As the Defense Rescue Team fought Iron Body, the Marionette Rescue Team trotted through an access tunnel. Cover Story and Zecora both took point, one due to familiarity, the other due to her senses.
“So this tunnel is a straight shot to Bright Future's lab?” Sunset questioned, keeping her eyes and ears out for any sign of trouble.
“More or less,” Cover Story replied as he pointed a hoof ahead to a camera for Trixie to put in an illusion bubble. “The rest of Marionettes will be there for the new failsafes to be installed, and it's where most of our technology is produced. It just makes sense to have a direct access route for transporting stuff to storage, or things from storage back for...re-purposing. Which is another reason we entered through that way...” The android agent suddenly stopped the group and lead them around a pressure sensor. “Of course that also means there's more than guards and cameras here to worry about. Good for you, agents are required to memorize this hallway so they don't have to turn off the alarm every time they go through.”
“...So...are we like Dragon Eggs Z style androids?” Ace asked, he and Teddy giving Cover Story a wide girth and focusing on their sisters instead.
“Or the Termarenator?” Teddy asked. “I mean Lightning Dust looks like the one from the first movie...”
Lightning Dust blinked, putting a hoof to her exposed optic. “Huh, you're right...Dang it! When we got you out of those pods I so should've said 'come with me if you want to live!'” she lamented with a face hoof.
Trixie chuckled, looking to her brothers. “To answer your question: no, we're more like Data from Star Trot...Trixie thinks.”
“Aww...wait,” Ace replied...then blinked. “Hey, we never got to see how the Android Saga ended did we?”
Teddy grumbled. “Oh man, it was just getting good too!”
“Rainbow Dash has the entire manega collection, I'm sure she'll let you borrow it,” Twilight added, looking back as Cover Story directed them past another sensor and had Trixie put another illusion bubble up. “She loves it. You should have heard her talk about how her Rainbow Power form looks like she 'went Super Neighyan 3.'”
“There's a three?!” both asked, eyes going wide.
“Oh right, two hadn't even debuted at that point...sorry...”
Lightning Dust chuckled. “I remember her talking about that manega at Wonderbolt Academy between stuff...” she replied...then noticed the mention of Wonderbolts caused Ace to look down and pin his ears. “What's wrong?”
Ace gave a small start, then looked down. “Oh...Just...I know I can still push myself, you two explained that already...just...wonder if I'll still be allowed to play sports...”
The turquoise android gave a shrug. “Well Griffons, all three tribes of ponies, Minotaurs, and the occasional dragon are playing sports with no problem, I think androids should probably be fine...”
“Really?!”
“Yeah, heard Gilda talking to Rainbow Dash about it and setting up her hometown's sports team to compete against them in some weird sport. I'm more a stunt flyer myself.”
“Considering the fact the Yaks are petitioning to compete in Equestria's sports, it shouldn't be too hard to make a case for you given your capabilities are over all not that different from ponies,” Twilight explained, dodging another sensor Cover Story pointed out. She noted there were a far larger number of cameras than anywhere else, Trixie having to put in a lot more focus and work. “The only real advantage you have is stamina and durability, and neither is all that major of an advantage compared to Yaks' sheer strength or a dragon's durability and power. So long as you earn your skill rather than just downloading it, there shouldn't be a problem.”
Ace gave an excited smile. “Glad to hear that!” He then gave a confused blink. “Wait, what are Yaks?”
“Oh right, they only came out of isolation a month or two ago...You'll meet them soon, don't worry.”
“Oh...”
“Besides, even if that doesn't work out,” Lightning Dust added, looking to her older brother. “You've got other things you'd like to do, right? I'm kinda liking this whole 'protecting ponies' thing myself, makes me feel good.”
Ace cocked his head. “Huh, hadn't thought about that...well, I was a pony scout. I really liked that. It was kind of fun and...it let me see things how my friend Bright Eyes did...”
“See?” the turquoise android replied, patting her big brother on the back.
“That is a wise thing to learn. Never assume your life has only one way it can turn,” Zecora said, peaking back but keeping her senses directed forwards. “Our lives and fate's paths are complex things, and many ways on destiny's wind can we take wing.”
Before the conversation could continue, Cover Story and Zecora stopped the group in their tracks. Both produced bags of powder and blew it ahead of them, revealing a sizable laser web in their path.
“Okay, how do we get past THAT?” Sunset asked, eyes going wide. She touched her jacket, but didn't remove it.
“Yeah, I'm good at gymnastics, but not that good...” Ace remarked, rubbing his head.
“Yeah, and it's definitely not my strong suit...” Teddy commented, being a little bulkier than Ace.
“I could levitate us through it...” Starlight suggested, then attempted to lift Ace, Teddy, and herself with her telekinesis...only to visibly sweat and strain like she was lifting a group instead of three ponies. “Ugh! How much do you two weigh?!”
“A lot. Generation One was designed more to replicate a pony than durability. Didn't work well with the punishment Sunset gave Trixie, so they made the next Generation for durability but that just created another problem,” Cover Story remarked. “Their armor plates alone weighs over three hundred pounds, and that not including the endoskeletons.”
“Whoa...” Ace commented, eyes going wide and sharing a shocked look with his 'brother.' “How did no pony ever notice that?!”
“That's exactly the problem,” the android agent replied, looking through his pockets. “They did, and agents kept having to alter memories whenever you so much as stepped on a scale. It's the big reason we switched to Mithril in the next Generation: it's not only a bit tougher, but light enough to pass for a normal pony.”
“Wait, if I weigh that much, how the Tartarus did I swim?!” Teddy asked, blinking in confusion.
“No clue. You have a special magic geode in you that let's you mimic Earth Pony Magic like the magic wand for unicorns and thunderbird feathers for Pegasi. Bright Future apparently theorized it was you somehow used it to cancel out the weight without realizing it, but that's the only explanation we got.”
“Earth Pony magic is the magic of strength, giving the strength to swim is not a stretch of much length,” Zecora replied, giving the young android a smile while also looking over the laser web quickly. “Magic is an interesting thing, and so many possibilities does it bring.”
“Indeed,” Trixie stated as she patted her little brother on the back with a smirk. “You used what you have in an unpredictable way. Trixie approves.”
“Thanks...” Teddy replied, giving a small blush. “My...I guess I can't say he's my cousin...Buck it, he's my cousin and no pony's telling me different! My cousin fell into a river and was in trouble so I just...swam...I didn't think anything else about it at the time...”
“Hmm...sounds like even robots can have magic surges...” Sunset remarked, putting a hoof to her chin. “Then again, humans can apparently use magic and become magical girls, so anything's possible...”
“Yeah!...Wait, humans?!”
“While this is sincerely fascinating, there's still the matter of the laser web...” Twilight said as she gave a thoughtful look to the laser web. “Well, if Trixie used her illusions as mirrors and I angle them correctly, we should be able to trick the lasers into thinking they've not been broken and walk-”
”Key Card Accepted...”
The laser grid went down, Cover Story showing a ID card he'd just run through a scanner.
“Welcome, Elite Agent Cover Story...”
“Or Cover Story could just do that...” the lavender Alicorn replied, staring.
“One of the advantages of being a currently active Elite Agent,” Cover Story said with a smirk.
The group continued on, eventually coming to the final door. Two red tied Agents stood guard. Before getting in their sight, Trixie used the cloaking spell on all but her, Cover Story, and Lightning Dust...but in a different way than before. She used the symbol magic she'd learned to write out '不可視' in the air.
“Takes longer to do, but less stress on Trixie means she can maintain it just a little longer than the other way,” the azure android commented with a smirk and swung her horn through it, causing the symbols to fly forwards and cloak the rest of the group. “Now be quiet, with any luck we'll be in without having to throw a punch.”
Trixie and Lightning Dust both pretended to be in 'emotionless mode' as Cover Story lead them up to the two agents standing guard.
“Elite Agent Cover Story reporting. My partner and I have successfully retrieved G4T01. However, in the process, G4T08 sustained damage to her disguise. I am here to deliver them to the lab,” Cover Story explained in practiced monotone.
One of the agents (a red Pegasus with a black mane) examined Lightning Dust's exposed optic. The android was thankful she didn't need to breathe as tried not to betray herself with the slightest movement. She hoped this guy didn't know enough about what she should look like to realize Twilight's modifications didn't belong there or notice Rarity's repair work. “Yeah, looks like it.”
“We cannot have her partaking in Project Siege with an exposed optic, we need to have Bright Future replace it,” Cover Story replied.
“...Why are you coming in through the storage bay?” asked the other agent, a blue furred unicorn with a black mane.
The cloaked group collectively gave a soundless gasp, all preparing to strike if need be.
“My partner went ahead to report it while I prepared the two of them. Had to be careful to get them up here by myself and that's the closest entrance to the ground,” Cover Story replied, not missing a beat.
