//------------------------------// // The Puppeteer Part 4- Final Battle // Story: Marionettes // by Godzillawolf //------------------------------// Chrysalis' infiltrator stood in the now abandoned monster containment room, looking into the cage that had once housed Thorax. Reluctantly, he produced his crystal ball and contacted his queen. “Your Majesty. I decided to check to see if the traitor was still present to finish him off in the distraction...However, he has...unfortunately escaped...” The Queen of the Changelings glared daggers at him, snarling in rage and causing her minion to cower in terror. “That little grub...one day he will learn proper respect for the hive!...Fail me again by getting caught, and don't bother coming back at all!” “...Understood my queen...” Twilight's eyes went wide as she stared down the barrel of Marshmallow's head cannon, having charged all the remaining power in her system into one final shot at pointblank. “Twilight!” Suddenly, a glimmering turquoise aura formed around Marshmallow's head right as the blast was let loose. While the shield cracked, it managed to contain the blast, causing the android to be engulfed by it. =Never Meant to Belong To – Bleach OST= Marshmallow stared out at Bright Future and Masquerade's mother. The only difference between the two Masquerades was the Cutie Mark. Masquerade the 44th had a puppeteer's cross instead of her daughter's gears. The android couldn't move or speak. But that didn't bother her. The fact she was just bare metal and under a scary machine didn't bother her. Everything was happy happy happy. “So, it is finished then?” asked Masquerade Sr., looking to the Sea Pony inside his more primitive looking mecha suit, which was hooked up to the machinery by cables for power. The stallion sighed. He looked...sad? Miss Marshmallow couldn't remember ever being sad to know. “Yes...I had to use the proto-mana engine I developed to power all of those weapons...Way too much power and too expensive for mass production, not to mention the heating problem is ten times worse than the mana compressors, I'll work on fixing that for the final product. Just so you know, with all those weapons active, I couldn't cover the engine up or it'd overheat too bad to work at all.” “And the computer?” “...The Marionette was purposefully designed with a very simple processor...” “Good. With that, she will be able to carry out any order without hesitation.” “In other words, you don't want her to think too hard about all the damage she's going to cause,” Bright Future spat. He sounded...angry? Marshmallow thought that's what it was. “If the Marionettes can think at all. We do what we must, doctor.” “Yes, if they can...Being able to 'think' about it is what drove the other prototypes insane. I had to remove so many functions just to...Regardless, it means she needs ponies to imprint on to take orders from.” “Like a child?” “Exactly...she's like a child, and can't ever go beyond that...Now, what about your end of the deal?” The Director nodded. “Yes.” “Thank King Leo...never do that again or I swear on Neptune's beard...” “My apologies, but it was necessary for your cooperation,” the emotionless mare replied. “Not like I could make more like her anyway...So, where's she going? A battlefield somewhere?” “That is none of your concern, doctor.” “Future Director,” said Masquerade Sr., leading Marshmallow up to the miniature, blank flank version of herself. “Hello, moth-” the little filly's mother raised a bell in her telekinesis. “I mean, Director.” “This is Miss Marshmallow,” explained the elder mare, pointing to the Marionette. “The following information is top secret: she is a Marionette designed to be your personal bodyguard and maid.” “Really? That's-” Masquerade Jr. started, showing a bit of excitement...until her mother rung the bell, at which point she cringed sharply. The filly quickly adopted an emotionless expression. “That is great, Director.” Marshmallow looked down at the child with her grin plastered on her face. “Hello! I am glad to meet you!” “Likewise.” “Miss Marshmallow, your mission is to serve the Future Director and defend her. Only disregard her commands or safety is if it contradicts my own.” Marshmallow nodded. “Okay, Director!” Marshmallow stood with Masquerade Sr. and a few other agents, watching Masquerade Jr. in a training room. The young filly stood in the middle of a ring of targets. As each came up, she spun around quickly and blew one of the targets to bits. Several targets began moving towards her, which she met with a spinning kick or an expertly placed punch. This continued,the targets coming faster and faster. Whenever she missed one, her mother lowered her glasses and gave her a glare. A much younger Spoiled lacking her crooked nose shuddered at the sight. “Is something wrong, Agent Spoiled Milk?” Masquerade Sr. asked, looking at her out of the corner of her eye. “Oh...nothing, Director...Just seeing a child so young being trained to be an agent like this...” “We do what we must, Agent. She is going to be the future leader of S.M.I.L.E., I will not let her be a weak link. After all, all it takes is one weak link to destroy a dynasty. Besides, my mother did the exact same to me.” As Masquerade Jr. finished, her mother trotted over. “You missed three targets. That means three hours in the re-education chamber.” “Yes, Director,” the filly replied without any emotion. Miss Marshmallow handed her a towel to wipe her brow with. “Thank you, Miss Marshmallow.” “You're welcome!” the maid chimed in. As everypony but the two of them left, Marshmallow gave a look to the filly but didn't lose her grin. “Future Director?!” “Yes?” “Two weeks ago, the re-education chamber frightened you! It no longer does! Why?” The little filly paused, looking uncertain. “...I just forgot how to be afraid...” The android made felt a lot less happy than normal. “Oh...Okay!” Masquerade Jr. noticed a spider crawling on the ground past her hoof. Without blinking, the foal lifted it up in her telekinesis and ripped each of its legs off one by one before dropping it and crushing it under her hoof. “Why did you do that, Future Director?” asked the android made, still as happy as ever. “To see if I felt anything. I remember feeling bad when I accidentally stepped on one of them,” Masquerade Jr. replied, looking around...and daring to show a bit of sadness. “...But I...forgot how to feel bad about it...” “Oh...I think I understand!” “...You do?” Marshmallow nodded, then looked slightly less happy. “I know other ponies feel sad, but I can't! I know other ponies feel guilty, but I can't! I know other ponies feel lots of things, but I can only feel happy!” “I...I guess that's similar...I'm forgetting how to feel happy...” “Since I'm always happy, maybe if you forget, I can be happy for you?!” Masquerade looked up at her and gave small, fading smile. “That would be...nice...” Marshmallow gave a halfhearted, garbled chuckle. 'Looks like no pony will be able to be happy for you anymore. Director...Masquerade, I lost, I'm sorry...Huh...Is this what it's like to feel sad?' “Goodbye, Director!” the robotic body guard called as her own blast completely destroyed her. Twilight watched the field disappear and the few, scorched pieces of circuits and chips that remained fell to the ground. A single light on one flickered before going dead and exploding with a spark and a pop. “Twilight!” Starlight called, galloping up. “Are you okay?!” The lavender Alicorn shook herself out of her stunned state and looked to the newly arriving mare. “Y-Yeah, thanks to you...” Lyra, Bon Bon, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Trail Cutter all galloped up and skidded to a stop, having been close behind Starlight. “Sorry we're late, we had to go check on Applejack and the others,” Bon Bon explained, panting slightly from the run. “We beat Mindwipe, but he got away...” “And we tanned Longhorn and his squad's hides,” Applejack replied with a smirk. She then looked around what used to be a room with wide eyes. “What happened here?! It looks like that time the Crusaders tried bein' Cutie Mark Crusaders fireworks technicians!...Okay, not quite that bad, but close.” “It turned out Masquerade's maid was a Marionette...packed with weapons...who we had to blow up the body of to beat her because she just wouldn't listen no matter what we tried...” Sunset explained, not really knowing how to put it into words. The group was silent for a few moments. “Well...you saved her computer, right?” Rainbow Dash asked, giving a nervous chuckle. “We DID,” Twilight replied, floating up the burned computer bits. “But then she tried to kill me with what she had left and when Starlight contained the blast, it backfired on her...” Starlight's face paled. “I...I didn't know! I t-thought that was just some defense system or something!” she replied, frantically. “I didn't mean to kill anyone!” “I know, Starlight,” the Princess of Friendship replied, collecting the bits and putting them into a bubble she teleported somewhere safe. She gave a sad sigh. “Just...she sounded like a foal that didn't realize what she was doing was wrong! She didn't choose to be built for this...” Applejack simply held her hat over her heart while Pinkie's mane went flat. Rainbow Dash went pale. They were supposed to save everypony, baddies included, weren't they? That's what was supposed to happen! Yeah, Sombra blew up but...the Crystal Ponies had pulled the trigger. Trail Cutter kneeled and touched a piece of mithril that had used to be Miss Marshmallow. “Is it strange that I feel an unpleasant sensation where my heart would be if I had one?” Fluttershy pinned her ears and put a hoof