> Team Friendship 2 > by Carnival > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Teleportation and Immense Frustration > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "ALRIGHT YOU GLITTER LOVING CUPCAKE MUNCHERS, THAT WAS THE LAST ONE!" The Medic dropped his medigun to the ground and huffed, feeling exhausted after constantly running around all over the battlefield in a desperate attempt to keep his teammates alive. "Doktor is alright?" The Medic nodded slowly, gathering himself again. He shuffled his feet in the snow and muttered, "Ja, mein freund, I am fine... just cold... hungry... and exhausted." "Medic will take sandvich." The Heavy held out a plate to him with his signature sandvich on it. Medic stared at it for a moment, then shook his head. "No, I vill be alright. You eat it." "The Medic will take the sandvich!" "No..." "Da!" "Will the both of yous stop your arguin' and kiss already?" The Medic's face went red and he screeched, "SCOUT!!! DU ARSCHLOCH ICH BIN IN IHN NICHT!!!" (I don't know German or the other languages so I'm using google translate. Not all of these will be accurate.) Heavy sighed and put the sandvich plate away. "There is no relationship, Scout." "Gentleman, we have bigger things to worry about. Like how we are now literally rolling in cold hard cash." "Aye! We be rich!" "I CAN BUY MOUNTAINS OF BUCKETS." "I need a new pair of headphones... and a house for ma." Sniper smirked and hopped down from his nest, shivering at the harsh wind. "That's nice and all lads, but can we get inside first before we freeze our asses off out here?" The team nodded in agreement, and made their way back to their station hut, laughing and joking the whole time. They did it, they won. They can relax and return to their families (those who have them anyways) and finally make a life for themselves with their newfound riches. //Meanwhile, in a magical land far away...\\ "What in the hay IS this thing, Princess?!" "This, Applejack, is a monster that we found rampaging in the Everfree forest. We are not sure where it came from, but it seems to be extraordinarily powerful." "This thing? Powerful?" Rainbowdash snickered and taped the glass case with her hoof, a cheeky grin on her face. "It's just a loaf of bread with some teeth." Luna raised an eyebrow and then explained, "It's easy to underestimate it, this is true. However, if you saw the destruction that this creature has caused, you would not be smiling. This thing has a magical aura that is not our own. It is almost immune to our style of magic. It took both Tia and I both to contain this one here." "Wait... How? It's just... a load of bread..." Twilight examined the creature in the glass, concerned. "So how was it so powerful?" Celestia sighed and placed a hoof on her student's shoulder. "In reality, it is not a very strong monster. Its strange, unknown magical qualities are what make it a threat." "So... how do we stop it?" "We aren't sure exactly. However, we have many powerful magic students working on trying to track the magic. We wanted to ask you and your six friends to help." "We'll do our best, Princess!" "I knew I could count on you. Go, and bring the necklaces with you." "Necklaces...?" "The ones that once held the Elements. They have... been giving off their own magical aura since this strange magic started. We think they might be useful." "Of course, Princess, we'll do what we can." //Back in the Upgrades Shack...\\ The Engineer took a swig of his beer and said, "Let's go around one last time and cheer eachother on. We'll probably never see one again y'all, so let's make the most of it." "Heavy will go first. He thanks the Medic for keeping us alive." Medic smiled a bit and said, "Vell, zen I thank the Heavy for being a real brick wall." Scout snorted and said, "I thank the Spy for not being as big of a bastard as usual." "Well, I thank ze Pyro for keeping us warm." This went on for another few minutes, with each RED team member getting their own spotlight. "Aye! And finally, I thank the Scout for makin' us rich!" "Hey, it helps to run fast when collecting money!" "Cheers to the RED team, for not completely dying tonight!" "CHEERS!" //Equestria\\ Books were scattered everywhere as the six ponies and single dragon flipped frantically through every page they could. Twilight sighed and let her wings droop and drag across the floor. "This is useles... We can't find anything..." "Don't give up hope darling, your library is extensive, I'm sure there's SOMETHING in here about this magic... Maybe something old... Maybe something-" "Something like this?" Spike held up a book from the other side of the library, grinning. "It's old, and it looks magical!" Twilight perked up, her wings folding back. She enveloped both the book and Spike in her magical aura, bringing them both over. "Let's see.. it doesn't have a name, but..." She flipped through the worn pages slowly, muttering silently to herself. "Oh... here! Here! I found something!" The five other ponies crowded around her, interested in what she had seen. "It's... writting by Starswirl! It says... I have come across a strange new magic that I have yet to understand. It seems to be manifested from hate and evil, unlike Equestria's love and friendship. It seems to come from a new plane of existence entirely... one quite opposite to ours... filled with war and suffering... This magic, it comes from there. It's all green in color... I believe this magic is what the Changeling kingdom has started using.... It's no wonder why they're so cruel now and only want to control, it's all in this horrible magic..." Twilight flips the page, as a strange feeling of worry blankets the room. "After studying this magic for a while, I have come across a source. It is a twisted Alicorn pony of sorts... there is the skull of some double horned animal on its head... he looks to be older than I am, and stronger... I don't understand how that hatred and evil is stronger than our love and and kindness..." Another turn of the old journal. "I have conversed with the Alicorn. It is safe to say that he isn't right in the head. Our magic requires high concentration, while theirs seems to be usable by ANYpony. He threw... a rubber duck at me then ran away, laughing hysterically. He dropped some papers, which I have since studied... Somewhere, there is a team that can stop this magic. I've simplified the list here; the Crazy, the Builder, the Patient, the Cunning, the Strongest, the Ruthless, the Smartest, the Fastest, and the Headstrong." "Hold up, Fastest? That should be me! I'm the fastest!" Twilight rubbed her chin and said quietly, "I would have thought that these were describing the Elements, but they're different, and there are nine of them..." "Well, what do y'all suppose it means?" "I don't know, but we're taking this to Celestia and Luna at once." After teleporting everyone to the castle, Twilight took a deep breath and sat down for a minute. Spike rubbed her shoulders and said, "Take a minute to rest. That was a big spell." "Yeah... Alright..." "Luna, Celestia, we found something!!" The two Alicorns appeared, galloping towards them. "What have you found?" Applejack produced the journal for them and held it up. "This here notebook from Starswirl. He met some crazy Alicorn, and discovered some new type of magic. There's apparently a team of ponies somehwere that have the power to stop him. How do ya suppose we get to 'em?" Celestia skimmed over the page, a look of relief coming across her face. "We can summon them, he's included a spell that might just work." "Well, go for it then!!!" Celestia and Luna nodded to each other, before combining their powers together to form something that looked like a portal. The portal then disappeared, and the two Princesses had to kneel to catch their breath. "We think... we think it worked. The portal is travelling across Equestria to get them..." //Upgrade Hut\\ The Medic set down hid drink, and stared out of the window. "Um... Any of you want to come look at zis? Zere is a strange column of black smoke travelling towards ze shack..." The team members gathered around medic, at the window. "Aye, there be something strange out there... Should we try an' fight it?" "Demo, ah don't think that'll work. We can't exactly fight smoke." "And why not? We've fought horseless headless horsemenn and littl' skelebones before." "Those were physical things, Demo. Ya can't touch smoke." Medic sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Quiet. Perhaps it is harmless..." Scout walked to the door, and frowned slightly. "Uh, guys, the smoke cloud is trying to suck me into itself." "....What?" "The god damn cloud is trying to eat me!" Medic ran to the door and pulled scout back inside, running out himself with his medigun. Heavy chased after him, shouting something that he couldn't hear. The rest of the team members shrugged, stuffed the cash under the table, and ran after them. Whatever this thing was, it wasn't getting their hard-earned riches. Medic was pulled off the ground by the force. Believing that he was going to die, the Medic ubercharged himself before disappearing into the cloud completely. Heavy yelled out at the loss of his friend, and jumped after him. "Why ze hell did zay just do that?" "Who cares, Frenchie? We have to go after our mates!" "Oh for ze love of-" "ADVENTURE!" Soldier lifted the remaining teammates and launched them into the cloud with incredible strength. Demo and Engie latched onto each other, screaming for their lives. Scout and Pyro were both laughing hysterically, having the most fun in their lives. Spy rolled his eyes and lit a cigaratte. "Merde." The ponies watched as the cloud returned, and hovered above the castle. Their happiness turned to horror as the cloud shot all nine ponies out in random directions. Celestia and Luna both took off after two ponies, as did Rainbowdash. The others stayed on the ground, trying to memorize the area in which the other six fell. Celestia and Luna both returned empty-hoofed, but Rainbow came back with another pony in tow. It was a strange stallion with pale brown fur and a red uniform on. There was a large helmet covering his face. The pony's tail was wrapped around a strange device. Rainbow dropped the stallion and said, "I caught one of 'em!" The stallion lifted the helmet from his head and muttered, "Sweet Mary mother of Joseph I've died and gone to pyroland." The ponies blinked and didn't respond, too confused with what the stallion just said. He looked down at himself and screamed, "I HAVE BECOME A PART OF FIREBUG'S TWISTED FANTASIES!" The stallion reared up on his hind legs, kicking widly with his front hooves. "WELL SISTER I'M NOT GOING DOWN WITHOUT A FIGHT!! YOU CALL THIS TURNING ME INTO A HORSE?? I'VE NEVER SEEN A COLORFUL MINIATURE HORSE, MAGGOT!!!" Applejack whispered to the other ponies, "Do you think this is the crazy 'un?" "I AM NOT CRAZY!! I AM A SOLDIER OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA!!" "He's definitely crazy." The Soldier landed back on all fourse, wobbling a bit. "You, princess, are not aware of the difference between crazy and patriot!" "Or maybe he's the headstrong...?" "CORRECT! MY HEAD IS STRONG! FULL OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF WAR!" Celestia approached the eath stallion and said calmly, "You, sir, have been summoned because we need your help. There is a strange magic here that we do not know anything of. We were told that your team could help us." "Strange magic, you say?! I'm in!!" "Oh... you are? You need no convincing...?" "NONE! I'M READY TO GET BACK IN ACTION!" Luna then approached him, stopped next to her sister. "We see now that you ARE the Headstrong. We need the rest of your teammates before we can approach this magical source. Will you help us find them?" "Those sissies run from a fight!" Soldier tried taking a step forward, but fell flat on his face. "NOTHING BRINGS THE SOLDIER DOWN! HOORAH!" Soldier lifted himself up, and used his tail to trigger the rocket launched, which blasted him straight up into the air. "COME HELP ME CAP THIS POINT, MAGGOTS!" He fell back down, and the ponies hurt a sickening snap as he landed. Sodlier grinned and shouted, "STILL GOT IT!" "Did... didn't that hurt...?" "I'VE FELT WORSE PAIN!" Twilight sighed and rubbed the side of her face with her hoof. "Ohhh this'll be a long fight...." (Read Author's notes please, it explains something!) > Far and Wide > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Medic stretched out, opening his eyes slowly. "Vierd... why does everything look so much bigger?" He slowly tried to stand, but immediately regretted his decision upon falling flat on his face. "Vhat...?" He stared down at his limbs, and nearly screamed. Stubs. His legs and arms, stubs. He noticed first that he had a tail. Then the muzzle. He examined himself carefully, starting to worry. Where were his feet? His hands? He noticed that he was still in his Medic's coat and gloves. He also noticed that he still had his medigun with him. For some reason or another, the familiar weapon comforted him. He caressed the gun in his... arms...? stubs...? and began to mutter to himself quietly. "I must be dead... zis cannot be real... but I vas ubercharged, I couldn't have died... vhat am I, anyvays...? A horse...?" He stared at the limbs that took the place of his arms and frowned slightly. "No... I am not a horse. I am some strange type of... pony." Medic ran his hooves along his face before bumping into something. "...Zere is also something protruding from mein head... mein kopf..." He spotted a puddle about a foot away, and dared to drag himself there. His stomach was now caked in dirt from the ground, but he had sucessfully reached the puddle. Medic forced himself up, balancing on all four hooves carefully. "Mein Gott... I have a horn... I am a unicorn... No, zis MUST be pyrovision. Zere must be a mistake! I cannot be a quardupedal! Vhy am I so colorful?! Zis is an outrage!" Medic screeched incoherently and rolled around on the dirt, pulling his medic's coat up. He felt something strange on his back. He flipped around, and stared at whatever it was. "Wings!! I have wings!! Vhat is zis craziness? Zere is a red cross on my ass! Was frische Hölle ist das?!" The Medic whined and burried his face in the ground. "I am a man of science!! Yet here I am, on the ground, as a pony, crying. Zis is perhaps ze worst day of my life, and I have fought massive robot armies in arctic temperatures!" Only a mile away, the Heavy had already woken up from his sleep and assessed the situation in a list. "One. Heavy is pony. Two. Medic is missing." The large brute quickly got used to his new legs and trudged on, in the opposite direction of Medic. "Heavy must find his Medic. Heavy will not stop searching until he has found his medic." The large earth stallion snorted before picking up his pace slightly. Heavy couldn't move fast, but he would not stop moving until he had found Medic. In a distant city, the Scout awoke under a bridge. He muttered swear words to himself while sitting up. "I swear, if that little purple cloud took me somewhere dangerous I'll..." He stopped and stared down at himself. "I... I am a horse. I am a winged horse." He stood, balancing himself on his hooves. "Alright, this is hell. I've died and gone to hell." The other five had similar reactions, but they were even further away. The Spy had more of an accepting reaction, while the pyro was just generally ecstatic. The Medic decided that the best course of action was to roll over to the side of the road and cry. Whatever strength and dignity he had left was frozen in the cold back at the battlefield. Medic was tired, alone, hungry, and in a body he didn't understand. He just wanted to give up, but no matter how hungry and tired he was, it felt as if his sould was just... stuck in his body. It couldn't leave. He would have been like that forever possibly, until a passing pony in a wagon saw him there on the ground. "Uh.... sir? Sir are you alright??" The Medic glanced at the pony with the wagon. She looked friendly enough. "Nein. I am not alright. I am not sure vhat is happening. I am lost, and I am tired. My teammates are probably somewhere else in zis godforsaken land, and I have no way of finding zem." The pony tilted her head to the side, extremely confused. "Um... well sir, if you're lost, I think I know a pony who can help you!" "Really? Zat vould be nice." "Sure! Come on, I'll take you to her!" Medic pulled himself up and tried to walk, but immediately fell over once more. "I am unable to valk." "Oh... That's okay, here, you can ride in the wagon!" The pony helped Medic climb into the back of her small travelling wagon, and gave her a warm smile. "Thank you, miss." "Don't mention it! My name is Junebug, what's yours?" "My name? My name is Medic. Not actually, but zat is what I am called." "Oh, no wonder your cutie mark is a cross then!" "My... vhat?" Junebug stopped and stared at him, wide eyed. "You... don't know what a cutie mark is?" Medic decided that he didn't want to make a show of himself and explain everything to this stranger. "No, I am just pulling your leg." The mare giggled and started pulling. "Oh, alright!" Meanwhile, Scout had already taken to the skies. He felt like a natural born flyer, zipping over the colorful buildings with a grin. He sped around in circles for a bit, then started nose-diving. "Hey, you!" Scout halted and searched for the voice. He spotted a rainbow-maned pony staring at him, from a cloud. Alright, another winged horse. Scout glided over to her, frowning. "Hey what's up?" "You seem pretty fast, wanna race?" He smirked and tipped his hat back. "You want to race me? There's no compitation. Sorry missy, you might want to race someone else your own speed." Rainbow glared at him, and spread her wings out wider. "Missy? I'm no missy! I'm the fastest flyer in Equestria, bub!" Scout crossed his hooved and grinned at her. "Don't think so. You can't be faster than me." "Wanna bet?!" "Yeah! Maybe I do!" Rainbow launched up from the cloud, glaring. "Get ready to eat dust, loud mouth!" Scout's grin widened, and he started flapping his wings. "Where to?" "How about... Canterlot Castle?" She pointed a hoof towards the magnificent structurein the distance. Scout nodded, and lowered his hat. "You got it, pride parade!" "On your mark, get set, GO!" Right after she finished, Scout