“Ah, got you...” the blue unicorn replied. “Alright, you are good to go.”
The two agents opened the door and resumed their guard positions...but before the group could progress, the entire base shook as explosions rang out.
“What the Tartarus?!” the red pegasus asked in surprise.
The unicorn of the duo noticed the invisibility spell glitch a bit while the cloaked ponies tried to keep their footing and narrowed his eyes. “We're not alone!” he yelled, charging his horn...only for Cover Story to sucker punch him.
The pegasus turned to attack the android agent...only for Teddy to take advantage of him having his back turned to the cloaked ponies and buck him right between the hind legs. As the agent groaned and tried not to crumple to the ground in agony, the blue android wrapped his foreleg around his head and reared back his own back. Teddy put his steel skull to good use, giving the pegasus agent a headbutt hard enough to shatter his glasses and knock him out cold.
Cover Story blocked a counter punch from the remaining agent he was fighting and punched him back, right into buck to the chest from Lightning Dust, slamming him into the wall behind him and knocking him out.
“Well, looks like stealth is off the table now,” Twilight remarked with a sigh. “But on the bright side, that means that the Defense Disabling Team was successful!”
“So Trixie no longer has to worry about the cameras?” Trixie questioned.
“No, if they've successfully taken over the defense control room, they've got the cameras,” Cover Story replied. “Hey Princess, think you can teleport these guys out of here now that the wards are down? You know, so they don't cause us trouble or get in trouble later?”
Twilight blinked, then facehoofed. “Yes, now I can...” she said, performing the spell and teleporting the two agents away. Shining Armor had the forethought to set up several heavily warded makeshift prisons nearby and give all teleportation able unicorns the locations to aid in their mission to capture as many agents as possible.
=A Story Told – The Count of Monte Cristo the Musical=
A purple furred, black maned night unicorn agent with a bat emitting sonar waves as his Cutie Mark sat at a keyboard in what looked like a cross between a library and a mad scientist's laboratory. Nearby, brown furred Earth Pony mare in western attire was strapped to an operating table, looking to be in a trance of some sort. Next to her was a smaller table nearby having various hypnosis instruments and devices. On the desk the night unicorn worked at was a plaque reading 'Memory Squad Head.'
“What memories you have got,
That are painful, what a shame.
Let's elevate
Your sorry state,
And spare you that pain,” Mindwipe sang with a cultured voice, looking like a writer or composer crafting a masterpiece as he created the new memories for him to place into his target's mind.
“The greater good, that's the ends that justify the means,
To manipulate,
What you remember from behind the scenes.
Keeping the monsters boogiemares and secrets hidden,
And replace them with memories you trust,” he continued, spinning around in his chair and ran a hoof on the entranced mare's head.
“Even history is a story told by the ones with the right.
You imply a little,
Lie a little.
Fabricating,
Just a little,
Fable,” he continued, getting up and placing his horn on her forehead and staring into her eyes. His horn lit up a sickly green.
“Forget that little bump you heard in the middle of the night,
Just you neighbor.
Not a changeling trying to find
You favor,” the memory squad captain continued, the mare's eyes glowing to match his magic as he smiled.
“So my words do you heed-” the night unicorn sang, right before his song came to an abrupt end when the room shook. The quake caused him to fall and knock the table with his instruments over, causing a loud crash that made the mare strapped to the table jump with a start. “What the Tartarus was that?!”
The mare groaned, blinking...then realizing where she was and beginning to scream her head off. “Stop! Please! I don't want to forget! I swear that Changeling didn't mean anypony any harm! Why won't you listen?!”
Mindwipe gave an annoyed sigh like a person who's favorite program just got interrupted as he got back to his hooves and dusted himself off. “Ugh! Come on! Now I have to start all over!”
=Weapons Factory – Super Marion RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars=
In her office, Masquerade continued her monotonous task of doing paper work at the same, unchanging, rhythmic pace. If not for the change in what was visible through the window, one could be forgiven for thinking her condemning Crescent to the re-education chamber had only happened a few moments ago.
Without warning, the room shook as the sound of explosions rocked Moirai, knocking over her Neighton's Cradle and sending its metal balls rolling off the desk to the floor.
The mare carefully put down her stamp and made sure the papers did not fall without a change in expression before rising and mechanically heading to the door. Opening it, she looked to Miss Marshmallow, the maid having simply been standing there with the same big smile on her face she'd had before.
The hallway was no different than any other in the base structurally, but colored the same sterile white as her own room. The walls had portraits along them, beginning with the agency's founder and ending with the current Director. True to Spoiled Rich's statements, Masquerade and her mother were identical in looks and expression to the point only the background of the photographs showed they were two different pictures.
“What is going on, Miss Marshmallow?” the Director asked, as emotionless as ever.
“It appears the defense systems just exploded!” Miss Marshmallow replied, her tone still hyper and energetic, smile never leaving her face. “We're under attack!”
“By the Princesses?” Masquerade questioned, using her telekinesis to remove the gold pin she wore, revealing the back was embroidered with the word 'Puppeteer,' but otherwise showing no other sign something was amiss.
“No, Director! If it were them there'd be more fire and yelling in the Royal Canterlot Voice!”
“I see,” the Director replied, returning the pin to her suit. “Let us go investigate.”
“Yes, Director!”
And with that, the two walked off. Masquerade never changing from her mechanical pace and her maid never ceasing her almost dance like way of walking.
Moirai's cloak of clouds disappeared into thin air, revealing the building itself to be composed of a jet black metal right down to the 'island' the fortress proper set on. In some ways it resembled a castle in form, but with more harsh, mechanical lines to its shape. Each layer had several gun emplacements, each with what looked like a battleship cannon. Smaller guns lined the walls on several layers.
In a moment, electricity rippled through the weapons systems before many of them exploded in huge fireballs and the rest were disabled, smoke billowing up into the air as blazing metal rained down. As if Everfree was defending itself, the storm above began to rain, putting out the fires before they could spread.
“Moirai's defenses are down!” Shining Armor announced, floating his helmet up and placing it on his head. “Assault Team! Begin the attack! Finish off any defenses first, we can't risk them coming back online!”
“Yes sir!” was the collective response.
Spike blinked after he burped up a burst of flame that manifested into a letter with Rainbow Dash's Cutie Mark on the ribbon tying it. Opening it, he gave a smirk. “Clever...” The young drake tied it back up and sent it out, then sent two more pre-written letters, one to Celestia and the other to Luna. “Alright, Peewee! Time to get started!”
=Shacktron Fight – Gravity Falls=
Peewee gave a chirp, the baby phoenix, his family, and Philomena flying in formation towards Moirai. All of them ignited so hot the falling rain evaporated on contact and their flames linked up, joining together so they appeared as one massive firebird. With a massive screech, the flock slammed straight into Moirai, aiming for the remaining weapons that had not been destroyed by the Doctor's overload to ensure there was no chance of them coming back on line.
“Party Howitzers!” shouted Cheese Sandwich, several of his blue and white weapons of mass celebration appearing from nowhere.
“Party cannons!” Pinkie Pie chimed in, producing more of her signature item out of nowhere as the two spun and pointed in synchronous at the structure.
“FIRE!” both shouted in the most cartoony poses possible, unleashing a barrage of party supplies that somehow exploded on impact with Moirai's remaining weapons systems.
“Where the buck did they put THOSE?!” Gilda asked, her and Greta starting up at the party weapons with wide eyes.
“They're Pinkie Pie and a male version of Pinkie Pie,” Applejack pointed out in a flat tone.
“Party Favor!” Double Diamond called. “Get us up there!”
“On it!” the Our Town party pony announced, producing a seemingly limitless number of balloons that he folded into a fully functional bridge long enough to reach the floating fortress. He carefully brought it down so it ended directly in front of the entrance to the fortress, a pair of large metal doors like those of a castle.
“Charge!” Shining Armor yelled. Gilda, Grata, Night Glider, Derpy, Bulk Biceps, and the pegasi guards flew along the sides of the bridge while the ground based members of the group stormed Moirai via the bridge. Shining Armor dared not question how a bridge composed entirely of balloons was able to support a small army...or how Pinkie and Cheese Sandwich's party weapons managed to keep firing despite the two joining the charge. His sister had advised him it was wiser to just accept party ponies ran on different laws of physics than everypony else.
Double Diamond noticed there were, understandably shocked, agents guarding the entrance who had finally recovered from the surprise attack enough to notice them. “We've got company!”
Shining Armor quickly met the agent's magic beams with his shield, but they were not out of danger. After all, their bridge was still composed of balloons that could be popped. It took every ounce of his focus to protect it, leaving him with no time to return fire.
“I've got them!” Sugar Belle called, throwing several pies carried in saddle bags enchanted to hold far more than they should to surprise the agents and forcing them to dodge or blast the pies out of the air. Applejack joined in kicking apples and finally the increased volume of edible projectiles made it through and connected. However, it was only enough to momentarily blind the agents rather than truly harm them.
