It can’t be. Break couldn’t help but stare at the unequine thing before her. Its muzzle was vaguely pony-like, but those were the only similarities. Its face was long and pointed and contained razor-sharp teeth. Three horns protruded from its head dagger-like. Was this skull from the same creature that Order used to create stand users?

Didn’t the scientist say this made him into a stand user?

What did it mean? What had she gotten into? The skull gave her a bad vibe. Break wondered what kind of creature this was in life. The blue pegasus Break had been fighting also looked as shocked. Her mouth opened and closed speechless. She regained her senses and fire another laser bolt at Break.

“What is that thing?!” The pegasus demanded.

Break shook her head. “I don’t know.”

“Whatever it is, dirt pony, I’m not letting you get your hooves on it!” The pegasus forced Break to hide behind some barrels.

Skyway was having better luck and flew over the guards spreading spores everywhere. They choked as their lungs clogged and Skyway laughed. Leaving them to their fate, he turned to help Break.

The blue pegasus eyes widened in horror. “Monsters. True monsters.” Instead of firing her weapon, she made a mad dash for the skull. Skyway tried intervening, but she was too quick for him and grabbed it. She saluted and flew deeper into the city.

Skyway cursed. “After her!”

“What was that thing?” Break asked.

“It doesn’t matter,” Skyway replied, “the Enclave can’t have that skull.”

He gave chase and Break flew behind him. He flew at remarkable speed and Break had trouble keeping up, but the mare was faster. They darted through town avoiding buildings and whatever the mare put between them. The mare yelped in surprise as a skyship suddenly appeared not seeing her forcing her to dodge at the last minute. She crashed into a building crying out in pain as the window’s glass cut her and smacked into a wall. Her face twisted in agony some inner fire consumed her. Break and Skyway flew into the building cornering her. She landed on a nearby desk that somehow sat on clouds without falling through. The mare shook her head as if confused and raised her weapon towards them only to stare at Break in shock.

“What is that?” The mare said pointing at the figure above Break.

She can see my stand? Break noticed a small cut on the blue pegasus’s leg. Realization struck her. The mare must have accidentally cut herself with one of the skull’s horns. The mare gapped as mushrooms grew over Skyway’s body.

“So you have a stand now?” Skyway said. “No matter. This will end quickly.”

“That isn’t a good idea.” Break knew how dangerous a cornered animal was. They didn’t know her powers were or how they worked.

Skyway snorted ignoring Break’s objections and threw his spores in the mare’s direction. Her eyes widened in terror and a figure appeared behind her and punched the incoming attack. It was thin and sleek with gold armor with black trimmings and its head had a gold visor over its eyes. Much to Skyway’s horror, his spores froze in midair several hooves away from their target. They floated froze for several long moments before falling harmlessly to the ground. Skyway stared in complete shock. The mare used this opportunity to fire her laser pistol. Break used Good Times Bad Times to push him to safety.

The pegasus stared at the new stand in wonder and waved its hooves around. She came to a dawning realization that this power was under her total control. She smiled in childlike wonder before glaring at her two opponents.

“I don’t know what happened, but now I have the power to defeat you.” The mare’s glare was icy and dangerous.

Skyway snorted in derision. “You’re still cornered. So what if you can stop my spores?” He fired several deadly shots at the mare’s head.

The mare’s stand was a blur and it punched the laser bolts as they approached. Like the spores, the bolts froze in midair to Skyway’s utter bafflement. The mare calmed stepped aside away from the bolts and moments later they returned to life and shot into the wall. The mare’s stand hummed glowing with power and sparks flew from its hooves.

“Well, I think I understand my powers now.” The mare ran forward towards her opponent.

With speed Break didn’t think was possible, the mare’s form blurred and moments later, she was next to Skyway pointing a pistol to his head. The stallion responded by jumping aside, but the mare was quicker and she landed a shot in his chest. Skyway howled as the laser left a nasty burn mark where it shot him and he stumbled on his hooves. His armor protected him but still left him wounded. He shot more spores at her face this time in a wider arc, and the mare punched several of the spores before darting away in a flash.

Break jumped over to another desk next to Skyway’s side. “Are okay?” Skyway didn’t respond and only breathed heavily.

The mare stared at her hooves. “This power. Unbelievable. With this skull’s ability, the Enclave will be unstoppable!”

Break used her gravity powers to float protective in front of Skyway and readied Good Times Bad Times above her. She wouldn’t let that happen. The mare stared at her amused. From her appearance, Break wasn’t an imposing figure. Still, the mare studied her and didn’t loosen her guard.

“I wonder why the traitor brought you here.” The mare muttered to herself. “You’re a dirt pony and clearly not a soldier. Your power must be a formidable one. Your gravity power is the only thing keeping you afloat in our cloud city. I wonder if you’ll drop like a rock when you lose consciousness?”

“Stay here.” Break whispered. “I deal with her. If you find an opening, use it.” Skyway gave her the faintest of nods almost unnoticeable.

Break circled around the mare watching her every move. It gave Break time to ponder how her opponent’s stand worked. Her stand froze whatever it touched for several seconds even lasers somehow. If that stand touched her, she’d lose. Did it have any other powers? How much power did her laser pistol have left? These questions meant life and death.

This is bad; I fear even getting anywhere near her. If she touches my stand, does that mean I can’t use my gravity powers anymore? I hate these unknowns. Break studied her surroundings while jumping on anything not made of cloud resting her stand’s power. It exhausted her keeping them on for long periods of time.

She found herself in a small office most likely owned by a higher up pony. It contained a single metal desk and three filing cabinets. Dull looking paintings covered the walls, but otherwise, the room contained nothing of true interest. The mare’s hooves cracked against broken glass giving Break a vague plan and surreptitiously gathered some in her hooves.

Time passed as neither combatants made the first move. The other mare’s stand was defensive giving her no reason to act first and she could afford to wait. Reinforcements would arrive soon forcing Break to act. She used Good Times Bad Times to fling herself forward, only to shift in a different direction as the mare tried punching her. Break kept moving in a dizzying array of movements to throw off her opponent. The other mare tried keeping up, but Break could change into any direction on a whim. They flew around the room looking for the best position to strike.

Break sent a feint towards the mare’s head, only to switch direction as her opponent tried counteracting with her own stand. Using her gravity powers, she circled around the mare using sudden bursts of gravity changes to her opponent’s backside. The mare cried out in pain as she received a powerful punch in the spine. She flew through a cloud wall and Break dove in following her.

The adjacent room was a simple storeroom full of filing cabinets and boxes of random junk. The mare shook her head and picked herself up from the cardboard box she’d crashed into. Random papers littered the floor from the box. Break landed on a box idly wondering how it stood on clouds. It didn’t even sink as it held her weight.

“Such power. It’s unbelievable how fast you can move.” Skyway shot a laser from a hole he’d made in the cloud wall thinking her distracted only the mare’s stand to freeze the beams. The mare grinned and her stand glowed with power. “Now I have the edge I need.”

She flew towards Break again with abandon her stand ready to strike. Break flew in an erratic pattern again but her opponent blurred with unimaginable speed. Break winced as the mare’s stand connected with her ribs. It wasn’t as powerful as Good Times Bad Times, but it at least broke a rib. Her whole body froze and even the motion of breathing was impossible. Her opponent pointed her laser pistol at Break’s chest and fired. Break winced as the bolt flew past her chest leaving a nasty scorch mark. Somehow, despite being unable to move, Break’s stand powers still worked and she flew to safety landing on a toppled over a filing cabinet. The mare fired more bolts, but movement returned to Break’s body and she dodged in time diving into the floor to the room below.

I think I get it now. She absorbs momentum with her stand and uses it to increase her speed. Even lasers somehow. What a powerful ability though her stand’s physical strength is nowhere near as powerful as mine. That’s something I suppose.

The mare dove in after her stand punching wildly. Good Times Bad Time parried the punches, but it was a distraction so the mare could shoot Break at point-blank range. Break caught the motion in the nick of time and stopped her gravity powers sinking through the floor. The laser bolt destroyed a nearby window its glass shattering from the impact. Her opponent shot several bolts through the cloud floor forcing Break to veer left into a desk and she winced from the impact. The mare lowered herself to the same floor gun trained on Break. She couldn’t dodge these bolts forever. She needed to remove the gun from the equation. Skyway watched their exchange from a hole in the ceiling he’d created creating spores hoping to catch the mare unaware from above.

Break covered her ears as a skyship flew in front of the building’s window. It was black, sleek, and menacing. Its canopy pointed a nasty-looking machine in Break’s direction. Break winced when spotlights blinded her for a second. The pegasus mare gave her a nasty grin.

“Put your hooves up and surrender.” A mare over a speakerphone said. “Failure to comply will result in your immediate execution.”

“Better comply, love.” The pegasus mare said. “Or you’re a dead pony.”

Why me? Despite the desperate situation, Break wouldn’t surrender. She refused to let the Enclave have the alien skull. With it, they’d have the power to conquer the wasteland with ease. Skyway looked at her lost certain the jig was up.

Break pointed towards the skyship with a Do Something gesture.

“What?” Skyway blinked.

“Get ready.” Break’s body blurred as she made a b-line towards the pegasus mare stand at the ready.

The skyship opened fire on Break and she deflected the bullets towards the mare as she gave chase. The action caught the mare off guard and she summoned her stand to protect herself. She didn’t expect Break to use this opportunity to throw glass in her face while she froze the bullets coming at her. The mare cried out in pain as they blinded her and screamed as a bullet entered her side. Break moved in to finish her opponent, but the mare used her super-speed to limp away. She must have guessed Break could tag her with Good Times Bad Times even at that speed.

“You idiots!” The pegasus mare pointed a hoof at the skyship. She panted. The wound wasn’t fatal, but it was serious.

“What?” A pony from the skyship’s loudspeaker said bewildered. Break saw in the corner of her eye Skyway creeping on top of the machine.

Keep their attention towards me. Break leaped into another charge towards the pegasus mare.

“Not good.” The pegasus mare looked around the room and dashed into a nearby door deciding to run with her prize instead of facing Break.

Break cursed and changed gravity giving chase. The skyship changed tactics and shot missiles at her instead. Eyes widened in terror, Break extended her stand to catch one and it took every ounce of her stand’s strength to hold it back. The other exploded sending fire and debris in her direction. She released the missile sending it safely away from her and change direction of gravity as the fire blew towards her. The fire blazed singed her fur, but the blast threw her through a wall and several desks. Break winced as her back withstood the impact. Though hurt, she still lived groaning on what remained of a cubical. Fire lit anything not made of clouds. She used the smoke to conceal her presence and escaped through the same door the mare had used.

Break flew down the corridor looking for any sign of the mare. She tensed when the skyship shot more missiles through the doorway and Break used her stand to fly into a nearby open door before they hit her. Pain erupted through her body as she hit a sink and a bucket landed on her head from a shelf above. She’d landed in a janitor’s closet.

“Are those maniacs trying to destroy everything?” Break feared they might tear down the building to kill her.

After reorienting herself and removing the bucket off her head, she peeked through the door. Smoke and dust filled the corridor and Break used a nearby washcloth to protect her mouth. It smelled terrible of chemicals and dirt, but it was better than nothing. Fire spread further through the building and the air burned hot, but she saw no sign of more missiles. Portions of the cloud building were just gone blown to pieces exposing her to the outside. Ponies below watched the scene in concern awoken by the chaos. They gasped as they saw an earth pony in their city. Break pulled herself deeper into the building, not wanting to draw more attention.

The sound of coughing caught her attention and she flew towards it staying low and hoped the maniacs wouldn’t fire more missiles. She detected more coughing from a door leading to a stairwell. After looking down the stairwell, she saw her opponent enter the door leading to the lowest floor. Break jumped down going through the stairs made of clouds stopping right before the bottom floor.

Break careful approached the door leading out. The door flew open as the pegasus mare kicked it open firing randomly into it. Break flew towards the ceiling and her left leg erupted in pain as it received a glancing shot.

“Thought so.” The pegasus mare reloaded her laser pistol training it toward Break floating above her. The strange skull nestled in her hooves.

Break threw herself to safety as the mare threw punches with her stand. Break tried counter-attacking with Good Times Bad Times, but the mare’s stand slip through Break’s stand’s punch and froze her stand again. The punch reverberated through her chest. It didn’t cause much damage, but it hurt. Panic filled her as her gravity power momentary stopped and she fell through the floor into the open sky below. She caught herself before falling any further. She’d a momentary lost a concentration.

Break peered through the floor of the cloud building trying to find her target. After finding nopony, she checked her Eyes Forward, Sparkle and saw the mare running down a corridor and Break followed with caution. She flew under the mare, but her flying wavered because she’d been using her power for so long. In normal circumstances, she used Good Times Bad Times powers for only several minutes at a time. This fight had her using them for over twenty minutes and it was putting too much strain on her. Realizing she had no choice, she flew back into the building a small distance away from her quarry and landed on a desk in a cubicle catching her breath.

The new room contained cubicles arranged in a maze-like pattern. So far, Break saw no sight of her opponent. She scanned the room and observed the two exits. She monitored them in case the mare tried making a break for it and jumped between the cubicles avoiding using her powers. The exertion of using her power made her weak and her legs trembled a little. She opened her E.F.S. to locate her opponent only to freeze when she realized they were right behind her. Break winced as a bolt flew past her ear as she leaped to safety clutching to a desk for dear life almost falling through the floor again.

The mare was breathing hard, but she wasn’t out of the fight yet. She used a handkerchief to stanch her gunshot wound. The strange skull was nowhere in sight instead holding her laser pistol with both hooves.

I don’t want to hurt you.” Break said trying to diplomatic. “Tell me where the skull is and I’ll leave.”

“Why?” The mare peered suspiciously at Break. “What are you after?” She kept her gun trained at Break’s chest.

“I just want to destroy it.” Break said hoping her honest would come through her words. “Nopony should have that kind of power.”

The mare snorted. “It can’t be that simple. You came all this way for that?”

“Well, yes.” Break said awkwardly. “This power is dangerous. Most ponies can’t handle it. It’s lethal to anypony without, well, I’m not sure. It kills some ponies and gives powers to others.”

The mare stared at Break like she was a complete foal. Break had to admit her argument wasn’t the greatest. What determines if a pony got a stand power? Will power maybe?

“Look, this power comes from aliens!” Break said desperately. “That isn’t right!”

“No argument from me.” The mare replied. “This power could change the world! Bring order to this chaotic world. It will allow the Enclave to do some real good.”

Break made a face. “Yeah and put the rest of us under their iron-clad hoof.”

“Better than chaos.” The mare said. “Sorry, whoever you are, but I’m not backing down.”

“Break Point.”

The mare blinked. “Huh?”

“That’s my name.”

“Aurora. Sergeant Aurora.” The mare wasn’t sure why there were exchanging name and neither was Break. She desired to speak to the other mare as a pony tired of fighting.

“It’s nice to meet you.” Break said honestly. The other mare only shrugged returning to a fighting stand refusing to back down.

Break eyes scanned the room trying to discover any sign of the skull. She cried out in alarm as the building shook and dust from debris tinkled on her head. An explosion filled her vision and jumped out of the way pushing Aurora to safety with her using her stand to push them away from the blast. Heat burned at her back as the cloud building dissipated. More explosions filled the building and Aurora cried out as desks and other office equipment burned to cinders. Break pushed them further away towards an exit outside only to freeze in her tracks as a missile flew in her path. She tried reversing course, but the thing exploded throwing them both like ragdolls. The last Break saw before her head impacted a random piece of debris was the black airship from earlier spewing missiles across town.

---

Skyway watched the building’s destruction with a cold expression. He had completed the mission. Several strategic missile strikes had destroyed the building taking the two mares and the skull with it. The skull’s destruction would disappoint Wind Whistler, but he couldn’t let it fall into Enclave hooves. He flew around in his new skyship to make sure nopony escaped the building. Other skyships flew towards him not giving much of a window to escape. After nodding in satisfaction, Skyway flew off towards the center of New Cloudsdale. He fired several missiles into random buildings not caring what destruction he caused. Cloud material dissipated when the fiery explosion hit them. It would prove a nice distraction as he made his escape. It was what the Enclave deserved.

Wind Whistler wouldn’t be too happy at Break’s death either, but Skyway found it acceptable losses. She was weak and compassionate and would only slow the Knights down. Besides, a part of him told not to trust her and he believed it. She was a dangerous pony better off dead.

Yes, they call her the Black Cat for a reason. The voice said. She would only bring death to us all. Killing her was the right choice.

The skyships were torn between search and rescue and pursuing him. This slight hesitation gave him the room to escape. They shot missiles at him, but Skyway was a skilled flier and dodged them with ease. He’d need to ditch the skyship soon. Each one contained a hidden tracker. It’s a good thing he knew how to set it on autopilot and sending the Enclave soldiers on a wild goose chance.

“Mission complete.”