on his shoulder. “No, that just means you have what makes a heart worth while. We all feel that way...” Trixie stared at the monitor in shock as her friends seemed to take a moment of silence for the destroyed Marionette. She'd hoped they could save all of them... “...I'm sorry...” Masquerade continued looking at the screen, her head turned such that Trixie couldn't see her exposed eye under her helmet. “Why?” the Director asked, voice unchanging. The azure android's remaining eye went wide. “W-What? Your friend just exploded!” “I saw.” “She DIED for you! You really don't feel ANYTHING?!” Masquerade turned her head and looked to her, dead eye staring out of the Puppeteer's broken visor unchanging. “I would not know if I did. Mother did not allow me to have attachments, remember?” Trixie felt cold. She'd known Masquerade was emotionless, but even her only friend dying? “...Now I'm sorry for you...” was Trixie's reply. =It Has to Be This Way – Metal Gear Rising Revengance= Masquerade didn't give her time to say anything else, instead suddenly breaking the pause by lunging forwards and pinning Trixie's front legs against the walls with her own. “Thank you. Now goodbye.” The mecha alicorn's eyes went wide as the Puppeteer's chest plate sprung open and the eclipse-like corona began to form behind her. Trixie did the logical thing and tried to teleport, but Masquerade pressed their horns together and used some kind of spell to cancel her own. The mecha Alicorn squirmed and struggled, but even with Earth Pony level strength the Puppeteer was far heavier than she was and even stronger. Her life flashed before her eye and optic as she watched the power build up to blow her to oblivion. 'Come on, Trixie! Think of something! There has to be something you can do!' she screamed in her head. Her remaining eye and optic darted around the room, looking for anything she might be able to use. Finding nothing, her mind ran through everything she could think of as she felt the entire Puppeteer beginning to heat up...heat up. Trixie remembered what Gypsy had said when she saw her in the camera: Look for the blue glow... Something beneath the opening in the armor glowed a bright blue and mist came off of it right as the power reached its maximum and a gigantic beam of golden energy erupted out of the mana engine the filled the entire hallway. Then she remembered the Puppeteer was a Generation 5. Trixie reared her still free hind legs back and kicked into the spot were the blue glow had come with all her might. The force dented the armor inward a slight bit. Masquerade seemed to think Trixie was trying to kick her off and merely dug her hind legs in. The mecha alicorn delivered a second kick, denting it in further but not stopping the incoming beam of destruction. The azure android noticed the blue glow begin, signaling she only had a little time left. Her eyes went to one of the monitors, hoping for another clue of what she was supposed to do. Instead, she saw her fellow Marionettes, battling their hardest to liberate their kind against the stallions. Everypony fighting with all they got while the Stallions did the same, injuries mounting on both sides. She remembered what Masquerade would do if she won here. That she'd go back to the battle and attack her friends and fellow Marionettes. Trixie looked back at the blue glow with a defiant glare. “Trixie's story-” Her blue optic and the exposed mana lines glowed brightly. She kicked out with as much power as she could manage, leaving a deep dent in the Puppeteer's armor and earning a loud shattering noise. Blue shards flew out of the exposed chest cavity and began spreading ice over what they fell on. “-WILL NOT END HERE!” Masquerade staggered backwards, sparks coming from the damaged component. “WARNING! COOLING UNIT HAS BEEN DESTROYED! ECLIPSE CANNON SHUTTING DOWN TO PROTECT PILOT!” Masquerade looked back as the eclipse-like corona dissipated and the chest panel sealed back up. “You realized the cooling unit supercharged when I used the Eclipse Cannon to compensate for the excess heat.” Trixie bit her tongue to avoid mentioning now she was the only one of the two with a cooling unit. “Trixie is smarter than you think!” she shouted as she flew forwards while her magic surge was still happening. She slammed straight into the Puppeteer's chest and flew up into the ceiling before pulling back and slamming the Director into the floor with enough force to crack it. “Well...looks like Masquerade still had a lot of fight left in her...” Sunset remarked with wide eyes as the group looked around what was left of the Director's office. “Trixie must be in trouble!” Twilight called, looking around the room frantically. Trail Cutter kneeled and looked over the room with an analytic eye. “Trixie and Masquerade were fighting, this was not one sided...” he replied. “There is not enough oil for her having been destroyed...” “...Well, he was programmed to be a survivalist,” Sunset pointed out. “Okay, so Trixie and Masquerade are fighting! We need to find her!” Twilight interjected, still searching the room for clues frantically. “We could just follow the path of destruction...” Starlight suggested, still shaking a little at what had happened with Marshmallow. “She is correct,” Trail Cutter replied bluntly. As they went to do so, however, the entire base shook. Deep in the core of Moirai, a massive mana engine sat. Pumping energy to the entire base like a gigantic heart. With its cooling system destroyed, it had began to grow so hot that the metal casing around it had started melting. Wires connected to it began to melt and snap, cutting off power to various areas. The engines below Moirai keeping the massive structure afloat began to flicker off as the wires running to them burned away. The floating fortress began to fall. But not straight down. Twilight planted her hooves as the room began shifting. “Moirai is falling!...Oh no!” Rainbow Dash blinked as everypony tried to keep themselves stable. “I thought that was what we wanted to happen!” “Not like this! We wanted it to fall straight down! It's tilting!” the lavender Alicorn replied with wide eyes. “If Moirai crashes down on its side, everypony still inside could get hurt or worse!” “What's happening?!” Trixie asked as she'd prepared to press her advantage only for the room to begin shifting. “The mana engine appears to be overheating. It will likely explode any minute,” Masquerade replied, trying to slash Trixie with her sword despite still being on the ground. There were a few moments of silence as that sentence sunk in. “And you don't have a failsafe for if that happens?!” Trixie asked...then noticed a big red button behind glass nearby labeled 'In Case of Mana Engine Overheating Break Glass.' Here, in the first place the heroes had taken. She just gave a sigh. “...Of course...” The mana engine's casing finally gave way, letting tongues of chaotic red energy to burst out. With a loud boom, the engine exploded violently with enough force to create a large spherical cavern in the very heart of Moirai. Trixie gave a scream as the already cracked floor below her and Masquerade heaved up then gave out, sending both tumbling though and into the newly created cavity that had been blown in Moirai's core. As they plummeted through the smoke from the blast, Masquerade seized her chance and swung her sword. The mecha Alicorn's remaining eye went wide as the blade found its mark on her right front leg. Oil and hydraulic fluid sprayed into the air. The lights flickered over the battlefield and everypony who wasn't flying found themselves forced to brace as the room tilted sharply. Iron Will drove his hand into the ground and grabbed the nearest members of their side, Ace and Teddy using their heavy weight to do the same thing. Shining Armor covered as many ponies as he could in a shield to keep them in place. “Moirai is falling!” screamed one of the agents in a tone that made Shining begrudgingly feel bad for him Derpy glared at the Doctor. “Okay, in my defense I didn't know the building would fall like THIS! When you blow up the power source of something, it normally just falls straight down! This isn't fair!” 'Trixieisarobotfathercanreplaceit!Trixieisarobotfathercanreplaceit!Trixieisarobotfathercanreplaceit!' Trixie screamed in her head as she watched her severed right foreleg fall to the ground below, spraying oil and hydraulic fluid all the way down. Sparks flew from her exposed stump as her self repair systems worked themselves overtime to stop the 'bleeding.' The two combatants hit the ground hard in the still flaming room, Trixie getting a few more dents in her metal plating a crack through her surviving eye lens. The Puppeteer managed to get to its feet first (due to having four working legs) and Masquerade raised her sword to swing down at Trixie's head. The mecha Alicorn only had a few fractions of a second to react...when the entire place lurched once again. Trixie capitalized and wrapped several scarves around the Puppeteer's right leg and pulled with all her might in the same direction as Moirai's tilting. Masquerade lost her footing and fell...her leg going right into the path of her own swing. Her sword embedded itself in the armored machinery, an eruption of oil, sparks, and hydraulic fluid flying from the 'wound.' Moirai was falling. Smoke poured from it like blood from an open wound as the massive structure titled and plummeted from the sky. While it had backup power to keep the lights on, it wasn't nearly enough to power the engines and it appeared nothing would stop the flying fortress from slamming side first into the ground below. =[Sonic Colors X MLP] Reach for the Elements