P.O.N.I.E.S.

by Kieva Lynn

Chapter Four

"We... Do have a plan right?" Rainbow Dash asked as the monstrous scorpion drew closer. "Cause I was just kidding about what I said before..."

"Okay!" Twilight suddenly exclaimed, "First things first: Fluttershy, can you get some small animals to distract it? I'm not talking about having them actually attack or get hurt or anything, just some birds to fly by, get it's attention, maybe slow it down?"

"I'll try." Fluttershy whispered. "Hay Lin?"

"Right." Hay Lin opened her book and read the spell aloud. "Fluttering Wing! Pony Dolittle!" As the spell took effect, restoring the pegasus' ability to communicate with animals, she flew up and called out for any birds in the area. It took mere seconds for the roof to be covered in pigeons, doves, sparrows, and even a small flock of Canadian Geese.

While Fluttershy spoke with the avians, Twilight turned her attention to Rarity and Applejack. "Okay girls, I'm thinking that if A.J. can hold the monster in place, Rarity can attack with gems like she did with the giant that attacked her and Cornelia. I can try to help with that, but it's probably better if I teleport Rarity around from rooftop to rooftop, so she can be moved quickly out of danger."

"And then I buck it in the face right?" Rainbow asked. As she was speaking, the entire mass of birds rose into the air and flew in a tight flock, arcing up, north, down, and in front of the scorpion's face from right to left.

"Nah," Applejack said, "What you need 't do is carry me around so I can be moving quick like Twi and Rarity."

"Aw nuts." Rainbow complained.

Will stared at her partner. "You're actually mad that you get to stay away from that thing!?"

"Will's right Rainbow." Twilight said. The Scorpion had ignored the bird's first pass. But as they swooped down before it again, it halted it's advance to observe.

"What about us?" Irma asked of herself and Pinkie.

"Well... We can't really say, since we still don't know what Pinkie can do with whatever her spell did." Taranee answered.

"Oh! That's easy!" Pinkie exclaimed. From under the Batmane cape on her back, she produced what looked like a small cannon. "Are you ready, old chum?" She asked of Gummy in a flawless Adam West voice, then shoved the reptile tail-first into the cannon's muzzle, aimed it, and fired. Gummy shot out, trailing a rope that had somehow gotten tied to his tail. He sailed through the sky straight and true, and chomped down with his mouth when he reached the roof edge of the next building over.

Pinkie yanked hard on the rope, confirming that Gummy's grip was sound despite his lack of teeth, then tied her end of the rope to a chimney stack. "Remember every creature!" She said to the others, eyes narrowed in a serious expression, "Safety first! All four manipulatory appendages on the bat-rope!" And with that she started to shimmey across the rope.

"Huh. 'Gator Grappler.'" Elyon quoted. "It actually kind of makes sense now."

Cornelia glanced sideways at Irma. "Oh, you two are just perfect for each other."

"Shut up." Irma said, and began to cross over behind Pinkie.

"Hey! This is perfect!" Rainbow said, realization in her eyes, "Pinkie can move A.J. around! I can get back in the fight!"

"I still don't think you should go anywhere near that thing." Will said.

"I've bucked a full grown dragon in the face!" Rainbow countered.

"Whatever you're going to do, figure it out quick!" Taranee exclaimed, "It's coming again!" Sure enough, the scorpion had gotten over it's fascination with the flocking birds and was approaching once more.

"Rainbow, just be careful please, whatever you do!" Twilight said. She looked at Taranee. "Now let's do this!"

Four books were opened; four spells were cast:

"Mystic Prodigy! Quantum Transposition!"

"Green Hoof Style! Verdant Snare!"

"Fashion Fabulous! Glittering Gemstrike!"

"Mystic Spectrum! Broken Wing Style!"

Seemingly drawn by the sudden bursts of magical energy, the scorpion picked up it's pace, practically lunging towards the building they were standing atop.

"Rarity! With me!" Twilight shouted. The unicorns and their partners huddled together, and she teleported them to a nearby rooftop.

"The rest of y'all go ahead an' follow Pinkie!" Applejack said, "I'll be right behind ya!" As the girls began to make their way across the rope Pinkie had cast, the mare stomped a fore hoof down hard. She had been concerned that it might not work from the roof, as opposed to being in contact with the ground directly, but such a fear proved to be ungrounded when vines and roots, responding to Earth Pony magic, erupted out of the ground all around the scorpion, wrapping about it's legs, claws, and tail.

Even as the roots were shooting up from the earth, they were joined by a veritable army of gemstones drawn out by Rarity's magic and accelerated towards the scorpion like tiny sparkling missiles. The first wave struck their mark, drawing blood, but before the second batch could arrive the monstrous creature tore it's way free of the vines and turned to face where the assault had come from. Twilight was teleporting her group clear even as the scorpion turned, and a good thing too, for as soon as it was facing the building they had just vacated, it raised it's tail up and fired a powerful beam of energy from the tip, demolishing the structure.

