeping watch. “Great..” He sneaks around the clearing, using the bushes and trees as cover, then pulls a guard in when he isn’t looking and knocks it out. As he does so, the other guards turn as they hear sounds coming from the forest. When they get there, it is already too late. Blaze has already hidden the unconscious guard and snuck away and has moved on toward the facility. He is naturally surprised to see that there are no guards in the area whatsoever. Taking it as a hint of a trap, he cautiously enters the small facility. Upon entering, he finds that there really isn’t much left inside. No machines left intact, no documents or notes left out. Everything is gone. “Damn...” He says in frustration as he switches on his radio once again. “Commander, they must have been tipped off about my mission. All the machines are trashed and they took any other information with them.” “This isn’t good...they must have gone somewhere. Try and find some guards and get some information out of them.” “Roger.” Blaze switches it off and heads back outside, only to find something unexpected. A blue pony, with a pale blue mane and tail, wearing a black soldier’s uniform, boots, guns strapped to its sides, and a dark blue Spetsnaz-style hat. Embroidered to the side of the uniform appears to be a blue sparkling cape behind a magic wand. A cutie mark perhaps? Of course the most interesting thing about this mare is the fact that she has a gun pointed straight at Flame's head. “Right on time!" Blaze grunts and turns his head a bit to look at her. “Damn it...” Chapter 4: The Cyborg(Edited)~Chapter 4: The Cyborg~ ~Outside the secret research facility~ The strange blue mare gives a loud whistle and suddenly more ponies in similar uniforms jump out of the forest, levitating semi-autos in their magic, and surround Blaze. “So, you must be the soldier they sent to investigate....You look more like an amateur to me.” Blaze glares at her, but brushes off the insult. “What’re you supposed to be..some sort of wannabe soldier?” One of the soldiers growls. “Don’t talk that way about the boss that way!” The mare gives him a look telling him to shut up. “I am the Great and Powerful Trixie! But it doesn’t really matter since you’re not going to live long enough to spread my greatness.” She smirks, obviously satisfied with owning him. “Great and Powerful..? More like Powerfully Annoying.” He begins to reach for his knife, but Trixie jabs the gun against his head. "Hah! You think you can take on all of us with just a knife? This is insulting. I might’ve been more impressed had they sent of team of experts. This is ridiculous!" She flips her gun a little before holstering it. "You boys take care of him. Not worth my time...!” She jumps at the sound of a gunshot and one of her ponies drop to the ground, dead. After several more shots, the rest of them suffer the same fate. Trixie quickly uses her magic to draw her guns. But before she can take aim, something drops down behind her and puts a knife to her neck. “Please drop the guns...” Comes the soft voice from behind her. Trixie growls and drops the guns. “How did you get here without anypony knowing?!” Another pony, this one bigger with a scarf covering half his face, drops down beside Blaze. “Not important. Tell us, how did you knew this pony was going to be here?” “The Great and Powerful Trixie does not snitch...! H-Hey..!” The pony behind her presses the knife against her neck more. “You..! ...I’ll only say, you have a spy amongst your ranks...There's no way in Tartarus you'll ever figure out who!” She laughs and uses her magic to teleport away completely. The pony who was behind her sighs and puts the knife away. “I never thought she would do something like this...” The taller pony pulls his scarf down. “There’s nothing we can do about it now Angel.” Blaze is shocked when he sees the pony standing next to him is none other than Big Bro, AKA Shining Armor, the soldier who went missing. “Big Bro!? How..what...!” He finally takes a good look at the other pony to see who it is. "Ahh...A-Angel!?” Angel, AKA Fluttershy, smiled when she saw him. “Oh, Flame-Tail..! Its so wonderful to see you again. Oh...I-I’m sorry. We’re supposed to be using code names..." “Nn...Right, mind is Blaze...Okay, this is perfect. Bro, Angel. I was sent here by the Princesses to gather information on this new weapon Celestia is working on. I was also told to find you two if possible. This makes half my mission done. Do you know where the scientists of this place went?” Bro shakes his head. “No, but we do know more about this weapon. Lead us to the pick-up point. We will explain everything when we get back to HQ." Blaze sighs, but salutes. “Right. It is better than nothing I guess. This way.” Blaze, Angel, and Bro then begin heading north, through another half a mile of forest, until they reach a large cliff with a river running through the bottom and a bridge going across. “It’ll be right on the other side of this bridge, in a clearing a quarter mile into the forest.” They begin crossing the bridge until they get halfway through. Bro is the first to spot somepony crossing from the other side. As the pony gets closer, the sky starts to change. Dark clouds form and it begins to rain. “What is this..?” Blaze pulls out his knife. “I don’t know, but I smell trouble.” The pony stops a few feet from them and they notice quite a few things off about it. The pony is a Pegasus in a grey, full body suit of cybernetic armor, helmet and mask included. It also has two swords strapped to its back. Even its wings were cybernetic. Blaze was the first to step forward. “Who are you? ...!" With a flash of thunder and lightning, Blaze and Bro both find themselves being thrown off the bridge and into the river below. Meanwhile, Fluttershy regains her own sight to find herslef being held over the edge by the cyborg. “P-Please...” “...” The cyborg hesitates for but a moment, as if contemplating its actions. But it eventually turns its head away and drops her down with the other two. It then spreads its wings and takes off toward the South. Chapter 5: Shining, Fluttershy, and the Spy~Chapter 5: Shining, Fluttershy, and the Spy~ ~Pony-Hound HQ~ Flame-Tail, Shining Armor, and Fluttershy are all in the infirmary of Pony-Hound recovering from the cyborg’s attack and their trip down the river. Flame was left with a broken wing and minor bruises. Shining came out with the least amount of damage, only cuts and bruises. Fluttershy got the worse of it. Two broken wings and a broken leg. Needless to say, her and Flame will be stuck there for a while. Thankfully they heal fairly fast. Suddenly Twilight bursts into the room. “Flame! Shiny! Fluttershy!” “Did..she just call you Shiny?” Flame snickers at his nickname. Shining just rolls his eyes and waves to his sister. “Hey Twily..sorry I took so long to get back..OWOWOWOWOW!!!” Twilight smacks his side, on one of his bigger bruises. “IDIOT! You go missing for a day and a half and all you say is SORRY?! ...S-Sorry...” “Heh..its okay. You were worried...but I’m here now.” Twilight smiles a little and moves over to Flame. “Oh dear...you took more of a beating than Shining. Are you okay?” Flame takes a look at his broken wing and sighs...but puts on a little smile and looks up at her. “I’ll be fine Twi. Don’t go all protective mother on me now. Besides...Miss Fluttershy took it a lot worse than us..” Twilight looks up at Fluttershy, who is staring down in deep thought. “Fluttershy.. Are you feeling okay..?” Fluttershy blinks and looks up. “H-Huh?? Oh..! I-I’m okay. I just...I can’t stop thinking of that cyborg pony...” Flame sits up and looks at her curiously. “Did it say anything to you before you fell..?” She shakes her head. “No, nothing...but before it dropped me...it hesitated.” Twilight thinks for a moment. “Hmm..maybe this is the secret weapon that we’ve been looking for. Maybe-” Shining and Fluttershy both shake their heads and interrupt her. “Far from it.” The room goes into a dramatic silence before Flame speaks. “I think we should get Princess Luna in to hear this...” “I’ll go and get her..” Twilight says as she turns to leave, but the door is blocked by who else but Princess Luna. “No need, I am here. Shining, Flame, Fluttershy. It is wonderful to see you all, but now is not the time for that. Shining, tell us everything that happened on your mission.” Twilight nods and looks at Fluttershy. “I am also interested to know what happened to you and your mission. We lost contact with you almost as soon as you landed in the Empire...” Shining and Fluttershy both nod and Shining speaks first. “Well, this is what happened...” ~A few days ago~ (Shining Armor POV) Everything was going as planned. I arrived at the drop-zone near the facility I was sent to investigate. Huge building. Almost half the size of Celestia’s castle. It took a lot of work, but I managed to get inside undetected. Princess Luna had informed me before entering that I would need to disguise myself as a high ranking officer in order to get into the important parts...lucky for me, there was a Major in one of the studies. So I knocked him out and hid him in a locker, took his outfit used magic to change my mane, and nopony knew the difference. I had to ask for directions, using the excuse that I’m having such a bad day that I can’t remember anything, but eventually I found my way into the main sector of the building. The labs and the hangar. I explored the labs and found it was mostly just scientists working on individual things. The things they were working on seemed like machine parts, but I didn’t know what it was for until I got to the hangar. What I saw in there was...beyond belief. I didn’t think anypony would be insane enough to build something so big....so deadly... It took up most of the hangar. It was tank, but it wasn’t at the same time. It was suspended in the air so the mechanics could work on the bottom. It had a pair of flat metal wings on the back with what looked like rockets in the bottoms of them. There were four legs like a pony. On the bottom of each hoof was one wheel, and more rockets installed in the backs of the hooves. Its head was more pointed and smaller than what you’d expect from a pony-like machine, with two gun turrets attached to the top. Attached to its back and sides were missile launchers. This....thing....they created. It is supposed to be the ultimate tool of destruction. It is referred to as Metal Gear SUN. According to the blueprints and documents, it is fast both on land and in the air, runs on solar energy alone, and has a few secret weapons that were only on another blueprint that I wasn’t able to find... It was around that time that the batteries in my radio died. Yes, that is why you lost contact with me. I thought it was no big deal. I knew where I was going to be picked up and thought I could make it there safely....but boy was I wrong. I secretly took a few pictures of it, but was caught by the guards who somehow knew I was down there. They destroyed the camera first, but they made the mistake of not taking me out. Instead they were ordered to take me to the underground prison under the lab. So that’s what they did. They knocked me out, unarmed me, and threw me into a cell. I woke up a while later when I heard sobbing from the cell next to me. I asked who it was and it turned out to be Fluttershy. I knew that she had disappeared the week before on the same mission, but I had no idea she’d even be alive still. After spending a day and a half in that cell, I finally thought up a plan...erm..kind of. I had a plan of getting the guard to let me out. Everything after that..I winged it. I pretended I was checking a gun to see how much ammo I had left. Idiot patrol guard thought I seriously had a gun. He opened the cell and the moment he stepped inside, I knocked him out and took the keys. I unlocked Fluttershy’s cell and we headed to the guard’s lounge. We snuck in and managed to get back all of our weapons and equipment. They spotted us, but I managed to shoot the power cords leading to all the lights. I had to put on my night-vision goggles and lead Fluttershy through the tunnels, but eventually we made it out safely. After another day’s journey through the forest, we found the research facility, along with Flame and none other than Trixie, who is apparently going by the name Blue Ocelot now and leading a special forces group under the Solar Empire. And..that’s that. ~End Flashback~ Luna and Twilight contemplate the information they just learned. “This is not good at all..Princess Luna, what should we do?” “For the moment, we cannot do anything Twilight. Our three best Hounds are incapacitated. For now, we must let them rest and heal. But first, Fluttershy. I wish to hear your story. It must have been a long journey, seeing as how you disappeared last week..” “A-Actually...” She looks away nervously. ~Last Week~ (Fluttershy POV) I-I managed to land in the drop-zone just fine, but I had to hide quickly because there were already guards starting to swarm the area...apparently we weren’t secretive enough because they knew we would be there...I managed to get away for the moment though. Soon after, I ran into more guards. I managed to avoid being shot but..t-the radio wasn’t as lucky... T-That’s why you lost contact with me so soon.....Through my journey in the forest I had investigated a few smaller labs, until around the seventh day I found the big facility that Shining found....I managed to sneak in, but was quickly caught and taken to the prison.....The next day, Shining ended up in the cell next door. You all know the rest.... ~End Flashback~ “This is weird...” They all look over at Flame, who had just spoken up. “Both of your stories have something in common. I mean..besides the fact that they intersect, obviously...but in both cases, the enemy seemed to know you were coming. Same with me. The scientists and Ocelot knew I would be there.” Twilight and Luna share a look. “Well...” Fluttershy finally looks at them. “Princesses..d-do you know what’s been happening..?” Twilight quickly shakes her head. “No but...” Luna interrupts. “We have suspected for awhile that there was a spy hiding amongst the Republic. It seems now that it has been narrowed down to Pony-Hound...You three, rest well. You have earned it. Fluttershy, you have a visitor who is...a little more than eager to see you again. Twilight, we have work to do.” She turns and leaves the room with Twilight close behind. After that....Posey rushes in and to Fluttershy’s side. “Mom..!!!” “P-Posey...Why are you here??” “I-Its a long story...I’m so happy you’re alive..” She gives Fluttershy a big hug and Fluttershy smiles happily. “ Flame smiles at the sight. “Posey here seems to have become a medical expert during the week you were gone. She’s the pony who patched us up when we got back.” Fluttershy looks at Posey, shocked but very impressed. “W-Wow..! I’m so proud of you...” “You two are so much alike its scary.” Shining says as he picks up his gun from the table next to him. “Fluttershy must have passed her skills onto you.” Posey blushes at the compliment and shakes her head. “N-No way..I’m not nearly as good with animals. I’m the flower pony, not the animal pony....but she did teach me all she knew about medicine and such. Thank you mother.” She hugs her mom once more. Meanwhile, in a meeting room, Twilight and Luna are debating what to do next. There is also a guard standing at the door to keep ponies out...but also hearing everything being said. “The first thing we need to worry about is this spy. If somepony from the other side has infiltrated, we must weed them out somehow.” “But Princess Luna, if we spend too much time worrying about one spy, the Empire will have more time to finish and launch that...monster.” “Twilight, we will be unable to do anything properly at all if all of our enemies know when are going to send somepony....We must split out efforts. Twilight Sparkle, you did very well as commander of Flame’s mission. I must ask that you take over all missions from here on out.” “W-What..? Oh...OH. While I am commanding on the missions, you will be..” Luna nods. “Correct, I will be investigating Pony-Hound Headquarters for the spy. Twilight, I am counting on you.” “I will not let you down Princess. Good luck.” Both the Princesses leave and dismiss their guard. As the guard trots off, she grabs her radio. “Princess Celestia...they suspect there is a spy. They seemed to have caught on to the fact that somepony is alerting you of their missions..” “Hmm...Keep in hiding. Be more cautious. We cannot let our plans be jeopardised. Do not fail me....” “Y-Yes Princess...” She switches off her radio and sighs in sadness. “I am deeply sorry Twilight...but Sweetie Belle comes first...” Chapter 6: C3 the SunChapter 6: C3 the Sun ~A week and a half later~ ~Ponyville/Everfree Airspace, Solar Empire~ We once again find out hottie of a hero in a plane above the cloud layer of the Solar Empire, along with Fluttershy, AKA Angel, mother of Posey and friend to all creatures big and small. Both are dressed in forest camo, Blaze