//------------------------------// // Chapter 7: Shadows and Secrets (Part 1) // Story: Ponygoyles // by Alphamon_Ouryuken //------------------------------// As the sun finally set over the horizon, the moon illuminated the skies over Manehatten. And as such, the Clan of Ponygoyles​ awakened from their stone slumber once more. Twilight was the first to awaken as her stone skin cracked open, the moment her body was free she roared into the night sky before calming down. As the rest of her sisters woke up Twilight began to stretch her wings, preparing for the night ahead. "BLEEGH! AGAIN!? SERIOUSLY!? " She heard Pinkie scream and turned​ to see her spitting out another pigeon, along with several sticks, twigs, and feathers. "RGH... I. HATE. BIRDS." Pinkie grumbled as she stormed past Rainbow and Applejack, both of whom were snickering while Fluttershy let the pigeon land on her finger, gently petting it. "I think they're adorable." Fluttershy said with a small giggle. "Fly away, little one." She said softly, letting the bird fly away without a care in the world. "....I'm going to eat a chicken later. Just to completely spite the avian family…" Pinkie mumbled to herself as she picked the feathers out of her teeth. “I trust you all rested well?” A familiar voice asked, getting their attention. The group turned to see Fancy Pants himself arrive on the balcony. "Yeah..... feel violated by that winged rat but yeah, rested well." Pinkie said as she stretched. "Ugh, I can't wait to fly around again....” "Pinkie remember, we have a mission tonight..." Their azure sister stated firmly, getting everyone's attention. "Speaking of which, I'm going to assume you have a plan of some sort to help us liberate what our enemy stole? "Indeed I do.." Fancy smiled as he handed Twilight, Rarity, and Applejack of them a small device that resembled a metallic red and white sphere with a thin black line separating the colors. "Our enemies will have high-tech security, and I didn't get where I am today without taking precautions. Rarity inspected the device with a skeptical look on her face. "So, what exactly do these objects do?" "These devices are programmed to lock onto the artifacts magic signature." He explained to the group. "I didn't have enough time to make more of these but they should do the trick. When you find the artifacts, activate these immediately by twisting he top and bottom in opposite directions, it'll release a special pulse of energy that'll temporarily disable the security systems." "....that's really.... strange magic." Futtershy said as she poked the one Rarity was holding. "They look adorable though." “It's actually science… but we'll get back to that later….” Fancy corrected her, briefly getting Twilight's attention. “Now then, for your respective missions…” Three Hours Later... Twilight, Pinkie, and her azure sister stood atop a large skyscraper, staring at the sky. "Can't​ believe such a massive structure could be hidden above this city..." She said before pulling three sets of goggles out of her bag, handing one over to her sister and another to Pinkie. The moment she put them on she could only gasp as the massive ship became fully visible to them. "Incredible! if I didn't know any better I'd say this was a floating island!" She said as she stared in wonder. "You would be amazed what secrets this new world has." Her sister said as she opened her wings. "But enough musing. Let's finally get down to buisness." With that she took off towards the flying fortress with earnest, Pinkie and Twilight following suit. “Remember, we're here to invade them. Not be chummy with them." She said with a sneer as the trio flew towards the ship. Latching on to the side of it, Twilight surrounded her claws with her magic, making them sharper. Focusing hard she drove her claws into the iron wall and carved a circular hole in the side before kicking it inwards, allowing the two to fly in. "Y'know, this kinda reminds of the time we raided the Pirate's hideout near Griffinstone!" Pinkie smiled as they crawled in. "PLEASE don't mention Griffonstone right now." The azure Ponygoyle snarled "That place was a drag and rather boring all things considered to be honest." Pinkie gave her sister a coy smirk. "Are you still mad about that whole belly-dancing incident?" She asked innocently, causing Twilight to start snickering. "Thought you looked really cute in that outfit...." "... yes that's exactly what pisses me off so can we PLEASE stop bringing it up now?!" She snapped at her sister. "This is EXTREMELY important right now so PLEASE be quiet." Pinky was about to retort, however at that moment her ear twitched as she heard footsteps and glanced down the hallway,haring a look with her sisters the three leaped up towards the ceiling as a Pegasus security guard wearing a dark-blue uniform made her way around the corner and gasped upon seeing the hole in the wall. “What the heck happened here!? Aw jeez, I better not get blamed for this!” The azure Ponygoyle growled at the Guard and charged with blinding speed, bashing her against a wall and knocking some wind out of her. She then grabbed her by the neck and held her over the hole. "Now then. You're going to talk. And if I don't like what I hear? I'm going let my fingers slip and drop you. Are we clear pony?" "B-But I'm a Pegasus-" "And wings can very easily be broken." She cut her off, baring her fangs as her eyes began to to glow. "Now SPEAK!" "My name is Muffins but everybody calls me Derpy, this is my first night on the job, I really like baking-" She started frantically explaining in a fast-paced tone, very close to freaking out. "Oh for the love of-I mean the treasure! I know it's on this ship, where is it!?" She demanded. "W-what treasure?! T-this is my first day on the job! I-I was just told to help guard the joint!" Derpy said with fear in her eyes. "I-I swear that's all I was told! P-please don't hurt me!" "Well then...." The azure sister scoffed as she used her magic to freeze her in place before levitating her over the hole they came in through. "I guess you won't be of any use to us...." She stated with less than friendly smile as she grabbed onto one of her wings, gripping it tightly. "Sister stop!" Pinkie shouted, getting between her and the guard. "Killing in the heat of battle is one thing, but she isn't even a threat! She's unarmed!" Her sister gave her a harsh glare. "But we have to make sure she won't alert her comrades!" "Then just.... knock her out or something! You don't have to kill her!" Pinkie said with a glare. The azure sister stared at Pinkie for a few seconds before turning her attention back to the guard and snapping her fingers in front of her face, the guard's eyes went blank for a moment before she slumped over, completely unconscious. Seeing no further use in her, she levitated the unconscious guard over to the opposite end of the hall. "Happy now? Let's move." With that the sister began walking off. Twilight landed beside Pinkie with a concerned look. "The way she acted just now, it felt... different..." Twilight whispered, though her voice contained a small bit of anger. Pinkie placed her claw on Twilight's shoulder. "'s new to this world just like us, she probably went through a lot of bad experiences before she found us again..." She reassured her as she walked down the hall beside her. "Give her time, we'll show her that things are different now." "...." Twi merely sighed as they followed the sister. "So now that we know simply muscling them won't work sister what do you suppose the next alternative would be then exactly?" The azure sister simply rolled her eyes. "We simply ended up getting the wrong guard. All we have to do is find someone who's been here longer and interrogate them instead." Pinkie and Twilight shared an uncomfortable look upon hearing that. "Of all the places we had to end up, why did it have to be here!?" Rarity groaned as she and Fluttershy made their way through the sewers. "This place is absolutely reeks of filth!" "And the old castle didn't? I mean, let's not lie to ourselves Rarity." Fluttershy said as she cautiously stepped over what she hoped was a rat. "Besides it still smells a little better then back then.... especially the smell in the rookery." "Sadly the difference was that we at least knew what that smell was..." Rarity retorted as the two came to a ladder leading deeper into the sewers, after carefully tucking in her wings she proceeded to climb down. "Here I don't even know what half of the stuff down here is, and I'm genuinely sure I don't WANT to..." "Okay, okay." Fluttershy said comfortingly. "We're almost there anyways, so we won't be in the sewer much longer..." "We can't get out soon enough." Rarity replied with a shiver up her spine. "Wait, shhh!" Fluttershy whispered as they reached the bottom of the ladder, before Rarity could ask what was wrong they both heard the sound of whirring machinery coming from the other end of the pipeline. "I think we just found the base..." "Alright dear. Next up is getting inside." Rarity said as she looked around. "I mean I doubt we could just walk up and ask politely about whether we can enter or not." As they made their way to the end of the pipe, they found themselves staring at what looked like an underground river, not connected to the sewers as the water seemed much cleaner. "So they have another way to get inside..." Fluttershy mumbled as the two of them flew out of the pipe and hovered over the river. However at that moment the sound seemed to be getting louder, the two turned around only to see a speedboat tear around the corner headed right towards them! Thinking fast, the two immediately darted upwards into another pipe just before it could hit them. "Woah! Did you see that?!" "Huh? No I was asleep..." "But YOU'RE driving!!" The two poked their heads out of the pipe as the boat continued to speed down the tunnel. "I think I know how we can get in...." Fluttershy smiled. "Maybe we could sneak in underwater..." "Or wait for another boat." Rarity retorted quickly, eyeing the water with utter disgust. "I will not dirty myself with that filthy disgusting water!" Fluttershy simply rolled her eyes at her sister's over-dramatic tone. 