Hovering above looking for an opening to attack, Rainbow shouted "All right that's cheating!" Then yelped as she had to dive quickly to avoid a shot aimed at her. She looped around and through the ruins of a half-destroyed building, drawing fire as she went.

Meanwhile, Twilight's group had reappeared on the roof of the next building over from where Applejack and the others had moved to. "What happened?" Cornelia shouted.

Applejack answered back "It's stronger than the giants!"

"Can you make thicker vines?" Taranee asked.

Nodding, the farm mare replied "Yeah! But I don't think it'll matter how thick and strong I make 'em! It'll tear free eventually!"

"We need to do it anyway!" Fluttershy said, "It's getting closer to hitting Rainbow Dash with each shot!"

With a decisive nod, Applejack stomped down with both fore hooves, drawing out vines as thick as the trunks of centuries-old oak trees, again snaring the scorpion, which let out an angry roar as it began to thrash against the restraints.

"Pinkie, you got another line!?" Elyon asked.

"Sure!" Pinkie loaded Gummy into the grappling gun again and fired him at an angle upwards, latching to the top of a higher building, and everyone began to climb.

At the top, they were met by Rainbow Dash. "Stupid cheating laser tail!" She grumbled.

"Yeah, don't you hate when the bad guy pulls new powers out of nowhere?" Pinkie replied. "Wish I could do that."

"You pulled an alligator out of your cape." Hay Lin said.

"Oh that's right! I totally can!"

"Focus on the fight people!" Irma demanded. "Something's happening!"

As they looked down, they saw that the scorpion had freed it's tail, if nothing else, and was now shooting at the various places Twilight and Rarity were teleporting to. The unicorns had chosen to move from roof tops to the ground, in order to minimize damage to any more buildings and give themselves room to maneuver if needed. Rarity was still chucking gems as fast as she could, but the tiny holes they were punching were little more than pinpricks to the monster.

At one point, having found a perfectly shaped gem, Rarity attempted the same move she had used to destroy the giant earlier in the day. The scorpion's more potent bean just vaporized the diamond without being reflected. "It was a good try." Cornelia said as they arrived at their next stop.

"Yes. Too bad." Rarity agreed. She lobbed another volley, then asked "Twilight? How are your magic reserves? I know teleportation takes a lot out of even you..."

"I'm okay for now." Twilight answered, but she was clearly starting to perspire heavily.

Taranee said "Take us directly behind it Twilight. Maybe it's tail can't turn far enough to shoot at that angle."

"Good thinking."

They arrived at the scorpion's rear to discover that Taranee's hunch had been spot-on. The creature thrashed and swayed and tried in vain to aim, but was unable to do so. Rarity took advantage of the moment's respite to gather up a larger supply of gems to throw, and Twilight rested from the multiple teleports.

It was right about then that things took a turn for the chaotic again, with the appearance of soldiers on several rooftops, taking aim and firing with rocket propelled grenades and large heavy machine guns. The shots mostly found their mark, but the scorpion's armor was so strong that it took little damage. In fact, if anything the assault may have made things worse, given that the restraining vines Applejack had created, already weakened by the creature's own escape attempts, began to be torn apart under the barrage.

As Applejack did what she could to regenerate some of the vines, a door slammed open behind the group, and another team of soldiers rushed out onto the roof, aiming their weapons at the ponies and girls. "What are you doing!?" Their sergeant demanded, looking at the glow around A.J.'s hooves.

"Tryin' 't keep big ugly pinned down!"

Below, the scorpion fired energy beams at a pair of buildings, demolishing the first and heavily damaging the second. The barrage of heavy weapons fire tapered off as the attacking soldiers laid low while waiting for a plan. "Sir! We have to stop those blasts!" One of the soldiers shouted. "We're all going down otherwise!"

"What do you think we're trying to do!?" Rainbow exclaimed.

The Sergeant waved for his men to lower their weapons. "You're fighting it then? You're not in league with it?"

"Well duh." Rainbow grumbled, but Hay Lin waved her down.

"It's a long story sir. But yes, we're on the same side."

"What the hell, I'll give you a chance..." He answered. Looking back at his troops, he said "Now, how can we take out the tail?"

"Leave that to me!" Pinkie suddenly declared, standing up on her back hooves to strike a heroic pose.

The soldiers stared at the cape and cowled pink mare in disbelief, and one of them said "And who are you supposed to be?"

In an instant, Pinkie was in the man's face, gripping his collar, leaning in eye to eye. "I'm Batmane."

The soldier let out a surprised yelp and stumbled back as Pinkie hopped to the roof line, loaded Gummy, and fired him and a trailing line up and over the scorpion, latching to a building on the far side. Then with an excited shout of "Cowabunga!!" she swung on the rope, down, down, and landed atop the tip of the creature's tail.

"She is out. Of her. Freaking. Mind." Will said.

"No argument here." Applejack agreed, and chuckled as everyone present, even the soldiers, muttered their own assents to the sentiment.