was miles ahead of her. After all, it was his JOB to be the fastest. This world shouldn't be any different from his own. He laughed triumphantly, before crashing down into a strange garden. He screeched and held onto his hat, which miraculously stayed on his head while flying. Scout braced himself for impact, and he felt the Earth curve around him as he dug into the ground. He heard something move over to him. Expecting it to be Rainbow Dash, he looked up. Instead, he was staring at the helmeted face of a stallion. "SCOUT! YOU MISERABLE FOOL, YOU RUINED THE DAISIES!" Scout stared at Soldier, coughing dirt out of his mouth. "SOLLY?! What are you doing here?!" "I AM LIVING HERE TEMPORARILY! WE'RE HERE TO FIGHT MAGIC!" Scout groaned and sat up, only now noticing the crowd of ponies surrounding the two of them. Scout was the smallest out of all of them, but only by a little. "Who are the babes, Solly?" "Excuse me? Did y'all just call us babes?!" Scout rubbed his eyes and stared at the country accented one. "Engie...??" "...Pardon?" Pinkie giggled and bounced up and down while saying, "He called us babes!" Scout frowned at the ponies. "You're all... familiar..." Soldier nodded, and slapped Scouts back with his hoof. "I MADE THE SAME MISTAKE, SCOUT! THESE ARE NOT OUR TEAMMATES! OUR REGULR ONES, ANYWAYS! THEY ARE HELPING US FIGHT THE MAGIC!" "Great, yeah, great. Why does the purple one have wings AND a horn? That ain't fair." Twilight coughed awkwardly and explained to him slowly the alicorn rank process. "Ponies here who accomplish great things are awarded Alicorn titles." "Ah, mkay. Would beating the pride parade be considered a great thing?" "Um... what?" "Rainbow lesbian horse. I beat her in a race. Is that great." "Wait...you beat RAINBOW DASH in a RACE??" Scout laughed. "Heck yeah I did!" "He really is the fastes then... Well, we're glad you're here. We need your other seven companions." "Oh.. Since Solly is here, that means we need... Pyro, Engie, Demo, Heavy, Snipes, Frenchie, and the Doc." "THERE IS ONLY WAY TO LURE OUT THE FIREBUG!" The ponies waited for him to continue his statement. When he didn't, Rarity asked, "And what would that way be, darling?" "A BONFIRE!" "A... bonfire? I'm not sure I understand, darling..." Scout sighed and shoved Soldier a bit with his pony elbow. He trotted over to a stone bench and sat down. "Find a large open area with no plant life. Gather a mountain of wood, then ignite it. Then we'll find the pyro." "How in tarnation is that gonna lure out Pyro?" "Oh trust me, you'll see." ~~~ "Well shoot Sniper, it looks like we're all alone out here!" "Yeah, and we're ponies." "But hey, we still got our stuff! I can set up a dispenser, we'll be just fine." "Should we start building a shelter then, mate?" "Yep. This hollow tree should do fine. I can whip us up a digger, and we'll have our own little burrow. Sound good?" "I like it. I'm just glad out of all the people I could have been stuck with, it's you. Someone who doesn't annoy me, and knows how to build." Engie laughed, and started digging at the ground to find some rocks. "Ditto." Sniper stared up at the large tree and whistled, tipping his hat back. "Well, she is a beauty. I'd like to spend time sitting up in some of those branches with my rifle. Nice view." "And I'll spend my time inside crafting trinkets and finding out some way to get us home." "Sounds like a plan, truckie." Engineer pulled off his glove, and jammed it to the tree with his wrench. "Let's go find a running river, partner. Then we'll come back here and sort out our mess. I can hear one now, it can't be too far away." "Aight, mate." The unicorns to each other and grinned, walking off towards the sound of rushing water. Junebug happily rounded the corner with her wagon. Medic had been riding with her for quite a while now, and they were fairly close to a place called Ponyville. He found the name absurd and ridiculous, but didn't think that expressing his opinion on her home town out loud would be appropriate, considering she pulled him along all this way. "So, where are you from?" The ride had been silent until now, when Junebug decided it was time for some chatting. Medic racked his head for a decent answer, thinking of whatever he could right then and there... "Oh, I can't remember... I seem to have lost a bit of my memory." "Oh no!! Is that why you were laying on the side of the road, lost?" "Precisely..." "Then we definitely have to get you to that pony I mentioned earlier, right away! Her name is Twilight Sparkle, she's an alicorn princess pony!" "Alicorn...?" Junebug nodded, still grinning. "I guess you forgot what they are, too? Alicorns are ponies who have both wings and a horn. They're the royalty of our land!" "Oh, where do zay come from from zen??" "Alicorn ponies are made when a unicorn, earth pony, or pegasus does something so incredible that they earn the alicorn title. Princess Twilight made a huge breakthrough in magic, and earned her wings! Isn't that fascinating?" Medic stared down at his own wings, carefully hidden under his medic's coat. "Ja... very interesting..." Soldier and Scout entertained their new friends and the princesses with war stories. Some of them were slightly exaggerated. "Oh heck yeah. This one time, I nearly got blown to chunks when this enemy soldier fired at me. But I drank this crazy soda, called Bonk, and it made me invulnerable for about a minute!" "That sounds very interesting, Scout... do you have the recipe for such a drink?" "As a matter of fact, I have the can." Scout reaches down into his saddlebag with his mouth, and produces a can of cherry fission BONK atomic punch. "This is it, right here. This little can can go a long way. I only drink a little at a time, so it lasts me a whole battle. Besides, the only thing I need it for is sneaking past sentries and the enemy Heavy. This stuff tastes like pure energy." "You say... you are invulnerable after you drink this?" "For a little, yeah." "If we could somehow... make more of your atomic punch, then we could use it to fight against the monsters coming from this strange magic." "SCOUT HATES IT WHEN WE TAKE HIS DRINK!" "Well yeah, but only if you take it from the SAME CAN!" "YOU ARE SCARED OF THE GERMS, SISTER." "I just don't wanna catch your crazy, Solly." Bathed in harsh sunlight, Pyro forced her eyes open(ayyyy female pyro). She noticed that she was somewhere that looked as if it were literally the end of the earth, with the rock dropping almost completely vertical down at a 90 degree angle. She rubbed her head in thought, and then noticed her hooves. She squealed happily, her voice coming out as a muffled wail. Ah, she was still wearing her mask. Good. She patted her head, and felt the horn there. Yes! Yes! So many things about this situation were yes! She then saw a column of magnificent color reach into the sky, like the arm of a damned soul grasping towards the lights of the heavens for salvation. She found her mouth watering, wanting desperately to touch and dance with that beautiful column of color. She promised herself that she would make it there soon, and thus began her journey towards the great swirling storm of colors. Demo was not having the best of luck. He had only two minutes to figure out how his pony body worked. Then, he was forced to run from a pack of angry looking wood dogs. He was currently hidden in a tree, dangling as the dogs growled and snapped at his hind legs. "Oh, it's time to show ye how we do it in Scottland!!" Demo reached into his bag for his grenade launcher, and dragged the weapon out with his teeth. Demo passed it to his tail and yelled, "THEY'LL GLUE YE BACK TOGETHER IN HELL!!" He laughed like a crazed lunatic as he was showered in singed twigs. He dropped to the ground, and flung off his bag. "Sure as hell wasn't gonna die before ah got another bottle o' Scrumpy." > Taste the Rainbow > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Medic spent the rest of his short trip scribbling in his notebook, training himself to use his newfound magic to write. So far, he had made notes on how he could have become an alicorn pony in this world. Was it his way of playing god, bringing people back from the dead, or transferring souls to inanimate objects, or even the ubercharge he deployed on himself as he passed through? He couldn't pinpoint an exact reason, unless they ALL contributed. After askin Junebug about her cutiemark, he decided that they were a mark of a pony's talent, like his medical history being responsible for his red cross. He also built up another ubercharge by using his magic to aim the medigun at himself. Normally he wouldn't be able to do this since he's the only one who can use the gun, and his arms are too short to aim it at himself properly... Spy, being the slippery bastard he was, already mastered his abilities as a colorful quadrupedal equine. He thought it was strange that he could use his tail as another arm, considering it should only be hair. Then he realized that nothing would make sense in magical ponyland. He snuck his way into what looked like the castle of sorts, and made himself a home within the wall passages. They were dusty and broken, and he could tell that they had stopped using them. They made for a perfect hiding spot for the time being. The ponies in the kitchen had specific rotations which gave him barely enough time to grab a meal and retreat back to the walls. Being caught wasn't a problem, he could always disappear. He would walk around the hallways, but they echo too much to not cause suspicion. Now was one of those times where he would stare out of a crack in the wall and just think, examining the pony way of life in this castle. He knew he couldn't backstab any of them, they likely do not have the same respawning devices that their team does... Besides, the ponies hadn't done anything bad yet... Spy glanced down the hall to see two very familiar looking ponies accompanied by the princesses. He frowned slightly and took a puff from his cigarette, now watching the ones he assumed were his team members... "And so now you understand why it is such a big deal that we find your companions?" "YES I DO!" "Alright, do you have any questions?" "YES, I HAVE ONE QUESTION." "What is it, Soldier?" "I UNDERSTOOD NONE OF WHAT YOU SAID." Scout nudged Soldier harshly again and said for the both of them, "Sorry about him Princess, he's slow. We understand fine." "I DO NOT." Scout rolled his eyes and pulled Soldier down, whispering into his ear. "OH. NOW I UNDERSTAND!" The princesses smiled, as did the other six ponies. Spy slid out of the wall, still invisible, and began to follow them in the shadows. "We need to find your seven other teammates now. You said they were... Heavy, Medic, Pyro, Demo, Engie, Sniper, and-" "Ze spy?" The group of ponies abruptly stopped and spun around, gasping. Scout and Soldier groaned as Spy stepped forward from the shadows, moving his cigarette from his mouth. "Gentlemen?" "Oh for the love of crap Spy, how long have you been here?!?!" "Longer than you, Scout. I landed on ze ozer side of ze mountain, and zen I crawled my way over. I've been living in ze walls for ze past few days." "It's already been a few days?!" "We arrived here at night, zen all of you but Soldier and I were knocked out and didn't wake up for maybe two and a half days. Ze ozers have probably been wandering around aimlessly like the imbeciles zey are. Ze only ones I know ze location of are Heavy and Demo." "WHERE ARE THEY?" "Some forest out zat way." Spy nudged towards the window with his head, and stepped up to Soldier and Scout. He stared up at Celestia and Luna, his eyes narrowing but not in a rude way. "Sorry, Mesdames, for popping in unannounced. Zey call me ze Spy, and it is pretty obvious why." Celestia and Luna gently recollected themselves, losing their initial shock of the stranger appearing there. "We're so very glad that you're here to help, Mr. Spy. Do you suppose you can lead us to this... Heavy and Demo? We would appreciate anything they have to offer as well. It will take all nine of you to defeat this magic." "I'm afraid ze only things those bumbling fools have to offer is idiocy and alcohol. I can lead you to Demo but Heavy will mostly likely not come without finding Medic first. If we find Medic, we can find Heavy. Simple as zat. Pyro on the other hand will be attracted to zat bonfire outside. She will be around shortly." "Wait, She? The pyro is a fricken SHE?!" "You did not know? I suppose it is hard to tell zat someone is watching you when you're invisible, hmm?" "You're a creep, you know that Frenchie?" "I am aware. It is also a notable factor zat I couldn't care less. Now, Princesses, if you will allow me I will take control of my teammates. You may order your ponies to do whatever you want, but we are our own business." Applejack glared at him and leaned towards him, speaking in a low voice. "Ah don't know who you think you are Mr. Spah, but y'all are bein' awfully rude to our princesses. They rule Equestia ya know, they can ask you to do what they please!" "Zey can, but we won't listen." "They're way stronger than you could ever be!!" "Zey wouldn't last a minute where we're from." "I bet ya they could! I bet ya we ALL could!" "Not without ze Ubercharge." "What in the hay is a-" "Ponies, please!" Spy and Applejack stopped and turned to face Princess Celestia, both shutting their mouths. "I understand that you have your differences, but Applejack, Mr. Spy is correct. We cannot control their actions because while they may be ponies now, the Scout has explained that they definitely are not where they come from. They aren't from our kingdom. Mr. Spy, you know how to operate your team. Please, do so." Spy took another puff from his cigarette and raised a cocky eyebrow at Applejack. "Very well. Scout, you take to ze skies. Remember ze ground patterns we all came up with during ze war against Gray Mann? Use zose in ze sky. Fly in ze Delta pattern but move your head in ze Yankee pattern. Got it?" "You got it Mr. Baguette!" Scout flung open the window and launched himself out of it, spreading his wings and taking to the sky. "Soldier, Beta pattern through ze forests West and North of zis spot exactly. Understand?" "TEN-HUT! HOORAH!" Soldier aimed his launcher at the wall, and blasted himself through the open window. Spy smirked at the confused and awed expressions of the ponies around him. "We're men of war. Zis is normal. I have... unfinished business to attend." Spy waved to them slightly and disappeared. He trotted down the hall quietly, off to continue swooning a chamber maid. "Alright, well, we'll follow their lead then... Rainbowdash, please follow the Scout and do what he does but maybe a bit of distance away so that we can cover more ground. Fluttershy, I would like you to ask all of your animal friends to help us on this one as well. Applejack, you and Rarity go north of here. Pinkie, take south. Twilight, I would like you to go East and West. Luna and I will travel to different towns and ask the ponies if they have seen anypony who looks... out of place. If you find a team member, bring them back here and show them to a room in the same hallway where we put the Scout and Soldier. No go my little ponies, the fate of Equestria depends on it!" After a little while of following Scout's complex flight patterns, the two pegasi stop on a cloud for a little break at Rainbow's house. Scout leans over and dips his hoof into the liquid rainbow, sniffing it. Rainbow tried to contain her excitement as Scout licked the liquid. Shockingly, he didn't have any reaction. "Huh. Tastes like hot wings." Rainbow gaped, and stared at Scout like he was crazy. "Seriously?! No horrible burning?! No kick to the gut?! ANYTHING?! How?!" "You kiddin'? Back where we come from, we have stuff with like a hundred times more spice, like Ghost Peppers. Sniper can eat some of the hottest crap on the planet without a problem, so this rainbow stuff would be pretty easy for him to take." "That's impressive... Actually, now that you've learned some stuff about Equestria, care to tell me a bit about where you come from?" "Oh sure. Earth is some fresh hell. Where we come from, we're omnivores." "What's an... omnivore?" "It's something that eats both plants and meat." Rainbow's face went green, and she covered her mouth with her hooves. "You eat... meat..." Scout grinned and added, "I still have meat cravings in the pony body, but I don't think I can eat it." > Burrow Buddies > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Well sniper, it seems like we're doin' pretty good for ourselves! We've got a burrow started, we've got a source of water, and ah've gotten enough materials ta build mah contraption. Plus, ah think I still have a teleporter up back at the upgrade shack. After we find the others, we can just head back. Ain't this workin' out well fer us?" Sniper only nodded, polishing his rifle with his tail. He agreed that things were working out well for them now, but finding their teammates might be a bit more difficult than they're planning on. "...Is there somethin' up there in the sky?" Sniper glanced up and squinted his eyes, trying to make out what was up there. He pulled up his rifle and staring through the scope. "Crikey, Truckie, it's Scout! And he's flyin' with some... lesbian pony." "What in the hell is that supposed to mean?" Sniper tosses him his rifle. "Look through the scope ya bloody bogan." Engie caught the rifle and squinted through the scope, his mouth dropping open slowly. "Well I'll be a monkey's uncle! It IS Scout! How do we get his attention, Sniper?" "Mate, I got pony magic, but there's not a snowball's chance in Australia that I'll be able to use it to get him down. Think I can just, shoot his wing?" "Ya wouldn't be able to hit his wing because of mah machine, remember? Our weapons don't do anythin' to another teammate." "Nrgh. Destroy it real quick, and move the dispenser up here. I gotta shoot at him, mate. Scout can take a bullet to the belly and be perfectly fine, mate." "At least be merciful and aim for his ear so that it won't hurt as bad." Sniper cracked a grin and shifted his rifle to position as Engineer pulled out the destruction PDA. "Good thing ah I can still connect to the machines back home. Alright, it's broken. Fire away!" Sniper took aim carefully, and sent a bullet right through the tip of Scout's ear. Scout screeched