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Skullcrusher opened his eyes to see he was in a green field under a beautiful sunrise. He did not feel any pain in his side and saw that his body was connected again. He also noticed he wasn't blind out of his left eye anymore and he no longer had a limp in his leg.

"I must be dead, well this ain't so bad afterall." He said to himself as he stubbed his hoof into a nearby rock and pain shot up his leg. At first he ignored it but than realized something. How could he feel pain if he was dead?

"I'M ALIVE!" He said happily as the realization set in. He relished his repaired eyesight and could not get enough of the scenery around him.

"Sgt?" A voice said.

"Commander." SKullcrusher said as Soarin came into the clearing. His wounds had also disappeared. "What happened?"

"We died, we are in the Immortal Pastures." Soarin said referring to the realm where all dead ponies went to after death.

"I don't think so." Skullcrusher said as he chucked a rock at Soarin.

"OW! What was that for?" Soarin asked as he rubbed his forehead.

"Last time I checked, you can't feel pain if you are dead." Skullcrusher said. The realization finally set in as Soarin realized he was indeed alive.

"But how? I was stabbed right through the heart! Nopony could have survived that!" Soarin said.

"I got ripped in half! How do you think I feel?" Skullcrusher said.

"It was I who healed you." A voice said.

"Whose there!" The two ponies said as they turned around. When they saw who it was they went wide eyed with shock and disbelief.


Big Mac was helping some soldiers repair a destroyed part of Canterlot. Solar Blitz was going to help but he had to look after Pinkie Pie who was in the hospital after being beaten by Gilda. He used his strength to fit large chunks of rock and wood to their original places. He had not seen Applejack or Rainbow Dash for two days. Neither of the mares had come out outside or seen anypony since they were informed of Soarin and Skullcrusher's death. Big Mac was worried about the two but he knew from experience that they would need time to recover. Big Mac finally lifted the last piece of rock into its place as a unicorn sealed it with magic.

"Thank you sir." The unicorn said.

"Mah pleasure." Big Mac said as he went to turn around.

"Sir?" The unicorn asked.

"Eeyup?" Big Mac replied.

"I just wanted to say sorry for not believing in you and the other COLTS." The unicorn said. Big Mac just nodded and walked off. He tried to put that whole ordeal behind him but it was just to horrible to forget, he was worried that he may never fully forgive anypony for that. He proceeded to walk through the city where he saw crystal ponies and ponies rebuilding the destroyed areas. He saw Autumn trying to talk with a crystal pony who had a foreign accent.

"Zo zees gan goz ere?" The crystal pony asked as he placed a door hinge in the wrong area.

"NO NO NO NO! Oh I give up! I have no idea what you are saying!" Autumn said as he walked away. "I need a drink."

"Ah agree." Big Mac said coming up to his comrade. The two ponies went to a local cider bar that had not been destroyed. Autumn silently thanked Celestia the cider bar was still there.

"Can't believe they're gone." Autumn said referring to Soarin and Skullcrusher.

"Eeyup." Big Mac said as he sipped his cider. He hoped his sister was alright. "Sorry to leave suddenly but ah gotta go check on mah sister."

"Go ahead. I understand." Autumn said as Big Mac left to go find his distressed sister.


"Rainbow?" Fluttershy timidly called to the cloud the cyan mare was laying on. Fluttershy continued to call but got no answer. She knew Rainbow Dash was there so she flew up. What she saw horrified her. Rainbow was shaking, her eyes bloodshot from tears, her mane and coat was dirty and ruffled up. There were large bags and dark spots under her eyes and she was shaking. Fluttershy could tell she had slimmed down and her ribs were visible from not eating for days.

"Oh my! Rainbow?" Fluttershy asked.

"Soarin? Is that you?" Rainbow asked as she saw a pegasus flying over her. When she saw it was just Fluttershy she went back to laying down.

"Rainbow!" Fluttershy said. She was nervous and confused as to what to do. She decided she would need help so she flew back down to Canterlot to find help. She saw Shadow walking down the street and she flew down to him.

"Fluttershy?" Shadow asked as he went up and kissed her. "What's wrong?"

"Rainbow Dash won't come down from the cloud and I'm worried she'll get sick! Please help me!" Fluttershy pleaded. Shadow was never one to say no to anypony, especially Fluttershy.

