Urine, smoke, rotting/burning flesh – these were the stenches that flooded the air and assaulted the ponies' noses of the once peaceful town of ponyville.

Screams, gunfire, explosions, gut-wrenching noises of all kinds (tearing flesh, screams gurgling with blood) and death – these were the sounds that assaulted their ears.

The ponies quietly gave a thanks to Celestia and the ponies that had built the town's hall. Its walls prevented them from at least seeing the atrocities being committed.

"Why haven't they used the elements of harmony!?"

"Where are the princess!?"

"Why is canterlot on fire!? Are those things there too!?"

A chorus of confused, frightened pony screams temporarily drown out some of the screaming coming from all around. The silver armoured humans and ponies standing guard remain silent, with the expectation of the human squad leader – a black skinned toned man in his late 40's, long dread-locked hair and almost eerily blue eyes. His muscle build put most labour working stallions to shame, and he even had a few dozen scars to make himself more intimidating.

"Quiet people! – er – ponies! Or do you want those bugs to come for you next?"

The man shouted over the confused, frightened ponies. Silencing them almost instantly by telling them a white lie (no racist pun intended). He knew that the bugs knew they were there – he didn't quite remember ALL the details, something about the bugs being able to feel vibrations and 'see' through walls, being able to 'feel' something's heartbeat – or was it 'feel the electricity from a Nervous system'? Or something about being able to detect pheromones in the air? Or was it sonar vision? He didn't remember the details. All he knew was what he needed to: the bugs were deadly, in close or afar – thanks to the acid spitting variants of bug; they had kissed their ranged superiority goodbye – at least they had their ships – then there was the flying variants of the bugs – there was a difference between evolution and 'ass-rape in the making'.

But if the ponies were quiet, he could at least think. He had seen nearly all of it. He had been there when humanity created a new species: orks. They were MEANT to help colonize planets, but that backfired and they went savage, and primitive to some extent. Their ability to grow from spores made it rather difficult to contain them and they eventually spread across the galaxy. Though they were somewhat prevailing. They go down to a planet, fire-bomb suspected areas and keep a constant eye on the area; problem dealt with.

Then the bugs started showing up. He was pretty sure humanity didn't create THEM. They were much worse than the orks too. Sure they couldn't fly ships and had little intelligence (the lesser forms at least), but they spread much more quickly and were devastating on the morale of anyone fighting them: they were able to start a hive in a manner of mere minutes (the same amount of time it takes for the resin they secret to harden to almost diamond hard levels) and every bug they fought meant someone or something somewhere had suffered an unbelievably horrible, slow, agonising death.

'They use other living things as spare parts for their army' some would say.

'Other life forms are nothing more than living incubators for them' others would say.

'Wanna know why there are no stories about surviving being face-hugged? It's obvious…' soldiers would often say when asked about the Xenomorphs.

'What Amazing creatures! The way they adapt to new environments and situations-'Weyland Yutani didn't really care for those that got hurt, so it came as no surprise that Weyland people found the bugs interesting.

'I hate to think of the Xenomorphs as anything but Apex predators of their point of origin. What kind of creature would have forced them to use acid blood to counter it?' a random egg-head from within Weyland Yutani once stated, the question had since spread and gained a lot of fame: did the Xenomorphs have predators of their own? Probably not – the acid blood made it impossible for anything to properly kill a Xenomorph, let alone eat it.

But then there was the matter of that big bug, not the massive one that acted as a mobile base. The other big one – the leader of the bugs on the planet; he acted human. Even capable of taunting…..but that wasn't possible was it? They were BUGS: BUGS don't laugh – they don't think, they don't love, they don't feel remorse or mercy - they don't feel at ALL…..unless they were messed with on a genetic level? But who would create that thing? Who would want to cause this much suffering? If that thing was able to act like a human – could it also do things humans do? Like pilot ships? What if that thing became smart enough to pilot a ship? The entire fucking galaxy! – All life everywhere, both discovered and undiscovered, would be wiped out! Who in the blazes would want that!?

The bugs were FAR more then lethal enough as they were now! As they learned in training: one single Xenomorph egg can destroy a species – a whole fucking species! Granted it would take a while: the egg/s would need to wait for a host, then that chest burster would need to molt into a queen, then set up a hive, but after she started laying eggs…..the planet would surely perish soon-after.

Then there was the matter of the orks in space. They were doing that just to piss off the commander. They even sent some dropships of their own down to the planet's surface – boy where they in for a surprise when the bugs came knocking.

"COMMMAAANNNNDEEERR!"

A pony in battered silver armour comes running into the building, he looked like he had been through a meat-grinder: his armour – what was left of it – was barley clinging to him. Nearly every inch of his body was cut or bruised or covered in dirt or dried mud, he looked like he hadn't slept in days, his eyes where blood-shot. It was actually difficult to see what colour his body once was, and all recruits had their manes shaved and trimmed to make sure nothing could grab hold of them. To the civilian ponies, he probably looked undead, to a fellow marine; he looked like another day in the core.

"BUGS, REALLY BIG BUGS HEADING THIS WAY!"

"Calm down trooper! What about our men outside?"

"The lucky ones are already dead, the unlucky ones….well….you know – they're probably infected by now"

"And the evacuation ships?"

"One made it through, the others have been brought down by the bugs"

"Well fucking hell, give me some good news!"

"The ship that got through should have enough room to accommodate the collection you have here but-"

"But WHAT trooper!?"

