Like Pollution isn't out of control enough, we got guys who basically spread it

One day after receiving a call about the Transients, Cole decided to go with Derpy to find where they might be, Cole figured he knew where he could find them.

"So where are we going?" Derpy asked as they walked through the city towards a bridge.

"We're going to the next part of the city, this city is split into 3 parts, the one we're in is The Neon District, we're both heading to The Warren, the Transients hung around there for the most part, they may be trying to reestablish a base there, before the destruction of this city, they had a giant tower made of garbage, they'll probably try and rebuilt that"

"Ew, garbage? Gross", Derpy said.

"Yeah, it smells worse than it looks too, I climbed that tower once with Zeke to retrieve the Ray Sphere"

"They had The Ray Sphere?"

Cole nodeded, "Yeah, I had to get it and get rid of it so it could never be used again, but...", Cole stopped a moment, "I'll tell you more another time, point is we need to take down those Transients.

Derpy nodded, "Lead the way boss"

Cole chuckled at that as he led Derpy across a bridge to the Warren, it was also under some construction, but fairing well.

"Ok, so far I don't see a tower, let's just head to the park where it was already built before The Beast arrived, and be careful, if the Transients are around they'll try to shoot you, and watch out for their Conduits, they're a lot tougher than the Reaper Conduits", Cole warned.

Derpy nodded, "Sure thing...so what do these guys look like?"

"They have garbage bags as clothes and wear paper bag masks", Cole said.

"Wow, what a bunch of weirdos", Derpy said.

"Lots of people in this city are weirdos", Cole said.

They walked through The Warren, people waved at Cole & Derpy, some even took pictures.

"Wow, people really like us"

"Don't be surprised if someone runs up to us asking for some poses, or they wanna show us a poster they made", Cole said.

"A poster?" Derpy asked.

"Yeah, sometimes this city's full of posters with my face on them", Cole said.

"Like that?" Derpy pointed to a poster, it had a drawing of Cole, but this poster also had Derpy.

"Wow, looks like people already got this out, you're a local hero Derpy"

Derpy grinned, "This is so awesome! I'd love to see the look on Rainbow Dash's face, she'd probably be jealous"

"Rainbow Dash? The boastful Pegasus? Yeah maybe that'd give her a good attitude check", Cole said.

Derpy giggled and flew next to Cole.

They eventually reached the park and saw part of a tower being built, "So far the signs point to their return"

Derpy looked at the tower, "Why garbage? And why aren't people doing something about this, it's not good for the city"

"You try telling a group of armed and dangerous men not to do something like this", Cole said.

"Where did they get the garbage from?" Derpy asked.

"Not sure, maybe some old rubble or from another place, who cares, we gotta stop these people and take this place down", Cole said.

"Alright, let's go take out the trash!" Derpy shouted with playful enthusiasm, earning a chuckle from Cole.

"That sounds like something Zeke would say"

"Ew, I don't wanna be compared to Zeke!"

"Relax, you're nothing like Zeke, you're your own mare, that's something I like about you"

Derpy smiled, "Aw, you're such a great friend Cole", she then proceeded to hug him.

Cole's face cringed, "Derpy, seriously not in public, people are watching!"

"I don't care, you're my friend and I love you"

Cole sweated a bit, especially when local civilians took notice, though none of them seemed to judge much, they found the situation cute, but that's another reason Cole didn't like it, he didn't wanna be labeled under anything cute, he's the protector of the city, but not some softie, he wants to retain some badass perks.

"Let's just hurry Derpy, we're wasting time", Cole said.

Derpy let go, "Right"

They both entered the park area, ready for a fight.

As they ventured through the park, a few Transients showed up and started shooting at Cole & Derpy.

"Get down!" Cole grabbed Derpy and they hid behind some bricks.

Cole popped out and shot at the Transients with his blasts but they kept cover behind some of their forts.

"Looks like those rumors were true, come on Derpy, we have some Transients to take out", Cole said.