Riding the thrashing tail like a bucking rodeo bull, Pinkie held tight (somehow) and pulled loose a panel in the armor that concealed a large interface module. "Okay, let's see... If I can sabotage this somehow it won't be able to shoot... Where's an instruction manual when you need one...? Like, a nice big spiral bound book called 'Giant Monster Death Scorpions For Dummies.' Oh! Here it is!" She examined a diagram on the inside of the panel she had opened. "Huh... I forgot I don't read Monster. Oh well, there's always the backup plan..." She looked up to where the others were still watching. "Rainbow Dash! Open panel!"

Rainbow smiled as she realized what Pinkie wanted her to do. "Say goodbye to the tail laser thingy." Before anyone could stop her, she flew high into the sky, then dived, gaining tremendous speed as she streaked down in a bee line straight for the open panel and the now vulnerable equipment that had been behind it. Just as she reached the target, Rainbow flipped into a Broken Wing pose designed for striking high speed blows without going 'splat' yourself. The actual blow was delivered so quickly that Rainbow was already rebounding up past the roof everyone was watching from before the smoke and sparks started rolling out of the damaged machinery. The scorpion tried to fire the beam weapon again, but got only sparks for the trouble. "Boo-Yaa! Who's the Mare!?" Rainbow boasted as she fluttered back down to the roof.

"That... Was impressive." One of the troops admitted.

"Yes. But what about Pinkie Pie?" Fluttershy asked.

"What about me?" Pinkie asked, popping up behind everyone, causing no shortage of shocked screams.

"What the... When did you get back up here?" Elyon demanded.

"Silly filly!" Pinkie smiled. "Where else would I be?"

The shouting match that arose from this was quickly quieted by a stern command from the Guard Sergeant, who was holding a small radio to his ear. "Quiet! I need to hear this!" He listened for several more seconds, then visibly blanched. "Oh #@&%..."

Heatherfield Police Deputy Thomas Lair was standing guard duty outside the seventh precinct headquarters. He understood the importance of the position; with all the strangeness happening in and around town, a strong visible presence was vital to keeping people calm. Still, considering that absolutely nothing had happened anywhere within the precinct, he was bored out of his mind. He glanced sideways across the entryway to the officer assigned to assist him, someone he'd never met before from the beach district. Tom couldn't help but take note of the fact that the man seemed more relieved than bored. "So... You've actually seen some of this crap?" He asked.

Varghness nodded. "Kinda-sorta. Didn't see any of the giants except as scrap metal. Got chased by a pegasus thing though."

"You don't say? Weird, I mean, what's the connection between giant robots and a flying horse?"

"Damned if I know." Varghness answered honestly. "I mean, there's gotta be a link for both to show up at the same time right? But we saw evidence that the pony things are fighting the robots. Winning too, somehow."

"Huh." Was all Tom could think of to say.

The two officers stood in silence for several more minutes, at which point the doors slammed open. "Lair!" the detective at the door shouted, "Get in here! Chief wants to see you yesterday!"

"What about the guard post?"

"Hell, I dunno. Varghness can hold it 'til you get back maybe, not like there's anything going on close by here anyway. Now come on!"

Tom shrugged his shoulders and followed the detective back into the building. They walked across the lobby, down a series of narrow halls, and up three flights of stairs, to reach the police chief's office. Along the way, Tom had tried to get some answers out of the detective, but the man wasn't talking. Finally, they stepped in through the open office door.

Tom Lair had only been in this particular office twice before, and it still impressed him; Furnished in a long-gone era when even low level government projects were well funded and maintained, the walls were rich oak wood, hand carved into ornamental shapes along the baseboards and ceiling edges, polished to a level that practically shone. The carpet was a thick deep pile, reddish-brown patterned with gold, and even the chief's furnishings were top of the line, inherited from his predecessors of many generations.

Of course, Tom had to admit that as exquisite as the surroundings were, Chief Harold Dodgson impressed him even more. Six-foot-seven, approaching seventy years of age but with a build and musculature worthy of envy from most men half his age, Dodgson matched his physical appearance with a sharp mind, piercing eyes, and a voice so deep it made Darth Vader sound like a prepubescent girl. A voice the man now rumbled out greetings in; "Detective O'Conner, Officer Lair, please, come in, sit." As they found their seats, the Chief continued, "I suppose you're wondering why you're here...?"

"Yes sir, I am." Tom answered. "Nothing's happened to any of my family has it?"

"No one is harmed, so far as we can tell." Dodgson said. "In fact, we've sent a pair of officers to protect your wife and son who are currently located at an emergency shelter east of town."

"Protective custody...? But why... Wait, you said my wife and son! What about my daughter!?"

"That's why you're here deputy." O'Conner finally spoke.

Dodgson nodded. "Exactly. Take a close look at this Tom..."

The Chief picked up a remote and switched on a large flat screen behind his desk. He pushed another button, and video of the battle between the Guard, the Scorpion, and the Ponies began to play. Dodgson said "Now look close as I zoom in..." The screen zoomed in once, twice, three times on the rooftop ponies, the image blurring somewhat, though whatever camera had captured it must have been top-of-the-line: even with multiple zooms, individual features were still recognizable. Features including...