"Of course I'll help but-" Shadow said pointing to the cloud. "I can't fly, how am I supposed to get up there?"

"Well um I could carry you." Fluttershy said.

"Are you sure you could lift me? I weigh about three hundred pounds." Shadow said. Fluttershy knew she could never hope to even budge Shadow. Fluttershy began to tear up as her concern for Rainbow Dash elevated.

"No please don't cry!" Shadow said. "I'll find a way up there.". Shadow observed the surrounding buildings and saw that the cloud Rainbow resided on was right next to a castle spire.

"Where are you going?" Fluttershy asked as Shadow walked towards the wall.

"Up there, meet me at the top." Shadow said as he jumped up and began to scale the wall. He used elaborate parcour and agility to advance up the castle tower. He swung from poles and jumped from rooftop to rooftop till he made it to the top of the spire. He was shocked to see Fluttershy still flying up.

"Wow you're so fast." Fluttershy said as she arrived. "Rainbow is on that cloud there."

"Alright, I'll get her down." Shadow said as he stood on the top of the spire and used his legs to launch himself off the spire. He went flying into the cloud and and grabbed the cloud. Since he was not a pegasus he could not manipulate the clouds and his hoofs passed through the mass and grabbed the body of Rainbow.

"HEY!" She screamed as the two fell hundreds of feet to the ground. Shadow knew that Rainbow would just fly away again if he let go of her so he held on to her. He moved towards the wall of a tower and dug his hoofs into the wall as he fell. He tore through a hundred feet of wall before he came to a stop. He then jumped off and landed on a rooftop and jumped back down to the ground where Fluttershy was waiting.

"I got her." Shadow said as he let Rainbow Dash go. The moment he did that she kicked him in the face and flew back up to her cloud. Shadow stood there with his mouth open when he saw his attempts were for nothing.

"Oh dear." Fluttershy said as Rainbow flew back up to her cloud.

"I'm gonna break something!" Shadow said angrily as he picked up a rock and gently tossed it to the ground.

"It's okay Shadow, you tried your best." Fluttershy said.

"Even my best wasn't enough." Shadow said. Fluttershy leaned in and kissed him on the lips. He felt much better after she did that.

"Or maybe it was." Shadow said as he nuzzled her.


"And that was how I got my name." Blitz said to Pinkie who lay in a hospital bed. She wasn't in critical condition but she was rather beat up. She had some bruised bones, two black eyes, and numerous bruises and scars around her body. It broke Blitz's heart to see her like this but he knew she would be okay and that was enough for him.

"That's a great story Blitzy!" Pinkie said as she coughed a little. "Do you have any other stories?"

"Well I got one about the time my sisters and I almost burned down a block of Manehattan trying to cook for our parent's anniversary." Blitz said chuckling as he told Pinkie the story. Twilight was peeking in through the window and smiled at the sight before her.

"Blitz is quite the story teller." Deadeye said as he sat next to her. Twilight was a little surprised because she didn't hear him coming but she had gotten used to that by now.

"Yeah I can tell." Twilight said laughing. Deadeye leaned in and put his hoof around her and brushed it through her mane.

"I thought I lost you." Deadeye said as he hugged her.

"I love you." Twilight said as she leaned into his chest.


Big Mac was heading for Applejack when he ran into Rarity.

"Good morning Big Mac." Rarity said.

"G'mornin Miss Rarity." Big Mac said. "Do you know where mah sister is?"

"Applejack is in her private room in the castle. Poor dear hasn't come out in two days and everytime somepony tries to talk to her she doesn't let them." Rarity said.

"Thank you Miss Rarity." Big Mac said as he ran into the castle to find Applejack. He eventually found her room and knocked on the door.

"AJ? It's yer brother are you in there?" Big Mac asked. No answer. Big Mac knew he had to check on his sister so he used his strength to break off the lock on the handle and walk in.

"AJ?" Big Mac said when he was his sister standing on the balcony.

"Hello big brother." She said emotionless.

"Are you okay?" Big Mac asked.

"Ah'm going to see Ma, Pa, and Granny Smith again." Applejack said. "Ah'm going to see Skullcrusher again." Big Mac realized what she meant by that and made a lunge for her.