wearing his usual headband and Angel with her mane in a ponytail. They have been sent on a mission together to both investigate the mysterious voice that was heard previously on Blaze’s Radio, as well as to check out the lab that is nearby. Though this time, Angel is there to keep Blaze in check. Black Hawk, the pilot, slows down their flight. “Here we are. time to jump!” They nod and leap off the plane and begin their descent into the forest. Soon after, they make a perfect landing in the Everfree Forest. Fluttershy looks around, taking in the nostalgia. “It’s been so long...I-I’m surprised Celestia never destroyed this forest..the one place her sun never reaches. Blaze, we need to be very careful. There are nasty creatures living here.” Blaze nods and pulls out his knife. “Right, lets go quickly. The lab should be that way.” He points a hoof off toward the Southwest and they both run off in that direction. After several miles, the finally reach a huge clearing. By huge, that means...huge. With an equally huge building to go with it. “So...this is where you and Big Bro were captured..?” Fluttershy nods nervously. “Y-Yes....its also where the Metal Gear is being held...we..we have to destroy it..follow me closely.” She quickly and quietly sneaks over to the outer wall, with Blaze close behind. “The hole I used to get in was never found..so we should be able to use that.” Pressed against the wall, they sneak around the corner and down the side wall until they come across a hole dug under the wall. “Here it is. Blaze, w-will you check to see if its clear..?” He nods and jumps into the hole. “Got it..” He crawls under the wall and he manages to poke his head out the other side where there happens to be dirt to go through. After seeing nopony there, he signals with his tail for Angel to follow, and they both crawl onto the base. Then they sneak behind a smaller shed and hide for a moment. “Okay, let’s go over the plan, Angel.” She nods and peeks around the corner. “We make our way into the lab...hopefully undetected. The quickest way into the hangar is through the back entrance, a quarter down the hall, and into the double doors..” Flame continues for her. “Then we go down the stairs, to the left, and we’ll be right beside SUN. Then we plant explosives on all the fuel tanks, and that should destroy the Metal Gear and the whole facility.” RING RING Angel and Blaze both switch on their radios. “Commander?” “Be careful you two. Chances are that cyborg will be in there. Also, once you set the explosives you will only have twenty minutes to clear the area.” “Got it.” “Y-Yes ma'am.” Both hang up and immediately sense someone behind them. “Well well...once again our tip was right on the mark, and what do you know, its the amature and the annoying pony that knocked me out..” Blaze turns and growls. “Ocelot...” “Its two on one..we can handle her Blaze....!” Ocelot immediately magicks out her guns and begins firing, and Blaze and Angel both quickly jump out of the way. “Damn..she’s a quick-drawer.” Blaze says, then he charges at her with his knife, barely avoids another bullet, then slams into Ocelot and pushes her into the wall. At this point, the other guards heard all the noise and came to see what was happening. “All of you stay back! These two are mine!” Ocelot says as she kicks Blaze away and fires at him again. Angel grabs her own gun and manages to shoot one of Ocelot’s guns out of her hand, but then one of the guards grabs Angel from behind. “B-Blaze..!!” “Damn it..!” A bullet manages to graze his leg, but he dodges the rest. Angel manages to buck the guard off of her, then throws down a smoke grenade. “Blaze, run!” When the smoke goes off, Blaze and Angel both make a run for it. After managing to elude Ocelot and the guards, they finally make it inside and into the hangar. Angel and Blaze split the C3 explosives between them and split up to put them on the fuel tanks. “There should be for of them..you get the two over there, I’ll get the other two. We have one extra. I’ll stick it right on the Metal Gear for luck.” Angel nods and they split up. After barely avoiding being caught a few times, and placing that extra explosive on the foot of SUN, they start making their way back toward the door. “Job well done...Let’s wait until we’re outside to blow the place.” Angel nods and reaches into her bag for the detonator...but finds nothing. “U-Uh oh...The detonator is gone......Oh!” Suddenly they are surrounded once again by guards and Ocelot’s ponies. “Damn...I don’t think we can get out of this one...?” Suddenly there is a loud noise from outside, then a blinding flash and another loud noise inside, and both Angel and Blaze are gone. Chapter 7: The Sorrowful RainbowChapter 7: The Sorrowful Rainbow ~Old Ponyville Center~ Angel and Blaze awaken to find themselves in what appears to be a deserted town. Buildings are boarded up and broken down, plants are overgrown in old gardens....to Angel, it seems all too familiar. “I-Its...Ponyville....” Blaze takes a look around in confusion. “How did we end up here..? I know it was very close to the lab, but last I remember we were inside the hangar surrounded by soldiers....! Angel!” Points to a figure walking toward them. The sky grows dark and it begins to rain. The sadness in the air is thick and heavy, and it is all emanating from that pony. “I-Its the cyborg...” The cyborg pony stops several yards away. “....I have a mission to do...and I won’t let some idiot guards do it for me and get themselves killed...” The voice is strange and robotic, but familiar to Angel. “T-That voice...It can’t be...!” The pony reaches up and grabs its helmet. It pulls the helmet off to reveal a light cerulean head, with magenta-ish eyes and....a rainbow colored mane. Blaze and Angel are both shocked beyond belief. “Rainbow Dash..!!” “S-Something is off...she looks..grey..and robotic.” Rainbow’s mane is in fact now a darker shade of colors than it once was. Also, her left eye is cybernetic. “Fluttershy...Flame-Tail...” “R-Rainbow...We...thought you were dead..” Rainbow turns away to avoid looking at her. “I was....Or I almost was. Princess Celestia saved me..at the cost of my ability to age, I was fixed up into this cybernetic suit. Without it, I would be dead. The only thing left of me is my cutie mark and my organs.” “You used to be so loyal to us..to your friends..!” “What friends?! You..and Twilight..are my enemies now. Pinkie Pie...Rarity..AJ...they’re all gone. All my friends are gone. The element of loyalty is only loyal to Princess Celestia now....” She looks up toward the sky as a grey rainbow appears over the sky. “This rainbow lost its colors...now it has to do its job.” She pulls out one of her swords and points it at them. “I’m sorry, but its Princess Celestia’s orders.” After another flash, she is suddenly in front of them and swinging her sword, but Blaze manages to block it with his knife. “Its useless..” She grabs her other sword and slams the handle into Blaze’s stomach. “Guh..!!” He jumps back a bit to recover. “I should expect a hard fight from the legend herself...” Rainbow holds her swords up toward the sky and lightning strikes them. “Bring it on..!” Blaze rushes toward her, knife ready, and tries to duck under the first sword, but then Rainbow spins around and slashes him twice, electrocuting him and sending him flying back once again...only this time he doesn’t recover. “FLAME!!! ..R-Rainbow..stop this..!” Rainbow turns to her and moves in on her. She starts to back away, but trips. Rainbow points a sword at her throat, but again hesitates just like on the bridge. “....Ugh..” A tear falls from her one real eye and she turns her head to hide it. “Just...go...” “W-What..?” “I said GO! I don’t want to see your face again...” Fluttershy whines, then picks up Flame and runs off into the Everfree Forest. Rainbow sheaths her swords and sighs. In a flash of light, she is gone. RING RING “Blaze! Angel! Please please PLEASE answer..!” “Twilight! Please..help..! Flame is badly hurt and I can’t do anything! He’s bleeding a lot..the wounds are so deep...We’re in the same place we dropped in..!” “Oh no..okay, we’re sending someone to get you right now. Hang in there...” ~Pony-Hound HQ~ “Damn it damn it DAMN IT!!!” Twilight yells while she bucks a hole in the wall. “Twilight Sparkle. Calm yourself...!” “HOW CAN I BE CALM?! One of my best friends, who I thought was DEAD, is now working for Princess Celestia. Flame might not even survive. I’m losing friends one by one. I can’t be CALM!! I-” Princess Luna slaps her in the face to calm her down. “....” “I am sorry for that, but having a tantrum will NOT fix things. It will only make you feel worse.” Twilight rubs her face and now begins to cry. “I-I...I’m sorry.....” Luna sighs and hugs Twilight. “Being upset is okay...I’m not particularly happy about this either. But you need to stay strong.” Twilight wipes her tears and nods. “O-Okay Princess....” A guard pokes his head into the room. “Princesses, you have a visitor...” Luna frowns and gives the guard a look. “This is hardly the time...” “But Princess It’s.....Discord...” Chapter 8: What Is Even HappeningChapter 8: What Is Even Happening ~Pony-Hound HQ~ As they follow the guard to another room, Twilight and Luna talk quietly to avoid others hearing. “Princess...didn’t you say Discord disappeared when Celestia attacked..?” “He did...He must have gone into hiding. Let us hope he is not here to cause trouble.” They reach the room where Discord is waiting and enter, then proceed to glare at him as he expected. “Oh Princesses. Lovely to see you two again! Tell me, how has the war been going hmm?” “Just tell us what you want Discord....We don’t have time to deal with you.” “Well..is that ANY way to speak to someone who kept your friends out of danger for so long? .....Uh. Girls. That was your que.” “Gosh darnit..so much for all that practice we did.” From behind Discord comes an orange earth pony, with a blond mane and tail. The tail is tied in a ponytail. Go figure. The mane is hanging down freely, and its pretty long. Right on top is a cowboy hat. “Howdy Twi, Luna. Nice ta see you again!” “A-App..Apple...wha..???” Discord looks around for a moment for something. “Hold on a minute..we’re missing something.” Suddenly, standing right next to Twilight..is a pink pony. A very pink pony. Her mane and tail are both darker shades of pink, and are very very poofy. She also smells like candy. “Hiya Twilight!” Twilight nearly jumps out of her skin, but after realizing who it is she manages to get herself off the ceiling. “P..Pinkie Pie..? Applejack?? But..how..when...I thought you were...whaaaaaat???” Applejack laughs a little and takes her hat off. “Ya’ll haven’t changed a bit Twilight.” Pinkie grins, as usual, and hugs Twilight. “We’ll explain everything that happened! We didn’t die. Well obviously we didn’t die, or we wouldn’t be here. Or would we..maybe we’d be ghooooosts!” Twilight just stands there in shock. Luna nudges her a little to get her attention. “Are you feeling better now Twilight?” Twilight nods and finally hugs Pinkie back. “I’m so happy you girls are okay..” “Well of course we’re okay silly! But I’m kinda hungry..you got any cupcakes?” Luna smiles and nods. “I will have the cook begin baking as soon as we are done here. ...But first, we need answers.” Twilight nods, then gives Discord another glare..slightly less mean looking this time. “Discord. Why did you do all this..?” Discord chuckles a bit. “Oh my dear Princesses...speaking as a God of Chaos, this whole war is just WONDERFULLY chaotic! War IS the ultimate chaos after all.....But...speaking as a reformed God of Chaos, I couldn’t very well let my only friends die now could I?” Luna sighs and shakes her head. “It is still strange hearing YOU talk about having friends...but thank you. How exactly did you save them? Last time we had seen Pinkie Pie she was....well, we would rather not think about it...as for Applejack, she seemed to disappear entirely.” Discord chuckles once more and takes a seat on a floating chair...what? “Its a funny story really..I had known for a while that the Elements of Harmony were running out of power. The six ponies that controlled them were just growing apart. Too far apart for the Elements to handle. I wasn’t able to find Rainbow Dash or Rarity..so I took these two instead.” “Ah was the first one to go. He uses his weirdo magic to poof me away. Discord really ain’t that bad once ya get to know em.” “Yep yep! Then he found me while I was...well you know. He poofled me away too. He used his powers to heal us both and it all got better from there! He’s so awesome! Chocolate rain..every day....it was beautiful..” She sheds a single tear. Discord poofs her mouth away and continues for them. “Anyways...I decided it would be interesting to see what I could do with these ponies, so I toughened them up a bit. Applejack here..if she didn’t know how to fight before she was so good at hiding it. I’d go so far as to say that now, she could easily overpower your top agent.” Twilight rolls her eyes. “If that’s meant to be a challenge, we’ll have to pass. Flame is....in bad shape..” Pinkie Pie’s mouth reappears. “Hey don’t do that! Meanie head!” Twilight ignores this at first..but then realizes something. “Pinkie..did you just make your mouth appear on its own?? How did you do that?!” Pinkie giggles does a zip-the-lip motion. “Can’t tell you that~” Luna shakes her head and smiles. “It doesn’t matter..we have important things to take care of. We are very grateful for this Discord. I don’t suppose you’re going to stay and help us?” Discord shakes his head. “This is a pony’s fight, not mine. Well, I must be off! I bid you all farewell.” He disappears, leaving Twilight slightly annoyed, but smiles. “Well at least we got something out of this..good to see you girls again..Where’s Pinkie Pie?” ~Pony-Hound Kitchen~ Pinkie Pie is bouncing up and down behind the cook, trying to convince him to make some cupcakes. “Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease? Oh! I could make them for you then! Come oooooon!” The cook facehoofs in annoyance. “For the thousandth time NO! How did you even get in here?! The door was locked from this side!” “Well DUH. I came in through the back door!” “...There is no back door...” “Pffft..silly head, everything has a back door!” “...What...” Chapter 9: Do You Trust Me?~Chapter 9: Do you trust me?~ Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy are in the dining hall with a tray of cupcakes on the table, made at Luna’s request. Of course, none of them are feeling very happy...even Pinkie Pie isn’t smiling much. “Ah...can’t believe Rainbow would do somethin’ like this...” “I miss Dashie...” “B-But....” AJ and Pinkie look at Fluttershy, and she squeaks and hides behind her mane. “B-But.....she still has good in her... I know it......” AJ sighs and takes another cupcake. “Well she did let ya’ll go after all...but ah still wanna know why she’s doin’ this!” “S-She said she chooses to remain loyal to our old Princess....and because....she thinks we’re all dead...and those who aren’t dead she believes are her enemies...She thinks all she has left to be loyal to is Celestia...” “When I git my hooves around my little pony’s neck...” Pinkie giggles. “YOUR little pony huh?” “! N-No what ah meant was..uh....ohh....” ~Infirmary~ Flame-Tail is laying in a bed unconscious still after her short fight with Grey Rainbow. He has two long scars, one along his side and another across his chest. Both professionally stitched up by the pony sleeping next to him with her head on the bed, Posey. Finally, Flame wakes up. “Hm...ugh..ow ow ow..urk..!” His stomach growls loudly, loud enough to wake up Posey. “Hmm..? Flame..? ...Flame!” She hugs him suddenly, forgetting about his wounds for a moment. “OW Posey careful..!” “S-Sorry....how are you feeling? Are you still hurting? Are you breathing okay?” ...In order. Hungry, a little, and yes....Were you sleeping here the whole time..?” “W-Well...” She blushes a bit and looks away. “I..just wanted to make sure you were okay. I stitched you up myself but I was worried..what if I didn’t do it right or I messed up the stitches or..or..” Flame rolls his eyes and puts a hoof over her mouth. “Chill, Flower.” “U-Um..we aren’t on a mission you know...You can call me by my name.” “..Its a cute nickname though.....?” He notices the door is cracked open a little and easily spots Fluttershy watching him. “...” “...” “Flame...” “Um..yes?” “Are you sure you’re okay..?” Flame sweats a little from Fluttershy’s stare. “Y-Yeah.....H-Hey what’re you...” Posey climbs on the bed next to him and snuggles up to him. You couldn’t tell because of the color of Flame’s coat, but he is very red right now...but he smiles. “Posey..You care about me too much sometimes...” “Its because I love you...” She soon falls asleep, leaving Flame slightly stunned but still happy. That’s when you-know-who decides to come in. “Erm...hello Miss Fluttershy..” He starts sweating again, expecting her to interrogate him about being with her daughter. “.....I was going to