Newborn Mare

by nanashi_jones

Chapter 14: True Grit

The door burst inward. Stephanie ran in with two guards on her heels, guns drawn and pointed. Pinkie threw her forehooves into the air.

“We heard something,” Stephanie said, scanning the room. “Is everyone okay?”

“Yeah. We’re fine Steph,” I said, slowly, my focus entirely on her and the guards’ guns. “Ya’ll mind not waving those around?”

Stephanie blinked, and I could see the moment she realized Pinkie had her forearms up, and the rest of us were just shy of full-on panicking. She took a breath and holstered her weapon. I exhaled, and my heart climbed out of my throat.

“Thanks,” I said.

“Sorry,” Stephanie said, her cheeks a bit red. She faced the other guards, who also put up their sidearms. “It’s clear. You can resume your post.”

They nodded and left, shutting the door quietly behind them.

“I… think you can put your hooves down, now, Pinkie,” Erishy said.

“Huh? Oh, yeah,” Pinkie said, dropping them to the floor in a more natural stance.

“Why didn’t you just knock?” I asked Stephanie.

“I did. I was pounding on the door,” she said, cheeks still pink. “You didn’t hear me?”

Twilight huffed. “Discord,” she growled.

Stephanie cocked her head. “What about him?”

“We just got a visit,” I explained. “He gave us an hour to find him, or he turns this place into a literal big apple.

“And the people get to be worms!” Pinkie added with a wiggle of her hooves.

The color drained from Stephanie’s face. “Jesus,” she whispered.

“Fifty-five minutes,” May said.

I blinked. “Huh?”

“I set a timer when Discord flipped his hour-glass,” she said, holding up her phone. “It’ll either keep us on track, or drive us into a panic. Whichever comes first.”

“Right,” I said, taking a breath. “Good thinking. Thanks, squirt.”

May nodded, and turned back to her time-keeping duties.

“So, what’s the plan?” Stephanie asked.

“Find Discord. Duh,” I replied.

“In a city this big?” Twilight said. “RJ, I hope you have some kind of plan. Because it’s going to take more than just wandering around and looking, to find him.”

I rolled my eyes. “C’mon, Twi. I may be Country, but I ain’t dumb. I’m not gonna do any wandering.” I pointed at Stephanie. “The CIA is.”

“We are?” Stephanie said, folding her arms across her chest.

“Sure. Discord said we had to find him. He wasn’t really specific on how,” I said, grinning. “You’re a resource, and a pretty big one at that. Best to put ya to use, rather than having ya watching grass grow.”

Twilight smiled. “That’s actually a pretty good idea, RJ.”

“Thank ya, kindly,” I said, tipping my hat.

“Yeah, but even if I start a manhunt, that’s no guarantee,” Stephanie said. “Sure, odds of finding him go up, but we do searches all the time for regular humans and come up nil. Plus, we only have an hour to manage it. I need something more to go on, here.”

Twilight chuckled. “How about- he’s Discord?”

“Okay. Something more than being visibly notable, Twilight,” Stephanie said.

“No, Steph, she means it,” I said. “Discord ain’t just someone who sticks out in a crowd, he’s a total ego-nut. When he took over Ponyville, he made himself a throne on a hill in the middle of town.”

“Don’t forget he surrounded himself with cotton candy clouds, and more silly than you can shake a stick at!” Pinkie chimed in.

“Or what he did to those poor rabbits and squirrels,” Erishy said.

“At least he gave me an opportunity to try out my new raincoat design,” Raritony added.

As the others offered up more evidence of Discord’s personality, Stephanie lapsed into silence. Her head tilted down, and she brought a hand to her chin.

I walked over and waved a hoof at her. “Hey Steph…?” I said.

“Ghostbusters!” she exclaimed, snapping her fingers.

“Gyah!” I said, hopping back.

“Ghostbusters?” Dash asked, around a snicker.

“Yeah! Ghostbusters!” Stephanie said, grinning. “Okay, so remember the part when the firehouse blows and the ghosts start streaming into the sky?”