"Irma?" Tom gasped. "That's Irma! What's she doing out there!?"

"She appears to be aiding and abetting the aliens." O'Conner said. "The horse ones anyways."

"She's gonna get herself killed!" Tom shouted, and then he turned and bolted from the room.

"Lair get back here!" O'Conner screamed, but it was no use.

Dodgson merely chuckled. "What did you expect detective? It's his daughter. Of course he's going after her. And since you're the one assigned to Lair's protection, you'd better get moving to go after him...."

O'Conner cursed under his breath, and ran to follow the deputy.

As Tom rushed out the front doors of the precinct building his phone began to ring. Knowing who it had to be, ignoring the frantic shouting of Deputy Varghness who was following along behind, he took the call. “Anna?”

“Yes! Tom what the hell is going on!? There are deputies here who say we're 'under their protection' and I can't get Irma to answer her phone!”

“Easy Anna.” Tom replied, “I know where Irma is, and I'm on my way to her right now.”

“And she's okay?” Anna Lair asked.

“The last I knew. And she'll stay that way no matter what I have to do to make sure of it!” Tom fell silent, electing against telling his wife the full details that it sounded like she hadn't been told just yet. No reason to worry her. After a moment he added “You just stay with the officers, do what they say, and keep yourself and Chris safe. Okay?”

“A... Alright. But I expect some answers!” Anna insisted.

“And you'll have them soon, I promise. Gotta go. Love you.” Tom hung up his cell just as Varghness caught up to him.

“Lair, where's the fire?” The other deputy asked.

“My daughter's right in the middle of this. And I'm going after her. Don't you try to stop me.”

“Meh, I won't. But I won't let you go alone either. Come on...”

Tom nodded his appreciation, and they rushed side by side towards the danger...

“Company retreat!” National Guard Sergeant Rivera shouted, “Immediate evac!” As the other troops began to fall back off of the roof, he looked at the girls and the ponies with them. “We've all got to get out of here, fast. The brass is calling in the big guns for our big ugly friend down there.”

“Ain't that a good thing?” Applejack asked.

“I kinda think you ponies might not know how powerful human weapons can get.” Irma said. To the Sergeant she asked “When you say 'big guns' you mean...?”

“A-10's and F-35's.” Rivera replied.

Irma paled. “That won't leave much of the block standing will it?”

“No Ma'am. So let's move.”

“I'll fly down and tell Twilight!” Rainbow said, “Maybe once the rest of us get to the ground level she can teleport us clear!”

“Good thinking. Everyone else down those stairs now!” Elyon shouted, and then everyone was running for it.

Rainbow Dash kept a wary eye on the scorpion as she fluttered down the outside of the building to where Twilight, Rarity, Cornelia, and Taranee waited. Too busy thrashing in distress over the loss of it's tail gun, the creature didn't attack.

“Twi! We gotta get out of here!” Rainbow exclaimed as she landed.

“What!?” Twilight asked. “What's happened?”

“It's what's gonna happen!” Rainbow said, and explained as much of the danger as she understood. “So, everything here's gonna blow up and we need to to teleport us clear before it does!” She finished.

“Rainbow Dash! I'm exhausted!” Twilight answered. “I can't possible teleport everyone a city block or more away!”

“Then I guess we'd better run for our lives!” Cornelia said. The ponies agreed, and they ran, joining the others just as they were coming out the front doors.

Sighting Sergeant Rivera, Rainbow flew alongside him and asked “How long do we have?”

“Less than five minutes now!” Rivera shouted back.

“We'll never make it far enough in that time!” Taranee said. “Especially those of us who aren't really athletic! My legs are already starting to tire out.”

“And Twilight is flatly exhausted as it is.” Rarity said.

“Well heck, I got Twilight!” Applejack said, moving a fluid sideways maneuver that allowed her to slide under Twilight, getting the unicorn up onto her back.

“But won't that slow you down Applejack?” Hay Lin wondered.

“Girl I work on a farm all day!” the Earth Pony snorted. “I could juggle things heavier than Twi!:

Everyone chuckled, and then Rarity said “All well and good darlings, but about getting out of range before we all die horribly?”

No one had an answer just then, so they kept running. It was only two minutes later that an incredibly loud high-pitched rumble rose from the skies above. “Is that...?” Will started to ask.

“It is.” Rivera said. “They'll probably make one pass over the target zone to see what they've got, then turn and swing back through for the attack.”

“And what will the attack consist of?” Taranee asked.

“Most likely, the A-10's will hit first. Their primary weapon is a cannon so big and powerful that the things are less planes with big guns than a big gun with just enough plane wrapped around it to get it in the air.”

“I get it. If the cannons do the trick they won't have drop bombs. Less damage that way.” Taranee said, nodding.

