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The Despot (Governor): The Despotic Dictatorship of Despoticania

WA Delegate: The Empire of Westbeech (elected )

Founder: The Despotic Dictatorship of Despoticania

Last WA Update:

Maps Board Activity History Admin Rank

Largest Black Market: 122nd Most Valuable International Artwork: 150th Most Corrupt Governments: 238th+41
Most World Assembly Endorsements: 270th Most Advanced Defense Forces: 319th Highest Wealthy Incomes: 348th Highest Economic Output: 379th Lowest Crime Rates: 410th Largest Manufacturing Sector: 419th Most Nations: 424th Highest Average Incomes: 426th Largest Arms Manufacturing Sector: 449th Most Advanced Law Enforcement: 470th Largest Mining Sector: 495th Most Patriotic: 604th Most Influential: 607th Most Devout: 610th Largest Information Technology Sector: 653rd Largest Governments: 665th Largest Agricultural Sector: 757th Highest Poor Incomes: 762nd Largest Furniture Restoration Industry: 836th Most Advanced Public Transport: 902nd Most Scientifically Advanced: 923rd Largest Retail Industry: 942nd Largest Timber Woodchipping Industry: 976th Smartest Citizens: 981st Most Subsidized Industry: 996th Most Advanced Public Education: 1,048th Most Extensive Public Healthcare: 1,128th Largest Insurance Industry: 1,185th Fattest Citizens: 1,332nd Most Avoided: 1,642nd Healthiest Citizens: 1,642nd Greatest Rich-Poor Divides: 1,825th Most Authoritarian: 1,832nd Most Armed: 1,904th Highest Disposable Incomes: 2,048th Most Beautiful Environments: 2,074th Most Eco-Friendly Governments: 2,084th Most Developed: 2,219th Largest Basket Weaving Sector: 2,220th Largest Automobile Manufacturing Sector: 2,598th Largest Cheese Export Sector: 2,737th
World Factbook Entry

Welcome to The Alliance of Dictators, the NationStates nexus of totalitarian, autocratic and authoritarian nations. We are an active player community dedicated to regional-style roleplay and welcoming toward newcomers. Feel free to join our Discord server and contact our regional Cartographer for a place on the map. Unironic Fascists are NOT welcome.

ALL WA NATIONS MUST ENDORSE Westbeech

The endorsement cap for non-Delegate WA nations is 5.

LinkDiscord | LinkRegional Map



  1. 1

    Embassy Policy for the Alliance of Dictators

    MetaReference by Khovezzem . 77 reads.

  2. 3

    Rules & Guidelines for the Alliance of Dictators

    MetaReference by Khovezzem . 182 reads.

Embassies: Union of Nationalists, United Empire of Islam, The Illuminati, ITALIA, Hollow Point, Australialia, The Bar on the corner of every region, Yuno, Regionless, Barbaria, Lezra, Turkic Union, The Monarchy alliance, First World Order, Pax Britannia, Official European Union, and 31 others.The Glorious Evolution, The Finntopian Region of DOOM, The Conservative Democracies, GOOD BOIs, Gypsy Lands, Orifnan International, MineKhan Origin Nations, The Bottomless Pit, The Empires And Republics Of Power, One Collective Brain Cell, The Embassy 1, Soviet Union Empire, The Prosperous Lands of Ingsoc, Hearth of Hestia, The Embassy 3, Fredonia, Guinea Kiribati, The Real Boneyard, Imperial Sanctuary, Hurricane 12, Kommuland, The Federation of Fanciful Philosophies, Yajib, Hyperborea, Mitteleuropa, Terra Aequoria, The Reapers Coffee Shop, Small Tropical Island, Noreg, Hellhole Reborn, and Nationalist Union of Germanic Nations.

Tags: Anti-Fascist, Fantasy Tech, Featured, Future Tech, Independent, LGBT, Large, Map, Modern Tech, Multi-Species, National Sovereigntist, Past Tech, and 4 others.Post-Modern Tech, Role Player, Social, and Surreal.

Regional Power: High

The Alliance of Dictators contains 60 nations, the 424th most in the world.

Today's World Census Report

The Most Stationary in The Alliance of Dictators

Long-term World Census surveillance revealed which nations have been resident in their current region for the longest time.

As a region, The Alliance of Dictators is ranked 8,622nd in the world for Most Stationary.

NationWA CategoryMotto
1.The Despotic Dictatorship of DespoticaniaPsychotic Dictatorship“God was a dream of good government.”
2.The Corporate Dictatorship of JosephlandCorporate Police State“Oderint Dum Metuant”
3.The Equestrianic Imperium of Twilight SparkleIron Fist Consumerists“Friendship is Magic!”
4.The Dictatorship of AmeriganastanIron Fist Consumerists“Cull the weak, reward the loyal”
5.The XXXXXXXX of Mutha Russia IICorporate Police State“YYYYYYES, I AM INVINCIBLE!”
6.The Royal Guild of Lord High ExecutionersCorporate Police State“It's a dirty job, but someone has to do it”
7.The Rogue Nation of Dragonic OverlordsPsychotic Dictatorship“Death is but a simple swing of the sword”
8.The Empire of Neo-liberal OppressionCorporate Police State“Making money by any means necessary”
9.The Grand Hive of The New Changeling EmpireMother Knows Best State“The Hive Is Everything”
10.The Queendom of VespergaleIron Fist Socialists“Flügels and Lamias stand together as one”
123456»

Regional Happenings

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The Alliance of Dictators Regional Message Board

Unempathetic Dictators wrote:Mornin’ All. Just moved here.

Hello, welcome to the region. Sorry I did not see this post earlier. Feel free to ask me any questions & join the Discord if you want (although it's pretty inactive right now). Hope you have a nice time here :)

Twilight Sparkle wrote:Spurred on by their initial success, the Equestrian strike force quickly passed the remnants of the outermost fortifications, now nothing by smoldering ruins. Devastotron-3000 marched ahead relentlessly like some frenzied demon-spider straight from Tartarus, its weapon blazing and covering the advance of the Diamond Dog mercenaries and the Pegasus warriors. Despite having the element of surprise on their side, the Equestrians knew that they'd be hopelessly outgunned in a prolonged battle against the reinforcements from New Elysium. Now that the first shots had been fired, they had between 10 and 15 minutes at best before the massive floating fortress could organize a response. They'd have to work as quickly as possible.

By now the residents of the temple had managed to mount some defense, their return fire killing a couple of Diamond Dogs and downing one of the Pegasus Warriors. Angered by the deaths of their pack members, many of the remaining Diamond Dogs entered a mad, frenzied rage and ran towards the defenders in an erratic zig-zag pattern. Upon reaching the defending equines, the Diamond Dogs engaged them in melee, using their metal-clad claws and even their teeth as weapons. The Pegasi kept a cooler head, however, and performed quick evasive maneuvers while returning fire with their back-mounted machine guns. Since General Rainbow Dash had reported that many Elysian clergymares wore heavy armor, the machine guns had been loaded with armor-piercing bullets.