“I’ve seen one of the greatest movies of all time, yeah,” Dash said, nodding along with her.

“The ghosts were everywhere, just like the chaos here,” Stephanie went on. “But they weren’t just running around randomly. Most swarmed to one location: where Gozer was going to come through.”

“Dana Barrett’s apartment!” Dash exclaimed.

“Exactly,” Stephanie said, pointing at her. “So if Discord’s the diva you guys say he is…”

“He is,” we all said, in unison.

“Then he’s gonna want a view. He’s going to want to sit on his throne, surround himself with chaos, and enjoy the show as he sends it out to wreak havoc,” Stephanie said, taking out her phone.

“So you find the cloud over Dana’s apartment…” I prompted.

“And we find Discord,” Stephanie said, putting her phone to her ear. “Al, it’s me. I need you to listen very carefully…”

---

Stephanie stepped out in the corridor to coordinate the search for Discord. That left us to gather around Twilight’s bed and wait.

“Forty-five minutes,” May said.

Raritony sighed, running a brush through her sister’s mane. “I hate countdowns,” she said, tapping a back hoof lightly against the tiled floor. “It always makes a level harder. Like it’s daring you to fail.”

“I should be helping them search,” Dash huffed.

“No, you should stay close, Dash,” Twilight said, tapping away at a tablet. “The last thing we want to do before confronting Discord is to get separated. That’s part of how we got into trouble, last time.”

Dash grumbled, shifting her position in her chair.

“Um, speaking of confronting?” Erishy said. “What’re we going to do when we… actually confront Discord?”

“Buck his head off,” I said.

Twilight snorted, and shot me a skeptical look. “I hope you’re joking,” she said.

“I ain’t,” I replied, tilting my hat back. “Look, I don’t know about y’all, but I remember last go-’round: things started getting complicated the second we started getting complicated. So, nothing fancy. We just go in and clobber him. Simple.”

Twilight’s brows pressed together. “Until he gets inside our heads again, or turns us into chickens, or pine trees, or something.”

I sighed. “Well, whatcha want, Twi?” I said, spreading my hooves. “We ain’t exactly got a lot of time or options. So unless y’all got something better in mind, I think keepin’ it simple is our best bet.”

“I’m glad you asked, RJ. Because, I...” she said, loftily. “Have a plan.”

We all leaned in, eagerly. She blinked, and hunched a little. “Well. It’s part of a plan, anyway.” We all sat back. “If the Princesses get back to me,” she finished.

“Oh?” Raritony said, gesturing to the tablet in Twi’s hooves. “Is that what you’ve been doing?”

Twilight nodded. “Yeah. I’m basically reaching out to them on every available channel I can think of. I pinged them with an alert spell earlier, now I’m sending messages to all their social media connections.”

Dash grinned. “Great idea, Twilight! I wouldn’t mind having their firepower on our side, when we punch Discord from here back to the Everfree.” She pounded one hoof into the other with an audible clop!

“My thinking exactly, Dash,” Twilight said. “Now if they’d just get back to me…”

I shook my head. “Twi, as soon as Steph gets back with a hit, we’re rollin’ out,” I said. “We can’t wait on the Princesses maybe showing up.”

“Rae Jay…” Twilight pleaded, eyebrows knitting together.

“Twi, I ain’t knockin’ your idea,” I said, raising my hooves in a placating gesture. “It’s solid, but it depends on the Princesses getting back to you in the next…” I glanced at May.

“Forty-one minutes and twenty-seven seconds,” she supplied.

“Forty-some minutes,” I confirmed. “And you’re counting on them being able to help out, something you don’t know for one-hundred percent certain. They could be in worse shape than any of us.”

Twilight huffed, and frowned down at her tablet.

“Look, when a crop ain’t doing too hot, Mac and I hope for rain, sure,” I said. “But until it shows up, we work with what we got. So, you need to stop planning on rain that might not fall, and work with me here, Twi.”

Twilight sighed. She put the tablet aside. “Okay. Plan A is on hold. What’s your idea for Plan B, RJ?”

