darkSpyro

ooc: she's dead crookshanks

"you know what side swipe" Sic said "lets start with him. I doubt he has anything useful, and besides..." he looked at the ground. "I want to change the color of the world" he finished a sick smile spreading across his face.

---

"who-who are you?" came a shocked whimper from the rubble. "please help get out of here, I'm scared. Where's my mommy?" the voice said sounding like it was about to cry.

---

Dusty was bruised all down his sides and could no longer keep one eye open. 'well this is it' he thought as black started to creep around the edges of his eyes 'I'm going to black out and then they will eat me alive'. A smirk spread across his face 'well it's been fun'. Another pony slams his hoof against Dusten's face and Dusty finally hits the ground. Dusty slowly tries to lift himself off the ground 'I can hardly hold myself up' he thought.

A sudden shock wave spread through Dusty's body, and then came a whoosh and a cloud of dust. Looking up Dusten noticed the crowd had backed off a bit, then he noticed a big whit pegasus.

"that will be enough" Jedidiah bellowed. "and who are you to stop us?" a random mob member shouted out at him challengingly. Jed pulled out his sword and through the grip answered "armed."

Pariatic heard the pleading voice and dashed over towards him, "Ah, do you need my help?" he asked getting to him.

Barkis smiled at Sic, "I think after hearing that sir, (Sic) we're going to get along," he said happily

"You're going to need more than alcohol to help you when I'm done," S stood up on his hind legs, his horn taking its magical glow. An orb of light formed above its point, and it flew up into the air quickly. While he stood up, it flew higher and higher. When he dropped to his forehooves, the orb arched and came back down toward the stranger who approached them without caution.

Raptor smiled and dropped her head, "Alright," She just sat down and looked up to Red, not moving anymore, "I do believe it is your turn now. Is that how this works, turn based like a card game?" she was just playing around, mostly to delay the action, increasing her time to let her body rest and heal what ever it could at this point(not like magic, just bodily reactions to wounds and stuff).

Ash was completely stationary for now, he just couldn't think of what to do. The ponies around him do not understand what is going on in his head. He just wanted the world to go back to normal, hoping that one day his curse of a mind would be healed by a kind magician who isn't there in a bad time.

OCC: Is the stranger Barkis?

Red shrugged and pulled out his revolver, "Very well doll-face," he said aiming at her

Argaent paused a moment, panting slightly from the magical exertion. The voice was a little clearer now that he'd gotten closer, and it definitely wasn't the exciteable, breaking tones of the youngest Zephyr.

"You're- you're not-" he stuttered for a moment, before shaking his head. Cosmo wasn't the only young pony in Canterlot. He would've slapped himself for throwing everything to the near impossible odds. 'Would've' being the keyword there, if Argaent didn't have more pressing matters at hand. "Just hang on, I'm going to get you out of zhere. Everyzhing's going to be all right."

---

Luminia's ears flicked uncomfortably, the mare descending a couple of metres. She'd always hated the feeling of being watched, without knowing who or where the observers were.

Or maybe she was just being paranoid. After all, who knew what desperate measures ponies would resort to in order to survive, to escape persecution from the last remaing authority figures?

Hah, 'authority figures'. Cave would've laughed at the very idea of calling the guard that in light of this situation. He would've called this apocalypse itself a laughable concept.

"Damn it, Cave," Luminia muttered, staring up at the eclipsed sun. "You were lucky to not have to deal with this."

---

Hellena sighed wearily, sitting down by the riverbank. She was acutely aware of Grey's ears following her progress, as if trying to hear if she was leaving or not. Honestly, she didn't know why he bothered with this. As if the crippled pegasus could do much to stop her if she really wanted to go. The unicorn caught herself at this, shaking her head bitterly.

No, no. I'm not going to leave. Hellena thought. We only have each other now. The rest of them are dead. Loony... How dare he leave, just like that! After all we've been through together-!

Her magic flared out, striking and charring the side of the town hall, and narrowly missing Grey.