In addition to Devastotron-3000 itself, the Equestrians considered the mind-controlled Hydra their trump card. The Beastmaster Unicorn, who marched near the back of the Equestrian formation guarded by two Diamond Dogs, incited the massive four-headed beast into a burning battle rage and sent it to wreak havoc in the Elysian lines. Flanked by a few enslaved spirits from Devastotron-3000 and heralded by another barrage of fireballs from the battle mages, the roaring Hydra moved with surprising speed as it approached the defenders.

"That's the primary target?" Flim wondered when the enhanced image of the temple appeared as a magical projection before him and his brother. "It's... smaller than I thought. I expected something bigger and more... well... grandiose."

"Ho ho ho!" Flam laughed out loud. "At least it will leave behind a pretty rubble pile when we're finished with it. Prepare to fire the main cannon!"

Devastotron's main cannon swiveled to face the temple. Since the secondary objective of the attack was to obtain a sample of the cleansing pool's water, Flim and Flam didn't want to bring down the entire structure just yet. But they wanted to blast a hole in its wall large enough for their forces to enter (while hopefully killing everypony inside), so they fired the cannon at half power, sending a searing magical beam to strike the Northern side of the structure.

The priests had formed a semicircle around the doorway, swinging their mauls at the invading Dogs as the few unicorns among them fired off their spells, those being the only real ranged option available to the defenders other than the alternative firing mode of the flamers that Sisters Purity and Zealous Ire were carrying. The two mares ran from window to window, keeping the Equestrians away with brief jets of fire, sweeping the surrounding grounds and spurting burning promethium overhead to ward off the pegasi. “I’ll send you all back to your accursed witch-queen, heathens!” Sonorous Pontification bellowed as he brought down his power maul on the helm of a Diamond Dog, the graviton field surrounding his weapon amplifying the impact by a thousandfold, pulping his target in an instant as a small shockwave shoved back the other canines.

High above, two stars seemingly fell out of the sky, rocketing towards the temple mount. Two Windigo gunships with holds filled with Elysian soldiers were plummeting from near orbit, the preferred opening tactic of the 28th ‘Helldivers’. The call for help from the temple had reached New Elysium where it had been relayed to the descending aircraft, the time it would have taken for the city to relocate and be able to aim the defensive guns on the attackers deemed unacceptably long. The temple of their clan saviour deserved immediate rescue and so the gunships fell like meteors, another two stars further out also descended.

*

How could this have happened? A massive force of Khornate daemons had invaded the chapter keep, coming in overwhelming numbers as her brothers and sisters mounted a flagging defence against the tide of slaughtering horrors. Casualties were mounting up, even among the veterans of 1st Company, 2nd and 5th Company had lost half their numbers, 6th and 7th Company were cut off and only at quarter strength now while the 10th Company was now just the 10th Squad, the 3rd, 4th and 8th Companies had been annihilated to the last soul and 9th Company had vanished. The chapter was facing its end unless some miracle happened.

The ground shook as something massive landed in the midst of the sprawling hoard of daemons. Standing far taller then the Bloodcrushers and the Brass Scorpions, the mere presence of them send the Khornates into a frenzy for this was a daemon prince. Hideously scarred bat wings flared out and sent both friend and foe flying through the air as it bellowed out a challenge to what was left of the chapter’s command staff. The cerulean armour being subsumed by fleshy growth hinted at their past allegiance but the shaggy mop of rainbow hair on its head was a dead giveaway. “Rainbow, you traitor!”

Subject brain activity spiking, fourth dosage of Adrenaline Compound 64z cancelled. Resurrection Protocol deemed complete.

*

She jerked awake in her sarcophagus, the phantom pain of her lost limbs a reminder of betrayal. Someone was speaking to her, not the voice that had been invading her memories which she recognised at last as being the tech priest charged with her care. “Oh Great Trojan, return to the land of the living, oh Venerable Warrior, recall your oaths to the Sisters, oh Thunderous Wonderbolt, repay the ignoble death inflicted on you tenthousandfold. Arise Spitfire the Last, arise and do battle once more.” The Elysian priest prostrated himself before the great metal horse as the arms of the room installed its armaments. “We were betrayed.” The Trojan rumbled as she came loose from her tethers. “Who dares to attack us now?
“Heathens who work with Diamond Dogs and enslaves millions of Earth Ponies for labour and sacrifice. They cannot be allowed to destroy the temple above.”
Then they shall not.

Twilight Sparkle wrote:Mirror neurons fired in Firecracker's brain when he heard the faint cracking sound made by the forced re-setting of the dislocation and the pained grunt made by the patient. Almost subconsciously, he proceeded to rub his own matching leg.

The fact that the medical tent wasn't the quasi medieval horror he'd half-expected gave him some much-needed hope that he might come out of all this in one piece after all, but he remained on his guard. He was still in a very precarious position, not that there was much he could do about it for now.

“Sisters bless your work, Hospitaller and yes I do have a patient for you. The bailiff here collapsed earlier and I would like it if you could check her condition.” Steel Heart pushed Gavel forward as the nurse nodded. “Ah yes, the strange fainting spell that took over the 88th. We’ve had a few of the other commissars come through about that. If I could have you follow Sister Splint, Bailiff, we’ll have you on your way in no time.” The pegasus guided Gavel over to a room where another unicorn just showed out an officer. “And what of the other individual behind you?”

Steel let out a scornful snort as he looked back at Firecracker. “That’s an Equestrian inductee to the legion. For some reason they weren’t affected like everyone else. That warrants an inspection, wouldn’t you agree, Sister?” The nun gave Steel the side eye, having heard of his own supposed immunity over the vox from another commissar. “Of course, I’ll handle it personally. And for yourself? I could give you an examination after him.”

Ferneus wrote:Sounds good. Since you're already here, I'll see if I can get something going and you can reply whenever you like.

OOC: Hi.

Sanctuary Point wrote:The priests had formed a semicircle around the doorway, swinging their mauls at the invading Dogs as the few unicorns among them fired off their spells, those being the only real ranged option available to the defenders other than the alternative firing mode of the flamers that Sisters Purity and Zealous Ire were carrying. The two mares ran from window to window, keeping the Equestrians away with brief jets of fire, sweeping the surrounding grounds and spurting burning promethium overhead to ward off the pegasi. “I’ll send you all back to your accursed witch-queen, heathens!” Sonorous Pontification bellowed as he brought down his power maul on the helm of a Diamond Dog, the graviton field surrounding his weapon amplifying the impact by a thousandfold, pulping his target in an instant as a small shockwave shoved back the other canines.