“Night Glider! Air drop!” Starlight's former second in command called, jumping up as the pegasus flew by, grabbing him around the barrel as he threw on his skis mid-flight.
“Bombs away!” Night Glider shouted, letting him go and dropping him straight at the agents Double Diamond used the skis to widen his impact and land on more of them at once, knocking half of them to the ground. The stallion then gave a gasp as the other half did the natural thing and took aim at him.
“Hey dweebs!”
The remaining agents looked up just in time for Gilda to slam into them at speeds that had made her a rival to Rainbow Dash, Greta following behind by just enough to strike the ones she missed when they had their attention on her.
One of the Agents who was struggling to his feet got grabbed by Gilda and stared at her in shock. “You? But you're not supposed to be important!”
Gilda promptly slammed her hard head into his. “And who are YOU to say how important I am?”
Of course this wasn't enough to knock out most of them. Thankfully, while paying attention to those that had reached them, the Agents soon found themselves routed by those that had not, Shining Armor, the guards, and Spoiled Rich taking advantage to ambush them from behind. As this was taking place, Mina and Spike noticed several SiB emerging out of ports in the walls to open fire. The teenaged dragon did as dragons do and forced them to fall back inside to avoid a torrent of flames, Spike following her lead with his own green flames. Firestarter got the idea and did the same for the other half of the wall using his fire magic, the trio keeping the agents pinned down so their group could focus on the enemies on the ground.
“Sir! Should we plant breaching charges?” asked one of the guards as a unicorn guard teleported the defeated agents to the pre-made prison cells.
Shining Armor opened his mouth to give an order...
“I've got this...” Maud Pie said, trotting up to the door in her normal emotionless manner.
Inside Moirai, the group of agents on the other side of the main entrance heard the commotion and prepared to defend the hallway...
Only to be bowled over when the doors literally flew off their hinges and threw them all over in the process of flying down the hallway.
Pinkie Pie's elder sister stood at the door, hooves still forward from her blow and standing on her hind legs. “Knock knock...”
“Was that a one-liner or yah being serious?” Applejack asked, raising an eyebrow as the phoenixes did another fiery charge into the base, still trying to pierce its armor but making headway. One of the agents charged her...only to gasp in surprise upon realizing who he was charging, leaving himself open to a buck to the chest.
“Yes...”
“...Okay then...”
Spoiled Rich trotted in, scoping out the area. “Let's get this over with.” Her eyes fell on an incoming black tied agent. “First priority is to ground this place, don't forget that. If you see somepony with a black tie, either fight them in groups or leave them to me or the Prince,” she explained, before meeting the agent's charge and exchanging blows.
“...Am Ah the only one it kinda freaks out seeing Mrs. Rich being badflank?” Applejack asked as the elderly mare fought the elite agent, holding an advantage despite her age.
Shining Armor shrugged and joined the fray. “Remember, watch your backs and cover each other!”
“Okay cousin, I have a question: why do you keep saying 'we' when you weren't around for half the stuff you're explaining?” Lightning Dust questioned, the group having little to do as they continued through the final passage but talk.
“...Force of habit...” the android agent replied as they stepped up to the final door.
Sunset looked out of the corner of her eyes at Trixie as they came to a stop, remembering what the android had done in the basement. “...Hey...Trixie...Since you merged with the original Trixie, you...you know, remember me?”
Trixie slowly nodded. “Yes...they are somewhat painful memories...”
“I know...Look, I'm sorry about how cruel I was to you. Yeah, we were rivals, but that doesn't mean I was right to try and put you in the infirmary just for annoying me...at all. I was a power hungry, self-absorbed jerk, and I'm sorry for everything...”
“...Trixie has been a self-absorbed jerk too...So she guesses she can forgive you,” Trixie replied, giving a teasing smile.
Celestia's former student slowly returned it. “Thank you.” Their conversation ended as they passed through the final door.
“Okay, this is not what I expected...” Starlight remarked as they entered the large room behind it. The path on which they stood was one of four, each coming from a different direction and leading to a large structure in the center. However, that was not the strange part. The strange part was that those paths were the only solid ground in the entire room: the rest of the room was what looked like an indoor lake. Looking down, they could see windows on the 'floor' deep below emitting light, but the rest was simply water with no other lighting coming up.
“What is this?” Twilight asked, joining her student in looking into the internal lake.
Zecora carefully put the tip of her staff in the water. When nothing happened, she followed by carefully putting the very tip of her hoof in the water. “I don't think this is for defense, it is too cool to be much of an offense.”
Cover Story trotted over to the water and looked down. “This is mainly a reservoir for the cooling system for the base's mana engine, but Bright Future had his lab built at the bottom. Something about how he needs a lot of water down there. Given how mana engines are big heat generators, I can kind of see why.”
“...Trixie doesn't like this...”
The group looked to Trixie, who was slowly looking around the room...no pony noticing a shadow moving swiftly through the water.
=Jaws Theme - Jaws=
“Trixie?” Twilight asked.
“Think about where we are...” the azure android stated, eyes darting. “We're about to find Trixie's father, one of the single most important ponies in this place if Trixie is not mistaken, the lab where most of this place's tech is kept, and where the Marionettes are kept...and other than the two agents at the door there's nothing here? Don't you find that a little odd?”
“...She's right, this is too easy,” Cover Story spoke up. The group snapped around at the sound of a splash, only seeing a little disturbed water.
Zecora kept her staff ready and cautiously looked around. “I must talk in in a darker tone, but Trixie is correct, we are not alone...”
Behind the group, a large, scarlet fin broke the surface and moved for a few moments before submerging again, the noise causing Twilight to snap back around and fire a beam. She hit nothing but water.
The group did the intelligent thing and grouped together, keeping an eye out for each other.
“There!” Zecora shouted, pointing to a shadow moving. Twilight spun around and fired a magical beam...only to once more hit nothing but water.
“Other side!” Ace called, this time Sunset firing a beam...but barely missing as the red fin again submerged.
“Over there!” Teddy shouted, Starlight making her attempt, but again missing as the shadow again submerged.
“Can't Trixie just blast the water with lightning and be done with it?” Trixie whispered.
“No, Bright Future is down there in his lab with the Marionettes,” Twilight replied, shooting again when she caught a glimpse of the red fin. “If you do that, you might hurt them!”
=Run! - Undertale=
Suddenly, the water erupted upwards, forming into several ice spears that rained down at the group, aiming for Starlight and Sunset. The two barely managed to teleport out of the way, the spears shattering where they'd been standing moments before. Several more spears fell, the group barely dodging in time. Ace cringed on reflex as a spear grazed his side and exposed a small line of steel, but didn't do enough damage to draw oil. Some of the fake blood contained in his false skin trickled out, but not nearly what such a wound would draw on a normal pony.
“Okay, NOW can Trixie fry the fish?!” Trixie yelled, growling at the sight of her 'brother' being hurt. She put herself into a magician's box that was impaled...only for her to emerge unharmed out of a second identical one that manifested nearby.
“No!” Twilight yelled, putting up a shield as more spears fell down upon them.
“Trixie is going to fry the fish!” the azure android yelled, forming a thunder cloud above.
“Trixie, no!”
However, the shadow then moved into the place Trixie seemed to be aiming and something jumped out of the water to intercept an incoming bolt, a cone of water taking shape in front of it...only to get blasted by a magical beam by Trixie, launching the shadowy figure back into the water. “Gotcha.”
“Trixie, don't do that!” Twilight yelled, holding her chest.
“Trixie is Trixie!”
“...Oh...right...”
“Impressive...” The group turned back to the source of the new voice. The water that suddenly erupted into a pillar, a shadow moving along it high into the air before slamming down on the path ahead of the group.
“Allow me to reward you by meeting you head on,” the being said in the typical SiB tone, the water dispersing to reveal their opponent, except for a single pillar being used to support her. Sunset couldn't help comparing her to the Sirens, albeit much more shapely and beautiful. She was blue in color, her dorsal fin, tail fin, and foreleg fins all red. She possessed a red ponytail coming off the back of her head, but was otherwise dressed properly for a Stallion in Black Elite Agent. The warrior was considerably larger than any of them, at least twice as tall maybe more.
“A Mermare?!” Twilight exclaimed, eyes wide. “You're in Aquastria too?!”
“No...I mean I don't think so!” Cover Story replied, taking a step back. “I'd heard the chief of security was named Riptide but...”
“You have one thing right, my name is Riptide,” the mermare replied, in the same monotone as the others Agents. “But King Leo and Aquastria has nothing to do with this. I am only here to protect the brilliant doctor and his glori...ugh! No, you know what?!”