"Careful!" the sniper hissed, darting into the air instinctively, before landing a moment or so later. His short flight was shaky and clumsy-looking, the pegasus unable to trust himself on his wings anymore.

"Hh." Hellena half-scoffed, half-sighed in response.

How could so much be ****ed up just because that bastard medic turned on us? The medic, out of hardened MURDERERS! HOW?

The mare's hackles rose with her frustrations, her orange eyes twitching.

---

Arlon yawned, before deciding to hang around Ponyville for a little while. In the distance, he could hear quite a commotion going on. Intrigued, the earth pony set off towards it, his odd eyes as cold and calculating as the smile on his face.

Perhaps it was, or would be, nothing, but really, it was better than standing around watching the same old ruins the whole day.

OOC: Yes, the "stranger" is. I forgot his name at the time is all, lol

Raptor's eyes widened for a second, but they pierced down into anger, "You coward, hiding his blunt words behind a gun. Do you not have the balls to fight a female without the use of a weapon? You must feel so powerful with that thing between your hooves."

A soaring sound above the two, getting higher in pitch and volume. Raptor looked up just as a black Pegasus landed hard on the ground right in front of her. The black and red armor could only have originated from one location, "Madam, the Doctor has sent for your safety," the Pegasus had with him a sword and a tower shield, which had been planted with its spiked bottom, behind him, blocking any possible shot Red would have tried, "I see you've already damaged yourself," he pointed to her nose, which was running with blood again.

She quickly swatted his hoof away, "I don't need anyone's help, especially his," she then shuved him back a little, but he did not go far with his shield rooted behind him, "Get out of here before I drop you."

"He knew you'd say that, so I was ordered to follow you and keep you out of harms way the best I can," he stood strait letting his armor show he was almost completely covered with plates that over lapped to allow mobility and protection, "Another reason he suggested a neck guard," he laughed lightly. He then lowered a clear slide of glass from the helmet that stopped in front of his eyes, "I've located her, mission starts in the middle of town, just south of the town hall. Rations should hold us for the first two days. Emergency supplies are not included and will have to be scavenged for."

Raptor had quickly pushed her face to the glass, "And I still don't trust you," she backed up and stepped out around the shield. Followed shortly by the guard, who had picked up the shield and placed it on his back. He glared at her new enemy, "I can handle this. I can take care of myself."

"You were almost crushed, you have taken a hit to your face, and now you want to be shot. it is against all orders to let you throw your life around like this. The Doctor wants you see you again, alive," the glass turned a darker shade, and gave the user a HUD to read from. It showed his body, if needed, for injuries, and a motion tracker. It also had a mini map behind the motion tracker to allow easy navigation.

"Back off," she bucked the Pegasus in his chest, only making him step back from the impact.

The guard did not reply to this, but did raise his sights to the other Pegasus who held the gun. The tower shield latched onto the armor covering his wings, which then made it stand next to him. He then drew his sword with a powered clamp on the opposite hoof.

OCC: That's alright SpyroD

Red's eyes immediately widened, then narrowed angrily, "COWARD?! You dare call me a coward?" said Red whose pride was being put to the test, "I'll show you how much of a coward I am!" He immediately, out of anger and a loss of control over his emotions, ran towards Raptor and leaped onto her.

Barkis flew back from the attack and landed on the ground, "Oh dear, don't tell me your one of those paranoid ponies who attack people nonchalantly," he complained

The javelin orb halted just above the ground where Barkis stood, "Maybe I am, maybe I am not," the orb rose up and took in a more fire aspect as the energy blazed out of existence into tiny lights, "Now hold still, if I miss it will hurt you more than it will hurt me," his horn lit up again, and a spear like form of light appeared next to him.

--

Raptor layer still, "Much better," She turned her head and opened her maw to the pony's leg to make a good set of teeth piercings. She held onto the bite as long as she could. The guard stood by, not wanting to upset her entirely.

He said she trusts no pony, I'm sure I can change that to at least me. He did not move from his spot, and only intends to move if Raptor becomes hurt by Red. The HUD system he has in his helmet rand a quick scan of the pony's face, collecting any data it could find on him.