“Exactly. And considering those cannons are designed to fire thirty nine hundred rounds per minute of armor piercing depleted uranium shells, God help us all if they're not enough.”

“And God help the lot of us if the cannons don't work and they need the bombs.” Another guardsman said. Thousand pound thermobaric weapons? We won't stand a chance this close.”

Riding atop Applejack's back, Twilight asked, “But if they try cannons instead of explosives first, won't that buy us another minute or so to get further away, even if they do end up needing the bombs?”

“It just might.” Rivera agreed. “So nobody give up! Keep running!”

Overhead, Pinkie whooped with joy as she swung from building to building Spider-man style on the Gummy-lines. She was actually making better progress than the others, pulling ahead of them, disturbing birds which had been perching on parapets and balustrades as she went. Several faces looked up as the pink mare passed, also catching the briefest glimpse of the war planes as they swooped overhead.

“Jet engines?” Twilight asked, wide-eyed. “You're using jet propulsion? Equestria's experimented with it but we've not gotten it working yet.”

“Yeah. If I remember my history, we had a hard time working out the bugs too. Simple in principle, fiendishly complex in practice.” Taranee managed to say, breathing heavily now as all the running began to take it's toll.

Suddenly, and to the surprise of everyone who knew her, Fluttershy gave a loud gasp and said “Jets! I remember learning about them in flight school!”

“Yeah, so...?” Rainbow Dash asked with a raised eyebrow.

“So,” Fluttershy answered, reverting to a quieter voice, “I have an idea! They can't risk flying into anything that could get sucked into the jets right?”

“...Right...” Cornelia said.

“And they wouldn't shoot at little birds flying around in the air, right?”

Rivera said “I doubt it. I mean, it'd be hard to hit anything that small, and a waste of very expensive ammunition that needs to be saved for the actual target.”

“Perfect!” The yellow pegasus flew up and called out in a melodic voice, like a wordless song. All around, birds again answered her call, both those that had helped out before and new individuals as well. They flew up and formed a swirling cloud of feathered creatures, like a shield over the area.

“That's... Actually brilliant.” Cornelia grinned.

Elyon said “Yeah, they can't fly into cannon range safely now.”

“Then we can stop and rest?” Rarity asked.

Rivera shook his head. “Not a chance. Your yellow friend bought us a few more minutes; since they do want to limit collateral damage they'll give the birds some time to disperse in the hopes of using the cannons. But if this keeps up they'll just go ahead with the bombs.”

“Then let's get the buck out of here!” Rainbow declared, flying ahead, and the rest of the group followed. Behind them came a roar as the scorpion finally remember what it had been doing when it lost it's tail and spun about, searching for it's prey. Unable to locate their trail, it began demolishing buildings again.

Sergeant Rivera was listening when the call came over the radios from the A-10 lead. “Dusk Leader, Dusk Leader to H.Q.”

“H.Q. Here Dusk Leader, what have you got?”

“Something odd H.Q. We're tracking the target, but are unable to engage due to an enormous flock of birds posing a flight risk.”

“Dusk Leader, is target mobile?”

“Negative H.Q., Target is remaining in position.

“Copy that. Orders are as follows: If target becomes mobile, drop bombs at will. Otherwise, give the birds five minutes.”

“Copy that H.Q.”

Rivera grinned. “I called it. We've picked up another five so long as it stays put.”

“Hey Mister Soldier?” Hay Lin asked. Rivera grinned and gave his name. Hay Lin nodded and said “What about the football stadium? It's walls are three feet thick concrete and it's just around the next corner.”

“That's enough armor to take the shockwaves at this distance... I'd still be worried about the atmospheric suction though... Thermobarics eat a lot of oxygen as they burn, creates a veritable hurricane of winds sucking in towards the blast.”

Twilight said “But, if this stadium has doors on all sides, the wind would just flow through.”

“Yeah! We tie ourselves down to ride it out, we'd be good.” Taranee agreed.

They rounded the corner, and the massive Heatherfield Stadium came into view. Rivera shrugged. “I got nothing better. Everybody inside on the double!”

Together, the group made a run for the stadium. Arriving, they found the entry doors locked tight, though that was hardly a concern for soldiers wielding automatic weapons. Careful of the shattered glass, they piled through the doors and into the building.

"Find something to tie ourselves down with!" Rivera ordered.

Everyone scattered through the structure, looking for whatever they could find: rope, bungee straps, anything that could be used to firmly attach themselves to something heavy or anchored into the concrete floors. They regathered quickly, and began too strap down to chairs and support columns.

"How long do we have?" Fluttershy asked once everyone was secure.

"Thirty seconds to a minute, I'd say." Taranee replied.

Rainbow asked "Okay, so what's the big deal?"

"Yes, what can we expect?" Rarity agreed.

"If the A-10 cannons work, nothing but a lot of loud noise here." Rivera explained. "If they have to drop the bombs... Let's just say it'll get really loud, really hot, and really windy even here, and you'd better hope these ropes hold or we'll get sucked into a little preview of the fires of hell."