'Hope Rainbow Dash and Applejack are doing better than us....' She thought to herself and she began thinking of a different way to get in... not noticing a set of glowing green eyes watching them from a nearby pipe... Applejack and Rainbow Dash stopped to catch their breath as they hid in the shadows. Narrowly avoiding the turrets gunfire. "Okay, any bright ideas on how to get in there without being shredded!?" "We could try and sneak underground." Applejack asked innocently. However Rainbow just gave her a 'are you kidding me?' look at this and then slapped her upside the head. "What special kind of dumb are you? That kind of thing never works! We need to find a way to get in AND get out without being shredded to pieces." Rainbow sneered at her. Applejack retorted by smacking her upside the head with her tail and giving her a sharp glare. "And whose fault was it that we got spotted by the guards in the first place?! At least I wanted to take the stealthy approach! You just wanted to rush in through the front door!" She fired back. However their argument was halted when they were forced to leap over a nearby cliff for cover as the turrets spotted them and began firing again. "And who started shouting!?" Rainbow shot back with a glare. "I mean seriously AJ that was really not cool right there. I'm actually ashamed of you.” ".... y'all just don't wanna admit ya got us spotted the first time ya know that right?" AJ asked with a raised eyebrow. Rainbow groaned as she took a brief glanced over the edge of the cliff. Taking a deep breath, she turned her attention back to Applejack. "Ok, I think I might have an idea... did'ja notice those blinking lights on the guns?" "Yeah? What about...... don't. Y'all won't survive the attempt!" Applejack yelled at her. "We can find a better method! Distractin' them ain't the answer!" "Well right now we're pinned down, and between the two of us, I'm the fastest!" She stated firmly. "We don't have many other options here. I don't know what kind of magic they used on that thing, but whatever it is it's aim seems to be based on movement. All I have to do is keep them busy while you smash them!" "Y'all sure ya can make it cause....." Applejack started, but by then Rainbow had already sped off towards the guns. AJ just groaned as she watched speed around them. "Over here, rust buckets!" Rainbow called out as she sped through the trees and into plain view of the turrets, each one of them immediately locked onto her and started firing. The speedy Ponygoyle wasted no time zigzagging through the area, narrowly dodging each and every blast before they could get a precise lock on her position. Applejack growled as she darted towards the guns, an opening finally presenting itself to her. With a loud roar she ripped one of them open and proceeded to the next one. "Y'ALL WON'T HURT MAH FAMILY ANYMORE, YA HEAR?!" One of the nearby turrets immediately turned it's attention to Applejack, preparing to fire.... only for Rainbow Dash to immediately fly into it's line of sight, causing its sensors to lock on to her instead. Unfortunately as it attempted to gun her down it left itself wide open to be dismantled by her partner. "Never. Do that. Again." Applejack said as she threw down the parts from the gun she ripped to shreds. "Oh come on that was fun you can't lie." Rainbow said with a smirk. "I mean I seriously never felt any thrill like that before and just.... OOOOH that felt good." "AH'M SERIOUS!" Applejack snapped at her sister. "This ain't like the times of old where the most we have to worry about were crossbows or magic blasts with tracking spells! Y'all could have gotten seriously hurt!" "Oh so what happened back then were just fucking tickles huh?" Rainbow snapped back at her. "I think your EYE would love to disagree with how dangerous ranged weapons are. It doesn't matter when or where. It's just danger. Sorry I tried to lighten the situation. Maybe I should just be a pouter like you and Twilight have been since we woke up!" "Now y'all listen here-" Applejack began, however before she could tell off her sister... she felt a pulse of energy, causing her to freeze up for a moment. She looked around, as if having heard something, and then turned her attention to the steel door that the turrets were guarding… She felt the pulse again, but this time a brief image flashed before her eyes, the image of an orange orb with some sort of symbol within it. "What the.... did y'all see that?" Applejack asked. Rainbow gave her a blank stare. “See what?” “... never-mind.” Applejack sighed as she approached the door, cracking her knuckles she slammed her fist into the steel door, the power behind such an impact getting a massive dent. Not wasting a second she immediately slammed her claws between the two doors and forcefully pulled them open. "Let's just get this over with..." "Fine by me." Rainbow said as the two flew into the building. "So what exactly are we looking for here?" She asked her older sister as they looked around the place. "Some special artifact that those thieves stole from our castle." She replied, just as the alarm started going off. "And it looks like we lost the element of surprise..." "Well then, let's make this a quick mission!" Rainbow shouted as she flew down the hall, Applejack quickly followed, however that vision was still fresh in her mind. '...what in tarnation WAS that?' Back in the airship above Manehattan, Twilight sighed as she watched her sister interrogate another one of the guards, this one wearing a black uniform with yellow lines going down his legs and arms. "W-what kind of monster are you?!" The guard yelled but it was clear they were scared beyond all reasoning by her sister. "P-please just let me go!" "That's not