of Harmony – KingSpartaX37= A series of rainbow colored lights flashed in the top floor of Moirai moments before seven pillars of light shot through the roof. The red, yellow, orange, cyan, magenta, pink, and white pillars swirled together into a single rainbow and blew the roof off Moirai's top floor. Seven streaks of color flew at high speeds and took formation around Moirai, each firing a beam of their respective color that connected to a part of the structure like ropes. “Pull!” yelled Twilight Sparkle, glowing with a bright magenta aura. Her mane and tail had grown longer and gained a yellow streak through them while her wings had gained violet and magenta feathers at their tips. Her legs had multicolored markings looking like her Cutie Marks, something she and her five friends shared. Starlight Glimmer rode on her back, watching in shock. “Why didn't you do this when you were fighting me?!” the unicorn asked in disbelief. “We can only do it when all six of us our together!” the lavender Alicorn called. “Okey dokey lokey!” called Pinkie Pie, glowing with a pink aura as she pulled her pink energy beam. Her mane and tail had become longer and even more bubbly, with streaks of yellow, light blue, and orange running through them. “Oh yeah, this is where it gets fun!” called Rainbow Dash, surrounded by a cyan aura. Her already rainbow colored mane and tail had gained a flowing effect and were now much longer, to the point her mane ran the length of her back. Her wings had gained yellow, red, orange, blue, and violet feathers. Lyra sat on her back...and tried to find a comfortable spot given she was literally in Rainbow's mane now. “Yee haw! Let's lasso this place!” called Applejack, pulling with all her might as she was surrounded by an orange aura. Her mane had gained red and pink highlights while her normally red hair ribbons had grown longer and turned green. Bon Bon sat on her back, hanging on. “So why didn't we come in doing this?!” the retired agent asked, eyes wide. “Um...Twilight said flying, glowing magical ponies would attract too much attention,” Fluttershy answered, glowing with a yellow aura. Her mane and tail had grown much longer to the point her face was almost hidden by the former and gained two tone blue highlights, while her wings had gained blue and pink highlights. Despite being far larger than her, Trail Cutter rode on her back and she seemed to have no problem carrying him. “Fluttershy? Is this normal?” Trail Cutter asked, eyes wide as he watched the situation. “Um...for me...kind of...” “Oh, it is a shame we don't get to use these forms very often, darlings,” Rarity remarked, glowing with a white aura. Her mane and tail had grown longer and become more elaborate, white diamond patterns going through them along with blue, magenta, and yellow streaks. The most unique attribute, however, was that she appeared to now have two tails. “No offense, but I think that's kinda a good thing given the situations that call for them,” Sunset Shimmer remarked, glowing with a red aura. Her appearance was the most unique, lacking the cutie marks on her legs and streaks through the mane. Instead she gained a golden dress and barding on her legs. Red markings now adored her face, going over her eyes, while her horn and wings had gained fiery energy extensions, making them look larger. The group collectively paused and stared. “Wait...you can do this too?!” Rainbow Dash asked in shock. “Since when?!” The yellow Alicorn blushed. “Since I became an Alicorn! Now pull!” The seven ponies pulled on their energy beams and slowly began righting Moirai so they could carefully lower it to the ground. In the chaos, one of the Wonderbolts chased a red tied agent into another room. Finding only an empty room, she looked around carefully. The agent had been a unicorn, they couldn't be on the- The Bolt fell unconscious as she was hit on the head from above, the agent hanging upside down. In a flash of green fire, they assumed her form and flew away. =It Has to Be This Way – Metal Gear Rising Revengance= Trixie got back to her three remaining hooves as Masquerade struggled to dislodge her sword stuck in her armor. Fortunately for her, the blade hadn't gone into her flesh and blood limb, but when the sword was pulled out it was clear damage had been done. She tried to lift the leg, but with the machinery wrecked it was deadweight, and would have been even if she wasn't injured already. “Ready to give up yet?” Trixie questioned, aware of the fact they were currently in a hot area that was presently on fire. She noted the roof was covered in dangling wires that still sparked occasionally. The showmare part of her had to admit that it was a fitting place for a final battle. Particularly since being a robot meant she didn't have to worry about smoke inhalation and she assumed Masquerade had a respirator in that suit. “I will never give up,” Masquerade replied, spreading her massive wings and raising her sword with her telekinesis. The azure android took a moment to steady herself and think back to why she was doing this. Who she was doing this for. Her fellow Marionettes. She wanted to be a good big sister...And Twilight having faith in her when she was to head on alone to face Masquerade...and well, her friends having it for her in general. Often more than Trixie ever had for herself. Trixie created a new sword. “Neither will Trixie. She's not just fighting for her.” The machine Alicorn jumped back, flapping her wings to get some distance as her foe swung her sword. A cut on her chest reminded her that in an open space, that sword was a lot more dangerous. Masquerade flew up and formed a gear drill around and dove, driving the mana weapons into the still smoking ground as her opponent teleported out of the way. The azure android got some distance and wrote out ドリル with her symbol magic. Upon swinging her horn through them, it formed into an energy drill around her horn. “Anything you can do, Trixie can do better!” she goaded, diving the Puppeteer. The Director saw the attack coming and returned her enemy's charge with her own drill. The two collided and sent mana sparks flying as they clashed. However, the azure android broke the clash right as she was being pushed back by simply teleporting directly behind her and sending a blast into her back. As Masquerade was knocked forwards by both her own momentum from her own attack suddenly meeting no resistance and Trixie's attack, she kicked out with both hind legs and sent Trixie flying backwards with a buck. The mecha Alicorn screamed...then noticed she was flying right towards the electrified wires above hanging from the ceiling and just barely stopped a few inches from them. “That was too close...” Trixie gave a shout as several magic gears were launched in her direction followed by the Director flying straight at her. The azure android dodged several slashes, using her sword to parry several more. She slowly backed up until she was against the wall, flames on all sides...then teleported out of the way of a trust and left Masquerade's sword jammed in the wall. The Director was now sweating heavily under her now very hot armor, her breathing labored. Lack of emotions could only cover so much of your condition. Trixie instantly appeared right in front of her before she could dislodge her sword and ducked under a punch. The mecha alicorn smirked in realization. “We appear to both down a right leg...” she remarked as she dodged a slash from one of Masquerade's gear chainsaws formed on her still working left leg. “Correct,” Masquerade replied simply, only her heavy breathing showing she was in any sort of distress. “But you made a serious error, namely...” Trixie remarked, dodging the visibly more clumsy left hooved strikes from her opponent. She then delivered several powerful punches from her own left hoof, driving Masquerade back further. “Only one of us is right hooved!” Masquerade's motions became more sluggish as her breathing became more labored, and Trixie took the chance to drive some more left punches into the Puppeteer's armor, leaving a few dents. However, before she could press her advantage further, Trixie had to duck under the Puppeteer's sword when her opponent's telekinesis finally ripped it free. She felt her stomach metal dent slightly as she was left open to a buck that launched her into the floor with enough force to dent the still heated and malleable metal composing it. “Okay...weakened or not, Trixie is still fighting something designed to survive combat with Princess Celestia, scratch damage isn't going to cut it...especially when all she needs is a few good hits to put Trixie down for good...unless...If Trixie screws this up, she's going to the scrap heap, but she will be anyway if she doesn't end this quickly...” the mecha Alicorn thought, before having to roll out of the way of a diving trust from Masquerade. Trixie promptly teleported, a ring of Trixies forming around Masquerade, all charging up their beams. Masquerade generated a gigantic buzz saw ring around herself and spun it while simultaneously hurling her sword upwards. The Trixies around her vanished while another Trixie charging a beam directly above her was impaled...and vanished into a puff of confetti. The true Trixie jumped out of a crack in the ravaged ground right beside where she'd teleported from in the first place and latched onto Masquerade's back. The azure android's horn glowed and she began making precision slashes across the Puppeteer's back. The Director attempted to dislodge her, having to fly into the air just to use her remaining good hoof without falling flat on her face, but Trixie anchored herself to the huge powered