From outside came the rapid heavy thudding of cannon fire, and the loud screaching of the scorpion as the assault began. "Here we go..." Will whispered.

Rivera shushed her as he pressed the earpiece in, listening to radio traffic. The shooting continued for perhaps twenty seconds, and then there was silence. "Did they get it?" Twilight asked.

"Sounds like." Rivera answered, "But damn it took a pounding to do it."

"Okay, let's get out of here." Irma said. She and Rainbow were starting to undo their ropes when a strange low rumble thrummed through the air. "The hell...?"

The next thing they all heard was shrieking.

"More scorpions!" Rivera shouted. "Those portal gate things opened up and three more scorpions came through!"

In the distance, the cannon fire resumed.

Hay Lin said "Wait, if these are new, won't they still have-"

"-The tail lasers!" Twilight finished.

"Aw crap!" Irma agreed.

The distinctive sound of the tail's energy beams echoed through the air, followed by a new sound that grew rapidly louder. Then, in an instant, the stadium roof was sheared off by the impact of a flaming fighter jet crashing through and continuing on out of sight past the further wall. Debris fell on the cowering humans and ponies, though only a little; most of the roof had been carried along with the jet to the far end and beyond. Then there was another blast and shockwave as what was left of the jet hit the ground.

"This is crazy!" Elyon shouted, "We're all gonna die here!" Applejack tried to comfort her partner with a foreleg around the shoulders, but it wasn't effective.

Still holding a hand over his ear trying to listen in on communications, Rivera suddenly looked up. "Hold on tight everyone, here it comes!"

Half a second more and the loudest, deepest, noise the ponies had ever heard blasted it's way through the stadium, accompanied by a violent shaking of the ground. The bombs had been dropped. Even blocks away from the targets, they could feel the temperature rising, and a hot wind arose, sucking in oxygen to feed the ravenous flames. All through the building, the winds rose well over a hundred miles per hour, grabbing at the refugees as they held tightly to each other, the ropes anchoring them down, and whatever else they could get ahold of...

"I don't care who the hell you are! Get. Out. Of. My. Way!" Tom Lair was roaring at the top of his breath to the team of black-suited men who had cut off his journey towards the battleground. They were unimpressed.

"Try to understand our point of view Deputy. Your daughter is in the presence of alien life forms. Even setting aside the question of the unexplained capabilities these aliens have demonstrated, she will still need to be quarantined for some time in case of unknown diseases."

Another of the men added, "And then, of course, we can't really set aside the other question. These... ...things... ...may look like cute pastel horses but they possess abilities unknown to human science. Those exposed to them could be compromised."

"Compromised!?" Lair exclaimed. "What!? You mean like mind control or something!? That's insane!"

"All of this is insane Deputy."

Varghness made the mistake of speaking up; "I kind of have to agree with Lair on this." He said, "I mean, I was around one of the Pegasai for awhile and I feel alright."

"You've been exposed!?" Before Varghness could react, two of the black-suited men moved with incredible speed, one slipping behind him to bind his arms while the other produced a syringe of sedative and jammed it into the officer's neck. He was down in seconds.

"Seriously?" Lair demanded.

"As you can see Deputy, we take this job seriously."

To Tom's surprise, Detective O'Conner took his side, saying "I respect that you gentlemen have a job to do. But so do we. Officer Lair's daughter is in danger, and his wife and son are waiting for news."

"Oh we've covered that." The first suit replied. "In fact, if I'm not mistaken, here they come now." As he spoke a large panel truck drove into view around the corner and braked to a halt alongside the group. A side panel opened, and inside they could see people that Tom recognized: Anna, Chris, and the mothers and fathers of several of Irma's friends.

"What the hell is this!?"

"Protective custody. Lair, look, we're not the bad guys here. All we want is to make sure our citizens are safe from whatever the hell is going on around here. And that means both getting your daughter and the other girls in quarantine until we're sure they're not infected or compromised, and getting the rest of your families secure in case this comes back on you somehow."

Tom took a moment to calm himself. "All right." He eventually said, "I can see that. But what about-"

Whatever he was about to say was cut off by the sudden eruption of cannon fire, followed by flashes of light and an explosion. Another suit, this one a woman, rushed up to the others. "Air Force fighters have engaged the hostiles. The first scorpion is down, but more have appeared and an A-10 has been destroyed. F-35's are dropping thermobarics as we speak." She reported.

Two seconds later, the shockwaves echoed through Heatherfield as the massive bombs exploded. "Irma!" Tom shouted, and not thinking tried to struggle through the men in his way. The last thing he was aware of was Anna shouting his name as he was clubbed over the head and fell into unconsciousness...

"Blergh... What happened...?" Tom Lair's vision swam about as he came to, the sight of Anna hovering above all he could make out.

"You got blindsided." Anna replied.