"Right, give them everything you got, if you need more juice I'll grab a cloud and zap you", Derpy said.

Cole popped out and threw a few Shock Grenades to draw them out of hiding, the blasts managed to take a few out, and the ones he didn't take out were still sitting ducks for his blasts.

He rushed in, taking out some more oncoming Transients, with Derpy flying in and knocking their weapons away, allowing Cole to use his shockwave to knock them back and blast them as they hit the ground.

One Transient went for his gun but Derpy flew to him and did a few punches to it's head and then finished with a kick.

"Careful, some have armor, don't hurt yourself", Cole warned.

"Don't worry, I won't Cole", Derpy reassured.

They proceeded through the park, Cole blasting every Transient he comes across, Derpy then helped Cole across a few moats and they went further into the park and approached the tower, it was heavily guarded by the Transients.

"Ok, gotta keep moving but stay behind cover", Cole said.

"Sure thing", Derpy said.

Both ran in as Cole started zapping the enemy, and using his force field to block their bullets.

While the Transients were focused on Cole, Derpy would sneak up on a few and attack them from behind and steal their guns to beat them over the head with.

Some of them noticed Derpy and started shooting at her but Cole made them his primary targets.

Cole was able to bring down each enemy after several blasts & Mega Watt Hammers.

"Nice work Derpy", Cole said.

"Thanks", Derpy said.

Before they can go up the tower a giant blast landed near them, Cole turned around and saw a Transient Golem,

"Aw crap", Cole said.

Derpy looked surprised, "What in the world is that thing!?"

"It's a Golem! One of their creations!"

Derpy looked surprised, "Wow, it's big and scary...is there someone in the middle?"

"He's controlling it, it's a Conduit", Cole explained.

The Golem then aimed it's arm and started shooting particles at them, they both went for cover behind some enemy forts.

"We gotta take that thing down, otherwise climbing this tower will become harder!" Cole said.

"How!? It looks strong!" Derpy said.

"I've taken these things down before, I just need to attack it's torso when it's exposed"

Cole ran to the creature and started blasting it, the creature shot the rocks but Cole used his shield to protect himself and continued to blast it, mostly with Mega Watt Hammers.

The Creature stumbled back and Cole did enough damage to take out one arm, leaving the torso exposed a bit as he attacked it, then after it closed he attacked the other arm and left it open and exposed so he can attack the center of the Golem.

The Golem stumbled and stuck to it's shoulder bombs, but Cole dodged those and continued to shoot as the creature started glowing from orange to red.

"Almost dead!" he then threw some shock grenades at it until the explosion was too much and the creature finally fell.

Cole panted a bit, "These things already take a lot out of me"

Derpy had an idea, "Don't worry, I'll help recharge you" she started flying up but suddenly couldn't move, "Hey! What's going on!?"

Cole looked up and saw Derpy stuck in mid-air, "What the hell!?"

He then heard an evil laugh, "I knew you'd be back Electric Man!"

Cole growled, "Oh great, it's Alden!"

Alden then emerged, he was using his psychogenesis to keep Derpy levitated in mid-air.

"Hey! I can't move!" Derpy shouted.

"You have returned, and you brought a Pegasus!? Looks like those rumors were true! I heard you saved this creature from those pitiful Reapers, if the Reapers were too much for her, what makes you think she can handle my Transients!?" Alden shouted.

"Just let her go Alden!" Cole shouted.

"If you wish", he used his powers to toss Derpy away, Cole could only watch her fall and scream.

"You bastard!" he shot electricity at Alden but he used various trash as a shield and tossed the trash at Cole, though he dodged before anything hit.

Alden then created some Scrap Crabs to go after Cole, he had to evade and dodge as he blasted them, he used his shock wave to take out a few, but it seems like with every crab he destroyed, two more took it's place, and to make things worse, Alden created two more Golems.

"You gotta be shitting me!" Cole stated and started shooting Mega Watt hammers, though he was starting to feel drained.