happening..." She smiled as her eyes began to glow menacingly. "You see, out of all the guards we've come across on this ship you seem to be one of the few that wears this kind of unique armor..." She mused. "Which in turn means you're a more high ranking guard, and therefore it's more than likely you know where the more valuable items are on the ship... so start talking!" "T-THEY'RE IN THE DOOR JUST DOWN THE HALLWAY! PLEASE JUST LET ME GO!" The guard begged. The sister just growled at her as she dropped them. The azure Ponygoyle glared at him for a few seconds before snapping her fingers in front of his face, his eyes glazed over for a moment before he slumped over unconscious. "All right, let's go." As they made their way down the hall, Twilight suddenly felt an odd sensation posted her body. As if something was calling to her... as her sister's called out to her, her entire field of vision was replaced by a single lavender orb with a strange yet familiar symbol on it… "Twilight... TWILIGHT!" That is until the sound of Pinkie's voice snapped out of her stupor. "I... but-what just happened?" "You just froze and stared into space!" Pinkie shouted as she waved her arms. "Like holy crap it was spooky!" She said. She turned towards her sister. "I mean you saw it to right?! That was freaky!" "Indeed, for a moment I thought one of those wretched ponies had managed to cast a spell on you..." She replied that she held Twilight's claw. "Are you sure you're alright?" Twilight looked down for a moment before shaking her head. "A-anyways we need to get through the door. Move so I don't hurt you two." Twilight said as her claw became encased in a purple glow and she tried pulling it off.... yet when she did a sharp pain shot through her arm nearly causing it to go limp. "TWILIGHT!" "What the... what was that?!" The lavender Ponygoyle gasped her azure sister glared at the door. "That door... it's laced with magic-resistant metal!" She snarled. "How are we supposed to-" [INTRUDER ALERT, INTRUDER ALERT] "And things just went from bad to worse..." Pinkie added as the alarm systems went off. At the underground base, the doors leading to the underground river opened as a speedboat was driven toward the docks. "I'm telling you man, it was some sort of strange creature!” One of the guards, an Earth Pony, stated as they got out of the boat. "They had huge bat wing, glowing eyes, and I'm pretty sure they had fangs too!" His partner, a Unicorn, simply yawned as she stretched her arms. "Personally, I think you've been watching too many horror films..." She scoffed as they made their way up the stairs and towards the main hall. "I'm not crazy! That shit really happened! You were there and, need I remind you, DRIVING!" The earth pony shouted but the unicorn simply rolled her eyes and the two walked onward. "If they feed on blood you're the first to go, the non-believers are always first!" However as the doors to the docks closed behind them, two figures slowly emerged from the murky water... well, Fluttershy did. Rarity burst out while gasping for air. "FINALLY! I THOUGHT THEY NEVER-MMMPH!" She began, only for Fluttershy to immediately cover her mouth. "Shhh! We can't afford to get caught!" She whispered. Rarity just shot her a glare but Fluttershy slowly removed her claw. Slowly the two got out, doing their best not to make too much noise that would attract attention to them. "I still can't believe that I had to swim through that.... that filth!" Rarity whispered in distain. "It was our only way in without alerting the guards..." Fluttershy replied in a lower tone. "And besides, it's much better for you to have gotten over your fear a being filthy for the sake of the mission..." Rarity glared at her sister. "Pushing me in does not count as me "getting over it"!" She retorted angrily. "But the point is you didn't let it interfere with our mission." Fluttershy said with a smile ignoring the fact that Rarity looked like she wanted to strangle her. "Besides now we-" However before she could finish, Fluttershy immediately fell to her knees as her eyes glazed over. As she struggled to stand back up, Fluttershy found herself staring at a spherical yellow object of some sort... however what got her attention the most was the symbol within it, it was as if she'd seen this symbol before… "Fluttershy? Fluttershy what's wrong!?" Rarity asked, kneeling down beside her sister, however she got no response. "Fluttershy you're scaring me!" Just then a loud laser was fired at them and hit near their feet, the explosions sending the two backwards. "I heard there was some new Ponygoyles that could actually put up a fight." A deep threatening voice said as a figure began stepping out of the shadows. Rarity groaned as she tried getting up and saw the assailant. The stallion before her wore black bulky body armor with a dark grey hood and cape, a red utility belt, shoulder pads and gauntlets. His face was covered by a black mask with three claw marks. As she took the appearance of their opponent, she felt her blood freeze once she recognized his mask. 'Three claw marks.... just like how Rainbow described the ones who were hunting us!' "It seems that.... I'm left yet again wanting." The stallion said coldly as he aimed his gun at her. The gun began glowing as he glared at her with cold blank white eyes.