Ash could hear the commotion, he had also witnessed the flying orb seconds ago, A unicorn, no no no no... No magic, please no magic.He slowly rose up to peer out at the gathered crowd, which had been settled somewhat by an unknown figure/force that he could not see from his current angle.

Barkis began to sweat in fear, "I-I beg you sir, please have mercy on me..." he said with his voice trembling

Red kicked Raptor in the face, but didn't seem to jump at her again, "Ahaha...leave it to an earth mare, the most strange, [and pointless] of whatever is higher than Celestia, to make a pegasus' day an exciting rush of fun," he said walking up to her smiling.

OOC: just to let you know, if you missed it, Raptor bit his leg pretty hard, and did not let go

The guard stepped up to Red, "A Pegasus should have more respect for the other species that live in a once fair world. As the state it is in now is by no mere accident. It was forced into such despair by ponies like you. No remorse, much more greed, and just plain stupidity, balled into such an ignorant mind. Nothing but filth," he raised his blade to Red's nose, poking him softly, "I am a clean freak, believe it or not, and I'll not have a germ such as yourself dirty up this land I call home!"

Raptor, trying to recover from the strike, snarled in frustration, "I had it under control, back off!"

--

S just dropped to the ground in a fit of hysteria, "Oh you should see your face!" he roles over breathing heavily from laughter, "He really thought I was going to," he shut his teeth hard trying not to spurt out another breath of laughter, "He thought... Ha haaa... Oh, huuhh... I ... Huhhh," he roles back up, relaxing himself, "What was it you were saying exactly," his voice narrowed to a more serious tone, "We do not have all day."

OCC: It was meant to try to get her to relase Red

Red stared at the guard, "First of all, what the hell are we supposed to be greedy about? The worlds ended and if you think I'm ignorant, it's just pure hyped-up thrill searching," he said, "Also, that blade can't scare me and earth mares are useless. They can't fly or use magic and we pegasi and unicorns can do what they can twice as easy, they are nothing more and nothing less but soil shovling insects compared to an alicorn. Gladly, I made a smart decision not to trust sun flank,"

Barkis realized how easily toyed with he was and immediately reassured himself, "I think you'll last long here," he said complimenting Sic

Arlon came out by where Raptor, Red and the guard were fighting, or at least something of the sort. The earth stallion hung back, not really wanting to be involved in the scuffle, but eagerly awaiting the outcome and the information that could be gained from it. If worst comes to worst, he considered his own four hooves to be rather powerful in their own right. Arlon was no fighter, not physically, but he believed that he could very well hold his own should it be inevitable.

ooc: sorry I took so long, I have been very busy lately. And its nice to know y'all can survive without me

As Argeant lifted the last rock it revealed a light colored colt who wasn't even in middleschool yet. He had a purple tent to his coat stained by dirt and... blood. "I'm scared" he whimpered at the new pony before him. The blood was fresh and seemed to be flowing from a wound in his side where a metal rod protruded from. "What's going to happen?" the young pony asked.

---

"alright, alright" Sicolus finally spoke "honestly what do you have to offer us? You are easily scared and frankly weak, I doubt you would so willingly give your life for any cause much less ours." Sic's smile dropped "however... perhaps you will do. If it comes down to it, I may have plans for you."

---

A white pegasus flew from the crowd that had gathered and was quickly gone. There was confusion until the blue stallion stepped up again "TAKE WHAT YOU WANT BOYS, THE WORLD IS OURS!". After that there was chaos as the group dispersed some stealing others hurting and many murdering.

---

Jed landed near Hellena and Grey dropping a half conscious Dusty to the ground. There was a splatter of blood on Jedidiah's face and it was obviously not his "change of plans" he spoke in a far darker voice than earlier. "The towns ponies have gone mad. Some lunatic was leading them, we need to try and stop this before it gets any worse."

Jed pointed at Dusty with his hoof "when he wakes up we need to move. It won't be long before they find us and he knows of something that can help us in this situation. Lucky for us earth ponies heal faster sense their metabolism doesn't have to support any form of magic."