Luckily Derpy was able to recover from being tossed and flew up to grab a cloud, she brought the cloud down and stomped on it to hit Cole with Lightning, which he was able to recharge wish.

"Thanks Derpy! Now to take them down!"

"I know how! Keep blasting them, and when I say so, use your Lightning Strike!"

Cole nodded and blasted the creatures as Derpy grabbed a few more clouds, soon more Transients arrived to help, but Alden noticed Derpy in the sky.

"What is that Pegasus doing? I'll take care of her", Alden prepared to use his powers to attack Derpy again, but Cole used his precision attack to hit Alden's hand.

"Don't even think about it old man!" Cole shouted.

Alden tended to his hand, "How dare you!"

Some Transients attempted to shoot Derpy, but she occasionally kicked a cloud to zap them, granted sh ecouldn't generate the same power as Cole's lightning, she still did enough damage to keep them at bay.

One Golem aimed up to attack Derpy but Cole feverishly blasted it's hand, causing major damage, Derpy had to hurry before she or Cole got hurt.

Cole was able to handle these enemies for the most part, he occasionally had to duck for cover and threw several shock grenades to keep the enemies off balance.

Derpy finished putting the clouds together and then buck kicked them, causing a strong rain on the Transients.

"Quick! Use your Lightning Strike!"

Cole nodded and brought some Lightning down, the water making the Lightning more lethal and allowed it to travel better through the creatures, eventually destroying the grabs, the golems and killing the Transients.

Alden growled as he nursed his hand, "That damn Pony, she's gonna be an issue!" he then retreated.

Cole took a breath and then turned to Derpy with a smile, "That was really smart of you"

Derpy blushed, "Thanks, it just...came to me"

"Well you proved that you're gonna be a great sidekick", he looked around, "Looks like the Transients are gone for now, their tower's gonna have to wait before it's rebuilt, too bad Alden escaped, we'll get him later"

Derpy nodded and approached Cole, "Um Cole...can we go home, I feel lie hugging you and I know you don't want me to-" Derpy was but off when Cole started hugging her.

"You deserve it now, I'm proud of you, and I'm happy to call you my friend, I don't care if anyone stares"

Derpy blushed and returned the hug, "I love you"

"...Yeah, you too"

Derpy looked into his eyes with what looked like a loving gaze, "Cole..."

Cole looked a bit uncomfortable with the way she was staring at him, "Yeah...?"

"...Can we get some muffins!?" She squeed at him, causing him to give a 'what?' type face.

"Uh...yeah...yeah sure, you've earned it, this time I'll get you two muffins, any flavor"

She beamed and hugged him tighter, "You're the best!"

Cole chuckled awkwardly, then he walked off with Derpy to find a place that sells muffins, though Cole had a lot on his mind.

Well Alden is back, and though me and Derpy won this little battle, we gotta work hard to make sure he doesn't win the war, between The Reapers and now The Transients, Empire City's rebuilding is gonna take a long while, but nothing is ever easy, especially with me, but I have some friends that will help me. Zeke of course will do things only he knows how, but sometimes it's not such a bad thing. And now Derpy...she's quite the ace in the hole thus far, I don't know why the ponies of her world thought she was a nuisance, I'm willing to bet they just didn't give her a chance, typical, no matter where you go, you're gonna have people bringing you down in some way, in life there's very few you can rely on, and I know I can rely on Derpy, just as she relies on me to take care of her, and watch over her, and love her. Love...the way she said it though, does she have feelings for me? Seems weird, she's a pony after all, and I'm a human, still she's no different than most other girls, but still, what would Trish say if I ever started dating a pony? I can't concern myself with that, she's gonna be going home soon anyway, though I do question if she even wants to go back home. If that's the case...looks like I got myself a Pegasus for life.

This isn't over with The Transients, and Cole's still got some more tricks up his sleeve, but what would Derpy say if she saw the other side of Cole?