armor with several scarves. Which then burst into flames and had to be replaced with fire retardant scarves. Masquerade did the intelligent thing and launched herself backwards towards the wall in an attempt to crush her opponent. Trixie noticed just in time and performed one last slash that connected with a bright glow before leaping off. Before Trixie could fly away, the powered armor clad mare formed a gear chain and swung it, wrapping it around Trixie's waist and pulling her back into a punch from her good hoof that sent her flying clear across the room. The mare in powered armor struggled, the remaining spikes on her back lodged into the wall and requiring some effort to be pulled out. In the meantime, Trixie remained out of sight until her enemy ripped herself free. Trixie teleported up close and flew past her head. The Director retaliated by launching her surviving drones, which circled around and began chasing the azure android. Trixie didn't strike back, instead evading the shots to the best of her ability until a blast hit her hind leg and caused a small explosion. “So this is the real you,” Masquerade commented, clearly winded and sweating bullets but not showing any other emotion. The Director chased Trixie, slashing with her sword and a lefthoofed chainsaw. However, the azure android simply continued to dodge and evade, not seeming to try and fight back as the chase continued to go higher and higher. “What's wrong? Can't hit Trixie?” Trixie goaded, her voice seeming slightly out of sync with her lip movements. 'She took damage from my attack so it cannot be an illusion. Perhaps I damaged her jaw mechanism?' Masquerade thought, charging and forming a series of mana gears she threw at Trixie...who dodged just in time for her to gears to strike one of her remainingg drones and turn it to scrap metal. 'Perhaps she has noticed that the heat is getting to me and is trying to wait me out?' the Director thought without emotion. As Trixie dodged a drone's fire, the mare latched a gear chain around her waist and held it just long enough for another drone beam to slam into her back and send one of her wings plummeting to the ground. Masquerade tugged on her chain and pulled Trixie back...right into the tip of her sword that went straight through her chest and out her back. Trixie went limp, lights going out. “That should have pierced her mana engine...wait...” the Director said, noticing something. Or rather the lack of something. No oil dripped from Trixie despite the rather obvious and grievous damage. An illusion spell flickered and finally cut out, revealing she'd impaled nothing but a magically manifested wooden puppet. “A puppet? Then were is she?” the mare asked, still showing no signs of shock or startle as she turned to look for the true Trixie. By the time her eyes found her, Trixie had been quite busy. =Live and Learn – Sonic Adventure 2= Down below, the true Trixie had created four magic symbols arranged in the cardinal directions directly above her. 玄武 to the north, 清流 to the east, 白虎 to the west, and 朱雀 to the south. The mare stood with the same book she'd learned from, open to the same page that she'd shown Twilight back on the ship. By the time Masquerade had noticed, Trixie had slashed her horn through the symbols, causing them to pulse with a magic. “Seemed rather karmic to distract you with a puppet!” Trixie quipped with a smirk. “Win, lose, or draw, at least Trixie can take pride in knowing she's the only pony other than Meadowbrook herself to ever perform this spell in a duel!” Masquerade tried to do the smart thing and prepared to dodge what was coming...only to realize that Trixie's puppet copy had lured her all the way up to the ceiling. She was surrounded by live wires on all sides. With the Puppeteer's bulk, if she tried to fly downwards to dodge, she'd never make it in time. With the spell already begun, any attack she tried wouldn't be enough to stop it unless she managed to destroy Trixie in one hit. “I see. You have outwitted me, G4T01,” the Director replied, eye still as emotionless as ever despite the situation she was in. “I have but one thing I can do in this situation. Override safety protocol. Eclipse Cannon activate.” “SAFETY PROCOL DEACTIVATED. ECLIPSE CANNON HAS BEEN INTIATED.” Masquerade held out her one good leg while moving her crippled one to her side out of the way as the Puppeteer's chest opened up. The eclipse-like aura began forming behind her as the power built more and more. She felt her already uncomfortably hot armor grow hotter and hotter. “Let's end this, shall we!” Trixie announced, preparing herself to do the proper Neighponese custom when launching an immensely powerful attack. “Sh-Shin-Shyshin...buck it! Trixie doesn't speak Neighponese! Roar of the Four Beasts!” The four magic seals took on the image of an roaring tortoise, dragon, tiger, and phoenix (or rather three roaring and a tortoise doing...whatever it was tortoises did) before they rushed Masquerade, merging into the image of a single golden, eastern-style dragon with a massive roar. Trixie fell to her knees, her optic and mana lines fading and becoming dim as her mana pumped into the spell. The golden beam of destruction erupted from the Puppeteer's chest, ripping through the air and slamming into Trixie's attack. The collision let loose such a shockwave that Masquerade's drones were blown away and the walls around them were widened slightly. The two immense attacks fought back and forth, Trixie's mana lines beginning to flicker from the drain. On Masquerade's end, the Director's fur was drenched with sweat and her nostrils detected the stench of burning fur and hair. Finally, Masquerade's beam began to overtake Trixie's. “It would appear I am the victor, G4T01,” Masquerade said without an ounce of malice. “Any final words?” Trixie fell to her haunches, not even holding her wings up as to save what energy she could...and then smirked as she counted quietly. “Three...two...one...” The Puppeteer's back suddenly lit up with Trixie's magic color and a sizable explosion erupted, blowing open the mana collector in the center of her back. The force of the blast knocked her forwards, sending the Eclipse Cannon's beam flying off course and ripping a hole straight out of Moirai's side before dying out. “How did you...” Masquerade said, still not showing any sign of shock or surprise. Trixie jumped out of a crack in the ground right beside where she'd landed from her roll and latched onto Masquerade's back. The azure android's horn glowed and she began making precision slashes across the Puppeteer's back. “I see. You planted a timed explosive rune on my back. This has been your plan since that moment,” the mare in powered armor replied calmly, forming a series of magic gears sideways between her and the incoming beam in an attempt to block it. Trixie's attack began smashing right through them one right after another. Trixie smirked as her beam now had an unobstructed path straight at Masquerade. “First rule of being a stage magician: keep your audience's eyes everywhere except on what you're really doing! Trixie admits had she gotten the timing wrong she'd be scrap metal. High risk, high reward, but that's kind of my job description!” Masquerade watched the incoming beam with her gears slowing it down at best and did the only thing she could: put her remaining functioning leg over her face to compensate for the broken visor. “Touche, Trixie.” Trixie's attack hit home, engulfing the Puppeteer with a draconic roar. The mane six and Sunset finally finished setting Moirai down safely on the ground. As predicted, the bottom floor collapsed under its own weight, but it was otherwise stable. At least for now. They didn't let go until it was clear the massive structure wouldn't topple over. Twilight flew up and fired a magic flare high over Everfree, earning the sound of horns in return. Something began moving through the forest with enough force to shake the trees. “Okay, our secret weapon is coming! Now let's find Trixie and end this!” “But how? Moirai's huge and that battle looked like it wasn't going to stay in one place!” Sunset called, flying over. Before another word could be said, a gigantic golden beam tore through the side of Moirai and flew off into the distance. Moments later, the top of Moirai was blown clean off as a gigantic golden beam in the shape of an eastern dragon tore through it and roared in the sky before dissipating in a series of fireworks style explosions. “...I think she's there...” Rainbow Dash said bluntly as the group stared with wide eyes. The core of Moirai was filled with smoke and flame, the moon's glow coming down through the gaping hole in the ceiling as debris began falling. Trixie groaned, throwing off a piece of rubble. The android had almost as much of her endoskeleton exposed as was hidden by her synthetic skin, filled with dents and scorch marks. What fur she had left was stained with oil and hydraulic fluid. Her mana lines and exposed optic were flickering and dim. It felt like it took all her energy just to move. “Ugh...Trixie is happy she pulled that off...but she's decidedly never going to do that again...” The azure Android got to her hooves...then fell flat on her face as she tried to stand on her non-existent right front leg. “Oh...right...Trixie has three legs...” Trixie tried to flap her wings and fly, but found that she lacked the power to do so. She simply stumbled towards the center of the room, looking over the damage and seeing the wreckage of the Puppeteer scattered about the room. She felt her hoof hit something and looked down to find the powered armor's helmet laying before her. The horn had