=Spear of Justice - Undertale=
The group blinked as the mermare's stoic expression vanished to one more at home on an animane heroine. “Screw that! Why bother telling you why I'm here?!” she asked in a distinctly more hotblooded tone. Water surged out of the artificial lake, flowing over her body and hardening into knight-like armor made of ice. “When soon none of you will remember it or be AROUND to remember it?!”
The group stared in shock...then looked to Cover Story.
“I honestly have no idea what's going on either. I think she's just like this...” was all the android agent could say in response.
“I'm going to be honest with you, this suit is just lip service,” Riptide replied, giving a smirk as she formed a number of ice spears around her and pointed one at the heroes. “I never liked the bucking thing and have my own reasons I'm here. And those reasons mean none of you will get another step closer to the great doctor! So any last words before I turn half of you into scrap metal and the other half over to Mindwipe?!”
“...When did we walk into an animane?” Trixie asked with a flat expression.
“Riptide, you're outnumbered! Just let us through! I promise we won't hurt Dr. Bright Future!” Sunset pleaded, hoping the mermare having no interest in the Stallion's goals would make her at least somewhat able to be reasoned with. “We just want to talk with him!”
The mermare simply chuckled. “And why should I believe some land-dwellers who broke into this place?! Besides, I might be outnumbered...” she boasted, raising her hooves and creating two giant hooves made of water that she brought crashing down at them. “But you're out of your depth!”
Twilight put up a barrier to protect the group, but the sheer force began pushing her back and cracking her shield until Sunset and Starlight added their power to strengthen it.
As the shield lowered, Riptide used her water pillar to launch herself into the air and began raining down spears at them.
“Okay, I guess we're doing this now!” Sunset replied, firing a heat beam to melt the spears as they came down while Teddy and Ace dodged.
Trixie smirked. “You made a critical error!” she said, matching Riptide's hamminess if not exceeding it and forming several storm clouds. “You're not connected to the reservoir anymore!”
The lightning bolts were unleashed straight at the water still connected to the midair mermare.
“You're going to have to try a little harder than that!” Riptide yelled, forming the water into an ice shield in front of her and blocking strikes. “Did you really think I'd be afraid of a little thunder? Who do you think puts Thunderhoof in his place when he gets too ambitious and the Director is busy?!”
Twilight's eyes went wide. “He's on your payroll?!” she asked Cover Story.
“...Not everypony in S.M.I.L.E. is a good person.”
The other magic capable members in the group fired beams at her, but she simply moved the shield to block their attacks and created another pillar to stay in the air. Zecora merely stood, watching patiently and preparing to dodge at a moment's notice.
Lightning Dust tried to take advantage of Riptide's attention being elsewhere by flying up behind her and attempting a flying kick, but quickly had to switch to a wing blade spell to cut her way through an ice spear when Riptide spun around and hurled it at her. “Dang it!”
“Wait a second,” the mermare said as it registered in her mind who she was looking at. “You and G4T01 talked...you're Marionettes! How can you be talking and still be in override mode?! You can't know you're Marionettes and BE here!”
“Because we're alive, fishhead!” Lightning Dust yelled back, clashing a wing blade with her spears. “That's the entire reason we're HERE to talk to the old man!”
Riptide looked genuinely confused for a moment, leaving her open to several magic beams colliding with her back, which Lightning Dust capitalized on by performing a flying drop kick to her chest. “Ugh...STOP TRYING TO CONFUSE ME!” she yelled, grabbing Lightning Dust's leg with a water tendril and hurling her down at the pathway below. The chief of security let out a scream, rising up a tidal wave she then sent crashing down at the group. “And don't call me fishhead!”
Twilight, Sunset, and Starlight formed a barrier to prevent the group from getting washed away, but the sheer force of the water's impact began pushing them backwards.
Ace looked to Teddy. “Come on! We can't just stand here!”
The two rushed forwards and braced the mares, managing to stop them from being pushed back thanks to their steel bodies making the two weigh more than all three combined.
As the wave dispersed back into the reservoir and Riptide breathed heavily, Twilight looked back to the two with a smile. “Thanks...”
“Hey, we didn't agree to fight just to stand here and try not to die,” Teddy pointed out with a smirk.
“Yeah...Look out!” Ace yelled, doing a backflip while entire group had to dodge another rain of ice spears. Twilight cringed, getting a small cut on her hip.
Trixie growled, having received a gash along her side, revealing her mithril plating and spilling some oil. “Rarity just fixed Trixie's beautiful skin!” she yelled, swinging her horn and quickly making the symbol 火. (one of the simpler and quicker ones to perform) When she swung her horn through it again, it formed into a torrent of flame shooting directly at the mermare.
“Ha! You really think that will work on a water manipulator?!” Riptide asked, sending a stream of water to extinguish the flames...only for her eyes to go wide when Trixie suddenly teleported in front her. “What?!?”
“No, Trixie expected THIS to!” the showmare exclaimed with a smirk as she fired a magic beam pointblank into her chest that set off a sizable explosion of fireworks, blasting her backwards and slamming her into the wall.
“Now's my chance, help me with this dance,” Zecora said as she motioned to Teddy and Ace to give her a boost. The two androids put their front hooves together and let her jump off, using their Earth Pony level strength to launch the zebra. Zecora landed on the falling Riptide's chest and used her staff to deliver several blows to her head before leaping backwards to evade a blow from one of the mermare's spears and being caught by Twilight's telekinesis.
As Trixie teleported back down, Twilight jumped in shock. Zecora gave a glare when said shock resulted in her being dropped, but otherwise landed unharmed. “When did you learn how to teleport?!”
The azure android smirked. “Trixie 2.0? Never. Trixie 1.0? A long time ago.”
“That was awesome!” Teddy exclaimed, looking to Zecora.
The zebra brushed herself off. “It is as you said: we cannot shoot beams or fly, but that doesn't mean we have to simply try not to die. Watch with an open mind and be ready to trot, in a fight like this, we must pick out spots.”
“Enough!” yelled Riptide, rising back up on another pillar of water. She focused, causing the water to snake out of the reservoir and form bubbles around the group's heads to take them out that way. Before any serious damage could happen, Cover Story and Trixie, neither of which NEEDED to breathe, quickly fired a few spell beams to destroy the bubbles and free their allies. “I have NEVER lost a fight on the surface world and I'm not starting now!” the mermare yelled, pulling nearly half the water up into the air with her.
“How can you do this?! Are you related to the Sirens or something?!” Sunset asked in disbelief (after coughing up some water) as the group fired beams at her which were blocked by another ice shield.
Sunset quickly realized she made a mistake when Riptide's eye twitched...and she had to dodge an ice spear. “NEVER COMPARE ME TO THOSE FREAKS!”
“Sorry!...Would it make you feel better to know we kicked their flanks?” Celestia's former student asked. “And broke their pendants and turned them into three normal teenaged girls?”
“...Yes...THANK YOU!” the mermare replied, forming the water she'd gathered into so many ice spears that it was hard to see the ceiling. “SERIOUSLY, THEY GAVE MY KIND A BAD NAME! I'M SINCERELY GRATEFUL!”
“You're welcome...” Sunset said, everypony's ears pinning back.
“BY THE WAY, I'M A GIFTED MERMARE SINCE YOU ASKED!”
The ice spears fell like rain, cracking and wearing down the shield Sunset, Twilight, and Starlight put up in defense. Trixie formed バリア in the air while their shield was still holding and swung her horn through it, forming a shield of her own to reinforce her fellow's. Teddy and Ace joined in and put their high weight to good use bracing the girls to stop them from being pushed back until the assault finally ended, leaving the air between them and the mermare full of mist. Riptide panted heavily, out of breath.
“...Alright...I was hoping to keep this my secret until all of this was over...”
Sunset's leather jacket flew into the air.
=I Burn – RWBY=
Celestia's former student suddenly flew up out of the mist, right in front of their enemy's face. Riptide stared at her in utter shock before being decked in the face with surprising strength, barely catching herself with her water powers before she could be slammed into the room walls. Sunset teleported behind her and bucked her in the back with Earth Pony level strength, launching Riptide forwards and bashing her against the ceiling several times before she managed to catch herself with several water tendrils latching onto the wall.
Sunset Shimmer stayed aloft on two Alicorn wings, everypony staring at her in shock.
“What?! How?!” Riptide asked in disbelief. “You CAN'T become an Alicorn!”
“Long story, involves saving an alternate world...again...” Sunset replied concisely, glaring. “I didn't want to make this about ME so I was trying to keep this a secret! And it still ISN'T about me!”
The yellow alicorn looked down to her friends with a dead serious expression. “No coronation until AFTER the Marionettes are safe and settled in!”
Trixie was about to go on a jealous tirade about how unfair it was ANOTHER pony became an Alicorn when (surprise) she desired it herself and likely couldn't obtain it...then blinked. “R-Really?”