"I offer knowledge of the Rainbow Factory and I know many strategies for any unicorns you could have around the area and any that are your friends not with you," he said, "provided your protection that is,"

Patriatic overheard the blue stallion and immediately realized something, If they hurt or kill Rarity, he thought, the elements of harmony will die, as well as my rule over Equestria! He immediately decided to head out to the chaos and hunt Rarity down.

"..." Hellena turned around to face the three stallions, not responding for a few moments. Her emotions were still running hot, and it showed with the occasional sparking at the tip of her horn. "A fight, then? Count me in."

"Ggh," Grey grunted, wings twitching. It was the most he could do to prevent that wet, gutteral sound from coming out, along with his fear of crowds. Ha, an assassin, afraid of crowds. Why was that a surprise? "Great, just what we need."

Patriatic tromped through the crowd of lawless ponies and searched around for where Rarity's old clothes shop would be, "Where is it, where is it?" he muttered to himself in worry and frustration.

OOC: oh... Ok, didn't click, sorry, but yeah, safe to say she did... For now >:)

The guard smiled brightly, "You see, you have wronged yourself twice over. Earth ponies are not bitter, they are not showy, flashy, uptight. They are strong, and have the right to live much more than pegasi. See, I put myself below them, knowing they truly are not weak," The clamp rotated its grip on the sword, where he could plant it in the dirt, "Do not try to dis courage me, the place I come from puts nightmares in the minds of the rich, fears in foals, and a very hellish attribute that would force you into submission, wishing, praying that you had never been born. I grew up within those walls, nothing you say or do will compare to the level of pain they put me through," a gear clicked and the sword flung itself out of the dirt, flipping around to rest parallel to his leg, "I'll ask you to apologize only once, and if you do not, god's speed will not save you."

Raptor was actually surprised by the pegasus's words, not too moving for her, but worth the listen. Well I guess I'm stuck with him... Well might as well make the best of it. she managed to stand up from the recent events, "Well it was mighty nice of you to defend me, but I really must be on my way. Places to go, ponies to 'meat', and many things to call mine if I want them," she placed a hoof on the guards flank, "When I want them," her teeth gleamed with a light grin.

The guard seemed unfazed by her actions, but he swallowed, "Just doing my job," his eyes focused back on Red.

"Three things," said Red, "First, tell me about that place more guard, it sounds like one hell of a trip, second, I love how those cold, hard eyes look like they're staring into my soul like it's searching for filthiness, how much of it do you see? Lastly, what can an earth mare do better than pegasi and unicorns?"

Sicolus let out a small laugh "We know all we need to know about the factory. As for your safety, I need you alive for what I am planning." Sic turned around and started to walk in a certain direction "follow me. We are done here. All the seeds are planted."

---

"It would be better to show a display of power" Jed replied to "less casualties. Fear is a natural communication, we don't-" "Hello?" a mare's voice called out. Jedidiah turned his head to see a white unicorn, with a blonde tied back mane, step out of a nearby building. She carried saddle bags with a red cross on it. "are you a nurse?" Jed asked. The pony looked around cautiously "y-yes" she stuttered.

"good, we have wounded." He said plainly then looked at Grey "do you mind?"

"Seeds planted?" asked Beckett following him, "Uhh... what seeds?"

"No." Grey replied quickly. Finally, some real help. Maybe she was no Mediziner, but close enough. He was sick of being entirely helpless.

"Power?" Hellena let out a short laugh, standing up somewhat shakely. "Too easy. Just... stand back a little, that'd be great. Make things less complicated if something goes... wrong." The firebug tossed her mane back, grinning.

---

"...Oh." Argaent bit his lower lip, swearing silently. His magic flared again as he attempted to get the foal out of the rubble, without adding to the wound. "I- it's going to be alright. I'm going to- let's get out of here." He stuttered, composure faltering as he wildly searched for any solutions.

Come on Arg, pull it together... Don't show fear, don't freak out... We'll work this out, calm- calmly...