High above, two stars seemingly fell out of the sky, rocketing towards the temple mount. Two Windigo gunships with holds filled with Elysian soldiers were plummeting from near orbit, the preferred opening tactic of the 28th ‘Helldivers’. The call for help from the temple had reached New Elysium where it had been relayed to the descending aircraft, the time it would have taken for the city to relocate and be able to aim the defensive guns on the attackers deemed unacceptably long. The temple of their clan saviour deserved immediate rescue and so the gunships fell like meteors, another two stars further out also descended.

*

How could this have happened? A massive force of Khornate daemons had invaded the chapter keep, coming in overwhelming numbers as her brothers and sisters mounted a flagging defence against the tide of slaughtering horrors. Casualties were mounting up, even among the veterans of 1st Company, 2nd and 5th Company had lost half their numbers, 6th and 7th Company were cut off and only at quarter strength now while the 10th Company was now just the 10th Squad, the 3rd, 4th and 8th Companies had been annihilated to the last soul and 9th Company had vanished. The chapter was facing its end unless some miracle happened.

The ground shook as something massive landed in the midst of the sprawling hoard of daemons. Standing far taller then the Bloodcrushers and the Brass Scorpions, the mere presence of them send the Khornates into a frenzy for this was a daemon prince. Hideously scarred bat wings flared out and sent both friend and foe flying through the air as it bellowed out a challenge to what was left of the chapter’s command staff. The cerulean armour being subsumed by fleshy growth hinted at their past allegiance but the shaggy mop of rainbow hair on its head was a dead giveaway. “Rainbow, you traitor!”

Subject brain activity spiking, fourth dosage of Adrenaline Compound 64z cancelled. Resurrection Protocol deemed complete.

*

She jerked awake in her sarcophagus, the phantom pain of her lost limbs a reminder of betrayal. Someone was speaking to her, not the voice that had been invading her memories which she recognised at last as being the tech priest charged with her care. “Oh Great Trojan, return to the land of the living, oh Venerable Warrior, recall your oaths to the Sisters, oh Thunderous Wonderbolt, repay the ignoble death inflicted on you tenthousandfold. Arise Spitfire the Last, arise and do battle once more.” The Elysian priest prostrated himself before the great metal horse as the arms of the room installed its armaments. “We were betrayed.” The Trojan rumbled as she came loose from her tethers. “Who dares to attack us now?
“Heathens who work with Diamond Dogs and enslaves millions of Earth Ponies for labour and sacrifice. They cannot be allowed to destroy the temple above.”
Then they shall not.

"There. Above us. See them, brother?"

"Yes, I see them. Reinforcements from orbit?"

Flim and Flam had been alerted to the presense of the descending Windigo gunships by Devastotron-3000's telepathic magitechnological instruments, connected directly to their minds. Their senses extended far beyond the natural senses of any ordinary Unicorn, giving them nearly unmatched awareness of the battlefield.

"Looks like it. They could mean trouble."

"Ho ho! Not for us... Not for Devastotron! Blast them out of the sky!"

Guided by the enterprising brothers' thoughts, Devastotron-3000 moved with uncanny grace for such a big machine. It braced itself against the ground with its back legs, then pushed its front end upwards until its main cannon was pointing at one of the gunships, carefully following its flight path. The target was well beyond the range of any ordinary spells, but Devastotron was not Flim and Flam's pride and joy for nothing. It was powered by overcharged magical crystals mined from the intersection of a dozen powerful ley lines and infused with the enslaved souls of a hundred sacrificed Earth Ponies. Further, the Warp Rift in the North was empowering all magic in the continent, giving Devastotron additional power. By charging its shots, its main cannon was more than capable of firing at and destroying targets in the upper atmosphere.

Flim assumed a sadistic grin.

"Bet you didn't expect... THIS!"

The main cannon discharged, sending forth a spear of light that turned the air in its path into searing plasma. The beam was closely followed by a dozen of the Devastotron's enslaved spirits, which were ready to attack the surviving gunship and drain its occupants of life even before they could join the fight.

With Devastotron occupied with the gunships, some of the pressure was taken away from the temple, but that hardly mattered. The war machine had blasted a large hole in the Northern wall, allowing the Diamond Dogs to pour in like a tide of fur, claws and teeth. Their powerful shotguns were deadly in close quarters combat, and their speed, agility and strength made them frightening opponents in melee. As soon as the first group had stormed the temple proper, they lunged at the nearest priests and ripped them open with their claws. Above, the Pegasus warriors were making one low altitude strafing run after another, firing their machine guns through the windows. A few had landed on the roof and were looking for alternate ways in. The lumbering Hydra had finally reached the temple as well and was pounding the walls with its large, armored heads. It had grabbed one unlucky priest in the massive jaws of its rightmost head and bit her in half in front of her comrades before the head joined the others in their attack against the temple itself.

The sounds and chaos of the battle were so intense that nonpony noticed the faint tremor coming from under the temple...

Sanctuary Point wrote:“Sisters bless your work, Hospitaller and yes I do have a patient for you. The bailiff here collapsed earlier and I would like it if you could check her condition.” Steel Heart pushed Gavel forward as the nurse nodded. “Ah yes, the strange fainting spell that took over the 88th. We’ve had a few of the other commissars come through about that. If I could have you follow Sister Splint, Bailiff, we’ll have you on your way in no time.” The pegasus guided Gavel over to a room where another unicorn just showed out an officer. “And what of the other individual behind you?”

Steel let out a scornful snort as he looked back at Firecracker. “That’s an Equestrian inductee to the legion. For some reason they weren’t affected like everyone else. That warrants an inspection, wouldn’t you agree, Sister?” The nun gave Steel the side eye, having heard of his own supposed immunity over the vox from another commissar. “Of course, I’ll handle it personally. And for yourself? I could give you an examination after him.”

"Uhhh, I assure you, I'm perfectly fine! There's no need to examine me!" Firecracker stammered as he took a step back.

Even without the bloody buzzsaws and medieval torture instruments he'd expected, the former Equestrian officer had always been deathly afraid of needles and other medical instruments doctors used to treat their patients. And doctors in general, to be honest. Maybe it was because they reminded him of his own mortality and fragility, but something about visiting doctors and getting examined by them had always given him the heebie-jeebies.

"It... it must be because of my... my exceptionally strong will!" Okay, that was pretty pathetic. But it was the best he could come up with right now. "You'll find nothing out of the ordinary, I'm sure of it!"

ooc:

Oh dear, congratulations to my friend Vasilinople for being the best nation in the region!

Twilight

Twilight Sparkle wrote:"There. Above us. See them, brother?"

"Yes, I see them. Reinforcements from orbit?"