Sunset nodded, giving a warm smile. “Really. This is about you guys...And no PRINCESS Sunset either! Not until Celestia CHOOSES to call me that!”
“...Trixie appreciates this...”
Cover Story merely stared with his jaw dropped. “...I have a feeling that I should be grateful I found this out now, not days ago. I think my head would've exploded...”
Starlight just looked plain confused.
Riptide was so shocked both by what she was seeing and what was said that she didn't even try to attack during this conversation. She looked at the mare like she was a flaming ice cube. “But...but...UGH! STOP MAKING ME CONFUSED! JUST GET OUT AND LEAVE THE DOCTOR ALONE!”
Riptide brought water up and caused it to form a bubble around Sunset to trap her, then formed a wall of ice in front of herself. She formed an ice gauntlet on her front hoof and slammed it into the ice wall, sending a barrage of sharp ice shards right at the Alicorn. Before they could connect, however, Sunset's horn glowed and she let out a huge explosion of fire and heat, turning the water and ice shards to steam.
The new Alicorn dodged several ice spears, Lightning Dust joining her and both weaving and turning about her, Twilight joining them while the other unicorns forced Riptide to block their attacks with her ice shield and further divide her attention as she tried to cover herself from multiple attacks from several directions at once. Her chest heaved and she panted as she blocked another fire burst from Sunset.
“...Trixie noticed something,” Trixie said, then looked to her brothers. “Riptide got winded from that attack before. Her magic is just like any other: she tires out if she uses too much of it...We can't overpower her...” she said, as Twilight was blasted into the wall behind them with a torrent of water. “Not here where she has the advantage, but Trixie has learned from experience that power isn't the only way to win a fight.”
“Trixie is wise to believe that's how she'll be undone,” Zecora said, looking up as Lightning Dust and Sunset were blasted back, but caught themselves and returned to the fray. “No matter how strong, she is as flesh and blood as anyone.”
“So what do we do?” Ace asked, looking up as Sunset melted one of Riptide's shields with a heat beam.
“...How good is your aim?” Trixie questioned with a smirk.
Riptide screamed in rage, throwing spears at her enemies and lashing out with water tendrils. She performed a thrust with one of them right at Lightning Dust...only for a soccer ball to slam straight into her head and throw off her aim so that she only succeeded in exposing the mithril on Lightning Dust's shoulder and shedding some oil. “What?!”
Teddy threw a soccer ball Trixie had manifested a pile of into the air, where Ace did a backflip kick and drilled it into the mermare's face, knocking off her sunglasses and revealing yellow eyes.
“STOP! IT!” she screamed, summoning more spears and raining them down at the group, only for Twilight to block them with her shield spell after recovering from the previous blast.
“Don't forget about me!” Lightning Dust yelled, flying straight at her, but being forced back with another ice spear. Riptide quickly had to swivel her ice shield behind her to block a powerful magic beam from Starlight...only for another soccer ball from Ace and Teddy to drill her in the face and a beam from Cover Story to score a hit on her chest.
“Or me!”
Riptide turned just in time for Sunset used her magic to surround herself in a fireball and slam straight into her chest, launching her straight into the pathway and melting into her armor. The mermare snarled as she regenerated her ice armor, throwing her hooves up and sending two pillars of water up at the mare while also using her shield to protect herself from Twilight, who flew around and fired at her. Zecora joined in, weaving through her attacks and delivering skilled staff strikes when she saw an opening.
Ace tapped his chin, watching this. “Hey...Cover Story said we weighed a lot, right?”
“Yeah, so?” Teddy asked, preparing to throw another ball up for the other android to kick.
“Well, I know you didn't pay attention in class...” the light brown android replied to his 'brother', measuring up the path as Riptide used her shield to block attacks from both directions by the two Alicorns and Zecora leapt between the shields to land a blow to her face.
“Hey! You didn't either!”
“Yeah, but I had to sometimes to stay on the sports teams...” Ace replied, taking a stance like a hoofball player about to charge and waiting until he saw an opening. “And I remember Ms. Hackney saying one time that to get how hard something hits, you need to multiply the weight of something times how fast it's going. So me running at top speed times me weighing a lot equals...”
The android charged forwards like a stallion on the hoofball field while the mermare was distracted by their teammates. By the time Riptide noticed him, he'd already jumped at her.
“One mean tackle!” Ace exclaimed as he made contact with a shoulder tackle to the chest.
Normally, a teenager tackling someone over twice his size and wearing ice armor would do little.
Unfortunately for Riptide, the teenager tackling her was a three hundred plus pound android made of steel moving at top speed.
The mermare got the wind knocked out of her by the impact, her ice armor shattering to bits and the momentum knocking her backwards across the walkway.
Teddy got Ace's idea in time and charged. “Give me a boost!”
Ace nodded, the android ducking and letting his steel body become a platform for his brother to leap off of.
As Riptide looked up, Teddy came down and put all his weight into solid punch to her face. The impact sent her flying backwards and slamming against the room in the center.
“And one mean punch,” Teddy remarked as he gave Ace a high hoof. He then blinked, noticing the artificial flesh on his hoof had been torn off by the force of the impact, revealing the steel beneath and spilling some fake blood (though no oil). Unlike his sisters, the mana running through his channels was a vibrant red. “...Maybe a little too mean...”
“Eh, it looks cool, don't worry,” Ace reassured, showing his own wound and the exposed steel.
Trixie smirked, teleporting over and patting them on the backs. “Smart! Trixie is proud of you!”
“Ugh...” Riptide muttered, rubbing her jaw and spitting out a tooth. She then snorted hot air out her nose and launched up to the ceiling on a water pillar. “No. NO! I won't be humiliated like this! I refuse to allow it!” she roared, straining while using her hydrokinesis to lift the entire reservoir into the air. The water molded itself into countless ice spears ready to fall and water tendrils attached to a massive a suit of ice armor, some of which she was using to hang from the ceiling. “Any...any...any last...” she muttered, panting nearly out of breath and body trembling from the strain of holding the massive construct together. “Any last words?!”
“Yes...checkmate...” Trixie said with a smirk, finishing a symbol she started while Riptide was preparing her attack: 雷雨. Sunset, meanwhile, was charging a spell that resembled a miniature sun, which she fired. When Trixie swung her horn through her symbol a moment later, it turned into a gigantic torrent of lightning as Twilight and Starlight all let loose lightning spells of their own simultaneously and Lightning Dust kicked a magically generated thundercloud to launch a bolt of her own.
Cringing, Riptide formed a shield in front of herself...only to realize the attacks were instead aimed at the ice armor attached to her. She tried to counter, but cringed, her mana reserves at their limits. “...Sea cucumbers...”
Sunset's attack struck first, emitting a massive explosion of heat that evaporated much of the water and melted the entire suit of ice just in time for the electrical attacks to hit home. The mermare screamed out in pain as electricity ran through her and the entire ice/water construct she'd made, sending sparks flying until it all exploded into steam.
Riptide fell to the path in front of her with a loud thud, blackened and unconscious, but still breathing.
“First rule of Trixie's school of dueling: take advantage of your enemy's rage,” Trixie remarked, as she posed dramatically. “And seriously, is Trixie the only pony who feels like we were in an animane there?!”
Cover Story shook his head, producing and downing a bottle of salt water to cool himself down, having not gotten the cooling upgrade like his cousins. As he drank, he looked up at the steam still hanging in the air. “Hey, you girls might want to do something about that. If she wakes up, best she doesn't have her weapon of choice. Plus, that's also the coolant for Moirai's Mana Engine so...”
Trixie listened, then looked to Teddy and Ace, noting both looked 'thirsty.' “And perhaps condense some into water for Trixie's brothers?”
Twilight nodded as she, Sunset, and Starlight stepped forwards and combined their shield spells to condense the steam down to a single point. The lavender Alicorn split off a small bubble of it before the trio teleported the entire bubble away. The Princess of Friendship then manifested some cups and used an ice spell to convert the steam into ice cold water that she floated over to the duo, three for each. “Here you go.”
“Thanks...” Ace said, greedily taking his and downing it, feeling the heat begin to subside...then blinked in slow realization. “Wait, we're robots! How are we thirsty?!”
Cover Story looked over. “Because you have a mana condenser as your power source; stores a lot more mana more efficiently than the battery the G1s had, but has the heating problem the mana engine has. Now hurry up and drink, it's time to meet our maker...literally.”
Sunset looked back at the battered and defeated Riptide with confusion.
“Something wrong?” Twilight asked, touching to her wound.
“No just...she never dragged us underwater...” the alicorn replied, looking down. “...It's like she didn't want us near whatever's down there, even if it'd give her an advantage...”
“Alright, that all of the files?” Yearling asked, the Defense Disabling Squad having ransacked the defense hub for anything of value about the organization's operations, including data on members currently employed with the agency (Gear Shift and Cover Story didn't know all of them for secrecy reasons). Given it, by necessity, needed files on everypony that'd be coming and going, this place was the jackpot.