"NO AJ DON'T!" He said as Applejack jumped off the balcony to the ground hundreds of feet below. He just barely caught her by the hoof.

"LET ME GO!" She cried.

"No! You don't know what yer doing! Ah understand yer sad but doin this won't bring him back!" Big Mac said.

"You dont understand!" Applejack cried.

"Ah dont understand?" Big Mac said. "Ah have lost more friends over the past year than someponies do their whole life! Ah understand AJ and kilin yerself isn't gonna fix any of this!"

"But-" Applejack said.

"NO BUTS!" Big Mac said as he pulled his sister back over the ledge and hugged her. "Dont you ever do that again!"

"Ah'm sorry, that was so selfish of me." Applejack said as she cried into her brother's hooves.

"Applejack? Big Mac?" A voice said. The two siblings turned to see Applebloom in the corner. "What happened?"

"Nothing did." Big Mac said not wanting to tell Applebloom about her sister's attempted suicide.

"MACINTOSH! GET YOUR BUTT IN GEAR! WE GOT A SITUATION!" Deadeye screamed as he busted in.

"What?" Big Mac asked.

"Follow me! I'll explain on the way!" Deadeye said as Big Mac took his sisters. He did not want to leave them alone after what almost happened.

"So what is going on?" Big Mac asked.

"We got three unknown bogeys coming our way." Deadeye said.

"Grif?" Mac asked.

"Nope, we don't know what it is but it is headed right for us!" Deadeye said. The COLTS and the mane six with the exception of Rainbow Dash who was still on her cloud and the princesses all made it to the courtyard where hundreds of soldiers had their weapons at the ready. Blitz was carrying Pinkie in a full body cast and Autumn arrived with Sweetie Belle on his back.

"Get behind me." Big Mac said to Luna who obeyed.

"Look! There it is!" A pony shouted as two bright objects came closer to the courtyard.

"Prepare to fire!" General Blue River said as the bright objects landed. The objects were too bright for anypony to see except for the COLTS who used their super vision to see who it was.

"Impossible! HOW?" Deadeye asked himself as he saw who was there.

"Who is it?" Twilight asked.

"Its-" Deadeye was about to say but he was at loss for words. Out from the light stepped out a gray earth pony.

"Skullcrusher?" Big Mac asked in shock.

"It's me Macintosh." Skullcrusher said as he stepped forward. Applejack stood there absolutely frozen.

"Skullcrusher, is it really-" She said as she went up to his face.

"Yes sweetheart, it's me." Skullcrusher said as he leaned in and kissed her. He had been able to see her before but know his sight was perfect and he could see how gorgeous Applejack really was. She erupted with joy as she tackled him to the ground crying. Applebloom too came running in and jumped in on the dog pile. From the other light out stepped a blue pegasus whose name was familiar to all.

"Commader!" Deadeye said as Soarin walked out too. "How?"

"You will soon see." Soarin said. Rainbow looked over her cloud to see what all the commotion below was about.

"Is that Skullcrusher? If he is alive then-" Rainbow Dash said as he saw a blue pegasus floating in the air. She fired off of her cloud so fast she almost did a sonic rainboom. Soarin looked up as she crashed into him leaving a rainbow trail in her wake. She cried as she held onto him tightly. Scootaloo was watching from the corner. Soarin saw her and waved his hoof telling her to come over. Scootaloo smiled as she ran into Dash and Soarin and joined in on the hugging. Nopony could believe what was happening, two ponies who were brutally murdered were now alive and uninjured.

"I don't understand, I thought you to were dead." Princess Celestia said as the two stallions were smothered by their marefriends. "How did you survive?"

"I can explain that." A deep voice said. Everypony turned around to the third and brightest light.

"WHO ARE YOU!? SHOW YOURSELF!" The COLTS all said as they pulled out their weapons. The mystery being walked out and everypony who saw felt their jaws drop to the ground when they saw who it was.

Who do you think that mystery pony is? Also I am thinking about putting some clop scenes in later chapters, nothing too dirty just a little romantic intimacy. Let me know what you think.

"The guy who said the pen is mightier than the sword obviously never encountered automatic weapons." - General Douglas MacArthur.