“Pink Alice…”

Two cloaked ponies walks into the town with hoods up over their heads. They had armor underneath their cloaks and Paladin Spears by their sides. They stop a towns pony that was walking by. After removing their hoods they inspected him.

One was orange, a mare with a coat slightly more orange than Claymari’s mane slightly less red than hers as well. Her cutie mark was of a bent spoon.

The other was a satin metallic gray stallion with a two tone gray mane and the face of a hoof fighter. His cutie mark was of a spinning saw blade hitting a metal block shooting off sparks.

“Hello, I am Abra my friend here is called Machine Shop,” The mare introduced herself, “We are from the True Earth Alliance. Could you guide us to your governor’s home.”

“He’s up on the hill,” The pony points out.

“Thank you kind sir,” Abra does a bow.

From the shadows a rat watches the ponies that had just came into town. It’s red eyes start to brighten and dim rapidly. From inside Tangerine’s home another rats eyes does the same as if to receive a signal.

The rat scampers off to go find Tangerine. The pony was still in his bed chambers. He sat next to Claymari’s unconscious body stroking her mane smiling gleefully.

“Seeing her so helpless like this feels me up of such happiness,” The stallion says to himself smiling.

The rat approaches him, “Sir, Puddinghead’s forces has entered the town.”

“It’s about time how many,” Tangerine answers without stopping from petting Claymari or even turning to look at the rat.

“Two Paladin Knights,” The rat tells him.

“They must be trying to ensure and reinforce the existing loyalties of their territories,” Tangerine points out to the rat.

Just then Tangerine’s doorbell goes off. He rushes over to answer the door where the two Paladin ponies were waiting for him.

“Hello, I’m Ab-,”

“Abra and Machine Shop I was told of you entering into my town,” Tangerine ushers the two ponies inside his home.

“Wow, you have a really efficient way of relating information,” Abra points out.

“We live in troubled days,” Tangerine told the ponies as he shows them his living room.

“This is true,” Machine Shop nods his head as him and his companion sits down at the table.

“I can make some tea, I suppose we got plenty to discuss?” Tangerine asks.

“That would be nice,” Abra nods her head giving a glance to Machine Shop to see if he agreed. The stallion was nodding his head as well.

“Good,” Tangerine walks into his kitchen and puts the kettle on the stove. “So why are you two here?” He asked.

“We are looking for an update on your commitments to our army as well as some other information?” Abra tells the stallion.

“I’m still committing a good majority of my town guard and I’ve also opened up a volunteer drive for townspeople that wish to join the army,” Tangerine answers as he walks back into the room.

“If it would help run up numbers we could ask the Apple Foundation to offer some cash incentives,” Abra suggests.

“That maybe of some help,” Tangerine nods his head, “But unfortunately a few of my town guards got injured in a recent Zebra attack this morning.”

“Zebra? I haven’t heard anything about Zebra?” Machine Shop points out.

The boiling pot starts to whistle and Tangerine holds out his hoof as he stands up. He speaks as he walks over to the pot. “You know this kind of chaos brings out the worst elements of this world. They had to show up sooner or later.”

“True,” Machine Shop nods his head.

Tangerine puts his teabags into the cups with the hot water and walks over to his guests holding a tray. Abra and Machine Shop both grabbed their cups.

“We are also trying to locate a group of ponies,” Abra blows on her steaming cup before drinking from it. “Umm, orange,” She cheered after tasting.

“Family recipe,” Tangerine told her.

“As I was saying,” Abra continued, “We are looking for three ponies, a Pegasus, a Unicorn, and a Miniature Cat Pony.”

“I don’t think a Pegasus and a Unicorn would be dumb enough to wonder into pony towns on their own,” Tangerine told them, “Although the Miniature Cat Pony sounds familiar, I think there’s one who just started working at the Inn a couple weeks ago.”

“That would fit our timeline,” Machine Shop tells Abra.

“Indeed,” Abra nods her head. She then turns to Tangerine, “Do you have an indoor or outdoor toilet?”

“Indoor, it’s down that hallway, take a left and use the right door, the left door is my bedchamber,” Tangerine tells her.