“Yeah, looks like it,” Gear Shift replied as he finished downloading all the needed data in the rather advanced computers the floating fortress used into storage drives the Doctor had provided.
“And I think I got all their files,” Rarity replied as she put the last folder into a manifested bag, then gave a sigh. “I know 'dull and drab' is this place's theme, but would it kill them to use more than one color of file! This is the most boring file cabinet I've ever seen!”
“Good...” Yearling replied, then looked to Rainbow. “Did the Doctor find what you were looking for?”
Rainbow Dash gave a smirk. “Oh yeah! Already sent it to Spike with those pre-enchanted scrolls he gave everypony awhile ago!”
“And what was 'it'?”
The battle continued. As the assault team continued pushing forward inside, Philomena and 'Phoenix Squad' (as Spike had dubbed them) continued their assault on the exterior, slamming into the floating fortress repeatedly now that the weapons systems had been finished off. Their goal was simple: inflict enough damage that Moirai would lose power and fall into range of the 'secret weapons' who waited in the forest nearby, as well as open holes for their entry.
As the firebirds came back around with another strike, a squad of Agents emerged from one of the upper levels and fired a capture beam, encircling the Phoenixes in a force-field. The agents struggled against the powerful flames of the firebirds, but managed to begin pulling them in closer and closer, a cage at the ready. Meanwhile, another group of agents had just managed to blow up one of the Party Howitzers with a barrage magic beams and were working on another...
=Dragonforce – Cry of the Brave=
Several blurs suddenly dove down from the clouds, leaving streaks of thunder clouds in their wake before splitting into two groups. One group slammed into the agents assaulting the party artillery and floored them, the other group doing the same to the Agents containing the Phoenixes, disrupting their spells and setting the firebirds free.
One of the agents groaned, looking up at his attacker. His eyes went wide at who he saw. “You can't be there! We'd have known you were coming!”
“Thanks for the confirmation,” his attacker, Spitfire, said in full Wonderbolts gear. She moved in a blur and delivered a kick to his chest, knocking him unconscious when he hit the wall.
“So Rainbow Dash was right? We...” Soarin' started as he landed next to his commander, but couldn't finish.
“Yeah...we had a mole, Clipper...” Spitfire replied, the captain of the Wonderbolts retaining a stern expression. When Rainbow Dash's letter had arrived saying there was a secret conspiracy they needed as much help as they could get defeating and one of her Bolts was a spy, Spitfire only gave it a moment's thought because she knew Rainbow Dash. Being a GOOD Wonderbolt meant too much to Rainbow Dash for her to risk it on a prank. Said mole was currently being held for questioning while the majority of the remaining Bolts had been mobilized to the coordinates Rainbow had reported. “Come on! Let's handle the ones out here then head in! And remember! Keep your goggles on at all times and watch out for their brainwashing magic!”
“So what's this?” Twinkle Shine asked as Gypsy lead the group into a large room that resembled more of museum than a secret agent lair. Also surprising was the seer seemed to be practically prancing at times, just being overjoyed to be ABLE to move freely.
Minuette looked around the room. “Yeah, this room isn't all dull and boring like...everything else here.”
“The Artifact Archives,” Bon Bon explained, moving her eyes scanning the room. “This is where we keep the objects and artifacts we think 'may come in handy' for our cause. Probably want to teleport most of this somewhere else, I know Yearling would say 'it belongs in a museum'...she's probably right for most of it.”
Moon Dancer gasped, looking at one of the artifacts: a golden key with a white gem in the handle. “This is Meadowbrook's Omnikey! It's said it can open any lock on the planet!”
“We don't have all of Meadowbrook's Enchanted Objects, but we have a few besides the one in Trixie's head...” the beige agent replied. “Also, take that thing. It'll probably come in handy.”
“Okay, cool and all, but why are we here?” Lyra questioned. “Isn't Twilight in trouble or something?”
Gypsy's eyes glowed blue and she looked back with a smile. “Don't worry! They already beat Riptide, they're fine!”
“Oh...Okay then...”
The mare pinned her ears and looked down. “Oh...Sorry I didn't tell you until now. I saw it could happen, but unlike what the Stallions think, I see multiple futures, not just one, so I didn't want to give you a fake out if a different one happened and you needed to back them up...”
“It's alright...Seeing the future sounds confusing...”
“Sometimes...and annoying when the ponies you're talking to take the first one you give them as an absolute truth and refuse to listen to a word you say after that!” Gypsy shouted, the lights in the room flickering. The mare seemed to quickly catch herself and rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. “...Sorry...still bitter about that...so very, very bitter...and used to being told 'shut up and tell us the visions' whenever I tried to have social activity with anything other than the sapient magical tree I'm bonded to.”
Lyra blinked. “The Tree of Harmony talks to you?”
“Yeah.”
“...What's it like.”
“Motherly, caring, apologetic for me ending up in this mess...and also snarky.”
Twinkle Shine gave her a raised eyebrow. “Snarky? The Tree of Harmony is snarky?”
“Yeah...”
“...So like Celestia from Kid Pegasus: Uprising pretty much?” Minuette asked.
Gypsy gave a flat look. “...I don't know what that is...”
“Oh...right, imprisoned in a room for over a decade...Sorry...”
“It's fine...But it sounds cool, can I please play it when this is over? The last game system I've ever played was a Super Neightendo!”
Lemon Hearts chuckled while riding the 'Angry Mama Lemon' as she called her familiar, noting the seer seemed to alternate between being a mature seer and a more child-like pony...when she wasn't showing her completely understandable rage at her captors. The yellow mare then resumed looking around the room, leaving explaining video games to Minuette. Her eyes finally fell on a full length mirror with a pink frame, a red heart at the top and bottom of the frame. “What's this?” she asked, stepping off her mount.
“Not sure...” Bon Bon replied, trotting over and looking at the mirror. “That one wasn't here when I was.”
“Reminds me of a mirror Derpy told me she saw once,” Lyra replied, joining the other two. “She remembered it because she saw it the same time she found Dinky...”
The Angry Mama Lemon approached the mirror curiously and gurgled while giving it a nudge...then the mirror glowed and out emerged an identical, but cat-sized lemon creature that nuzzled the larger familiar as everypony stared in shock.
“...So it's a mobile Mirror Pool?” Lyra asked, taking a step back out of fear of accidentally making a clone of herself.
“No...I don't think so...it made a miniature one...” Bon Bon replied, rubbing her chin as she knelt and examined the clone. Her eyes went wide behind her glasses and her jaw dropped. “A baby one...Lyra...you said Derpy found Dinky the night she saw this thing?”
“Yeah, why?” the green unicorn replied...then a look of dawning realization came to her face. “No way...that old legend about...”
“Queen Majesty's foal making mirror...” the beige Earth Pony replied. “I'd say 'that's an old pony's tale,' but kicking the flanks of 'old pony's tales' was my old job. The big question is why are they keeping this up here? What use would they have for it?”
“...Making new agents?” the green unicorn replied, a chill going down her spine at that thought.
“...Well, if they are, I'm kicking the one who came up with that idea somewhere they do not want to be kicked...” Lemon Heart said, narrowing her eyes and snorting hot air out her nose. The Angry Mama Lemon gave a gurgling roar. “Then lemon juice put in their eyes. From an entire lemon. Slowly.”
“Uh, girls?” Moon Dancer asked after examining the room and writing down the artifacts she recognized. “As interesting as a foal making mirror is, I noticed something. Or rather the LACK of something.”
“Yes, Moon Dancer?”
Moon Dancer's eyes went over the entire room. “Starswirl the Bearded's wand. It's not here.”
The others joined her in her examination. Among the artifacts were a picture of a yellow furred, butterfly winged pony with a crown on her head that appeared to have been slashed by Changeling fangs and restored, strange gems set in six pendents that oddly resembled the Alicorn Amulet, a letter signed 'from Radiant Hope', what looked like Starswirl's hat, a broken blue crystal that made the mares feel older just being near it, and many, many more. But indeed, the Wand was nowhere to be found.
“But if it's not here, where is it?” Bon Bon asked, eyes widening a bit.
“That's a good question...” said Gypsy, getting the group's attention and moving over to another door while no pony was looking. The mare gave a small smile, eyes glowing blue for a moment. “But not the thing we're here for...” she explained, heading through the door.
“...Hey, am I the only one who noticed we've not run into a single agent since we started following her?” Minuette asked as they began doing just that.
“Well, she IS a seer,” Lemon Hearts replied, looking to her familiar and it's new baby familiar, which to her shock she couldn't feel like her others. She looked back to the mirror, a bit of temptation on her face. “I'm more concerned by the fact she acts like a fillymare half the time...”