Sicolus giggled "oh you will see. I am the dealer of insanity."

---

The nurse hesitated but then trotted quickly over to Grey and started taking care of the wound with the supplies she had.

"I don't think you understand" Jed said "I am talking alicorn level power." He pointed at Dusty "he is a tradespony " he said "after a while he was given several jobs from celestia herself to hide special items or participate in trades the Equestrian government couldn't be directly involved with. He has access to things we would consider WMDs."

Jedidiah stepped back "but if you insist on demonstrating your power I understand."

The nurse finished up on the wound and then handed Grey some medicine "these are pain pills. It is stitched up pretty tight so the only thing keeping you from moving are the pain receptors in your brain. Just be sure not to open it back up or you could severely injure yourself without realizing on these. Also try to avoid fighting, you won't know when you are hurt."

"Hmm... the dealer of insanity, seeds planted, oh that sounds very evil, yet slightly intriguing, and I love intriguing things" said Barkis, "wait, are you...Discord?"

"Well, I got drunk and made a deal with the Nightmare Forces on-" Hellena was speaking quite casually, before stopping. "Wait, no, they told me that was confidential information. Never mind."

"Thanks." Grey managed a small smile, slipping in a pill and retying the bandage back around his head. "Hate to sound clichéd, but you're a life saver, miss."

Patriatic continued to shove people out of the way and continued to search for where Rarity could be in hiding, he was now to the point of ransom and kidnapping to get to this and was considering kidnapping a foal or filly.

For years I've roamed these empty halls. Why did I never bother keeping them maintained?

Phosphora soared through a dilapidated office block, lit only by flickering computer screens which lined the walls. Most were non-functioning, but a few screens were a solid light blue or flickering with static, while a single screen was still online, flashing urgently.



Tell me something I don't know.

The pegasus mare dug through a file cabinet, knife clenched in her teeth. Phosphora lit a small fire out of a few scraps of paper, feeding the flames everything that didn't meet her search criteria.

Ah, it's been so long since anyone's been around here, she thought, pausing momentarily as she felt her stomach rumbling both loudly and almost painfully. Ggh, where were the rest of those food reserves again? ...Ah! Found it!

Phosphora held the file delicately in her hooves, scanning the cover carefully.

Synthetic Magic

The title was crossed out, with a small note underneath written by the pegasus CEO herself.

Cancel it. I don't care what anyone says, I am NOT risking anyone become a monster like my little brother, Pen, did.

- Signed by Phosphora T. Zephyr, CEO of Zephyr Laboratories

---

Arlon coughed politely into his hoof, lounging back against a wall he decided stable enough to support his weight.

If those two stallions are referring to- hm, interesting.

---

Luminia reached the outer edges of Cloudesdale, still preferring to remain above the settlements. From what little she could see of the city from her altitude, it looked a bit like a warzone. But, then again, everything did.

The pink mare had never really liked the great pegasus city. This, and the recent events that had apparently taken place, had given Luminia Zephyr reasons to like it even less.

"Truth is our races would not be here today without them. The unicorns couldn't cultivate the ground since most of there magic goes to things they consider more important. Pegasi cannot grow food on clouds, and we dont build body mass all that great since we have the ability to fly, as a luxury, our legs are weak," steam hissed out of the elbow section that was holding the sword, "Even I do not the ability to wield this blade for too long," the mechanical clamp holding the sword adjusted itself a little higher on the leg, "As for the location I speak of, it is classified, and you would rather not know. They would do a lot more than what I could. I have already asked you to apologize and leave, but that doesn't seem to be happening yet," the tower shield attached to his wing was flipped to the other side of his wing, to where if he brought his wings forward in a block, the front of the shield would be outward.

