It wasn't until sundown that John and Liz were allowed to leave the nurse’s office to head to their momentary home. Their place was Sweet Apple Acres, where professor Applejack lived in, alongside her older brother, little sister, grandma, and, recently, grandpa. Neither was willing to ask about him, since they didn't want to come off as rude, and were quite tired. Instead, they followed the Southern pony, all to where they were going to be sleeping in for a while. From what the locals spoke, they were quite lucky.
“Any of y'all know ‘bout farmin’?” Applejack asked.
“Kinda,” John answered truthfully. “My uncle had one… though, I think what he grew was illegal.”
“Nope. Only went to a country fair and it smelled like fertilizer if you know what I mean.” Liz said, looking at the many trees around them. “And those apple picking farms where the ground around it was just rotten apples left behind.”
“Hope they weren't sellin’ bad apples.” Applejack replied. “But I've got plenty of chores you both can do, and it's not just apple buckin’.”
“Oh? Like what?” John asked.
“Feed the animals, clean the house, walk Winona around, help Applebloom with her homework, that type of stuff.”
“Oh, I don’t mind some of those,” Liz said, not rejecting the tasks. “Does that also count for community service?” She just had to ask.
“Of course it does. We appreciate helping… hands around here, especially from folks who are willing to put in the hard work.”
“Well, when the opportunity shows, might as well get free labor from people with special tools,” Liz said, knowing that’s what any company would do.
“Now, now, we're a local farm ‘round these parts, and we're as fair as fair can get. Besides, we're down to earth and traditional, so keep the suit usage at a minimum. And no ants.”
“Dang it!” John yelled.
“Really? Even though it could make work easy?” Liz said, raising a brow as it was obvious that they run the farm in a backward kind of way.
“It's how our parents would want it.” Applejack replied, but quickly went silent, as if she said a swear word.
“More like what your grandmother would want it,” Liz said. “Bet she’s the kind of grandmother that thinks the right way is her way. Heh, just like mine.”
“Hey, we should try to respect her wishes,” John replied, sounding a bit pained by it. “We already got a place to sleep, let's not make them angry.”
“I’m not trying to insult her. I’m just saying trying a new way might be beneficial. I mean, I don’t think her parents would want to lose the farm either, right?” Liz said, seeming to not see what the big picture was.
“We've already had threats from folks wantin’ to take out home away,” Applejack spoke. “But we ain't gonna let some folks push us away from our place. ‘sides, we’re responsible for the supply of both fresh cider and Zap Apple Jam.”
‘But there’s always room for improvement.’ Liz thought, rolling her eyes as she figured these old fashioned farmers won’t change until it was too late.
“Hope y'all can stay and try out our famous Cider and Zap Apple Jam.”
“Just make it non-alcoholic,” Liz said.
“Please, you gotta let loose sometimes.” John nudged her. “One couldn't hurt.”
“I never had alcohol before. And I don’t intend on drinking now.” She declined the offer.
“Well you have someone who does every now and then, and will be sure to keep you alive if you do get buzzed or drunk.”
“You really want me to drink for the first time?” Liz raised a brow, not seeing how it could end in a good way.
“Not binge drink, of course. Just one will be fine.”
“Ugh, fine. But if I don’t like it, I won’t take another sip.” Liz declared, making it clear that she wanted to not like it.
“Well, it won't be for a while now,” Applejack spoke. “But I'll be sure to save you both a drink when Cider season begins.”
‘Then why bother mentioning it?’ Liz thought, having to work up the courage to even agree to that.
The group made their way to the farmhouse. It looked like any other barn, with an old but still functional wooden house that's seen better days, a red barnyard that could house other animals, and various animals around, from chickens to pigs to sheep. Walking around the farm, wearing a yoke, was a large, red stallion with a blonde mane, and the little filly that John met, Applebloom. Rocking in her chair, snoring loudly, was an elderly mare with a green coat and had a grey mane kept in a bun. The barking of a dog was heard, as Liz was tackled by a brown and white Border Collie, which licked her face.
It wasn’t a surprise that the bold and very friendly canine cracked a smile on Liz’s face, the girl able to push the dog away and also wipe the saliva that was still on her. “I’m guessing this is Winona.” She said, but more in a questionable tone as she pets the furry animal, noticing how soft the coat was, it being a little off coming from a pet owned by farmers… not saying she would be filthy or anything. Just not as pampered.