interrogate you about being with my daughter...but I feel like I can trust you...right..?” “....Well, you tell me...Do you trust me?” And there it is. ~Half a week later~ After healing enough to be able to go on a mission again, Flame finds himself once again in the debriefing room. In front of him are the Princesses Luna and Twilight as usual. Luna is the first to speak. “Blaze. It is time for your newest mission. Are you up for it?” He nods and Twilight continues for her. “Once more, you are going to try and infiltrate the lab. This time there will be no tip off, as this room is protected by a sound-blocking barrier. Nothing can get in and no sounds will be heard from the outside.” Luna continues, “This time you will be sent in with a gun. We know you prefer not to kill unless absolutely necessary, so you will be given a-” “Mk22 Hush-Puppy tranquilizer pistol!” And that’s when the entire room nearly dies. “P-Pinkie how...” Pinkie ignores the others and pulls out a gun and hands it to Blaze. “Its small, so its easy to carry. Its filled with tranqs so it is completely non-lethal! No blood spilled, and you get the medal at the end of the game!” “What..?” “Oopsie..nevermind! Only some of the readers will understand that one.” Twilight shakes her head. “Pinkie being Pinkie..as usual.....I guess missed that though..” Blaze sighs and puts away the gun. “Well..thank you. CQC can only get you so far so that should be very helpful.” Pinkie takes her leave and Luna continues with the details. “Once again, you will have Commander Sparks helping you out via radio, along with Flower once again. However you also have the addition of...Queen Cake....Pinkie Pie.. She will tell you about any weapons you may encounter during your mission. Apparently she learned everything there is to know about weapons during her time with Discord, among other things...impressive, but something else about her is......” Twilight interrupts with a cough. “Big Bro and Jack will also be helping you on scene. There is a mountain cliff overlooking the outside of the lab. Big Bro and Jack will be watching over you using sniper rifles, and will provide cover fire if you find yourself surrounded.” “Yes ma’am....uh..who is Jack?” “Applejack. Not exactly creative, but I guess I did put her on the spot to think of a codename..” “You depart tomorrow. Good luck Blaze.” Blaze salutes and leaves to prepare for his mission. Twilight looks up at Princess Luna. “...Did Pinkie Pie really ask for that to be her codename..?” Chapter 10: Pesky Ocelots~Chapter 10: Pesky Ocelots~ ~Solar Empire: Forest~ We come back once more to our hero Blaze, on his way through the forest to the lab with gun in hoof. He reaches the wall surrounding the lab and pushes a button on his earpiece. “Jack, Bro. Can you spot a safe way in from your point?” “Well...safest spot ah can see is right on the other side of ya. If ya’ll climb over that there wall, you’ll come down right between the wall and a storage shed.” Big Bro chips in, “She’s right. The main entrance is obviously out of the question, and that hole you and Fluttershy went in through is most likely filled in by now. You’ll just have to climb over, Blaze.” Blaze sighs in frustration. “Well..alright.” He switches off the radio, spreads his wings, and uses them to propel him high enough to leap over the wall, amazingly undetected. “Well it worked. Lucky me.” RING RING He sighs and answers it. “Yeah..Commander?” “Blaze. Fluttershy just informed me that she dropped the detonator for the C3 while you were there last. Your mission objective has changed.” “Find the detonator..?” “Exactly. Find it, light it, and run for it.” “Got it.” He switches off and sneaks around the shed and makes his way toward the main buil...wait, what is he doing? Instead of heading toward the main building, he heads toward the side wall where he and Fluttershy got in last time. “Lookout there sugarcube. Got yerself a wannabe cowpony coming your way.” Blaze finally finds the hole...completely filled in. “Damn it...I thought for sure it might have fallen off in there....” “I thought I smelled something...turns out it was strawberries.” “Craaaap...wait..strawberries..?” “What in the name of Celestia did you even use to wash yourself with? I could smell the strawberries a mile away...unless all failures smell like that..” RING RING “?” Flame sighs and answers. “What?” Pinkie Pie’s...erm...Queen Cake’s giggle-snorting can be heard clear as day. “Sorry about the strawberries! You must have grabbed my shampoo by accident.” “Gosh darnit Cake...” Blaze groans in annoyance and hangs up. “Ignoring that...” Ocelot smirks that annoying ‘I’m better than you’ smirk. “So, I take it you’re looking for this?” She takes out the very detonator he was looking for. “Sorry, but its useless now. We found the C3 you planted on the fuel tanks.” She tosses it to him. He catches it and growls, putting in his bag. He then starts reaching for his gun, but Ocelot speaks up first. “Hold it! ...Why don’t we make a game out of this?” “A..game??” “Yes, a game.” She levitates out a pair of revolvers, both empty. The takes a single bullet and loads it into one of the guns and spins the chamber. “A game of luck. Are you feeling lucky Mister Failure?” She uses her magic to juggle the guns in the air without looking, moving them faster and faster to make sure Blaze loses track of the loaded one. “Winner takes all.” “...Alright. I’ll play your little game...” “Are ya’ll serious??” “If it gets her off my back, I’m damn serious.” Ocelot laughs and levitates the guns down onto the ground between them. “Choose wisely..” ...They stare each other down for a moment...before they both break into a quick gallop toward the guns. They both grab the gun of their choice and begin rapidly firing, with neither of them firing off a shot. They continue running past each other and to the side until finally...a bullet grazes Ocelot’s ear. “What..!?” “Got you..!” He then quickly pulls out his Hush-Puppy and fires a tranquilizer into her neck. “Why you annoying..little...loserrrrrr....” She falls over from the tranquilizer and even starts drooling a little. RING RING “Hm?” He answers the radio. “Yeah?” “There has been a change in plans Blaze.” “Princess Luna??” “Yes. You must return as soon as possible...We finally managed to capture our little spy.” “...! R-Right away...You heard her. Let’s head back.” “Roger that sugarcube!” “Alright, see you there.” Chapter 11: For My Sister~Chapter 11: For My Sister~ ~Pony-Hound HQ~ Princess Twilight and Princess Luna find themselves face to face with none other than Princess Celestia’s spy. It is a brown mare with a ginger mane and tail, a Pony-Hound guard uniform and a hat. She is tied to a chair and looking down to avoid eye contact. “...” Twilight sighs. “Well...normally we would ask why you were sent here and what your motives are...but we sort of already know. To get the upperhand and know when we are coming. Sound about right?” The spy simply sits there, not saying a word. “...Just say something at least!” “...” “UGH” Luna puts a hoof on her back to calm her down. “Relax. Notice the device on her leg...” “...!” Twilight steps closer to look at the watch-like device strapped to the spy’s leg. “...Oh! Its one of those new devices that can change a pony’s physical appearance! Its on right now...but there’s a code to unlock it..” She looks at the pony in the chair. “Tell us the passcode.” “...” “UGH” Luna, again, puts a hoof on her back to calm her down. “Just calm yourself...there are ways to make her start talking.....we just won’t let her eat until she tells us.” “...” “Seems..kind of cruel...but I guess we don’t have a choice..” ~The next day~ Flame enters the room to check on Twilight and the spy. “Any luck..?” Twilight shakes her head and looks at the spy again. “None. She’s a tough pony for sure...” “And THAT’S why I brought this!” Flame says and holds out a bucket of water. “Dump it on her. It’ll short circuit the disguise and your problems will be solved.” The spy gasps and finally looks up. “W-Wait.....!!” Too late. Out of annoyance and extreme want to get this damn job finished, Twilight picks up the bucket with her magic and dumps it on the spy. “M-M-My......MY HAIR!!!” “...What...” “My poor precious mane..HOW COULD YOU DO THIIIIIS!?” She starts sobbing dramatically. Meanwhile the device has crackled a bit and died, and the pony’s brown coat turned marshmallow white and her mane and tail became purple and curled...until the water straightened it out. “...Rarity..?” She stops freaking out to finally look at Twilight, but she then looks away again. “...H-Hello Twilight....” Flame scratches his head. “Another friend that we thought was dead...Wow.” Twilight nods and steps closer to Rarity. “Why..?” “You know why...my poor sister....” “...Celestia is forcing you isn’t she......” Rarity nods. “I have no choice but to do this...or I may never see Sweetie Belle again..Applebloom and Scootaloo have also been caught in the middle of this....” Twilight sighs and turns to Flame. “We have known for a while that Sweetie Belle has been stuck in the Solar Empire for some time now..but we thought she was safe in her current residence....though I had no idea Applebloom and Scootaloo with with her as well.” Rarity sniffles a little and continues. “Last year they decided to take it upon themselves to sneak in to save Sweetie Belle. Needless to say they did not succeed...” Twilight shakes her head and headdesks. “Applejack will NOT be happy about this...” “W-What..?? Twilight dear..you and I both know that Applejack died in the invasion..along with Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash....” “...” “...” “...” Twilight looks at Flame, then back at Rarity. “I think we have some things to catch up on. No more than 10 minutes later, they get the others in and tell them the news. As expected, Applejack isn’t happy. “WHAT?! Ah swear that little filly is nothin’ but trouble!” Twilight sighs. “Applejack, I understand you’re upset. But we can’t do anything about it right now.” Meanwhile, Pinkie is bouncing around a shocked Rarity. “Yaaaay you’re here you’re here you’re here!!!” “H-Hello Pinkie Pie...Applejack....Even Fluttershy. Ohh..I can’t tell you how happy I am you are all alive.” Twilight manages to get Pinkie to calm down, then she begins untying Rarity. Rarity of course is confuse. “W-What are you doing..?” “Untying you.” But...I thought you would be angry at me. I have given you no reason to trust me...” “I don’t need a reason other than the fact that you are still my friend. Rarity..our next mission will be the day after tomorrow, early morning. Will you help us?” RING RING Rarity looks down at her radio, realizing that its probably Celestia. “....” She answers it. “Rarity here.” “Report. What is their next move? We must be ready at all times. Tests for Metal Gear SUN are almost complete.” Rarity takes a moment to look at her friends, then she smiles and answers. “They will be sending their best agent once again. Expect them the day after tomorrow..late at night.” “...Good. You are doing well. Keep doing well.” She hangs up and Rarity switches the radio off. “Anything for my friends. For my sister.” And there it is. Chapter 12: Recolored~Chapter 12: Recolored~ Once again we find out flaming hero, along with Angel, hiding by the outside wall of the lab. On the mountain again is Jack with her trusty sniper rifle. Rarity, codenamed Shine, under the disguise of a guard, has managed to sneak in through the back. The day before, Rarity had told the Princesses where her sister and her friends were living. They sent Big Bro there to take care of the guards watching over them and to take them to Pony-Hound HQ for safety. The mission went without any problems. This time, they will never see them coming. Rarity had previously told Celestia that the mission would be performed late at night when in fact it is happening right now, in the early morning. Of course, they need to be extra careful and quick. Metal Gear SUN will likely be finished by noon, and Celestia herself has come to see it through. Blaze checks his equipment and turns to Angel. “Ready?” “Ready.” The two of them hop and hover over the wall and into the base. “Okay. Rarity has confirmed that she has made it in undetected. Make your way into the hangar.” “Roger that Sparks.” This time for extra insurance, the Princesses, Cake, and Flower have set up a temporary base in the mountain cliff with Jack. That means they don’t need to use the codec radio for long distance communication. Blaze and Angel begin sneaking toward the building, using anything they can for cover if they need to. They reach the door.. “Careful you two. Couple guards comin’ ‘round the corner.” They quickly get inside just as the guards round the corner. They make their way down the hall and into a small lab room. Blaze notices something wrong. “I think we went the opposite way we went before..Angel shakes her head. “I-Its okay...both ways will lead to the main hangar. Let’s go..” This time she leads the way. They sneak through the lab and manage to get out with no problem. Once they leave the lab and enter the hall entrance to the hangar, they stop. “G-Guards..” ! The two guards at the end notice them and start reaching for their radios and guns, but Blaze moves faster and fires tranquilizers into their necks and knocks them both out. “Got em.” They continue through and into the hangar. Immediately they duck down behind the wall and peek over the top. Angel first notices the worst of it and squeaks. “C-Celestia...” Blaze pulls out his binoculars and takes a look. “...Grey Rainbow and Ocelot are there too...This could be tricky...wait, I see Shine. She’s with the guards protecting Celestia.” “So, now we sneak down there and onto the Metal Gear and find a self-destruct button or something..?” Blaze nods. “Right. If there’s no button, then we’ll have to sabotage it manually.” They continue on and up to the suspending bridge above SUN. Angel leans over to check if they are directly over it, but slips and falls over. “Angel!” Blaze reacts quickly and grabs her tail, but he gets pulled down with her. He spreads his wings and lowers them both gently to the ground. Unfortunately, Celestia and the others down below heard his yell and are now staring at him. Of course Celestia is least happy. “What?! That stupid spy was wrong...” She grabs her radio. “Rarity..you better answer....?” She turns to her guards when she hears her voice coming from one of their radios and her eyes narrow at Rarity. Rarity pushes a few buttons on her disguising device and her disguise disappears. “Sorry Celestia..but I’m not afraid anymore.” Grey Rainbow is staring at her from next to Celestia. “R....Rarity..?” Celestia whacks her. “Focus you fool! Get the idiots before they do anything!” Rainbow hesitates, but turns and heads for Blaze and Angel. “....I told you never to come back....” “I...I don’t care..! Rainbow Dash..you have no reason to work for Celestia...” “Why the hell not?! I have nothing else to lose...nopony left to care about but myself. I am going to end this..!” She rushes them, swords in hooves. Before Blaze can say anything, Angel had taken out her knife as well as snagged Blaze’s. She uses them to block both of Rainbow’s blades. “I..won’t..let..you..do this..!” Blaze steps forward. “Rainbow Dash...your friends aren’t dead. You need to listen..” He takes off his earpiece and throws it to Rainbow. She pushes Angel away and hesitantly puts it on. “W...What..?” “Dashie?!” “RAINBOW DASH YOU GOSH DARN FOOL!!!” “...What...what is this..?! You...Pinkie Pie..I saw you....and Applejack...” Blaze takes his knife back and moves closer. “Nopony to care about? Nothing to lose? These are your best friends.” Fluttershy also speaks up. “There is a reason you were the Element of Loyalty. You were most loyal to us, your most wonderful friends..til the very end.” Rainbow felt..happy? She didn’t know. She was crying. A lot. She drops her swords. “I’m...so sorry..” “No...ENOUGH!!! I am going to end this whether you like it or not!!!” Celestia angrily takes off into the air and flies up to the head of the Metal Gear. Several nearby scientists yell for her attention. “Princess wait! It isn’t finished! ....!” They quickly scatter as the mech comes to life, with Celestia at the wheel. “All of you will perish here..I will be sure of it!” Chapter 13: Metal Gear SUN~Chapter 13: Metal Gear SUN~ The guards and Ocelot quickly run off to get to safety. Shine joins Blaze and Angel in facing the Metal Gear SUN. “Whatever will we do..?!” Blaze grabs his knife uncertainly. “I...don’t know...! Watch out!” He grabs the girls and dives out of the way as a blast of pure magical energy fires from SUN’s mouth at them. “Hey!!!” Blaze jumps at the voice. “Commander..!” “All of you get outside now! We will help you!” Blaze, Shine, and Angel nod to each other and start running for the door. Celestia spots them. “You will not get away..!” SUN begins walking forward, knocking down and destroying anything that happens to be in front of it. After the ponies make it out, it fires another