I smiled, glad we were finally on the same page. “You kinda gave me the answer there already Twi- we gotta protect our minds, and our bodies,” I said.

“Oooo! I have an idea for the mind thing,” Dash said.

The room went so quiet I could have heard a pin drop on a pillow. Instead, I heard May announce, “Forty minutes.”

I shook my head, then peered at Dash. “Uh, come again?” I said.

“I know how we can protect our minds,” she said. She finally noticed we were all giving her funny looks. “What? I can plan.”

“We know you can, Dash,” Erishy said, touching a hoof to Dash’s shoulder. “We just… weren’t expecting it.”

“What’s your idea, Dashie?” Pinkie asked.

“We shield our minds like on the Enterprise,” she said, sweeping her hooves over her head. “Vwoom. Shields up!”

Pinkie hopped up and down excitedly, and started doing a remarkable impression of the Red Alert siren. Erishy, Raritony, and I just stared at Dash with varying expressions of disbelief.

“Dash, darling,” Raritony began. “It would be lovely if it were that simple, but--”

Twilight broke in. “That’s actually a good idea.” We all turned to stare at her. “I know a handful of quick mental protection spells that could guard against Discord’s-”

“Hang on, Twi,” Dash said, waving her hooves. “I didn’t say you needed to cast a spell. This is something we could all do, on our own. That way, you can concentrate on the harder stuff. This Earth place has magic, too. Maybe not as awesome as Equestria’s, but, hey, we’re ponies. We’re good with magic. I say we use the local fuel.”

“Um, Dash?” Raritony said. “Not that I doubt what you’re saying. But… Earth’s ‘magic.’ Isn’t that a bit…”

“Woo-woo,” I said, eyebrow raised.

“Yes. Woo-woo,” Raritony said. “But without the sarcasm.”

“It isn’t woo-woo,” Dash protested. “It’s awesome! My cousin taught it to me, and it totally works. It also helps ya focus too. Keeps the distractions out.”

“Your cousin?” Erishy asked.

“On my human side,” Dash explained, rolling her eyes.

We all remained quiet. “Thirty-eight minutes,” May said.

“Using Earth’s magic is a good idea, and we’re definitely hanging on to it,” Twilight said, quickly. “But, we also need physical protection.”

Dash shrugged. “I got nothin’ on that. Raven didn’t teach me body shielding. Said it was better to just get out of the way of whatever was coming at you.”

“Raven?” I asked.

“My cousin,” Dash said, firmly.

I rolled my eyes. “Right.”

“Ooo! OOO!” Pinkie squealed, waving a forehoof excitedly. “I know! I know! We should- Oop! Naptime again!”

Then, she flopped over, and instantly started snoring.

“Didn’t she just take a nap?” I said.

Erishy frowned, stroking a hoof through Pinkie’s curly mane. “She did… I hope she’s okay.”

I rubbed at my face. “Alright. Are there any spells that can protect us, physically? Ones we know will work?”

“Well, yes, but nothing we can do quickly,” Twilight said, frowning. “I mean, I can cast my shield spell over us, but we’d have to stay in close proximity. We’d never get a clear shot at Discord like that.”

“So we need something portable, something that can stick with each of us,” I replied.

“How about enchanting a riot shield from one of the officers outside?” Raritony offered. “Play on the sympathetic magic angle?”

Twilight’s eyes lit up. “That’s… a really good idea, Raritony!” she said. She chuckled. “Too bad we don’t have the shield of Barricade Safety.”

“Barricade who?” Raritony asked.

“Earth pony soldier, from way back,” I explained. “Bigger’n Big Mac, and twice as sturdy. Never used a spear or sword, just his shield.”

“Oh right! Quite the dashing figure, as I recall,” Raritony said.

“He was,” Twilight said. “And his shield was famous for protecting all the citizens of old Equestria. Legend says, it once helped him save an entire village from a flight of dragons, breathing their hottest flame.”

Dash whistled. “Nice,” she said.

“Yeah,” Twilight agreed. “If we had Barricade’s shield, I’d only have to do a fortification spell with a sympathetic magic booster. The legend surrounding it would do the rest of the work.” She sighed. “But we’re a long way from Equestria’s National Museum.”