“Yep. She's mah dog.” Applejack answered.
“Aww! Cute doggy!” John added.
“She’s so soft and fluffy,” Liz said, quick to wrap her arms around Winona and bring her close, nearly burying her head in the dog’s fur.
“Easy now,” Applejack spoke “Don't want her too excited. You both need your sleep.”
Liz let out an exasperated sigh, but relented and let the dog go, she running off to another part of the farm. ‘I want her. I want Winona.’ She thought, thinking of just claiming the dog on her own and running off, but figuring that she couldn’t handle an apple farmer if she was technically ‘defeated’ by Tempest… but she’ll never admit that out loud.
“Yeah, I'm getting tired,” John replied with a yawn and a stretch. “Who knew putting on dresses was so tiring.”
“You wouldn't believe it.” Applejack admitted with a shiver.
“Seriously you two? A dress is fine, it’s the heels that make it hell.” Liz said, knowing from experience that she could care less about the dress. “Honestly, I think it would be cool wearing a long dress with boots, the dress hiding the shoes. At least, that what I wanted to do for prom.”
“Incase y'all don't know it… we don't usually wear clothes.”
“... They are nudists!” John yelled.
“What's a nudist?”
“They aren’t nude, they got fur. I mean, you never say that a dog or a cat is a nudist.” Liz said, hitting John’s chest as a way to tell him to knock it off.
“But they are naked.” Applejack replied. “You both embarrassed about your bodies?” Before Liz could lose her mind, John stepped forward.
“We'll answer your questions tomorrow. Can we see where we will be sleeping?”
“Oh, right… Big Mac!? Are the beds ready!?”
“Eeyup!” The red stallion answered.
“Alright, follow me.”
The room was kinda small, but plenty of legroom for the two. Two beds were set apart from each other, with freshly washed blankets, sheets, and pillows. A window was on the opposite wall of the doorway, where they could see the town and Twilight's castle, with the school behind it. It wasn't much, but it was likely the best the farming family could muster.
“Well, it’s much better than living in an anthill,” Liz admitted, it felt as if she was just sleeping on the ground, with the rocks hurting her back. She didn’t bother asking which one John wanted as she took the one closest to the window, laying on the comfy bed and almost falling asleep.
“And better than prison,” John added, flipping onto his bed and hugging his pillow. “So soft~...”
Liz couldn’t help but let out a small yawn, it being clear that she was starting to get sleepy.
“Heh, see y'all in the morning.” Applejack spoke, turning off the lights and closing the door. It only took both a few minutes to fall asleep.
~-~-~
Both woke up to see that they're in their regular clothes, and were in Canterlot… but it didn't exactly feel the same.
“Canterlot?” Liz was the first to speak up. “Weren’t we at that apple pony’s place?” She asked what was in both of their minds.
“Yeah,” John replied. “And how are we in our regular clothes?... Did Applejack and her family take our suits off!?”
“Don’t know.” Liz only said, being the first to get up onto her feet, being barefooted as well. “Something is definitely wrong, so we should keep our guards up.” She added, noticing that not a single pony was spotted since they woke up.
“I apologize for the inconvenience,” A wise and experienced sounding voice of a mare echoed around them. “please, take a seat.” A pair of chairs appeared right in front of the two seemingly out of thin air.
‘I swear if these chairs suddenly try and strap me down… I don’t even know what I could do after that.’ Liz told herself, choosing to just go with it as she took a seat with crossed arms and legs.
“Please, I have no intentions in harming you, Liz.”
‘Is this the Matrix?’ John thought as he took his seat.
“No, this is not the matrix.”
“Uh… o-ok! This is getting weird! Are you a mind reader!?”
“No. This is a dream.” A blue vortex appeared, and out came a dark blue Alicorn that looked like a slightly smaller version of Celestia. She wore black regalia, instead of gold like Celestia's, and had a mane that, while also blew with no wind around, had the night sky in it, decorated with stars. The pony took a seat in front of them. “Greetings. I am the princess of the night.”
“Really? I could have never guessed that.” Liz said with sarcasm, a brow raised.
“I was expecting something… showy.” John commented.
“Probably not as showy as Celestia.” Liz guessed.
“WHAT!?” The princess of the night looked offended. “You want a show!? Thouest will get a show!”