been completely blown open, revealing a crystal wand in the center of it. With what weakened telekinesis she could manage, she wrenched the wand free and looked at it. “...Either mithril is really good at protecting things, or Magic Star was very good at making really durable wands considering the Roar of the Four Beasts is a dragon buster spell...” Before she could consider this further, she heard a clanking nearby. “...Please let her be too injured to fight back...” The azure android limped over towards the source of the sound, the scent of burnt fur reaching her...scent sensors she guessed. Looking around a bit of rubble, Trixie found Masquerade staggering out of the remains of the Puppeteer that hadn't been strewn around the room. Masquerade herself was battered, bruised, and burned. Some areas of her body had had the fur burned completely off to expose first degree burns on her skin. The Director fell down and struggled to get back up. =The Other Promise – Kingdom Hearts 2.5 ReMIX= Trixie steadied herself and slowly approached. “Masquerade...it's over...” Masquerade simply tried to ignite her horn for a spell...but Trixie noticed a crack running through it that rendered the attempted spell nothing but a spark. Even though her own horn was metal around a magic wand, the mecha Alicorn winced. “...I was warned that could happen...The Puppeteer linked Starswirl's wand to my own horn, amplifying my magic with its own mana engine and the wand. Increased my power immensely, but the strain over such a prolonged period was simply too much...” Trixie prepared to say something...only for Masquerade to lunge forwards and deck her in the face with enough force to further damage her already cracked eye. The Director fell to the ground and forced herself back up. “Enough of this! You can barely stand!” the azure android called back, having not even being staggered by the blow. “Barely is enough,” Masquerade replied, throwing another blow and cracking the eye further. She struggled back to her hooves, breathing labored and wheezing despite her face remaining emotionless. The mecha Alicorn snarled. “Trixie respects bravado as much as anypony, but this place is about to come falling down on our heads! Now isn't the time for this!” As if the emphasize her point, a large chunk of blazing rubble crashed down nearby. “If I had bravado, I would not know it,” the Director replied, driving another weakened punch into Trixie's face as the mecha Alicorn held her ground. “If you want me to stop, pull the trigger yourself.” Trixie's face softened as she remembered who the pony in front of her really was. Somepony who'd never in her life had a single choice and could not comprehend making one outside her context. Masquerade swung again, this time causing Trixie's remaining eye lens to shatter and expose her optic. “Trixie. I will not stop until you make me...I cannot stop until you make me stop. Do you understand?” For a brief, possibly imaginary moment, Trixie swore she saw a pleading look in the Director's dead eyes despite her face and tone never once changing. Whether real or fake, it was gone in a moment. Trixie gave a scream of frustration and decked Masquerade in the face, falling to the ground herself. As both got to their hooves, Masquerade lunged forwards and delivered another blow, which Trixie replied in kind. For several moments, the two forced their battered, damaged, and weakened bodies to exchange blows with one another until the two threw a punch at the exact same time. The two's blows hit home on their opponent's jaw. It was the Director that fell to the ground. The mare's wounded and battered body simply refused to get back up. “So. I lost,” Masquerade said, sprawled out on her back and breathing heavily. “Congratulations, Trixie. You won. Fate has decided that you are the hero and I am the villain.” Trixie groaned, trying to stay standing despite her mana engine having been drained by her attack and the hoof fight she'd just had. She spat out a bit of horrid tasting oil her foe's last blow had drawn. “...This doesn't seem like the place for philosophy....” “I suppose it is not. My mission was to lead this agency until it ended or I did. And now S.M.I.L.E. is finished...mission complete...” Masquerade said simply and gave a sigh. Trixie couldn't help feeling it was one of relief. Or was that just her imagination? With that, the mare's head fell to the ground and she moved no more. Trixie checked her pulse, relieved to find it still there. “...It's kind of funny...” Trixie admitted, sitting next to the unconscious mare and looking up at Luna's moon through the hole punched vertically through Moirai. “...No...it's not...In the end, I can't be angry with you...After all...we were both just your mother's victims...or maybe we're all just S.M.I.L.E.'s victims...” Trixie watched the flaming debris continue to fall around them. And began thinking of how to escape. The only doors to the room ('doors' meaning 'place a hallway had used to be') were too high up for her to reach while carrying Masquerade in her weakened state. Her mana engine hadn't recharged enough for her to fly or teleport. “Think Trixie...there's got to be some way out. You have to think of something...” Before the azure android could think of anything, however, a rainbow colored light filled the hole burned upwards through Moirai. Shielding her optics, Trixie made out seven flying figures in the light. “Or angels could descend and save you, that works too...” Coming into view, Rarity gave an amused chuckle. “I'm flattered, darling, but it's only us.” Trixie gave a relieved sigh. “...Even better...” Fluttershy gasped and covered her mouth as her passenger made the same observation. “Trixie...your eyes...and you skin...and...oh...oh my...” “Sister, you appear to be heavily damaged,” Trail Cutter replied, concern in his tone. Not much given his difficulty showing emotion, but it was there. Lyra, still riding on Rainbow Dash, looked faint. Trixie looked at her severed leg with a frown. “Oh...yes...Don't worry, father can just make her a new one...and new eyes...and new skin...and fix her damaged body...Trixie won, that's all that matters...” The azure android would have blinked if it weren't for the damage to her eyes as the others hugged her. It took her a couple seconds to react...and then returned the hug with her remaining leg and wings, which was held for a few moments. Trixie let herself relax a little in her friends' embrace. Letting that drown out the still crackling flames and falling debris around her. After a few moments, the group finally parted. Rainbow Dash groaned and covered her nose. “Ugh, what stinks?” “Smells like hydraulic fluid,” Applejack remarked with a sniff. “That would be from Trixie's severed leg...” Trixie replied with a flat look. “Oops...sorry...So, if you got messed up this bad, how's the other guy?” the cyan pegasus replied, giving a nervous chuckle. The azure android pointed to Masquerade, still laying unconscious on the ground. Bon Bon (still riding Applejack) gave a gasp of shock. “...She got in some anti-Celestia armor...it wasn't easy...” Twilight carefully looked over Masquerade with a scanning spell and gasped at her condition. “She was still fighting like this?! It's easier to count her bones that aren't broken!” “...This was all she knew, Twilight...she wouldn't let herself stop fighting until she couldn't fight anymore,” Trixie replied, giving a sad look, sympathetic look. She then jumped as debris continued to fall around them. “Concern for her later! We need to get out of here before the whole place comes crashing down around us!” Sunset called, picking Masquerade up in her telekinesis and putting her on her back. Twilight reluctantly nodded and Rarity allowed Trixie to climb on her back, not complaining about the resulting oil stains. “Just rest now, darling. You did a good job. Our secret weapon has arrived, so it should all be over now,” the fashionista replied with a reassuring smile. “Good...” Trixie replied, mana lines and optics having stopped flickering but still dull. “Trixie has never felt this drained...” “What IS our secret weapon anyway?” Starlight questioned, still riding on Twilight's back. “Medic!” called Iron Will, rushing over to Radiant with Teddy in his arms. The G2 android seemed half asleep, mana lines flickering in his exposed and dented steel armor. “Something's wrong!” “It's wrong with Ace too!” called Hoops, all three sports pegasi carrying Ace (and still struggling), who indeed was in the same condition and struggling to remain active. Mecha Radiant looked over the two and frowned. “Oh...I don't know! They don't look hurt!” “They're not...” said Cover Story, trotting over. He was currently helping Gear Shift, who's wing and leg had been injured. “Radiant, some help here?” “Oh! Okay!” the G5 android announced, galloping over and beginning to heal the pegasus. The android agent, who had sustained his fair share of damage, looked to the pair of G2 androids. “Their mana compressors are just running low on power, they'll be fine after a recharge.” Iron Will gave relieved sigh and patted Teddy on the back while the sports trio did the same with their 'big bro.' “Thank Celestia, you'll be fine little buddy.” “We should probably find a unicorn to recharge them. We're winning, but the fight's not over,” Cover Story replied, looking back to the balloon fort's wall. The Stallions in Black had been pushed back big time, to the point they had to retreat back into the hallways. Despite this, they were still fighting and looked like they would until they were beaten completely or Moirai fell apart around them... Suddenly, the Stallions who'd retreated