//------------------------------// // Battle royal // Story: This is what we do // by Foxgear //------------------------------// This is what we do chapter 22 By Foxgear Luna rolls agitatedly on the couch, the sunlight streaming in through her living room window making her hot and uncomfortable. Tossing the blankets off she rolls up to sit, her t-shirt stretched and loose on her shoulders, her left boob threatening to slip out of the well-worn fabric. Sleepily she looks around the room, her tired brain booting up. Vaguely aware something was wrong with the scene before her, but she couldn’t figure out what. Acting on autopilot Luna shuffles to the kitchen, the coffee maker already brewing, she didn’t remember setting the auto brew though. Pouring a cup and adding her usual two cubes of sugar and hazelnut creamer, turning the black liquid a milky mud color she took a light sip, sighing as the warm liquid relaxes her body and gives her that little jolt she needs. Taking longer, deeper gulp of coffee, Luna becomes aware that her sugar and creamer were already out and she knew for certain she did not put them on the counter last night. Also, finally, Ferocious was gone! “Feri!” She shouts at the empty house. There was no reply or noise, so she was truly alone, but where had he gone? Running barefoot and in her sleepwear, shorts and a Tee. Luna went outside sighing when she saw her car was still in the driveway. “Good, he didn’t take my car… OH, MY GOD!” Luna about fell to her knees, her car! Her precious 1970 Chevy! The paint was peeling! Like some jackass took a heat gun and tried to melt the entire thing! Lightly sobbing Luna hugs her long-time companion. Only after she did a damage estimate in her head and what her insurance would cover did she finally pull back and regain control of herself and… then she saw the peeling shingles of her neighbor’s roof, which she knew were new as of last summer. This prompts her to look at her own roof and gasp. “Son of an Irish whore what the fuck happened to my roof!” Her roof was peeling too! So was her siding! “The fuck! I’m going to kill that contractor!” She knew those labor prices were too good! “Your finally awake, Luna!” Her neighbor laughs, Mr. Gator, an old Popeye looking man with a Santa beard, and a pipe between his teeth. “I see you're enjoying the view. Can’t say I was much better this morning myself. Don’t worry, it’s not just you and me. The whole neighborhood got hit, by whatever it was last night. Lota heat came down on us at once. Maybe it was one of those solar flares or whatever.” Turning around Luna confirms the rest of the block was indeed in the same condition as her. A pit of worry sets in her stomach as she thought of probable causes, most of them being magic. And one more factor, Ferocious. Who if she was remembering this right, crashed into her yard in a flaming fireball. “No,” She whispers touching her chin. Last night she had been tired, confused, and dark and she maybe have been a bit tipsy too. She hadn’t really thought about it, but Ferocious and the night Patroller Fierce Fury do look a lot alike. She curses under breath. It had been Fury that fell in her yard last night! Meaning there was probably some big magical trouble going down! “Hey, Gator, did Fierce, I mean Ferocious come out of my house this morning?” The old man grinned crookedly at her, and she was suddenly self-conscious about her state of dress and the sweat lingering on her body and her messy hair. All normal things that happen when she wakes up, but it does look like she just got done with some midnight fun. “Yeah, I saw him come out about two hours ago,” Gator told her checking his watch. “It’s about noon know. Not exactly an early bird, are you?” He laughs. Luna’s blush persisting. “Today was my day off,” Luna retorts lightly, puffing out her cheeks. She could do whatever she wants in her free time. Waking up around noon being one of them. “So which way did he take off to?” If Fury was walking he couldn’t have gone far in two hours. “The towards the school I think.” “Thank you,” Luna said, quickly running back into the house. Tossing her dirty sleep clothes on the floor she began rummaging for something to wear. She was in desperate need of getting laundry done it seems, nothing was clean! Pulling out her drawers she’s relieved to see she did have some clean clothes. Though they were from when she was dating Feri. Pulling out a simple red Tee with ACDC written on the front and a pair of cutoffs (THAT STILL FIT!) Luna finishes off her wardrobe with her boots. Grabbing a light coat on her way-out she hops in her car and drives towards the school. When she got to the school she wasn’t as surprised as she probably should be that once again, the school was wrecked. A whole wall of the building was rubble, again, cracks from heat stress were everywhere and… “Holy shit,” Were the only words she could say when she saw the statue. Following the law of Murphy and logic, she quickly concludes that if it was indeed Fierce Fury that had fallen into her lawn last night, then chances were, he didn’t come here alone. But this time he might not have brought friends. Spotting Celestia Luna gets out of her car approaching her sister carefully. Celestia was looking about ready to give up and cry. She wouldn’t blame her. She felt like doing the same after dealing with all this crap. “Hey.” Was her weak greeting, feeling a bit guilty that while she’d been asleep Celestia had been dealing with all this and hadn’t even called. “Hey,” Was all Celestia could say, her face looking drained as she slumps on the bench behind her. Only for the said bench to creak and break under Celestia’s weight. Luna cringed as she helps her sister up. “On top of everything I’m getting fat too.” “I think the fact the legs were cracked was a factor.” Luna weakly offered, getting a small smile out of her sister. “Why didn’t you call me?” “It’s your day off.” “But still this is…” “You being here wouldn’t have made a difference,” Celestia said sounding defeated. “I’m wondering if it’d be better to move the school. We gotta be on top of some cursed ground.” “I doubt that would fix this, not as long Sunset and her friends are around.” Luna states. “But I doubt you’d be willing to transfer them.” “I doubt any school would take any kid from this school after all this. Not willingly anyway.” Luna sighs, it wasn’t often her sister gets moody and depressed, but when she did it wasn’t a minor thing. It takes a lot to wear Celestia down and it was hard to see her peppy and joyful sister in the dumps. But it was best to let Celestia work things out herself. “Listen, I know this probably the last thing you want to hear, but have you seen, Fury?” “Yeah, he was here investigating the scene with Stryker. I was surprised when I saw them.” Celestia replies. Her brow dipped into confusion. “Then he came back not long ago, but he was different somehow. He just looked at the scene and continued on.” Luna bit her lips nervously, “I didn’t mean Ferocious, I meant Fury, as in Fierce Fury, the pony from Equestria?” Celestia’s