>The other clones are taking off. Leaving you and the mane 6.
>Some battlefield cleanup has taken place. Mostly just clones salvaging weapons and
>munitions. Currently you’re wrapping Chrysalis body in a tarp for transport. Twilight
>and Rarity are both giving you a hand, twilight holding the body up, while Rarity ties it off.
>Dash and Flutters were still somewhere in the wreckage, you trusted them.
>Pinkie and AJ were pulling out little bits and bobs the clones left behind, keeping anything
>they thought might be useful. Nopony speaks much, just little snippits of mandatory
>conversation. Eventually you finish wrapping the body, the ponies climb up into the
>technical as you take your place in the driver’s seat.
>It’s a long drive.
 
>You’ve been going for maybe about seven hours now.
>The ponies fall asleep, there’s an incredibly sad atmosphere hanging over the group.
>Flutters stirs next to you, absent mindedly you reach down and rub the back of her head.
>She nuzzles her head into your hand. You nearly break into tears. You can feel it, there is
>no good ending in store for you. You haven’t noticed but your hand has begun to tremble.
>Flutters wakes at this, she doesn’t move immediately, just opens her bright blue eyes and
>looks up at you. You know that expression, it’s a question.
“I… I don’t know why… but I just have this feeling that this is a vain effort.”
>She shifts her body to rest her head on your thigh, you can feel her head bob as you
>manipulate the pedals of the technical.
>”t’s okay, you can tell me.”
>You sigh, breath in, breath out.
“The crown isn’t going to let the clones stay in this world. I don’t really think they’re fond of
Me either. I… I don’t trust them… I know most of you see them as some sort of mentor figure… but I dunno, something has gotta give.”
 
>”I wouldn’t worry too much.”
>She nuzzles into your side, feels good.
>You raise your arm, and pull her in close, she doesn’t complain, rather smiles slightly and
>gets comfy.
>”I don’t think anything’s going to happen.”
“Why?”
>”It would be a political disaster.”
“Wait, what?”
>She pushes off of you slightly a surprised expression on her face.
>”You didn’t read the news paper we sent you.
“Er, no. I was busy and it kind of left my frame of mind.”
>You were drunk and forgot about it. Same thing right?
>”Oh, well… I won’t spoil the surprise.”
>She grins at this remark.
 
>Christ that drive wiped you out, well good thing you’re not driving anymore.
>You were being taken by train to Canterlot giving you lots of time to sleep and recover.
>Unfortunately you were much larger than the ponies, and had to sit on the floor.
>Didn’t matter, it was still a welcome rest. You used this time to read the paper Shy was
>talking about. You made the front page
“Human Volunteer Army Fighting Changelings on Our Behalf!”
>Well that wasn’t true, but the whole thing made you out to be a national hero
>There were a couple of pictures from the Las Pegasus staging area
“Two human soldiers and a ‘technical’”
>Just two clones in front of a technical having a cigarette.
“A human soldier shows our camera man his issued equipment”
>This one was actually impressive. It was #4 standing next to a tarp where he had laid out
>everything he was carrying.
“Human scouts return from patrol with casualties”
>It’s an RX-7 coming back in to the staging area, the gunner is dead and slumped over the
>front of his PKM. You’re rather surprised by the light the newspaper paints you in, it would
>be political suicide to do anything against you, well physically at least.
>”Anon?”
“oh, right.”
>You lower the newspaper as Fluttershy hands you a tea. Ever since you offed chrysalis she
>hasn’t left you. It wasn’t odd, or off putting, it was actually really comforting.
“Thank you.”
>once you take the tea she sits down, lies back, and closes her eyes.
>You go back to the paper, hey lookie here; they even mention you by name.
“tap tap tap”
>You put the paper back down.
“Yes, come in.”
>The door slides to the side.
>It’s Twilight.
“Yes?”
>”So, I never really got a response from you about the mortars?”
>You chuckle and take a sip of your tea.
“They were fantastic. Thank you.”
 
