We stand united 1x1 Maple Bat

[MickeyAdaptus 2,211]

Before he started walking, Caerson still had an importmant question in mind that had not been answered yet.

"Shining Armour, where will we be heading to first? What about Hollow Shades? That place seems very secluded, a perfect place for our enemies to hide." Caerson mentioned.

[Maple Bat 3,568]

Shining nodded to him "That was where we were going in the first place though if we catch wind if problems while on the way there we'll divert quickly to handle said problem." He explained "We think we heard something about problems over there hence why we're heading there.

Applejack had something to share"Moonshadow! Come 'ere. I need t' speak with ya." 

Moonshadow (Who had undisguised at some point) walked over to her while Carson and Shining where talking.

[MickeyAdaptus 2,211]

"I would have to mention that there is a big chance they will have soldiers who are able to cloak and camouflage themselves from the visible eye. It is in a forest with mostly fog, wich would make a excellent place for such ambushes, when we are getting close to that town, i would suggest we would move in a pattern where soldiers guard us from every angle around us, and no one walks to far behind or to much afar from us." Caerson suggested.

[Maple Bat 3,568]

Moonshadow was wondering why AJ had called him over then she made it clear "We know Maple's gone... Well at least her real self is.... So why tell lies to our fighters..."

"So they have the courage too." Moonshadow explained, "I know what's gonna happen WHEN they find out but no matter what they do to me... I want to lead like she could."

"Do that as yourself then not as someone else." AppleJack explained

 

Shining shouted some orders and the soldiers shifted around them "Yea... This should work." It was a phalanx with 2 of shields on each side. "Yea"

[MickeyAdaptus 2,211]

"Good work. For now, we don't have to apply it yet. But if i may suggest, Use the earth ponies and dragons on the outer layer of the defence, keep the changelings and the unicorns on the inner layer while the pegasi and the griffon's fly overhead to scout ahead and keep a steady sight above us for spotting targets. Keep that formation when we are in the forest, when i shout the signal *Mark 5*, then it would be the moment to perform, how does that sound?" Caerson suggested to Shining Armour.

[Maple Bat 3,568]

"Oh that does make a lot of sense. I didn't think of that. Maybe one or two dragons per side since there aren't many with us." Shining armor added "It sounds like a good Idea but the fog blocks vision only a few feet in front of us so it'll be hard to have a scout."

[MickeyAdaptus 2,211]

"I might have a solution for that. Pegasi are able to create tornado's right? Rainbow Dash and some other pegasi could, in theory, blow away all that fog surrounding us. Your dragon part is a good idea though, and when the fog is gone the camouflaged soldiers will still be invisible to our eyes yes, but here is one flaw in their tactics, from afar againts enemies they don't fully cloak just yet, the pegasi and griffons in their could potentially spot those cloaked enemies who are afar, not all of them, but some, wich is better then nothing." Caerson mentioned.

[Maple Bat 3,568]

"Tornados of that size and strength... Those would pick up members of our army... It's too risky... But you said they couldn't fully cloak I mean yes they can get close but not close enough to actually hit any of us. I don't know might do the tornado but it is some HEAVY fog."

Rainbow dash nodded too "Yea. But nothing I couldn't handle."

[MickeyAdaptus 2,211]

"But what if we contained the tornado? I could use my drones to dig a massive hole into the ground, the others create that tornado inside the hole. The tornado might not move around but the force that the tornado creates should be enough to drive the fog away, we would just have to stand away at a reasonable distance when the tornado is created until all the fog is gone." Caerson said with a smile.

"Sometimes you need to be creative in order to prevent casualties, and i have to admit, Equestrians excel at using creative situations, that much i have l learned." He admitted.

[Maple Bat 3,568]

"Ahh hay yea! Let's do that!" Rainbow said optimisticly.

Shining considered the idea as he wasn't sure. "Well it'll at least clear it for a few hours... We have no idea if it'll return or not."

"It will but it'll be more than enough time B.B.B.F.F" Twilight commented while taking apart and putting back together one of Caerson's drones

 

[MickeyAdaptus 2,211]

"Twilight is right, a few hours is all we will need, besides, it is only a temporary advantage, even if the mist where to return, it wouldn't mean we would be doomed, we would just have to be more careful should it return when we haven't reached or left the place yet." Caerson said.

It was eventually a few hours later that they were getting close to the edge of the forest.

"We are getting close to the forest, once anyone spots the mist, shout out the code word *Mark 5*, and then you all know what to do." Caerson reminded them.

[Maple Bat 3,568]

The group carried on for a while and then a random pony saw the mist "Mark 5!" He said aloud.

Twilight looked up from what she was messing with "Now's the time."

Rainbow hopped into the air "Aww Yea! Let's go!

[MickeyAdaptus 2,211]

Caerson nodded as he sends out a signal from his bionic eye, which sends a signal back to the drones which then started to create the hole via red lasers that were coming from its body.

"Good, now we wait a bit." Caerson said as he watched the process.

After around 5 minutes the drones had created a pretty large hole.

"Alright, now for the next phase." Caerson said, mentioning to Rainbow and the other pegasi.

[Maple Bat 3,568]

Rainbow nodded "Come on ponies! Show them what we can do." Dozens of pegasi and a few griffons started going around the hole and quickly formed a very strong tornado it started to work but the others watching could feel the tornados force too.