eyes widen with realization. “Yeah, I had the same reaction this morning. Look, this is confusing enough as it, but we need to track him down. He probably has some answers.” Celestia nods in agreement. “If that’s the case, then he’d be going to Mac’s farm.” “Most likely, let’s get going, we’ll probably see him on the road there,” Luna said pulling Celestia towards her car. After buckling up the two sisters race off toward the country. Determined to find some answers. Stryker was sitting at a stop light when his phone rang. The number displayed was for Bub, one of the biker informants. “What’s up Bub?” “Hey, boss man, I gotta weird question for you.” “Shoot.” “When did the big boss man get gold highlights in his hair?” Stryker’s brow frowns. “You’re talking about Ferocious right?” “Yeah, the big boss, I just saw him walking the street not a minute ago. He looked ready to kill, but he seemed different. I tried to talk to him, but he just brushed me off. Also thinking about it now, this guy was buff, like I know you and the boss are well off, but this guy wow. I remember having muscles like that when I came out of the marines. This guy looked like he could bench press a car!” “Is there any more relevant information?” “Yeah, yeah, he wore something like ops gear, with these big shoulder plates. Oh, yeah! He had a number on his sleeve like the boss does, but it was different. It was… um… 1330.” Interesting. “Where was this at?” Bub relays the information. The southern part of town, where the majority of the dust houses cases have happened. Putting on his sirens Stryker speeds across down, a bad feeling settling in his gut. Turning onto Rye street, he slows to a stop. Everything was quiet. Too quiet. He steps out of his car, his service pistol at the ready. Slowly he walks down the middle of the street, a chill running up his spine, the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. (GET AWAY) He paused, feeling complied to turn around. Flaring his magic, he dispels the enchantment, the entire street was covered in fog. It was a barrier spell. He and Ferocious ran into several creatures that had the ability. The sirens being one. The sudden sound of running caught his attention. Stryker turn aiming his gun towards the mist, a shape of a person outlined in black coming towards him. He steadies his hand, not wanting to shoot a human. A flash of purple hair catches his eye as one of Applejack’s friends glomp onto him. Her arms snaking around his body. And boy girls were certainly getting mature these days, he awkwardly thought as the girl’s bust pressed against his body. Gently he pushed her away. “Oh, please you must help me and my sister!” The girl cried, he notices the younger girl clutching the older girl’s shirt, looking terrified. “Some brute is after us!” “It’s ok, I’m with the police,” Stryker tells them, pushing the girls behind him. He takes aim at another figure, much larger and clearly male comes through the mist. Something was glowing in his hand, it was in the shape of a cross… or rather a sword? “Feri! Is that you?” Stryker shouts, the silhouette stopping. The mystery man raised his glowing sword and made a slashing motion, cutting the through the mist, an intense heat filling the chilly air as all four of them got a clear view of the other. The man was certainly similar to Ferocious, Stryker had to give him that. They could almost be brothers, but there were a few key differences, one the gold in man’s hair, the second being the hairstyle, third the clear difference in muscle mass, and finally the sword of flame in the man’s hand. Not a sword engulfed in fire, but an actual sword made of fire. “Who are you!” He demands pulling a second pistol, pulling on his own magic Stryker felt the tell-tale signs of ears appearing on his head. He hears the younger girl gasp, but the older one remains silent, he dares not look back to see their reactions. The Ferocious look alike growls, his voice rough and tight with anger when he spoke, “You’re making a mistake. Get out of the way.” “Sorry, I don’t listen to bastards that chase after little girls. I put them down.” The look-alike huffs, “Then you’re a blind fool. And if you’ll stand in my way, then you’ll be reduced to ash as well!” “Not before I riddle you with holes!” Unloading a clip emptying barrage into the man Stryker was more than a bit taken aback as his bullets tore through the man’s body, but the wounds simply burst into flames and healed. “RUN!” He told the girls dropping his empty clips, the flaming man running at him. “Change loadout!” Dropping his guns Stryker focused on the weapons stashed away at the bar, imaging the Uzi in the closet in his hand. The gun materialized and he let loose a fully automatic barrage of lead into the man’s body. Once again, he healed rather quickly. “What’s going to take to bring you down!” Materializing a shotgun Stryker buckshot Fury right in the chest! The red equestrian went flying, skidding down the road before coming to a stop, unmoving. Stryker wipes the sweat from his brow keeping his distance. Then Fury’s body burst into flames! His body reduced to ash. Stryker lowers his shotgun. He turns towards the girls. “Well come on, let get you ladies out of here.” “Behind you!” Screams Sweetie Belle, a fully healed Fury coming from behind, brandishing two flame swords. Stryker grit his teeth backstepping as the tip of the flame sword brushes his neck. Scalding his flesh. He ignores the wound materializing two big bore .50 caliber pistols, he cocks back the hammers, deep blue magic surrounding his body as black crow wings sprout from his back. The hand cannons glow blue as he pulls the triggers, a cannonball blast of magic shooting out of the barrels, knocking Fury away! “Dammit!” Fury growls flipping through the air and landing hard on his feet. He holds up two flaming spheres. “Crossfire!” Smashing the two spheres Fury launches a blazing wall of fire at the detective. Stryker holds up his hand cannons, magic building around him. “No more playing around,” Stryker bites out, angry and frustrated. “Full Throttle Burst!” Two sets of extra arms, six total, appear on the ashen detective, each one holding a different gun all pointing at Fury! All six triggers are pulled and a barrage of lead infused magic is unleashed! Fury dashes to the side, gaining wings of his own. “Useful idiot! Know who your real enemies are!” He let’s loose a stream of fire, making the gunslinger dodge, but the barrage never stopped. New magazines of ammo appeared in the guns when the old ones were spent. This guy defiantly has skill, Fury thought bitterly as he eyes Rarity down below. The girl smirking as she held her sister’s hand. She knew how to get men to fight over her that’s for sure. Much like the Rarity back home. He had to deal with her impromptu white knight, hopefully without killing him, if possible. But he wasn’t about to put some random human’s life over his own. Though he was in a bit of a tough spot. He was way overtaxing his healing. Using Supernova wasn’t an option, one because he didn’t want to kill