into the hallways came screaming back into the room. Moments later, the door, and the wall around it, exploded inwards. “STALLIONS IN BLACK HURT AND LIE TO PONY ALLIES! YAKS DESTROY!” Prince Rutherford yelled, dressed in full, traditional yak combat armor and wearing sunglasses. Moments later the entire wall exploded as an army of yaks tore their way into it and began tossing Stallions around like ragdolls. “...On second thought, let the boys rest. Our secret weapon just showed up,” Cover Story replied, having to duck under a thrown Stallion. =Ground Zero – Shiniobi III OST= With the mane six and Sunset returning in their Rainbow Power forms (or 'Daydream Shimmer' form in Sunset's case) and the Yaks already on the warpath, the fight was soon over. The Stallions in Black had all either fled or been arrested. Only one Department Head had escaped capture, and his entire squad was in custody. Moirai had been abandoned after the battle was over, burning like a funeral pyre and collapsing in upon itself from the damage sustained in the final battle as the heroes watched from a distance. Despite her heavy damage, Trixie remained active...and enjoyed a healthy number of pats on the back and praise for taking down the leader of S.M.I.L.E.. Trixie may have grown considerably, but she was still Trixie. “...Trixie still gets a stained glass window, correct?” the azure android asked. Twilight rolled her eyes but gave a smile. “...I'll talk to Princess Celestia about it...you did good Trixie.” “Good...also, Trixie managed to recover this from the Puppeteer...” Trixie replied, showing Starswirl's wand. Twilight's reaction was to give a squee and grab the wand of her favorite unicorn mage in history. “Sorry, captain,” said the Wonderbolt who'd been knocked out and had her identity stole for an escape. “I don't know how they got the drop on me...” Spitfire sighed. “Just remember not to wander off on your OWN next time, got it!...If no one had found you, you could've been killed when Moirai came down.” “Yes, ma'am!” The Wonderbolt leader gave a groan, rubbing a sprained wing. “We'll all need to visit the infirmary when this is said and done as it is...” “Uh...Spitfire?” Spitfire turned and looked at Lightning Dust. While not nearly in as bad of shape as Trixie was, the android still had plenty of exposed mithril and oil staining her fur on top of her exposed optic. “Oh. Hello, Lightning Dust...This about the Academy?” “Yes, ma'am,” said the turquoise android, trying to make a good impression and giving a salute. “Thought so...Look, Dash already told me about what really happened and I still have one Tartarus of a headache when...I guess the brainwashing wore off...” the mare replied, shuddering at that. The idea of having had the Stallions changed that much about her memory...she was glad those creeps were going behind bars. “So yeah, I know you apologized and behaved yourself like a good Bolt after I demoted you to her Wing Pony...Come with me, I think we have a lot to talk about...” Lightning Dust's jaw dropped. She looked over to Rainbow Dash who merely gave her a smile and a wave. The turquoise android gave a small smile of her own. “...Thank you, ma'am.” “You sure you're alright, Mina?” Spike asked nearby, looking at his friend nearby while Peewee roosted on his finger. The young dragon had a black eye, while the teenaged dragon had one arm in a sling. Both had bruises, despite being dragons. Mina merely smiled. “No problem! This was the most exciting thing to ever happen to me! Oh! And tell Trixie I know this comic book artist who'd probably love doing a graphic novel adaptation of this!” Starlight simply shared a group hug with her friends from Our Town, all of who had gotten their fair share of injuries. She looked to Gypsy...she admitted she had reservations about what that mare was linked to, despite being informed several times those preconceptions were false...but something told her confronting a pony who'd been held against her will, dehumanized, and treated like a prophecy machine for over a decade would kind of a major jerk move. Particularly as she watched Gypsy rolling in the grass while laughing like a schoolfilly. “Are you okay?” Bon Bon asked, watching the prophetess. The seer stopped rolling with a blink. “Oh...sorry...just it's been a long time since I've even seen grass, let alone touched it...” she explained with a blush. She then flopped on her back, looking up at the moon. “...I'm just happy to finally be out of there...” Bon Bon slowly gave a small smile. “...Point taken...” Pinkie Pie and Mecha Radiant looked at Gypsy...then jumped down and joined her in rolling happily in the grass. Cheese Sandwich, despite having been bruised and bandaged, joined them a few moments later. “Hahaha! OUCH! Hahaha!” The rest of the group was mainly focusing on getting their injuries (of which they all had plenty) treated and making sure the captured agents were secured. Spitfire would be calling on the Wonderbolts reserves to do shows for the next few weeks. The Yaks were standing guard on said captured agents, having the most sheer power of any present. Ace and Teddy sat nearby, under the sports trio and Iron Will's protective watch as Sunset Shimmer and Twilight went through the process of recharging them. The two were in 'sleep mode' due to their mana compressors having been drained to near empty. Not quite out of power, but essentially 'sleeping' to conserve what they had left. The two Alicorns had been the ones to do so because they not only had the highest mana reserves, but had gotten a good recharge from going into Harmony powered super modes while the rest of the magic users were all running on empty. As were their mana recharging candies. The twin Alicorns had their horns to the middle of their back, pumping mana into them. A lot of mana. “Mana Compressors Fully Recharged. Returning to active mode.” Sunset let Twilight move on (she had much to do) while she remained with the two androids as Teddy (who she'd recharged) and Ace (who Twilight had recharged) began reactivating. Teddy's mana lines lit up Sunset's light opal color while Ace's ignited Twilight's magenta as both blinked awake and got to their hooves. “Ugh...did we win?” Teddy asked as he looked around and noticing they were outside now. Iron Will patted him on the back. “We did little buddy! We're free! Which means I can get back to Indomitable Will and you can get back to Redheart!” The blue mare smiled. “...Yeah...though we might want to get our skin fixed first...” “...Good point.” Ace smiled as the sports trio helped him to his hooves...all three of them. “Thank Celestia...” he muttered...then gasped, looking up at the moon. “Whoa...the Mare in the Moon is gone!” “...You've got a lot of catching up to, dude,” Hoops replied with a chuckle. Meanwhile, Well-To-Do was busy counting up how many Stallions he'd managed to bring down for his payment, which Twilight made sure to double check with the unicorns who'd done the teleporting. “Am I doing this correctly, Fluttershy?” asked Trail Cutter, standing with his hooves held out. An entire flock of birds was perched on his legs, tweeting happily. Fluttershy smiled, in the exact same position and situation, with Philomena the birds. “Yes, that's right.” “Okay...hello birds.” Maud looked at the big android who had only slightly more visible emotion than she did. “...He's happy...” Rarity and Suri approached one another with an awkward silence. “...So...how's Coco doing?” questioned the android to finally break it. “Oh...she's doing wonderfully...” the fashionista replied with a smile. “She's quite popular in Manehattan with the theater scene. We're discussing her potentially being the manager of my Boutique's Manehattan branch once I hammer out all the details.” Suri's jaw dropped. “Branch? You have branches?” “Well, one branch in Canterlot at the moment,” Rarity replied with visible pride. “It's doing quite well if I do say so myself.” The pal orchid android sighed. “...Yeah...figures...Look...this is awkward to say, cause until a few hours ago I probably couldn't say anything like this...but...the pony I was in my fake memories who was friends with you? I liked her better than the pony I've actually been living as...and not just because everything you just told me proves that dog eats dog stuff is horseapples...Just...we weren't really friends...we've never really been friends...But I kinda wanna be, m'kay?” Rarity blinked. A part of her warned her 'fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice shame on me'...But paranoia was Rainbow Dash's forte. “...I would too, Suri...” “I'm sorry, Princess,” Bright Future replied, examining the remains of Marshmallow's CPU with a frown. His mecha suit had sustained damage, but in the case of him and others on board the Flim Flam's mecha, the machine itself had taken the majority of the abuse. In fact, it had ultimately been too badly damaged to take with them and was currently burning with Moirai. The Flim Flam Brothers nodded in agreement, three heads being better than one. “Her personality and memory cores were destroyed. I could repair and use these components in a new Marionette that looks like her...but it wouldn't be her.” Twilight pinned her ears and looked down at the burned, destroyed components. The Princess trembled a bit at the sight. “...I see...I was just hoping there was something we could do to help her...It seemed like she just didn't know any better...” “...Because she didn't,” the doctor admitted with a sad sigh as he rubbed the back of his head with a fin. “She was built to have the mind of a child and missing a number of emotion components just to keep her sane...I never