"I think I can handle what you speak of," said Red, "and to clarify, earth ponies are nothing but soil-shoving farmer slave things? Because, that's what I've translated so far my fellow pony,"

The guard raised his blade to Red, "Not a fellow," the clamp spun the blade, rotating like a drill, "Leave now, this IS your final warning," the spinning slowed down, and he flicked his wings. Raptor was slightly annoyed by the Pegasus, frankly she just wanted to move on somewhere, find a place that wasn't completely demolished and wasn't occupied by anypony. She ran her hoof up his side ash she came closer to his front. The guard pushed his back right hoof out a few inches, which made one of the armor plate stick out on the side, stopping Raptor's hoof from advancing any further.

"Well well, he is strong," She commented. Raptor glanced over to the side, noticing Arlon, but not bothering to say anything.

Red finally stood up, "Very well, I'll go find another thing to do. Wait, I can't, I guess I'll just fly off to finish some business," he said taking off into the sky, "Oh and guard, I might've heard that some ponies could've got rampaging already. Do look out for them," he then started to fly off from the guard's sight and would come back if he got bored.

"Aheh. Well, that was... disappointing." Arlon commented wryly, his tone of voice cheerful, even, and almost robotic. "Good job, regardless."

Red started to fly around the sky feeling disappointed that he wouldn't get to fight them, but they clearly wanted him gone and he had business of his own to get to, "Now then...to find Celestia's castle..." he muttered

The guard was still for a second, "Any reason why I wouldn't have done a good job?" he brought his leg down, the blade returned to the upright position along side his leg. Raptor just dropped her hoof and started walking off, "Whatever your intentions are, tell me and make it brief. My client will be needing my service shortly," he flicked his rear up to throw off the saddle bags that held the food rations he had mentioned earlier; he had caught the center strap with a hind leg. He then gently tossed it backwards toward Raptor. One side was closed loosely so that when it landed, it was half way open.

From Raptor's point of view, there was sealed bag of sliced apples. They were kept fresh by a low moisture and no air content. There were other bags visible, but what they contained was not visible. She stopped and steadily turned to it for a second.

--

Rainbow Dash noticed the signal the motion sensor was tracking didn't seem to be heading anywhere in particular around Cloudsdale, "Who is it," she switched through the camera angles that were available to these low ranking computers. Gulaven stirred in the distance of Rainbow's vision, but he didn't seem to be awake, at least not entirely. She continued through the images, cycling through each monitor, since they operated their own set of cameras, some of which had been knocked offline. This factory has made such a drastic change, she paused her search realizing the great deal the Rainbow Factory meant to the world around it, I was once apart of a major experiment, but now I'm one of them entirely. I use to send these ponies to their deaths just so the ponies outside these walls could live happily and see beautiful skies. We tested on the ones that did not have a color usable, finding new ways to extract, even if they were more painful and wasteful. I remember the older days, and even the history of the extraction process from much longer ago. The earliest I can recall was when they had to make a deep incision into the pony's chest, before the extractor could archive its purpose. Then there was the grinder, one of our older ideas that is only used on occasion that our current extractors go out for technical problems. That old thing would make so much noise, and so would its victims. she closed her eye tightly, Why am I thinking about this? The Factory has changed... But for how long?

She was then struck by a sharp pain in her brain, "Gahh," she quickly sat down rubbing her forehead to try and ease it herself, "Just remember the sequences," she took a deep breath, "First count to five... One," the pain struck harder, "Two," it hit again, but with less intensity, "Three," dull, but still bothersome, "Four... Five... Then," she raised her head to face the ceiling, "Stand like a pole," she raised up off the floor, standing on just her hind legs, stretching her back to make herself as tall as she could. Rainbow Dash couldn't feel the pain anymore, "Once more..." she took a deep breath as she sat back down and dropped her head, "One... Two," the room seemed silent again, calm and unnerving, "Three," she whispered lowly to herself, "Four... Five," one more deep breath. What was that all about again... What am I doing over here? she shook her head walking away from the desk.

"You misunderstand me." Arlon replied, still smiling. "I don't intend to hinder your or your 'escort'. I'm merely interested in the recent events this crisis has brought on. Knowledge for knowledge's sake." He lowered his voice to a mutter. "I know what you are. Don't ask me how; it doesn't matter. Tell the Doctor I say hello."