Flim and Flam had been alerted to the presense of the descending Windigo gunships by Devastotron-3000's telepathic magitechnological instruments, connected directly to their minds. Their senses extended far beyond the natural senses of any ordinary Unicorn, giving them nearly unmatched awareness of the battlefield.

"Looks like it. They could mean trouble."

"Ho ho! Not for us... Not for Devastotron! Blast them out of the sky!"

Guided by the enterprising brothers' thoughts, Devastotron-3000 moved with uncanny grace for such a big machine. It braced itself against the ground with its back legs, then pushed its front end upwards until its main cannon was pointing at one of the gunships, carefully following its flight path. The target was well beyond the range of any ordinary spells, but Devastotron was not Flim and Flam's pride and joy for nothing. It was powered by overcharged magical crystals mined from the intersection of a dozen powerful ley lines and infused with the enslaved souls of a hundred sacrificed Earth Ponies. Further, the Warp Rift in the North was empowering all magic in the continent, giving Devastotron additional power. By charging its shots, its main cannon was more than capable of firing at and destroying targets in the upper atmosphere.

Flim assumed a sadistic grin.

"Bet you didn't expect... THIS!"

The main cannon discharged, sending forth a spear of light that turned the air in its path into searing plasma. The beam was closely followed by a dozen of the Devastotron's enslaved spirits, which were ready to attack the surviving gunship and drain its occupants of life even before they could join the fight.

With Devastotron occupied with the gunships, some of the pressure was taken away from the temple, but that hardly mattered. The war machine had blasted a large hole in the Northern wall, allowing the Diamond Dogs to pour in like a tide of fur, claws and teeth. Their powerful shotguns were deadly in close quarters combat, and their speed, agility and strength made them frightening opponents in melee. As soon as the first group had stormed the temple proper, they lunged at the nearest priests and ripped them open with their claws. Above, the Pegasus warriors were making one low altitude strafing run after another, firing their machine guns through the windows. A few had landed on the roof and were looking for alternate ways in. The lumbering Hydra had finally reached the temple as well and was pounding the walls with its large, armored heads. It had grabbed one unlucky priest in the massive jaws of its rightmost head and bit her in half in front of her comrades before the head joined the others in their attack against the temple itself.

The sounds and chaos of the battle were so intense that nonpony noticed the faint tremor coming from under the temple...

In an instant, hardened ceramite and plasteel was turned into molten slag which continued to fall towards the planet at terminal velocity while the second Windigo fired a brief burst of lasbolts at the spirits before beginning evasive manoeuvres. As the beam dissipated, a dozen more stars began to fall from the sky as someone raised the threat designation of the forces assailing the temple mount.

Meanwhile at the back of said temple, in a room which had been ignored by all the combatants so far, a cogitator sprung to life and printed out a small list of names belonging to those who had been on the Windigo that the Devastatotron had blasted. They would not be the only ones lost this day as in the main area where priest and Dog were locked in bloody combat, Sonorous Pontification roared in righteous fury as he swung the power maul around, splattering the heads of three Diamond Dogs. “Judgment be upon ye, heathens. The Sisters shall see you labour eternally.” He continued to protheylize even as his fellows were set upon with tooth, claw and shell. The senior priests fared slightly better with their own power weapons and armoured cassocks while most of their juniors were quickly torn to shreds by the savagery of their opponent. Zealous Ire barely had time to scream as the hydra bit her in two, her flamer falling to the floor to be quickly grabbed by another of the priests who lit up the inside of the temple.

Underneath, Spitfire willed the heavy limbs of her Trojan towards the opening ramp as dirt and grass fell in. The plasma cannon on her left thrummed softly with great power, contrasting the autocannons attached to her right which racked back a round. The system told her of the Typhoon Missile Launchers adorning her hind and of the additional ammunition she had on her back. The sensors gave her a 360° view of her surroundings which allowed her to see both priests knelt down in prayer by the console as she climbed the ramp.

Rising up out of the pit that had formed behind the only other building on the mountaintop, any witnesses would have remarked on the resemblance to a giant metal zombie but all were focused on the bloody melee in the temple proper. Were she a member of the Dusk Guard, Spitfire might have started shooting from where she was, ambushing the Equestrians but she was of Lightning Strike’s lineage. “Heathens and Xenos, you face against Spitfire The Last! Know that these are your last moments.” Her declaration boomed from her suit’s speakers as she rushed forth, bodychecking the hydra with 18 tonnes of ceramite and adamantium before she fired off a miniature sun from her plasma cannon, burning a great hole through the creature’s barrel.

Twilight Sparkle wrote:"Uhhh, I assure you, I'm perfectly fine! There's no need to examine me!" Firecracker stammered as he took a step back.

Even without the bloody buzzsaws and medieval torture instruments he'd expected, the former Equestrian officer had always been deathly afraid of needles and other medical instruments doctors used to treat their patients. And doctors in general, to be honest. Maybe it was because they reminded him of his own mortality and fragility, but something about visiting doctors and getting examined by them had always given him the heebie-jeebies.

"It... it must be because of my... my exceptionally strong will!" Okay, that was pretty pathetic. But it was the best he could come up with right now. "You'll find nothing out of the ordinary, I'm sure of it!"

The armoured nurse, Soothing Brook, nodded at Firecracker’s answer. “Wonderful, an exceptional will can protect you against a myriad of Chaos’s diseases and curses but one cannot be so boastful and assume that that is all you need.” She draped a wing over his back and pulled him toward another room, the commissar shoving him as he tried drag his heels. “Come with me, varlet. We’ll examine you and ensure that whatever malignancy that hit the rest of your regiment didn’t affect you. You too, Commissar. Your physical is coming up soon anyway so let’s kill two heretics with one shot.” Steel Heart removed his cap as he followed after. “As you say, Sister. Far be it for to gainsay a Hospitaller on health matters.”

The three moved into a smaller room with a bed against one wall and a pile of date slates on the counter along with medical equipment. The pegasus forced Firecracker up onto the bed before looking through the slates. “Hmm, I don’t have you here. Let me just get a fresh slate and we’ll start by filling it in. Don’t go anywhere or the commissar is liable to shoot you.” Soothing warned as she left the two of them alone, Steel Heart moving to stand in the doorway.

Sanctuary Point wrote:In an instant, hardened ceramite and plasteel was turned into molten slag which continued to fall towards the planet at terminal velocity while the second Windigo fired a brief burst of lasbolts at the spirits before beginning evasive manoeuvres. As the beam dissipated, a dozen more stars began to fall from the sky as someone raised the threat designation of the forces assailing the temple mount.