Memories came back in a rush as Tom sat up, seeing that he was now in the back of the same panel truck that was carrying the others. Seated along the sides were Harold and Elizabeth Hale, Susan Vandom, Lionel and Teresa Cook, Alborn and Miriabelle Brown, Chen and Lisa Lin, and Chris. Two men in black suits stood at the front and back of the compartment, carrying large guns, and the woman who had delivered news of the attack was also present.

"...Irma?"

"We have reason to believe none of the children were harmed Officer." The woman said. "At last contact, they were with a National Guard division, making a run for safety clear of the blast zone."

"And they got out?" Elizabeth asked.

"Unknown as yet, but the guard Captain's life sign telemetry is still reading him as alive."

There was a general sigh of relief through the truck at this news, then Theresa Cook said "Okay, so let's talk about the legality of what you're doing. You are aware that I'm a federal judge right?"

"Fully aware. These actions fall under the Homeland Security Act. We've done nothing illegal."

"That's a scary thought." Harold muttered.

"Can you at least tell us where you're taking us?" Susan asked.

"Fort Wyvern. You won't be allowed to leave or have outside contact until all the questions surrounding these events is cleared up, but you will be held in officer's quarters rather than the barracks or prison cells."

"And our girls?" Lionel asked.

"Will also be at Fort Wyvern, in bio-secure cells. You'll be able to see them, so long as there's no trouble."

Teresa asked "And how long will this quarantine last?"

"At least a month ma'am.... If you'll excuse me...?" The woman stood and exited through a front door to the truck's cab.

"So what the hell do we do now?" Alborn asked.

"We go along. What else can we do?" Harold said. "I just pray that they all got out of there in time..."

Rainbow Dash shook her head and moaned. "What happened? Did I black out?"

"I think we all did, but not for long." Twilight answered. She called out "Is everyone okay?" A chorus of voices answered back, all confirming that they were, perhaps, a bit ruffled around the edges but otherwise intact.

It took a few moments for everyone to get free of the ropes they had tied themselves down with. Pinkie in particular had entangled herself in a Frankensteinian horror of a knot that defied all reason. Once they were all back on their feet though, all eyes went to Rivera, who was listening intently to the radio in his ear.

"Please tell me that got 'em all." Will asked.

"Probably." Rivera answered. "No confirmation as yet though."

"I'll fly up and take a look!" Rainbow announced.

Rivera motioned for her to wait. "It wouldn't do any good. Too much smoke and dust in the air. Besides, We've got something else to talk about."

Noting something off in the man's tone, Applejack gave him a wary stare. "Oh yeah? An' what's that?"

"I'm sorry. But I have orders." Rivera motioned with his right hand and all of his troops drew their weapons and took aim at the ponies and their human partners.

"What!?" Rainbow exclaimed, "You've gotta be bucking joking!"

"Totally! We helped you guys out!" Elyon agreed.

"This is most uncouth."

"You're gonna lose us as friends! Forever!"

"Fascist!"

The Sergeant held up both hands in a placating manner. "Hold on! Calm down! I'm just doing my job here!

"By gunning us down!?" Irma shouted.

Rivera chuckled. "You'll... ...Notice we haven't actually opened fire."

"Well..."

"Look, we just need you to-"

Before Rivera could finish what he was about to say, a section of the stadium's south wall, about two hundred feet from where the group was standing, exploded inward, leaving a hole that admitted a scorpion. It was in terrible shape; Tail gone, half of it's legs non-functional, large sections of armor totally burned away, but it was still up and coming after it's prey.

"Are you kidding me!?" Cornelia exclaimed.

The soldiers reacted with admirable speed, turning to face the greater threat and opening fire as it came straight towards them. "Scatter!" Rivera ordered, and everyone did so.

As they rushed away in all directions, Hay Lin, Cornelia, and Fluttershy ended up running (or in Flutter's case, flying) alongside each other. They were halfway across the arena when they heard a man scream in pain. Looking back, they saw that one of the troops hadn't been fast enough; the scorpion now had him pinned down, looming over his form, opening it's mouth to finish the job.

"No! We have to do something!" Fluttershy yelled, and turned to fly back the way she had come.

"Is she crazy!?" Cornelia demanded.

"No, she just cares!" Hay Lin ran after her partner, Cornelia following after half a moment's hesitation.

Flying was of course faster than running, and the pegasus reached the scorpion and it's downed prey first. She stared into it's eyes. "Shame on you! Let this poor man go right now! Do you hear me!? What will your mother think of this?"

"What the hell is she doing?" Rivera wondered.

"Something that would have worked back home." Rainbow said. "But it's no good here!" With a flurry of wind, she zipped as fast as she could towards Fluttershy.

Meanwhile, Fluttershy had realized her error as the scorpion roared as loud as it could and lunged both of it's claws at her. Rainbow made it just in time, knocking both of them clear as the claws closed on empty air. They landed next to Twilight and Taranee.

"Thank you Rainbow." Fluttershy said, "But the poor man!"

"I've got it." Twilight said. "Taranee?"

Taranee gave a nod and flipped Twilight's book open. "Mystic Prodigy! Quantum Transposition!"