---

Luminia dived down towards the foreboding Factory, drawing her spear warily.

OCC: If Celestia is dead, is the castle still up?

Patriatic looked around for Rarity's clothing shop and decided to think of someone who was close to her who would know, "Let's see...Twilight could be dead, and not Applejack, not Rainbow Dash, not Fluttershy..." he muttered, "Pinkie Pie...maybe, she was last seen at... Sugarcube Corner!" he immediately started to dash to Sugarcube Corner to find and possibly kidnap her.

The guard raised his head to hearing that name, "Ohh... Then tell me what you know first. What is it you think I am?" he returned the sword to its sheath that was duel latched to the side of his armor, so to the shield being placed on his back. Wings took their natural folded form along each side of his body. Raptor shook her head and quickly snatched the bag from the saddle bag and stepped away facing away from the guard. Opening it and taking out the pieces, slice by slice she ate the food. She hadn't eaten today, so this was very satisfying.

--

Rainbow Dash returned to Gulaven for a few more seconds, standing there looking at him while he slept. She blinked twice and raised her hoof to wake him steadily, "Hey, I think we've been out for long enough."

Gulaven eased his head up off of his hooves, looking out the glass door for a second, then back to Dash, "Yes," he cleared his throat, "We need to head back inside, gather a scavenging group. There are a few materials we can gather to put the Factory in full self sustaining progress," he stood up. Hesitantly, he dropped to the floor again, gripping his right leg, "Not again!" a gear grinding whine sounded from the mid joint. A bolt shot out through the synthetic skin, blasting through the glass in the door, "Damn this thing," the shoulder joint raised the dead limb and was then slammed against the floor. It spewed smoke, and a powering up noise. It waved slowly, "Come on you blasted contraption," he then lifted himself off the floor, the leg seems to have replaced the broken parts, "I'm running out of replacements. I need to find a better solution."

Red continued to search the skies for Celestia's castle, "I need to find that castle," he muttered, "and once I do, my problems will finally be put to rest,"

ooc: Sorry for my periodic disappearances lately guys. It should all blow over soon, I've been very busy.
popfizzfan4life, I wasn't serious about Celestia being dead, she is merely MIA and will have a part in the story later. And Canterlot is smashed, no castle, no buildings nothing. It's barren. The mane 6 are missing as well. All will be revealed in time.

"no" Sic replied "I am much worse." He continued to stroll into the woods a destination in mind.

---

"it doesn't really matter right now" Jed said "I am trying to prevent more deaths. Everypony out there has a life of their own. Friends, family, dreams and aspirations. I am trying to preserve that."

"y-you're welcome" said the nurse still a little nervous about the whole situation.

"lets get a move on" came a somewhat shaky voice. Jed turned his head to see Dusty beginning to stand. "I know where we need to go first" Dusty exclaimed "on the map it's called Sierra 13". Jedidiah's eyes darkened "why would you chose there?"

Dusten put on a strange smile "I am a nostalgic person". With that Jed turned to there new 'friends' "Sierra 13 is a makeshift graveyard about 3 klicks east of here. it is the site of the first stage of operation apocalyptic prep. Our job was to hide weapons of extreme power. It was the first mission I had with Dusty. The graveyard is made of..." Jedidiah hesitated and lowered his head "mine and his old friends."

"We can mourn later, for now we have to make sure no sicko finds it" Dusten said "and you know which one I am talking about." He began to trek past the other ponies with a limp.

OCC: Okay, I can't wait until that happens

Barkis followed him into the woods, "Who?" he asked, "are you a follower of him?"

"Know? Heh." Arlon shrugged. "As I said, it isn't important. For the sake of my confidentiality, of course, I won't partake in the details."

---

"Uhhuh." Hellena blinked, flicking an ear. "Right."

Bloody hell I'm an unsympathetic ass, the mare thought, pawing at the ground. Gah! Why do I even care? Mercenaries aren't supposed to care! If this had happened two years - hell, one year ago, I wouldn't give a ****!

"How long will this take, again?" Grey asked, with a hard edge to his voice. "We have business up by Canterlot that needs to be attended to, and quickly."