Abra gets up from her chair and walks down the hall way. She takes a left and found two doors. The mare reaches for the left door and opens it. On the other side of the door she found the bedchambers with a mare sleeping on the bed.

“Oh, Sorry,” Abra quickly says as she shuts the door.

The mare turned around and was about to open the other door when she realized something was strange about the mare she just seen. First of all she saw something strange on her head that she didn’t quite get a good look at. Second that mare seemed familiar somehow.

Abra turns back around and opens the left door again. But this time she was greeted with something different. Sitting on her hunches in a blackish purple void was a deep purple mare with a black mane. The black mane obscured her face as she played with tarot cards. Blood drips from the forehead of the mare and onto the tarot cards below her.

“Sister!” Abra shouted rushing into the room.

As soon as her hooves touched the void everything shook. The bleeding mare disappeared and in her place a large flaming tower shot upwards. Abra turns to run away from the tower but three more shoots up boxing her in. Fear grips the mare’s heart and she screams.

“What was that!” Machine Shop instantly got up out of his chair and ran down the hall. Suddenly as he ran all four of his legs disappeared from out beneath him. He floated in the air for second before crashing belly first onto the carpet leaving his legs falling behind him.

He didn’t even have stumps behind or open bleeding wounds where his legs were. Machine Shop’s body was smooth like it was never meant to even have legs.

Laying on the carpet, Machine Shop suddenly realized something else was missing. He rolls to aside and looks down at his belly. Instead of the sheath and testicles of a stallion, the pony saw the semi flat mounds and thick nipples of a mare.

Machine Shop rolled back on his or her belly. The floor below had turned into the surface of a mirror. The face that stared back up at him was his own but instead of the broad stallion features was the smaller squelched together features of a mare.

A very dark coated stallion appeared behind Machine Shops head standing over her. He put his muzzle next to his ear and whispers. “Dad is going to make you feel good.”

“The Rat King’s Nest…”

Metalance had fallen asleep with Caramel by her side. She didn’t know how long she was asleep but it can’t have been that long or the others would of have started looking for her. The mare then turns to her foal at her side and screams in horror.

Laying under her foreleg was the bloody dehided corpse of a foal. The foal then turns his head and looks up at the mare was his lidless wide eyes and cheekless jaw.

“Mommy,” The muscled corps replied.

Metalance jumps away from the dead foal. She bumps into something wet. The mare turns around to see a living muscle corpse of a Cat Pony. Metalance lets out a scream.

Pot Shell hears a noise sounding like some rubble falling coming from down the hallway. He turns to see where it’s coming from and spies a rat. The rat’s eyes glow red and Pot Shell sees some kind of flash.

“There you are,” Pot Shell hears a voice behind him. He turns around to see Claymari. “Where are the others?” She asked them.

“They should be around here somewhere?” Pot Shell looked down at the ground nervously.

Claymari gives the stallion a stern look. “So you don’t know? Uff…” The mare turns away from him and starts walking down the hall.

“Hey wait up!” Pot Shell trots after her, “So Winkz must’ve teleported you here?”

Claymari did not answer as she walked away from the stallion.

Pot Shell felt anger rise up within him. “Don’t ignore me!” He shouted that Claymari.

Claymari stops then turns around glaring at him with a raised eyebrow. “What did you say to me?” Claymari shoves her face into his.

“I said don’t ignore me!” Pot Shell repeated himself.

“You know, I don’t like your attitude boy!” The large mare snaps at him making Pot Shell feel even smaller or had she gotten bigger? “Keep it up and I’ll drop you like your sister!”

Pot Shell suddenly had the strength to push Claymari from him. “You abandoned my sister didn’t you!” He screams tears rolling down his face. “You could’ve saved her but you left her! You abandoned her!”

“Now you’re going to abandoned me,” Pot Shell turns around to see Whirly Pop her fur glowing like an angel.

Pot Shell tries to speak, to rush over to her and speak to her at the same time but he found himself frozen in place. His eyes darted around managing to glance at parts of his body. Somehow he had been turned to stone.

Claymari walks in front of the frozen pony and lifts her tail giving him a good view of her marehood. She tickles the statue’s neck with her tail and with a seductive smile says. “I’m going to enjoy chipping you away piece by piece.”

Zero stood in the bathroom, in the stall behind him he could hear Petty Kitty hacking up the contents of her stomach.

“You okay?” Zero asked concerned.

“Just a little morning sickness,” Petty Kitty replied over the toilet.

“The sickness is supposed to stop after a while,” Zero tells her.

“Good to know,” Petty Kitty snaps at him.

Zero sighs, “I shouldn’t of reminded you that I’ve been through this before.”

“Yes that would have been nice,” The Cat Pony replied.

“She left a few months after we found out she was pregnant,” Zero says in a depressed tone. “We also had another foal, She birthed it while I was away. A cute little peach colored filly with a bright orange mane,” He looks up at the broken light in the ceiling and gives a halfhearted smile. “The time between when I was freed from the POW camp and my mother died me and my wife went at it like rabbits. We missed each other so much there was so much love between us.” Zero starts to cry. “Then my mother was murdered by that bastard Azrael, I became distant and single minded. Soon she took our foals and left me.” He stomps his hoof, “How do you think I feel finding about what happened to her pregnancy through you! What that gas done to me!*”

(*See Sword Mare Origins: Zero Endless)

Petty Kitty looks down thoughtfully at the dirty toilet bowl water. “I’m sorry for how I treated you, I guess being a mare I can’t help but feel responsible for how this foal turns out,” The Cat Pony puts her hoof on her belly. “But it’s your seed that’s sick not me.”

Petty Kitty then noticed her forehooves had shackles around them. “What the?”

Suddenly she was yanked forward her face splashing into the dirty toilet. The Cat Pony lifts her head up and screams out in pain as something large and slithery bulges her stomach as it scrums around. Petty Kitty coughed up blood that dribbles from her mouth like a sieve. The blood hits the water turning into red mist. She begins to feels something large crawl up her throat.

The Cat Pony sees the thing plop from her mouth and into the toilet water. The red thing thrashed about in the water as she watched. Petty Kitty could see the thing transform. The tail shrunk and stubby buds started turning into legs. The jawless head started to take the shape of that of a pony. The thing’s lips curl back revealing sharp teeth.

Just before Zero heard the scream he had glanced at his reflection in the mirror. He was now memorized blocking out the sound. A small black goatee was on his chin. Zero strokes his chin with his hoof as he looked at his reflection in the mirror. Then he noticed the horn buds on top of his head, this and the goatee made him like a goat. Then the pony noticed a snaggle tooth jetting from his mouth.

“What’s happening to me?” Zero says to himself. He looks down at his hooves and noticed in the mirror that one became a reptile’s claw and the other a bird talon but in front of him his hooves were normal.

“You are an illregular,” The reflection spoke.

“What?” Zero looks up at the reflection.

“You are an illregular, within you is mutant blood, I am the truth behind your disguise,” The reflection told Zero.

“That’s not true!” Zero shouted at his reflection pounding his forehooves on the counter.

“Really?” Then take a look inside. The reflection points at Zero’s member between his hindlegs.

Zero looks down at his sheath. When he looks down, the top flared open revealing rows and rows of tiny pointy teeth. The stallion jumps backwards with a yelp falling onto the ground below.

Caramel found himself wondering the darkness alone, “Mommy Metalance! Mommy Catfish!” He cried to no avail.

Weedie found herself drowning continuously in avoid.

Catfish was running from the shadows. Emitting from them were accusing voices aimed at her.

“She’s a bug, she’s now different than a Changeling!”

“No! I’m not a Changeling!” Catfish shouted, “Do I really look like a Changeling!”

“Oh that disguise would never do.”

Suddenly the shadows rush her and Catfish feels them grab at her pelt with their teeth.

“No! You’re hurting me!” Catfish screams as her hair on her back is ripped from her flesh. Like a spring insect wings pop up from her.

“See she has wings!”

“No! I don’t have wings! I can have wings! I’m a water pony!” Catfish shrieked.

They continue to rip at her coat, the fur on her legs came off to reveal things with holes in them. A horn pops through her scalp. When they were done Catfish stood there with a gleaming black exoskeleton her once feline coat hung off her body in strips.

For a moment Winkz stood there wondering why all the ponies around her had gone insane. It didn’t take her long to realize that something was attacking their minds. Maybe because she’s really a Dark One or her special talent of perception, but whatever was attacking them didn’t seem to have affected her.

The Crystal Pony then heard a loud thumping noise. It was her heart beating rapidly and strong. Winkz looks down at her chest and she could see blackness within her crystal body. This blackness was where her heart should be. It swelled around her heart area like a ball of smoke then it expands throughout our body. She was now still maroon in color but underneath was a layer of black.

“We see you for what you are,” Voices whisper.

“Enough of this,” Winkz emits energy from her horn knocking back the rat. She stomps on the rat’s tail pinning it down and looks at it face to face. “Tell your master I’ll be back.”

Winkz then teleports away.

“The camp…”

Winkz suddenly appears in the middle of the camp startling all of the ponies. The green Manticore screams and runs into the woods.

“Ugh! It’s going to take us forever to find him,” Scarecrow remarks. He turns to Muto, “You look for him this time I did it last time.”

“Winkz!” Philia shouted, “Why did you teleport back? Did something happen?”

Winkz quickly checked her body, it was its normal solid maroon coloring. “We were attacked by rats that seem to put everyone into some kind of fear loop.”

“Interesting,” Vanilla smiles, “How did you escape?”

“The rats power must be magic based, unicorns are more resistant to mental magical attacks, plus,” Winkz taps her flank. “My special talent.”

“Wait? You just left them?” La Dawn points out.

“Whatever it was attacking them was strong,” Winkz shook her head.

“We should go down there and try to rescue them,” Philia suggests.

“What if we get stuck in the fear loop?” Ponyville asks in her nervous tone, “I have enough issues.”

“You don’t have to come,” La Dawn tells the mare.

Ponyville gulps and pounds her hoof to her chest. “I must be brave.”

“I suspect that they will be held as hostages, so they may not be in the same spot” Claymari remarks as she walks up.

“True but I could track them with my magic,” Winkz tells her.

“Then there’s the issue of finding the source of these illusions,” Claymari points out.

“Yes the Rat King,” Winkz nods.

“Okay, but how do we find the Rat King he could be anywhere?” Vanilla points out.

“Pink Alice,” Claymari answered, “Shit this big cannot go down so close to that town for somebody to not know something.”

“The issue with that plan is none of us can step foot in that town,” Philia points out, “How can you question people than.”

“Then we question one person,” Claymari answered, “We question Tangerine.”

“Anyway we must hurry,” Philia tells them, “If they are being terrorized it’s putting their bodies under tremendous stress.”

“Very well then,” La Dawn shook his head.

“Should we split into two groups?” Ponyville suggested fidgeting in her place.

“Yes,” Winkz nods her head, “I’d suggest as urgency is a factor the fastest ones of us goes after the group that has been captured. Vanilla, La Dawn, Ponyville, and I. The flyers will fly ahead of me when they reached the location I shall teleport there.”

“So the plan,” Philia nods her head, “Of course Claymari and I will go after Tangerine, I’ll bring along Scarecrow, Muto, and Manticore as backup.”

“And you still have the Jabberwocky thing,” Claymari smiles.

“Outside Rat King’s nest…”

The three flying figures lands into the nearby woods. When they landed, La Dawn spots something crawling on Ponyville’s tail.

“Pony, you have something on your tail,” He points out.

“Hugh?” Ponyville pulls her tail around and sees a white squirming bug. “Eek!” She shakes it out of her hair with her hoof.

“Quiet!” Vanilla snaps.

The bushes started to move. All of them readied for battle and Winkz steps forward.

“Don’t scare us like that?” La Dawn said clutching his chest.

“Yes, teleport in next time,” Ponyville said in a deadpan tone.

“Second thought jumping out of the bushes is good,” La Dawn nods his head.

“I didn’t want to cause any unwanted attention so I teleported in a little ways away,” Winkz told them.

“Smart, but lets get a move on,” Vanilla told them.

“Well the hole should be over here,” Winkz starts to lead them away.

La Dawn looks around nervously as they walked. “I don’t see any enemies.”

“Yes but we are fighting rats, giant rats, but rats the same,” Vanilla points out.

The sound of crunching leaves made Ponyville yelp, “Rat!”

Winkz looks back at her and rolled her eyes, “I sense no enemies and our friends are still down there.”

“You sense no enemies at all?” Vanilla asked.

“Yes,” Winkz nods her head as they reached the opening in the ground. They could see all the ponies gathered around in the main chamber.

“Don’t you think that’s suspicious?” Vanilla wondered.

Winkz’s eyes went wide, “I’m not immune!” Everyone in the pit below disappeared

La Dawn could see Winkz speak but not here her words. She looked like she was in a panic then he sees a familiar green mare.

“Metalance!” He called out.

“Think I don’t know what you are doing!” She snaps glaring daggers at him.

“Metalance?” La Dawn took a step back.

“You think you’re in love with me? Truly in love with me?” Metalance says as she starts stepping closer to the stallion.

“I...,” La Dawn starts to say.

“You can’t even deny it,” Metalance snaps, “You’re just a stupid childish stallion who lives to get his dick wet. You get captured and abused and once free you find one of your former lovers and her child that is probably yours just dropped into your lap. We were uprooted and afraid and you knew you could manipulate us to be your family.”

La Dawn found himself shaking. He was afraid truly afraid, “Don’t say more!”

“You tell yourself, things are going to be different, you’re not going to waste this opportunity,” Metalance continued, “But you know deep within your heart what kind of stallion you are. You are La Dawn lover of all the mares not just one. You are just a colt in the end.”

Ponyville feels a tickling sensation on the bare flesh of her inner thigh. She turns her head around to see another maggot crawling around on her. She stomps her leg and makes the thing fall to the ground along with two others that dripped from underneath her tail. A fourth maggot was crawling up around her udders.

By now she could feel them crawling all over her marehood and anus as well as down her tail and legs. “They are coming from inside of me!” Ponyville screams. She finds a nearby tree lifting up her tail and rubbing the barked surface against her rear.

Vanilla looks at La Dawn and Ponyville curiously. “How come I’m not going crazy?”

“Me as well?” Winkz asked as she and Vanilla backed up flank to flank.

“My little ponies,” A voice spoke to them, “You are not immune to the illusions, you can see past the madness the illusions are trying to cause.”

“Pink Alice…”

Philia was trying to use her magic to unlock Tangerine’s backdoor. Claymari and the Manticore stood behind her. Scarecrow and Muto watched the front to make sure no one escaped.

“Got it,” Philia said as the door opened with the click.

They walked in cautiously.

“We should split up,” Claymari suggested.

“Okay,” Philia nods her head.

“You take that hallway,” Claymari points, “The beast should guard the door.”

Philia turns and walks down the hallway checking each room behind each door. Eventually she makes a left turn and opens the left door.

“Claymari!” Philia shouted seeing the unconscious body on the bed.

“I was wondering what was taking you so long,” Tangerine walks out from behind the door.

“What did you do to my mother!” Philia shouted.

“Oh, that’s the Rat Kings doing,” Tangerine points out.

“Boo!” Another Claymari steps in to the doorway blocking Philia’s path.

Philia sees the other Claymari and quickly glances at the bed to look at the Claymari laying on it. ”This isn’t an illusion?” She mostly asked herself out loud.

Suddenly the Claymari by the door punches her in the face and Philia stumbles back a little.

“Okay that felt real enough,” Philia remarks wiping the blood from her mouth. She rights her horn and charges the sure to be impostor. Philia nicks the impostor with her horn making a long gash down her neck. The impostor Claymari hooks the flap of loose skin with her hoof and yanks it from her face revealing blue titanium muscles.

“You’re… You’re…” Philia was shocked at the site, “Some kind of Cyber Claymari?”

“I am the Rat King,” The Cyber Claymari answered.

Philia overwhelmed with everything that had just transpired rolls her eyes into the back of her head and passes out.

“In her defense I do like the ring of Cyber Claymari,” Tangerine remarks.

“Later…”

Philia slowly wakes up in some kind of chamber. Above her she could see seven tall statues of blue metallic rats sitting upright. No these were corpses mummified with age. Every once in a while a skinless metallic rat would plop wetly from one of their mouths and onto the floor.

The next thing Philia noticed were the moans and screams. Chained to the back walls were bunch of ponies most of them Philia recognized as the group of companions that was trapped in the Rat King’s nest. There were also two more ponies that she didn’t recognize. Rats watched over all of them as if somehow monitoring their torment. Only one pony wasn’t screaming and that was Claymari who was laying unconscious suspended to the wall.

“Welcome to the new Rat King’s nest,” Cyber Claymari announces as she approached Philia with Tangerine behind her.

“Tangerine stop this madness before it’s too late,” Philia pleaded.

“And give up all of this power,” Tangerine answered, “I like this arrangement it has suited me well all of this time.”

“Then you have been warned,” Philia glows her horn sending out a magic signal. Within moments the chamber shakes is the sound of lightning striking the structure vibrated through it.

“What was that!” Tangerine shouted nervously.

“That should be the Jabberwocky,” Philia says as the ceiling breaks open causing huge chunks of rubble to fall to the floor.

Cyber Claymari just calmly stood there as the Jabberwocky lunges at her. She then with a swing of her hoof she shouts. “You are dismissed!” The Jabberwocky disappeared in a puff of smoke and the rubble that it caused disappeared and the ceiling became back to normal.

“What the hell just happened!” Philia shouted.

The next thing she knew Scarecrow, Muto and the Cowardly Manticore was standing behind Cyber Claymari. With a wave of her hoof all of them disappeared into dust.

This whole time since you left Applecore has been an illusion created by me,” The fake Claymari explained.

“Then show me your real body!” Philia shouted.

“Ironically this is my real body,” Cyber Claymari told her, she holds out the metallic exposed muscle. “If it was fake I wouldn’t have such a fatal design flaw so visible.”

“Why do you look like Claymari?” Philia asked.

“Convenient DNA,” Cyber Claymari shrugged, “My systems are biomechanical in nature.”

Philia pauses for a moment to process the information and to rewind the past few events through her head. “Are you the one Winkz brought to the camp?”

“Body yes, mind no, although I was there,” Cyber Claymari answered.

Philia looks at Claymari hanging from the wall, “That device on her head? Transmissions thoughts right?”

“Yes,” Cyber Claymari replied.

“We switched them when we brought her out to the public rack,” Tangerine adds.

“Clever, it fooled Winkz’s tracking spell because I suspect that tracks brain waves and I know my mother well enough that I would of detected any impostor,” Philia notes.

“My illusion magic helped,” Cyber Claymari said smugly.

“Why not disable me like you disabled them?” Philia points at the screaming ponies.

“While my illusions can fool you to a point, but a pony like you when faced with an illusion that doesn’t make any sense like something from a nightmare or a dream you see past it and it has no effect on you,” Cyber Claymari explained.

“Okay one last question?” Philia tells her captors, “Why am I still alive and your answering my questions?”

“Because I want you to have a full understanding when you die,” Tangerine answers.

Philia smiles, “Oh not today,” Her horn glows pink, “You see the thing am best at his mental magic and this room is full of it. And I mean full of it, in terms of mental spells I can simply reach out and tweak and change them. That thing on Claymari’s head for example it sends out a signal so I assume that maybe it can receive?” Philia close her eyes, “Sorry Mother.”

Suddenly Claymari opens her eyes and releases a horrorific scream. She twists and pulls on her bindings.

“What the hell?” Tangerine steps back in shock, “What the heck did she do to her?”

“She took the thoughts of everyone in the room and transferred them into Claymari,” Cyber Claymari told him.

“Is there any danger of her breaking out of there?” Tangerine asked.

“There’s no chance of her getting out of those even if she did she’d be in no state to do anything,” Sudden shock goes on Cyber Claymari’s face. She turns to Philia just as the signal from Claymari’s helmet device strike Cyber Claymari.

The duplicate screams out in pain and rives on the floor. All of the rats did the same and the ponie stopped screaming. Everyone passed out.

“Crap not good!” Tangerine shouted.