‘Not like we asked for one...’ Liz thought, rolling her eyes a bit. Everything suddenly turned pitch black, with only a spotlight on the Alicorn herself. Her horn glowed, bringing in some smaller, younger versions of herself. They heard the music from the famous “Hallelujah” chorus as the Alicorn cleared her throat, with lights going off as she sang.
Hi I’m Luna
Hi I’m Luna
Hi I’m Luna. Hi I’m Luna
Hi I am Luna (Yo!)
Hi I’m Luna
Hi I’m Luna
Hi I’m Luna. Hi I’m Luna
Hi I am Luna
Hi I am Lina. Hi I am Luna.
Hi I’m Luna (Hi!)
Hi I’m Luna (Hey!)
Hi I’m Luna (Yo!)
Hi I’m Luna (Yo!)
Hi I am Luna. Hi I am Luna. (Alright!)
Hi I’m Luna. Hi I’m Luna. Hi I’m Luna
Hi I’m Luna. Hi I’m Luna. Hi I’m Luna
Hi I’m Luna. Hi I’m Luna. Hi I’m Luna
Hi I’m Luna. Hi I’m Luna. Hi I’m Luna
Hi I am Luna. Hi I am Luna.
Hi I’m Luna
I am Luna
Hi I’m Luna
Hi I’m Luna.
Hi I’m Lina.
Hi I am Luna. Hi I am Luna.
I am Luna
Hi I’m Luna!!!
“In your face, Celestia!”
Everything went back to normal, with light returning everywhere. The human couple had a blank stare, unsure how to react to that. Luna blushed.
“S-sorry, it’s been a while since I performed like that.” She apologized.
“I’m guessing your name is Luna then,” Liz spoke up, figuring that she might as well be the one to respond.
“... Yes… it is.” She replied with a sour look.
“So is there a reason why me and John are in the same dream, or why you’re invading it?” Liz decided to get to the point.
“I'm here to warn you both that great threats will be arriving in your future, much sooner than expected. You will need to work together to survive.”
“Yeah, we figured that already,” John answered. “And why didn't you arrive to help us when we came here?”
“You were small, and small creatures have small dreams that I can't detect. But there will be forces that will push both of you to your limits, physically, mentally, and spiritually.”
‘Kind of figured that out as well.’ Liz thought.
“You're in the dream realm, I can hear what you think in here. And don't take this warning lightly.”
“Well it’s not like I think this place is cupcakes and rainbows after we fought a dragon, and after that, we were taken to court,” Liz said, making it clear that this world won’t be as great as the cute little ponies make it look.
“Oh no, facing a Dragon such as Torch will be the least of your worries. As we speak, Katrina, the rogue sorceress, is hunting you down.”
“Katrina… Katrina…” Liz had to think for a moment before she realized who she was talking about. “Oh, the same Katrina that made Torch attack the city… or try to?”
“Yes. Because of you both stopping her, she's hunting you both, ready to attack.”
“Uh, who is Katrina?” John asked. “I'm just imagining her to be an evil cousin of Sabrina, the Teenage Witch.”
“She's far worse than a witch.” Her horn glowed, and the world changed around them, showing a different Canterlot back then. Sitting on the throne was a large Stallion what, while had a dark pink mane, looked really strong, had a scruffy beard, and wore an eye patch over his right eye. Standing next to him was a mare that looked a bit like Luna, but just had a blue mane. Everything played out as Luna spoke
“Before I was born, and when Celestia was just a foal, Equestria wasn't as open as we are today. Our father was untrusting to any of the other races, only ponies, and when news came of a sentient cat that could use magic, as you can assure, our father was paranoid. She arrived at the throne room on her own, wishing to only to work with Equestria and it's beautiful land to escape the harshness of hers. Many days had passed, with her arriving at the king, showing off impressive feats that even impressed Starswirl, but each time, our father declined. Eventually, her wish to serve with a higher power in turn for a better life dwindled, and one of the lusts for power grew inside.
“Her attacks were calculated and ferocious, and though she lost the vast majority, my parent's guards barely made it through. But one day, but didn't take account of my sister. Celestia, during these attacks, was trained by Starswirl, as she was powerful enough to move the sun on her own. Using the power of the sun, Celestia won, but at a great price. With his last breath, father apologized, and to show mercy, Celestia banished Katrina to the badlands for all of eternity.”