Meanwhile at the back of said temple, in a room which had been ignored by all the combatants so far, a cogitator sprung to life and printed out a small list of names belonging to those who had been on the Windigo that the Devastatotron had blasted. They would not be the only ones lost this day as in the main area where priest and Dog were locked in bloody combat, Sonorous Pontification roared in righteous fury as he swung the power maul around, splattering the heads of three Diamond Dogs. “Judgment be upon ye, heathens. The Sisters shall see you labour eternally.” He continued to protheylize even as his fellows were set upon with tooth, claw and shell. The senior priests fared slightly better with their own power weapons and armoured cassocks while most of their juniors were quickly torn to shreds by the savagery of their opponent. Zealous Ire barely had time to scream as the hydra bit her in two, her flamer falling to the floor to be quickly grabbed by another of the priests who lit up the inside of the temple.

Underneath, Spitfire willed the heavy limbs of her Trojan towards the opening ramp as dirt and grass fell in. The plasma cannon on her left thrummed softly with great power, contrasting the autocannons attached to her right which racked back a round. The system told her of the Typhoon Missile Launchers adorning her hind and of the additional ammunition she had on her back. The sensors gave her a 360° view of her surroundings which allowed her to see both priests knelt down in prayer by the console as she climbed the ramp.

Rising up out of the pit that had formed behind the only other building on the mountaintop, any witnesses would have remarked on the resemblance to a giant metal zombie but all were focused on the bloody melee in the temple proper. Were she a member of the Dusk Guard, Spitfire might have started shooting from where she was, ambushing the Equestrians but she was of Lightning Strike’s lineage. “Heathens and Xenos, you face against Spitfire The Last! Know that these are your last moments.” Her declaration boomed from her suit’s speakers as she rushed forth, bodychecking the hydra with 18 tonnes of ceramite and adamantium before she fired off a miniature sun from her plasma cannon, burning a great hole through the creature’s barrel.

Having lost both of its lungs to the burning plasma ball, the Hydra made no sound as its four heads made one last, futile attempt to retaliate against Spitfire. The massive reptilian abomination was dead before it hit the ground, superheated air hissing out of its quickly charring mouths.

Inside the temple, the Diamond Dog mercenaries continued to struggle with the priests, but outside the Pegasus warriors and the Unicorn battle mages could only stare at the mechanical monstrosity that had suddenly killed one of their greatest assets like it was nothing but a cheaply made practice target.

"Kill it!" a Pegasus Sergeat yelled after a couple of seconds of stunned silence. "It... it has to have a weak point! Bring it down, NOW!"

The Pegasi scattered from the roof of the now burning temple and pegan to swarm around the Trojan, firing their machine guns or dropping small bombs on the massive war machine. Farther away, at the base of the hill, the Unicorn mages began to charge another barrage of powerful artillery-type spells, aiming their horns at the Trojan.

Inside the cockpit of Devastotron-3000, Flim and Flam had finally lost the confident smirk they'd worn during the battle so far.

"What... is... that?" Flim asked. His voice was tense.

Flam was quickly going through the database of known Novumequine soldier and vehicle types. He came up empty-hooved.

"I... uhhh... I don't know, brother. Our forces have never encountered anything like it before."

The Unicorn brothers shared a glance. Having grown up together and been through countless schemes and plans (some of them successful, others less so), they knew each other perfectly and could communicate their emotions and intentions with the tiniest of changes in facial expression or the position of their ears. Right now they both understood that this was a new, unexpected and most unwelcome turn of events and that it might be wise to abandon the mission and run... But on the other hoof, they could not return to Lady Alabastrine Rune after such a miserable failure.

...And did they not control the most advanced magitechnological engine of war ever developed by the Brotherhood of the Black Horn? They had their pride, and they could not just abandon it at the first sign of trouble!

"Well, whatever it is, we'll put an end to it!" Flim said, gaining confidence from the approving expression of his brother.

"Yeah! It can't possibly beat the Devastotron!"

Their instruments showed that the orbital reinforcements were still several minutes away from the battle. The surviving gunship had managed to shoot down a couple of the enslaved spirits, but it was in serious trouble and unlikely to survive for much longer. If Flim and Flam could destroy the Trojan quickly, there was still a chance to salvage this mission.

They had to try.

Devastotron-3000 dropped its attack against the aerial targets and assumed a more cautious but still aggressive stance as it began to slowly approach the Trojan, its main cannon already charging another shot.

A megaphone attached to the side of the canopy carried Flam's amplified voice over the sounds of the battle, "INTERLOPER! I DON'T KNOW WHO OR WHAT YOU ARE, BUT IN THE NAME OF HER IMMORTAL LADYSHIP AND THE POWER OF FRIENDSHIP, WE WILL DESTROY YOU!"

Sanctuary Point wrote:The armoured nurse, Soothing Brook, nodded at Firecracker’s answer. “Wonderful, an exceptional will can protect you against a myriad of Chaos’s diseases and curses but one cannot be so boastful and assume that that is all you need.” She draped a wing over his back and pulled him toward another room, the commissar shoving him as he tried drag his heels. “Come with me, varlet. We’ll examine you and ensure that whatever malignancy that hit the rest of your regiment didn’t affect you. You too, Commissar. Your physical is coming up soon anyway so let’s kill two heretics with one shot.” Steel Heart removed his cap as he followed after. “As you say, Sister. Far be it for to gainsay a Hospitaller on health matters.”

The three moved into a smaller room with a bed against one wall and a pile of date slates on the counter along with medical equipment. The pegasus forced Firecracker up onto the bed before looking through the slates. “Hmm, I don’t have you here. Let me just get a fresh slate and we’ll start by filling it in. Don’t go anywhere or the commissar is liable to shoot you.” Soothing warned as she left the two of them alone, Steel Heart moving to stand in the doorway.

Half a dozen increasingly reckless and stupid escape plans went through Firecracker's mind in a rapid succession but he abandoned them all almost immediately. There was no way out: for now, he was trapped in here with the Commissar and the war-nurses.

After a minute or so of awkward silence, Firecracker's strained nerves could no longer stand it and he opened his mouth, "You know that the wave we felt was almost certainly the prelude to an Equestrian attack. I've been out of the loop too long to do anything but guess, but I know that only the most powerful Archmages could hope to cast anything like it. We'll most likely be attacked very soon. And if my superiors can repeat the feat of incapacitating most of your troops, the battle will be a short one indeed."

Twilight Sparkle wrote:Having lost both of its lungs to the burning plasma ball, the Hydra made no sound as its four heads made one last, futile attempt to retaliate against Spitfire. The massive reptilian abomination was dead before it hit the ground, superheated air hissing out of its quickly charring mouths.

Inside the temple, the Diamond Dog mercenaries continued to struggle with the priests, but outside the Pegasus warriors and the Unicorn battle mages could only stare at the mechanical monstrosity that had suddenly killed one of their greatest assets like it was nothing but a cheaply made practice target.