>The train pulls up to Canterlot station.
>#1 is already on the platform waiting for you. He hails you as your group exits the train.
>”Good to see you’re here”
“Did the courier arrive yet?
>”Yeah, a couple hours ago
“Right then, lead the way.”
>#1 leads you through the city streets with relative ease. On the wider streets technicals sit,
>often surrounded by clones smoking or playing cards. You brought the entire army here…
>as a failsafe
>Oddly enough you sport more than a few clones and ponies interacting with each other.
>It’s a very different picture than the one that sparked this journey. The citizens of Canterlot
>didn’t seem to mind these humans, rather they seemed excited and welcoming.
>You follow #1 into the main throughway, a wide avenue that leads straight through the
>town and to the castle. The middle of the Avenue is taken up entirely by technicals and
>RX-7s, oddly enough the clones seemed to have developed something of a trading hub in
>the middle, bartering for cigarettes and liquor, exchanging ammunition and money.
>”Hey #1… what’s happening over yonder?”
>AJ points to the castle gates. There’s a crowd of ponies about five deep, all holding signs
>and chanting angrily at the castle.
>#1 clears his throat before responding.
>”It’s a protest, lots of Canterlot natives want to see all clones receive citizenship for their
>work.”
>This is going to go poorly, you already know it.
 
>The mane 6 separate from you and head on inside the Castle.
>#1 leads you to the center of the column, this is where the most tarps have been set up,
>making both an eating and a trading area. Surprisingly enough, you see some of the more
>posh Canterlot citizens are here trading with some of the humans. Mostly trading things
>like liquor or bits for changeling horns or bits of chitin. Either way, the clones working the
>booth see you and #1. They immediately reach behind them and pull out a large tarp
>wrapped corpse. Before you can turn away, the clone hands you a pack of cigarettes
>before saying.
>”hey, good job man.”
>You nod and turn to be on your way.
>Within a couple minutes you’re standing behind the protesters at Canterlot castle.
“#1?”
>”yeah”
“give me your Makarov… and your pen flare.”
>”huh?”
“I don’t trust them, last time I was here I got roped into this war.”
>”ah, say no more.”
>With that #1 hands you his Makarov and a spare mag. You put this in your right boot, and
>cover the area with the pant leg. The pen flare you tuck into your waistband.
>You make your way through the crowd, once the guards see you they open the gate.
>Same as last time they take your Mossberg, knife, and 1911. You have to try hard not to
>smile. As your lead to the throne room.
 
>You are let into the throne room, it’s empty but you are told to wait.
>Once the guard closes the door you promptly move your Makarov to the small
>of your back. You begin to hear ‘s’ noises, someone’s talking but you just can’t quite make
>it out. You follow the voices until you reach the back of the throne room. You press your
>ear against the wall.
>”Luna, I can’t let you do this.”
>”Why not? Those chimps are changing our culture.”
>”Let’s just follow through with our original agreement and put it behind us.”
>”And let them integrate into our society. We won’t let these pungent brutes change us
>any more!”
>”Sister. You’re being unreasonable… again.”
>You hear the throne room doors open, it’s the mane 6. Unfortunately for you.
>Pinkie calls out “Whatcha ya listening to Anon!”
>Luna and Celestia go silent.
 
>The wall you’re leaning on explodes outward, tossing you across the room.
>Your heads spinning, everything is ringing, and you are only slightly aware of the navy blue
>hoof pinning you down. There’s a good deal of shouting going on. You quickly put yourself
>back together. Luna has you pinned down, and is arguing back and forth with her sister.
>The six seem mostly confused or scared.
>Alright you’re back in the game now.
>You saw this double cross coming, but you are pissed.
>While Luna has her head turned to her sister, you grab a bit of masonry that made the trip
>with you. She turns her head back to you, horn aglow. That’s when you swing your brick.
>It connects with the side of her head, causing her to tumble off of you. You scramble to
>your feet, draw your pen flare, and shoot it through a stained glass window.
 
>You are now #1.
>Being a clone is weird, but you’ve reached the point where you are a spate personality
>now, so it’s not as bad as it used to be.
>In the beginning you enjoyed the idea of being put back into the reflecting pool.
>You didn’t see it as death, rather, you saw it as a return home.
>Now however, you’ve developed a taste for life.
>You hear a couple of clones murmur and point up.
>You follow the finger, there’s a red flare flying in a high arc over Canterlot.
>Without hesitation you climb on top of the nearest technical and call out.
“Men! It’s time!
>There’s a series of shouts and calls as engines start and the news spreads.
 
>You are Anon again.
>You drop the pen flare and draw your Makarov.
>Unfortunately Luna’s already up again.
>Celestia tries to step in
>”Luna! Anon! Please just listen to me.”
>Nope! You raise and fire, three quick rounds.
>The rounds never reach their target.
>The instead ricochet off the air between you and Luna.
>Now you see it, a thin yellow film between the two of you.
>Magic, this shit is getting annoying.
 