the guy and two, he was still recovering from last night’s battle. Healing those bullet wounds hadn’t been easy either, he was kind of playing tough right now. (Fire sword and crossfire aren’t enough, but Supernova isn’t an option either, I guess I’ll have to think of something clever.) “RAGH!” Swooping down Fury nimbly dodges the bullets taking only minor hits as he speeds towards Stryker. Summoning a fire sword, he poses to strike aiming his blade straight ahead like a lance. He sees his opponent panic as one of his weapons runs empty, no new clip appearing to reload it. He’s exhausted most of his ammo. One gun falls to the ground, then another, and another, leaving only three, then two, and finally one. “Shit!” Stryker growls releasing his extra arms. He flies towards Fury; his arm stretches out holding a sphere of blue. “FORGET!” He barks loudly, Fury staggers, stopping his charge. It was desperate and it would only last a few seconds without proper contact, but he could use his memory magic to stun from a distance. Taking those few precious seconds Stryker tackles Fury to the ground, blood and feathers fly as they exchange blows. He clocks the red man in the jaw, and takes a solid hit in the ribs, his body forgetting how to breathe for a moment as his ribs presses against his lung. “Fucker!” Winding back, he hits Fury in the face again, his hand catching flames as the red man breaths fire! With his other hand, Stryker grabs Fury by the neck. “FORGET!” “I don’t think so!” Before Stryker’s magic could take effect, Fury kicks his legs off the ground, rolling on his shoulder he flips Stryker over and pins the ashen man to the ground, a hard elbow pounding against the detective’s throat. The detective lets out a stuttering gasp his head rolling to the side. Fury checks his pulse, finding it still beating. Standing up Fury looks around, finding no sign of the Rarity or the other girl. He tries and feels for the darkness he had sensed earlier and found nothing. “Fuck.” He looks to his downed opponent, picks him up over his shoulder. “Well, nowhere else to go. Better get to Mac’s.” He takes a step, nearly falling over has his knees give out. Slowly he limps over to a tree and sets Stryker against the trunk, before settling down himself. “After a short rest.” He sighs falling asleep. “Here it is!” Sunset cries victoriously holding up a black book with six red slash marks on the cover, the mark of Sixes. The bacon hair girl kneels in a pile of dirty clothes beside her bed. Adagio, Applejack, and Twilight standing the middle of the disaster area that was Sunset’s shack. Adagio looks at her phone checking the time. “Well, that only took twenty minutes. Seriously, do you ever clean in here?” The mother to be chide in disgust. There was being messy and then there was being a slob. Sunset was a slob when not in public it seems. Getting to the real point of the issue as to why they were in Sunset’s shack in the first place looking for Sunset’s second magic book, is because the first one was nothing but a pile of ash. They had gone through the trouble of going back to the school, Sunset realizing the book was in her locker, not backpack, sneaking past the police guarding the school, reaching Sunset’s locker to find the book had been reduced to ashes. Which makes sense. In a weird magical way. Both books were bound that if one was written in, the other would receive it. So, if one book was to say be… set on fire, so would the other. At least that was the standing theory according to Sunset and Twilight. Sunset was taking the loss of the book rather well. Once they got her to stop screaming in horror that is. So, after getting kicked out of the school by the police and having Sunset mope for about ten minutes she suddenly remembered that Sixes gave her a magic book as well. Thus, leading to now. “When grandpa Sixes gave me this book, Twilight and I, I mean Princess Twilight and her student Starlight made a few modifications to it. One like this.” Sunset wrote ‘view’ in giant letters on a blank page and step back. The book began to float, a gold aura shrouding the book as the pages rapidly flipped back and forth. A beam of magic shot out of the book, creating a visual image of Sixes… in his rinin form. Adagio smirks as Applejack and Twilight let out a terrified scream, backing away from the image. She couldn’t blame them. Sixes did look scary. “What the hell is that!” Twilight screams, her voice cracking, well Applejack slowly breaths trying calming herself. Sunset blinks vacantly, looking between Twilight and the image of Sixes. “That’s my grandpa, you met him remember?” “But… but… but… he looks like a monster now!” “Well, sorry for being a dragon pony.” The image of Sixes snorts. “You know we can’t choose how we look, right? So, what do you need Sunny? I’m a bit busy in the zebra lands right now.” Sixes turns his head, speaking softly. “Right, Shadow Spector says Hi.” “What are you doing in the Zebra lands?” Sunset asks, clearly forgetting they had a mission, but again Adagio couldn’t blame her. The bacon girl was probably relieved that there was still away to contact home. “Shadow Spector wanted to see if any of his descendants survived. Now he’s being worshiped as a god reborn and is getting a ridiculous amount of zebra tail. Honestly, I’ve been trying to figure out a way to get him out of here without the tribe trying to kill us. They really don’t want us… GET OF ME!” There was an image of a zebra mare entering the projection, Sixes fending her off with his claw. “Yeah, they think I’m a god too because I came with Shadow. I haven’t had this many mares throwing themselves at me since I went to Nippon a thousand years ago. Anyway, what do you need?” Adagio steps forward, taking up the reins of the conversation. “We have problems. The portal is destroyed. There’s an increase in monster attacks with more powerful monsters than usual. We just took care of a pack of Cinder wolves and a small Gore and Sunset’s book to Princess Twilight was destroyed along with the portal. Making you our only lifeline to Equestria.” Sixes growls softly, processing the information. “Hmm… that’s not good. I’m sure the others are already scrambling to rebuild the portal, but without my book, they can’t immediately go to your world. It’s not going to be a short trip home either. It’s going to be a week at the very least.” “A week!” They all collectively scream. “Sorry, there’s nothing I can do. I’ll leave right away, maybe I can cut down the time taking trains and airships, but I wouldn’t get your hopes up. You’ll just have to wait it out.” Adagio sighs, “Hopefully we’ll have things wrapped by then, but please get here as soon as possible.” “You don’t need to tell me twice. HEY SHADOW! We’re leaving!” A shout of rhyming voices could be heard. “No! I don’t want a sacrifice!” The image cuts away, the book falling to the floor. The four share a collective sigh, there went their best chance of getting help anytime soon. “Well, that’s all we can do about that. Let’s go up to the house, Sunny, AJ if you’d bring the pickups around