"Kill it!" a Pegasus Sergeant yelled after a couple of seconds of stunned silence. "It... it has to have a weak point! Bring it down, NOW!"

The Pegasi scattered from the roof of the now burning temple and began to swarm around the Trojan, firing their machine guns or dropping small bombs on the massive war machine. Farther away, at the base of the hill, the Unicorn mages began to charge another barrage of powerful artillery-type spells, aiming their horns at the Trojan.

Inside the cockpit of Devastotron-3000, Flim and Flam had finally lost the confident smirk they'd worn during the battle so far.

"What... is... that?" Flim asked. His voice was tense.

Flam was quickly going through the database of known Novumequine soldier and vehicle types. He came up empty-hooved.

"I... uhhh... I don't know, brother. Our forces have never encountered anything like it before."

The Unicorn brothers shared a glance. Having grown up together and been through countless schemes and plans (some of them successful, others less so), they knew each other perfectly and could communicate their emotions and intentions with the tiniest of changes in facial expression or the position of their ears. Right now they both understood that this was a new, unexpected and most unwelcome turn of events and that it might be wise to abandon the mission and run... But on the other hoof, they could not return to Lady Alabastrine Rune after such a miserable failure.

...And did they not control the most advanced magitechnological engine of war ever developed by the Brotherhood of the Black Horn? They had their pride, and they could not just abandon it at the first sign of trouble!

"Well, whatever it is, we'll put an end to it!" Flim said, gaining confidence from the approving expression of his brother.

"Yeah! It can't possibly beat the Devastotron!"

Their instruments showed that the orbital reinforcements were still several minutes away from the battle. The surviving gunship had managed to shoot down a couple of the enslaved spirits, but it was in serious trouble and unlikely to survive for much longer. If Flim and Flam could destroy the Trojan quickly, there was still a chance to salvage this mission.

They had to try.

Devastotron-3000 dropped its attack against the aerial targets and assumed a more cautious but still aggressive stance as it began to slowly approach the Trojan, its main cannon already charging another shot.

A megaphone attached to the side of the canopy carried Flam's amplified voice over the sounds of the battle, "INTERLOPER! I DON'T KNOW WHO OR WHAT YOU ARE, BUT IN THE NAME OF HER IMMORTAL LADYSHIP AND THE POWER OF FRIENDSHIP, WE WILL DESTROY YOU!"

The bullets pinged off the Trojan’s chassis as Spitfire’s metallic visage managed to convey a look of disdain. “Worse monsters than you have tried and yet I still stand.” She swept the autocannons across the field before her, the HEAP rounds eviscerating the pegasi as the shells tore through armour and flesh. Then with speed that belied her incredible weight, she came to face the enemy sergeant and hooked her 2-tonne hoof into him, launching him into the air and shattering everything in his body. Another sweep of the autocannons battered against the spider mech’s shields though Spitfire saw the damage quickly heal itself as the final scream of some damned soul being torn apart pushed against Spitfire’s own. Zealous indignation flared within the Trojan as she circled around the Devastotron, a roll of her shoulders ejecting a shell from the twin-linked autocannons and venting the plasma cannon to safer temperatures. “Tell me, Heretic. What daemon did you make a pact with to power your metal monstrosity? It’s far too clean to be one of the Poxbringer’s and not fleshy enough for the Whore. Your words are too learned for the Slaughter so that just leaves the Trickster. How many innocents have you murder in the pursuit of power, how many more will it take before you think you’re satisfied?”

Inside the temple, the priests and the dogs had reduced themselves to just one combatant each with the rest of their dead and wounded covering the floor. Sonorous Pontification panted as he eyed the last of the xenos, the size of it indicating it was probably one of the betas. The dog growled at him, a dozen nicks and scrapes covering him as the near misses piled up, for he had no rosarius-granted invulnerability like those of the cloth who would march out with the armies of the Diarchy. The old stallion managed to give as good as he got though, half the dead dogs had been killed by his power maul with flattened heads and crushed torsos as evidence though something had damaged his maul, the graviton field now took longer to cycle through and maxed out at half strength. Still five-hundred times the force would atomise anything that wasn’t power armour or better. The dog stepped closer, the shotgun in its hands just a club after a deflected strike had crushed the action and made it impossible to fire. “Ye’ll nae walk out of here alive, Xeno, Sisters as my witness.” Sonorous hefted the maul into batting position, daring the hound to try and rush him.

Twilight Sparkle wrote:Half a dozen increasingly reckless and stupid escape plans went through Firecracker's mind in a rapid succession but he abandoned them all almost immediately. There was no way out: for now, he was trapped in here with the Commissar and the war-nurses.

After a minute or so of awkward silence, Firecracker's strained nerves could no longer stand it and he opened his mouth, "You know that the wave we felt was almost certainly the prelude to an Equestrian attack. I've been out of the loop too long to do anything but guess, but I know that only the most powerful Archmages could hope to cast anything like it. We'll most likely be attacked very soon. And if my superiors can repeat the feat of incapacitating most of your troops, the battle will be a short one indeed."

“We’ve faced off against worse threats, heathen but I’ll be sure to put a bolt through your skull before I go down.” Steel Heart made a show of fixing his jacket as the light caught the handle of his pistol. “The Sisters have guided us for over five thousand years and by Their Will, They’ll lead us for five thousand more. I pity you for losing your version of the God Empress and the Eternal Crusader but I despise what you’ve chosen to replace them. Failed racial teachings and soul-twisting occultism, you were always doomed to fall. At least with us fellow Equines, the population will live on while some other foul Xeno species would exterminate all of you.”

Firecracker wouldn’t get a chance to retort as Soothing Brook returned at that moment with the data slate along with a few other tools. “Well, glad to see you haven’t gotten yourself killed in the time I was away.” She directed Steel Heart to stand over by the bed while she filled out Firecracker’s information. “Now then, let’s begin the examination.” She donned an eyepiece and started to poke and prod the red unicorn, typing in additional details as she found them into the slate.

Sanctuary Point wrote:The bullets pinged off the Trojan’s chassis as Spitfire’s metallic visage managed to convey a look of disdain. “Worse monsters than you have tried and yet I still stand.” She swept the autocannons across the field before her, the HEAP rounds eviscerating the pegasi as the shells tore through armour and flesh. Then with speed that belied her incredible weight, she came to face the enemy sergeant and hooked her 2-tonne hoof into him, launching him into the air and shattering everything in his body. Another sweep of the autocannons battered against the spider mech’s shields though Spitfire saw the damage quickly heal itself as the final scream of some damned soul being torn apart pushed against Spitfire’s own. Zealous indignation flared within the Trojan as she circled around the Devastotron, a roll of her shoulders ejecting a shell from the twin-linked autocannons and venting the plasma cannon to safer temperatures. “Tell me, Heretic. What daemon did you make a pact with to power your metal monstrosity? It’s far too clean to be one of the Poxbringer’s and not fleshy enough for the Whore. Your words are too learned for the Slaughter so that just leaves the Trickster. How many innocents have you murder in the pursuit of power, how many more will it take before you think you’re satisfied?”

Inside the temple, the priests and the dogs had reduced themselves to just one combatant each with the rest of their dead and wounded covering the floor. Sonorous Pontification panted as he eyed the last of the xenos, the size of it indicating it was probably one of the betas. The dog growled at him, a dozen nicks and scrapes covering him as the near misses piled up, for he had no rosarius-granted invulnerability like those of the cloth who would march out with the armies of the Diarchy. The old stallion managed to give as good as he got though, half the dead dogs had been killed by his power maul with flattened heads and crushed torsos as evidence though something had damaged his maul, the graviton field now took longer to cycle through and maxed out at half strength. Still five-hundred times the force would atomise anything that wasn’t power armour or better. The dog stepped closer, the shotgun in its hands just a club after a deflected strike had crushed the action and made it impossible to fire. “Ye’ll nae walk out of here alive, Xeno, Sisters as my witness.” Sonorous hefted the maul into batting position, daring the hound to try and rush him.

"'HERETIC'? WE MAKE PACTS WITH NOPONY!", Flam's amplified voice replied as the Devastotron sent half a dozen enslaved souls to test the Trojan's defenses. Three of them were cut down by the autocannons before they could reach the cybernetic war machine, the surviving three swirling around Spitfire and probing her defenses for any sing of weakness. "THE NAMES OF THE WEAK SPIRITS YOU SO FEAR ARE MEANINGLESS TO US. WE ARE FOLLOWERS OF THE OLD MASTERS, THOSE OF GREAT POWER WHO CAME BEFORE US AND PAVED THE WAY FOR OUR SUPREMACY. YOU WILL FIND THAT YOUR SUPERSTITIOUS PRAYERS ARE USELESS AGAINST US!"

The spider-walker fired a barrage of incendiary missiles from a rack positioned where its massive aft section met its forward section. The missiles arced upwards before making a syncronized turn towards Spitfire. The Trojan responded by launching a bright miniature sun from its plasma cannon. Only Flim's quick reflexes saved Devastotron from a direct hit as the walker jumped aside just before impact, the plasma projectile striking the ground instead in a bright blue explosion hot enough to turn the soil into glass.

"IMPRESSIVE, BUT THAT WON'T SAVE YOU!" Flam's voice taunted as the Devastotron stabilized itself with its massive hind legs and locked its main cannon on Spitfire. "YOU'VE BEEN AN AMUSING DISTRACTION, BUT WE HAVE A MISSION TO ACCOMPLISH, YOU KNOW. IT'S TIME TO PUT YOU TO SLEEP, COURTESY OF THE FLIM FLAM BROTHERS!"

The main cannon discharged.

*

Inside the temple, the Diamond Dog eyed Sonorous Pontification with aggressive caution, circling him like one of the legendary Wolves of prehistoric of Equestria, before the Equus Sapiens had split into the Three Kinds and subjugated their ancient predators.

"Ssssstupid sstupid Pony!" it snarled. "Its friends are dead, soon it be dead too! Why fight, Pony? The Sisters will not save it! No one will save it! I'll rip its throat soon enough. Heh. Make it watch as I tear out its heart! How does it like that, huh? Huh?!"

Despite its obvious thirst for Equine blood, the Diamond Dog was neither suicidal nor suicidally overconfident. It had seen what Sonorous' power maul had done to its packmates and knew that it was a deadly threat, able to instantly kill practically anything it hit. The Dog would have to either get rid of the maul or find a way to make Sonorous waste a swing, giving the Dog an opening to lunge at the priest... Or it could try to take him out from afar.

The Dog made a few false charges on all fours, stopping just shy of the maul's reach. On the third attempt, it stood up on its hind legs and tossed the useless shotgun away, instead retrieving a pair of throwing knives from the utility belt it wore across its chest. Letting out a sound that was somehwere between a growl and a chuckle, it threw the knives, aiming for Sonorous' throat.

Sanctuary Point wrote:“We’ve faced off against worse threats, heathen but I’ll be sure to put a bolt through your skull before I go down.” Steel Heart made a show of fixing his jacket as the light caught the handle of his pistol. “The Sisters have guided us for over five thousand years and by Their Will, They’ll lead us for five thousand more. I pity you for losing your version of the God Empress and the Eternal Crusader but I despise what you’ve chosen to replace them. Failed racial teachings and soul-twisting occultism, you were always doomed to fall. At least with us fellow Equines, the population will live on while some other foul Xeno species would exterminate all of you.”

Firecracker wouldn’t get a chance to retort as Soothing Brook returned at that moment with the data slate along with a few other tools. “Well, glad to see you haven’t gotten yourself killed in the time I was away.” She directed Steel Heart to stand over by the bed while she filled out Firecracker’s information. “Now then, let’s begin the examination.” She donned an eyepiece and started to poke and prod the red unicorn, typing in additional details as she found them into the slate.

Forcing himself to tear his gaze away from the Steel Heart's pistol, Firecracker complied reluctantly and allowed himself to be examined. There was little else he could do for now other than to play along, hoping for miracle that would allow him to escape.

The examination revealed nothing unusual whatsoever. Firecracker was a Unicorn stallion in his mid-twenties, in excellent physical shape (especially for somepony who'd spent the last six months aboard ESS Twilight Star with only very limited artificial gravity) and with slightly above average magical potential. He had suffered a number of minor injuries over the past couple of days, having been beaten, electrocuted and hit on the head. He had minor frostbite on the tips of his ears, likely acquired during the failed march towards the Crystal Empire. But none of his injuries were serious, and he'd probably be completely healed by a couple of days of good rest.

Most importantly, absolutely nothing explained why he had been unaffected by the mystery wave, unlike the majority of the Penal Legionnaires.

Twilight Sparkle wrote:"'HERETIC'? WE MAKE PACTS WITH NOPONY!", Flam's amplified voice replied as the Devastotron sent half a dozen enslaved souls to test the Trojan's defenses. Three of them were cut down by the autocannons before they could reach the cybernetic war machine, the surviving three swirling around Spitfire and probing her defenses for any sign of weakness. "THE NAMES OF THE WEAK SPIRITS YOU SO FEAR ARE MEANINGLESS TO US. WE ARE FOLLOWERS OF THE OLD MASTERS, THOSE OF GREAT POWER WHO CAME BEFORE US AND PAVED THE WAY FOR OUR SUPREMACY. YOU WILL FIND THAT YOUR SUPERSTITIOUS PRAYERS ARE USELESS AGAINST US!"

The spider-walker fired a barrage of incendiary missiles from a rack positioned where its massive aft section met its forward section. The missiles arced upwards before making a syncronized turn towards Spitfire. The Trojan responded by launching a bright miniature sun from its plasma cannon. Only Flim's quick reflexes saved Devastotron from a direct hit as the walker jumped aside just before impact, the plasma projectile striking the ground instead in a bright blue explosion hot enough to turn the soil into glass.

"IMPRESSIVE, BUT THAT WON'T SAVE YOU!" Flam's voice taunted as the Devastotron stabilized itself with its massive hind legs and locked its main cannon on Spitfire. "YOU'VE BEEN AN AMUSING DISTRACTION, BUT WE HAVE A MISSION TO ACCOMPLISH, YOU KNOW. IT'S TIME TO PUT YOU TO SLEEP, COURTESY OF THE FLIM FLAM BROTHERS!"

The main cannon discharged.

*

Inside the temple, the Diamond Dog eyed Sonorous Pontification with aggressive caution, circling him like one of the legendary Wolves of prehistoric of Equestria, before the Equus Sapiens had split into the Three Kinds and subjugated their ancient predators.

"Ssssstupid sstupid Pony!" it snarled. "Its friends are dead, soon it be dead too! Why fight, Pony? The Sisters will not save it! No one will save it! I'll rip its throat soon enough. Heh. Make it watch as I tear out its heart! How does it like that, huh? Huh?!"

Despite its obvious thirst for Equine blood, the Diamond Dog was neither suicidal nor suicidally overconfident. It had seen what Sonorous' power maul had done to its packmates and knew that it was a deadly threat, able to instantly kill practically anything it hit. The Dog would have to either get rid of the maul or find a way to make Sonorous waste a swing, giving the Dog an opening to lunge at the priest... Or it could try to take him out from afar.

The Dog made a few false charges on all fours, stopping just shy of the maul's reach. On the third attempt, it stood up on its hind legs and tossed the useless shotgun away, instead retrieving a pair of throwing knives from the utility belt it wore across its chest. Letting out a sound that was somehwere between a growl and a chuckle, it threw the knives, aiming for Sonorous' throat.

Spitfire charged at the Devastotron, dodging left of the beam as it howled past her. The horrid light sheared off the barrels of her autocannons and melted the plates of her right side, fusing them into one slab which hampered movement that way. Even with her diminished mobility and partial disarmament, she still managed to get within melee range of the Flim Flam Brothers and swung her two-tonne hooves at the spider mech. Green sparks flew off everywhere as another damned soul shrieked their last, repairing whatever damage Spitfire had done though the Devastotron still rocked from the impact. The Trojan reared back and slammed her hoof into the shield again and again and again, a soul-quivering scream accompanying each hit.

On the fifth hit, Spitfire heard no such wail even as the shield restored itself once more nor did she see the tortured faces of the sacrificed in the flash of sickly green rising up before becoming invisible, rather it was an electric yellow honeycomb that covered the Devastotron this time. The three spectres that had been flung at her were compelled by whatever dark magics that had tore them from their bodies to distance themselves from the Trojan before turning around and diving down at Spitfire, their kamikaze manoeuvre being interrupted by a hail of laser as the first Windigo gunship roared overhead.
“Support the Trojan, show the heathens The Sisters’ fury!” The squad leader commanded as the twelve Elysians leapt from the open hold and immediately began to pepper the Devastotron. A quick gesture sent four of the newcomers to enter the burning temple and secure it.

-

Inside the temple, Sonorous attempted to dodge the thrown knifes though whether they were flung harder than the priest expected or he was hindered by one of the numerous wounds he’d gained up to this point, he failed at that. A wetness traveled down his neck as one of the blades sliced open his carotid artery, giving him only minutes left, less so as the fighting had his heart rate up high. Despite the fatal cut, the priest still made a move on the hound, dashing at it as his blood coloured his cassock. “Die in the name of the Sisters!” He bellowed at his killer as he activated the field one last time, swinging the maul at the Diamond Dog as it tried to flee, the previous smug look on its muzzle replaced by one of alarm. Sonorous stumbled as he ran, his blood loss having passed the point of no return. Still he finished the swing, not knowing if he had hit or not as he tumbled to the ground. The last thing his brain registered was the sound of wings beating and lasguns firing.

Twilight Sparkle wrote:Forcing himself to tear his gaze away from the Steel Heart's pistol, Firecracker complied reluctantly and allowed himself to be examined. There was little else he could do for now other than to play along, hoping for miracle that would allow him to escape.

The examination revealed nothing unusual whatsoever. Firecracker was a Unicorn stallion in his mid-twenties, in excellent physical shape (especially for somepony who'd spent the last six months aboard ESS Twilight Star with only very limited artificial gravity) and with slightly above average magical potential. He had suffered a number of minor injuries over the past couple of days, having been beaten, electrocuted and hit on the head. He had minor frostbite on the tips of his ears, likely acquired during the failed march towards the Crystal Empire. But none of his injuries were serious, and he'd probably be completely healed by a couple of days of good rest.

Most importantly, absolutely nothing explained why he had been unaffected by the mystery wave, unlike the majority of the Penal Legionnaires.

Soothing Brook seemed both pleased and perplexed with her findings. While it was good to confirm that the Witch Queen had not defiled the sacred genome of the God Empress and made the equines here all mutants with only the outward appearance of unicorns, pegasi and earth, it also gave no explanation for Firecracker’s immunity. Though she had previously commended the Equestrian’s will, that was entirely false platitudes to get him moving. Were it true that a great will protect one from whatever had come over the 88th then none of the commissars or bailiffs would have succumbed, not just Steel Heart who had begun to question why exactly was he spared alongside Firecracker. “Well while I have no new answers from all this, I believe we should move on. Commissar, if you could.”

The commissar’s examination took far less time than Firecracker’s, much of his information being already on file and there had been no new injuries yet. Soothing Brook lead the two unicorns out of the examination room over to a larger communal space which was dominated by a great silver statue of Luna in her aspect of the Healing Light, incense surrounding the base as supplicants knelt down in prayer to the shrine. Firecracker could see a variety of injuries on the equines before the statue, cuts and frostbite, bandages wrapped around more serious wounds and one who clearly had his hoof severed from his leg yet they were gathered here instead of in bed being attended to by doctors and the like. He watched as two sisters collected a pail of water from the pan in front of the statue, a floating pile of snow indicating where the water had come from. The sisters paced through the rows of praying bodies, stopping at each one to pour a cup’s worth of water over their wounds which began to heal before Firecracker’s very eyes. Even the severed hoof was healed though the stallion had to drop it into the pail before plunging his leg in after it.

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