"And the Crystal Empire." Hellena added, with a hint of uncertainty.

"you're not very bright are you" Sicolus said "no, now keep your pipe shut and know your place meatsuit." A stone building began to appear through the thick of the woods.

---

"There is no Canterlot" Jedidiah said plainly "From the looks of it, it was the center of all this. It looked like somepony had dropped a nuke on it. Perhaps one of the devices where found". Dusty kept walking "please, anypony who got too close is either crippled, mentally destroyed or dead. I made sure they where safe guarded. As for the time, it will be long enough to tell a few stories."

---

"I want my mommy" the colt said. The young pony stared up into the sky unblinking. His eyes where lifeless.

---

"daddy daddy, look what I drew" a young purple filly ran up with a poorly drawn picture. "aw that's wonderful sweety" the adult red earth pony said. "let's put it up on the wall" came a sweet voice of a pink mare. The filly and mare walked over to the wall laughing and pinning it with a tac. 'I am happy' the stallion thought as he looked at his family 'I have a beautiful wife and daughter, I would do anything for them'. He couldn't but smile at his earth pony family. 'I could stay here forever'

Barkis followed, "Why would I be unintelligent?" he asked, "Isn't Discord alive still? He is a demi-god of sorts so he should be at least still somehow have followers of sorts..."

Red overheard the saddened colt and flew down to see him, "What's wrong little colt?" he asked approaching him smiling

ooc: actually popfizzfan4life that is from an earlier scene with Reshiram, you would be ignoring her character which is right there.

OCC: Oh, Sic or the colt?

OOC: It might take me a bit longer than it should for me to get out a response, since my computer is having some hardware issues with the WiFi and the only way to (temporarily) fix it is to restart. And MacBooks take forever to restart.

"You ever heard of Zephyr Laboratories?" Grey asked, wings flaring out slightly. His steps were careful and measured, as to prevent tripping over anything. Hellena was trying her best to keep at a decent pace, avoiding use of her injured leg. "Founded by that madstallion scientist thirty years back?"

---

Hah, disregarding my own advice now, aren't I?

---

Argaent stood, silent and unmoving, as his horn glow faded. The only thing that moved was his scarf, shifting in the slight breeze.

"Damn it," he muttered, shaking his head, looking away. "Damn zhis godforsaken place."

The unicorn kept going, refusing to look back. It already hurt enough, without adding a complete stranger to the list, without Phosphora's coldness towards her own kin.

Patriatic continued to search around for Pinkie Pie, wherever she could be in Sugarcube. His anger was starting to rise as he was starting to get impatient with his searching.

ooc: the colt

"no, actually I haven't" Dusty said limping along "I don't mind hearing a tale about it".

---

"there is no life here" a voice came from behind Argaent "death comes for us all in the end, some of us sooner than later". The owner of the voice was a royal guard. Blood ran down his face and front foreleg, his eyes shown with shock of the recent events. The usually large guard looked rather small and he spoke without any emotion in his voice "everypony here is dead, and if they aren't they will be soon. I saw it happen... If you have any life in you I have a request."

"Heh, not surprised. Science isn't a big thing." Grey yawned. "Not much to say, really. Built in the caves beneath the city. Cave's eldest took over the joint about five years ago. From my sources, Zephyr made it through the, er, whatever the bloody hell happened to Canterlot." He paused for a moment. "Barely, though, along with its CEO. I need to get her out before the facility really goes down."

"I have family matters that I'd prefer to sort out up north." Hellena stated. "I don't know, really. My cousin isn't the kind of pony to go down easy."

---

"...I came back to look for my brothers and sisters. Would you understand?" Argaent exhaled deeply, shaking his head forlornly. "It's funny, I have six of zhem left to look for. If everyone is dead... If zhey were here... Three. Only three... Four? I can almost hear zhem- Hah, look at that. I'm rambling. What do you want?"

OCC: Okay

OOC: I'll be inactive for most of this week, but I'll try to post whenever I get internet.