On the other side of the door was a room lined with cages, eyes glowing in many of them. Bon Bon's eyes went wide as it registered just where she was. “The monster containment room...”
“Huh?” Lyra asked, looking into one of the cages and jumping back when a giant pony three times her size trotted over to the cage, a single eye on its face. The mare screamed and fell back from it...then frowned when the cyclops whimpered, pinning his ears.
Lemon Hearts noticed an aquarium next to her and frowned as a cute creature that resembled a fish with a pony's head swam up to the glass and put a fin on the glass. “Please...help me...” the little sea pony begged, ears pinned back. “I just want to go home...”
“This is where you guys keep the monsters?” Moon Dancer asked, looking around at various creatures.
“Maybe we should free them and get some more backup?” Lyra asked...then noticed a giant glowing bat with blind eyes hanging upside down in one cell gave a screech at her. In another, a giant creature made of rock and wearing a loincloth slammed his fists into the cage bars while staring at the ponies with hungry eyes. The unicorn gulped. She looked to a creepy bald stallion in one of the cages. “What will you do if we let you out?”
He looked at her in a way that made her shiver. “I will kill you all,” he said in the most polite and civil voice possible.
Lyra turned pale as a sheet. “On second thought, maybe not...”
“This is where we keep monsters and things that were in the wrong place at the 'wrong time'...” Bon Bon growled, then glared at Gypsy. “Why did you bring us here?!”
Gypsy cringed back, but proceeded to spread out her tarot deck and held up her wheel before her face. “The reason the Tree of Harmony gave the mane six the Cutie Map is simple,” she explained, floating her wheel in front of her face and letting the beam select the cards. “When it gave the Stallions a seer that told them everything, they desired nothing but the first future I saw and refused to hear any others...the Cutie Map works by selecting the ponies who have the best chances of solving a problem, and trusts them to make the right decisions. It does nothing more than point them in the right direction and put its faith in them...”
Bon Bon cocked her head...until she heard hoof steps and looked up. The mare who walked into the room caused her and Lyra to give a gasp.
“A-Alpha Hoof?” both asked.
=The Choice - Undertale=
The mare in question stared back from behind her black glasses, a sizable group of Agents behind her. In fact, it was the entire monster fighting squad, composed entirely of elite agents. “Hello, Sweetie Drops. Lyra...”
The room became silent despite being filled with monsters, who if anything seemed SCARED. The gifted unicorns took a fighting stance, just in case.
One of the agents gasped, finally noticing Gypsy. “The Orac-”
The unicorn's head shot up and she glared at the agent, eyes glowing orange and snorting hot air out her nose. “My name is Gypsy. And yes. I'm out. Like I've told you for over a DECADE the Tree WANTED me to be,” the mare stated, voice once more taking on aspects of Applejack's and the room's lights flickering. “But what's happening right here and right now? It isn't about me. And I predict if you make it about me, you are going to have a bad time.”
The agent gulped, taking a step back. Lyra had met members of this subgroup and knew enough to know that said more about Gypsy than the agent's courage. Alpha Hoof didn't look at Gypsy or even acknowledge her.
The seer's eyes returned to normal and she turned over the first card, revealing it to be a mare resembling Pinkie Pie in a jester's outfit: Zero, the Fool.
“You know her?” Lemon Hearts asked, looking to Bon Bon with her eyes wide.
“This is Alpha Hoof, leader of the monster hunting division,” Bon Bon replied. “And one of the top agents in all of S.M.I.L.E.”
“...So...you remembered?” Alpha Hoof asked, face not betraying her emotions.
Bon Bon nodded. “Yes...I did...What happened a little bit ago. That whole 'mission' with me and Lyra...you were protecting us, weren't you?”
“...If they knew Lyra knew, her memory would have been gone in a heartbeat...” the head of the monster squad replied.
“...Thank you...” Bon Bon looked down and pinned her ears back. “Alpha...don't make me fight you...I will if I have to but I don't want to.”
Alpha Hoof's expression remained unchanging. “...I remember what you said back then, Agent Sweetie Drops...” the mare replied. “How much you hated these rules and regulations on which our division ran. How you felt our policies were only endangering more ponies than we saved. No matter how many times I told you it was for the greater good, you never listened.”
Gypsy turned over the next card, revealing an upside down card with a blindfolded alicorn dressed in red robes, a scale in one hoof and a sword in the other. 11: the Justice.
“We were,” Bon Bon replied, forgoing the 'stoic emotionless' agent facade and instead pinning her ears back. “Ponies DIED while we did nothing, Alpha Hoof. Ponies will KEEP dying if we KEEP doing nothing. If the guard had HALF the information we do and acted on it, Equestria would be twice as safe...Tell me, Alpha Hoof...how was Mr. and Mrs. Flute dying on our watch 'for the greater good'?” the beige agent asked, tears starting down her face. “S.M.I.L.E. is the monster now...We were the monster...”
Lyra pinned her ears and looked down.
Alpha Hoof's expression was unreadable. The two ponies slowly approached each other, standing face to face. The rest of the agents didn't move, and neither did the gifted unicorns.
“How is kidnapping innocent creatures 'for the greater good?' How is keeping the Marionettes hostage 'for the greater good?'” Bon Bon said, each word rising in intensity as she pointed to the cyclops and sea pony, both of which whimpered. Looking more like lost children than monsters. She pointed to Gypsy. “How was keeping that poor girl hostage for over a DECADE when she told us, BEGGED us to stop in the name of the thing we were supposedly worshiping, 'for the greater good?!'”
“Just like you said before,” Alpha Hoof's face didn't change. “...And you were right.”
Bon Bon gasped, eyes going wide. “W-What?”
Gypsy flipped over the last card, revealing a picture of an angelic Alicorn with a trumpet over several other ponies. 20, the Judgment.
Alpha Hoof removed her glasses and looked Bon Bon in the eye. “You know how they say 'once you've seen it, you can't unsee it' about things? Once you pointed out how many ponies we were putting in more danger, I never could unsee it...I signed up to protect Equestria and the ponies that live here. If S.M.I.L.E. has become something they need protected from? I'm not being a hypocrite.”
The monster squad leader put her sunglasses back on. “Alright. Who here signed up to protect ponies from the things that go bump in the night?” she asked, turning back to her agents. They all raised a hoof. “Who here has had second thoughts about HOW we have been doing that?” Again, all hooves were raised. “Who here wants to fight national heroes who have done nothing BUT our mission statement for all this time?” Every agent's hoof dropped. “How about holding innocent creatures against their will?” No hooves came up. “Alright. Here is your final mission: half of you round up all these monsters, put them in transports, and get them out of here. If it is a 'nondangerous, Equestria's not ready for it' entity, let them go and tell them to talk to the Princesses. The other half of you goes to the prison and evacs the prisoners waiting for Mindwipe, and gets any noncombatants and unconscious or injured agents out of here too. By the time Moirai falls, there should not be a single pony who cannot escape themselves left in this building. The moment that is done, we are all going to wait for Celestia to get here and face the music. Are we clear?” she asked. The agents all nodded, not one showing an ounce of disloyalty. “Good. Move out and begin our final mission.”
As the agents departed, Alpha Hoof looked back to Bon Bon and gave a salute. “Good luck on your mission, Sweetie Drops.”
Bon Bon gave a genuine smile and returned it. “You're welcome...but it's Bon Bon now.”
Alpha Hoof actually smiled for once. “You'll always be Sweetie Drops to me.”
Once Alpha Hoof had departed, Gypsy stood up and crept over. The mare pinned her ears and looked down. “...Sorry I didn't tell you...”
“Wait, you knew Alpha Hoof was here the whole time?” Lyra asked, after a long held sigh of relief. Moondancer and the others took to helping moving and freeing the monsters and captives, using the Omnikey to speed up the process...and the Monster Squad making sure none of them let out one that BELONGED there.
The seer nodded without looking up. “...Yes...But I also knew if Bon Bon wasn't, she'd not take that realization she had to heart. She NEEDED Bon Bon to make it stick and choose the right choice, and the others would have to deal with the monster fighting squad on top of everything else...And if I'd told you...”
“...I'd have tried too hard...” Bon Bon replied. “And made mistakes...not shown enough emotion...it had to be real to get through to her...Then we'd end up fighting one of the toughest mares in this place, if not the toughest, along with the single toughest sub-division.”
Gypsy nodded. “...And that's why the Cutie Map is my replacement: with me, the Stallions had a destiny to FORCE...and if they didn't, they'd have made one up that was completely fake and probably wouldn't turn out right. I had to become the leash for a rabid dog, not a seer for a guiding light like I was meant to be. With the Cutie Map, everything has to happen organically with no concrete destiny told to them to force into being and multiple ways it can happen...even if we have to have faith in those girls to make the right choice and they don't always make the best possible ones...”
“So...you just trusted me to make the right choices?” Bon Bon questioned, not looking at her.