“So… a super old cat woman is hunting us down with powerful magic?” John asked.
“And she only turned evil cause your dad was a racist?” Liz added, kind of seeing how a more friendlier world would show her that power isn’t everything and that friendship is what she really needs… yeah right! Like that’ll ever happen!
“Our father was foolish,” Luna replied. “I knew he cared for his people, but not accepting those who wish to join our kingdom? We know it's best to keep our subjects safe, but be open for any others, to show we're open for them as well. If the rumors are true, she's capturing and holding the mightiest warriors to aid in her return to take over my kingdom, and you two are now on her list.”
“Well, we don’t have to worry too much about that. I mean, the only ones who know where we are you, your sister, Cadence, Shining Armor, Tempest, Twilight and her friends. I don’t think anyone is dumb enough to share stuff about creatures as… unique, as us.” She said, figuring that was one way to describe the two.
“It's true we don't tell everyone where you're at, but she has spies working for her, most of them are unaware that they're working for her. She's seen what everyone else sees and has learned everything that anyone has learned. The only question you need to worry is who's unintentionally working for her, and when she's going to strike.”
‘Yep. She sounds like someone that your dad should be on the opposing team.’ Liz thought with a roll of her eyes.
“Ahem! Dream world. I can hear your thoughts here. Just know that she may be arriving sooner than expected… and it seems you're surrounded by guests now.”
“Wait, guests?” John asked. Everything stretched out and shook, everything vanishes.
~-~-~
“SURPRISE!!!” A collective cheer arrived, making John and Liz wake up with a scream. They were outside, in the middle of a field, with banners that showed cute art of the two, with streamers decorating some makeshift gazebo. Party Hats were placed on their heads, with a kazoo in their mouth. Pinkie Pie appeared between the two humans.
“Like the super-duper, thank-you-for-saving-Manehatten- surprise party!?”
“... Did you literally take us and our beds outside while we were asleep?” John asked.
“Yep! And sorry for the bruises.”
“Bruises!?”
Before John could look, Liz was quick to shove John away, the surprise wake up call making Liz latch onto him out of fear, but seeing that they were fine, she pretty much just shoved him off of the one bed they were both in.
“... Ow.”
“Ooh! I almost forgot!” Pinkie spoke up “I have another guest! Be right back!” She vanished in a pink puff of smoke.
“... Should we join the party?” John asked.
“I have a feeling that even if we didn’t want to, they would make us.” She sighed, getting up from her part of the bed. To their surprise, a small, baby alligator walked to them with a tray filled with snacks to them, as some dance music played, prompting everypony around them to dance.
“I don't know what's weirder. The fact an alligator is acting like a servant and handling snacks, or music is playing from nowhere.”
“Just ignore it, we are in a land full of magical talking ponies, there’s a chance that this is normal.” Liz shrugged, taking one of the snacks and taking a small bite out of it.
“Yeah… so… shall we show them how it's done?”
“How what’s done?” She repeated, not getting what he was saying.
“Oh, you know... High school homecoming? Paula Abdul. Opposites Attract.”
“John… that was a one-time thing.”
“But don't you remember how great it felt?”
“Not really.” She bluntly answered.
“... Wow, you're such a killjoy. What do you suggest we do then? Just socialize?”
“I guess.” She lightly shrugged, figuring that they also wouldn’t need to go in their superhero attire and just wear what they were given, the black jogging pants and a white t-shirt.
“Oh come on! We should liven up the party!”
“I think our presence alone should be enough.”
“Ptthp! Just hope Pinkie's guest will be interesting.”
“In a world of magical talking ponies, I would assume yes,” Liz said, rolling her eyes before she just had to ask the obvious. “So where is this party taking place?”
“Sweet Apple Acres.” The same cross-eyed, muffin offering Pegasus answered, holding a tray of muffins. “Muffins?”
“Oh god!” Liz shouted, not seeing the mare until she spoke up. “Dang, you nearly gave me a heart attack.” She placed a hand on her chest, feeling her heart beat faster than normal.
“Oopsy! Sorry. Just answering your question.”
“... Is she ok?” John asked Liz in a whisper.
“Sorry, she just came out of nowhere.” She whispered back, calming down her heartbeat before she spoke up to the gray pegasus. “Well, thanks for the answer… and is any of them chocolate chip?” She asked, pointing at the tray of breakfast pastries.
“Yep! Also, banana, blueberry, apple, cinnamon-” The Pegasus answered before being interrupted by John
“I think that's good enough.” John took a muffin and bit it. “Mm… bananas.” He stopped as an ant was on his shoulder, clicking to him “Wait… Katrina’s here? Already? But we just got up.”
“Who's Katrina?”
“Uh…” John quickly dragged Liz away from the cross-eyed pegasus. “We gotta get everyone out of here! If Katrina is here, we can't afford to injure anyone.”
“Yeah, but how are we gonna do that without any of them knowing what’s going on? A bunch of ponies freaking out won’t help us.” Liz asked before she bit into a chocolate chip muffin she grabbed herself, enjoying the hint of sweetness.
“... Hold on, I think I got a plan.” He turned to everyone. “FREE CUPCAKES AT SUGARCUBE CORNER!!!”
“Free Cupcakes!?” Everypony yelled, then ran away in a stampede.
“I don’t even know who is dumber, you or those ponies..?” She commented, not even believing that it worked after seeing it with her own eyes.
“Hey, so far, everything has been running by cartoon logic,” John replied.
“So far, but that doesn’t mean it always will.” She said, keeping an eye out for that moment to happen.
“Don't be jealous that I know more about cartoons than you do.”
“I don’t think that’s something you should be proud of.”
“And what? You want me to continue watching those various philosophical videos that you hate me watching? Shall we discuss the philosophy of Adam Sandler again?”
“Please don't.”
It was that Pinkie returned with a bipedal figure, wearing a paper bag over its head. The figure wore what looked like large robes, various equipment and ingredients of sorts, standing about as tall as the two. Pinkie looked around with a confused look.
“Hey! Where'd everypony go!?” She asked.
“They moved the party to Sugarcube Corner,” Liz said, keeping her eyes on the two-legged creature as she wasn’t going to let her guard down now.
“Aww. That's a shame. I brought a new guest.” She removed the bag, revealing the guest to be a literal cat woman.
‘Not sure if this is that Katrina girl that the dragon mentioned, but that doesn’t mean I can’t be cautious.’ She thought, trying to figure how to get this pink pony away if things went south.
“Seriously!?” The cat woman asked in an annoyed tone. “You seriously had to blind me up like that?”
“What? It's a surprise party for you.”
“For our first villain, this is quite an embarrassing entrance,” John commented. The bipedal cat turned to them.
“Hmm… you're much smaller than the last time I saw you.” She observed. “And your armor is… not as good as I thought they were.”
‘It should be obvious that we don’t have the suits on…’ Liz thought, rolling her eyes as she figured maybe she shouldn’t be too on guard.
“So… you're Katrina?” John asked.
“Aww, glad to hear you remember me.” Katrina purred. “I will say, despite you lacking in looks, I'm glad you're not insectoid.”
“Insectoid?” Liz repeated questionably.
“You're not wearing your helmets. I thought you were a huge ant and wasp under those helmets of yours.”
“Eww, no?” She said, not wanting to imagine herself being a person with a wasp head.
“I think you're referencing Man-Ant from the Aquabats.”
“What?” Katrina asked.
“... You wouldn't understand.”
“Eh, I never really cared.” Katrina’s paws came together, forming a ball of electricity, then blasted at the two. The two humans reacted quickly, jumping out of the way as the blast made contact with a tree, causing it to explode.
“Ooh! Again! Again!” Pinkie cheered.
“Shoot! We could’ve been killed!” Liz stated the obvious, feeling that they couldn’t do this without their suit, but they were inside the barn, and Katrina was in the way.
“Oh-hohoho! This is gonna be easy!” Katrina announced, quickly doing a wave of her paws, conjuring fire.
“I knew we should've kept our suits on!” John yelled. “And Pinkie! She's a bad guy! Stop cheering her on! Only I'm allowed to do that!”
“Not helping!” Liz said through gritted teeth, right before she saw an orb of fire be aimed right at her, and she kicked back at the last second, her leg getting a little burnt and ruining the pants.
“Oh! Sorry!” Pinkie replied before turning to Katrina. “Hey! You can't be attacking our heroes!”
“You think they're heroes!?” Katrina asked in a sarcastic tone. “Anyone, good or bad, can be a hero. Why, if Lord Solaris hadn't rejected me, then-” Before she could continue, Pinkie sprayed the cat with a spray bottle.
“No! Bad! Bad kitty!” Katrina hissed at Pinkie.
“Cheese it!” John yelled, making a mad dash towards the barn.
Liz tried to follow, but with her burnt leg, she couldn’t move as fast as John. Unfortunately, John didn't notice, almost disappearing… though, there was the sound of glass breaking.
“What in tarnation!?” An elderly woman’s voice yelled.
“Sorry! I'll clean that up!” John's voice replied.
Pinkie’s spray bottle squirted only small puffs of water. She looked at her bottle and shook it, realizing it's empty. Katrina hissed at Pinkie and saw Liz running away.
“Oh, no you don't!” Katrina’s hands conjured up some magical rope, throwing it at Liz's legs, tripping the woman over.
“Fu-!” She couldn’t finish her curse as she faceplanted on the ground, feeling her legs be pulled together as the magic rope tied around her. ‘John you jerk! Way to abandon me!’ She thought with hate in her mind.
“Ah! That's no way to talk to your master!” Katrina cackled, dragging Liz towards her. “You're mine now! And your friend as well!”
“Hey! I said-!” Pinkie yelled, but Katrina flicked some glowing dust at her. The pink pony sneezed, and with each sneeze, she shrunk. A few sneezes and Pinkie was no more but the size of a small toy, one that could fit in Liz's palm.
“Now then, you can cooperate, or we'll have some fun.” Katrina had a malicious smile, approaching Liz.
“Yeah right, as if I would listen to some dirty cat!” She shot back, even with her legs tied together she tried to crawl her way to the barn.
“Then it'll be fun.” Katrina’s claws came right out. “I'm gonna enjoy making some improvements to your face. And after that, you'll appreciate me keeping you around, being a part of my personal army.” Before Katrina could lay a claw on Liz's face, the floor shook, similar to that of an Earthquake. Liz looked up, seeing John, in his suit, now a giant, running to the two. “WHAT THE-!?” Before she could finish, John kicked Katrina like a football, sending the cat lady into the air.
“GOOOAL!!!” He shouted before clicking on his suit, turning back to normal size. “You alright, Liz? Anything hurt?”
“I’m fine. But you could’ve kicked me to the next state along with her.” She said, feeling the magic rope fade away and she was able to move her legs again… but only to feel the stinging pain of the burn on her leg.
“I could've, but I'm not as clumsy as you think I am.” He knelt down and pulled out some ointment. “Here, figured you'd need this.”
Liz didn’t say anything, taking the ointment and squeezing some in her hand before putting it on the red burn mark. “Way to bail on me too. Had to listen to that weird furry go on about being my master or whatever.”
“On other days, that'd be kinky. And you know we can't battle her without our suits. Oh, and I also got your suit. Best put it on now; if my comics are right, she's gonna be back any moment, quite pissed off.” He presented Liz with her suit.
She didn’t say anything, taking the suit and changing quickly, now having yet to put the helmet on so she could use the suit entirely. Just as John predicted, Katrina teleported right back to them, clearly looking injured, but her eyes were filled with rage, as she snarled at the two.
“HOW dare you strike me!?” She roared “I am Katrina! The master sorceress! And you are nothing but worms!”
“For a master, you sure get pissed off for the minor things,” Liz commented, still holding her helmet in her hands as she was ready to knock some sense into this feline, but figured she had limited actions cause of the injury that still stung when she stood alone.
“And we're not worms,” John replied, putting on his helmet. “We've got ants!” As he said that, the local ants began to stack on each other, forming a barrier around Katrina. To say she was surprised was an understatement.
“What sorcery is this!?” She demanded.
“Just a little neat invention by Dr. Hank Pym.” He turned to Liz. “Ready?”
“As I’ll ever be.” She mumbled, getting ready in a fighting position. Katrina snarled, then pounced at the two, with her claws out. In unison, Jack and Liz delivered a hard uppercut to the feline’s jaw, sending her back, and rolling into some ants that quickly began to swarm her. Despite her being covered by ants, a blast if force fired the ants away, followed by Katrina conjuring twin blades from her paws.
“Oh crap!” John proclaimed, quickly ducking when Katrina tried to slice his head off.