wanted to make her that way, but Masquerade's mother forced me too...” “...So she was a victim just like the others, just in a different way...” the lavender Alicorn replied. “Oh boo hoo, ya can always count on ponies stupidity feelin' sorry for somethin' that tried to kill'em,” mocked Longhorn, currently in magically reinforced prison and glaring daggers at them. The big android gave a sadistic smirk. Shining Armor gave a death glare as he put a soundproof shield around Longhorn...then a comforting hoof on his sister's shoulder. “You did everything you could...there was no choice...” Gypsy heard this and pinned her hears. “...Choices...choices had been made by everypony...Hers, yours, everyponies...there were choices...but by the end, they'd all been made...” Gypsy saw another timeline were the fight had happened differently due to countless different choices. One where Marshmallow had survived and been 'upgraded' with a full range of emotions so she could finally heal. “...So she's just like Masquerade then?” Trixie asked as she looked over. Her mana lines and optics were no longer dull, but still not back to their full brightness. Bright Future had been shocked that she'd managed to drain a mana engine that severely. “Like Masquerade?” Twilight asked, looking over to the mare in question. While bound with a mana suppressor on her horn, it was more or less unneeded. And not just because of the severity of her injuries, even after medical attention. After regaining consciousness, she just stared blankly into the distance without reacting to anything around her. Her eyes were no longer dead, rather they looked blank. Empty. “...She told me her mother raised her from birth to be like she is...she's as much a victim of this as the Marionettes are...” the damaged android said, ears pinning back. There was a moment of silence before Zecora finally trotted up an examined the defeated Director. “A tragic tale to be sure, a mother like that I abhor. However, the damage seems to have been done, the lights are on but nopony is home in this one. For a doctor's word I would wait, but I fear she's in a catatonic state...” Twilight nodded sadly. “She's been like that since she woke up. The medics and I did a scan, there's no brain damage. It's like she just...shut off...” “...Think she can be helped?” Trixie finally asked. “...Only time will tell...” Spoiled Rich, however, turned away from this conversation and walked off to the side. Her nose had been broken and she'd suffered a number of other injuries she'd need to explain when she got home. She remembered watching little Masquerade being drilled into a child soldier. Then she remembered her own treatment of her daughter. “...Diamond...I'm sorry...I've got a lot of explaining to do...” Meanwhile, Daring Do looked through the artifacts they'd taken from the Artifact Archive, she and Moondancer dividing them up into 'dangerous, useful, and harmless'. A pony skull mask whispered telepathically, 'Hey girlie! Ya you! Why don't you put me on? I know ya wanna babe! It'll be totally radical! You should have totally put me on back there, I haven't had a good blood bath in eons! The Aztecs knew how to party! Come on girl, I can smell it on ya, you and me, we're already two of a kind!' Daring Do simply put a big “WARNING! DO NOT WEAR!” label on it and used a shovel to throw it into a magically manifested chest. Followed by an ancient, green wooden mask and a purple and blue, demonic looking mask with weird yellow eyes and plenty of spikes along the side that kept trying to telepathically convince somepony to put it on so they could 'consume everything.' Said box would later be teleported into the void of space bound in magic chains. According to Celestia, the masks would keep each other company, whether they wanted to or not. A fourth category was soon added, namely 'Do not touch' with plenty of lock boxes to shove the artifacts into with shovels. The other Gifted Unicorns were lending a hoof with the sorting. “Man, these guys are almost as good as Daring Do,” Yearling remarked, then smirked. “...Almost.” “We might need an entirely new museum just to fit all of this!” Moondancer replied with a big smile, clearly in her element. The two then spun around as they heard a gasp nearby, seeing Derpy gallop up alongside a pegasus colt with the same exact fur color as her and a similar mane and tail style, both a shade darker in color. “Everypony! I found this little colt!” Lyra (who had been talking things over with the willingly captive Monster Squad) looked over and her eyes went wide. “...Where did you find him?” “Over there...” The mailmare pointed to the foal making mirror. “I was just talking with Jet Set and Upper Crust about having foals and started talking about how much Dinky wants a little brother. I said that kind of wanted her to have one and then I found him...” “Mama!” called the little colt with a big smile. “...Derpy...I think that's a colt version of you the mirror made...” Bon Bon commented, earning herself some glares. “What?” “Oh...” Derpy muttered, looking down at the clone. The little colt looked back with puppy dog eyes. “...Can I keep him?” “...Can you afford to keep him?” “Yes.” “...Then you can keep him...but we'll probably need to go get some adoption papers...or birth certificates...this situation is weird...” “Yay!” the mailmare held up the colt and smiled to him. “I'm going to name you Derby Hooves!” “Yay!” the little colt cheered. “Did somepony say something about a mirror that makes foals?” Jet Set asked, trotting over with his wife. As they'd been on the Flim Flam Brother's mecha, they'd suffered next to no damage. Bon Bon nodded. “Yeah, one of the things that the Stallions had. Legend has it the ancient unicorn Queen Majesty used it to create her son...Derpy has a son now...Like I said, this situation is weird...” The two Marionettes looked to one another...then nodded slowly. “May we use it?” the male Marionette asked hesitantly. The group blinked, looking to the two. “You want to use the foal making mirror?” Lyra asked, raising an eyebrow...as Derpy gave Derby a piggy back ride in the background, much to the colt's glee. “...We've wanted to for a long time but...um...had no luck...” Upper Crust explained in a sheepish tone and blushing a little bit. “I suppose now we know why...but...it's just something we really wanted...I don't know how to explain it...We'd been worried about that after finding out the truth...but now...” Cover Story decided to be tactful and not mention that they were originally built and designed to be Silver Spoon's parents before plans changed, thus why Jet Set had the same fur color and wore glasses. Silver had parents she'd known for years, it just wouldn't be fair to mention it to them. “So...can we?” Jet Set questioned. Princess Twilight found all eyes on her. “...I...don't see why not...I don't think I have the right to deny a mare the right to be a mother...” The two walked up to the mirror...and stood there awkwardly for a few moments. “So...how does this work?” Upper Crust asked, looking over it curiously. “Just tell it you want a kid,” Sunset explained, flying over. “Phrase it however you want to. Doesn't really matter. Though you can be kinda specific, like Derpy asking for a baby brother.” The two androids looked to one another and nodded, then looked into the mirror. “...We wish we had a foal,” both said at once. The mirror glowed brightly and out popped a small unicorn filly, landing with a cute little 'oof!' She was a dark yellow, almost golden color with a dark indigo mane and tail, containing a single white streak like Upper Crust's. The little filly's azure eyes flickered open and she looked up at the two with a big, cheerful smile. “...Mama! Papa!” The two androids teared up and hugged the foal. “...I think I'm going to call her...Gold Mine. Seems fitting...” Upper Crust remarked. Jet Set nodded in agreement with a smile. “Awwww...” was the group's collective response. “...Wait, so is the filly a Marionette or a pony?” Riptide questioned, being practically covered in bandages. Bright Future blinked. “That...is a good question...” Twilight looked to Sunset with a raised eyebrow. “How did you know how the foal making mirror worked?” The mare named after the sun gave a sheepish smile. “Oh! Celestia told me about it...long story...Hey...do you think that...” she started, looking over to the catatonic Masquerade. The Princess of Friendship blinked...then shuddered as that thought hit her. “It...It would make sense...If she really is identical to her mother...” “Does it really matter?” Trixie asked, limping over on her three legs, her friends quickly helping her. “...She was her daughter either way.” For once, Trixie was okay just letting Jet Set and Upper Crust have their moment. She'd done her part, everypony had already given her their three cheers when they'd escaped Moirai...and she was probably going to get a bigger celebration later. In all honesty, after all this, a part of her just felt like laying down. “...Hehe...at least this solves one problem,” the azure android pointed out. “...We androids can have foals now...” The group bowed as Celestia and Luna descended. Each Princess looked like they'd had a rough night, but considering the situations they'd just returned from they were in remarkably good shape. “S.M.I.L.E.'s other bases have been destroyed,” Luna reported in her typical regal manner. “We have apprehended as many agents as we could.” Twilight nodded after sharing a hug with her mentor. “Moirai has been destroyed. Their leader has been captured and all but one department head has either defected or been captured.” Celestia nodded with a