“Yes...all of you. After all, none of you decided to attack and mess it up.”
“...Thank you.”
“You're welcome...”
Lemon Hearts helped move the sea pony into a moving aquarium. The little thing waved as it was moved to be freed...and started crying tears of joy. Or at least she thought so. It was hard to tell given it was underwater. “...It feels good to know we helped save these poor creatures and Gypsy, doesn't it?”
Twinkle chuckled, using her light to help drive the big troll into a cage. “Yeah...I guess the Stallions thinking we'd be the other Bearers doesn't sound quite as crazy when you say that...”
“Hehe...you'd be surprised...” Gypsy replied, letting herself smile as she watched the other prisoners be moved out. She then just stretched, as if simply enjoying the fact she wasn't in a small room anymore. “After all, if Twilight had chosen to stay in Canterlot that night, it might easily have been you.”
“What?!” was the collective response, all staring at her in shock.
The Seer nodded. “Or if you'd heard about Nightmare Moon and rushed to Ponyville to help Twilight. Or a million other ways. Can you honestly say it's something you wouldn't have done?”
“...Wow...when you put it like that...yeah, I guess it does sound like something that could have happened,” Moon Dancer replied, staring with wide eyed.
“Man, we almost became famous heroes!” Minuette lamented.
“You just did,” Gypsy replied, giving a smile and pointing to the creatures that deserved to be freed, all of which looked at them with gratitude. “They know you would've fought for them if you had to, they know you fought your way in here, and they know you're helping them be taken to safety...And I know you saved me.”
Lyra eeped as she let the cyclops pony out with the Omnikey and he hugged her, being surprising gentle for a giant.
“Fate has many doors, where one closes, another opens...even if it's awhile,” the seer explained, stifling a chuckle at Lyra's predicament. “You can ask Sunset about that when we meet her, she's an Alicorn now.”
Everypony stopped suddenly and looked at her.
Gypsy blinked, then looked sheepish. “...Oh yeah, forgot how surprising that is...woops...Once again, I haven't had any social activity for over a decade except with a magical tree...”
As the group resumed evacuating the room, Gypsy's eyes glowed and she wandered over to a nearby cage. Peaking in, she saw a Changeling, though one not identical to the rest of his kind. This one had a teal green carapace on his back. “Don't worry...”
The Changeling jumped. “Y-You're talking to me?”
Gypsy nodded. “Yes...Don't take what happened here as an indication of what all of us ponies are like. The ponies who put you in here and wouldn't listen are bad ponies. Your dream can still happen.”
The changeling blinked in confusion. “M-My dream? H-How did you...”
“You want to be friends with ponies...” the seer explained, holding out her hoof.
The Changeling hissed involuntarily...then covered his mouth. “S-Sorry...kindness like that brings it out...”
“I know...Just, don't give up, okay? There are lots of good ponies out there, don't let the actions of a few bad ones discourage you.”
The Changeling nodded slowly, touching her hoof. “O-Okay, I w-won't...”
“Alright...Good luck,” Gypsy said, horn glowing and the Changeling being teleported away. “Thorax.”
Mina yelled as she was punched by one of the agents, knocking her to the ground. Before her opponent could take advantage, Spike jumped up and blasted him with green flames. When the flames cleared...he stood there in the nude, his suit and glasses now elsewhere.
“Huh?” the agent asked, looking at himself in surprise...and promptly getting bashed over the head by Mina's tail and knocking him out.
“Thanks Spike,” the dragonness replied, smiling to her younger friend.
“Hey, us dragons have to have each other's backs, don't we?” the baby dragon replied. “Behind you!”
Mina spun around and gave a griffon agent a headbutt to the stomach. Spike ran up her back and performed a headbutt of her own to the agent's face.
Party Favor and Sugar Belle set in a mobile balloon fort, the latter hurling baked goods at their foes to distract them while the former reinforced it. Night Glider did dive bombs and, along with several pegasus guards, Gilda, Greta, and Bulk Biceps, worked together to keep the flying agents from doing the same. Shining had explicitly ordered this, as keeping the flying agents from flanking them was vital to their strategy.
Greta and Gilda in particular were watching each others backs. While the agents were better fighters in terms of trained combat, a life time of surviving in the ruthless Tartarus hole that was Griffonstone (until Gilda's redemption) lended itself to fighting skill of a different type...and fighting as dirty as possible. Which meant using anything that wasn't nailed down as a melee weapon, groin attacks, and smacking them over the head with rock hard scones.
Double Diamond and one of the guards with a talent for ice magic resulted in the skiing pony using hit and run tactics on his skis thanks to an instant snow spell put on them.
“Over here!” called Pinkie Pie, poking her head out of a random door and causing an agent to look into it...and find nothing.
“No! Over here!” she called, poking her head out of another. This repeated for several moments...before he tried opening the same door again, only to get blasted in the face with a Party Cannon. Cheese Sandwich did the same thing on the other end of the hallway...only somehow with a Party Howitzer that shouldn't have fit in the room but somehow did.
“Coming through!” screamed Derpy, flying around like the unholy offspring of a wrecking ball and bumblebee, but doing her best to avoid hitting her allies (or at least warn them). It was the consensus among the combatants that she'd performed the most damage to Moirai out of anyone besides the Defense Disabling Squad.
Spoiled exchanged blows with another Elite Agent, finally throwing his hooves to the side and knocking him out with a right hook to the jaw. “Take him!” she called, one of the guards promptly teleporting them to one of Shining's improvised prisons (a stallion with shield magic as his special talent made a dang good one). The reason for doing so was twofold: first, it got them out of harm's way. And second, it meant there was very little chance of them awakening and returning to the battle. The group were keeping themselves together and keeping the stallions on one side of them as they pushed forwards, making sure not to rush off or rush into a larger room (on Shining's orders). Number one rule of fighting a numerically superior force: even the odds by limiting the number of them you had to fight at the same time and maximizing the number of YOU they had to fight at once. The number two rule was keep your people in the fight, which was why Shining had ensured he'd brought some combat medics with them and Bon Bon and Pinkie Pie had spent three days cranking out as much mana restoring candy as physically possible.
“Remember, no pony wander off!” Spoiled pointed out. She then searched and located another Elite Agent, charging them. 'I can take these guys one on one, the more of them I deal with the more ponies we have fighting individually...'
Shining Armor meanwhile fought three normal agents at the same time, doing the intelligent thing and constantly keeping them in front of him rather than jump between multiple opponents surrounding him. He finally put up a forcefield as feint, expanding it and knocking all three unconscious against the walls with the impact. He'd noticed several times when an agent got wounded or injured, they'd notice oil from their wounds then attempt to flee while firing off a flash of light. On occasion, one of the other Agents that SAW it freaked out and ran after them in a panic or seemed to have an existential crisis right there. 'Just like Twiley said: the agents are programmed to flee if they're exposed...'
“You are trying to be the hero, Prince Armor,” said a yellow furred, black maned unicorn elite agent with a suit of armor for his Cutie Mark approached him. His horn glowed and magic armor formed over his forelegs. “It is not your place. Your only role in this story is to be motivation for a real hero. Perhaps even the villain for them, depending on who you ask.”
Shining Armor's horn glowed and he formed shield bubbles over his own forelegs and traded blows with the agent. “Really? Not how I see it.”
“Every time you have tried to face a threat, you have failed. You always become the pony in distress for your sister to save. Remember how things went with Chrysalis, Sombra, and Lord Tirek? That is your fate,” the agent replied, throwing a punch at Shining Armor's jaw. “To be a thing for Twilight to save. And in this situation, we are the heroes. Not you.”
“Two things,” the Prince of the Crystal Empire replied, choosing to duck the blow instead of block it. “First off, I don't see Lord Tirek, Chrysalis, or Sombra anywhere, but you look pretty bad to me,” he replied, throwing a punch at his opponent's face...which he stopped the moment his opponent shielded himself with his forelegs. The former captain of the royal guard launched a super condensed ball of shield magic point blank into his chest instead, the impact carrying the agent into the ceiling with enough force to embed him in it. “And second? I never tried to be a hero: just a good big brother and husband. And I plan to be a good father.”
As the agent fell to the ground in front of him, Shining Armor noticed something about his opponent...
“Maud! We need another breach!” Applejack called, ducking under an agent's blow and bucking them back against the wall and taking a right hook from another one.
“...Okay...” Maud replied, slowly approaching the heavy metal door in their path and punching it off its hinges. While having two agents hanging helplessly off her as they tried to stop her.
The group pushed on forwards and into what looked like the lobby. It was large, but no so large that Shining felt entering it would expose them too much. The only furnishing was seating for ponies and a currently vacant secretary’s desk, otherwise it was a sterile white.
“Hello, you seem to have let yourself into our base,” said a female, emotionless voice.
To be continued...
=Weapons Factory – Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars=