For God knows how long, you clumsily swung the sword at the so aptly named Changelings. It does creep you out when beheading a drone that dons your very looks right down to your clothing. It doesn’t take long for you to get back in the action as one drone grabs your sword and tosses it aside.
“Cosgrove, I’m disarmed, I’m disarmed!” You yell at your boss, who appears to be faring much better than you are as he tosses a Changeling or two over him.
“Then call for help!” He yells back, punching a drone in the eye.
You reach for an earpiece and press a button.
“Scootaloo, we need backup!” All you could hear is static. “Apple Bloom? Sweetie Belle? Dinky?” You narrowly dodge a claw swipe before looking at your boss. “I’m getting nothing!”
You hear an irritated groan, then several loud footsteps. You are suddenly lifted from the ground, spun around, then flung towards far enough to land on the front door. You yelp before dodging the sword you lost a while ago.
“Find the jammer!” Cosgrove yells, grabbing a drone and swung it at the crowd.
“No, I’m not going to-
“That’s an order!” You see the Maximal drop another drone before crushing it’s skull. “Go!”
To your dismay, you enter the mansion. The architecture is more lovely in here than out there. The ceiling supported by fat pillars, you notice that some of the statues resemble aquatic horses, and all the artwork involve three women of various skin tones and hairstyles. But now is not the time to gawk, and so you run to your left. The buzzing of wings, Changeling screeches, and Cosgrove’s loud roaring are what gets you to panic.
“Jammer... Jammer.” You pull out dressers, flip over tables, empty vases of their contents, but there is no sign of the doohickey. You turn to your right and stop. A lone Changeling was ransacking the fridge. You immediately hug the wall, breathing rapidly while you figure out what to do. In your panic, you hear a vase break next to you, adding to your fear by gripping the wall. You hear a few creaking footsteps and rapid sniffing, holding your breath until the sounds subside.
You exhale, feeling the fear subside before you emerge from your corner before you are pounced. The Changeling didn’t move at all while you hid, and now has you in its grasp. You draw an uneasy smile as the beast inches its snout at you.
“Please… No hickeys?” The Changeling pins your head to the right. You shift your eyes to the left, using what strength your neck can muster to see the beast opening its mouth. “Damn it, I said no hickeys!”
You try to break free, but the skinny limbs have the strength of a wrestler. All you can do is cringe and wait for the inevitable. While your eyes are closed, your chest feels a lightness and your head it free from the terrible grip. You look forward and find Chelsey in her powered form, or “Pony-Up” as they call it, holding the beast with one arm.
“Anon, you might want to look away.” Chelsey asks, brandishing her meters long claws.
“I just sliced off a few heads, how is this-” You see the tall woman stab all five fingers straight into the Changeling, pull them down and cut it in half. Your eyes became wide open, holding your last meal while you see the blood and entrails fall to the floor.
“Their only bugs.” She assures, tossing the oozing carcass aside and moving away from you.
Swallowing the vomit you held back, you stand and follow Chelsey to the lobby. The battle is now in the inside of the mansion. As you run upstairs, you look to your left; Diver and Tex grappled with a few drones, the first holding the beast's head between her teeth and rolling around. You look up then duck at Zipper swooping down, Changeling between his claws. You look behind you, seeing the leather winged human toss the drone at Rumble, who stamps it. When you look forward, you see Apple Bloom grappling another drone before tossing it aside. Climbing the last set of stairs and you find Scootaloo in fisticuffs with another drone. She deals a set of swift blows, causing the drone to be limp. It lets out one final hiss before your “supervisor” kicks its head clean off at you. Instinctively you catch the head, then toss the body part aside and letting out a disgusted noise.
“Tell me you’ve found a jamming device?” You ask, still a bit shaken.
Scootaloo shows you a black object, keeping her smug face while she drops it and crushes it under her shoe. You tap your ear piece.
“Jammer is destroyed.” You still hear static, but you can tell it’s fading. “Any listening to this?”
“Crystal, sir!” You cringe at Snips and Snails yelling.
You and Scootaloo walk out; to your surprise, the drones are leaving the wrecked mansion. All except one Dapplewood beat to a pulp. One of them turns around, gives your posse a loud hiss before flying away. You follow your supervisor to your boss, who pops his knuckles and cracks his neck. He turns to you and Scootaloo.
“Well, mission accomplished?” You ask.
“Not until we find any civilians.” Cosgrove shakes the dirt.
Your nostrils pick up a strange smell. Spicy with the right qualities to make your mouth water, you scrunch your sniffer before turning to your companions.
“Anyone smell tacos?”