warm smile. “Well done, Twilight. I am proud of you.” The lavender Alicorn smiled widely with a blush. “Thank you...but I didn't do this alone...And I wasn't the one to defeat and capture the Director...” The Princess of the Day looked up as Twilight beckoned Trixie over. “Oh. Hello, Miss Lulamoon.” Trixie bowed as best she could do with only three legs. Celestia nudged her chin up to look at her with a wing. “It appears you have been through a lot to free your people, my little pony...and to fix the mistake I made by creating S.M.I.L.E. in the first place...Thank you, Trixie.” The azure unicorn looked faint. “T-Thank you! It...It was nothing...Trixie just wanted to be a good big sister to her family...” The white alicorn gave a smile. “That is a fantastic answer...” The Ruler of the Day then looked at Trixie's mechanical wings. The damaged android's optics followed her eyes. She promptly did what most ponies did when they thought the Princesses were mildly annoyed with them. “Oh! These...Trixie was meant to be an Alicorn by the Stallions! She meant no disrespect! She can-” Celestia shook her head. “It iss quite alright, Trixie...I will not ask you to get rid of them. I cannot decide if you are worthy of them or not, only your actions can say that. And from the looks of it, you are off to a good start, my little pony.” “...T-Thank you...Twilight?” Twilight blinked. “Yes?” “Trixie just found out whether or not a robot can faint...” Trixie muttered, the android doing just that. The Princess of the Day put a hoof to her mouth to stifle a chuckle. She then turned to look over the crown...and her eyes fell on Sunset, who seemed to be trying to avoid eye contact. The white Alicorn trotted over and smiled down to her former student...who slowly looked up to her and gave a small smile in return. Celestia gave a gasp as her eyes fell on Sunset's wings, the younger Alicorn noticing and blushing a bit...before being pulled into a hug by the Alicorn, tears of joy running down the Princess of the Day's face. Twilight smiled as she helped Trixie up and Luna accepted the monster squad's surrender. “Operation Data, mission complete...” Starlight gave a look. “...Not yet...” she whispered. Mindwipe trotted through the woods, having left his escape pod behind long ago. The defeated department head groaned, holding his bruised stomach. “Stupid rebellious ponies, why couldn't they just stay in blissful ignorance! Good thing that I still have assets under an assumed name...I hear Las Pegasus is wonderful this time of year...Now, which alias should I use?” “How about none of the above?” =The Demon King Odio - Live-A-Live= The stallion jumped, turning to find Starlight Glimmer standing behind him without warning. “What?! You?! How did you find me?!” “I got a little help...” the unicorn replied, approaching him with a stern expression.“...We found your aliases in the computers. Princess Celestia just froze all of your assets.” “What?!” the night unicorn asked, now glaring daggers at her. “...You have nothing, you're alone, you have no where to go and no pony to help you...” Starlight explained...then gave a somewhat sympathetic look. “...I've been where you are now...I know the anger you're feeling...it won't work out. Just give up, maybe we can-” Mindwipe interrupted her by sending off a shockwave of mind magic. “I want nothing to do with any of you! You ruined EVERYTHING!” Starlight shook off the mind control, the anti-brainwashing spells still in effect. “...Sorry Twilight. I tried...” The unicorn now got a much more viscous look. “Fine. You liked 'Old Starlight' so much? You will get 'Old Starlight.'” “Hello there...” said a familiar voice that sent a chill down both their spines as a pair of yellow eyes with red pupils rose up behind Starlight. “I've been waiting for a chance to give you your just desserts for messing with MY Fluttershy!” Mindwipe cowered as Discord himself emerged from the shadows with a crack of lightning. Starlight jumped, looking back at the anthropomorphic personification of chaos. “...Was that really necessary?” “I'm Discord.” “...Point taken.” As Mindwipe tried to scramble away, Discord wrapped his tail around the night unicorn's hind legs and lifted him into the air. “Let me go, devil!” The Spirit of Chaos laughed. “Me?! Devil! Oh, hello pot, here's a kettle,” he replied, producing a black pot and kettle. “I admit, I was a bad guy, but you brainwashed any pony you saw fit and enjoyed every minute of it. Including MY Fluttershy. Multiple times!” Starlight cleared her throat. “Oh...and the friends of a few of the Marionettes. Do like them honestly. After all, sapient robots stemming from pure accident is wonderfully chaotic!...But mostly mad about what you did to Fluttershy!” “I had good reason!” Mindwipe defended, glaring daggers while trying to make his heart stop racing. “In your mind, maybe...but then again, you still ENJOYED it didn't you?” Discord asked with a smirk. “Every minute of it. I know that playfully sadistic look in your eye! That's the playfully sadistic look in MY eye!” “So what if I enjoyed my work?!” Discord suddenly dropped the night unicorn like a sack of potatoes and towered over him. “So what? Let me ask you this: you caused MY Fluttershy pain, messed with her head, and hurt things she cares about. Even I don't mess with Fluttershy's head!...Anymore. And then you got away with it while the rest of your organization crumbled. So, let me ask you to consider what that all means for you. I want you to consider exactly what it truly means when you've managed to make the Spirit of Chaos himself, someone with enough magic to make an alicorn look like a second-rate stage magician and a history of being one sadistic child making the world his toy box, completely furious with you!” Discord seemed to grow bigger and more terrifying with each line until his neck arced up through the trees and came back down to glare at the now terrified night unicorn. Starlight gave a disgusted look as she saw the ground become a bit wet under Mindwipe. “B-But you should be torturing HER! Not me! I was doing my job and did a few memory alterations to Kindness! She was just feeding her own selfish desires with what she did!” the night unicorn pleaded. “"True... but Discord is many things, and anything else I feel like, but I'm not hypocrite... after being forgiven TWICE for bringing Equestria to ruin... it wouldn't feel right for me to enact revenge on the mare who DIDN'T have to be turned to stone twice and be betrayed by the lord of ultimate evil to realize she was missing out on something fun.” The Spirit of Chaos suddenly shrunk down to his normal size and gave a shrug. “But lucky for you, she called dibs.” Mindwipe blinked, looking to Starlight. “C-Called dibs?” Starlight approached him as Discord made sure he didn't escape. “Power is neutral. It's just a tool...it's ponies that make it good and evil...” she quoted, producing a glass jar from her saddle bags. “That means evil ponies don't deserve power.” The night unicorn's eyes went wide. “N-No! You wouldn't do that! You can't do that!” “Why not?” Twilight's student asked in response, giving a glare. “You would. In a heartbeat.” “What about due process?!” “You never gave Teddy and Ace due process! You never gave ANYONE due process! So why should YOU deserve it?!” Discord chuckled. “Honestly, I'm just happy that she's taking advantage of her grace period.” “Grace period?” Starlight asked, raising an eyebrow. “You know, the period of time where 'you're still learning' after turning good and can get away with morally ambiguous actions because you still 'don't know any better.'” Starlight sighed. “...This is the last time I'm ever using this spell...” she muttered, horn glowing. “And mix it with your spell...” she said, mixing two spell orbs together. “And a bit of MY fabulous magic...” Discord added, putting a paw to Starlight's horn and mixing it in. “This is for Teddy, Ace, and any other poor ponies you've separated without caring at all!” Mindwipe screamed in pain as the spell hit him, lifting him up into the air. A few moments later, his Cutie Mark was torn from its place on his flank and floated into the jar. He fell hard to the ground, panting with his eyes briefly having Discord's multi-colored circles in them. He looked back at his flank...and blinked when he saw nothing but blink fur. “N-No equal sign?” Starlight nodded, looking at the Cutie Mark floating in the jar. “...Blank flanks are a world of potential, maybe now you can become a better person with that potential.” “You...you...you...I'll find a way to...wait...” he replied, the night unicorn replied, looking confused. Then horrified. “The Reflection Deflection...I can't remember it!” “Very observant of you,” Discord replied, taking the jar and putting it in a suit case filled with rocks. “We walled off that little tidbit of information. After all, taking THIS doesn't do much good if you still have that spell to use, does it?” Starlight cleared her throat and powered up her horn, the spirit of chaos tapping the spell orb she created and slamming it into her own head, causing her eyes to briefly become Discord's circles. “Ugh...there! Now I don't remember it either!” the unicorn replied, giving a shudder. “I don't WANT to remember that spell...” “Welcome, and now it's time for the coup de grace,” Discord said, snapping his fingers. “One Cutie Mark to the bottom of the ocean!” Mindwipe watched in horror as the suitcase vanished in a flash of confetti. A second flash happened and Mindwipe found him in a small town somewhere even he didn't know (maybe it was Saddle Arabia) with enough bits to buy a hotel room and start over, but nothing more.