Moonshadow dug his hoofs into the ground. "Whew... That's strong wind."

[MickeyAdaptus 2,211]

Caerson stood his ground, although he was starting to slide back a bit after a while.

"Now we wait for the tornado to expire, and then we move out!" He called out through the wind.

Some of the drones got blown away, in which he cursed silently.

 

[Maple Bat 3,568]

After several minutes of harsh winds the pegasi gradually started to stop as all the fog cleared

Shining nodded "It worked! Color me impressed. Let's get going before the fog come back and let's hurry!"

The other ran up to the pegasi giving them some food or drink should they need it, making a tornado was hard after all even for a bunch of them.

[MickeyAdaptus 2,211]

Caerson quickly pulled his hood back over his head before anyone would see, he then collected his lost drones and started following the others.

"We should get in position again, like we discussed, even with the fog gone we can still be ambushed, but now the Flyers have a great method of spotting some of the cloaked enemies from afar." Caerson said after a while as he looked around.

[Maple Bat 3,568]

"Right!" Shining waved a hoof and the others took positions "Alright so let's look around now. Hopefull we find where they've been hiding for the while now... They don't "Hive" Do they?"

Twilight looked up from the drone she was fixing "That is a good question."
 

[MickeyAdaptus 2,211]

Caerson was thinking for a moment.

"The enemy soldiers? No, but infected? They might. You have to remember that while the infected have become non-sentient, they still tend to act like wild animals, sometimes even retaining some of its older survival instincts with things like sheltering, while the infected might not be entirely made up of beings of Equestria, there might be a chance that some have started to adapt to this environment. While they do not sleep, there is a chance they create hives or shelters to drag their victims back in there so consume them later on." Caerson said.

"The virus itself is more advanced then any of us can imagine since it has actually mutated in the past, being able to evolve beyond cures that would have worked before. Come to think of it, Wasn't the one named *Zecora* trying to find a cure for quite some time now? I wonder if she would have gotten any progress, though chances are unlikely, i spent so long trying to find a cure for this virus, but it evolves in ways that i cannot explain, nor can i understand." Caerson mentions.

Edited October 18, 2017 by Trazyiana Jones (Mickey Adaptus)

[Maple Bat 3,568]

Twilight flinced "Well... That's scary... they could have one here so we best star alert. But zecora is pretty good at alchemy she's the best in equestria, as far as I know I have total faith she can find it if there is one."

"Wait... The only thing stopping a cur is the fact it changes?" Shining said to caerson curiously "Well... What if you took an infected plant or something and used it in the cure... Once it turns normal you've got the cure but if it turns all cloudy again then it's not quite ready."

Moonshadow looked at him "That's... probably the smartest thing I've ever heard you say."

[MickeyAdaptus 2,211]

Caerson looked at him with a glimmer of hope.

"In all my years I have never been able to come up with this idea, it might just work, but it might not either. The virus itself has a very vague and mysterious way of evolving itself, I have been studying it for very long. One time i tried to help someone who got infected, but to my greatest shock, this person had some sort of resistance against it. Instead of it throwing to take over the body, the virus saw the DNA of this person like its own, but how that would be impossible is not something i could find out. I still have the blood samples of that person, but i am not sure if it would be of any use." Caerson said.

"We should perhaps go look for Zecora at some point, perhaps when we visited Hollow Shades we should go look for her if there really is a cure for this virus... Imagine how much lives it could save." Caerson said.

 

[Maple Bat 3,568]

"Wait? That would work? It was a joke but I'm glad I was able to help! We should find her there if she needs more supplies! We need to hurry!" Shining order the troops to pick up the pace.

Moonshadow looked "Maple's body could be fixed too! Without a soul, it'd become a husk but still, something like that can be fixed with magic! Let's go!"

[MickeyAdaptus 2,211]

Caerson looked at Moonshadow with a hint of grief.

"You cannot fix something that is dead Moonshadow, her body has been completely infected, and the virus would have already converted all her organs, rendering them broken. Putting her soul in her old body would keep her trapped in a lifeless husk. While i don't like giving bad news, i feel like i need to tell you without sugar coating, lest that someone would end up trying it anyway and find out the hard way." Caerson was about to walk away but gave him a quick glance.

"Magic can only do so much, but it can't fix all our problems, it is hard but its the bitter truth." He said before he followed the others.

 

[Maple Bat 3,568]

Moonshadow heard him but simply shrugged a 'whatever.' "Well... She's alive that's all that matters... The real body thing... It'll be alright. I can at least see her again." Moonshadow smiled at him. "I have you to thank for that too."

Shining kept moving with his usual glimmer of home. Apparently, he and the rest of the army hadn't heard the conversation between the two.

[MickeyAdaptus 2,211]

"Well, I did what felt right. I have been helping out resistance groups in secret before I even met you guys. I do have to admit, beyond all the wasted life out there, when I met you guys I started to get a change of heart, from something more bleaker, into something... hopeful, a hope that I had lost for so long. This planet has a beauty you don't see much often anymore. My daughter would have loved it here, not being crowded in bunkers and shelters, or in ruins, but in a paradise where we don't have to be reminded of the mistakes we made." Caerson said.