Stephanie came back in. “I think we got him. There’s a skyscraper ten minutes from here that has more chaos manifestations than any other site in the city. You guys ready to check it out?”

I nodded. “We sure are. Dash, Rares, let’s go.”

They all blinked at me. “Uh, RJ. Don’t you mean- ‘Everypony, let’s go?’” Dash said.

I sighed. Time to live up to my Element. “No, Dash. I mean you and Rares are with me. Everypony else needs to stay here.”

“What?” Twilight squawked. “After what I just told Dash about sticking together?!”

“That’s fine for planning, Twi,” I said. “But in the actual fight? Twilight- look at yourself.”

Twilight didn’t, instead pointing at my ear. “Look at me! Look at you! You got shot, too!”

“A graze. Already scabbed over. But, how many painkillers are you on, Twilight?”

Twilight’s eyes darted briefly to the IV drip keeping the worst of her aches away. “So we’ll tape it to me,” she said. “We’re not breaking up the team.”

“And what about Erishy. And Pinkie?” I said.

Twilight opened her mouth to say something and stopped. She blinked. Closing her mouth, she looked over to where Erishy sat on the floor next to a comatose Pinkie. Her eyes widened. Erishy blushed as she looked down.

“Erishy’s almost as banged up as you, Twi,” I said. “And I was all set to bring Pinkie with us, but then she went and took another power nap. I know you wanna help, and I know we need to stick together, but that ain’t the smart move here.”

I sighed, and pinched my eyes shut. I hated having to be the one to say it, but the truth was what it was. I needed Twilight to see that, or she and Erishy could end up in even worse shape.

“The smart move is y’all staying put, Twi,” I said, fighting back tears. “You, Erishy, Pinkie- you’d just get in the way. Ya gotta get better, sugarcube. And ya gotta let Rares, Dash, ‘n’ me-”

“And me. I’ll go with you,” Stephanie said.

We all turned to her.

“Hell, I’ve come this far. Why not take on an interdimensional heavyweight? It’s been that kind of week,” she said, shrugging.

“Thanks, Steph,” I said.

She grinned at me. “What’re friends for, right?”

“Fine,” Twilight said, her voice low. I turned, and she had her hooves balled up in the sheets, her eyes glassy. “We’ll stay. But we need a body cam for Stephanie and some way to communicate. I want to be able to see what’s happening, and stay in touch.”

“We can set you up with a rescue radio,” Stephanie said. “I’ll make sure we have a private channel.”

Twilight nodded. “Can you also get… four riot shields? I need to do a quick spell.”

Stephanie cocked her head. “What for?”

“To protect you guys from Discord’s magic,” she said, rubbing at her face. “Though, again. I wish we had Barricade Safety’s shield.”

“Barricade Safety?” Stephanie said.

“Think Captain America, but in the medieval ages, for ponies,” I said.

Stephanie nodded, vaguely. “And… his shield would be better, why?”

“Well, to use your Ghostbusters metaphor, again…” Twilight started. “It’s like the Statue of Liberty from Ghostbusters Two. It’s a symbol. It’s something that appeals to the best in each and everypony. That gives it a lot of inherent power that the right spell can wake up in no time.”

“Would… a replica work?” Stephanie asked.

Twilight tapped her chin. “Hm... you know, it probably could. Scientifically speaking, it’s the idea that has power, moreso than the actual shield. I mean, I’d have to tweak the spell a little to compensate, but… yeah. Why? Did a Canterlot gift shop appear in the city?”

Stephanie grinned. “No, but I may have something just as good in my apartment. Is this a spell you could teach to Raritony? Something she could do en route?”

Twilight nodded. “Well, yeah. It’s a pretty low-powered spell. No offense, Raritony.”

“None taken,” Raritony replied, tying her mane back. “I’m fully aware that when it comes to magic, I am much more suited to detail. I leave lifting the big eff-off rocks to you, Twilight.”

“Twenty-eight minutes,” May said.