to the yard. I’m going to enjoy a walk. I’m a bit worried about Sonata and Aria.” Adagio looks at her phone history, she’s called over five times between Sonata’s cell and the house and hasn’t gotten any replies back. Where the phones out or something? Her cell signal was weaker than usual too, she didn’t even have a single bar, usually, she’d get at least two. “You’re with me, Princess.” “I’m not the princess!” Twilight venomously hiss, her tolerance for the mislabeling reaching a low point. A flick on the nose from Adagio had her pouting as the siren glares at her with a ferocity that Twilight had only ever seen from her mother. “Don’t talk to me like that, it was an honest mistake, remember your manners when talking to your elder’s young lady.” Adagio chides the lavender girl. Twilight bows her head. “Yes, ma’am.” She smiles, feeling a sense of satisfaction from the lavender girl’s apology. In the corner Adagio hears AJ and Sunset whispers, “She’s scarier now than before.” Now that really made her smirk. She was starting to think motherhood was a going to be a breeze. “Well come on, let’s get going.” She tells Twilight walking out of Sunset’s messy shack. Only to poke her head back in and deliver a sweltering glare at its owner. “Sunset, if this place is still a shit hole the next time I come here, I’m going to call your grandmother the moment the portal is fixed and have her come give you a proper spanking.” Sunset smiles nervously, “Right, I’ll get right on that once things settle down.” “Good to hear,” Was her reply. “Come on Sparky.” She said to Twilight. “Let’s go check on my sisters.” She and Twilight made their way to the house. The feeling something was off was in the air. She didn’t know what, but there was a change in the trees. The wind blew, apples falling onto the worn path in the shape of an arrow pointing away from the house. Her and Twilight stop to look at them. “I’m assuming this doesn’t happen often,” Twilight said sounding just a little freaked out. “Can’t say it does,” Said Adagio touching the apples. They were lined up perfectly. Three apples making the arrowhead and three making the shaft, almost like someone had put them there by hand. “There’s a little magic in them.” She says picking up one of the apples and sniffing it. She takes a bit, a small jolt of magic sparks through her body, making her pony ears appear. Closing her eyes Adagio focus magic into her pupils and then opens them again, her eyes glowing a soft green with second sight. “Oh shit.” Dark magic traveled along the ground like a low green mist. The green mist whirls around the apple trees trying to corrupt them. However, the trees were rich with the magic Nico had left in them. The trunks of the apple tree glowed a soft blue, pushing back against the dark magic, keeping it contained. Then she notices other colors mixed with Nico’s. Probably the magic from the apple family over the generations from toiling the land. What little magic they might have had was poured into the earth and absorbed by the trees. Interesting. Also, no wonder so many timber wolves showed up here. This entire farm was a freaking magical hot spot! “Fuck, why didn’t I notice before.” “Notice what?” Twilight asks. “Nothing,” Said Adagio, she’d let the lavender girl do some research here later, right now they had to get to the farmyard! Taking off a jog she waves for Twilight to follow as they quickly cover the remaining distance to the yard. When they got there, she held out her arm to keep Twilight from running ahead. The mist was thick here, much thicker than in the trees. She had a bad feeling about this. “Stay close to me.” “What is it? What’s going on?” Twilight asks frantically, not liking being out of the loop. “I don’t know, but this place is thick with dark magic. Be…” A snapping twig catches their attention. Both girls turn to see a white timber wolf standing behind them. It didn’t make any noise or show any signs of attacking them. It trots up to them like a dog would and stood between them and house, it’s back to them. “Nico?” When Maddie’s minions, Tundra and Whitetail attacked, Applejack had mentioned a black timber wolf helping her. It had turned out to be remits of Nico’s magic and had been destroyed. But she supposed it could have only been a piece of a greater whole. As Mac had claimed to see his father’s ghost from time to time. Yet the timber wolf didn’t react to her call. “Applejane?” She said with uncertainty. The white timber wolf turns its head at them. “Well, this is unexpected. Can you talk?” The wolf nods, it’s timber body contorting and reshaping its self into that of a Timber woman. “Hello, daughter in law or would you prefer the hussy that sleeps with my son?” “Wow, I think I dodged a bullet with you dying. And you’re just a jumbled bunch of memories and magic, so don’t go pretending your Mac’s real mom or anything!” Applejane’s scoffs, “Of course I know that. I was created by my husband using his memories of the real Applejane and her blood. Together I and the timber Nico were the guardians of this place. I’ll have to admit; my emotions got the better of me sometimes. But I thought when I pushed my ring off the dresser you and Mac would get married properly. Not elope.” “We went to the courthouse,” Adagio said defensively. “I’d prefer a church and priest.” “We’re doing that too… after your grandchild is born. Surprise by the way.” “Not really,” Applejane snorts. “I had a front row seat to my grandchild’s conception. That pond is pretty popular for that kind of stuff.” “Ok, that’s just Eww.” Said Twilight looking green. “You mean you watched them… well.” “Have sex? Yes, not that I have a choice. I see all the trees see and hear. You really like to scream don’t you daughter in law?” Adagio coughs, her cheeks flush. “Right, well as fun as it is finally meeting you, mother, I need to find my sisters, so if you would please move? That’d be great.” “I will not.” “I’m sorry, what?” She snaps showing claws and fangs. “Care to repeat that? Mother?” “I won’t let you put my grandchild in danger. Besides, it’s your fault for bring that sick girl here.” “Sick? You mean Aria?” Applejane nods. “She just had a cold!” “She had evil inside her. I tried to warn the blue dunce, but she wouldn’t listen. Now they're both infected with that strange magic and running around my trees. I’m trying to keep them from escaping, but they’re not making it easy. They already took the north orchard from my control. The trees can only absorb so much of this toxic magic… shit.” The timber jane said looking towards the driveway. “Why did they decide to come here now.” “Whose they?” “Luna and Celestia. They're coming down the driveway now, AJ and Sunset behind them.” The sound of a car horn, growls, and screaming comes over the trees. “Dammit. You two stay here. I’ll take care of this.” “Hey wait!” Adagio screams, but the timber woman fell into a pile of sticks. “Shit. Come on, let’s go Twilight.” “But she said stay here!” “To hell with what ghost mama said! This is my home! And Sonata and Aria are my sisters! I’m going to fucking save them!” Running as fast as they could down the driveway, the sounds of screams and battle echoing through the trees. Adagio and Twilight come across an intense scene. In the middle of the driveway was Luna and Celestia, the two principles scrambling around on the ground, while a monstrous Aria stood on the hood of the car. Aria was different from the last time she turned evil, she was taller, almost as if she’d aged. Fish scales adorn her limbs with thin transparent purple fins, the usual transparent wings were sticking out her back and a long serpentine like tail swooshed from the middle of her spine, just below her wings. A strange place for a tail, Adagio notes as she pulls Twilight to the side of the driveway behind the trees. Her eyes frantically looking for Sonata. “Is she naked?” Twilight whispers. Making Adagio facepalm. That’s what she’s noticed out of all this? On the other hand, it was a curious observation. Aria turns toward them, giving them a brief flash of her front. Her sister’s assets were differently bigger now too, also covered in scales, as was the lower reign, like some kind of armored skin. Aria continues to turn, fixing her gaze on Luna and Celestia. She steps towards Luna, her clawed toes scraping the hood of the car. A sudden scream from further down the driveway catches everyone’s attention as Sonata comes flying down the road. She bore a similar appearance to Aria, except her fins were blue and her tail was at the base of her spine. She let out a wicked hiss as Sunset and Applejack come running down the driveway. Both of them ponied up. AJ was looking mad while Sunset was panting hard holding her arm, which was bleeding. “GET AWAY FROM HER!” Applejane in her timber wolf form tackles Aria into the Luna’s car and then jumps on the roof before pouncing on Sonata. The blue siren screams grabbing Applejane and tossing her away. Applejack and Sunset charge in. “Let’s get in there,” Adagio said to Twilight. “Use your magic to toss Aria around but try not to hurt her too badly. I’ll get Luna and Celestia to safety.” “Got it!” Dashing from their cover Adagio ran straight for the sisters, grabbing them by the arm and pulling them to their feet. They seem to be in a daze. “Come on! Run!” She screams at them while Twilight uses her levitation to toss Aria deep into the trees. “I thought I told you to stay put!” Applejane barks angrily looking her way. Adagio shrugs, “I didn’t feel like listening.” Applejane lets out a growl, scoffing as she looks at the two monsters and obviously chooses to go after Sonata since she was attacking Applejack. “Did that thing sound like Applejane?” Luna asks as Adagio brings them to the edge of the trees. She didn’t really know if there was a safe place to bring them. “Yeah, it’s a long story. If you want to be helpful try to get a hold of Mac.” She suggests before rushing over to Sunset and Applejack. Applejack taking a moment to tend to Sunset as Applejane held off Sonata. Hopefully Twilight could hold her own for a bit. “Is it bad?” She asks Sunset kneeling beside the girl. She moves Sunset’s hand to the side, cringing when she saw the wound. Adagio had thought the bacon girl had just been slashed, but a chunk of her arm was missing! “Did she bite you?” Sunset nods weakly, coughing violently. Adagio felt a chill run up her spine when she saw what looks like oil around Sunset’s wound. She leans in, taking a whiff of it, quickly she covers her nose, gagging. The black stuff was Dark magic! “I’m… not… feeling… so good…” Sunset said weakly before puking up a bunch of blood and black vile into her hand. Adagio quickly steps back, pulling Applejack along with her. “What’s wrong with her?” Applejack demands trying to get closer to her friend, but Adagio jerks her back. “Stay away from her! She’s infected.” Adagio turns towards her mutated sisters. “Just like Sonata and Aria are.” “Someone help!” Screams Twilight. She and Applejack look towards the glasses girl, who had ponied up and was trying to fend off Aria with some magic blasts, but the pink siren was too swift, easily bypassing the nerdy girl’s attacks. “I need to borrow some magic!” Adagio quickly pecks AJ on the cheek, stealing a good hearty amount of magic, enough to get her wings. She zooms over to the Twilight’s aid pulling water from the air she blasts Aria with a water trident! Grabbing Twilight’s hand, she drags the nerdy girl back towards Applejack. From the forest, they could hear the howls and sonic screams of Applejane and Sonata in the distance. “Your mom is putting up quite the fight.” Applejack looks confused, “My Mom?” “The white timber wolf,” She clarifies. “She’s another one of Nico’s defenses. Like the black timber wolf.” A loud whimper comes from the orchard as the trees on the north side of the road begin to wilt. “Shit. She’s getting weaker.” “Ok, what’s going on?” Luna demands as she and Celestia approach the group. Everyone turning their eyes to Adagio for an explanation. Good thing she was used to being in charge, Adagio thought. “To put it simply? Somehow my sister got turn evil… again. Applejack’s mother is a spirit guardian or something and Sunset’s probably not far away from turning to whatever Aria and Sonata are. Have you managed to get in contact with Mac?” “No,” Luna says irritably holding up her phone, it was black. “Neither mine or Celestia’s cell phone is working.” At those words everyone promptly pulls out their own phone, all of them black. “Fucking dark magic.” Mumbles Adagio. Then she notices something. “Aria’s taking too long to recover from my attack… shit! Their tag teaming her!” Her realization came too late as sharp whimper comes from the orchard. “They got her,” Adagio states neutrally. Only for the hairs on the back of her neck to stand up. Turning around she sees a deep red aura rolling off of Sunset Shimmer. The girl’s breathing was labored, her hand dug into the ground with sharp black nails on her fingers, she sucks in a deep painful breath showing large canine teeth. Sunset suddenly went still, her yellow and red mixed hair falling around her face, when she looked up the whites of her eyes were black. “Get away from me, she’s coming.” She warns them in a deep voice. “Sunset!” Twilight screams, but Adagio roughly pulls her back. “We have to help her!” “Shut up,” Adagio says sharply. She looks to Applejack, Twilight, and then the sisters. Trying to come up with a plan. Her fists tighten as she bites her lip. “Twilight, take Luna and Celestia to the house and try the landline. Even if it doesn’t work stay there. We’ll join you as soon as we can.” “But I can help!” retorts Twilight, Adagio quickly turns slapping the lavender girl on the cheek. “I don’t care what you think you can do, do what I need you to do! Understand?” Holding her cheek Twilight weakly nods, tears swelling under her eyes. Gently Celestia took Twilight by the shoulder and began pulling the stunned girl away, Luna taking point. “Come on, it’s ok,” Celestia says, giving Adagio a sharp glare as the three ran down the driveway. Applejack stands beside her. “Was that really