>Celestia glares at you.
>While her attention is focused on you, Luna hits her square in the chest with a bolt of
>magic. The mane 6 at this point reach full panic mode, with twilight getting the worst of it,
>and crowd around Celestia. You use the distraction, dropping the Makarov and picking up a
>piece of rebar taken out by the earlier explosion. You assume that bullets are going to
>remain useless against magic shields of bullshit.
>You sprint the distance between the two of you, raise your weapon.
>Luna fires another bolt at you. For a split second your vision goes white.
>You can feel the searing pain on your left shoulder and cheek.
>But you don’t stop, you swing your rebar. This time you connect with her neck
>She goes down again. You raise for another swing, but not before she looks back at you
>and fires another bolt. Reflexively you stumble back, however the bolt of magic shatters
>against a transparent purple barrier. Both you and Luna look over at Twilight, she’s still got
>tears in her eyes, but she looks just as angry as you.
 
>You are now #1, the castle guards are fighting to hold the gate.
>But compared to the changelings this is a cakewalk. The guards are well disciplined,
>but woefully unexperienced and under equipped.
>There are three technical in front of the gate. You’re operating the gun on the middle one.
>A squad of clones runs by and gives you the ready gesture.
>You turn around and bang on the roof of the cab. The technical speeds away from the gate,
>it’s joined by the two next to it. The chains connecting the technicals and the gate go
>taught. With a great tearing and screeching noise the gate is pulled off its colossal hinges.
>They land with a heavy thud, throwing up a wave dust.
“Keep pushing forwards!”
>With that the technical goes into full reverse and rolls over the fallen gates.
 
>You are now Anon.
>Luna wastes no time and immediately engages Twilight with a more bolts of magic.
>You rush forwards, and swing up with the rebar.
>Luna notices you last minute and shifts out of the way, letting your rebar pass harmlessly.
>However this leaves you open, she bucks you square in the ribs.
>You’re fairly positive a few of them broke. The pain causes you to drop your rebar.
>As you stumble back you see a blur of movement in front of you.
>It takes a moment but you realize that the rest of the six have joined in the fight.
>You take a moment to get your breath back, but before you can jump back into it,
>A blue burst of light throws everyone back. Luna was gone, only Nightmare moon
>remained
 
>You are now #1.
>You’ve spread out to take most of the courtyard.
>The earth ponies and the unicorns are trying to hold all the castle entrances, but to no
>avail. However the pegasi are proving to be a problem, swooping down and picking out
>individual clones. They were working in teams of two to pick up and drops the
>comparatively heavy humans.
>As a result you were focusing your fire skyward. Great tracer tendrils lace forward seeking
>their targets. C’mon #1, breathe, lead, fire. The mounted gun barks and chatters in reply to
>your orders, you watch the tracers burrow their way into a pegasus team. Unlike the
>changelings who would burst, the pegasi simply dropped.
>You take a quick moment to get a grasp on the situation. The clones had indisputably taken
>the courtyard and have very nearly taken the entrances. There’s a couple groups on the
>walls still holding out, but otherwise those are taken as well.
>Shit! Up high again, another formation of pegasi.
>They fly straight and steady you see them drop a bunch of objects before flying off.
 
>You are now Anon, and your wired as shit.
>You are committed to this fight now with all your heart and soul,
>but you’re no idiot, you notice the Makarov next to you, where you dropped it earlier.
>NMM lowers her head and opens her mouth to speak.
>”Twilight, don’t you see how the-“
>You pull the same trick you did with Chrysalis
>Except NMM is a fair bit faster than Chrysalis.
>You don’t even get to fire a shot, as she magics the gun out of your hand.
>Oh, hell no! You fall back to plan B, grab another brick and sprint towards NMM
>She fires another bolt, Twilight shields you again. You bring the brick down on top of
>her helmet
“Clang!”
>She drops again, she may be great with magic, but she’s terrible in a melee. You drop the
>brick and simply grab her head. You smash it into the wall, repeatedly.
 
>You are now #1, you see as the clones dive to the ground as the dropped objects impact.
>However, they don’t explode. This makes you more concerned. They look like crystals of
>sorts. Are, they glowing?
>Oh shit!
>They’re magic!
>And you have a head ache.
>You run your had across your upper lip, why is your nose bleeding.
>You look down at your hand; your number tattoo no longer shows #1,
>It’s a classical skull and crossbones. It all comes together. The ink for the tattoos,
>The crystals.
>it’s a magic activated poison. You don’t know how much longer you have,
>And looking around the fighting has paused as the clones realize this as well.
>You raise your fist in the air.
“We may die, but we’re taking them with us!”
>You level the mounted gun at a cluster of cornered unicorn guards
>You fire.
 
