"Hmm. As long as I get paid..." Ecliptic took the bits and left for the kitchen when a pony appeared in front of him. " AAAAH-sweet Celestia, don't do that!!" He yelled. "It's bad enough that you bug me, why do you need to sneak up on...hang on, no that's... never mind. Who are you and well...why?"
Grey Mane laughed. "Sorry. I was frustrated, so wanted a bit of a laugh. No offence. I am... The Shadowed Hoof. Sorry to have met you under such bad circumstances. Do you know where... Firebreeze went of to?" She giggled a bit.
"I see...Uh, he flew off in that direction, I think..." Ecliptic replied, pointing to a cloud in the distance. "I'm Ecliptic by the way and, don't worry about scaring me; I've had my share of frustrations where I just need a laugh."
Firebreeze went inside his cloud. It was empty, except for a few chests filled with his stuff. He went to the one and pulled out his old flamethrower, "Whatever's gonna happen, i'm gonna need this thing ready!" He began to repair and polish the weapon when he saw a note. Fire walked to the note and began reading in his head, "Firebreeze, The riots are much worse than I have previously said. I knew if I had told you the truth in public, somepony would hear it and soon the whole town would be in panic. The riots are actually being caused by an organized cult of ponies who worship Tartarus, the deity of the underworld. You will be called upon by Celestia soon to assist in the war effort against them. Stay vigilant, there may be some of these cultists in Ponyville who may or may not be planning to start a riot to take over the town. ~Dark"
Dark walked through the field of dead in the Canterlot streets, most of the dead guards had already been pulled from the mass, but the streets were still covered in bodies. Craters and blood and ruin were prevalent throughout the streets, every cultist that still lived, Dark shot. The stench of dead was overpowering, adding to the already bad effect from the leftover year gas. If it wasn't for her gas mask she would probably be passed out now. A soldier walked up to her, "What are we going to do mam', your the last Master Protector left." Dark thought for a moment, "Burn it. Burn it to the ground. Evacuate all remaining civilians, we don't want to be stuck here when they attack again. Get the royal family out, I must prepare an evac of all surrounding areas." the soldier nodded and soon guards were going through the streets saving the few remaining civilians and pouring gas all over the city. Dark was overseeing this when she suddenly was teleported and found herself in front of the two princesses. She instantly bowed, "Your highnesses, what do you require." "Dark Light, you have been a faithful member of the Royal Guard for some time now, and due to circumstances we believe that a promotion is in order. Your new title is Commander-in-Chief of Field Operations, that means you can still fight while commanding the entire guard." Princess Celestia said. Dark was elated, she bowed again, "Thank you, Princess, but we need to evacuate you two immediately." the two princesses nodded, "Okay, we understand." Luna said. Dark quickly ran and gathered about fifty guards, and sent them to escort the princesses. Soon, Dark and five of her squad members were all that was left in Canterlot. Dark nodded and one brought out a torch that was lit. Dark lowered it to the gas trail and a stream of fire shot towards the city. As the six flew off, the capital was engulfed in flames.
Firebreeze sat on his cloud, his mind racing, until he saw a bright light in the distance, near Canterlot. He looked close to see fire. Firebreeze began to freak out inside, knowing that if he physically freaked out, he would cause mass panic. He began to fly towards Canterlot as fast as he could.
Dark was flying when a green spot caught her eye, it was flying away from the general area of Ponyville. She and her squad sped up and she pulled up next to Firebreeze, "Hey Fireboy! Why are you flying to Canterlot!? Did you get my note?!"
"Yea, 'bout that, I kinda ordered that." Dark said, and the group slowed down enough to where Dark could tell Firebreeze about the attack on Canterlot. "I was just headed your way to evacuate Ponyville, I don't know what target the cultists have I'm mind next, but all cities near Canterlot are being evacuated right now."
Kleft was shocked and horrified by Snow's accusation. Five years!? There's no way! The corpses he had seen only a moment ago were fresh!...but perhaps that wasn't only a moment ago. The energy he had used for his teleport may have changed something important in his spell. "I don't understand!" he yelped. "Five years? That's...impossible!" He inspected himself, but he hadn't seemed to have aged at all. "I should look different too! There should be-" He cried out as yet another flash went through his head and wiped all memories of the last ten seconds. He became dizzy and took a step backwards. "Water..." he said weakly. "And food...let's go get something to eat, shall we? I'm starving, and I can't think right now."
"Well... Alright, let's get moving." They began to fly towards Ponyville when an explosion was heard in the town's general direction, "Oh, Celestia!" Firebreeze yelled out as he flew faster. They arrived to see mass panic, bullets flying everywhere, and smoke. "OH, BUCK, OH BUCK, OH BUCK!" Firebreeze yelled out as he darted into his cloud and popped back out with his flamethrower and wearing his old, rebuilt resistance armor.
Dark nodded Firebreeze and yelled, "At least you kept one thing!" and she hit a button on her armor and two Gatling guns popped out from the sides, soon followed by the five others (these five are basically gonna stay with Dark the whole time), and were firing at anything that smacked of cultist.
Firebreeze yelled "RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" As be burned and headbutted the attacking cultists. "Dark!" He suddenly yelled out, "I need to find Ember and my friend, Rex!"
"Get behind us! We'll clear the path, just tell us where to go!" Dark yelled and her squad surrounded Fire as they cut their way through the cultists.
"This way!" He said, leading them to a house near the center of town. "Cover me!" He said, flying into the house by breaking through the window. He looked around to see a scared Ember in the corner of the room, "Ember!" Fire called out. "Breezy?!" Ember replied. She soon saw Fire and ran up and hugged him, "I thought I was gonna die!" "Not on my watch, sis." Firebreeze replied, "Come on, we need to find Cashie!" They both ran out of the building as Ember said, "I think he was hiding in the town's center!"
"Men, to the town center!" Dark yelled and they proceeded to mow down any remaining cultist that was in the way. The cultist obviously were starting to retreat, but they still had plenty of men to fight though. The squad finally got Firebreeze and Ember into the town center, "Don't take too long Fireboy, we're running low on ammo out here." Dark told Frebreeze before he went inside.
Firebreeze busted a hole into the wall off town center and flew inside, "REX!" He yelled out, "REEEX!" "Firebreeze?!" a voice said. "Rex!" Fire said, overjoyed, "Oh, thank Celestia, you're ok! This way!" The two ran out of the building, "What next, Dark? Do we fight, or do we get the buck outta here?"
"We get the BUCK OUT OF DODGE!" Dark yelled, she spread her wings and soon the entire squad was flying up and out from the town.
Fire quickly tied himself to a wagon and yelled, "Ember, Rex! Get in the wagon!" They climbed onto the wagon and Fire fly up to the sky, slowly catching up to Dark and her squad.
Dark looked back to make sure Fire was following them and ordered a couple soldiers to help with the wagon. Dark continued to fly until they reached a great mountain range. She lead them past several peaks until finally she landed at the summit of one, it was the secret base of the Royal Guard and the most secure place in all of Equestria. Dark soon asserted her authority and made room for Fire and The wagon to land.