and halted in the air, grabbing onto his head with his hooves. "AGH! WHAT THE CRAP WAS THAT?!" Rainbow Dash stared at him worriedly, repeatedly asking if he was okay and what happened. Scout rubbed at his ear and sighed. "I think I've been shot by something, but I don't know what.." "DOWN HERE YA TWITCHY HOOLIGAN!" Scout and Rainbow both looked down to see Sniper frantically waving from a tree. Scout groaned and dropped down as Rainbow followed, not understanding the situation. "DAMMIT SNIPES YOU COULD'VE TAKEN MY HEAD OFF!" Sniper tilted his hat back and nodded slowly as Rainbow's mouth dropped open. "But I didn't, mate. The secret to pony magic, is bullets." "Wait... are you telling me that you hit his ear from way down here, and you were aiming for it?!" "That's right." "But... But that's too far of a shot! There's no way you should have been able to make that!" "Well, I did." Sniper laughed and leaned against the tree. "Becoming a unicorn was the best decision I ever made." Engie growled from down below, now rebuilding his contraption. "Well ya got his attention Sniper, I'll give ya that much. Have ya seen any of the others, Scout?" "Soldier and Spy. We got a bonfire set up back at magical pony castle for pyro, and then there's a bunch of other colorful horses helping us find the others." "Sounds like a bloody miracle, mate." > Flow Fire Flow > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The pyro felt as if she had been walking for many hours, when in reality, it was only one. She took multiple breaks, and felt overheated in her suit. At one point the heat overwhelmed her so much that she pulled the suit off and stuffed it into her bags. She's surrounded in fire constantly but sometimes the heat was just too much. She slapped her goggles back on and stared up at the column of wild colors, feeling her enery replenish itself. She just HAD to get there, and soon. Pyro glanced back at herself and noticed the strange colorful flame cutie mark that she posessed. She grinned and giggled happily, coughing up a bit of smoke. It was nice, she decided, to get out of that suit and breathe in the fresh air. Alright Pyro, time to continue on. She trotted across the ground, kicking small rocks across the ground with each step. She liked her creamy orange fur and the way her fiery red and orange curly mane and tail bounced as she moved. She learned quickly how to make fireworks with her horn as well as use her tail to operate her flameflower as usual. Pyro didn't really mind not having hands anymore, she was thouroughly enjoying herself now as a pony. However, Demo wasn't. He was chased by wolves made of branches, a chicken-lizard, and a strange amalgamate of a tiger, snake, and goat. He had been running all day long and didn't even know where he was. Demo only wanted to find his friends and get out of this strange land... ~~~ "Well Medic, the rain is coming down pretty hard huh?!" Junebug and Medic had crowded themselves both into the small wagon parked carefully on the side of the road. A massive rainstorm suddenly blew in, halting their journey. "Ja, Ms. Junebug... How long do you suppose it vill be raining? It is really putting a damper on things... Literally..." "But that's okay! We can do what ponies always do when we're in a bad mood?" Medic suddenly got an overwhelming feeling of dread as his mind began swimming through the possibilities of what she might mean. Random music began playing from seemingly nowhere. "Vhat ze hell...?" Junebug took a deep breath, and Medic flattened his ears against his head. "We're in the rain... Stuck under the wagon sheild. We're in the rain... Not some big and open field! In the rain. In the rain. I'm singing. In... In the rain. In the rain. I'm singing. In... In the rain. In the rain. I'm singing. In... In the rain. In the rain. I'm singing. In... Your turn!" "In the rain... I'm stuck in zis freezing rain... Singing vis you... I vish my death vill come soon..." Medic repeated singinging as Junebug repeated her verse. "And zis is crazy... vhere is zis music even from???" (To the tune of this lovely song http://www.bensound.com/royalty-free-music/track/jazzy-frenchy ) Junebug giggled and rolled onto her back. That wasn't so hard, now was it?! Your accent is really funny to listen to, you know." "Gee, thanks, it's not like I can change ze way I talk." "No no I mean it in a good way! Your accent is very attractive!" The medic felt his face get warmer. Was a cartoon horse really flirting with him right now? Or maybe all ponies were just this friendly?? When Junebug inched closer to him, Medic decided that she was definitely being a little bit... TOO friendly. He didn't really want to spend any time in that rain, so he dealt with her slow approaches. A few minutes later, Junebug was close enough that Medic could feel her breath. He pushed as far back as he could against the edge of the small covered wagon, allowing his medigun to hang loosely out in the rain. Junebug made a "ready to pounce" face, but before she could do anything else, Medic was violently yanked from the wagon and dragged into the rain while screaming, unable to see what nabbed him. On the other side of Equestria, Pyro was making some decent progress. She estimated another three hours or so of walking until she could reach that beautiful, beautiful column of color... Everytime she looked back up at the magnificent spiral, she felt as if her energy was replenishing itself. She stopped momentarily to pull her mask back on. Pyro began whistling a tune that was familiar to her, and started to skip along the dirt ground. Scout, Rainbow Dash, Sniper, and Engineer had a lengthy discussion about the strange magic that they were supposed to be fighting. Upon hearing the description of the alicorn who was casting the said magic, the RED ponies had an immediate realization of who they might be up against. "Sniper, if ah set up the other teleporter here, do ya think you can go back and get yer huntsman?" "Don't see why not. Might also be able to grab Pauling." "Havin' her here would be nice, but ah don't know if we should drag her into somethin' like this..." "Only if she's around, mate." Rainbow watched, curious, as Engineer dropped a metal case to the ground. The case opened up to a small metal machine, slowly retracting itself. "Teleporter goin' up!" He dragged his wrench out with his tail and started repeatedly banging on the thing. "Why is he...?" "That's how he builds it up faster, Sheila. It makes the process much easier." The teleporter whirs to life, glowing their signature bright red. Engineer explains to Scout and Dash how he and Sniper were going to teleport to the other side. Engineer was going to move the teleporter to the most secure place there, then he and Sniper would grab the team's other weapons. Scout then had to explain to Rainbow how the teleporter worked, and why various bread items were shot out as the two stallions returned. Both travelled back and forth, returning with weapon after weapon. They figured that the best place to store the weapons and teleporter was in the burrow, which they dug even deeper. Engie also constructed a protective layer above their items and the teleporter, so that none of it would be harmed. Rainbow Dashed watched how effortlessly the Engineer built all of these things. Engie noticed her questioning glances, and smiled warmly at her. "Ah do this every single day, ma'am. It's part of mah job to know exactly what to do, what needs to go where, and how it needs to get done. It's all part of what ah do." Rainbow glanced at Sniper and asked, "So what do you do?" "Live by three rules, Sheila. Be polite, be effecient, and have a plan to kill everyone you meet." "O-Oh.." "I sit up in the most uncomfortable nests all day, every day, scoping out the enemy team. I'm more of a support class, Sheila. Not into much action." "'Till he gets out that huntsman of his. Then Snipes goes nuts with arrows." "Shut it, Scout. > Scream Fortress > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Medic didn't know what grabbed him, or what could be big and vicious enough to drag him out of the wagon like that. Either way, he found himself unable to breath. Something wet and furry was blocking his face. It reminded him of how sometimes after they would win a match, Heavy would drag him into this big bear hug and- "HEAVY HAS FOUND HIS MEDIC." Oh, so it WAS the Heavy. Medic relaxed a good deal after realizing that it was his close friend and not some vile monster from the forest. Medic pushed himself a way and stared up at the hulking beast of a stallion, mouth wide. "Wow... you are... massive..." "Yes, Heavy was massive before he was pony." "Indeed you were, mein freund! You have no idea how happy I am to see a teammate... I vas nearly jumped in zat wagon..." Heavy stood over Medic easily, sheilding him from the rain. Medic lifted his medigun with his magic and aimed it at the Heavy, just because that's what he's used to doing. "Aren't you cold? You don't need to stand over me like that." "Heavy will protect Medic." "I'm not a child, I can stand ze rain!" "The rain is cold." "Zen we can build an umbrella! We are surrounded by massive canopy leaves!" Medic hunched down and stared at the foliage around them. He took ten canopy leaves, and tied them together with vines. He mounted them on a thin branch, like some kind of umbrella. He shuffled out from underneath Heavy, levitating the umbrella above himself. Heavy grabbed Medic's coat with his teeth. He pulled him onto his back, and Medic held the umbrella over the both of them. Junebug poked her head out from the wagon and gasped at the massive stallion before her. Medic waved slightly and said, "It vas fun riding with you, but I think I vill be fine now!" Junebug nodded hastily, while jumping out of the wagon and quickly pulled it in the other direction. Medic laughed to himself, holding the umbrella higher above the two of them. "Onwards mein large freund! Ve have a team to find!" ~~~ "So you... DON'T want me to get Ms. Pauling?" "Naw. Ah guess you could ask her if she wants tah help, but don''t force her." Scout snickered, and leaned against the tree. "No one can make Ms. Paulin' do anything. She's the toughest one of us. Other than Pyro that is, who's actually a girl. Did you guys know that? Pyro's been a lady this whole time." Sniper and Engie's eyes widen in shock, unaware of that little fact. "Didn't they not want female mercs to work with us since we're uh... not the most 'stable' team of guys around?" Rainbow frowned at them, unsure of what they meant by that. "Unstable? What do you mean, unstable?" "We aren't decent people, Sheila." "Didn't Demo try to do somethin' with a woman while drunk and now he's a registered sex offender or somethin'?" "Hell if I know." "And you probably belong in prison." "OI." "Well, you do." "You're a bunch of no hopers. Twinkle toes, lesbian horse, whateva your name is, we ain't the prettiest fish in the school. That's all I gotta say." Rainbow scrunched her face at Sniper's comment. "What is a lesbian, and why do you guys keep calling me one?!" The three mercs stared at her awkwardly, glanced at each other, then back at Rainbow. "Oh honey..." ~~~ "So yer sayin... we're stuck as little ponies for a while?" "Until we find a way to kill ze wizard again, oui." "Aye... tha's gonna be hard..." "Will it be? Come on Demo, I'll show you to ze castle." ~~~ "...Do you see anything yet, mein freund?" "Heavy sees rain." "...Right." Medic found a way to attatch the umbrella to Heavy's ammo belt so that he wouldn't have to suspend it anymore. He laid down on Heavy's back, his tail and mane drooping off of the side. In that moment, Medic felt peace, and comfort knowing that the massive bear-sized pony was his friend and not his enemy. "...Ze rain is nice though, ja?" "Da." He sighed, looking over into the forest. Heavy had never been much for conversation. Medic squinted his eyes and lifted his head slightly when he thought he saw someone walking through the forest a good deal away. It looked like another pony... but he couldn't make out any description of them. No, wait... there were two ponies... Three... no, four? Medic rubbed his eyes and squinted harder. The figures were gone. "...Herr Heavy?" "Da?" "I... believe I am lozing mein marbles." "We all knew this, Doktor." ~~~ Pyro grunted in annoyance, now dragging her flamethrower across the ground by her tail. She felt as if she had been walking for days now, permanently trapped in her fireproof suit... She just wanted someone to find her.. ANYONE... She hoped that her teammates were around. But how would she ever find them..? Suddenly, she remembered something that perhaps her teammates did not. She yanked her mask off once again, and unzipped her suit. Ponies don't need clothes. She left all of her gear on the ground as it would be useless with her lack of ammo, and took a moment to appreciate her gorgeous fiery cutiemark. Pyro jumped into the nearest tree, carefully making her way to the top. She wished she had something left in her flare gun to fire it off, but there wasn't. Besides, this would work just as well. She gripped onto the top branch tightly, before clearing her throat and letting out the most annoying scream known to anyone; "MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEDIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIC!!!" > MEDIC! > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Did you happen to find anyzing while up zere, Soldier?" "I FOUND PLENTY OF THINGS, FROG LEGS." Spy rolled his eyes, used to Soldier's comments at this point. "Care to... elaborate?" "I FOUND CLOUDS, MANY CLOUDS. AT ONE POINT MEDIC FLEW RIGHT PAST ME AND I SAID HELLO." "Oh Merde..." ~~~ Medic sat up, ears twitching. "Heavy, stop. Did you hear zat?" "Da." "Vhy vould a female be calling my name?" "It is Pyro. Pyro is female." "Vhat?? Since vhen???" "Since always." Medic frowned, sliding off of his companion's back. He heaved up his medigun, and tugged at his Medic's jacket. "Vell I must go find him... I mean... her... zen. Promise me you'll stay in zis spot..." Heavy snorted, and turned to sit down. "Heavy will not move." "Thank you mein freund! Now, I think I know how to vork zese zings..." Medic gave his large wings a quick flap, before taking off into the air shakily but quickly. He nodded to heavy and then took off. As he was flying, he could have sworn that Soldier blasted right past him... But he might have just been seeing things like he was earlier in the forest. Medic scanned the scene, watching all of the ponies bustling around below him. He looked for the Medic's marker, before finally spotting it at the top of a tree. Pyro was clinging to it for dear life after having toppled over from screaming so loudly. "Frau Pyro!" Medic hovered in front of her, and aimed his medigun at her. "It is good to see you!" "It's good to see you too, Doctor! I think I'm the only one left alone at this point... The lack of screaming and explosions just made me think that no one else was left alone! I know Demo is pretty close by though...." Before Medic could respond, more screeches of his name rang out. It looks like Pyro started some annoying chain reaction. The ponies who had gathered back to Princess Celestia stared at the RED team ponies who were now screaming repeatedly for the Medic. "How is this going to help...?" Spy huffed and turned to face them as Soldier continued to scream. "We had forgotten that ze Medic has some strange abilities. He can see us when we call for ze Medic." Twilight blinked slowly, trying to understand how that was possible. "He... can..? How??" "Well, we have no idea. Ze Medic is very... very strange." "Oh... well... I kind of want to look into that a bit more... Wait, is that him up there?" Twilight gestured to the sky at the distant pony who was zipping around up above. Spy tilted his head, and squinted his eyes. "I believe so. Strange, I assumed that he would be a unicorn pony, but I guess he's a pegasus... Probably because of his doves." "He has doves?" Fluttershy finally spoke up to the RED ponies for the first time. She was genuinely interested in the fact that the Medic owned doves. "Oui, mon cheri. His favorite is named Archimedes, named after a famous philosopher. Ze Medic is a strange character." "KOMM HER!" "He's close. I'll get him down here, don't worry." Spy lifted his gun and shot at Medic, who let out a scream and went spiraling downwards. "DID Y'ALL JUST GO AND SHOOT HIM?!" "He will be fine. Trust me." Spy gave them a sly grin and trotted away to the Medic's landing sight. Surprisingly, he wasn't the first one there. Heavy was on the scene, already having lifted him onto his back. "Spy shot Medic?" "Non." "Very well. Heavy is glad to see Spy." The large stallion walked towards Spy, with Medic on his back. "Follow me, mon large friend. Zere are others waiting for us. Ze Medic heals quickly and will be fine, you know this. I'll explain our situation along ze way. Ze ozers can look for our teammates." Spy lead the two back to the group of ponies, who all stared up at the massive wall of a stallion in front of them. "May I present to you ladies ze Heavy and ze Medic." The ponies exchanged confused glances, unable to see Medic. That was until, he rolled off of Heavy's back and started rambling in German and then English. "I svear zis colorful vorld is going to give me some kind of brain anurism. Soldier, ze Engineer's nest is zat way. I need to go back and grab Pyro and zen Spy I assume already found Demo but he's lost in ze woods again in a ditch over zat way and I think I saw Ms. Pauling but zat could just be me losing my marbles again oh scheisse zis is frustrating!!!" Spy placed a hoof on Medic's shoulder. "Take a deep breath and zen tell us where we need to go." Medic did so, and gave the team details about where to find everypony. Before he could take off again, Heavy blocked his path with his body. "Medic stays here." Medic glared up at his giant friend, not exactly happy about being treated as a helpless child. "I-" "Medic. Stays. Here." Heavy looked down at Celestia, as he was about an inch taller than her. "The Medic stays here." Medic huffed and kicked his medigun to the side as his teammates departed. Did they not TRUST him or something?! SURE, the one who kept all of the bumbling idiots alive can't handle himself in a world full of magical pony pr- "...How?" Medic