Twilight vanished in the glow of a teleportation spell, reappearing beneath the scorpion and then vanishing again with the wounded soldier in tow, delivering him next to Rivera and several of his men.

"Thank you." The Sergeant whispered.

"Not at all. Let's just talk next time instead of pulling weapons on us."

"Look, I just-"

Twilight held up a hoof. "No. I think I get it. Quarantine, right? Make sure there's nothing to be afraid of?"

"Well, yeah."

As Twilight and Rivera were speaking, the scorpion shuffled about, confused by the sudden loss of its captured prey. From around the arena, soldiers opened fire whenever they had a shot, but even with the damage it had already sustained their guns just weren't powerful enough to do any more harm.

"Looks like your guard guys aren't doin' much." Applejack observed.

Elyon nodded. "No. But what more could we do?"

"Somethin'. We gotta do somethin'..."

Pinkie popped up between the pair, no longer dressed as Batman. "It's too bad my Pinkieness isn't working." She said, "If it was, I'd just pull a party grenade out of nowhere then appear mysteriously behind the meanypants bug, pull the pin, and toss it in his mouth! And then it would be all like 'There's a party in my mouth and everyone's invited!'"

"O~kay..." Elyon stepped back from Pinkie.

"Wait hold on..." Applejack said. "Pinks might be onto something here... Those guard humans have regular grenades right?"

"I would imagine."

"So, what if I grew up some vines t' hold the thing down, with it's mouth open, an' then they chucked some grenades in?"

"Let's get to the others." Elyon agreed, "It's worth trying..."

"I like it." Twilight said after Applejack explained the plan. "But wouldn't it put the soldiers throwing the grenades in danger?"

"It would." Rivera agreed. "Unless... Think one of your pegasus friends could drop them in it's mouth from above?"

"Oh, not me please..." Fluttershy whispered.

"I'm all over it." Rainbow agreed.

Together they hammered out a plan. Rivera gathered grenades from his men and showed Dash how to use them, while Elyon activated Applejack's book. The order was given to the troops to stop shooting. Everything was ready, save for one last detail. As the scorpion overcame it's confusion and began searching out it's hidden quarry, Taranee looked the Sergeant in his eyes and said "Once this is over, you gonna turn on us again?"

Twilight held a hoof up. "Wait. Sergeant, we talked about this. Do I have your word that no harm will come to us if we go with you?"

"So long as you're not our enemies, yes." Rivera replied. "I meant what I said before. This is just about making sure there's no diseases or anything to worry about." He looked back into Taranee's eyes. "Believe me, Miss, this isn't the movies where the army immediately dissects any alien they get ahold of. If there's a shot at making allies out there, we're going to take it." He glanced to the scorpion. "Especially now."

"Then, we'll go with you." Twilight said. She looked around at the others. "Agreed?"

The others agreed, albeit with some trepidation from some of them.

"Okay... So let's squash a bug!" Rainbow pumped a hoof in the air.

The plan was straightforward. First, Applejack stepped out into view, on the far side of the stadium from the scorpion. It saw her instantly, roared, and lunged across the arena right towards her. As it reached the half-way point, the pony slammed a hoof to the ground, growing large thick vines that wrapped all around the creature's body, holding it down, with it's mouth open and pointing up. It struggled to free itself, but A.J. just kept the vines growing thinker and stronger. "Yer up Dash!" She called out.

A bandero of grenades held between her forehooves, Dash flew above the creature, positioning herself straight over it's mouth. She pulled the cord Rivera had rigged, which yanked the pins from all the grenades at once, and dropped them. "Down the hatch!" She laughed as it fell in, and then she was flying away as fast as she could while Applejack pulled the mouth shut with the vines around it.

As Dash returned to the group, Will was asking "Did it work? Shouldn't they have exploded by now?"

Rivera stared at his watch. "Three... Two... One..."

The boom was bigger than any of the ponies or teens expected. This was far more than just a muffled 'whump!' from inside the scorpion's body. The body disintegrated, little bits thrown in all directions from the shockwave. Humans and Ponies took cover as the remains rained down on them, squeals of general disgust accompanied by Rarity and Cornelia's specific disgust at it getting in their hair.

And then it was over. Rivera's troops gathered together with them, but none drew their weapons. "So are we in custody then?" Irma asked.

"Yeah. But we're just gonna wait here." The Sergeant answered. "Transport for all of us is on the way."

When the backup troops and transports arrived twenty minutes later, they were surprised to discover not prisoners held by force, but guests to be escorted peacefully.

"I hope you've made the right call Twilight." Hay Lin whispered.

"Me too. But do we really have a choice?" The unicorn replied.

Rarity said "I suspect not... Do you suppose they'll have showers where we're going?"

A soldier spoke up, "You'll all have to go through decontamination showers when we arrive."

"I guess that's something."

Elyon sighed, "Yeah, I've got scorpion goop in places I don't wanna think about."

"We'll need a sample of that miss."

"Lovely..."