>You are now Anon.
>You pull your arm back about to slam NMM head into the wall again.
>Before you can however her horn lights up and everything goes white.
>Everything’s spinning again, there’s an unbearable ringing in your ear, why won’t
>things stop moving. You open your eyes.
>Things won’t stop moving because your falling.
>NMM used the last of her energy to overcome your magic resistance and teleport you, and
>herself. A suicide move. Yes she had wings, but she was also passed out from exhaustion.
 
>You are now #1.
“Acck, heh, heh.”
>The coughing is getting much worse, blood come up with each small movement.
>Now that the clones had nothing left to lose then had completely taken the castle floor and
>were moving on to the second story. You had abandoned the technical, choosing to spend
>you last moments shoulder to shoulder with your clones, but your numbers are dwindling
>rapidly, not just the poison, but also the lack of command, the reckless tactics.
>Random sporadic gunfire and pipe bomb explosions echo through the castle.
>You turn back to the small group that was following you.
“Keep… *pant*… going.”
>As if on cue one of the ones near the back, collapses, vomits, and dies.
>You gaze at the others, the pain on their faces obvious, the capillaries have burst.
>even the ones in their eyes. You never realized how much punishment a man could take
>You make the decision once you notice that no more gunfire is present.
“Men… Last… Ahkkk.”
>You spit out a blood loogie about the size of a mint.
“Last cigarette.”
 
>You are now Fluttershy.
>You are no longer capable of thought.
>Anything that happens how is a kneejerk reaction.
>Your frozen in place your friend’s words are running right through your mind,
>not leaving any imprint or trace of meaning.
>”What in tarnation happened!”
>”I think they teleported, we have to find them.”
>”What I thought he magic immune?”
>”Resistant dash, he’s magic resistant.”
>You know you understood the concept of teleportation.
>Twilights even done it with you several times.
>You know this is going to be worse.
>As Anon would say, he could feel it in his bones.
>”Oh no! I think I see him.”
>”Where Pinkie?!”
>Pinkie points into the sky through a smashed open window.
>Dash immediately takes off.
>Twilight taps you, bringing you back to the present.
>You don’t think you’ve ever flown so fast.
 
>You are now #1.
>Your only a quarter way into your cigarette, but you’re the only one left.
>It’s becoming hard to focus. The colors are changing, and you’ve stopped feeling your
>extremities. You become aware of hoove steps coming down the stairs
>”Are they all dead?”
>”I dunno, it looks like it.”
>You bend down and pick up your fallen comrades pkm.
>It’s heavier than it should be a testament to your lost strength.
>You brace it at your waist, not strong enough to shoulder it.
>The two guards round the corner.
>You fire. The .30 caliber rounds easily tear through the guards, as if their armor
>was tin.
>They don’t die, rather they collapse on the ground rolling in pain.
>You rake a second stream of fire over them, putting them down.
>The shots attract more hoove steps. There’s a twitch and you vision gets worse.
>You see indistinct shapes coming down the stairs shouting at you, brandishing weapons.
>You depress the trigger; your fire is neither accurate or controlled.
>But in the tiny hallway the rounds punch through the front ranks of the guards and bury
>themselves in the second. Something stops you, a sharp pain, you look down.
>There’s a crossbow bolt in your gut.
>Then another one hits,
>You don’t live to see the third one.
 
>You are now Anon.
>You spread yourself out in an attempt to slow yourself down.
>You start tossing off all of your equipment in an attempt to make yourself lighter.
>”Anon!”
>Dash is speeding up behind you, followed by Twilight and Flutters.
>You reach back your arms, the intent is clear.
>Out of the corner of your eye you see NMM hit a Castle tower.
>There isn’t as much blood as you imagined the body just kind of impacts and bounces.
>The ponies grab on to your hands, and start working to slow you down.
>You’re slowing down but you’re not sure if it’s fast enough.
>This is it the grounds coming up fast.
“Crunch”
>You let out a hiss of pain and sit down… sit.
>on the ground.
>You look around, and sure enough your sitting in the courtyard. Surrounded by technicals
>and corpses, but your alive.
>You look up and let out a cheer.
“Yeeessss! Hooooooo!”
>Without thinking you pull the three ponies into hug.
>Laughs and smiles are had.
>Eventually they break the hug.
>But not before you pull Flutters in for a quick peck on the lips.
>It’s so cute when she blushes.
>With that you bring yourself to your feet, you look down to examine yourself
>Sure enough, your left tibia is ticking out your shin.
>It doesn’t even hurt you just point and laugh.
>It’s over, it’s all finally done.
>”I got another one over here!”
>”Take em’ down!”
>You turn just in time to have a crossbow bolt impact your left eye.
>You jerk upright, try to take a step forward, but collapse instead.