paused and took the time to examine the ponies behind him. "..How vhat?" "How are you... an alicorn...? It should be impossible... I don't understand, you CAN'T be an alicorn!" "I assure you I am, Fräulein purple pony. I have ze vings, and a horn. I cannot tell you vhy. I have many ideas, but I really can't tell you. Trust me on zis one." Twilight sighed and scowled at Medic, not appreciating his grumpy attitude. "Can you at least tell me what language you're speaking and where your accent comes from? I don't think I've ever heard it around here before..." "Deutschland." "....Deutschland??? Where's that??" "It means Germany. It's a country where we come from." "Your team must be very diverse, I don't think any of you sound the same.." "Ve are. Most of us come from the slums and disgusting neighborhoods, except for Sniper, who actually came from ze lost city of New Zealand, ze utopia under ze vater." Twilight made a mental note of all of the things the Medic said, genuinely very interested. "Oh, Princess Celestia? Where will they all stay until we can track down the rogue alicorn?" Celestia thought for a moment, then looked down at the six ponies expectantly. "I hate to ask this of you so suddenly, but do you suppose you six can make room for them at your homes? I would keep them in our castle but please understand that I do not want to endanger the artifacts and timeless books stored there. We don't want them all in a single place either just in case the rogue Alicorn decides to attack... Would you six be so kind as to allow them to stay with you, if you can take them?" The ponies eyed each other, then the Medic, not wanting to say something to accidentally offend him. They really didn't want the RED team in their homes, but they figured now that they didn't exactly have a choice. "Medic can... stay with me," Twilight offered. She was curious about him, and just wanted to talk to him about their world. Medic eyed her weirdly, wondering why the one he just bluntly ignored wanted him in her home. He was already sedcued by ONE crazy female, he didn't need another one. "The Heavy can fit in the barn, probably. Ah can maybe fit another 'un in there." "Take ze Engineer as vell. Trust me on zis one. Someone like you vill love his company. Actually, let me see... pink pony, you should take ze pyro. White pony, take ze Spy and ze Sniper. Lesbian horse, take ze scout, you're just like him. Shy butter horse, take ze Soldier and Demo. Find zem a very... VERY open area... I'm judging off of appearances here so don't blame me if all horses aren't stereotypical." Nopony really understood what the Medic meant by this, but they noted who they were to take home. Rarity was happy that she got to take the Spy, but she knew nothing about Sniper. After a long, agonizing period of waiting, the RED team was finally put together. All except for two ponies: Spy and Demo. "Oh.. Miss Pauling has decided to join us, has she? Vell, it is very nice to see you. Zese are ze ponies zat ve vill be staying vith. Also, has anyvone seen Spy and Demo? Zey should have been back by now..." "We are... right here... Oof..." Spy came forward, with Demo on his back. "Someone please help me... zis idiot weighs more than he looks!" "Just bring him forward and drop him. Is he asleep? Drunk?" "Dead, actually." Spy heaved Demoman onto the ground, and he lay there, unmoving. The seven other ponies gasped, clasping their hooves across their mouths. They were also shocked to see that the RED team's expressions were that of inconvenience rather than sorrow. "Why aren't y'all cryin?! He's died for Celestia's sake!" "Ja, ve are avare." "THEN WHY DO Y'ALL LOOK ANGRY?! HE COULDN'T HELP DYIN', BUT HERE YA ARE, ACTIN' LIKE IT AIN'T A BIG DEAL. DEATH IS A SERIOUS THING." "Not vere ve come from." Medic bounced his medigun to the ground and lifted it with his magic. "I thought ve vere DONE vith dying, Dummkopf...." He aimed the gun at Demo's body, and shot the energy beam at him. Demo's eyes snapped open, and he let out a massive belch. "AYE. Sorreh lads, I dunnae know how I jus' died for a minute there... What I miss?" The ponies were once again in utter shock. But he was just... How??? "Oh lordeh ah must 'ave died an gone ta hell!" "You are very alive, Demo." Medic turned away and added quietly, "Sadly." > Gargoyles and Gravel > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Fräulein Sparkle, zank you again, for allowing me to stay in your home. It means a lot to ze team knowing zat ve von't have to sleep under ze stars again. Not zat ve aren't used to it, but you know. A bed is nice." Twilight nodded at the Medic and ruffled her feathers, feeling awkward about the current situation. She knew nothing about the Medic, and the fact that he would be in her home didn't exactly sit well with her. Maybe if she got to know who he was, she wouldn't mind too much... "So... Why do they call you Medic? I know you're the team's doctor and all, but don't you have names other than Medic, Spy, and Heavy...?" "Vell, ve do, but ve don't use zem. I forget my own name on occasion, ve have been fighting so long... So I simply go by Medic now. Ze only vone of us I am vorried about is Scout. He's just a kid, and already exposed to all of zis nonsense. For such a loud mouth, he really does not talk to us about anyzing. Zen again, our team is mostly silent about anyzing zat ve feel or vatever... but ve can all tell zat zere are zings zat our teammates are keeping wizin zem. Ve have problems, Fräulein Sparkle. Big problems. Zat is vhy ve do vhat ve do." Twilight stared down at the ground, watching the dust that came up with each step of her hooves. "Gosh I... I never realized... It must be horrible, bottling everything in until it explodes..." "Zat iz vhat makes us varriors. On anozer note, please tell me, vhy are ve here?" Twilight ears perked up on remembering that she hadn't explained to all of them what they were supposed to be doing. "Well," she began while levitating the old leather book from her saddle bag. "There's strange creatures running around Equestria, and this book said you'd know how to stop them. There's a crazy alicorn wizard pony who's been creating them and letting them loose. A long time ago, when Starswirl tried to stop him, the wizard only flooded him with a wave of rubber ducks." "...Bonus ducks. I believe I know who ve are up against..." "Bonus... What??? Wait, you do? You know who it is?" Medic grimaced, already feeling rage boiling within him. "His name is Merasmus. He's Soldier's old roomate. Every Halloveen he comes by and tries to kill us. I blame him for the theft of my talking pumpin. Frankly, he's not zat hard to get rid of. Unless of course... he's gotten MORE evil zen maybe it is worse... Vell, I know how to lure him out. If he's here, zen he is planning somezing... Oh, Fräulein Sparkle, find an empty field for me please... I have an idea." ~~~ "BUTTERFLY, YOUR COTTAGE IS LOVELY." "U-Um... it's... Fluttershy..." "Aye Fluttershy! Dunnae worreh about tha' one, he be a loud mouth. We're greatful ta be here." "O-oh, it's no trouble, really... Uh... um... well I don't have many rooms here, I can always give you mine and I can sleep on the couch... O-Or-" Demo raised a hoof, interrupting her. "Ach, no, dunnae trouble yerself with anythin'. Solly and I can sleep outside. Don' wante trouble a pony who's been so kind." ~~~ Miss Pauling and Scout walked next to each other awkwardly, as the ominous silence was crushing both of them. Rainbow hovered just above them, desperate to go faster, but Scout didn't allow her to on the account that while they both might be fast, Miss Pauling wasn't. Rainbow came up with the idea that they could just ditch Pauling, but it put Scout into a sour and defensive move which made Rainbow scrap the idea. "So, Scout, how did you and the guys get INTO this mess...?" Rainbow glanced down at them, quietly eavesdropping on their conversation. "Oh, well, those knuckleheads and I were swimmin' in dough back at the battlefield. Then this little purple cloud showed up and sucked all of us into it. Apperently, Engie still had the two-way teleports set up and then Snipes went back to get you. From the description they gave us, I think we're fightin' Merasmus again." "Merasmus??? But didn't you guys kill him after he showed up during our Gargoyles and Gravel game?" "Well we did, we kill him a lot, but he's all magic and crap so he keeps comin' back." "So... Who is this Merasmus guy you're talking about?" Scout looked up at Rainbowdash, who had either been eavesdropping the whole time, or just heard them say 'Merasmus' multiple times. "Oh him? He's an old lady wizard with a hatred for raccoons and apparently ostriches." ~~~ "...Lovely place you have here, Mademoiselle Rarity. It is very charming, very exquisite. Beautiful taste in color." Rarity blushed and giggled as Sniper rolled his eyes, not happy that Spy was trying to swoon yet another lady. He nudged Spy in the shoulder and hissed into his ear, "THIS is why your wife left ya, mate." "Oh shut it bush man, at least I HAVE been married." "I AM married, wanka!" "What??? What kind of person would marry YOU?" "A very lovely lady mind y-" "Oh boys, your rooms are up here! They're across the hall from each other. Also, I hope you don't mind me staying up late, I often work well into the morning hours. I just happen to find it more peaceful and inspiring. I have a small selection of wines in the cellar, you're more than welcome to them if you please... Also, my darling little sister Sweetie Belle lives here, and she's usually very shy around new ponies but she is also VERY curious... If you need anything, please don't hesitate to ask me!" Spy gace her a gracious nod, and resumed questioning Sniper about his wife, if she really existed. "O' course she exists. Haven't seen her in years though. Went missin'." "...Oh... Je suis désolé, bushman. I didn't know." "Ahh it's fine. I'm better now. I just hope she's alive." ~~~ "Well, here we are... the emptiest field in ponyville... What are you planning on doing?" "Oh nothing special Fräulein Sparkle, just luring out the vizard." "W-What?!" Twilight jumped in front of the Medic, causing him to stop. "Are you crazy?! Shouldn't we gather your whole team first?!" "Nein. I know zis vizard." Medic leaned back on his hind legs and cupped his muzzle with his hooves. "OH VIZARD! I HAVE A VERY RARE ELDRITCH IDOL HERE! IT'S BEING STOLEN BY ZE RACCOONS!" After a moment of silence Medic added, "ZE RUSSIAN MAFIA IS NOT INVOLVED!" Medic and Twilight were suddenly surrounded by a ring of green fire and smoke that slowly began to climb above their heads. Twilight was noticably panicking, while Medic kept his usual bored expression. The tall, thin alicorn appeared with a flash, staring down at the two ponies with glowing eyes. "FOOLS! I HAVE COME! WHERE IS THE IDOL? WHY DO YOU LOOK SO FAMILIAR??" "Hello zere vizard!" "Oh god no not you!" The flames died, and Merasmus knelt down so that he was the same height as Medic and Twilight. "The others... are they around by chance...?" "Nein, but zey are in zis village. Fräulein Sparkle and I are ze only ones in zis area though." The flames launched into the air again, and Merasmus jumped up a few feet and hovered in the air. "FOOLS! YOU HAVE APPROACHED MERASMUS ALONE! YOU ARE VULNERABLE!" "Zat is vhere you are WRONG, mein freund! Ve are also alicorns. You are out-magicked here! Now, may I ask, vhy ARE you here?" Merasmus landed once more as the flames sunk down into the earth around them. "...Merasmus is going to level with you. I discovered this pony world and wanted to rule it because they all seemed so soft and squishy and incapable of defense... So I didn't think they could hold their own, you know? So I... attacked... But they are stronger than I thought. HOWEVER!" Back up into the air he went with his chorus of green crackling flames. "Merasmus has.... discovered something fantastic here! I made a deal with some strange shadow creature who has promised me unlimited power! For the price of a few Eldritch magic books... But that is alright! I plan on stealing them back, hehe... FOOLS! THAT IS NONE OF YOUR CONCERN! I will take over this world, and there's nothing you little ponies can do to stop me!" Merasmus let out an evil cackle, which was soon interrupted by a fit of coughing. "I need to... work on my evil laughter. But just you wait, Doctor! I have a LITTLE surprise waiting for you and your mercs in the morning when you all awake! Well, my time is running SHORT! Have fun!" Merasmus laughed hysterically again, leaving a trail of smoke as he flew off. Medic huffed and rolled his eyes, tugging once more on the medic's coat squeezing his wings. "Zat vizard is hiding somevhere... Do not worry, Fräulein Sparkle, my friends and I vill handle it." Medic smiled to himself and looked up at the stars while adding quietly, "I zink zis vorld is getting to me. I've never called zem friends before. Only teammates." > Sol-journ > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Engineer and Heavy managed to pull some beds together in Applejack's barn from hay. It was scratchy and slightly uncomfortable, but it wasn't as bad as sleeping on the cold, hard ground. Engineer felt right at home on the farm already, loving being surrounded by ponies that shared his accent and passion for building and working hard. The whole farm gave Heavy a bad vibe, particularly because it reminded him of the work camps he and his family were sent to. Unlike the camp though, Sweet Apple Acres had a much happier and light-hearted vibe to it. Engineer and Heavy were both welcomed like family and given a huge meal to celebrate their arrival, even though they declined and told the apples not to worry. Now they were walking back to the barn, stomachs full, an exhausted from the day they had. "Well shoot ma'am, I feel awful for not being able to repay you for all this kindness." Applejack grinned, delighted that somepony had actually called her ma'am. She tipped her hat back and replied, "Aw don't worry about it partner, it ain't nothin'. We love havin' visitors here!" "Are you sure there ain't anything we can do to help?" Applejack thought for a moment, examining the trees and baskets littered at their roots. "Well, y'all could help us with some of the farmwork if ya really wanted to... We got a lot to do tomorrah after neglectin' everythin' today." Engineer's face lit up, and he readjusted his goggles. "W'ell be happy to help!" Heavy snorted. Engineer liked working a bit TOO much sometimes. ~~~ "Well, this is a full hallway of guest bedrooms... we have a lot of space in here, so it gets pretty quiet at night... I do some late night studying so you may here me moving around because of the echoes... The kitchen is right down that hall over there if you need anything to eat at all," Twilight gestured to the hallway with her wings, while still using her front hoof to point out the guest bedrooms. "So don't worry about getting us first. If, by chance, something bad happens, I'm sure you can take care of yourself but just in case don't worry about waking us up or anything... Uh... if you'd like you can go to the main library, it's packed full of books, you seem like the type who enjoys reading so... Yep! Uh, I'll stop bothering you now..." Medic stared at Twilight blankly, never hearing anyone other than Scout or Pauling talk so much without taking a break. He nodded his head slowly to show that he had a basic idea of what she just rambled about. "Zank you... Fräulein Sparkle... I appreciate ze hospitality. Not many people... vell I suppose, not many PONIES vould take mercs like us in." "Oh it's really not a problem! You ARE agreeing to help us fight... Merasmus, you called him?" "Oh ve aren't agreeing, ve just don't have a choice. Vell, maybe I'm agreeing a little bit... It vas depressing vhen I realized zat ve vouldn't be able to fight anyvone for a long time. Sorry if zat sounds strange or creepy, but I am a Merc. It's my job." Twilight and Spike exchanged uneasy glances, feeling less comfortable in the Medic's presence. "W-Well! Thanks for helping anyways! We're going to go do our own thing now, feel free to do the same...! Uh... Yeah.... Haha..." Medic gave the two a dirty look as they shuffled off, COMPLETELY aware that they were judging him. He quickly straigtened out his face after realizing that he was in no place to be angry with them. These ponies were a peaceful bunch, and even allowed him to stay in their home. They had no quarrel with them. Medic let his head drop, and immediately went into the first guest room. He actually enjoyed being in this strange place. It was much more peaceful.. much warmer... It felt like a real home to him. He fell over onto the large, soft bed, trying to piece everything together. Merasmus was in ponyland, they were called here to stop him, whatever. What really didn't sit well with him was that Merasmus made a big show about "surprising" them. Merasmus has never really been seen as an actual threat, so what made this time any different? Something, and he didn't know what, made Medic make sure to lock his doors and windows. He felt childish in doing so, but he kept the blankets completely over himself. ~~~ "Aheheh... which one did you say to ruin again?" "The Medic. He's always been the one standing in the way! Healing everybody, making sure they don't die... Or wait no, the Engineer! He's got all these creazy contraptions that heal and teleport and shoot and... Or maybe the Sniper, with that Huntsman... But then there's the Pyro and her ability to put out all of my flames... oh this is a hard decision, I need to think about this for a moment...." "Hurry up you mindless witch-woman, the night doesn't last forever!" "Fine, fine! The Medic, go for the Medic. His brain is all he has! If you can just mess him up a bit, there'll be nothing they can do to help! I'm a genius, haha!!" "Sure, sure... Fine." ~~~ "So, Scout, you're the fastest then...?" "Yep! And the youngest, most handsome, and-" Miss Pauling sighed and punched Scout in the side. "He's also the most irrational. We only hired him for his incredible speed. If it weren't for that, he'd be out already. You're only what, eighteen?" "I'm like twenty! Or something... I don't remember...Why do you all treat me like a little kid?" "Because everyone else is in their thirties and fourties!" "Miss Pauling, YOU are