You see Dapplewood sniff the air, turning his horned snout to a closed door. You join them in approaching the door, letting Sweetie Belle open the door. Getting more of the spices in your nostrils, you walk with your posse, paying attention at their cautious steps. In the dark, cavernous tunnel, you use your iPhone, finding a switch that you flick up. The light reveals a large metal door. Chelsey and Tex give the door a good pounding, giving the gave a loud echo.
“Solid steel.” Tex places his ear against the door. “Sound proof too.”
“Whelp.” You turn to Apple Bloom cracking her knuckles. “Anybody up for some heavy pulling?”
You join Cosgrove, Apple Bloom, Chelsey, Diver, Dapplewood, Snips, and Snails grabbing the right edge of the lid. At the count of three, you pull with all your might, feeling your face heat up and your joints pop, groaning in frustration and pain. Your shoes old and worn, you shuffles your feet quickly to get a good grip. You open your eye a little, taking notice of the door opening a smidge. You let go and run to the other side; both feet against the wall, you grit your teeth while giving it all you got. Without warning, you belly flop, seeing the door open fully. You hear a clicking noise, looking up to a fuschia skinned woman with deep violet and teal stripes on each pigtail pointing a gun barrel at you.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” You beg for your life, covering your head.
“How do I know you’re not a Changeling?” She asks of you in a scratchy, gruff voice.
“Who else would save your carcasses?” You uncover your face to see the rest of your posse, giving her a displeasing look. You see Diver look around before squinting at the gunbearer. “Where are your sisters?”
“Present!” You yelp at a sky blue woman with aquamarine hair of two shades jump from the shadows with a grin on her face. She notices you shuffling away and grabs you in a big hug. “I’m glad you saved us!”
“Yes.” Still held in the blue woman’s grip, you look ahead to find a yellow-skinned woman with a hairstyle that reminds you of a Cheeto. Her expression calm yet suspicious, she raises her hand “If you never showed, Aria and I would suffocate from all those belches.”
You are pulled back, seeing the blue woman before she belches at your faces. You gag, pushing her mouth away and shuffling towards your posse.
“Are there any others in the vault?” You hear Chelsey ask, seeing the one with the cheeto attached to her head turn side to side.
“They have the day off.” You and your posse join the three women to the mess upstairs. The one with the cheeto hair groans before walking towards the master staircase. “I’ll order a cleanup crew.”
“Why were you attacked?” You hear Cosgrove ask.
“The more money you have, the more enemies you get. You should know that by now.” You notice the yellow woman raise a brow; it was sarcasm. “I’ll be sure to send the security footage of this little invasion.”
“Invasion?” You hear Cosgrove chuckle. “You’re a private citizen, Adagio. Not a country.”
The lady stops her ascent, and gives your group a look.
“Cosgrove, was it? I’m the head of a multinational corporation; larger than any county your walnut sized brain can understand.”
You hear your boss growl, turning to see him raise a little of his lip.
“Now, if you don’t mind.” You turn to this Adagio flipping her hand a few times. “There’s the door.”
You turn to your boss letting out a snort before he turns around. You look at Adagio, who gives you a puzzled look. Feeling uneasy, you give her an uneasy grin and join your posse, crushing several broken tiles along the way. Side by side with Scootaloo, you look up to her.
“What’s up between you and them? You ask, pointing your thumb to the mansion. You see Scootaloo narrow her eyes.
“We…” - She tightens her fist - “Had trouble.”
If fighting Principal Luna, almost eaten by a snake woman, seeing an honest to God dinosaur, and fighting Changelings means anything, then there should be something up with those three. Vampires? Maybe. But now another question pops in your mind; where are the other cars?
“How” - You look both ways - “are all of you here?”
You see Cosgrove leaning on his car before he taps his earpiece.
“Dinky, we need a Ground Bridge.”
You hear a woosh and feel your hair moving. Your front half becoming darker, you turn around and shield your eyes. Your eyes adjust to the bright light of a large, green void twice your height. Another thing seen in science fiction turned real, you just stand there and gawk while most of your pals enter the void.
“If you want, you can go with me, but it’s much faster to go through their.” You approach the portal and stretch your hand. You don’t feel a burn, rather a texture like that of sawdust. You look to your boss again. “It’s fine if you don’t have a full stomach.”
Since you haven’t eaten in awhile, why not? You enter the portal, blinding yourself a little. You find yourself in a green tunnel; streaks of light pass over you while you stand in awe.
“Hey!” You hear Dinky’s voice from the other side. “It’s in or out from here!”
Focused, you run towards the light and shut your eyes. Going through the “sawdust,” you open your eyes and find yourself back at school. You start to raise a smile. But your stomach goes X Ambassadors on you. Your last meal goes up your esophagus faster than you can react and so vomit yellow and clear mucus. You feel someone pat your back and say something, but you just keep vomiting.