“Ahhh!” Philia screams charging at Tangerine and punching him in the face with her hoof. He falls to the ground.

“That’s for hitting me with a rock you bastard!” She spat.

A moment later Winkz teleports into the room.

“The cavalry late as usual,” Philia laughed trying to catch her breath.

“Sorry I was fighting rat monsters with Vanilla while simultaneously trying to keep two crazed Pegasus alive, all the rats suddenly died so I came here,” Winkz answered coldly. She looks around the room at all the unconscious bodies. “You handled things efficiently, I should expect no less from Claymari’s daughter. Speaking of, is that a second Claymari?” The Crystal Unicorn remarks.

“That’s Rat King or Cyber Claymari, Whatever you prefer,” Philia answered, “Speaking of,” she points at the giant dead rats. “I think these things are the source of the Rat King’s power or if anything at least the source of the rats that work for it. It may be best to completely destroy them”

“Seven? I suspect these are the original Rat Kings,” Winkz remarks, “Perhaps they worked in tandem to create the illusion abilities but needed an avatar to work themselves though.”

“Yeah and when they died they used the Rat King design and Claymari’s DNA to make a smaller weaker version of them but was smart enough to use their power,” Philia adds.

“Those smaller rats must’ve been simple clones that the big ones could also use as a relay,” Winkz points out. Then with a flash of her horn sets one of the giant rats on fire. “I’ll destroyed these things you set the others free.”

“Yes,” Philia nods her head and walks up to the hanging unconscious ponies.

The first one she freed was Petty Kitty. With a glow of her horn Philia wakes up the Miniature Cat Pony. She was quickly brought up the speed and with her lock picking skills Petty Kitty quickly freed the others.

By the time Winkz was done burning all the giant rats. All the hostages had been set free. Philia was getting exhausted from using her magic so she only made enough of them conscious to help take the remaining unconscious out of the chamber. Tangerine was the last to be taken away leaving only one laying on the ground other than a bunch of dead rats Cyber Claymari.

Winkz stood over the duplicate. She too was fully exhausted from using her fire spell and her teleportation plus the magic she was using to fight against the rats earlier.

Philia walks up to Winkz from behind.

“What do you want me to do with her?” Winkz asked.

Philia puts the transmission helmet onto Cyber Claymari’s head. “Let her be tried for her crimes, with the adjustments I made to that helmet her powers are nulled and anyone can disable her by aiming their thoughts at her.”

“Did I ever tell you that you are scary sometimes,” Winkz remarks.

“And this was the opportunity I was waiting for,” A whimsical voice said cheerfully.

Philia gasped, “Scarecrow?”

Scarecrow steps out from the shadows and starts walking towards Cyber Claymari’s unconscious body.

“Wait? How are you here you were an illusion caused by the Rat King!” Winkz shouts.

“Oh yes this form is an illusion created by the Rat King but it’s sustained by another mind entirely my dear,” Scarecrow whimsically answered.

Philia glares at Scarecrow, “Then who are you?”

Scarecrow sing a few lines, “I'm not a fan of puppeteers but I've a nagging fear, Someone else is pulling at the strings.”

“Discord!” Philia shouted.

“Technically I don’t think that name should apply since I am really 0.00002% of Discord and acts autonomously from his main consciousness, but I am fond of the name Cyber Claymari it just oozes weirdness so I will keep that,” The piece of Discord said as his essence transmits itself into Cyber Claymari’s body.

The unconscious body of Cyber Claymari stands up. The helmet on her head smoked and crumpled away. “I guess this thing can’t stand having a god transmit through it,” She smirked.

“Let me guess about how you got to be here,” Philia states, “My mother summoned you?”

“Oh yes every time I’m summoned a little piece of me gets pulled into freedom and it stays in this world ” Cyber Claymari answers, “It was one of my many escape plans, a very slow and tedious one considering I’ve been summoned a hundred or so times since I have been sealed. But as I said the pieces of me stayed in this world and I’ve been having them do so many things.”

“Winkz! Don’t let her leave this ro-!” Philia starts to shout when Cyber Claymari suddenly teleports away. “Nevermind,” She sighs.

“Is this what it feels like when I do that to people?” Winkz remarks.