twenty." "I'm... young!" Rainbow listened to them bickering back and forth until she couldn't take it anymore. "Okay, you're dumb and fast, she's young and pretty, we get it. Moving on to something that matters! You two can sleep wherever. Clouds are soft. Trust me, I grew up on them. I have flight team practice early tomorrow so I'm not gonna be here. There's food in the fridge, or you can both go into town. I'm about to pass out, so g'night." Rainbow yawned and stretched her hooves, then retired to the upstairs. Scout shifted uncomfortably, now noticing the eerie silence. Miss Pauling glided over to the window, and stared out into the darkness. "Scout? I have a terrible feeling about this whole situation." Scout leaned against Rainbow's couch, and pulled his hat off. "I've had a bad feeling since we got here." > Blood in the Water > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "So did you do it? Did you mess him up, I mean?" "Patience, you old hag. This kind of magic takes time to work effectively..." "Fine, fine! As long as it happens before they TRICK ME into coming out of hiding again!" "That's your own fault." "FOOL." The shadowy mare sighed and leaned against the cave wall. How could she have gotten stuck working for such an idiot? ~~~ "Heavy, quit yer bangin' over there, some of us are tryin' tah sleep..." "Heavy is not banging. Thought it was you." This caused engineer to sit up and rub his eyes, looking around the barn cautiously. As he did so, the banging stopped. Engie and Heavy both remained silent for a good ten minutes, desperate to hear the sound again. Engineer broke the silence by asking, "Do ya think it's one of them Apples? They might be out doin'... somethin'..." "In middle of night?" "...That is odd. Hang on." Engie reached into his bad to find his construction PDA, and let out a low whine when he realized that he didn't have enough material for a mini sentry. "Dagnabbit... Heavy, do ya think ya can find me some spare metal around this massive ol' barn? I can put up a little sentry just in case somethin' IS wanderin' around out there..." Heavy grunted and slowly heaved himself up from the hay bed, shaking off extra pieces of the scratchy material. Engineer decided on a different approach, and lifted his destruction PDA. He took out the teleporter, and waited patiently for Heavy to return with metal. Once he did, Engineer rebuilt the teleporter in a secure corner of the barn. "I'm gonna go back and get the big sentry and dispenser. Can y'all help grab the weapons we got stored there?" Heavy grunted again, and stood on top of the teleporter. The two of them worked for a good hour or so before finally setting up a secure nest in the barn. Engineer yawned and stared at the sky, which was still dark. "I give it about three hours until sunrise. What do you think, Heavy?" "Two hours and thirty minutes." "That works too. Say, do y-" Engineer was immediately cut off by the sound of more banging. Heavy wanted to grab Sasha, but lifted his Tomislav instead because of the silent barrel spin. Engineer jumped and hid behind his sentry, wrench secured tightly in his tail. "Somethin' sounds angry out there..." Heavy snorted, and moved towards the barn door with his minigun, stepping as lightly as he could. The two stallions were ready to attack with full force... After more banging, Engineer pulled out his Wrangler and started aiming it at corners of the barn. The thuds continued to get louder and louder, until Engineer was sure that something was behind him. For the next three hours, Engineer and Heavy stood there in dead silence, watching and waiting. Whatever it was either got bored and left, or simply decided not to attack. For another ten minutes, Heavy and Engineer waited to see if the sound would return. When they heard nothing, Engie dropped his wrangler and fell forward onto the ground, utterly exhausted. Heavy let out some mixture of a sigh and a groan, and finally set down the Tomislav. "Heavy... do you suppose that whatever's been sneakin' 'round here is gone...?" "Do not know. Though I suspect. Apple ponies are waking up." Engineer strapped his goggles back on and tugged his hard hat over his head, letting out a massive yawn. "We gotta... help them out today..." Heavy grunted and pushed his gun back to the stockpile of weapons. "Engineer must rest. Has gotten no sleep." "Well neither did you, partner... If ahm sleeping then you're sleepin'!" Heavy shakes his head, and slowly moves to the barn doors. "Heavy is used to little sleep. Has also seen what Engineer is like without sleep. None of us want that." He closed the barn doors slightly, but still wide enough for him to move in and out of. "Heavy will close these doors when he leaves. Engineer will sleep in corner with sentry. If whatever attacks returns to the barn, Heavy will be back." Before Engie could protest, the doors were closed. He sighed and laid down on the cold floor, almost immediately drifting off to sleep. "Mornin' Heavy! You and the Engineer have a good sleep?" "Net. We did not sleep at all." The Apples stopped and stared at him, noticing how tired he was. "Gosh... why not? Did somethin' happen?" "Apple ponies will not worry about it. We are fine. Do not wake up Engineer. He is asleep. We are fine." The Apples didn't seem too convinced, but they obliged, and went about their business. Big Mackintosh brought Heavy over to the plows, and he gladly did three rows at once. Meanwhile in the barn, Engineer was once again wide awake. He continuously heard that terrible knocking sound, and it was slowling grinding a hole of annoyance in his brain. Engie tore down a support in the barn, and used the parts to build two more sentry guns as well as three more minis. He also set up a small camera system, connected to the dispenser. The barn was now his base of operations, guarded by three large sentries, two dispensers, and four mini sentries. He set up lights inside, although dim ones. His better mind was telling him not to get this defensive, but while sleep deprived, the Engineer is known for having exaggerated emotions. He remained in the corner, huddled behind a dispenser and a sentry gun. Suddenly, two of the smaller guns went off, rapidly shooting at something in the corner. Engie snapped his head up, and hissed at whatever was there. He shut down the sentries, grabbed a flashlight, and aimed it at the dark corner. He dropped the flashlight in horor, and stepped away, tripping over the light as he went. ~~~ "Good morning boys! I've made waffles, toast, hay strips, we have cereal, juice, and oranges. Come down as soon as you're ready!" Rarity bounced away from their doors, as both Sniper and Spy groaned. They were both VERY uneager to get up. Sniper tossed his akubra on, and opened his door just as Spy did. The two of them locked eyes for a second, smirked at the appearance of the other as a pony, and walked downstairs. "Ya know, you look better as a colorful horse." "I can say ze same for you, bushman." ~~~ "THANK YOU FOR BREAKFAST, SHUTTERFLY!" "U-Um... it's... Fluttershy..." "Och, tha's right Solly, learn the lass' name will ye? She's bein' so kinda as ta let us stay here, ye might as well call 'er the right thing! I dunnae know how ye haven't gone mad yet lass, Solly's a lotta work." "O-Oh it's really not a problem... I'm used to a lot of craziness because of all my animals...." "Good, because we can really get a LOT crazier than this!" > One Mann's Trash is Another Mann's Nightmare > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Medic woke up slowly, feeling like something curled up and died inside of him. He forced his eyes open, and scanned the room. The room seemed bigger, darker, and scarier. He felt claustrophobic, and terrified. He was here, alone, in his room, unable to see. The windows and doors were closed tight, allowing no light to slip through. Medic hadn't the slightest idea as to why he suddenly felt so... terrified, of the world around him. It wasn't even just terror, he felt distant, and confused. He sat up on the bed, and stared down at himself, confused as to why he couldn't feel his limbs. Medic screamed in horror at the sight. What the hell was going on? Why the hell were his legs missing? The sheets were soaked in what he assumed was his own blood. He glanced to the side, and saw that the closet door was wide open. Something, with bright white glowing eyes, stared back at him. Seconds later, Medic woke up panting, in a cold sweat. He first looked down at his legs, and sighed with relief to see them there. He then heard the silent creak of his closet door. Medic choked on his breath, and dared to look over. He watched as the doors slowly opened, but he didn't give it the time of day. He was out of the room in seconds, wings out, taking off into the sky. He'd never felt fear like that in his LIFE. Blood pumping, he darted towards the area where he saw Pauling, Scout, and Rainbow go. Maybe if he could just, find them... He didn't have enough time. Once again he woke up in the room of the castle, heart still poundind. "Vhat ze hell is going on?!" He leapt up and pounded on the door, and was shocked to find that it made virtually no sound. "SOMEVONE... ANYVONE... HELP ME!" Medic turned and bucked at the door, which cracked slightly. The closet flung open, and something with massive teeth launched at him. After bracing himself, Medic once again woke up in the same position as the first time. He acted faster this time, sucessfully breaking down the door. He tumbled into the hallway, and sprinted down the length of it. The hallway continued to stretch for what seemed like miles, until Medic realized that he was still right in front of his own door. "IS ZIS SOME SICK, TWISTED PRANK? BECAUSE I DO NOT APPRECIATE IT AT ALL!" For the first time in his life, he felt genuinely helpless. He had always been one of the go-to guys, the head of the pack. Now he was trapped in some gruesome, torturous limbo for God knows how long. For once, he was clueless. Medic wished that he hadn't spent so many years wishing that he didn't have to share a base with eight other noisy guys. Now that he was finally alone, he hated every aspect of it. Medic found a vacant closet nearby and jumped into it, locking himself inside. He began to mumble to himself, as if he was writing some strange version of a will with just his speech, like anyone would be around to here it. "I'm supposed to be ze heartless Medic... so vhy am I so frightened? I fight in wars, I've destroyed countless robots, I've seen Hell, I've killed my fair share of people, and now being stuck in a nightmare is vhat is getting to me?! Zis cannot be happening... Am I getting soft? Nein, unmöglich..." "Are you sure about that, doc? You may not be as tough and powerful as you think... Even the most heartless of souls can crumble under the pressure, including YOU." The strange voice giggled, its sound echoing through the empty hallways. "Who are you.... WHAT IS ZIS? I DEMAND YOU STOP ZIS AT ONCE!" "Aw boo hoo, Nursey is afraid of the dark! Well don't worry, it'll get bright again soon. Or will it?" The creature laughed again, and Medic found himself waking up in the same spot on his bed. Medic could feel his heart trying to rip out of his chest. He used his magic to lift open the curtains, and saw that the sun was shining down brightly. Was all of that just a nightmare...? It had to be... Medic cursed under his breath and stood up, examining himself in the mirror. Everything looked normal... He decided to skip going through the door altogether, and flung open his room's window. Something felt off to him, but he brushed it aside. Medic quickly scribbled a note, taped it to the door, and took off into the village. He wanted to find any RED memebers... he didn't care who... He just wanted to see someone else. The town was completely empty, but that wasn't too surprising, considering the sun was only just coming up. Medic spotted something familiar in the distance, and the weight of horror lifted from his body. He could see Heavy, over at the Apple's farm, plowing a field. Medic swooped down to greet him, and landed a few feet away. "Heavy, mein freund!" Heavy looked over at him, growled, and turned away again, resuming his work. Medic flattened his ears, confused. Did Heavy just... GROWL at him? Medic took a step forward, once again feeling dread bubbling within him. "Are you, alright... Herr Heavy...? Vhat's wrong...?" Heavy stopped pulling and glared daggers at the shorter stallion. He unhitched the plows and walked over, looming a good distance above him. The large stallion's voice felt like acid against the Medic's skin. "Leave. You are not welcome here." Medic's mouth dropped open in shock, not sure if he believed what the Heavy was saying. Was he still stuck in a nightmare? No, he couldn't be, the sun was out, and everything was fine. Medic took a couple steps back, only to have the Heavy move forward again. "I did not say move back. I said LEAVE." Medic then understood that he was being forced off of the property now. What happened to the Heavy? Why was he acting like this? He turned and started to run. As he ran, he passed by the barn, where he heard the beep of a sentry gun. Engineer must be in there, right? Medic pushed opened the door, and looked inside. "Herr Engineer...? Are you in-" Medic screamed and ducked down as Engineer's wrench nearly decapitated him. "GET OUTTA HERE YA VILE WRETCH. AH DON'T WANNA SEE YA HERE. GO BACK TO WHATEVER DEPTHS OF HELL YA SPAWNED FROM." Medic once again took off into the sky, trying to ignore what went through his mind. Was all of this really happening? Why were they acting so strange? ~~~ "Miss Pauling, you up yet?" "Yes, Scout, I have been for the past hour, listening to your mindless mumbling about... hotdogs and Amelia Earheart or something." "Oh, hehe, yeah... So uh... you think Rainblitz or whatever her name was is up?" "Her name is Rainbowdash. And yes, she is, she left thirty minutes ago. We had coffee together. She reminds me a lot of you, actually." "Oh? Is she stunning and incredible?" "She's fast and way too talkative. On a completely unrelated topic, did you happen to feel anything... STRANGE last night? I just felt this weird, unexpected wave of fear at some point and was wondering if you did too." "...Nah. I sleep like a bear, Miss Pauling, I wouldn'ta felt nothin' during the night." > Major League > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "...After taking an extensive amount of notes I have concluded zat zis is NOT reality! But um... I am completely unaware.... of vhat it actually is... And now I am... talking to myself..." Medic dropped the feather pen that he had been holding in his mouth, and readjusted his position. He was currently in the grass right outside of ponyville, because anywhere he went INSIDE of the village, he was cursed at, had things thrown at him, and every single pony seemed to hate him more than anything else. He first went back to grab a thin journal, then fled to a small hillish area right outside of town. He decided to document everything that happened and how each new beginning of every nighmare worked, so that he could try to make some sense of it. He also wanted to make sure that he didn't end up losing his god damned mind. The first entry read as the following: The first time I woke up in this hellish nightmare, my legs were torn off and I was surrounded by what could only be my own blood. The first red flag of it not being real was the fact that I couldn't feel any actual pain. I then noticed a strange creature in my closet, staring at me with the strangest glowing white eyes. I woke up suddenly after that, nearly having a heart attack. The closet door was opening, and I figured that it meant that the creature was going to jump out at me. I then leapt out of the window, trying to find Scout and Pauling. I woke up in my bed again. The thing from the closet was quick to attack this time, and I could just barely feel it tear into my flesh when I woke up once more. I then tooka different approach, and tried the hallway. I ended up having to break the door down to get out. I hid in another closet, and some strange voice started saying terrible things to me... I woke up again, finally in the real world. Apparently something bad happened, because when I tried to approach my teammates and the other ponies, they treated me like I was some disgusting monster. I haven't felt emotions like these since I was a young child... Even as a man of science, I cannot explain why. I'm plagued with horrible anxiety. I went from a fearless wolf to a wet cat overnight. Medic laid down in the grass, and let his ears fall. He then swore at himself, and stood back up proudly. "Zere is no time to feel sorry for myself! I should be getting to ze bottom of zis!" He regretted this choice after a few hours of being mercilessly beaten and scorn by his teammates. No new information was discovered. ~~~ "Goooooood MORNING Pyro!" Pinkie bounced into the room of the slumbering fire mare, and giggled uncontrollably. Pyro lifted her head from the pillow she was given and groaned, brushing from stray strands of her mane from her face. She shifted uncomfortably in her suit which she had forgotten to take off to sleep that night. "Mornin'...." Pinkie snorted and laughed at her, unconvinced by her guest's groggy attitute. "Come on silly, you got TONS of sleep! Get that tail shaking!" She tore Pyro's covers off with her teeth, and presented her with a tray of cupcakes. "You all get a party later! I started planning it yesterday, and haven't slept since! NINE new ponies?! THAT'S A REAL FIESTA IF YOU ASK ME! I made it red themed since you all seem to love the color so much! Can't imagine why, PINK is so much better!" Pyro rolled her eyes, and sat up slowly. "They're pretty similar colors, aren't they?" Pinkie only giggled again, and bounced out of the room while explaining how there was breakfast ready downstairs for when she wanted it. ~~~ "...Sheila, there's a stitch out of place on your dress there." "Oh please, call me Rarity! Where, Sniper? Which dress?" Sniper tilted his head towards a flowery dress hanging in the window of Rarity's boutique. She inspected it, but couldn't find a thing wrong. She took another look, this time through a magnifying glass, and gasped. "Goodness, there IS! It's so tiny though, how could you have seen it from all the way over there??" Sniper shrugged, and levitated his rifle from the floor. "Guess this little beauty has given me a keen eye." ~~~ "So uh, Scout, are you and Miss Pauling dating?" Scout nearly doubled over at Rainbow's question. He laughed nervously, and looked around the room for the purple pegasus. After he made sure the coast was clear, he pulled Rainbow close and said quietly, "See, we ain't datin'. I mean, not exactly. Okay we're not dating. But I'm tryin'. I fell in love the first moment I saw her. You're gonna make fun of me for gettin' all sappy here, Dash, but I'm gonna do it anyways. This is a one time deal for me, so listen close. You're a girl, right? What do girls like? If someone incredibly handsome, like me, and charming, like me... I mean... if someone like me was gonna ask you out, how would you want me to do it? I've been tryin' for the past couple years to ask out Miss Pauling, but I just can't. She's too pretty and smart for me. Every time I get near her or try to ask, my head gets all fuzzy and I can't get the words out. You know how hard it is to want to date someone who's like, a BILLION PERCENT out of your league?" Rainbow nudged him away gently, but had a concerned look on her face. "Wow... you must really love her, right?" "Of course I do!! The fellas, they make fun of me for it. They'll say, 'the one thing Scout loves more than baseball is Miss Pauling.' or 'you gonna ask her out yet or are you just gonna sit there and waste the electricity in the van again.' They treat it like some running gag, like it's just part of my personality to be in love with every girl I see. Like I WOULDN'T miss her if she was replaced, I'd just flirt with the next one! But that ain't true. I don't stick with girls that long if I'm not genuinely invested in 'em! I tried so many things to impress her, but they don't work. Tried bein' myself, didn't work, of course. She's a lady that likes smarts, and I don't have 'em. I don't have a good education. I'm twenty three, I didn't go to college, I dropped out of highschool, all I got goin' for me is running and baseball." Rainbow rolled her eyes and raised one of her hooves. She glanced behind Scout, and smirked. "Scout, just how much do you love Miss Pauling?" "Everything she does is wonderful, Dash. She's pretty.. no, she's gorgeous, and she's an absolute genius. She knows how to get us out of tight jams, she knows how to build bombs, she always smells like lavender, her glasses always sit kinda crooked on her face... Her favorite weapon is the hacksaw, her favorite movies are horror comedies, and her favorite food is popcorn. Running is the only thing I got goin' for me, and I'd give my damn legs for her. The only thing is, I just can't tell her that." "Awe, that's really sweet Scout. I bet she likes you too, you're an amazing guy for remembering all that stuff about her." "Nah, doubt it. Miss Pauling's too busy for that kinda stuff. Well, hope your training went well. Forgot to ask earlier. I'm gonna go down and try to find the rest of the team. See ya later, Dash." Scout leapt up and flew through the window, heading towards Sweet Apple Acres. Rainbow grinned at Miss Pauling, who had wandered in some time during Scout's little speech, and stayed hidden in the hallway where he couldn't see her. "I don't know how you haven't even given him a chance yet!" > Give Up Already > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Hmm.. So let's see here. Your teammates all want you dead, you have nothing left, and you're powerless. You're useless, no one will care if you died. You should probably give up and join us now, you know. It's the only thing you can do. Come on, you disgusting waste of oxygen. Join your fellow alicorns in the dark... We'll be your new family. We'll be the only things left that care about you. We ARE the only things left that care about you and your existence. Come on, just say yes..." ~~~ "Have any of y'all seen the Medic? It's already dinner time, and ah'm gettin' kinda worried, and Heavy hasn't taken a break since, he's just been wanderin' around the hole town lookin' for him." "Not a sight of him, mate. Woke up this morning, helped the pretty pony with her dresses, and then came here. Same with Spy." "What about you, Pryo? Any sign of Medic?" "Ugh, not even close. Pinkie Pie spent the whole day stuffing me with cakes and candies.. I think my sweet tooth is pregnant or something now.. Oh, speaking of Pinkie, she's throwing an arrival party for the ten of us." "Better tell her to make it for the eight of us, 'cause I think we've lost Heavy and Medic." "Scout!" "What? It's true. Medic's fricken gone, and Heavy ain't comin' back until he finds him." "Naw, Heavy will come back eventually, especially if he's expected somewhere, like Pinkie's party." An awkward silence fell over the seven mercs, as the wondered if the situation was genuinely something to worry about. Medic was known for hiding away and doing his own thing, but Twilight even told them that he wasn't anywhere in the castle. She hadn't even seen or heard him leave. They were sure that he was fine though... probably... Heavy then returned, a grim look on his face. "Found nothing. No Medic anywhere." "Aw don't worry big fella, ah'm sure he'll turn up soon..." "Soon is not soon enough." "Och, 'el be alright lad, Medic's a grow up. He knows how ta' survive." "What if he is in trouble? Heavy will not forgive self if Medic is harmed." "Trouble? There ain't any fricken trouble here, this is magical fairy ponyland." "Scout does not know. There could be dangers." "Heavy's right. We don't know a lot about this place. The two of us were kept up all night by some strange bangin' noises. Call me crazy, but ah think it might have been tryin' to get to us." "Sorry to interrupt whatever you guys are talking about, but I have your drinks. I got... a red wine, three beers, two lemonades, and two waters." ~~~ "Welcome to the party, everypony!" Music blasted, balloons floated through the air, and streamers fell around as party lights bathed Sugarcube Corner in festive colors. "We're all here to say hello to the RED team; Scout, Soldier, Pyro, Demo, Engineer, Heavy, Sniper, Spy, and Medic! They're here to help us stop a crazy evil that we can't control, so make them feel super welcome! They're also joined by their friend, Miss Pauling!" The ponyville ponies stomped and cheered, as the members of RED put fake smiles on their faces. It was now late at night, and there was still no sign of Medic. They grouped together in a corner by an open window, which Spy and Sniper were perched in, the two smoking cigarettes. Engineer and Pyro were comforting Heavy, who wasn't doing too well without his medic. Miss Pauling was trying to think of a way to tell Scout that she heard everything he said. Demo had already fallen asleep, and was leaning against the wall in an awkward position. Twilight noticed them in the corner, and frowned at their emotionless expressions. She trotted over to them slowly and asked, "Is everything okay? You all look so... dull... no offence." "Non, Mademoiselle Sparkle. Everything is definitely not alright, but zat is not a problem. Medic has still not returned, and we have started to fear the worst. We searched absolutely everywhere, and zere is still no sign of-" Music stopped, balloons popped, and streamers fell still as the door swung open with a loud clatter. There was Medic, leaning against the doorframe. He was taking deep, shaky breaths, and he wobbled on his hooves like he'd never walked as a pony before. The RED mercs gasped and ran to his side, but immediately backed off as Medic tensed and shrunk away from them. He braced himself, just in case this wasn't the right reality. "Medic, where the Hell have you been?" He stared at Engineer, who didn't seem to have any wrenches to pound him with this time. Medic took their concerned expressions into consideration, and relaxed a bit. "...Novhere. Sorry, I vas... in ze forest." Heavy loomed over him, and huffed angrily. "Medic was okay the whole time?" "...Ja." "Never. Ever. Do that again. We were worried that you had gotten hurt or died." "Nein, you treat me like some young child! I can handle myself!" Which wasn't true at all, since Medic just had an emotional breakdown a minute ago in front of Merasmus and the shadowy mare who trapped him in a nightmarish limbo throughout the entire day. Medic suddenly snapped his wings out, and stepped backwards out the door. "You don't need to SCOLD me for being an adult! Just because I'm not a drunken DEFFECT like ze rest of you vith all of your guns and grenades does NOT make me a weak and helpless CHILD. MAYBE IF YOU ALL VEREN'T SO THICK YOU VOULD REALIZE ZAT." There was a moment of dead silence, as the ponies and mercs were too shocked at his outburst to respond. Heavy blinked, and frowned slowly. Of course Medic had called them stupid before, but not like that. This time it was different. It just wasn't like him. "...We need to talk." "NEIN. VE NEED TO DO NICHTS." "See? They treat you like you're nothing. They don't know what you're really capable of. We tried to tell you this before, and now you have your proof. You can do amazing things with a mind like yours, Medic. Come on, join us." Medic took another step back, still glaring furiously at the mercs in front of him. Scout stepped outside, and went around to the other side of Medic, as if to block his path. "Uh, doc? You feeling alright? You don't look too good..." "Just say yes, right now, and I'll give you all the power you could ever want..." The other eight mercs surrounded him, their concern growing. Heavy stood in front, and once again tried to reason with him. "Doktor, please calm down. You are not child, we know this. We are just very worried." "Worried? They're not WORRIED, they're LYING to you. Come on, join us, RULE THE WORLD WITH US." "Lies. You don't care." "If we didn't care, we wouldn'ta spent all day lookin' for ya! Are y'all tired? Come on, they've got room in the shop, you just need some sleep..." The mercs stepped forward as Medic hunched down slightly, as if he was ready to take off. "I know you want to. All it takes is a simple yes..." "Nein. I am not tired. I don't vant to go anyvhere vith you." "There you go... don't let them tell you who's in charge." "Doktor will come with us now." "Nein." "Don't let him do it." "Da. Medic comes with us. You are sick." Scout retreated to the back of Sugarcube Corner to ask Twilight to help just in case things got ugly. She joined the circle quickly, and she could immediately tell that something was seriously wrong. "I'm not SICK you disgusting-" Heavy lifted Medic into the air with one of his giant hooves, keeping him from running away. "You are sick. Purple pony, we take him home. I will guard door. No exceptions." ~~~ "They're treating you like a toddler." "I am avare." "So, just say yes to me, and you can show them they're wrong." "I'm not saying yes to you... yet." "What? Why not? Do you not see how they're treating you? You're so much MORE than this, doctor." "Or maybe I'm not. You are ze one who made me live through zose horrible zings, aren't you? Vhy should I trust you?" "I was only showing you the TRUTH, Doctor. I was showing you how they really felt." "Sure, but if zey did not truly care about me, zey vouldn't have been so concerned vhen I showed up to ze party. I also vould not be locked in zis vindowless room vith Heavy blocking ze door." "They're doing this just to HUMILIATE you, not because they care!" "I appreciate you keeping me company, but please leave. I am not in ze mood for your scheisse" > Stop Hitting Yourself > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "...It's been five hours of silence. It is probably... four in ze morning... I can just barely hear Heavy breazing on ze ozer side of ze door... Tell me, vhy did you vant ME, of all my teammates?" "Don't you get it? You're above them, Doctor. A real man of science. You've brought lives back even after they crossed to the other side. You haven't just toiled in God's domain, you marched in proudly with your head held high. You've accomplished impossible feats of science. You developed the ÜberCharge. You're an ALICORN, Doctor. Alicorns are the GODS of this realm, and you're one of them. You have abilities beyond what they know." "I appreciate ze flattery, but it vill get you novhere. I'm asking for ze specific reasons vhy you chose me. Vhat you are planning. I only agree when I know everyzing." "You truly ARE a smart man, Doctor. We are much like each other, you know. Used to be a naive child with big hopes and dreams that were crushed mercilessly by something horrible. I know your life, Doctor. I've been in your head. I've seen your memories. I know how you feel. I know it hurts." "Oh shut up. Stop trying to relate to me. Ve are different species from different worlds entirely." "Are we, Doctor? How are you to know? Maybe I've been here the entire time, and only now want to show myself to you. I may be someone that you love dearly, who just could not let go." "I don't care about anyvone." "You cared about THEM, Doctor. You loved them so much, you would have given your life for them." "Stop talking, right now." "Sweet little Eva, she had the brightest smile." "If you don't stop talking I'm going to rip you to shreds." "You CAN'T though, Doctor. You can't because I'm inside your head. I'm YOU now. I will get the revenge you crave." Medic levitates his amputator with his magic, and carefully debates sawing his own head in half. "Don't even think about it. Alicorns in this realm are almost imortal. You'll just spend an eternity in pain if you try to get rid of me. Come on, just say yes! I'll give you the power you deserve. You can return to your regular world and destroy the ones who have wronged you." "Vhy do you need me to say yes so badly? Vhy don't you just do vhatever you vant to me yourself razzer zan torture me like zis?" "Oh Doctor... that sounded like a yes to me!" "Vait, vhat? ACH! NEIN! SCHEISSE!! VHAT ARE YOU DOING?" "Making a few.. minor adjustments!" "VHY DOES IT FEEL LIKE MY SKULL IS SPLITTING IN TWO?!" The shouting alerted Heavy, who immediately flung open the door. "Doktor, what is wrong??" Medic stared at him from the floor, and shrugged. "Nothing. Why do you assume there's something wrong?" Heavy raised an eyebrow, and examined the doctor. "Your accent. What happened to it?" "My... accent?" Medic cleared his throat and looked up at the ceiling. The shadow mare sighed, wondering how she could have made such a stupid mistake. Of COURSE she forgot the accent. "Zere is nozing wrong vis it, iz zere?" Heavy gave him an unimpressed look, and closed the door. He sat down in front of it, and stared at Medic. "Heavy will stay inside and watch Medic. Something is not right." Oh great. ~~~ "So... You're the Scout, right? What is it you all do back where you come from?" Scout leaned against the wall of the castle, not too thrilled about being awake at this hour. He listened to Twilight blabber on for a couple hours before she finally asked that question. "What do we do? A little pony like you probably can't handle it." Twilight smirked. "Please. I've saved Equestria dozens of times from terrible evils, I can handle pretty much anything." Scout grinned and pulled out his bat. He rolled it across the floor at her. "Can ya handle this?" Twilight lifted the bat, still smirking. "Are you kidding me?" she asked, a hint of superiority in her voice. "Of course I can handle a little bat. Who do you think I am?" "Oh I dunno. But it's not the bat that you can't handle. That bat has caved in the skull of over a thousand people." Twilight's eyes widened. She screamed bloody murder, and dropped the bat. She looked up at Scout, and was immediately disgusted by his grin. "You mean you... k-ki... killed.....?" "Where we come from it's pretty common, actually. Even MORE common when it comes to my job. Mission starts, first thing I do is grab a bat, ball, gun, and let the dust bellow me fly as I rush through the battlefield batting in their brains." Twilight gasped in horror, and backed away from the Scout. "B-But couldn't you have just, talked it out?! O-Or maybe just imprisoned them somewhere???!! Did you have to KILL them?!" "Oh princess you wouldn't last a MINUTE where we're from. Our job was to fight the other guys to try to steal the land they were given by their dad or somethin'. Then they were murdered and we were hired to deffend Mann Co. Then we were fired AGAIN and lived out our lives for like, a year. But durin' that time the Spy and I were actually imprisoned for war crimes and nearly hung. It wasn't pretty. Then all this weird shit happened and we ended up fighting more robots. We finally finished 'em off, then you ponies brought us here with your freaky unicorn magic so now we're fightin' again." "I'm so sorry... we didn't know that you were done fighting, we-" Scout laughed, and leapt into the air while snapping his wings out. "You kiddin' me?! Fightin's the best! I dunno what I would do without it! And I freakin' LOVE fightin' Merasmus. He's a wizard who knows magic and crap. I'm not talkin' 'bout silly pony magic neither. I'm talkin cray kinda magic. Plus whenever he's around, we ALL get to use it." "Incredible... But uh, I'm also concerned about Medic... is he always like this?" "Well hell if I know. If we're not on the battlefield, he's holed up in the medical ward doing God knows what. I dunno who his is, where he came from, what he's really like. Actually, I can say that for pretty much all of our teammates. I didn't even know Pyro was a GIRL until like, yesterday. All I know is that he's acting funny, and it's upsettin' Heavy. 'Cause they're gay for each other. Except don't bring that up or else one of 'em might hit ya really hard. Tellin' you this from experience." "O-Oh... well... Okay then..." ~~~ "Wow... you built all this?" Engineer nodded to Applejack, who was now marvelling at his creations set up in the barn. She gasped at the dispensers and ran her hoof along one gently. "Y'all sure do live up to yer names... Engineer is right..." "Well, ah do pride myself in mah work. Like creatin' a workin' teleporter. Only ones to do that before were the Australians because of their Australium, which one of mah grandfathers got a hold of, and it's been in mah family since." ~~~ "...Please say something, Doktor." Medic glared at Heavy, and turned back around to face the wall. He had moved to the corner and was completely ignoring Heavy, who was trying to get closer to him without leaving the door. Medic had been completely silent during that time, and wasn't even looking at him. "Doktor, say something." Medic didn't even spare him a glance this time. He only flicked his tail, and remained staring at the wall. "This is not like you. I don't like seeing you like this. It worries me, and I care about you." This caused Medic's ears to perk up slightly. Actual words of showing affection? Maybe the shadow mare was just lying to get him to believe her and agree with them. "Doktor, please say something. Anything." "Vhy?" Heavy let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Doktor... I was worried is all." "No, vhy do you care about me? Ve aren't supposed to care about each ozer, we're supposed to fight next to each ozer and try not to die. Ve are supposed to be professionals. You all have close bonds vis each ozer and I have tried everyzing in my power to stay AVAY from zat. Pyro and Engie are close friends, Spy and Sniper have a strange friendship, Demo and Soldier are buddies, but I'm not. I'm not a PART of zat, herr Heavy. I've steered avay from everyvone. I've locked my doors and didn't talk during dinner. I refused to make any of zose connections vis our team. Vhat, on God's green Earth, could you have possibly found in me zat made me vorth caring about?" Heavy lowered his eyes, and shifted his position. "Don't say that Doktor, you're not as bad of a person as you think you are. You have good qualities. You are perhaps the only sane one on our team. Definitely smartest. You have many good qualities and I care about you a lot." Medic sighed and rolled his eyes. "If ze Scout vas here, ve vouldn't hear ze end of zis." > "Oops" > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Now... please explain to me how this happened, again?" "Oh yeah sure. So Medic was taken over by a weird shadow thing and then he murdered Demo and Sniper, then as he was trying to tear Spy apart he was backstabbed and the both of them died. Then Pyro burned the shadow thing while I was batting Merasmus' head in. So then just the four of them were dead, and it was just Pauling, Heavy, Pyro, Engie and I left. Heavy went into hysterics and started firing at random, which left him open for Merasmus to get him. And then ponyville was covered in a thick black cloud and was taken over by a bunch of bread monsters and ducks. And now it's just your friends, the princesses, and the rest of us alive as well as a few ponyville ponies that managed to escape with us." "...Can you simplify that a bit...?" "Your six friends, a few ponyville ponies, the princesses, and half of RED are hiding in a cave because Medic went insane and destroyed literally everything with Merasmus." ~~ Two Hours Prior ~~ "How long 'ave they been in tha room there?" "About seven hours. I've heard nothing, so I don't know how it's going, but I don't think anything to horrible has happened yet... Do you want to check up on Medic?" "Aye, if tha's not a problem." ~~~ "-And then apparently the sight of Demo caused him to totally lose it, which is why half of our team is dead now. Technically they'll go through respawn and can just teleport back here. Oooh but would they be ponies then still? Maybe it will be easier to fight in your regular forms, guys!" Miss Pauling grinned slightly as the team, who were still feeling sour about their lost friends. Scout sighed and rolled his eyes. "What's the point? Medic's gone totally bonkers, the respawn might not even work for Demo, Sniper and Spy, and-" "Och! Laddies, it took a while ta find ya! The respawn totally works, and when we came back, we were still lil' ponies!" The surviving RED members looked up to the entrance of the cave to see Sniper, Spy and Demo perfectly in tact again. They cheered, and Miss Pauling immediately took over Medic's position of some kind of leader. "Alright guys! Battle plan. There are three enemies. Medic, Merasmus, and that Shadow thing. Merasmus and Medic both appear to be under the inffluence of said shadow thing." Miss Pauling turns to the other ponies in the cave. "Applejack, is it? We need your help to move all of Engineer's sentry guns and dispensers from the barn. Rainbow Dash, follow Scout's lead. Twilight, find a healing spell as fast as possible and be our temporary Medic. If the princesses would like to help as well, that would be great, but I'm not going to force anyone to run into that hell out there. I feel like the rest of you ponies aren't exaactly the fighting type, but if you want to help without getting blood on your fur, do anything you can. This definitely isn't some regular battle you've all fought before. No amount of friendship magic in the world can stop it." The ponies nodded slowly, all flooded with overwhelming worry. If their Harmony magic can't stop it, what can? Applejack, Heavy, and Engineer took off towards the barn to gather their supplies, as Scout and Rainbow stretched their wings. "Alright rainbows, lemme tell you what I do. Distraction and danger watch. I run ahead, you know? I keep an eye out for anything then report it back to the team you know? So here's what you gotta do. Fly as fast as you possibly can, and dodge. Occasionally beat somethin's head in." "Fly fast and dodge? Please, that's what I do for a living." Miss Pauling lifted her own wings, and frowned. "There's no way I'll be able to go that fast. I'll... I'll make myself useful, don't worry. Alright guys, who are we?!" "RED TEAM." "What are we doing?!" "KICKIN' ASS." "And where are we going?!" "STRAIGHT TA HELL!!" "Move out!" Scout and Rainbow took off into the sky, swirling towards the center of Ponyville. Miss Pauling stood straighter, feeling proud that the team was actually listening to her as a leader. Sniper and Spy started moving to the outskirts as Demo and Soldier immediately blasted themselves into the heart of battle. Twilight watched them leave, then turned to Miss Pauling. "Are they ALWAYS this anxious to fight...?" "Well, it IS their job. That and I promised them a longer holiday if they did this for you guys." Twilight glowered upon hearing that they weren't doing it to be helpful at all. She waved her remaining friends over. "Okay ponies, we're going to help the RED team in any way we can. Remember, the magic of friendship... isn't going to help us this time." Twilight turned to Princess Celestia, and looked up at her with a scared expression. "Are the Elements of Harmony the only defence that Equestria has?" Princess Celestia and Luna exchanged glances, and could only shrug. "They're the only we ever found, or needed for that matter... This magic isn't our world's magic..." Celestia moved to the mouth of the cave, and spread her wings. "My little ponies, please stay safe. We will get our home back, I promise." Meanwhile, Engineer was setting up his nest. Dispensers, Sentry guns, and the teleporter. He suddenly thought of something, and grinned. "Applejack, get all the ponies tah gather 'round here. I got an idea." Their team reassembled, with the mane six and princesses accompanying them. "We're gonna hook y'all up to the respawn. It don't hurt, I promise. Respawn is quick an' easy. We'll take y'all off after the battle is over. Sound good?" Rainbow was granted the ability to respawn first, so that she and Scout could jump right back into battle. Scout lifted himself into the air, and scanned the area for danger. "Holy fricken' crap! Guys, we got a little problem!" "What? What is it?!" "There's an army of some kind of.. bugs approaching." Twilight's eyes widened in horror. The Changelings??? Why were THEY here?! "They're mixed with some dark shadowy ponies." Princess Celestia stared at the ground for a moment, then came to the simple conclusion that the Changelings must have been recruited by the wizard and the shadowy mare to help take over... RED ponies, the changelings can disguise themselves as any pony they wish. It's impossible to tell by appearance that they're actually changelings..." Engineer shook his head and lifted his wrench. "Just like spah's. Well, we got Pyro, they won't be a problem. For the most part. Scout! Get up there and slap some sense into Medic!" "Are you CRAZY, hard hat?! I ain't goin' near that thing! He means bad business!" "Yeah, but he's still our Medic. Now go boy before I throw mah wrench at ya." Scout groaned and motioned for Rainbow to come over to him. "Alrigh Dashes, I gotta go get the crazy man back, so you're gonna have to work distraction while I do that. No idea how long it's gonna take. Think you can handle it?" "Handling it is my middle name, Scout. I got this! Now go get your doctor back!" Scout nodded and gave her an encouraging pat on the back before flying up into the dark swirling vortex of clouds above him. He saw Medic in the distance, laughing like a maniac while using his magic to block the sunlight that was still aching to shine through. Scout growled and flew straight at him. Medic noticed him almost immediately and started blasting him with random bursts of magic. Scout dodged them easily, and rolled away. He spun around Medic, while shouting memory triggers at him, hoping that he'll snap out of it. "Hey... Doc... Remember when you got your bird stuck in my chest and it lived their for a week? Pretty funny, right?!" Scout was barely brushed by an intense beam of magical energy. Nope, that wasn't good enough. "Remember all the times I made fun of you for being an egghead?! I'm sorry about that, no hard feelin's?!" Once again, he barely managed to avoid being pulverized by Medic's crazy magical columns. "Dammit... uh.... Remember when we were fighting an army of robots in an arctic wasteland?! It was only a couple days ago man, please snap out of it!" Medic paused for about a second, then resumed trying to murder him. Scout barrel rolled to the side, and lowered his eyes. "Alright man, I didn't wanna do this, but you've left me no choice!" Scout started zipping in crazy patterns around Medic while screaming out "MEDIC!" repeatedly. Medic grit his teeth and tried to hit the skittish pegasus, but found his efforts futile. Medic shook his head and screeched, "STOP MOVING!" "MEDIC! MEDIC! MEDIC!" "SHUT UP!!" Scout took in a deep breath, and hurled himself towards Medic. He hit him dead in the stomach, legs first, causing Medic to have the wind knocked out of him. Scout then delivered a rough slap across his face. "SNAP OUT OF IT, DAMMIT!" Medic shook his head, and groaned. "Vhat ze hell?" "Oh thank God. Okay, that wasn't actually as hard as I expected it to be. Well it just proves that violence is the answer to everything! Now get down there and help us fight, man!" Scout looked around at the monster of clouds surrounding them. He barely saw something green in the distance beyond the thick layed of cloud in front of them, and sighed. "Merasmus is over that way. Let's go, if we stay up here we're probably gonna die." "Scout, your butt sticker is glowing." Scout frowned and glanced back at his flank. "... So it is. Just call me special snowflake then. Now let's move, Deutschbag!" Scout kicked the cloud below them away, and the two were trapped in a free fall towards the ground. They opened their wings and glided safely to the ground. Engineer peeked at them from behind his machinery, and waved. "Welcome back doc! Just in time, too. The army's about to arrive, and we could really use an Übercharge!" Medic rolled his eyes and lifte his Medigun. "Of course you do." "Übercharge? What's that?" Engineer, Scout, and Medic turned to see Princess Celestia and Twilight standing there. "Oh, hello princesses. Ze Übercharge is somezing zat I created a long time ago.. You vill see vhat is is later. Now ve must get ready to fight! I must find herr Heavy. Vith so many dispensers, pocketing von't be a problem..." Medic took off into the air, and engineer gripped his wrench tighter. "Well ladies, if y'all get injured just head on over and the dispensers will fix ya right up!" They nodded and smiled at him. Soldier then landed in front of them with a sickening crunch sound. He laughed and swung his rocket launcher around. "HELLO PONIES! I JUST GOT ATTACKED BY A SWARM OF BUGS!" "Oh dear, are you alright sir?!!" "IT'S GONNA TAKE A LOT MORE THAN A FEW MOSQUITOS TO TAKE ME OUT, SISTER!" Engineer laughed. "Solly, those ain't mosquitos. They're called Changelings." "POTATO TOMATO, ENGIE! BUGS ARE BUGS, AND THEY AREN'T GONNA STOP ME!" Engineer nodded, knowing that there was nothing else he could say to warn Soldier that he could be biting off more than he could chew. He noticed that the mark on Soldier's flank appeared to be glowing, but didn't have time to really look at it before Soldier blasted off again. Engie shrugged it off, and resumed whacking the machiens with his wrench. "Ah think we're about to be flooded with monsters, so y'all might want to get to higher ground. Somethin' tells me this ain't gonna be an easy fight, even with Medic back." > Übercharge > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scout landed roughly next to Engineer's dispensers and sighed, wiping the sweat from his face. "So how's it going, hard hat?" Engie looked up and nearly dropped his wrench, then tightened his grip again. "Y'all scared me, Scout. Though if ya don't move away from the stuff soon ah'm gonna have to shoot ya out of suspicion." "Makes sense. I can see you've been busy, with all these bug bodies scattered around." "How are you an' Rainbow doin'?" "Well we ain't died yet, so I think we're doin' pretty good." Scout launched into the air once more, leaving Engie to his machines. Engineer waved at Pyro as she scampered by, blasting the surrounding area with her fire. He then watched in horror as a massive canine-like shadow creature hit the ground in front of him, and ripped his sentries to shreds. Engie grabbed a dispenser and ran from the spot, narrowly avoiding becoming dog chow. He saw Sniper aiming towards him, and had just enough time to duck out of the way as a few changelings' heads were blasted off. Engineer waved to him, and he only nodded back, since concentration was key in his case. Engie rushed to Heavy and Medic's side, and dropped the dipenser. "Dispenser, goin' up." "Zank you Engineer! Ve vere running out of ammo anyvays." "It ain't nothin'! The nest got destroyed anyways, thought I'd run over and help y'all out." Medic opened his mouth to mention Engineer's cutie mark glowing slightly, but didn't get a chance before Princess Celestia and Twilight landed next to them. "Are you three alright?" "We sure are! How're you ladies holdin' up?" "We're fine. We have found simple healing spells to use. They aren't as good as your medigun, Medic, but they have been helping us so far. We believe that the first wave of changelings and shadow monsters is nearly destroyed, but Rainbow Dash tells me that she and Scout flew out and spotted another wave on their way." "... Just like the robots back home. Well shoot, that must mean it'll only get harder and harder." Engie sighed and started deploying more dispensers and sentry guns. Princess Celestia and Twilight watched curiously as the RED team reassembled by Engineer's buildings, but didn't even speak to one another. "...Aren't any of you going to say anything?" They paused and glanced over at Twilight, and only shrugged. "We don't talk much during battles, Sheila." "What? Why not??" Sniper leaned against the dispenser and tipped his hat back while cleaning his rifle with his tail. "I understand that your little pony friendship magic requires communication and happy encouraging words, but real fighting is VERY different. The magic that Merasmus has is magic from our world, where real fighting comes from being professional. Sure we'll give the usual encouragement to one another but we don't sit around and gush about our love and tolerance or whatever is is you sheilas want to call it. We're well aware that we appreciate our teammates' work. Our minds need to be clear while we work so that we can concentrate." Twilight's eyes widened. "Sniper, your cutie mark.." They all looked down, to see Sniper's mark glowing. "Well, it's never done that before." Spy frowned and rubbed his chin. "I experienced the same zing earlier while I was fighting. Princess, do you know anysing about zis?" "No, I'm afraid I don't... What were you doing when it happened, Spy?" "I backstabbed a group of maybe ten of zose bug ponies. Nozing special." Scout stepped forward and added, "Mine started glowing after I slapped the sense back into Medic." "Ah don't know if this'll help, but I thought I saw Solly's glowing when he landed in front of us not too long ago at the nest." "And Engie's vas glowing just a second ago after he deployed ze despenser!" Pyro shrugged. "I thought I saw something glowing in my suit after burning a bunch of those shado things..." Princess Celestia and Twilight exchanged confused glances. Celestia kneeled down, and examined the RED team's cutie marks and the pony who wore them. "I don't understand what could have possibly caused them to glow like that..." "You don't, but I might." Miss Pauling rushed forward with a stack of books, papers, and quills. "Sorry for butting in like this Princess, but this is sort of my thing." She drops her load to the grass, and sorts them out. "I first noticed Heavy's mark glowing actually, when he started shooting at the army of Changelings. He just mowed so many of them down without moving, it got me thinking. So then I did some asking around and heard about the Elements of Harmony, which is you six ponies. I also heard that it was Equestria's ONLY real form of effetive defence. That's also terrible by the way, since having only one defence mechanism also leaves so much room for failure." Miss Pauling gestures behind her at the mess that was Ponyville. "Example A. However, I did some reading, which is where I've been the entire time. Since we come from another world, we bring an entirely new form of defence to Equestria. Like, new Elements I guess we'd call it. Rather than Laughter, Kindness, whatever else you have, we have other things. Of course I haven't exactly been able to place wha they might be, I've been working on it. Hopefully I can figure it all out..." Rainbow Dash shook her head and frowned. "Wait, you're telling me there's TEN other elements?! How is that