“Crap! We gotta get moving!” I said, waving everyone toward the door.

Stephanie nodded and pulled out her weapon. Aiming it away from us, she checked her safety and clip. Dash pulled Erishy into a hug, and whispered something to her. Raritony went to May, and lifted her up in a tight embrace. May put down her phone so she could return it.

“Wait! The shields!” Twilight said. “Raritony could do one replica, but four high-level shield strengtheners in quick succession needs my endurance!”

“Then we’ll just have to make the one I have in mind count,” Stephanie said, as she holstered her gun.

I leaned down to Pinkie and kissed her on the forehead. “Take care, sugarcube,” I whispered.

“What could you have that could possibly compare to Barricade Safety’s shield?” Twilight said, flopping her forearms exasperatedly.

Stephanie grinned as Dash flew over to Twilight’s bed. “You’ll see. It’s ‘something pure,’” she said, with a wink.

“Well- What about mental shielding?” Twilight shrieked.

“I’ll teach my trick on the way, Twi,” Dash said, dropping down to hug Twilight tight.

Twilight bit her lip while she and Dash held one another. Her eyes darted to each of us. “I don’t like this...” she squeaked.

“Neither do we, sugarcube,” I said, trotting back to her bed. Raritony went to Erishy, hugging her gently. Dash hovered over to Pinkie, patting her mane. I reared up on my hind legs so I could see Twilight better. “But this is the hand we’ve been dealt. We gotta use it.”

She wrapped her forelegs around me. “That doesn’t mean I have to like it.” She swallowed audibly. “Good luck, RJ. I’ll keep working on my end. Maybe I can provide some remote magical assistance.”

“Thanks, Twi. We’ll keep ya in the loop,” I said. “Promise.”

I dropped back down just when Raritony finished talking with Erishy. As Raritony went to say goodbye to Twilight, Erishy limped over to me, opening her forelegs. I leaned in, returning the hug.

“Be careful,” she said.

“You too,” I replied.

“Heh,” she said. “It’s not hard to be careful in a hospital, RJ. You’ll be doing all the real work, as usual.”

I pulled back and gave her a look. “Now, you know that ain’t true, ‘Shy. You gotta keep an eye on Twilight and Pinkie. That’s a hoof-full if I ever heard of it.”

She giggled. “I guess you’re right. Oh! What about Sam?”

My eyebrows shot up in realization. “Crap,” I hissed. “In all the excitement- Hey Steph?”

“Yeah?” she said.

“Think the hospital’d make an exception to Sam staying in this room?” I asked. “I don’t want her in the fight anymore than these three. Erishy’ll keep her in line.”

Stephanie scratched the back of her head. “Um. Maybe? I’ll… probably have to call in favors,” she said. “Maybe they can say she’s a recovery helper or something.”

“She’d help me feel better,” Erishy offered. “Animal friends are just as comforting as, if not more comforting than, my pony ones.”

“I think I can swing that…” Stephanie said, her tone telling that she’d warmed to the idea. “Hang on.” She pulled out her cell phone again, and stepped just beyond the doorway.

I smiled at Erishy. “See there? You’re already helping.”

She blushed in response. “Okay, okay. Good luck, RJ.”

“Gonna need it.”

We released each other, and I walked over to May. I patted her on the head, and she smirked up at me. “Watch the shop. Right?” she said.

I smiled back at her. “You know the drill.”

May put her phone down again and hugged me tight. “Stay safe, hayseed,” she said.

“Promise, squirt,” I said, hugging back.

We parted, and I joined Stephanie, Raritony, and Dash at the door.

“Alright y’all,” I said. “Let’s do this.”

Just as we stepped out the door, I heard Pinkie gasp. “Wait! I’m awake! And I remembered my ideaaaaaa!”

Comments

[Admiral Q Ponyform]

REALLY PINKIE!?

I wonder what Steph has?

[Hope]

Another excellent chapter, can't wait for the showdown!

[Red Bomber]

I was wondering if they're going to split up again when they meet each other and it looks like they do.

[Pinklestia]

Well... I wonder what her idea is?