necessary, Adagio?” “That’s girl too stubborn sometimes and we don’t have time to argue. She has the least experience when it comes to actually fighting. And Luna and Celestia need protection.” “She held her own at Camp Everfree and during the Grau incident.” Applejack counters. “Define held her own.” “Well… ah… she… um…ok you have a point, but you didn’t have to slap her!” Adagio braces her back against Applejack’s, the sound of hissing coming from all around them. “I’ll apologize after we get through this. Now if we’re going to make it through this we’ll have to get rough, breaking bones rough.” “Are you sure you can do that? They're your sisters.” Applejack asks her. She closes her eyes, preparing herself. “It’s for their own good. Besides.” She says looking towards Sunset. “It might not be too long before two against two becomes two against three.” The bushes rumble. “Here they come!” Aria and Sonata come barreling out of the trees, both sporting slash wounds from Applejane, but both still very capable. Applejack held up her glowing fists and swung at Aria, her punch completely missing! “They’re too fast!” “No! You’re just slow! Use some magic in those thick legs of yours!” Adagio barks creating water daggers to shoot at Sonata. Her sisters were perhaps a little faster than usual. But they weren’t zipping around like Rainbow Dash. Applejack grits her teeth, her anger bubbling as she swings at the speedy pink siren. “Hold still you vermin!” Aria hiss swiping back. She cringes, Aria’s claws raking across her knuckles. Tearing off a piece of her shirt Applejack quickly wraps the wound while Aria skids to a stop. “You won’t take him from me! He’s mine!” The mutated Aria said raspily. The first intelligent thing she’s said this whole time. Not that Applejack understood what the hell she was talking about. “Who's he?” She demands, her emerald eyes falling Aria’s piercing gaze. It didn’t take much to realize Aria had her sights set on Adagio. “Oh no, you don’t Sister! That’s my brother’s baby mama! No way you’re getting through me!” Aria’s gaze flicks toward her, “Your too slow.” She states gunning towards Adagio. “I’ll show you slow!” Applejack roars, something was burning in her throat. A burning sensation rises from her stomach, she bites it back for a moment only to be overwhelmed as hot orange flames shoot from her mouth! The flame catches Aria by surprise and the pink siren backpedals. Applejack holding her throat. “The hell was that?” She coughs, noticing her nails were digging deeper into her neck than normal. Holding her hands up she gasps; her hands were claws and covered in orange scales! “Cool! I got dragon powers like Mac!” “Applejack be careful!” Adagio warns her. Noticing the black vein in her sister in laws right hand. Sonata charge forces her to abandon her chat. An imminence power overcomes her, Applejack grins as she flexes her claws, slowly stalking towards Aria. “Oh, I’ll be careful!” The siren doesn’t back down, hissing angrily as she slowly stalks towards her. “Come on then!” Orange draconic wings spout from Applejack’s back she takes flight, so does Aria, the two tackling each other in midair. Claw on claw action takes place as the two girls tear into the each other, falling to the ground and rolling around tearing at the other like angry alley cats. Applejack letting out a chorus of snarls and growls against Aria’s hisses. Adagio forces Sonata away, the sound of Applejack’s fight catching her attention. She glances back, growling as her sister in law sub comes to her draconic side. The apple girl going into a feral frenzy. The trail of black veins traveling down Applejack’s scaly arm wasn’t reassuring either. The girl was infected by whatever evil this was and there was no telling where her loyalties would be once she’s overtaken. “Dammit!” She screams scratching Sonata across the chest, warm blood staining her clawed hand. Adagio’s heart was racing a mile minute, she could feel her protective instincts rising, forcing adrenaline into her system. Her body was starting to register her sisters as threats. It wouldn’t be long before she’d go berserk too and then things would really get bloody. Crouching on the ground Sonata mews holding her hand over the wound, blood seeping between her fingers. She shoots Adagio a pained and fearful look, the elder siren upping her magical aura, snarling and snapping her fanged jaw in a show of dominance. Sonata yowls back trying to show her own dominance when a fireball of all things slams into her! Shocked Adagio turns to see Sunset Shimmer standing again, her hair wild, her outstretched arm red, and smoking. Red and gold hair parts, revealing teal eyes against black. She snarls barreling past Aria and Applejack tackling Sonata. Sunset let outs a horrible banshee scream as she grabs Sonata by the neck! “You leave her alone!” Adagio roars sinking her claws into Sunset’s back and tossing her into a tree. “Sonata!” Sonata’s back was bleeding, the mutated Siren meekly hissing as she hobbles away, towards the yard no less. Adagio grits her teeth, not wanting Sonata to reach Twilight and the Principles, but before she could even take one step a wall of fire blocks her path. “Going somewhere?” The Demonized Sunset cackles. Part of her body still retained its normal yellowish color, but it was clear demon Sunset was in control now. Adagio glances down the driveway Sonata already gone from view. Growling she flexes her claws at the demon girl. “I thought so,” Demon Sunset laughs juggling a fireball in her hand. “Let’s have some fun!” Adagio snarls in reply her eyes dilating into slits as her instincts take over now that everyone around her is a confirmed enemy. Luna ran slightly ahead of her sister and Twilight. She was glad she stuck to that jogging route now as both Celestia and Twilight pant up a storm behind her. “Luna, please, slow down!” Celestia gasps, panting hard. “This is why I told you not to eat so much god damn cake!” Luna retorts. Yes, her sister was athletic, but cake for breakfast wasn’t the breakfast of champions. Of course, the real drag on their group was Human Twilight. The poor girl was not athletic, at all. Her face was red, her breathing was erratic and labored, she was sweating up a storm. Luna was pretty sure if Celestia wasn’t holding her hand and dragging her the lavender girl would fall to the ground! “Come on, just a little further!” “How long is this driveway! It didn’t seem this long before!” Twilight gasps, her legs giving out. She falls to her knees, Celestia nearly falling backward from the drag force. Celestia frantically pulls at Twilight’s limp arm, “Come on Twilight. Get up! This is no time to be on your knees!” “I’m sorry. I’ve spent all my life in a desk and skipping gym. Just leave me here.” Luna hooks her arm under Twilight’s, hoisting the girl up, while Celestia does the same on the other side. “As if we’d leave one of our students behind.” Luna scoffs as she and Celestia drag Twilight along. At least the girl was light. The house was nearly in sight now. Just a little further! A loud, “HSSS!” catches