even possible?!" "I just explained why, actually." Miss Pauling climbed on top of the dispenser, and cleared her throat. "The next wave is going to be here any minute. Medic, charge your Über. Demo, line every main street entrance with stickybombs. Spy, you and Sniper go to the furthest outskirts that you can, and Spy, try to get behind them. Engie, take this little makeshift map and set up sentry guns and dispensers exactly where I have them. Scout, you and Dash do what you do best. Fly fast, and try not to die. Soldier, Heavy, Pyro, to the front lines. Alright guys, move out!" The team packed their things and moved back into Ponyville, ready to attack. Celestia pointed to Miss Pauling's Quill cutie mark. "Yours is glowing now as well. Miss Pauling grabbed a notebook and started scribbling in it. "Interesting." She gathered the rest of her stuff, and ran around to each teammate. Five minutes later she returned, notebook full of writing. "I've asked them all for details on what they were doing EXACTLY while their marks glowed. The only one who didn't have such an occurance yet was Medic." Twilight studied Miss Pauling's notes, and shrugged. "I still don't get it... Maybe we have to wait until Medic gets his?" "Most likely." Pauling set her notebook down and squinted at the distance. "Which if I'm correct... will be very soon. Follow me, this is something you ponies just have to see." Miss Pauling led Twilight, Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Princess Celestia to Medic and Heavy, who were bracing themselves for the impact of a massive shadow dragon. "Ponies, hide in the alley there, and watch this." She ushered the ponies into the alley and they all watched silently and patiently. Medic nudged Heavy in the side and muttered, "Fully charged." Heavy nodded, and moved forward a step. "Charge me, Doktor." Medic lifted the Medigun up further. He let the massive shadow dragon get close enough that it would be able to step on them, and deployed the Über. Heavy started glowing that familiar red, and laughed as he was filled with overwhelming power. Of course, Medic had no idea what could happen to an Übered pony, since ponies aren't usually Übered. Heavy actually sprouted a horn, and while shooting with his gun, ALSO blasted the creature with an intense magic beam. Medic laughed hysterically as they absolutely destroyed the massive shadow dragon. The Über died, and the two of them held their breath before laughing again at the thought of what they just did. Magical ponies become bulletproof and destroy a massive dragon made of shadows, which shouldn't even have been able to exist nor touch them. The situation was just very funny to them. "Wow... What on earth was THAT?!" Medic turned to face Twilight, who came out from the alley way to stare at the Übered pony. "Vell, I have no idea. I didn't expect zat to give him a horn. It's gone now, zough, so it is a simple ubered zing I believe. Zat's never happened before, so..." "But what was it? What you just did?" "Zat, Fräulein Sparkle, vas ze Übercharge. It makes someone invulnerable for a short period of time. It gives zem power beyond belief! Vould you like to try it? It's quite fun." "If you don't mind, I would actually. Maybe it will help me understand it more..." Medic nodded and quickly charged her with it, then said, "Fully charged." Twilight gave him the ok, and he flipped it on. Instead of red, Twilight radiated a royal purple, and her eyes turned completely yellow. She shivered but a wide green spread across her face. Twilight herself grew larger, her mane began to flow, and she looked almost like Celestia but with a straighter mane. Her horn started to glow, and she shot a massive beam of magical energy towards the distant Changelings, completely destroying that group. The Über died, and Twilight reverted to her normal form. "Wow... that was... Fantastic! I don't think I've ever felt anything like that in my LIFE!!!" > Elements of... > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- While regrouping, Miss Pauling was practically bouncing with excitement. She finally understood, and finally figured it out. She couldn't wait to share it with the team. As soon as they were all gathered, she just about exploded. "I think I understand what you are all doing now! I've been taking notes on it, and this is what I got. You all posess certain elements that are just about the exact opposite of Harmony, and I've got one too. Which means there's ten of them. Which also means it must lead to something powerful. Soldier, I've decided that you must be the element of Determination. Scout, you are the element of Vigilance. Pyro, you are the element of Spirit. Heavy is resistance, Medic is Power, Engineer is Support, Sniper is Professionalism, Spy is Patience, Demo is Courage, and I am leadership." The team of Mercs nodded in agreement, seeing why they would have been given their element. "Miss Pauling, what are ze... importance of zese elements?" Spy asked while twirling his cigarette. "Surely zere is somezing we can do wiz zose abilities, no?" "The Elements of Harmony peacefully stop villains. I can only assume yours will PERMANENTLY stop villains. Rather than trapping them in stone or sending them to Hell, I bet yours will just, well... obliterate the threat. However I have no idea how you'll be able to active them... Hey Scout can you go check how close their next wave of baddies is?" Scout saluted and jumped up into the air, off to lookout for incoming dangers. "It's uh... actually they're about to barge in literally right now. Everypony scatter!" All ponies took off in all directions, ducking under bushes and hiding behind carts. The nine mercenary ponies began to attack ruthlessly, mowing down all enemies in their path. It took a while to get rid of them all, but they eventually took out the wave after a while. They took their next short break, and went right back into fighting the next wave. Twilight was slightly disgusted with how easily they killed. She knew that she could never do something like that. Twilight barely had time to register what was happening when Rainbow screamed, "HEADS UP" as a snarling changeling launched itself at their group. Everything went black after the changeling took a big chunk out of her neck, killing her instantly. The mercenary ponies assured the Equestrians that Twilight would respawn back at their base and would be completely fine. Speaking of the respawn hut, Twilight woke up there in a cold sweat, panting. She looked around, and scrunched her face as the scent of blood and metal hit her. She examined herself, and found that she was in her human body, but her skintone was a shade of brown rather than purple. Twilight narrowed her eyes and looked around the room, before spotting a picture tacked to the wall. She took it down and stared at it, noticing that the humans in the picture looked much like the pony mercs. Twilight smiled to herself and stuffed the picture into her pocket, to save it for when after they left. She wanted a memory of Equestria's heros, after all. Twilight was greeted by strangling hugs from her friends, who were in tears to see her alive. The mercs were used to watching each other die in front of them, so they weren't really affected. It made them see heartless, but they were genuinely used to death and resurrection at this point in their lives. The ponies watched in awe once more as Medic ubered the Heavy again to take down yet another massive creature of shadows. The fight was more containable now, as the nine mercenaries knew what they were doing and how to contain the situation. Pyro kept the changelings and shadow creatures in one area with her airblasts and bright burning fire, so it was easier than their regular battles where all enemies were scattered around in different locations. This time was different, as the army of monsters all came down a single road. No longer afraid of truly dying, the Equestrian ponies offered their help in the raging battle. Spike joined up with Pyro near the front lines, bathing the changelings in fire. Engineer showed Applejack how to operated the machines, and Scout shrugged as Rainbow was already basically doing his job. Spy gave Rarity a mask and cloaking decice, while Fluttershy was given another medigun because she didn't feel right harming anything. Twilight wanted to try her hooves in the line of sniping and Pinkie was excited to make things explode. With all of them helping, the battle went even faster. This was a turning point, as the ponies took the lead and were slowly taking down the entire changeling army. > Deus Ex Machina > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "How long are these stupid bugs gonna keep coming? We've been fightin' for like hours..." Medic leaned awkwardly against the wall after the team finished off yet another wave of changelings. "I have no idea..." he said, sighing. "Zere seems to be endless amounts of zem... and ve still have to fight Merasmus... He's up in ze clouds vere you found me, Scout." "...Should I go up and get him down?" "Vould be useless. He's protected by some veird energy ball created by himself and ze shadowy mare. He's probably under her influence like I vas, and knowing Merasmus he has no actual friends or teammates so zere's really no one able to truly snap him out of his craze. Except for maybe Soldier, who knows him ze best." "ARE YOU ACCUSING ME OF WITCHCRAFT, MISSY?!" "No, Soldier, no vone is accusing you of anyzing. Ve just vant you to go up zere and... save Merasmus." "FOOLS!" "Oh fuck my life." "YOU THINK MERASMUS NEEDS SAVING? WELL LET ME TELL YOU THAT YOU ARE WRONG!" Medic looked up at Merasmus' floating figure angrily, as everypony else took a few large steps backwards. Medic narrowed his eyes, and pulled Merasmsu to the ground with his magic. "Wunderbar! Great. Now zat you're here, ve can end zis utter bullshit and go home!" "WHO SAYS THAT MERASMUS WILL HELP YOU?!" "I do. Call off zese bugs before I gouge your eyes out vis my bare hooves." "MERASMUS... CANNOT CALL OF THE BUG ARMY. ONLY THE SHADOW MARE CAN." "That's right!" The ponies all looked up into the sky as the shadow mare made herself visible, long black mane floating in the breeze. "And there isn't anything you can do to stop me! I'm already gaining control over the elements of harmony... It's too late! Too late for even you, the nine crazed killers, to do anything abou-" "NEIN. I am DONE vis zis SCHEISSE." Although made of shadows, it was apparent that the was surprised at Medic's sudden outburst. The rest of the ponies were as well, staring blankly at the doctor, once again stepping backwards to avoid whatever fury might become of it. "Ve just spent ze LONGEST time fighting an army of mechanical nightmares in ze freezing cold, JUST ze nine of us. And zen, ve sat down, for all of FIVE MINUTES. I vanted to take vhat I earned, move to ze country somevhere, and ENJOY VHAT I HAD LEFT OF MY LIFE. BUT NOOOO VE JUST HAD TO BE VHISKED AVAY TO PONYLAND BECAUSE YOU AND MERASMUS FELT LIKE BEING DICKS ABOUT ZE ENTIRE SITUATION. SO ZEN ZE COLORFUL MINI HORSES TURNED US INTO HORSES BECAUSE ZEY COULDN'T SOLVE ZIS SCHEISSE ZEMSELVES. AND ZEN YOU TORTURED ME BECAUSE I VAS UNLUCKY ENOUGH TO BE ZE ONLY ONE VITH BOTH VINGS AND A HORN BECAUSE VHERE I COME FROM I'VE BROUGHT PEOPLE BACK FROM ZE DEAD AND ZAT MAKES ME A GOD OR SOMEZING. AND NOW, AFTER VE HAVE BEEN MOWING DOWN ZE ARMY YOU SENT AT US, YOU COME DOWN HERE AND SAY IT'S GOING TO TAKE MORE?" Medic growled like some kind of rabid animal, spreading his legs further apart and spreading out his wings in some kind of attack position. "IF ONE MORE 'DEUS EX MACHINA' VILLAIN COMES OUT HERE AND TELLS ME ZAT VE ARE GOING TO HAVE TO SOLVE SOME OZER BULLSHIT QUVEST I'M GOING TO SHOOT MYSELF IN ZE HEAD. DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW FRUSTRATING IT IS TO JUST VANT TO SIT DOWN AND RELAX, ZEN GO THROUGH ZIS?!' Heavy grunted and placed a hoof on Medic's shoulder, muttering something about calming down. Scout smirked, noticing how their cutie marks were ALL glowing. He floated up to the shadowy mare and said calmly, "You know, Medic ain't the only one that likes them Deus whatevers." The mare raised an eyebrow at Scout, who dropped back down to the ground, whispered something to Miss Pauling, and then stepped back to the group of Mercenaries. Miss Pauling nodded and motioned for the other ponies to move back as she looked up at the mare. "Miss Shadow mare, I know what you're trying to do here, really I do, but it's not going to work." Miss Pauling gestured behind her, at the nine mercenaries who know stood chests puffed out, heads high. "These nine warriors have come a far distance to help the pacifist ponies of Equestria with the aggressive type of magic from our world. We didn't think it would be possible at first, but something happened that changed our mind. Soldier," She pointed out Soldier, who took a single step forward. "has something about him that makes him unique to the others. Whether it be a severe concussion or a severed hand, he's always pushed through. That's why, by some miracle of pony magic nature, he's been given the element of Determination." Small red shards that resembled bullets began to circle around Soldier's chest, as Miss Pauling brought up Scout. "The fastest runner on the team, and an impressive athlete, Scout is always at the front of the lines calling out dangers and alerting his teammates of threats. Scout is the element of Vigilance." Bullet shards of a lighter red circled Scout's face, which scrunched at the thought of all this weird pony junk. Miss Pauling grinned and singled out Pyro, who pulled off her mask for the occasion. "Pyro, who we only discovered the true identity of a few days ago, has been nothing but positive throughout all our years of war. She bounds around, albeit while spraying fire, she keeps a bounce in her step and a smile on her face. She's passionate and upbeat. Pyro is the element of Spirit." Shards darker than Scout's but brighter than Soldier's circled around her midsection. "Next is Heavy, a real human wall. He's tough and never backs down from gunfire. He's willing to stand in front of us to keep us safe, taking every hit for himself. He's immovable and puts all his heart into his opinions. Heavy is the element of Resistance." Heavy only grunted as red shards darker than Soldier's floated around his stomach. "Then we have Medic. Despite some... issues... Medic is able to bring the gift of invincibility. He heals our wounds and can revive us even after death. Medic has capabilities that we can only star to imagine, and that's why he's the element of power." Medic sighed as shards lighter than Soldier's circled above his head. "Engie, the hard hatted Texan of the team, builds teleporters, dispensers, and sentry guns to aid his team in battle. Without them, we wouldn't make it to the right places in time, and would run out of ammunition before the round ends. I am happy to announce that Engineer is the element of Support." Dark red shards swirld around Engie's neck as he let out a quiet, "Ain't nothin'.." "Next we have Sniper, who can't be swayed from his position for anything. His scopes are polished, his perch is organized, and he does his job without any mistakes. He doesn't let emotions get in the way of his job. Sniper is the element of professionalism." Sniper only nodded and tipped his akubra hat as lighter red shards circled around his front hooves. "Spy, our silent moving Frenchman, cloaks himself on the battlefield and waits like a silent predator for the perfect time to strike. His job has little room for mistake and he plays the part to perfection. Spy is the element of Patience." "Naturally." Spy looked back as the colorful shards bagan to circle his wings. "And finally we have Demoman. His job is dangerous, exciting, and deadly. Demoman carries around live explosives with him wherever he goes, and braves the fact that they could go off at any minute. Demoman is the element of courage." Demo belched and laughed while the shards circled his hindlegs. "But none of these elements would work properly without my own, the element of Leadership. I give these guys assignments and keep track of the things that no one else would want to. All together, we posess the elements of War." The floating shards turned into necklaces, that clasped themselves around the team's necks, except for Miss Pauling who was given a crown. A massive beam of multicolored red light blasted itself at the shadowy mare, creating a massive explosion that blinded everything alive around the entire planet. When they opened their eyes, everything was... back to normal. The damage had fixed itself, and the sky had returned to its regular blue glory. The mercenaries looked around, unsure of what to do next. Merasmus had decided to run off like a coward, most likely back to their regular world. The team looked down at their necklaces, and felt a sense of happiness upon realizing that they resembled their cutiemarks. "So... ve are done here, correct....?" Princess Celestia looked up at the sky, then around Ponyville. "Well I guess so... It seems like the fight is over, and the shadowy mare was sucessfully defeated..." "So ve can go home, and never come back, correct?" "I... I would think so... But we must throw some kind of celebration for you all, we really ower a lot to y-" Medic stole Spy's revolver, then shot himself in the head. The regular ponies gasped, but the remaining mercenaries sighed. Spy stole his gun back and explained slowly, "He'll respawn back home. We appreciate the gesture, but I believe we will have to decline. Heavy and Engie will take care of removing our weaponry, and we will destroy the teleporter for good. If you ever need us again and want to summon us back, feel free to kill yourselves." Spy smirked and put a cigarette in his mouth. As he walked away, Scout rushed around, bouncing up and down. "Aw man I didn't even know I could GET any faster! Ponyland ain't too bad 'cept for all the annoyin' colors..." "And lack of thumbs." "That too." After a while of slowly returning their stockpile of weapons, Engineer was the only one left in Equestria as the rest of the mercs had crossed back through to their usual home. He took a look around, and sighed. It was actually a lovely place. He then grinned at the ponies still around him and said, "You still offerin' a party?"