Before the two can continue their conversation, the front doors are engulfed in a dark, midnight blue aura. Swinging open, knocking one of the silver armoured ponies off their hooves – Luna, Dwayne and Celestia walk in. Celestia had done her best to get rid of the tears she had shed, her subjects didn't need to see one of their rulers like that – they were scared enough as it was. Dwayne was partially intact, his cloths were dirty, his armour was muddy and bloody and he had blood slowly caking on his face. Luna seemed like the only one who wasn't mentally distraught at what was going on, which somewhat worried Celestia: Celestia was worried, scared, angry and depressed – the amount of emotions she was feeling clouded her judgment and confused her, though nearly all of them were negative – yet her sister was next to completely un-phased, at least on the outside. Perhaps she was better at hiding her emotions than herself? Right now was not the time to be pondering that thought though.

The ponies in the room all went dead quiet upon seeing their two beloved leaders walk in. though they all wore happy faces with big grins and eyes full of hope – they were still scared out of their minds on the inside.

Dwayne can't help but also smile and think to himself

Heh, Celestia's like a walking morale boost-

"Ya' fucking hit me, ya' bitch!"

The silver armoured pony shouts as he gets to his hooves from being knocked down by the door

-at least to her subjects. She seems to be the subject of hate for our pony soldiers though, I can't help but wonder why, Celestia doesn't deserve that

The ponies in the room all gasp at the silver armoured ponies outburst at their beloved leader – doing nothing to affect said ponies attitude

"Oh what are you fagots all gasping at? I called her a bitch, so what? In case ya' didn't know there's something more important going on outside!"

The pony barks at them, all of them shrinking back in fear from the pony.

Dwayne approaches the pony, slightly angry at his outburst, but not showing it. Stopping a few feet in front of the pony, Dwayne can't help but raise his voice

"Soldier, why are you acting like this? She's trying to help! And she is technically your-"

The pony's ears twitch upon realizing what he was about to say and cuts him off mid-sentence with a loud roar – almost matching that of the 'Royal Canterlot voice'

"IF YOU FINISH THAT FUCKING SENTENCE I SWEAR TO THE EMPERRORS BALLS, NO AMMOUNT OF MAGIC WILL BE ABLE TO FIX WHAT I DO TO YOU!"

Dwayne can't help but also back up, mainly in shock; he wasn't expecting that much anger

"In fact! Don't even fucking THINK it!"

He barks again. The room remained dead quiet, the only sound anyone or anypony heard were the gunfire and screaming coming from outside. Most simply stared wide-eyed at the pony – Dwayne, Celestia and Luna included.

"IMCOMMING!"

A shout from outside suddenly rings in everyone's ears as the top part of the building are engulfed in fire as something large and metal crashes through it. The ponies on the floor above all disappearing in the wall of smoke, flame and metal – both mares, stallions and foals alike. Fire was like a Xenomorph: it didn't discriminate.

"SHIT! WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?!"

One of the silver armoured ponies shouts in alarm, rolling around on the ground, dazed and confused and heavily affected by shell-shock

"BIRD DOWN, BIDR DOWN!"

A silver armoured human shouts as he and a few other silver armoured ponies, Karl included, run through the rubble of the building towards the crashed ship

"Search for survivors! SEARCH FOR SURVIVORS DAMMIT!"

Karl shouts at Dwayne and the other dazed and confused silver armoured ponies. A rare few Pegasi, also clad in light-weight silver armour, flying overhead, making their way towards the downed ship, are forced to quickly turn and fly away from the centre of the town – chased away by a group of flying Xenomorphs of different kinds and acid, undoubtedly launched from spitters taking sniping positions on the rooftops of the buildings that had remained standing.

"Guess we can't count on air-support. Bugs control the skies over this area"

Dwayne mutters to himself

"OH that reminds me! Hey, Princesses!"

Karl shouts, gaining Celestia's and Luna's attention

"Canterlots gone"

Karl states in a 'matter of fact' tone of voice

"Would you like to know more?"

One of the silver armoured ponies says in a tone as if he were part of a commercial, then manically laughing, earning a few laughs and stiffed giggles from the other silver armoured ponies, while earning a few distraught cries from the civilian ponies.

"Their LYING, canterlot CANT be gone!"

One shouts

"Don't believe me do you? Have you SEEN the amount of smoke coming from that place?"

One of the silver armoured ponies retorts

"FOCUS YA ASS-HOLES! HELP ME PULL ANY SURVIVORS OUT!"

Karl growls at his silver armoured companions as he forces one of the hatches on the downed ship open. Immediately being covered in smoke from the inside of the ship

"Gah'Dammit! *COUGH* anyone *COUGH* anyone in there!?"

Karl's violent struggles for breath were unnerving for Celestia and Luna, just more evidence that furthered the proof that they weren't capable of fighting a losing war. As he makes his way into the downed ship, Celestia can't help but admire him – in a strange, dark kind of way; dealing with the same horrific things that war had to offer. Luna, meanwhile, was admiring his flank. One of Karls comrades notices and nudges her

"Dream on, princess"

Celestia overhears him and glances at her sister out of the corner of her eye: what was wrong with her? Karl was….she was hesitant to use the word evil. It was obvious the creatures he was fighting were evil….but, the only thing Celestia could think of when it came to Karl was; he was the lesser of two evils – he had been fighting evil for too long with no protection against it, it had affected him in a way that he had become corrupted. Celestia momentarily considered if using the elements of harmony on him would help him. but then she quickly scrubbed that thought; now SHE was starting to act that way – perhaps it was just what war did, and those bugs, those 'xenomorphs' didn't help the matter at all

One of the silver armoured ponies grabs the side of his helmet, trying to hear what was coming through his helmets communications systems

"Last available evac ship is on the way, sir! It will be here in a few moments!"

Another pony shouts, the one that was missing the bulk of his armour.

"That reminds me, remember when I was talking about the dropship?"

The pony says as he approaches Dwayne, wearing a sad smile, though his eyes had determination in them, but they were coated with guilt

"Yea?"

Dwayne just knew he wouldn't like where this was going

"It's us or them"

The pony states, gesturing to Celestia and Luna

"What do you mean?"

Dwayne replies, knowing he defiantly wasn't liking where this was going, but not knowing what the pony was on about

"The ship – It's got enough room to take these civilians, and the two princess' there-"

"So what's the catch?"

"-we won't be going with them…"

Dwayne felt his heart nearly break, that sure was some depressing news, being informed you're going to die.

"What?"

Dwayne asks; perhaps for once, things would go the way he wanted them to, instead of-

"We're fucked: they can fly if they want to, but the ship won't be able to hold ALL of us. The men, those of us that are loyal to the captain, and the human empire, will have to stay behind. The ship would be too heavy otherwise"

-nope. Fate just doesn't like Dwayne at all

"OR we could live, and they could stay behind and die"

The pony offers with a faint smile, knowing already what Dwayne's answer would be

"NO, no we can't…..just….."

"ha ha ha, I knew you'd say that. Or at the very least try to say it. I'm good, the others are too, we were just checking if you had the balls"

The pony tried to comfort Dwayne with a sad chuckle.

"Sort of reminds ya of that song, don't it?"

"You mean the one that soldiers tend to sing when they think they're going on a suicide mission?"

"I think this counts as a suicide mission, don't you?"

"HEY, come t' think of it, Its Karls birthday today isn't it!?"

The black skinned toned soldier suddenly appears between the two with a smile.

Nearly every silver armoured human and pony in the room seemed to hear him as they all wore the same, evil grin.

"Hey Karl, get out here when you can, there's somethin' you need to hear!"

One of the pony's shouts, a few other humans and silver armoured ponies silently chuckling to themselves

Two humans appear at the smoking hatch – the downed ships pilots – coughing and wheezing but happy that they were alive. Also wearing smug grins.

"Okay, I'm coming out, hang on!"

Karl's voice comes from within the smoking machine. As soon as Karls head came into view, the humans and ponies alike all began to sing a tune that they knew Karl liked

"Happy birthday to you~ happy birthday to you~ happy Birthday Dear: Karl~ happy birthday to you!~"

Karl smiles upon hearing them, knowing the next verse of the song was his favourite

"How fucked are you now?~ How fucked are you now?~ How FUUUCKED are you nooooow?~ You're surely fucked now!~"

The group finish and begin laughing among the company of each other. Karl uses his wings to slow his decent

"By the emperor, you guys remembered!"

Karl happily exclaims, getting crowded by his comrades and hugged by all of them, one of them jumping on his back and hanging on.

"Jayce get the fuck off me!"

Karl laughs as the black man slowly gets off his back, his antics were always good for a few laughs. Despite his intimidating appearance

"Here, have a gift, cap'n"

One of Karl's unicorn comrades levitates a grenade over to him, accepting with a silent nod and using his own magic to place it on the equipment belt secured around his chest. The grenade, small and round in its design, magnetically sticks to his equipment belt.

One of the door guards – a stallion, earth pony to be precise – Probably not even older then twilight – pats Karl on the back

"I have a gift too: a suicide mission"

The room goes quiet again.

"Sounds like a crappy gift if ya ask me, ya might want to get your money back, hope it has a good return policy"

A random human says aloud, causing all the soldiers in the room to burst into laughter. After a few minutes of laughter, the room quietens again

"So no happy ending for us, huh?"

Karl mutters out loud

"Seems that way boss"

Another random member of Karl's party replies

"Pheh, we all make it sooner or later"

Karl replies in a slightly distraught tone. After all, who WANTED to die from Xenomorph? No living thing with a brain would want to be captured by them, but hey, who said life fighting the xeno's was fair? Who said THEY were fair?

"Why do you speak as if you are comfortable with dying!? Do you really want to forfeit your lives!? Have you resigned the will to life so quickly!?"

Luna suddenly begins frantically shouting at the silver armoured kamikazes, though it was clear she was focusing most of the questions at Karl

But before Karl can answer, the dropship arrives, larger than the others. The engines temporarily drowning out any other noises.

As soon as the dropships landing gear hits the floor and the engines quieten, Karl quickly bellows at the frightened pony civilians

"GET INTO THE SHIP"

The frightened ponies seemed more than willing to get into the giant metal flying machine if it meant getting away from the nightmare that had taken over their town. Though Celestia, Luna and a few others could fly (having wings and all), Celestia quickly notices that Dwayne and his allies are not even making an effort to get into the ship that would take them all to safety

"Dwayne, didn't you hear Karl? Get in! Quickly! Those things are getting closer-"

"Not going"

Dwayne interrupts her, Celestia could swear she felt her heart sink and implode.

"w—w—what?"

A horrified (and secretly) heartbroken Celestia replies

"Not enough room, Celestia. Karl, the guys and I….well….we'll stay behind…..hold down the fort for as long as we can, take as many of 'em down as we ca-"

"NO!"

Celestia screams in her 'canterlot' voice. Causing a few of the silver armoured ponies and humans to jump in shock from her sudden outburst, while a few others merely took notice of her raising her voice. (Civilians included)

"Dwayne i-i-I don't know what's going on. Why this is happening in the first place. Or how humans work. But….but i-i-i…staying here….i know ponyville is of great importance and Canterlot as well, but I can CLEARLY see that they are both lost! But you….you'd stay behind and die fighting in an already lost battle? Why?"

Dwayne quickly embraces Celestia In a hug to try and calm her down, talking loud enough to be heard over the other noises and commotion but not loud enough to be shouting so as to not hurt her ears (more so then they already are)

"Celestia….I'm scared. Okay? I'm frightened. I don't want to die….I'm not ready yet…I haven't lived my life….but….look at it from my perspective"

He holds her at arm's length and looks deep into her eyes to show her he means what he is saying

"These guys-"

Dwayne gestures to the silver armoured ponies and humans

"-have been my friends – my family for as long as I can remember. They're my brothers. If I HAVE to die…..I'd like to die: side by side with my brothers….fighting for the innocent…..it's what we do…..if we run away….if we could run away…..we'd do it together or not at all….we don't leave brothers behind"

Celestia was slightly shocked. She had never thought about it from his perspective - About his reasons, about his FRIENDS. If they could run away they would, Dwayne and his friends weren't stupid; they knew a lost battle when they saw one.

"We all leave together or not at all. It's how we work. It's how we live. How our family works"

Dwayne pated Celestia on her shoulders gently and beckoned for her to get into the ship with the others. She remembered that the air over ponyville and canterlot was extremely dangerous: the flying creature's everywhere would probably cut her down in an instant. But in the flying metal machine, they might stand a better chance. And it helped save those who could not fly

"Karl, why aren't you getting into the machine?"

Luna says aloud, in a slightly worried tone as she strides past Dwayne and Celestia. Had she heard their conversation and was in denial or had she not heard? How would Luna take it? Would Karl at the very least break it to her gently?

"My friends and I are fucked. Dead men walking. The expendables just got expended"

No such luck. Luna's response was as Dwayne suspected it would be – just like her sister

"W-w-w-what? But the machine is here is it not!? Can we not simply fly away from the foul demons!? Why are you not getting into the-"

"Not enough room"

"W-w-what? The room? Oh. Well. What about…..-YOU'RE WINGS! You could fly away! Get to safety!"

"HAH! If I took to the air – if the spitters don't shoot me down the flyers WILL! Besides, I wouldn't even if I could"

"Y-Y-your…HORN! Your magic! You could teleport away, and bring your friends with you!"

"That's just it. My magic is unstable. With things like teleportation: I could teleport only a few feet away or end up teleporting myself and my brothers to god knows where, and considering I'm tired as hell, it'd be the former"

"What about another flying ship? Get your subordinates to bring another ship down for you!"

"We've been trying that for a while. Every ship we've sent has needed to evacuate Civilians first. Then they'd come back for us. Only to get shot down by spitters or have their engines clogged by kamikaze Flyers and fall to the ground and kill whoever they land on – if they weren't shot down first when they had the civilians on bored"

Luna was growing more desperate with each passing second. It seemed for all of her questions – Karl had answers

"But why!? What about…what about….what…about…RAMIREZ!?"

Luna, on the inside was smiling. She had done it! Karl could not simply say no to Ramirez – but the shocked and otherwise completely horrified faces of Karls comrades, told her that perhaps she had not done what she had hoped. She felt her heart begin to feel heavy and sore. She had a STRONG feeling that she shouldn't have said that, even the huamns had their hands over their agape mouths in shock. What had Luna done?

"…..thanks…..thanks a lot"

Karl. For the first time for many who had known him all their lives – sounded hurt – emotionally hurt.

"That's….a dirty tactic lady….you'd fit right in during a normal war"

Karl's usually somewhat transparent green eyes were becoming misty as tears were very slowly building up, despite Karls attempts to fight back the urge to cry, it was obvious he was crying his eyes out on the inside.

"The captain would take care of Ramirez in case anything happened to me. It had taken quite a while to get used to that horrible feeling. Now I can die with the fresh memory of leaving Ramirez behind. Of how selfish I must be…thanks a lot….truly a clever tactic. Can't take on your enemy head on – go for their weak point"

Karl was visually struggling to keep his emotions in check now. Not wanting to appear weak in front of outsiders or in front of his brothers.

His brothers in arms, both human and pony alike, move in front of him to block him from everyone else's line of sight.

Jayce walks into the front of the small human-pony wall. He looked shocked

"….Christ lady…Karl May have done some things he didn't have to. He may have even done some evil things in the past, but that doesn't mean he doesn't have a heart!…..which you just impaled"

"….i-i-i-i-i-i-I'm so sorry…..i…."

"Get on the ship, and get the fuck out of my sight….now – If you don't mind…or do you not remember that we're dying for you sorry asses in the first place?"

Jayce replies in an almost eerily calm tone. Luna, Celestia and Dwayne could tell that, on the outside – he appeared calm and quiet. On the inside….they didn't want to think of what he was like on the inside.

"THE FUCK?! DRPOP YOU SON OF A BITCH!"

A random shout from outside echoes, barely understandable over the roar of the engines even as they were in stand-by mod. Followed by a chorus of gunfire

One of the silver armoured ponies runs inside, out of breath

"BIG BUG – WON'T DIE – FUCKING HELP!"

He frantically shouts before running back outside. Before being hurled through the doors moments later

"ARHG - STRONG FUCKER TOO!"

The dropship pilot notices the large Xenomorph and begins to take off

"That's it! We're getting the fuck out of here!"

With Celestia, Luna and the surviving members of the town safely on bored, the ship begins to ascend into the air, quickly getting out of reach of the Xenomorph ground forces – at least they hoped as much.

Celestia and Dwayne lock gazes with one another. Celestia wished that he could leave with them, she doesn't know why, but she wishes that she could be in his arms one last time. A song begins to play over the ships interior as the large ramp at the back closes, along with a chorus of the soldiers that had stayed behind, singing along to it.

Well maybe you don't understand~ I don't understand at all myself~ But there's a brother on my left and another on my right~ and in his pocket just like mine; he's got a photograph~ and their waiting for him back home~ It's weighing on my mind~ I'm not tryin' to be the hero~ I don't wanna die~ But right now in this moment: Ya don't think twice~

The rest of the song became distorted and hard to understand as gunfire began to drown it out

The ponies, the princess's included – all giving silent thanks and prayers to the strange, if aggressive, soldiers and humans that had stayed behind.

Celestia and Luna lay at the back of the ship by the closed ramp, Celestia holding Luna in her wings to try and comfort her. Luna's tears had since dampened Celestia's usually beautiful white coat, though now it was coated in the dried blood of others who had been near her when something horrible had happened to them, random blotches of dirt and mud clung to her. Everypony in the ship was covered in dirt and grime to some extent, none were clean.

Luna's crying suddenly stops. Her head raising off the ground

"Sister?"

Celestia asks as Luna knocks off Celestia's wings and rushes to the front of the ship where the two human pilots were, pushing the surviving citizens of ponyville aside as she went.

"Sister, what are you doing?"

Celestia calls after her, following her through the somewhat cramp ships interior.

Prodding one of the human pilots, the co-pilot, he turns to look at her

"Open the doors, let me out!"

Luna flatly demands

"What are you thinking, sister!?"

Celestia raises her voice, now standing next to Luna, trying to get her to answer her

"Not a good idea ma'am, we're still dangerously in xeno-rang"

The co-pilot replies, turning back to the controls

"But I can save them! Let me out!"

"as I said; not safe, we're still within range of Xenomorph forces, if spitters don't shoot you down first-"

"Thank you, I'll take her from here"

Celestia interrupts the pilot's drone-like response

Luna turned to her sister, her eyes full of determination, though Celestia couldn't help but think that there were some hints of desperation in them too

"I can save then, sister! I can save them, I just need to get back to them!"

Luna says to Celestia, her tone almost cheerful and full of hope

"And how would you do that?"

Celestia replied flatly, she wasn't happy about leaving those brave souls to die either, but what could be done? There were too many of the creatures to handle, even for the combined efforts of Celestia and Luna

"My magic, I can teleport them to safety! Oh it would be a drain and I would be tired afterwards, but what a small price to pay for the lives of others!"

Luna frantically shouted in her sister's face. And for a moment, Celestia felt like a complete idiot, why hadn't she thought about using her own magic to teleport them to safety? Was it not better than not trying at all? But what if they failed? What if they were both killed? No, the risk was too great.

"No, sister"

Celestia stated flatly, Luna's determination seemed to shatter momentarily. But quickly returned'

"And why not? WHY NOT?!"

Luna was beginning to lose her posture; her legs were starting to wobble, her eyes were watering again. She looked as if she was on the verge of crying again. It hurt Celestia so much to see her sister like that, but it was for her own good.

"Because the risk is too great!"

Celestia replied in a cold, seemingly uncaring tone. But it was quite the opposite, she cared for her sister, if she had to act unforgiving to save her, then so be it. Though Luna would surely hate Celestia for this later, she would surely understand how necessary it was.

"THE RISK IS NOT TOO GREAT! My possible safety for the end of others' lives?!"

Luna retorted. That didn't sound like her sister though, Luna was beginning to sound like somepony else entirely

"Sister, please! I understand how you feel, TRULY I do! I do not want others to suffer for us either! But we are the princess of equestria! Our lives ARE more important than theirs!"

Celestia immediately forced her hoof into her mouth, as if she was afraid she would speak without her own say so. Surely she did NOT just say that?! That was NOT how she was at all! She was a good pony, everypony was a good pony – they were naturally GOOD! Celestia was their princess! She was the princess of PEACE! She did NOT think that way!

Luna looked just as horrified as Celestia did at what she had said, even the other ponies in the ship seemed shocked beyond belief as if they couldn't believe what she had just said. Celestia herself couldn't believe what had come out of her mouth.

"sister….i-i-i-i…I don't know what-"

Celestia couldn't find the proper words to express her horror at what she had said. But her sister did

"Perhaps we are not as accustomed to war as we believed ourselves to be, dear sister"

Luna flatly replied, in an eerily calm tone – the calmest she had been since meeting Karl on that faithful night

"But know this, so long as there is the slightest chance of saving another, I will take it. Not to make up for what I did a thousand years ago, but for the sake of giving others a chance to live"

Luna replied, gently pushing her sister aside as she prodded the co-pilot with her hoof again.

Turning to face her, he was about to repeat himself as he did the last time she asked, but her face told him that she was not asking this time

"Open the door and let me out, or I will tear it open myself."

She flatly demanded, the human, silently nodded, and gave her an approving grin

"You got balls lady, maybe there's a chance for you in Karl's heart yet. Alright, I'm opening the door, but then we're out of here and you're on your own"

The co-pilot said in a slightly chuckling manner

"'tis fine by me. I believe as Karl would say 'I wouldn't have it any other way'"

Luna replied in a slightly cheerful tone. There was something about her sister that seemed so off, so different, so obvious that it was in plain sight and Celestia couldn't see it. It was something to do with Karl, but what?

With a loud moan from the metal and a powerful gush of wind, the doors to the drop ship opened. The civilian ponies all stepped back towards the cock-pit, afraid they would fall out, while Luna strode towards the open hatch. The interior being light up by the outside light as it rushed in, as if eager to cover Celestia in the familiar colours of the untainted equestrian sky.

Celestia slowly approached her sibling, nuzzling her shoulder gently. Luna and Celestia both glanced downward at the view: Ponyville's once clean, colourful streets were littered with gore and blood, being trampled over by the sea of black exo-skeletons as they scuttled over the remains of houses and bodies towards the last sings of pony or human life in all of ponyville; the town hall where Karl and his friends were making a last stand.

"Sister, is there really no way I can talk you out of this?"

"No dearest sister, there is no way I will listen to your words of reason"

Luna and Celestia shared one last look, and hugged tightly

"I love you so much, little sister!"

Celestia said, tears flowing down her face and onto her little siblings coat as she wrapped the midnight blue Alicorn tightly in a hug with her wings, who in turned, returned the hug

"And I you, Elder sister!"

Luna then let go of her sister and stepped onto the ramp of the ship as it continued to fly away from ponyville. She looked back at her sister, spread her wings and said

"Farewell, sister, look after our subjects well, I will see you again!"

Luna then leaped from the ship and began speeding towards the town hall at speeds that would make rainbow dash proud – a flock of Xenomorph flyers flying straight towards her in a head-on kamikaze style run.

Luna light up her horn and lighting began to crackle around her, the ramp closed as Luna engaged the flock of the horrifying creatures – Celestia could only hope her sister would be fine.

Luna managed to stun the bulk of the Xenomorph flyers with ease, they were so determined to smash into her that they did not even doge the lighting she shot from her horn. Though it was partially their plan as the next row of Xenomorph flyers took even less of the attack that was used on the first wave. The lightning hitting the second row was only enough to stun them. So Luna quickly shot a concentrated beam of midnight blue energy from her horn. She had learned it from her sister when she had insisted she learn it after fighting against a changling queen.

Though the beam was not intended to kill, merely to stun, or at the very most, wound. Though it served as an excellent repellent; knocking back whatever flyer got within range as she continued her flight towards the town hall where she could see bright flashes momentarily appearing here and there from within the smock filled remains of the building.

Though the flyers where determined and showed no signs of giving up or slowing down. If anything, every time she repelled them they seemed to grow angrier with her. But she was making good time.

Right up until she had the wind knocked out of her as a Xenomorph flyer had flanked her and managed to score a direct hit on her, attacking her form the back, she felt the cold claw of the creature cut a wound into her back, right below her left wing to be precise. She felt the warmth of her blood begin to pour down to her hind legs, but she would worry about the wound later, right now she had to recover from the initial impact.

Though try as she might, she was winded, and falling to the ground, fast. As if a cold joke to herself, she thought

At least I'll crash into the town hall, perhaps even land near Karl

When she looked back up at the flyer flock coming in for the kill. She wondered how badly wounded she'd be after this. She hoped she be in any condition to teleport Karl and his friends away safely.

She saw then close in on her, teeth and claws ready to slash and tear her. When they were turned to fire in a bright flash of dark red-green energy.

She looked back at the town hall as it speed closer towards her, and saw the energy coming from Karl who was clearly visible over the smoke, using his wings to hover above the battle taking place below him. She had fallen close enough to the ground that Karl was able to try and catch her, and ending up only cushioning her fall as she fell into him and knocked him down below the smoke also – onto the rubble filled floor below.

Though dazed and confused by the various impacts she had suffered, Luna could still make out silhouettes running to and fro – their facial features being monetarily light up as their weapons barked out light and ammunition in a violent chorus that was all but deafening.

She could feel the countless spent ammo casings on the floor beneath her, some were cold, indicating that they had been there a while. Others felt hot, indicating they had recently been vacated from their weapon. The smoke above them, originating from the ship that had crashed earlier, had all but blotted out the sky above them, though rays of sunlight managed to break through where there was little smoke. Though the sunlights rays were grey and seemed lacking in their usual cheerful glow. It was as if the sun itself was sharing Celestia's grief at all the horrors going on.

Though a very familiar silhouette, belonging to what Luna could easily tell was Karl, blocked out her vision momentarily, she could feel Karl placing her hoof around his back and helping her off to elsewhere – she dint resist; despite the pain in her back screaming at her to get away, it was the first time she could recall him ever even touching her when he wasn't black-out drunk or unconscious. It felt nice, despite him being rather rough with her as he jerked her off away from the fighting going on behind her, though she couldn't see the creatures very well, she knew they were there, the humans and ponies in silver armour were firing into the shadows and she could see a black, all-too familiar blur as it scampered away from the bullets impacting the ground or the walls. Occasionally a few of the silver armoured soldiers would get knocked down by said blurs as they pounced from the shadows that were present in all the chaos or from rubble, or straight from seemingly nowhere – though the silver soldiers all worked together as a group, almost in sync as if they knew exactly what to do for each and every situation.

The sounds where actually more chaotic then the scene unfolding before her eyes. A few confused or angry human or pony cries and shouts would be heard from within her immediate area, obviously coming from the silver armoured soldiers – and a few would occasionally come from outside the remains of the town hall, though they were all quickly drowned out by the vast blood-chilling roars and spine tingling screeches coming from the army of darkness as it chewed out any resistance in the once bustling town of ponyville. But how could there still be survivors out in ponyville? It was completely overrun! The crumbling town hall was the last bastion of life in ponyville that didn't have acid for blood….wasn't it?

Luna hated to think about the poor souls who might still be fighting in the graveyard that was now ponyville – the crumbling town hall was chaotic and seemed hopeless, it was also the only place that was built strong enough to withstand much damage; she hated to think of what might be happening to others who might still be struggling against the inevitable: be it a family of ponies trying to survive or soldiers in silver armour trying their hardest to take down whatever horror had found them out.

After a few brief yanks and tugs, Karl had seemingly found a place he deemed safe enough to place Luna. He actually looked genuinely surprised to see Luna again

"Either you have more balls then I give you credit for or I'm already dead and this is hell and you're my eternal punishment"

Karl said in an almost casual tone, but Luna could swear there was a shred of happiness in there – he was actually smirking, could it be he was warming up to her?

"I have come back to inform you that: you and your friends do not have to die here. Your magic may be unable to help in this matter, but MY magic-"

Luna said with a smirk of her own and a wink

"- is still an available option, should you and your friends chose to accept it."

Karl actually began to chuckle. A genuine, honest happy chuckle. None of the forced, fake chuckles he would usually give her at the end of some insult or heartless straight-to-the-point fact.

"Heh, you mean you'd save me and my boys?"