their attention. All three women turn around to see the mutated Sonata barreling towards them! “Twilight! We could really use some magic now!” Luna says in a panic. She’ll admit it, Feri was right, she should keep a gun in her car. Not that matters now. Twilight raises her hand, a soft pinkish aura surrounding it, but it fades as her hand drops to her side. “Sorry, too tired from running, but I guess my theory that magic and physical stamina are linked together is proven true now.” “Great, write your thesis after we cross over to the side.” “Actually, there is no scientific proof of the afterlife existing.” Twilight weakly comments. Luna growls as she and Celestia sprint faster, “Yeah, I would have agreed with you ten minutes ago, before I met the ghost of my dead friend.” “Actually, the White Timberwolf seems more like a magical anti-virus software programmed into the trees here rather than a ghost.” “How can you babbler about nonsense, but not run? If we survive this you're taking extra gym till you graduate!” Luna screams pulling Twilight up high to keep the girl from dragging. Suddenly the world began to spin and she felt the rough coarse texture of gravel rip across her legs (Poor day to be wearing Short shorts) as they all skid across the ground. Twilight being in a skirt got the worse of it on her legs, while Celestia was holding her ankle. Luna looks back, spotting Celestia’s shoe. “A fucking pothole!” “Luna save yourself!” Cries Celestia. She tries to stand, but the pain in her ankle causing her to fall to the ground again. “The hell I will!” Luna roars rising up with her firsts raised. A moment of fear passes through her as the charging siren approaches, she was much closer then Luna thought she was going to be. Sonata pounced brandishing her claws. Luna flinches bracing for the pain, but… it doesn’t come. “Huh?” Lowering her arms Luna is surprised to see the white timber wolf wrestling with Sonata! “Yeah! Get her AJ!” Applejane growls clamping down on Sonata’s arm with her jaws, her stone claws skid in the dirt, she was missing a leg, her tail was gone and part of her torso was broken open, revealing a floating white orb. Morphing into her human form Applejane straddles Sonata’s waist punching the mutated siren with stone knuckles. “STAY! (SMACK!) DOWN! (CRACK!) YOU BLUE DUNCE! WHY DIDN’T YOU JUST LISTEN TO ME! (SMACK!)” Timber Jane gave one more powerful right blow, her arm shattering to splinters, but Sonata’s head rolls to the side her eyes rolling into the back of her head, knocked out. Timber Jane falls on her ass sighing in relief. “Dammit, I wish Nico would have used a younger version of me.” She tries to get up, but one of her legs snap and she falls over. “Fuck.” Luna walks over and sets the wooden version of her old friend upright and drags her to a nearby tree. Stepping back, she waits. “Well?” “Well, what?” Timber Jane snaps back, spitting up sap. “Aren’t you going to heal yourself? Are you made of sticks? So, tree, magic?” Luna says uncertainly, now realizing how stupid she was being. Applejane’s glare was a good indicator she had this all wrong. “That’s not how this works! That’s not how any of this works! If I could heal myself by humping the nearest tree don’t you think I would have done that on the way here? God, did no one find Nico’s manual?” Luna, Celestia, and Twilight look beside themselves. “Dammit. If I had hands I would be rubbing my temple now. Look, simple terms, I need more than half the trees to rebuild myself. Right now, more than half of the trees are corrupted by dark magic so I can’t use them. Simply put I can’t rebuild myself.” Luna held up her hands in defeat. “Ok, ok, I get. Jeez, why are you so angry? You’re not acting anything like Applejane.” “For the last time, I was made by Nico with his memories of Applejane and he just so happen to be really mad when he made me, so that kind of factor in. I have her shape and just a hint of her mannerisms from her blood, but other than that, I’m more Nico pissed of personality wise. Not that any of this matter. I can’t do my job like this.” She glares between Luna and Celestia. “So, you two are going to do it for me.” “I’m sorry what?” Celestia says still rubbing her ankle. “I said you're going to go save my daughter and future grandchild from the other monsters down the road.” “Fat chance of that, we don’t have magic and Twilight out of commission. What can we do?” Luna counters, but Timber Jane doesn’t relent, as she thrusts her broken chest at them. “Eat my magic core. It should give you enough of a jolt to awaken whatever magic is dormant inside you. I’d suggest you hurry, Blue here is waking up.” “But if they do that then won’t you disappear!” Twilight cries in protest. Applejane grunts, Sonata is beginning to stir. “My kids are more important. Now hurry!” Luna reaches into the wooden shell of Applejane and pulls the white orb free. The timber woman’s body crumbles into a pile of sticks and rocks. The white orb pulsing in her hand. Luna kneels down beside Celestia pulling the orb into two smaller orbs. “Well,” Luna smiles uncertainly. “We did say we wanted to protect our students.” “Yeah,” Celestia replies taking her piece of the orb. “Now we finally can.” The two sisters put the orbs to their mouths swallowing them down in one gulp. A tingling feeling, like gentle electric shocks, travels down their throats as the orbs fall into their stomachs. At first, nothing happens. “I don’t feel and there it is!” Luna cringes as a butterfly feeling erupts in her gut. A teal aura, the same color as her eyes surrounds her, the same happens to Celestia, save for the aura being pink as they both rise off the ground. The magic rises from within and then with a great burst, ears, wings, and ponytails appear on their bodies! The two sisters float in the air in bliss as the rush of magic passes through their bodies! “Yes! We have magic!” Luna cries with glee. “Yeah!” Celestia cheers, only to cross her arms looking stumbled. “How do we use it?” “That’s… a good question.” Luna replies as Sonata awakens. “Um… imagine a Kamehameha?” Celestia blinks. “Are you, serious right now?” “Well, that’s how the school tool shed blew up according to Applejack!” “WHAT!” Luna clasps her hands together trying to imagine a glowing ball of energy between her palms and… she’s got nothing! “Shit!” Flapping her wings, she flies up, Sonata surging after her swiping with her claws. One catches her shoe and she proceeds to kick the mutated siren in the face! “Celestia! A little help please!” “Alright, hold on! Let’s try this,” Celestia extends her hand in the shape of a gun, a small white sphere forming on her index finger. She brings her thumb down, firing the sphere and it hits home on Sonata’s back! “Yes! Score for me!” “How come you get to shoot energy blasts right off the bat?” Luna whines trying again. This time a black orb forms around her hand and with much glee she fires magic blast at the stunned Sonata. “Now that’s what I’m talking about!” She cheers touching the ground. Quickly she looks between Sonata and Twilight, making