magic blast at the wall and escapes through that. Blaze looks up in the sky and spots a helicopter, with the others in it. “Up there!” Cake is piloting it. Oh dear. She aims the helicopter at SUN and fires the machine guns, but they do nothing. “Sparks, that thingy is too strong!” Sparks growls and sticks her head out the helicopter. “We will provide air support, but we don’t know how long we can last! Cake, fire the rockets!” Cake pushes a button and the heli launches a pair of rockets at SUN. They do actually manage to put holes in the body of the beast. “It works but we only have seven more pairs of rockets to fire!” Cake continues to fire more rockets and blast more holes in the body. “Just two more in the right spot..!” She fires the last two rockets, but SUN turns before they reach their target and it fires another magic blast. It destroys the rockets and heads right for the heli. Before it hits, Sparks manages to teleport everypony out of the heli and down to the other three. Blaze stares at SUN for a moment, helplessly. “We can’t possibly beat it......! OH! Angel! Do you still have the detonator for the C3?” “Y-Yes..? ...! OH! That’s right! You put an extra charge in one of the legs!” She quickly pulls out the detonator and pushes the button. There is an explosion from within the Metal Gear and its leg explodes and falls off. Celestia starts to freak out at first but.. “No! Damn you! ...I still have my wings!” The rocket boosters in the wings start up and lift SUN into the air, surprising the others. “No!!!” Then, it opens its mouth and begins charging another, more powerful magic blast. Angel looks down in sadness. “That was all we had...” Sparks hugs her friends and Blaze looks away. “Guess this is it......? Huh?” Suddenly, something crashes through the roof of the hangar and rapidly flies circles around SUN. “RAINBOW DASH!!!” Her color has brightened once again, and she is smiling as she used to before all of this hell. “Hope I’m not late for the party! COME ON LAMESTIA!!! LET’S SEE WHAT YOU GOT!!!” She pulls out a pair of long knives. Celestia growls at her taunting and fires the blast at her, missing by a mile. “DIE!!!” Rainbow grins and flies above SUN, then throws the knives down into its wings. She looks up at the sky and lightning strikes from either side and hits the knives like lightning rods, which quickly overload the wings. “Now for the grand finale!” She takes off flying into the sky, high above the clouds. She grabs her swords and begins making her way down...faster....faster...and faster.. Everypony but Blaze and Celestia instantly know what is about to happen and Sparks is the first to speak up. “EVERYPONY GET DOWN!!” She grabs Blaze and they hit the ground, right as Rainbow shatters the visible light spectrum in a beautiful, earth-shaking Sonic Rainboom. She gets her swords ready and...instead of crashing as expected, she slices off both wings at the speed of light, and takes off into the sky once more to avoid the ground. Finally she slows herself to a stop and watches as Metal Gear SUN crashes to the ground in pieces. Rainbow lands on the ground and strikes a pose, soaking in the cheers of her friends. Meanwhile..Celestia is burning with rage. She bucks the door off SUN and steps out. “All of you...die...” Twilight Sparkle alone steps forward. “...I think its time we finish this once and for all...Princess.” Chapter 14: Mentor and Student~Chapter 14: Mentor and Student~ This is it. Twilight Sparkle and Princess Celestia stand outside the ruined Metal Gear hangar, staring each other down. One with eyes full of hopeful magic, one full of murder. “Princess Celestia. I think its time you stop this.” “You think YOU of all ponies can order me to stop..? You are MY student. Twilight Sparkle. You disobey me, you pay with your life!” She fires a magic blast from her horn at Twilight, but she dodges. “I understand your plan now Princess..” Twilight puts up a barrier to protect herself from the next attack. “You knew that me and my friends would have the power to take you down..so you tried to kill us.” “No! There is nothing that can defeat me! She fires a powerful magic beam at her, and Twilight counters with her own less powerful beam, only to make them collide with each other and create a cloud of smoke. Celestia starts firing wildly into the cloud, hoping to hit something. “I tried to kill you all because you were annoying..! The world needs a ruler, not friendship!” “You deny it...but you’re afraid now...” Celestia looks up to find Twilight hovering in the air above the cloud. Twilight fires several magic blasts at her to distract her, then flies down and rams into her, pushing her back several feet. “You didn’t know for sure if we would be able to find a way to revive the Elements..so you tried to get rid of us as well. But you failed.” “I NEVER FAIL!!!” As they continue with their magic battle, the others watch on in awe. “I-Its amazing..!” “Twilight’s actually standing up the Princess..and winning!” “But how long can she last..” They share a look and continue watching..and hoping. Celestia growls angrily. “Why...Why does my magic feel weak?!” Twilight dodges another blast. “Your corruption and anger are affecting your abilities. Normally certain moods or situations can affect a pony’s magic. You are no exception.” “...I am Princess Celestia..I am a goddess! Controller of the sun! I will not lose to YOU!!!” Her horn glows and she raises it up toward the sun. The sun stops moving completely. “Now you will all die in a blaze from the sun itself!!!” Suddenly, a beam of fire straight from the sun fires down on Twilight. She quickly puts up a barrier to hold it back, but quickly starts to struggle against it. “I..can’t...” “...Hmph!” Rarity steps forward and adds her magic to the barrier. “You seem to be forgetting something, Princess Celestia.” Her eyes begin to glow. Rainbow Dash also steps forward and points an electrified sword at the sunbeam, her eyes glowing as well. “Magic doesn’t come from some girly necklaces or a tiara!” Pinkie steps forward with a huge grin on her face. “This is something we kinda learned right from the beginning!” Her eyes start glowing, and the barrier becomes stronger. Fluttershy, Applejack, and Flame-Tail all join them, their eyes glowing. Flame speaks up. “Like Rainbow said. Magic doesn’t come from necklaces and a tiara. It comes from us.” Twilight’s eyes finally start glowing pure white. “You are the one who taught us after all...Friendship is MAGIC!!!” The barrier finally absorbs the sunbeam completely. After a short moment, it fires back at Celestia as a multi-colored blast, blowing Celestia off her feet. “NO!!! YOU CAN’T...STOP...me...” She stops mid sentence..and lands on the ground, unconscious. ~Pony-Hound HQ~ Princess Celestia awakens to find herself in a large room. “Where...am I?” After looking around a moment, she finally spots Twilight.” Twilight..!” “Princess...you..you’re back to normal..” The Princess stands up and hugs Twilight. “You..have no idea how proud I am. I am so sorry Twilight. I never would have expected to still have such a connection with the Elements of Harmony...can you forgive me..?” Twilight smiles. “We already do.” She looks back at the others behind her, all smiling. “Sister..” “Hm..?” She turns around..only to be nearly tackled to the ground by Princess Luna. “Ahah..Luna..!” “I missed you so much sister..!” Well. This is it. With Princess Celestia back to her original kind self, there was no more need for two separate kingdoms. The Solar Empire and the New Lunar Republic have now joined together and reformed the old world of Equestria. While the suffering cannot be undone, they can be forgiven. After plenty of work, all will be rebuild anew. By request of Princess Celestia, Ponyville will be the first to return. And that is what happened. Ponyville was rebuilt. Everypony returned to the wonderful town. Fluttershy went back to her cottage to resume her old life as an animal caretaker. Posey opened up a flower shop in town. The Cakes were long gone of course, but Pinkie Pie revived Sugarcube corner on her own and is once again the number one party pony of Ponyville. Rarity and Sweetie Belle are back in the boutique. The Cutie Mark Crusaders are obviously no more since they all have their cutie marks, but they still remain friends. Applejack reunited with her family and went back to working the farm. Rainbow Dash is a special case. She needs the cybernetics to continue living. She will not age or grow. She retains her ability to reproduce, but I doubt she’s interested in having foals anytime soon. She goes back to being the best flyer in Equestria, with a twist. Best swordspony in Equestria. Flame-Tail decided to join the Royal Guard in Canterlot, seeing as how he was raised to be a fighter and really any other job would mean wasting his skills. In the end, everypony went on to live happy lives. All is well now. Chapter 15: Epilogue~Chapter 15: Epilogue~ ~Sugarcube Corner, Ponyville~ The moon is just beginning to rise. Everypony is gathered at the bakery to celebrate. Pinkie Pie is partying hard as usual. Rarity is enjoying the music. Twilight is dancing...somepony stop her. Applejack and Rainbow are...well let’s see what they’re doing. “Rainbow, ah have something here that I owe ya.” “What is it??” Applejack smacks her upside the head. “OW! ...Okay I guess I deserved that.” “Darn right ya did! Do somethin’ stupid like that again and ah’ll buck ya ‘round like an apple tree!” “Hehe..oh really?” She grins at AJ, and she blushes. “Git yer mind outta the gutter..” Well then. Rainbow puts a foreleg around her and hugs her. “Missed ya too AJ.” Meanwhile outside, we find Blaze and Posey sitting side by side looking up at the stars.. “Hey..Posey?” “Yeah..?” “Do you think something like this might happen again..?” Posey frowns and thinks for a moment. “...I really don’t know. I hope not....? Mom, do you mind..? Its embarrassing...” “O-Oh..sorry.” Fluttershy goes back inside and Blaze laughs and rolls his eyes. “Protective mother.” Posey moves closer to him. “Flame I...!?” Princess Luna suddenly lands in front of them, interrupting their moment. “Miss Posey, Flame-Tail. I hope I am not interrupting anything..?” They both sigh and Flame facehoofs. “No not at all..what is it Princess? Have things been going well with you and Princess Celestia?” Luna nods and smiles. “Oh yes, we are so very happy to be reunited once more. I...came to thank you. For everything you have done to help us. Especially you Flame-Tail. We know that the rest would like to live peaceful lives..however you were our best soldier. As such..we wanted to tell you that, should you ever need a job, the Royal Guard always has an opening.” Flame smiles at the thought. “That..could be fun. I might take you up on that offer someday. Thank you.” Luna nods. “Well, I must be heading back. Sister and I are having our own little party..and I don’t want bubblebutt stealing all the cake. Well, goodbye!” She takes off flying back to Canterlot and Flame looks at Posey. “Well, that was nice of he-!” Posey suddenly tackles him to the ground, mostly out of annoyance from being interrupted, and kisses him. “...Love you Flame.” ................................................ “Dear Princess Celestia, I learned a lot about friendship and magic in the past week. I learned that no matter what the consequences, if you believe in and trust your friends, anything can be done. I also learned that while magical artifacts can amplify ones magical abilities, they cannot create them. Magic comes from within. Whether the Elements of Harmony remain as solid pieces or not, they will always live inside us in spirit. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle.”
Chapter 1: Debriefing(Edited)~Chapter 1: Debriefing~ It is the distant future of Equestria, the Elements of Harmony are no more and the world has been split into two kingdoms. First we have the Solar Empire, ruled by a corrupted, tyrannical Princess Celestia. After the Elements of Harmony lost their power and disappeared, Celestia’s soul became corrupted and she took over most of Equestria and forced her sister out of Canterlot. Luna took action and helped her Lunar Guards seize control of the rest of the kingdom to keep it out of Celestia’s clutches. Luna dubbed her protected land the New Lunar Republic. She and Princess Twilight Sparkle rule together in hopes of someday freeing their sister and former teacher from her corruption. These kingdoms are stuck in a sort of Cold War, and either kingdom will strike at the first sign of danger. ~New Lunar Empire~ ~Pony-Hound Special Forces Group HQ~ Princess Twilight Sparkle and Princess Luna are standing in the debriefing room, and sitting in the lone chair is our hero. Flame-Tail, better known by his codename “Blaze”. Blaze is a soldier for Pony-Hound, a group of ponies specially trained for espionage and Close Quarters Combat. He received a call yesterday about a very important mission that required only the best of the best. Naturally he was surprised they had so much faith in him. For a moment he was tempted to decline. He had previous plans after all, but who was he to say no? He would do anything he can to help Equestria. That is why he joined Pony-Hound in the first place. Blaze stands about 5 feet, natural male Pegasus height. He has a fiery red coat, and a red and orange medium-length mane and matching tail. He was born several years before Celestia’s corruption. At age seven, when the corruption took place, certain things happened and he was left in the care of Twilight Sparkle. He doesn’t like talking about what happened. Only himself and the Princesses know. While growing up with Twilight, he met a pony named Posey. She helped him to brighten up his mood and turn him into a less sad pony as he was before meeting her. They would hang out whenever they had the chance. They haven’t seen each other in a couple years now, but they never forgot each other. Twilight Sparkle, the lavender Alicorn with the purple mane with streaks of dark pink, takes a deep breath and steps forward. “Flame-Tail. Codename 'Blaze'. We have called you here for an important mission, and only the best of the best will be able to handle this. That would be you.” Luna, the taller dark blue Alicorn with the blue mane and tail that sparkle like the night sky, nods her head in agreement. “We have seen what you can do. Your skills shown in the training were far better than what we have seen before. As such, we believe you to be the best choice for this mission.” At this point Blaze is feeling a little nervous. Receiving this much praise from the princesses from all ponies is not something you get every day. “Hn...thank you, Princesses. I promise to do the best I can...What is the mission?” Luna uses her magic to levitate a file of ‘top secret’ papers. “We have gotten word from our spy, Big Bro, that the Solar Empire is hiding something large..and very dangerous. We have not received any other intel, however we do know that it is a weapon of some sort created by the Empire’s most scientific minds and Equestria's most advanced technology. We do not know what it is, what it looks like, or what it does...but there is no doubt that it will throw this ‘cold war’ into their favor.” Twilight nods her head, but a slight look of sadness covers her face. “We...also lost contact with my br..I mean, Big Bro...yesterday at around eight in the morning. We do not know his current location. Your mission is very important. You will be air-dropped into a forest surrounding a top secret research facility. Your first mission is to use what you have learned in your stealth and combat training to sneak in undetected and gather as much info as possible on this weapon, as well as to hopefully locate Big Bro if possible. Should you succeed, make your way out and we will inform you of your next destination. You will be dropped in with only minimum medical supplies and a combat knife. If you need weapons, you will have to find them on your own. The fate of Equestria depends on your success...Now, move out and prepare for your departure. Blaze quickly salutes. “Yes ma’am. I will not fail you.” After being dismissed, he goes off to prepare to depart in the morning. The Princesses, however, stay behind for a moment. Twilight sighs and looks up at Luna. “Princess....has there really been no word about my brother..? Or Fluttershy?” Luna frowns and shakes her head. “I am sorry Twilight Sparkle...Both Shining Armor and Fluttershy’s communicators went silent and we haven’t been able to make contact since...We will keep trying. They are very important to this group, and to you especially.” Tears begin to fall from Twilight’s face, with light sobs escaping from her. “I miss my friends.....Fluttershy is missing...Applejack disappeared...and Rainbow, Rarity, and Pinkie are all-” Luna interrupts her before she can finish. “Enough Twilight. You need to stay positive. We WILL find your remaining friends. You must have faith. Your powerful friendship with them will most certainly guide them to you. We just...need faith.”
Chapter 2: The Drop(Edited)~Chapter 2: Free Fallin’~ ~Solar Empire Skies~ ~Above cloud layer~ Our hot-headed hero is sitting in a jet, which is just big enough for a pilot and a passenger. He is wearing a camouflage sneaking suit, and his wings are tucked inside to so the red of his wings doesn’t stand out. He is wearing a bandana to hold his mane out of his face, a small bag strapped to his side, and he has a combat knife strapped to his left front leg. He also has a bored look on his face. “Are we there yet...?” "Yes, thankfully..now you can stop asking.” says the pilot, not even bothering to hide how annoyed he is. Who even is this guy...why is HE so important all of a sudden......hey... ”HEY!!! Wait until I give you the signal you idiot!” While the pilot was busy with his thoughts, Blaze pressed a button that opened the door on the bottom of the jet and the wind quickly rushes in on them. “About time." He checks himself to be sure he’s ready, then leaps out of the plane, not realizing that he jumped out too early. Okay, mental checklist.....First, I need to stock on food. Hopefully I don’t need to resort to eating meat...bleh...After that, I need to scout the area for hostiles... As he goes through his mental checklist, something he picked up from Twilight, he lets out his wings and uses them to slow his descent, like a parachute. Its a good thing he’s a Pegasus, because he doesn’t have one of those. After a few minutes, he finally reaches the forest.....and lands stomach first on a tree branch. “Ow...” After struggling for awhile, he finally ends up falling right out of the branch to the forest floor. “Ow...well this is a great sign of things to come....” BEEP BEEP “Huh..? Oh.” He pushes a button on his earpiece and quickly wishes to turn it off. “MORON!!!” “Hi Twi...” “That’s COMMANDER to you. You need to learn to listen you know that?? Black Hawk told you to wait for his signal!” “Okay okay....I’m only half a mile from the drop zone though, so don’t worry.” Twilight sighs. “Alright..at least you made it down safely. Okay, as of now, you need to refer to me by my codename. Commander Sparks.” “I like it.” “Good. Okay, before you head off we need to go over a few things. First off, you won’t be completely alone.” “But I thought this was a solo mission..” “It is, but you will have help via radio. If you need any tips, talk to me. My radio signal is 145.1.” “145.1...got it.” “Next, there’s someone you might know...” “...Who?” His jaw drops slightly when he hears none other than Posey’s voice. “Hello Flame...oh! I mean Blaze..” “Posey...what are you doing with Pony-Hound??” “Well, I joined up a few months ago. I was excited to see you again, but we were both so busy that we never got to talk until now...” After an interrupting cough from Twilight, she realizes the situation again. “Oh, Right. I will be your medical aid. If you need any help with treating wounds and such, call me at 145.2..my codename is Doctor Flower.” “Got it doc. Oh...and uh..” He blushes a bit, thankful she can’t see him. “Yes..?” “Its uh...its good to hear your voice again..”
Chapter 3: The Voice(Edited)Chapter 3: The Voice ~Forest in the Solar Empire~ We find our fiery friend making his way through the jungle in absolute silence. After hearing word of something falling from the sky, the enemy soldiers were sent out to investigate. We now come to Blaze taking refuge in a tree, with a couple guards talking to each other below. “There’s nopony here...you think it was a mistake?” “The watchtower doesn’t make mistakes you moron. Keep looking..” Blaze takes this chance to jump down silently behind them. He then sweeps one off his hooves, making him fall and hit his head and effectively knocking him out. Then he quickly kicks up onto his front hooves and sends a powerful kick to the other guard’s face before he could react, knocking him out as well. “That was too easy..” He picks up one guard on his back and drags the other with his mouth and takes them behind a bush to hide them. Then he kneels down in some tall grass for cover and switches on his radio. “Commander...it looks like some ponies in a watchtower spotted me on the way down. I just knocked out a couple guards that were sent to investigate.” “Blaze, they’re going to know something is wrong when those two don’t come back. Stay alert. Keep your head down and your ears high. The facility should be a few miles to the west of your position. Can you handle that?” He smirks and chuckles a bit. “Course I can. After all, I am “the best”, as you put it.” “Geez..Somehow I knew that would go to your head. Just get to the damn research facility.” “I was kidding Twi, but alright...?” Another beep sounds on the radio and a mysterious voice starts speaking. "South...Ruins of Ponyville...” “What? Who is this? Commander, track that call quick!” “Way ahead of you. Tech, you get it?” Blaze can hear the voice of a male pony in the background. “Got it. Its coming from...Uh..damn, we're being blocked out. I can't get a location, but the signal is 203.6.” “Should I go there...?” “Ponyville...No. Blaze, this mission comes first. We will worry about this mysterious message later. You have to find the facility.” “...Alright...On my way..” He switches the radio off and continues his journey through the forest. After clearing his head of what happened, Blaze comes across a clearing with 5 guards standing around keeping watch. “Great..” He sneaks around the clearing, using the bushes and trees as cover, then pulls a guard in when he isn’t looking and knocks it out. As he does so, the other guards turn as they hear sounds coming from the forest. When they get there, it is already too late. Blaze has already hidden the unconscious guard and snuck away and has moved on toward the facility. He is naturally surprised to see that there are no guards in the area whatsoever. Taking it as a hint of a trap, he cautiously enters the small facility. Upon entering, he finds that there really isn’t much left inside. No machines left intact, no documents or notes left out. Everything is gone. “Damn...” He says in frustration as he switches on his radio once again. “Commander, they must have been tipped off about my mission. All the machines are trashed and they took any other information with them.” “This isn’t good...they must have gone somewhere. Try and find some guards and get some information out of them.” “Roger.” Blaze switches it off and heads back outside, only to find something unexpected. A blue pony, with a pale blue mane and tail, wearing a black soldier’s uniform, boots, guns strapped to its sides, and a dark blue Spetsnaz-style hat. Embroidered to the side of the uniform appears to be a blue sparkling cape behind a magic wand. A cutie mark perhaps? Of course the most interesting thing about this mare is the fact that she has a gun pointed straight at Flame's head. “Right on time!" Blaze grunts and turns his head a bit to look at her. “Damn it...”
Chapter 4: The Cyborg(Edited)~Chapter 4: The Cyborg~ ~Outside the secret research facility~ The strange blue mare gives a loud whistle and suddenly more ponies in similar uniforms jump out of the forest, levitating semi-autos in their magic, and surround Blaze. “So, you must be the soldier they sent to investigate....You look more like an amateur to me.” Blaze glares at her, but brushes off the insult. “What’re you supposed to be..some sort of wannabe soldier?” One of the soldiers growls. “Don’t talk that way about the boss that way!” The mare gives him a look telling him to shut up. “I am the Great and Powerful Trixie! But it doesn’t really matter since you’re not going to live long enough to spread my greatness.” She smirks, obviously satisfied with owning him. “Great and Powerful..? More like Powerfully Annoying.” He begins to reach for his knife, but Trixie jabs the gun against his head. "Hah! You think you can take on all of us with just a knife? This is insulting. I might’ve been more impressed had they sent of team of experts. This is ridiculous!" She flips her gun a little before holstering it. "You boys take care of him. Not worth my time...!” She jumps at the sound of a gunshot and one of her ponies drop to the ground, dead. After several more shots, the rest of them suffer the same fate. Trixie quickly uses her magic to draw her guns. But before she can take aim, something drops down behind her and puts a knife to her neck. “Please drop the guns...” Comes the soft voice from behind her. Trixie growls and drops the guns. “How did you get here without anypony knowing?!” Another pony, this one bigger with a scarf covering half his face, drops down beside Blaze. “Not important. Tell us, how did you knew this pony was going to be here?” “The Great and Powerful Trixie does not snitch...! H-Hey..!” The pony behind her presses the knife against her neck more. “You..! ...I’ll only say, you have a spy amongst your ranks...There's no way in Tartarus you'll ever figure out who!” She laughs and uses her magic to teleport away completely. The pony who was behind her sighs and puts the knife away. “I never thought she would do something like this...” The taller pony pulls his scarf down. “There’s nothing we can do about it now Angel.” Blaze is shocked when he sees the pony standing next to him is none other than Big Bro, AKA Shining Armor, the soldier who went missing. “Big Bro!? How..what...!” He finally takes a good look at the other pony to see who it is. "Ahh...A-Angel!?” Angel, AKA Fluttershy, smiled when she saw him. “Oh, Flame-Tail..! Its so wonderful to see you again. Oh...I-I’m sorry. We’re supposed to be using code names..." “Nn...Right, mind is Blaze...Okay, this is perfect. Bro, Angel. I was sent here by the Princesses to gather information on this new weapon Celestia is working on. I was also told to find you two if possible. This makes half my mission done. Do you know where the scientists of this place went?” Bro shakes his head. “No, but we do know more about this weapon. Lead us to the pick-up point. We will explain everything when we get back to HQ." Blaze sighs, but salutes. “Right. It is better than nothing I guess. This way.” Blaze, Angel, and Bro then begin heading north, through another half a mile of forest, until they reach a large cliff with a river running through the bottom and a bridge going across. “It’ll be right on the other side of this bridge, in a clearing a quarter mile into the forest.” They begin crossing the bridge until they get halfway through. Bro is the first to spot somepony crossing from the other side. As the pony gets closer, the sky starts to change. Dark clouds form and it begins to rain. “What is this..?” Blaze pulls out his knife. “I don’t know, but I smell trouble.” The pony stops a few feet from them and they notice quite a few things off about it. The pony is a Pegasus in a grey, full body suit of cybernetic armor, helmet and mask included. It also has two swords strapped to its back. Even its wings were cybernetic. Blaze was the first to step forward. “Who are you? ...!" With a flash of thunder and lightning, Blaze and Bro both find themselves being thrown off the bridge and into the river below. Meanwhile, Fluttershy regains her own sight to find herslef being held over the edge by the cyborg. “P-Please...” “...” The cyborg hesitates for but a moment, as if contemplating its actions. But it eventually turns its head away and drops her down with the other two. It then spreads its wings and takes off toward the South.
Chapter 5: Shining, Fluttershy, and the Spy~Chapter 5: Shining, Fluttershy, and the Spy~ ~Pony-Hound HQ~ Flame-Tail, Shining Armor, and Fluttershy are all in the infirmary of Pony-Hound recovering from the cyborg’s attack and their trip down the river. Flame was left with a broken wing and minor bruises. Shining came out with the least amount of damage, only cuts and bruises. Fluttershy got the worse of it. Two broken wings and a broken leg. Needless to say, her and Flame will be stuck there for a while. Thankfully they heal fairly fast. Suddenly Twilight bursts into the room. “Flame! Shiny! Fluttershy!” “Did..she just call you Shiny?” Flame snickers at his nickname. Shining just rolls his eyes and waves to his sister. “Hey Twily..sorry I took so long to get back..OWOWOWOWOW!!!” Twilight smacks his side, on one of his bigger bruises. “IDIOT! You go missing for a day and a half and all you say is SORRY?! ...S-Sorry...” “Heh..its okay. You were worried...but I’m here now.” Twilight smiles a little and moves over to Flame. “Oh dear...you took more of a beating than Shining. Are you okay?” Flame takes a look at his broken wing and sighs...but puts on a little smile and looks up at her. “I’ll be fine Twi. Don’t go all protective mother on me now. Besides...Miss Fluttershy took it a lot worse than us..” Twilight looks up at Fluttershy, who is staring down in deep thought. “Fluttershy.. Are you feeling okay..?” Fluttershy blinks and looks up. “H-Huh?? Oh..! I-I’m okay. I just...I can’t stop thinking of that cyborg pony...” Flame sits up and looks at her curiously. “Did it say anything to you before you fell..?” She shakes her head. “No, nothing...but before it dropped me...it hesitated.” Twilight thinks for a moment. “Hmm..maybe this is the secret weapon that we’ve been looking for. Maybe-” Shining and Fluttershy both shake their heads and interrupt her. “Far from it.” The room goes into a dramatic silence before Flame speaks. “I think we should get Princess Luna in to hear this...” “I’ll go and get her..” Twilight says as she turns to leave, but the door is blocked by who else but Princess Luna. “No need, I am here. Shining, Flame, Fluttershy. It is wonderful to see you all, but now is not the time for that. Shining, tell us everything that happened on your mission.” Twilight nods and looks at Fluttershy. “I am also interested to know what happened to you and your mission. We lost contact with you almost as soon as you landed in the Empire...” Shining and Fluttershy both nod and Shining speaks first. “Well, this is what happened...” ~A few days ago~ (Shining Armor POV) Everything was going as planned. I arrived at the drop-zone near the facility I was sent to investigate. Huge building. Almost half the size of Celestia’s castle. It took a lot of work, but I managed to get inside undetected. Princess Luna had informed me before entering that I would need to disguise myself as a high ranking officer in order to get into the important parts...lucky for me, there was a Major in one of the studies. So I knocked him out and hid him in a locker, took his outfit used magic to change my mane, and nopony knew the difference. I had to ask for directions, using the excuse that I’m having such a bad day that I can’t remember anything, but eventually I found my way into the main sector of the building. The labs and the hangar. I explored the labs and found it was mostly just scientists working on individual things. The things they were working on seemed like machine parts, but I didn’t know what it was for until I got to the hangar. What I saw in there was...beyond belief. I didn’t think anypony would be insane enough to build something so big....so deadly... It took up most of the hangar. It was tank, but it wasn’t at the same time. It was suspended in the air so the mechanics could work on the bottom. It had a pair of flat metal wings on the back with what looked like rockets in the bottoms of them. There were four legs like a pony. On the bottom of each hoof was one wheel, and more rockets installed in the backs of the hooves. Its head was more pointed and smaller than what you’d expect from a pony-like machine, with two gun turrets attached to the top. Attached to its back and sides were missile launchers. This....thing....they created. It is supposed to be the ultimate tool of destruction. It is referred to as Metal Gear SUN. According to the blueprints and documents, it is fast both on land and in the air, runs on solar energy alone, and has a few secret weapons that were only on another blueprint that I wasn’t able to find... It was around that time that the batteries in my radio died. Yes, that is why you lost contact with me. I thought it was no big deal. I knew where I was going to be picked up and thought I could make it there safely....but boy was I wrong. I secretly took a few pictures of it, but was caught by the guards who somehow knew I was down there. They destroyed the camera first, but they made the mistake of not taking me out. Instead they were ordered to take me to the underground prison under the lab. So that’s what they did. They knocked me out, unarmed me, and threw me into a cell. I woke up a while later when I heard sobbing from the cell next to me. I asked who it was and it turned out to be Fluttershy. I knew that she had disappeared the week before on the same mission, but I had no idea she’d even be alive still. After spending a day and a half in that cell, I finally thought up a plan...erm..kind of. I had a plan of getting the guard to let me out. Everything after that..I winged it. I pretended I was checking a gun to see how much ammo I had left. Idiot patrol guard thought I seriously had a gun. He opened the cell and the moment he stepped inside, I knocked him out and took the keys. I unlocked Fluttershy’s cell and we headed to the guard’s lounge. We snuck in and managed to get back all of our weapons and equipment. They spotted us, but I managed to shoot the power cords leading to all the lights. I had to put on my night-vision goggles and lead Fluttershy through the tunnels, but eventually we made it out safely. After another day’s journey through the forest, we found the research facility, along with Flame and none other than Trixie, who is apparently going by the name Blue Ocelot now and leading a special forces group under the Solar Empire. And..that’s that. ~End Flashback~ Luna and Twilight contemplate the information they just learned. “This is not good at all..Princess Luna, what should we do?” “For the moment, we cannot do anything Twilight. Our three best Hounds are incapacitated. For now, we must let them rest and heal. But first, Fluttershy. I wish to hear your story. It must have been a long journey, seeing as how you disappeared last week..” “A-Actually...” She looks away nervously. ~Last Week~ (Fluttershy POV) I-I managed to land in the drop-zone just fine, but I had to hide quickly because there were already guards starting to swarm the area...apparently we weren’t secretive enough because they knew we would be there...I managed to get away for the moment though. Soon after, I ran into more guards. I managed to avoid being shot but..t-the radio wasn’t as lucky... T-That’s why you lost contact with me so soon.....Through my journey in the forest I had investigated a few smaller labs, until around the seventh day I found the big facility that Shining found....I managed to sneak in, but was quickly caught and taken to the prison.....The next day, Shining ended up in the cell next door. You all know the rest.... ~End Flashback~ “This is weird...” They all look over at Flame, who had just spoken up. “Both of your stories have something in common. I mean..besides the fact that they intersect, obviously...but in both cases, the enemy seemed to know you were coming. Same with me. The scientists and Ocelot knew I would be there.” Twilight and Luna share a look. “Well...” Fluttershy finally looks at them. “Princesses..d-do you know what’s been happening..?” Twilight quickly shakes her head. “No but...” Luna interrupts. “We have suspected for awhile that there was a spy hiding amongst the Republic. It seems now that it has been narrowed down to Pony-Hound...You three, rest well. You have earned it. Fluttershy, you have a visitor who is...a little more than eager to see you again. Twilight, we have work to do.” She turns and leaves the room with Twilight close behind. After that....Posey rushes in and to Fluttershy’s side. “Mom..!!!” “P-Posey...Why are you here??” “I-Its a long story...I’m so happy you’re alive..” She gives Fluttershy a big hug and Fluttershy smiles happily. “ Flame smiles at the sight. “Posey here seems to have become a medical expert during the week you were gone. She’s the pony who patched us up when we got back.” Fluttershy looks at Posey, shocked but very impressed. “W-Wow..! I’m so proud of you...” “You two are so much alike its scary.” Shining says as he picks up his gun from the table next to him. “Fluttershy must have passed her skills onto you.” Posey blushes at the compliment and shakes her head. “N-No way..I’m not nearly as good with animals. I’m the flower pony, not the animal pony....but she did teach me all she knew about medicine and such. Thank you mother.” She hugs her mom once more. Meanwhile, in a meeting room, Twilight and Luna are debating what to do next. There is also a guard standing at the door to keep ponies out...but also hearing everything being said. “The first thing we need to worry about is this spy. If somepony from the other side has infiltrated, we must weed them out somehow.” “But Princess Luna, if we spend too much time worrying about one spy, the Empire will have more time to finish and launch that...monster.” “Twilight, we will be unable to do anything properly at all if all of our enemies know when are going to send somepony....We must split out efforts. Twilight Sparkle, you did very well as commander of Flame’s mission. I must ask that you take over all missions from here on out.” “W-What..? Oh...OH. While I am commanding on the missions, you will be..” Luna nods. “Correct, I will be investigating Pony-Hound Headquarters for the spy. Twilight, I am counting on you.” “I will not let you down Princess. Good luck.” Both the Princesses leave and dismiss their guard. As the guard trots off, she grabs her radio. “Princess Celestia...they suspect there is a spy. They seemed to have caught on to the fact that somepony is alerting you of their missions..” “Hmm...Keep in hiding. Be more cautious. We cannot let our plans be jeopardised. Do not fail me....” “Y-Yes Princess...” She switches off her radio and sighs in sadness. “I am deeply sorry Twilight...but Sweetie Belle comes first...”
Chapter 6: C3 the SunChapter 6: C3 the Sun ~A week and a half later~ ~Ponyville/Everfree Airspace, Solar Empire~ We once again find out hottie of a hero in a plane above the cloud layer of the Solar Empire, along with Fluttershy, AKA Angel, mother of Posey and friend to all creatures big and small. Both are dressed in forest camo, Blaze wearing his usual headband and Angel with her mane in a ponytail. They have been sent on a mission together to both investigate the mysterious voice that was heard previously on Blaze’s Radio, as well as to check out the lab that is nearby. Though this time, Angel is there to keep Blaze in check. Black Hawk, the pilot, slows down their flight. “Here we are. time to jump!” They nod and leap off the plane and begin their descent into the forest. Soon after, they make a perfect landing in the Everfree Forest. Fluttershy looks around, taking in the nostalgia. “It’s been so long...I-I’m surprised Celestia never destroyed this forest..the one place her sun never reaches. Blaze, we need to be very careful. There are nasty creatures living here.” Blaze nods and pulls out his knife. “Right, lets go quickly. The lab should be that way.” He points a hoof off toward the Southwest and they both run off in that direction. After several miles, the finally reach a huge clearing. By huge, that means...huge. With an equally huge building to go with it. “So...this is where you and Big Bro were captured..?” Fluttershy nods nervously. “Y-Yes....its also where the Metal Gear is being held...we..we have to destroy it..follow me closely.” She quickly and quietly sneaks over to the outer wall, with Blaze close behind. “The hole I used to get in was never found..so we should be able to use that.” Pressed against the wall, they sneak around the corner and down the side wall until they come across a hole dug under the wall. “Here it is. Blaze, w-will you check to see if its clear..?” He nods and jumps into the hole. “Got it..” He crawls under the wall and he manages to poke his head out the other side where there happens to be dirt to go through. After seeing nopony there, he signals with his tail for Angel to follow, and they both crawl onto the base. Then they sneak behind a smaller shed and hide for a moment. “Okay, let’s go over the plan, Angel.” She nods and peeks around the corner. “We make our way into the lab...hopefully undetected. The quickest way into the hangar is through the back entrance, a quarter down the hall, and into the double doors..” Flame continues for her. “Then we go down the stairs, to the left, and we’ll be right beside SUN. Then we plant explosives on all the fuel tanks, and that should destroy the Metal Gear and the whole facility.” RING RING Angel and Blaze both switch on their radios. “Commander?” “Be careful you two. Chances are that cyborg will be in there. Also, once you set the explosives you will only have twenty minutes to clear the area.” “Got it.” “Y-Yes ma'am.” Both hang up and immediately sense someone behind them. “Well well...once again our tip was right on the mark, and what do you know, its the amature and the annoying pony that knocked me out..” Blaze turns and growls. “Ocelot...” “Its two on one..we can handle her Blaze....!” Ocelot immediately magicks out her guns and begins firing, and Blaze and Angel both quickly jump out of the way. “Damn..she’s a quick-drawer.” Blaze says, then he charges at her with his knife, barely avoids another bullet, then slams into Ocelot and pushes her into the wall. At this point, the other guards heard all the noise and came to see what was happening. “All of you stay back! These two are mine!” Ocelot says as she kicks Blaze away and fires at him again. Angel grabs her own gun and manages to shoot one of Ocelot’s guns out of her hand, but then one of the guards grabs Angel from behind. “B-Blaze..!!” “Damn it..!” A bullet manages to graze his leg, but he dodges the rest. Angel manages to buck the guard off of her, then throws down a smoke grenade. “Blaze, run!” When the smoke goes off, Blaze and Angel both make a run for it. After managing to elude Ocelot and the guards, they finally make it inside and into the hangar. Angel and Blaze split the C3 explosives between them and split up to put them on the fuel tanks. “There should be for of them..you get the two over there, I’ll get the other two. We have one extra. I’ll stick it right on the Metal Gear for luck.” Angel nods and they split up. After barely avoiding being caught a few times, and placing that extra explosive on the foot of SUN, they start making their way back toward the door. “Job well done...Let’s wait until we’re outside to blow the place.” Angel nods and reaches into her bag for the detonator...but finds nothing. “U-Uh oh...The detonator is gone......Oh!” Suddenly they are surrounded once again by guards and Ocelot’s ponies. “Damn...I don’t think we can get out of this one...?” Suddenly there is a loud noise from outside, then a blinding flash and another loud noise inside, and both Angel and Blaze are gone.
Chapter 7: The Sorrowful RainbowChapter 7: The Sorrowful Rainbow ~Old Ponyville Center~ Angel and Blaze awaken to find themselves in what appears to be a deserted town. Buildings are boarded up and broken down, plants are overgrown in old gardens....to Angel, it seems all too familiar. “I-Its...Ponyville....” Blaze takes a look around in confusion. “How did we end up here..? I know it was very close to the lab, but last I remember we were inside the hangar surrounded by soldiers....! Angel!” Points to a figure walking toward them. The sky grows dark and it begins to rain. The sadness in the air is thick and heavy, and it is all emanating from that pony. “I-Its the cyborg...” The cyborg pony stops several yards away. “....I have a mission to do...and I won’t let some idiot guards do it for me and get themselves killed...” The voice is strange and robotic, but familiar to Angel. “T-That voice...It can’t be...!” The pony reaches up and grabs its helmet. It pulls the helmet off to reveal a light cerulean head, with magenta-ish eyes and....a rainbow colored mane. Blaze and Angel are both shocked beyond belief. “Rainbow Dash..!!” “S-Something is off...she looks..grey..and robotic.” Rainbow’s mane is in fact now a darker shade of colors than it once was. Also, her left eye is cybernetic. “Fluttershy...Flame-Tail...” “R-Rainbow...We...thought you were dead..” Rainbow turns away to avoid looking at her. “I was....Or I almost was. Princess Celestia saved me..at the cost of my ability to age, I was fixed up into this cybernetic suit. Without it, I would be dead. The only thing left of me is my cutie mark and my organs.” “You used to be so loyal to us..to your friends..!” “What friends?! You..and Twilight..are my enemies now. Pinkie Pie...Rarity..AJ...they’re all gone. All my friends are gone. The element of loyalty is only loyal to Princess Celestia now....” She looks up toward the sky as a grey rainbow appears over the sky. “This rainbow lost its colors...now it has to do its job.” She pulls out one of her swords and points it at them. “I’m sorry, but its Princess Celestia’s orders.” After another flash, she is suddenly in front of them and swinging her sword, but Blaze manages to block it with his knife. “Its useless..” She grabs her other sword and slams the handle into Blaze’s stomach. “Guh..!!” He jumps back a bit to recover. “I should expect a hard fight from the legend herself...” Rainbow holds her swords up toward the sky and lightning strikes them. “Bring it on..!” Blaze rushes toward her, knife ready, and tries to duck under the first sword, but then Rainbow spins around and slashes him twice, electrocuting him and sending him flying back once again...only this time he doesn’t recover. “FLAME!!! ..R-Rainbow..stop this..!” Rainbow turns to her and moves in on her. She starts to back away, but trips. Rainbow points a sword at her throat, but again hesitates just like on the bridge. “....Ugh..” A tear falls from her one real eye and she turns her head to hide it. “Just...go...” “W-What..?” “I said GO! I don’t want to see your face again...” Fluttershy whines, then picks up Flame and runs off into the Everfree Forest. Rainbow sheaths her swords and sighs. In a flash of light, she is gone. RING RING “Blaze! Angel! Please please PLEASE answer..!” “Twilight! Please..help..! Flame is badly hurt and I can’t do anything! He’s bleeding a lot..the wounds are so deep...We’re in the same place we dropped in..!” “Oh no..okay, we’re sending someone to get you right now. Hang in there...” ~Pony-Hound HQ~ “Damn it damn it DAMN IT!!!” Twilight yells while she bucks a hole in the wall. “Twilight Sparkle. Calm yourself...!” “HOW CAN I BE CALM?! One of my best friends, who I thought was DEAD, is now working for Princess Celestia. Flame might not even survive. I’m losing friends one by one. I can’t be CALM!! I-” Princess Luna slaps her in the face to calm her down. “....” “I am sorry for that, but having a tantrum will NOT fix things. It will only make you feel worse.” Twilight rubs her face and now begins to cry. “I-I...I’m sorry.....” Luna sighs and hugs Twilight. “Being upset is okay...I’m not particularly happy about this either. But you need to stay strong.” Twilight wipes her tears and nods. “O-Okay Princess....” A guard pokes his head into the room. “Princesses, you have a visitor...” Luna frowns and gives the guard a look. “This is hardly the time...” “But Princess It’s.....Discord...”
Chapter 8: What Is Even HappeningChapter 8: What Is Even Happening ~Pony-Hound HQ~ As they follow the guard to another room, Twilight and Luna talk quietly to avoid others hearing. “Princess...didn’t you say Discord disappeared when Celestia attacked..?” “He did...He must have gone into hiding. Let us hope he is not here to cause trouble.” They reach the room where Discord is waiting and enter, then proceed to glare at him as he expected. “Oh Princesses. Lovely to see you two again! Tell me, how has the war been going hmm?” “Just tell us what you want Discord....We don’t have time to deal with you.” “Well..is that ANY way to speak to someone who kept your friends out of danger for so long? .....Uh. Girls. That was your que.” “Gosh darnit..so much for all that practice we did.” From behind Discord comes an orange earth pony, with a blond mane and tail. The tail is tied in a ponytail. Go figure. The mane is hanging down freely, and its pretty long. Right on top is a cowboy hat. “Howdy Twi, Luna. Nice ta see you again!” “A-App..Apple...wha..???” Discord looks around for a moment for something. “Hold on a minute..we’re missing something.” Suddenly, standing right next to Twilight..is a pink pony. A very pink pony. Her mane and tail are both darker shades of pink, and are very very poofy. She also smells like candy. “Hiya Twilight!” Twilight nearly jumps out of her skin, but after realizing who it is she manages to get herself off the ceiling. “P..Pinkie Pie..? Applejack?? But..how..when...I thought you were...whaaaaaat???” Applejack laughs a little and takes her hat off. “Ya’ll haven’t changed a bit Twilight.” Pinkie grins, as usual, and hugs Twilight. “We’ll explain everything that happened! We didn’t die. Well obviously we didn’t die, or we wouldn’t be here. Or would we..maybe we’d be ghooooosts!” Twilight just stands there in shock. Luna nudges her a little to get her attention. “Are you feeling better now Twilight?” Twilight nods and finally hugs Pinkie back. “I’m so happy you girls are okay..” “Well of course we’re okay silly! But I’m kinda hungry..you got any cupcakes?” Luna smiles and nods. “I will have the cook begin baking as soon as we are done here. ...But first, we need answers.” Twilight nods, then gives Discord another glare..slightly less mean looking this time. “Discord. Why did you do all this..?” Discord chuckles a bit. “Oh my dear Princesses...speaking as a God of Chaos, this whole war is just WONDERFULLY chaotic! War IS the ultimate chaos after all.....But...speaking as a reformed God of Chaos, I couldn’t very well let my only friends die now could I?” Luna sighs and shakes her head. “It is still strange hearing YOU talk about having friends...but thank you. How exactly did you save them? Last time we had seen Pinkie Pie she was....well, we would rather not think about it...as for Applejack, she seemed to disappear entirely.” Discord chuckles once more and takes a seat on a floating chair...what? “Its a funny story really..I had known for a while that the Elements of Harmony were running out of power. The six ponies that controlled them were just growing apart. Too far apart for the Elements to handle. I wasn’t able to find Rainbow Dash or Rarity..so I took these two instead.” “Ah was the first one to go. He uses his weirdo magic to poof me away. Discord really ain’t that bad once ya get to know em.” “Yep yep! Then he found me while I was...well you know. He poofled me away too. He used his powers to heal us both and it all got better from there! He’s so awesome! Chocolate rain..every day....it was beautiful..” She sheds a single tear. Discord poofs her mouth away and continues for them. “Anyways...I decided it would be interesting to see what I could do with these ponies, so I toughened them up a bit. Applejack here..if she didn’t know how to fight before she was so good at hiding it. I’d go so far as to say that now, she could easily overpower your top agent.” Twilight rolls her eyes. “If that’s meant to be a challenge, we’ll have to pass. Flame is....in bad shape..” Pinkie Pie’s mouth reappears. “Hey don’t do that! Meanie head!” Twilight ignores this at first..but then realizes something. “Pinkie..did you just make your mouth appear on its own?? How did you do that?!” Pinkie giggles does a zip-the-lip motion. “Can’t tell you that~” Luna shakes her head and smiles. “It doesn’t matter..we have important things to take care of. We are very grateful for this Discord. I don’t suppose you’re going to stay and help us?” Discord shakes his head. “This is a pony’s fight, not mine. Well, I must be off! I bid you all farewell.” He disappears, leaving Twilight slightly annoyed, but smiles. “Well at least we got something out of this..good to see you girls again..Where’s Pinkie Pie?” ~Pony-Hound Kitchen~ Pinkie Pie is bouncing up and down behind the cook, trying to convince him to make some cupcakes. “Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease? Oh! I could make them for you then! Come oooooon!” The cook facehoofs in annoyance. “For the thousandth time NO! How did you even get in here?! The door was locked from this side!” “Well DUH. I came in through the back door!” “...There is no back door...” “Pffft..silly head, everything has a back door!” “...What...”
Chapter 9: Do You Trust Me?~Chapter 9: Do you trust me?~ Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy are in the dining hall with a tray of cupcakes on the table, made at Luna’s request. Of course, none of them are feeling very happy...even Pinkie Pie isn’t smiling much. “Ah...can’t believe Rainbow would do somethin’ like this...” “I miss Dashie...” “B-But....” AJ and Pinkie look at Fluttershy, and she squeaks and hides behind her mane. “B-But.....she still has good in her... I know it......” AJ sighs and takes another cupcake. “Well she did let ya’ll go after all...but ah still wanna know why she’s doin’ this!” “S-She said she chooses to remain loyal to our old Princess....and because....she thinks we’re all dead...and those who aren’t dead she believes are her enemies...She thinks all she has left to be loyal to is Celestia...” “When I git my hooves around my little pony’s neck...” Pinkie giggles. “YOUR little pony huh?” “! N-No what ah meant was..uh....ohh....” ~Infirmary~ Flame-Tail is laying in a bed unconscious still after her short fight with Grey Rainbow. He has two long scars, one along his side and another across his chest. Both professionally stitched up by the pony sleeping next to him with her head on the bed, Posey. Finally, Flame wakes up. “Hm...ugh..ow ow ow..urk..!” His stomach growls loudly, loud enough to wake up Posey. “Hmm..? Flame..? ...Flame!” She hugs him suddenly, forgetting about his wounds for a moment. “OW Posey careful..!” “S-Sorry....how are you feeling? Are you still hurting? Are you breathing okay?” ...In order. Hungry, a little, and yes....Were you sleeping here the whole time..?” “W-Well...” She blushes a bit and looks away. “I..just wanted to make sure you were okay. I stitched you up myself but I was worried..what if I didn’t do it right or I messed up the stitches or..or..” Flame rolls his eyes and puts a hoof over her mouth. “Chill, Flower.” “U-Um..we aren’t on a mission you know...You can call me by my name.” “..Its a cute nickname though.....?” He notices the door is cracked open a little and easily spots Fluttershy watching him. “...” “...” “Flame...” “Um..yes?” “Are you sure you’re okay..?” Flame sweats a little from Fluttershy’s stare. “Y-Yeah.....H-Hey what’re you...” Posey climbs on the bed next to him and snuggles up to him. You couldn’t tell because of the color of Flame’s coat, but he is very red right now...but he smiles. “Posey..You care about me too much sometimes...” “Its because I love you...” She soon falls asleep, leaving Flame slightly stunned but still happy. That’s when you-know-who decides to come in. “Erm...hello Miss Fluttershy..” He starts sweating again, expecting her to interrogate him about being with her daughter. “.....I was going to interrogate you about being with my daughter...but I feel like I can trust you...right..?” “....Well, you tell me...Do you trust me?” And there it is. ~Half a week later~ After healing enough to be able to go on a mission again, Flame finds himself once again in the debriefing room. In front of him are the Princesses Luna and Twilight as usual. Luna is the first to speak. “Blaze. It is time for your newest mission. Are you up for it?” He nods and Twilight continues for her. “Once more, you are going to try and infiltrate the lab. This time there will be no tip off, as this room is protected by a sound-blocking barrier. Nothing can get in and no sounds will be heard from the outside.” Luna continues, “This time you will be sent in with a gun. We know you prefer not to kill unless absolutely necessary, so you will be given a-” “Mk22 Hush-Puppy tranquilizer pistol!” And that’s when the entire room nearly dies. “P-Pinkie how...” Pinkie ignores the others and pulls out a gun and hands it to Blaze. “Its small, so its easy to carry. Its filled with tranqs so it is completely non-lethal! No blood spilled, and you get the medal at the end of the game!” “What..?” “Oopsie..nevermind! Only some of the readers will understand that one.” Twilight shakes her head. “Pinkie being Pinkie..as usual.....I guess missed that though..” Blaze sighs and puts away the gun. “Well..thank you. CQC can only get you so far so that should be very helpful.” Pinkie takes her leave and Luna continues with the details. “Once again, you will have Commander Sparks helping you out via radio, along with Flower once again. However you also have the addition of...Queen Cake....Pinkie Pie.. She will tell you about any weapons you may encounter during your mission. Apparently she learned everything there is to know about weapons during her time with Discord, among other things...impressive, but something else about her is......” Twilight interrupts with a cough. “Big Bro and Jack will also be helping you on scene. There is a mountain cliff overlooking the outside of the lab. Big Bro and Jack will be watching over you using sniper rifles, and will provide cover fire if you find yourself surrounded.” “Yes ma’am....uh..who is Jack?” “Applejack. Not exactly creative, but I guess I did put her on the spot to think of a codename..” “You depart tomorrow. Good luck Blaze.” Blaze salutes and leaves to prepare for his mission. Twilight looks up at Princess Luna. “...Did Pinkie Pie really ask for that to be her codename..?”
Chapter 10: Pesky Ocelots~Chapter 10: Pesky Ocelots~ ~Solar Empire: Forest~ We come back once more to our hero Blaze, on his way through the forest to the lab with gun in hoof. He reaches the wall surrounding the lab and pushes a button on his earpiece. “Jack, Bro. Can you spot a safe way in from your point?” “Well...safest spot ah can see is right on the other side of ya. If ya’ll climb over that there wall, you’ll come down right between the wall and a storage shed.” Big Bro chips in, “She’s right. The main entrance is obviously out of the question, and that hole you and Fluttershy went in through is most likely filled in by now. You’ll just have to climb over, Blaze.” Blaze sighs in frustration. “Well..alright.” He switches off the radio, spreads his wings, and uses them to propel him high enough to leap over the wall, amazingly undetected. “Well it worked. Lucky me.” RING RING He sighs and answers it. “Yeah..Commander?” “Blaze. Fluttershy just informed me that she dropped the detonator for the C3 while you were there last. Your mission objective has changed.” “Find the detonator..?” “Exactly. Find it, light it, and run for it.” “Got it.” He switches off and sneaks around the shed and makes his way toward the main buil...wait, what is he doing? Instead of heading toward the main building, he heads toward the side wall where he and Fluttershy got in last time. “Lookout there sugarcube. Got yerself a wannabe cowpony coming your way.” Blaze finally finds the hole...completely filled in. “Damn it...I thought for sure it might have fallen off in there....” “I thought I smelled something...turns out it was strawberries.” “Craaaap...wait..strawberries..?” “What in the name of Celestia did you even use to wash yourself with? I could smell the strawberries a mile away...unless all failures smell like that..” RING RING “?” Flame sighs and answers. “What?” Pinkie Pie’s...erm...Queen Cake’s giggle-snorting can be heard clear as day. “Sorry about the strawberries! You must have grabbed my shampoo by accident.” “Gosh darnit Cake...” Blaze groans in annoyance and hangs up. “Ignoring that...” Ocelot smirks that annoying ‘I’m better than you’ smirk. “So, I take it you’re looking for this?” She takes out the very detonator he was looking for. “Sorry, but its useless now. We found the C3 you planted on the fuel tanks.” She tosses it to him. He catches it and growls, putting in his bag. He then starts reaching for his gun, but Ocelot speaks up first. “Hold it! ...Why don’t we make a game out of this?” “A..game??” “Yes, a game.” She levitates out a pair of revolvers, both empty. The takes a single bullet and loads it into one of the guns and spins the chamber. “A game of luck. Are you feeling lucky Mister Failure?” She uses her magic to juggle the guns in the air without looking, moving them faster and faster to make sure Blaze loses track of the loaded one. “Winner takes all.” “...Alright. I’ll play your little game...” “Are ya’ll serious??” “If it gets her off my back, I’m damn serious.” Ocelot laughs and levitates the guns down onto the ground between them. “Choose wisely..” ...They stare each other down for a moment...before they both break into a quick gallop toward the guns. They both grab the gun of their choice and begin rapidly firing, with neither of them firing off a shot. They continue running past each other and to the side until finally...a bullet grazes Ocelot’s ear. “What..!?” “Got you..!” He then quickly pulls out his Hush-Puppy and fires a tranquilizer into her neck. “Why you annoying..little...loserrrrrr....” She falls over from the tranquilizer and even starts drooling a little. RING RING “Hm?” He answers the radio. “Yeah?” “There has been a change in plans Blaze.” “Princess Luna??” “Yes. You must return as soon as possible...We finally managed to capture our little spy.” “...! R-Right away...You heard her. Let’s head back.” “Roger that sugarcube!” “Alright, see you there.”
Chapter 11: For My Sister~Chapter 11: For My Sister~ ~Pony-Hound HQ~ Princess Twilight and Princess Luna find themselves face to face with none other than Princess Celestia’s spy. It is a brown mare with a ginger mane and tail, a Pony-Hound guard uniform and a hat. She is tied to a chair and looking down to avoid eye contact. “...” Twilight sighs. “Well...normally we would ask why you were sent here and what your motives are...but we sort of already know. To get the upperhand and know when we are coming. Sound about right?” The spy simply sits there, not saying a word. “...Just say something at least!” “...” “UGH” Luna puts a hoof on her back to calm her down. “Relax. Notice the device on her leg...” “...!” Twilight steps closer to look at the watch-like device strapped to the spy’s leg. “...Oh! Its one of those new devices that can change a pony’s physical appearance! Its on right now...but there’s a code to unlock it..” She looks at the pony in the chair. “Tell us the passcode.” “...” “UGH” Luna, again, puts a hoof on her back to calm her down. “Just calm yourself...there are ways to make her start talking.....we just won’t let her eat until she tells us.” “...” “Seems..kind of cruel...but I guess we don’t have a choice..” ~The next day~ Flame enters the room to check on Twilight and the spy. “Any luck..?” Twilight shakes her head and looks at the spy again. “None. She’s a tough pony for sure...” “And THAT’S why I brought this!” Flame says and holds out a bucket of water. “Dump it on her. It’ll short circuit the disguise and your problems will be solved.” The spy gasps and finally looks up. “W-Wait.....!!” Too late. Out of annoyance and extreme want to get this damn job finished, Twilight picks up the bucket with her magic and dumps it on the spy. “M-M-My......MY HAIR!!!” “...What...” “My poor precious mane..HOW COULD YOU DO THIIIIIS!?” She starts sobbing dramatically. Meanwhile the device has crackled a bit and died, and the pony’s brown coat turned marshmallow white and her mane and tail became purple and curled...until the water straightened it out. “...Rarity..?” She stops freaking out to finally look at Twilight, but she then looks away again. “...H-Hello Twilight....” Flame scratches his head. “Another friend that we thought was dead...Wow.” Twilight nods and steps closer to Rarity. “Why..?” “You know why...my poor sister....” “...Celestia is forcing you isn’t she......” Rarity nods. “I have no choice but to do this...or I may never see Sweetie Belle again..Applebloom and Scootaloo have also been caught in the middle of this....” Twilight sighs and turns to Flame. “We have known for a while that Sweetie Belle has been stuck in the Solar Empire for some time now..but we thought she was safe in her current residence....though I had no idea Applebloom and Scootaloo with with her as well.” Rarity sniffles a little and continues. “Last year they decided to take it upon themselves to sneak in to save Sweetie Belle. Needless to say they did not succeed...” Twilight shakes her head and headdesks. “Applejack will NOT be happy about this...” “W-What..?? Twilight dear..you and I both know that Applejack died in the invasion..along with Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash....” “...” “...” “...” Twilight looks at Flame, then back at Rarity. “I think we have some things to catch up on. No more than 10 minutes later, they get the others in and tell them the news. As expected, Applejack isn’t happy. “WHAT?! Ah swear that little filly is nothin’ but trouble!” Twilight sighs. “Applejack, I understand you’re upset. But we can’t do anything about it right now.” Meanwhile, Pinkie is bouncing around a shocked Rarity. “Yaaaay you’re here you’re here you’re here!!!” “H-Hello Pinkie Pie...Applejack....Even Fluttershy. Ohh..I can’t tell you how happy I am you are all alive.” Twilight manages to get Pinkie to calm down, then she begins untying Rarity. Rarity of course is confuse. “W-What are you doing..?” “Untying you.” But...I thought you would be angry at me. I have given you no reason to trust me...” “I don’t need a reason other than the fact that you are still my friend. Rarity..our next mission will be the day after tomorrow, early morning. Will you help us?” RING RING Rarity looks down at her radio, realizing that its probably Celestia. “....” She answers it. “Rarity here.” “Report. What is their next move? We must be ready at all times. Tests for Metal Gear SUN are almost complete.” Rarity takes a moment to look at her friends, then she smiles and answers. “They will be sending their best agent once again. Expect them the day after tomorrow..late at night.” “...Good. You are doing well. Keep doing well.” She hangs up and Rarity switches the radio off. “Anything for my friends. For my sister.” And there it is.
Chapter 12: Recolored~Chapter 12: Recolored~ Once again we find out flaming hero, along with Angel, hiding by the outside wall of the lab. On the mountain again is Jack with her trusty sniper rifle. Rarity, codenamed Shine, under the disguise of a guard, has managed to sneak in through the back. The day before, Rarity had told the Princesses where her sister and her friends were living. They sent Big Bro there to take care of the guards watching over them and to take them to Pony-Hound HQ for safety. The mission went without any problems. This time, they will never see them coming. Rarity had previously told Celestia that the mission would be performed late at night when in fact it is happening right now, in the early morning. Of course, they need to be extra careful and quick. Metal Gear SUN will likely be finished by noon, and Celestia herself has come to see it through. Blaze checks his equipment and turns to Angel. “Ready?” “Ready.” The two of them hop and hover over the wall and into the base. “Okay. Rarity has confirmed that she has made it in undetected. Make your way into the hangar.” “Roger that Sparks.” This time for extra insurance, the Princesses, Cake, and Flower have set up a temporary base in the mountain cliff with Jack. That means they don’t need to use the codec radio for long distance communication. Blaze and Angel begin sneaking toward the building, using anything they can for cover if they need to. They reach the door.. “Careful you two. Couple guards comin’ ‘round the corner.” They quickly get inside just as the guards round the corner. They make their way down the hall and into a small lab room. Blaze notices something wrong. “I think we went the opposite way we went before..Angel shakes her head. “I-Its okay...both ways will lead to the main hangar. Let’s go..” This time she leads the way. They sneak through the lab and manage to get out with no problem. Once they leave the lab and enter the hall entrance to the hangar, they stop. “G-Guards..” ! The two guards at the end notice them and start reaching for their radios and guns, but Blaze moves faster and fires tranquilizers into their necks and knocks them both out. “Got em.” They continue through and into the hangar. Immediately they duck down behind the wall and peek over the top. Angel first notices the worst of it and squeaks. “C-Celestia...” Blaze pulls out his binoculars and takes a look. “...Grey Rainbow and Ocelot are there too...This could be tricky...wait, I see Shine. She’s with the guards protecting Celestia.” “So, now we sneak down there and onto the Metal Gear and find a self-destruct button or something..?” Blaze nods. “Right. If there’s no button, then we’ll have to sabotage it manually.” They continue on and up to the suspending bridge above SUN. Angel leans over to check if they are directly over it, but slips and falls over. “Angel!” Blaze reacts quickly and grabs her tail, but he gets pulled down with her. He spreads his wings and lowers them both gently to the ground. Unfortunately, Celestia and the others down below heard his yell and are now staring at him. Of course Celestia is least happy. “What?! That stupid spy was wrong...” She grabs her radio. “Rarity..you better answer....?” She turns to her guards when she hears her voice coming from one of their radios and her eyes narrow at Rarity. Rarity pushes a few buttons on her disguising device and her disguise disappears. “Sorry Celestia..but I’m not afraid anymore.” Grey Rainbow is staring at her from next to Celestia. “R....Rarity..?” Celestia whacks her. “Focus you fool! Get the idiots before they do anything!” Rainbow hesitates, but turns and heads for Blaze and Angel. “....I told you never to come back....” “I...I don’t care..! Rainbow Dash..you have no reason to work for Celestia...” “Why the hell not?! I have nothing else to lose...nopony left to care about but myself. I am going to end this..!” She rushes them, swords in hooves. Before Blaze can say anything, Angel had taken out her knife as well as snagged Blaze’s. She uses them to block both of Rainbow’s blades. “I..won’t..let..you..do this..!” Blaze steps forward. “Rainbow Dash...your friends aren’t dead. You need to listen..” He takes off his earpiece and throws it to Rainbow. She pushes Angel away and hesitantly puts it on. “W...What..?” “Dashie?!” “RAINBOW DASH YOU GOSH DARN FOOL!!!” “...What...what is this..?! You...Pinkie Pie..I saw you....and Applejack...” Blaze takes his knife back and moves closer. “Nopony to care about? Nothing to lose? These are your best friends.” Fluttershy also speaks up. “There is a reason you were the Element of Loyalty. You were most loyal to us, your most wonderful friends..til the very end.” Rainbow felt..happy? She didn’t know. She was crying. A lot. She drops her swords. “I’m...so sorry..” “No...ENOUGH!!! I am going to end this whether you like it or not!!!” Celestia angrily takes off into the air and flies up to the head of the Metal Gear. Several nearby scientists yell for her attention. “Princess wait! It isn’t finished! ....!” They quickly scatter as the mech comes to life, with Celestia at the wheel. “All of you will perish here..I will be sure of it!”
Chapter 13: Metal Gear SUN~Chapter 13: Metal Gear SUN~ The guards and Ocelot quickly run off to get to safety. Shine joins Blaze and Angel in facing the Metal Gear SUN. “Whatever will we do..?!” Blaze grabs his knife uncertainly. “I...don’t know...! Watch out!” He grabs the girls and dives out of the way as a blast of pure magical energy fires from SUN’s mouth at them. “Hey!!!” Blaze jumps at the voice. “Commander..!” “All of you get outside now! We will help you!” Blaze, Shine, and Angel nod to each other and start running for the door. Celestia spots them. “You will not get away..!” SUN begins walking forward, knocking down and destroying anything that happens to be in front of it. After the ponies make it out, it fires another magic blast at the wall and escapes through that. Blaze looks up in the sky and spots a helicopter, with the others in it. “Up there!” Cake is piloting it. Oh dear. She aims the helicopter at SUN and fires the machine guns, but they do nothing. “Sparks, that thingy is too strong!” Sparks growls and sticks her head out the helicopter. “We will provide air support, but we don’t know how long we can last! Cake, fire the rockets!” Cake pushes a button and the heli launches a pair of rockets at SUN. They do actually manage to put holes in the body of the beast. “It works but we only have seven more pairs of rockets to fire!” Cake continues to fire more rockets and blast more holes in the body. “Just two more in the right spot..!” She fires the last two rockets, but SUN turns before they reach their target and it fires another magic blast. It destroys the rockets and heads right for the heli. Before it hits, Sparks manages to teleport everypony out of the heli and down to the other three. Blaze stares at SUN for a moment, helplessly. “We can’t possibly beat it......! OH! Angel! Do you still have the detonator for the C3?” “Y-Yes..? ...! OH! That’s right! You put an extra charge in one of the legs!” She quickly pulls out the detonator and pushes the button. There is an explosion from within the Metal Gear and its leg explodes and falls off. Celestia starts to freak out at first but.. “No! Damn you! ...I still have my wings!” The rocket boosters in the wings start up and lift SUN into the air, surprising the others. “No!!!” Then, it opens its mouth and begins charging another, more powerful magic blast. Angel looks down in sadness. “That was all we had...” Sparks hugs her friends and Blaze looks away. “Guess this is it......? Huh?” Suddenly, something crashes through the roof of the hangar and rapidly flies circles around SUN. “RAINBOW DASH!!!” Her color has brightened once again, and she is smiling as she used to before all of this hell. “Hope I’m not late for the party! COME ON LAMESTIA!!! LET’S SEE WHAT YOU GOT!!!” She pulls out a pair of long knives. Celestia growls at her taunting and fires the blast at her, missing by a mile. “DIE!!!” Rainbow grins and flies above SUN, then throws the knives down into its wings. She looks up at the sky and lightning strikes from either side and hits the knives like lightning rods, which quickly overload the wings. “Now for the grand finale!” She takes off flying into the sky, high above the clouds. She grabs her swords and begins making her way down...faster....faster...and faster.. Everypony but Blaze and Celestia instantly know what is about to happen and Sparks is the first to speak up. “EVERYPONY GET DOWN!!” She grabs Blaze and they hit the ground, right as Rainbow shatters the visible light spectrum in a beautiful, earth-shaking Sonic Rainboom. She gets her swords ready and...instead of crashing as expected, she slices off both wings at the speed of light, and takes off into the sky once more to avoid the ground. Finally she slows herself to a stop and watches as Metal Gear SUN crashes to the ground in pieces. Rainbow lands on the ground and strikes a pose, soaking in the cheers of her friends. Meanwhile..Celestia is burning with rage. She bucks the door off SUN and steps out. “All of you...die...” Twilight Sparkle alone steps forward. “...I think its time we finish this once and for all...Princess.”
Chapter 14: Mentor and Student~Chapter 14: Mentor and Student~ This is it. Twilight Sparkle and Princess Celestia stand outside the ruined Metal Gear hangar, staring each other down. One with eyes full of hopeful magic, one full of murder. “Princess Celestia. I think its time you stop this.” “You think YOU of all ponies can order me to stop..? You are MY student. Twilight Sparkle. You disobey me, you pay with your life!” She fires a magic blast from her horn at Twilight, but she dodges. “I understand your plan now Princess..” Twilight puts up a barrier to protect herself from the next attack. “You knew that me and my friends would have the power to take you down..so you tried to kill us.” “No! There is nothing that can defeat me! She fires a powerful magic beam at her, and Twilight counters with her own less powerful beam, only to make them collide with each other and create a cloud of smoke. Celestia starts firing wildly into the cloud, hoping to hit something. “I tried to kill you all because you were annoying..! The world needs a ruler, not friendship!” “You deny it...but you’re afraid now...” Celestia looks up to find Twilight hovering in the air above the cloud. Twilight fires several magic blasts at her to distract her, then flies down and rams into her, pushing her back several feet. “You didn’t know for sure if we would be able to find a way to revive the Elements..so you tried to get rid of us as well. But you failed.” “I NEVER FAIL!!!” As they continue with their magic battle, the others watch on in awe. “I-Its amazing..!” “Twilight’s actually standing up the Princess..and winning!” “But how long can she last..” They share a look and continue watching..and hoping. Celestia growls angrily. “Why...Why does my magic feel weak?!” Twilight dodges another blast. “Your corruption and anger are affecting your abilities. Normally certain moods or situations can affect a pony’s magic. You are no exception.” “...I am Princess Celestia..I am a goddess! Controller of the sun! I will not lose to YOU!!!” Her horn glows and she raises it up toward the sun. The sun stops moving completely. “Now you will all die in a blaze from the sun itself!!!” Suddenly, a beam of fire straight from the sun fires down on Twilight. She quickly puts up a barrier to hold it back, but quickly starts to struggle against it. “I..can’t...” “...Hmph!” Rarity steps forward and adds her magic to the barrier. “You seem to be forgetting something, Princess Celestia.” Her eyes begin to glow. Rainbow Dash also steps forward and points an electrified sword at the sunbeam, her eyes glowing as well. “Magic doesn’t come from some girly necklaces or a tiara!” Pinkie steps forward with a huge grin on her face. “This is something we kinda learned right from the beginning!” Her eyes start glowing, and the barrier becomes stronger. Fluttershy, Applejack, and Flame-Tail all join them, their eyes glowing. Flame speaks up. “Like Rainbow said. Magic doesn’t come from necklaces and a tiara. It comes from us.” Twilight’s eyes finally start glowing pure white. “You are the one who taught us after all...Friendship is MAGIC!!!” The barrier finally absorbs the sunbeam completely. After a short moment, it fires back at Celestia as a multi-colored blast, blowing Celestia off her feet. “NO!!! YOU CAN’T...STOP...me...” She stops mid sentence..and lands on the ground, unconscious. ~Pony-Hound HQ~ Princess Celestia awakens to find herself in a large room. “Where...am I?” After looking around a moment, she finally spots Twilight.” Twilight..!” “Princess...you..you’re back to normal..” The Princess stands up and hugs Twilight. “You..have no idea how proud I am. I am so sorry Twilight. I never would have expected to still have such a connection with the Elements of Harmony...can you forgive me..?” Twilight smiles. “We already do.” She looks back at the others behind her, all smiling. “Sister..” “Hm..?” She turns around..only to be nearly tackled to the ground by Princess Luna. “Ahah..Luna..!” “I missed you so much sister..!” Well. This is it. With Princess Celestia back to her original kind self, there was no more need for two separate kingdoms. The Solar Empire and the New Lunar Republic have now joined together and reformed the old world of Equestria. While the suffering cannot be undone, they can be forgiven. After plenty of work, all will be rebuild anew. By request of Princess Celestia, Ponyville will be the first to return. And that is what happened. Ponyville was rebuilt. Everypony returned to the wonderful town. Fluttershy went back to her cottage to resume her old life as an animal caretaker. Posey opened up a flower shop in town. The Cakes were long gone of course, but Pinkie Pie revived Sugarcube corner on her own and is once again the number one party pony of Ponyville. Rarity and Sweetie Belle are back in the boutique. The Cutie Mark Crusaders are obviously no more since they all have their cutie marks, but they still remain friends. Applejack reunited with her family and went back to working the farm. Rainbow Dash is a special case. She needs the cybernetics to continue living. She will not age or grow. She retains her ability to reproduce, but I doubt she’s interested in having foals anytime soon. She goes back to being the best flyer in Equestria, with a twist. Best swordspony in Equestria. Flame-Tail decided to join the Royal Guard in Canterlot, seeing as how he was raised to be a fighter and really any other job would mean wasting his skills. In the end, everypony went on to live happy lives. All is well now.
Chapter 15: Epilogue~Chapter 15: Epilogue~ ~Sugarcube Corner, Ponyville~ The moon is just beginning to rise. Everypony is gathered at the bakery to celebrate. Pinkie Pie is partying hard as usual. Rarity is enjoying the music. Twilight is dancing...somepony stop her. Applejack and Rainbow are...well let’s see what they’re doing. “Rainbow, ah have something here that I owe ya.” “What is it??” Applejack smacks her upside the head. “OW! ...Okay I guess I deserved that.” “Darn right ya did! Do somethin’ stupid like that again and ah’ll buck ya ‘round like an apple tree!” “Hehe..oh really?” She grins at AJ, and she blushes. “Git yer mind outta the gutter..” Well then. Rainbow puts a foreleg around her and hugs her. “Missed ya too AJ.” Meanwhile outside, we find Blaze and Posey sitting side by side looking up at the stars.. “Hey..Posey?” “Yeah..?” “Do you think something like this might happen again..?” Posey frowns and thinks for a moment. “...I really don’t know. I hope not....? Mom, do you mind..? Its embarrassing...” “O-Oh..sorry.” Fluttershy goes back inside and Blaze laughs and rolls his eyes. “Protective mother.” Posey moves closer to him. “Flame I...!?” Princess Luna suddenly lands in front of them, interrupting their moment. “Miss Posey, Flame-Tail. I hope I am not interrupting anything..?” They both sigh and Flame facehoofs. “No not at all..what is it Princess? Have things been going well with you and Princess Celestia?” Luna nods and smiles. “Oh yes, we are so very happy to be reunited once more. I...came to thank you. For everything you have done to help us. Especially you Flame-Tail. We know that the rest would like to live peaceful lives..however you were our best soldier. As such..we wanted to tell you that, should you ever need a job, the Royal Guard always has an opening.” Flame smiles at the thought. “That..could be fun. I might take you up on that offer someday. Thank you.” Luna nods. “Well, I must be heading back. Sister and I are having our own little party..and I don’t want bubblebutt stealing all the cake. Well, goodbye!” She takes off flying back to Canterlot and Flame looks at Posey. “Well, that was nice of he-!” Posey suddenly tackles him to the ground, mostly out of annoyance from being interrupted, and kisses him. “...Love you Flame.” ................................................ “Dear Princess Celestia, I learned a lot about friendship and magic in the past week. I learned that no matter what the consequences, if you believe in and trust your friends, anything can be done. I also learned that while magical artifacts can amplify ones magical abilities, they cannot create them. Magic comes from within. Whether the Elements of Harmony remain as solid pieces or not, they will always live inside us in spirit. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle.”