Karl had stopped his happy chuckle, though Luna wished he didn't, though he kept his warm happy smile. It was like he was a completely different pony, or person; whichever he preferred to be called. She'd never seen this side of him – she'd assumed that it was really only his 'brothers in arms' who would see this happy, friendly side of him. To Luna and Celestia: all they had seen was a pony full of hate, fear and misery – yet by spending some time with him, seeing the horrible things he was forced to do on a daily basis just to save himself and his friends, it was like he was beginning to think of Luna as a friend

Don't get too far ahead of yourself, Luna. Concentrate, save him and his friends FIRST. THEN press your luck….if you feel it's worth the risk

Luna quickly snapped out of her train of thought, the stabbing, constant pain in her wound returning and all the horrible sounds, smells tastes and feelings of her immediate area had returned like a wave of dread washing over her to cleanse her of her happiness.

"Yes, I believe I CAN 'save you and your boys'. They will need to be in close proximity to me, but I will be able to teleport them to safety – If not out of reach of these foul creatures, at least a few towns distance away. Enough to recover and escape."

She said in a 'matter of fact' tone. Perhaps some of Karl's cockiness was rubbing off on her. That or she was simply more comfortable around Karl the anypony else – he did have quite a bit in common with her: Loneliness, Regret, Fear, feeling you can never be forgiven for what you've done in the past.

"well…..shit…..so we get to live after all…..i don't really know what to say, to you, Luna expect –"

Karl had Luna's full attention, he stared into her deep blue eyes with his seemingly transparent green eyes. he actually MEANT what he was going to say to her, he MEANT it truly for once.

"-thank you."

He said with a calm, yet almost caring tone, all the other sounds seemed to drown out momentarily so Luna could hear him clearly. It made Luna feel happy inside to know that he was actually grateful for her presence for once, instead of being agitated. And it made Karl feel somewhat warm inside too, usually he only felt that way when he saw Ramirez having a good time, if only so the little foal could forget the horrible things that had happened all those centuries ago.

Karl quickly turned and prepared to head back into the thick of the battle, but stoped and turned around to look at Luna again, as if afraid she would disappear.

"Will you be okay? I'll just go and get the boys and I'll be right back, then we can get the fuck out of here"

Had Karl actually asked Luna a question concerning her well-being? Did he just say he cared for her?

No, Luna, it's only because you can get his friends to safety, that's the only reason he cares about you being safe…

Luna tried to concentrate, it was a simple enough Question wasn't it? It appeared to be the mayors former office, now a smoke filled death-trap waiting to happen. Yet her brain was giving her more complex things to think about then giving a straight 'yes' answer.

It seemed her brain was having a conflict within itself, she was arguing with herself.

"Yes, I'll be fine!"

She said in an almost distracted tone, she hoped Karl hadn't picked up on that.

"Good, I'll be right back, don't go anywhere!"

'And then I'll be right back, and WE can get the fuck out of here' he doesn't intend to leave you behind! 'Don't go anywhere!' he doesn't want you to leave

She'd have a happy thought

That's because he's not that evil and he might need our help later, he doesn't want to spend time with me. 'Don't go anywhere'? I'm not so foolish, I would surely perish: those creatures are all over the town

A bad thought

But at least you're spending time with him, correct?

A happy thought

Ponies. Are. Dying! My subjects perish in their homes! Is it really worth the lives of my subjects to spend time with Him? Surely even HE would not approve of such a depraved thought!

A bad thought

"It matters not, he and his friends (and myself now) are in danger. That takes priority over everything else. Personnel feelings and thoughts must come AFTER"

She quietly mutters to herself, but the oddly happy thoughts continue to persist

But you want him, don't you?

What? That didn't have anything to do with the current event, how could Luna even ask herself that? That had NOTHNIG to do with-

He's the only one who understands your pain: to be alone…if anything, it is YOU who doesn't understand his pain. A thousand years? Let us hope he dies in battle then, or he will live the rest of his life with the pain of losing his family and subjects forever

That was strange, it was starting to get a little too…..'Close to the heart' for Luna's liking. She preferred it when they were happy thoughts, not manipulative ones praying on her fears and doubts

How could I possibly think that?

Luna couldn't help but mentally scold herself, she was appalled at what her thoughts were beginning to speak.

He's a living, breathing being. He is not our toy to do with as we please.

Was this what Karl had to deal with inside his head on a daily basis? Was this what war did to ponies and humans? Was this what going insane was?

Oh, you can't lie to yourself, to your heart, to the PAST. Your ACTIONS those nights ago speak louder than any lie you cook up

Lie to herself? What actions? What nights ago? She could barely remember ANYTHING apart from a splitting headache the next morning, she would never drink alcohol again for as long as she lived…well…maybe just not so much.

What actions? I remember nothing of those nights ago, my actions were not of my own doing

Lies, lies, all lies. Being drunk is the only time your heart is in full control of your body it appears.

YOUR ME, HOW AM I HAVING THIS ARGUMENT?!

Desires perhaps? You are a normal pony aren't you?

Well….yes…I am a normal pony, but wait, what?! NO. I know what I'm thinking and the answer is NO. I'm just trying to HELP HIM

Of course, of course. But admit it, you came back for him, you care nothing for his friends

Disgusting! How, in the name of all that is right am I thinking these repulsive thoughts!?

Your letting your emotions get locked up again, just like when you became-

-nightmare moon? Jealousy and evil was all that nightmaremoon was.

So imagine what lust and desire must be…

Where I having this conversation with any other pony I would cut off one of their ears and tear out their tongue

You know I'm telling the truth…

I know I'M going insane!

If desire is what insanity is, then call us a mad-pony. You're mad for him

HE'S A COMPLETE STRANGER!

But underneath his cold, admittedly sexy exterior lies a pony who has suffered more pain then you ever have or ever will.

No i-i….i-i-i-i

Don't deserve him? Don't deserve to be happy?

What I did a thousand years ago-

-is nothing compared to how selfish you are being now! You and your sister were reunited! He will NEVER get to hold his family in his hooves again! Never be able to go to them in his times of fear and sorrow!

Admittedly, her other thoughts were starting to make more sense than Luna would like to, or probably ever, admit. Had Luna not said the exact same thing to her sister earlier on the human vessel?

'He will never see his family again, never get to hold them in his hooves'

If you will not be there for your own sake, then do it for his, be there for him – FOR him. If not for yourself, then do it for HIM. He may not like you at times, may not be able to stand your presence at times – but he'll need it wether he likes it or not, that pony 'Ramirez' is nothing but a last shred of happiness coated in pain and misery. He watches him have fun so that he may feel some of the pain leave, but when he is no longer in Ramirez's presence; when he is among strangers, he is truly alone, and the pain will come back ten-fold. This has repeated itself too many times already. Ramirez is his beacon of light and happiness – unwittingly causing him more pain then he will ever admit. You know this. So do something about it

Oh, and what would I do? Kill Ramirez? Surely, the foul creatures, the 'Xenomorphs'; are the only ones capable of such an evil act.

No, be there for him, be the beacon of light to chase away his fears

His fears have nearly killed me many times already, and as I recall, they cannot be 'chased away' they will simply kill or die fighting

You're missing the point, Luna Dear: be the shoulder for him to cry on-

That's acceptable I suppose, despite him having his friends do that for him

-Be the mare's warm body keeping his bed warm on those cold, lonely nights

We've been over this!

Surely he has desires too though, no?

That's actually a ….good point….

Luna can't help but blush, now there's an image she can't get rid of even if she tried. She doesn't even notice her hooves tracing down to her mare-hood – a quiet moan escaping her lips

"MEDIC! FUCKING MEDIC! THEY GOT ME! IM BLEEDING ALL OVER THE PLACE! THIS BLOODS SCARING THE SHIT OUT OF ME!"

"MEN, GET HERE ON THE DOUBLE! MEDIC THAT GOES TRIPLE FOR YOU, SO MOVE YOUR ASS SHAUN!"

Karl shouts, his 'canterlot voice' might draw attention to his current location, but when the hell did that ever matter? That's like saying 'keep it down, we want to stay hidden' while driving down the side-walk in a fucking panzer

Shaun, the current teams (what's left of them) medic emerges through a torn-up hallway, having to slightly crouch as there were support beams here and there that had been knocked loose from the drop-ship crashing into the building from earlier.

His usually pale white skin was mucky and dirty, he would probably share a racist joke with Jayce about that later. His hazel eyes were hidden behind a cracked visor on his silver helmet. The Red Cross symbol had all but completely disappeared behind dust, blood, small amounts of acid and other things Karl couldn't care less about.

Karl was trying to get Steve: the Explosives nut on their team, to stay still while he did his best to stop the bleeding from his left leg and right shoulder.

The medic ran over quickly, sliding to a halt near Steve as he continued to flail his arms about.

The medic observed Steve's wounded leg for a moment, then looked up at Karl, a frown on his uncovered mouth where there should have been a smile.

"They've severed an artery, I'll need to find the artery and clamp it shut or he'll bleed out"

The medic whispered to Karl, glancing at the soldier and giving him a fake smile and thumbs up to keep him calm – to give him the idea that he was fine and it was just a fairly deep cut, when in reality he and Karl knew that they had to fix him soon or he'd bleed to death. That's the thing about Xenomorphs; if they aren't trying to take hosts, they're cutting through their enemies; severing vital organs or artery's or just decapitating everything in their path.

The medic pulled out a needle, pulled the cap off, and jammed it just above the open wound in the leg. It would at least slow down the bleeding until they got out of the shit hole that was going to soon be known as Xeno-ville

Not long after a few silhouettes running to and fro, some human and pony looking, the rest where a moving forest of exo-skeletons. Firing a few precise shots into the exo-skeleton Silhouette in the smoke, dropping a few, pissing off the rest, the rest of the team quickly appear and scramble to Karl's location.

Running back towards where he had left Luna, waving with his left clawed and bleeding wing, for the survivors to follow him. Following close behind as the building began to get covered in the ocean of Xenomorphs, pouring into every crack and crevice they could find in the building, tearing open holes where none where and slowly tearing the building down around the survivors.

"Where are we going, Sir?! This is a dead end, we're boxed in!"

Jayce Shouted in his heavy African accent, oh, how Karl loved the way the accent sounded, there was something about it that just made him feel happy to hear Jayce's voice. Expect for right now, Jayce was right: they were now trapped. Granted they were trapped regardless, but this was 'rat in a cage then dropped into the fire' kind of trapped; going into a single room when the whole damn village was crawling with Xenomorphs that were all converging on the one damn building…if Luna was lying about being able to get them all safely away…..they were fucked with a capital F.

"As it turns out! Our luck is changing for once! You know that 'Luna' Bitch I keep telling to bugger off? She came back and says she can just teleport us all out of here!"

Karl shouted as he continued to sprint towards the mayor's office

"Then why in the hell didn't you just teleport us all to safety?"

He heard Jayce shout, albeit his breathing and gasping from having to help carry the wounded Steve, who was beginning to act hysterical from the drug the medic gave him to help him deal with the pain.

"I love you guys so much! We shouldn't run though, look at it from their perspective: they get hosts for their siblings! Sure we will die a horrible death but-"

"Steve shut the FUCK up or I'll knock you out myself!"

Karl interrupts the wounded drugged soldier mid-sentence. Having a soldier who was high on painkillers wasn't a good thing in a situation like this, but the pain would have been unbearable from having to move with a severed artery.

Bursting through the doorway, Karl looked to Luna who appeared to be blushing slightly, though Karl was too focused on getting his brothers-in-arms to safety above all else, to notice.

"Okay we're Here, Let's get the fuck out of here already!"