a fast decision. “Take Twilight to the house, I’ll try and bind Sonata with something and then go help Adagio. How’s your ankle?” Celestia touched down, her face contorting in pain, she quickly put all her weight on the other foot, keeping the injured one aloft. “At best sprained, at worse, broken, but I can manage.” She said scooping Twilight off the ground. The girl was really weak, and her cheeks flush, Celestia places her hand over Twilight’s forehead. “She’s got a fever.” “All the more reason to get her to the house.” Luna asserts looking determinedly down the driveway a sphere of magic in her hand. “Maybe you should stay with her.” “You can’t be serious! You can’t do this on your own!” Luna smiles as she pulls the sphere into a magic rope and tied up Sonata. “I won’t be alone, I’m just going to go help Adagio and Applejack. I’m sure between the three of us we can handle things.” Celestia looks uncertain but nods flying towards the house. Luna takes a breath dragging Sonata along as she flies back towards the flight. She hopes she made the right choice. Covering ground quickly she came upon a battle royal. All four magical girls were fighting with each other! Adagio slashes at Sunset and then at Applejack, who then slashed back before slashing at Aria who was then attacked by Sunset and then Sunset would attack Adagio again. What on earth was happening? Luna spots a black mark on Applejack’s arm, explaining why she was going insane, Sunset was half normal and half she-demon like a female jackal and hade or maybe two faces was more accurate? Adagio was red eye and snarling. Unlike the others, she would not allow herself to wrestle on the ground. Her strategy seems to be more about keeping the others away from her then trying to kill them. Still, all of them were going berserk on each other. “Hey, Adagio! What’s going on?” Luna shouts shooting a magic blast to keep the others a bay as she flies down to meet the siren. Adagio was panting bad, she had a few cuts here and there, but overall, she seems fine, if not a little tired. The yellow siren’s pupils widen, turning from slits back to regular pupils. She lets out a deep sigh and then drops to her knees, her ears and wings disappearing as steam rolls of her skin. “Oh, thank god, I couldn’t keep that up. You good to tag in?” Adagio says, her eyes widening as she looks at Luna’s ears and wings. “I thought you were someone else.” “Applejane gave us her magic core and we transformed is the abridged version,” Luna said holding up a sphere of magic, so far, the other girls seem content to fight amongst themselves. “Who did you think I was?” “I was hoping you were Mac!” “My voice isn’t that deep,” Luna mutters sourly. “So, what should we do, Adagio?” The siren’s hand hovers over her stomach. Behind them, Sonata was stirring pulling at her bonds. The blue siren’s struggles caught Aria’s attention and she came charging for her sister. Grabbing Adagio by the arms Luna carries her away, Aria breaking Sonata’s bonds. The two mutated Sirens rise up facing Applejack and Sunset. “What are we going to do!” Luna cries in a panic. “They're going to kill each other!” Adagio’s eyes water. “I know.” She says. “I know, but I don’t know what to do. Applebloom’s not here so we can’t use her magic. Applejack and Sunset are under whatever this is control. So even if we could gather the others they can’t shoot a rainbow. I don’t have any idea what this is or how to fix it!” “What about you and me? Can we do that rainbow blast thingy?” Luna pleads holding out her hand. Adagio took it, taking a bit of Luna’s magic to transform again. “Well, it’s worth a try.” Luna smiles. “Of course, it is.” Together they fly up, their magic flaring and catching the fours attention. Thrusting their interlocked hands forward they fire teal and yellow beams of magic at the four girls. Like in the past the girls get hit, not even dodging. For a moment the girls wither in pain, black mist rising off their bodies. Even if the four weren’t on the same side their magic combined creating a thick cloud of black magic that began to eat its way up Luna and Adagio’s attack. “Just the two of us isn’t enough!” Adagio growls out trying to push against the encroaching darkness. “If we get hit by that we’ll probably be infected too!” “I kind of figured that!” Luna retorts, feeling the strain on her body. “I don’t think I can hold it!” “Me neither!” “Then let us help!” Came a voice, suddenly Celestia and Twilight appear joining their magic with Luna and Adagio’s. The blackness stopped. The four rejoiced for a moment, only for the darkness to start overwhelming them again! “What the fuck!” Rages Adagio, looking at the others. She sees Twilight panting and breathing hard, clearly, she has a fever. “Dammit, why’d you bring her back in that condition! “She insisted!” Bites Celestia pushing harder. Black sparks began to arc from the beam blast, one striking her wounded ankle. She bit back a scream, but her magic flatters, the darkness gaining, now it nearly touched their hands! Adagio began to feel her own magic falter, and Luna’s beside her. The darkness kept coming, now nearly touching their fingers. She glances worriedly at the three and then at her belly. For a moment the thought of abandoning the struggle and making a getaway crosses her mind and it stays. Luna catches this, “Adagio, please, we can do this!” The yellow siren closes her eyes, tears rolling down her cheeks, “I’m sorry.” She beings to pulls her hands away, getting ready to flee. “Adagio, please!” Luna pleads. Their attack falters and for a moment they all only saw a black wave coming at them and then suddenly they were all somewhere else, something holding them at the helm of their shirts. Luna looks down, gasping, along with Twilight, Adagio, and Celestia. “Stryker?” “Sorry, we’re late.” The ashen man says dropping them to the ground. Since when did Striker have wings or six arms? Also, who is this we? Luna wonders as the temperature suddenly spikes? They all turn as Fierce Fury lands in the middle of the four girls, a giant red sphere engulfing them all. Fury shouts “SUPERNOVA!” and then in a flash, everyone inside the sphere is reduced to ashes. They stare in stunned silence. Adagio gets up slowly approaching the piles of ashes, falls to her knees and begins to cry. “Aria, Sonata, Applejack, Sunny!” She croaks running her fingers through the ashes as Fury begins to regenerate. The siren looks at him, utterly devastated. “Why?” “It was all I could think of given the situation. I didn’t think it would work.” Fury said. “Work, work! Damn, right it worked! You killed my sisters you bastard!” Adagio screams running up to the night patroller, pounding her fists against his chest. After a few hits, Fury grabs her arms and forces her to turn around. Pointing at the piles of ashes. “Look closer,” he says as a breeze travels through the trees, blowing away some of the ash. Adagio clasps her hands over her mouth crying for joy as the naked forms of all four girls if revealed. All of them back to normal and breathing. Then her phone rings.