Liz jumped back instead, barely missing the blade as she clicked her helmet on, getting ready to give this girl to turn tail and leave them alone.
John quickly got back up, tripping Katrina then proceeded to grab her tail, and began to spin. Katrina threw a dagger at his helmet, though, he was quick to dodge them, only getting a few scratches. The spinning went fast, with the force that made Katrina flail her arms around, having lost control.
“Combo time, Liz!”
‘I don’t think we’ve even come up with a combo move before.’ She thought, also trying to come up with what she could do. John threw Katrina at Liz, the cat woman flailing around, completely dizzy as she spun in the air.
She figured that she should to an old-fashioned kick to the skull, waiting for the right time before flexed the muscle in her legs before she swung one of her legs and made contact with the side of her head. The kick made Katrina stumble backward, right to John, delivering a hard right hook to her face. John’s punch made Katrina stumble back to Lizz, allowing her to deliver a left hook to the other side of her face.
“Happy feet! Wombo combo!!!” John cheered aloud, as the two humans began to a fast series of punches across the cat sorceress, followed by a combined uppercut that, despite it being fast, felt slow and triumphant to the two.
“I honestly don’t see how this furry was able to control a giant dragon,” Liz commented, practically playing hot potato with the said feline.
“Yeah! It's almost like she's…” John stopped, stepping to the side. “Oh crap! It's the classic surprise move she's gonna do!”
“Heh, you're smarter than you look,” Katrina spoke with a grin. Her hands glowed yellow as she delivered a punch to his gut, but made quick hand gestures that made him fall to the floor, stiff as a board, paralyzed. She turned to Liz, cracking her paws like knuckles before cracking her neck, with her yellow hand turning green, and all the wounds they inflicted on her healed in seconds. “Tell me, do you have any tricks up your sleeve, Wasp?”
“Try me.” She simply said, flaring her wings out as if she was going to attack suddenly.
“Fine then.” Katrina snapped her fingers. Liz's vision was engulfed in darkness. “Can your tricks work if you can't see?”
‘Frick!’ She thought, immediately knowing that she was just as useless as John, but still felt like she could try something as long as she listened on where Katrina was.
“I envy you both. If it were back then, King Solaris would have had both of you stripped away from your suits, and publicly executed. The ponies of now may say that you're heroes, but we know that, in reality, you're just extraordinary slaves to their rule. Your community service may be over in the next two months, but what are you both you going to do afterward? Will you continue being the so-called ‘heroes’? Or will you both take initiative and head back to your homeworld, back to your kind?”
Liz figured to calm down before answering her, knowing that she really didn’t have an answer for that. “Being honest, I have no valid answer for that. But I can’t worry about the future, nor cling to the past as you do. All I can really do is live in the moment and hope I am prepared for any challenges, this moment being one of them.” She said, unsure if her answer was even a good one.
“That's what I keep saying!” John replied. “And I'll be there! Gotta move my feet first.”
“... Anyways,” Katrina continued, approaching the blinded Liz from behind. “I will give you this one chance: kneel to your new master, or I will make you do it.”
If she could look directly at her, Liz would be glaring daggers at her. But she had a small idea as she figured to play along, starting to kneel to the ground, one of her hands close to her leg, hiding it so that she could feel for something that might make the feline blind as well, even for just a moment.
“Hey! Don't kneel to that witch!” John yelled.
“Can you just shut up!?” Katrina yelled back.
“Nope. Noda tostada. You may know more about magic, but we've got something you don't have.”
“Pfft. Yeah right. Even with those suits, all you can do is grow to the size of a mountain, something that even tires you both out. And from what I've seen, you can control ants, and she has weapons. Not exactly exciting, from my perspective.” John had an idea from that. With only his mind, a trail of ants made their way to Liz, with others to his hand.
“You know, you're kinda right on the perspective thing. But we do have one trick even you can't muster.”
“... And what can't I do?”
“Look it up.”
That seemed to give Liz enough time, quick to chuck a rock the size of a baseball at her, of course figuring it wouldn’t hit, but just distract her. And right when her confused state made her open, Liz used the foot that was still planted on the floor to kick herself forward and tackle the feline down. The squirming made it difficult, but Liz was able to wrap her legs around her and move her arms around her neck into a chokehold, feeling the fur as well so she knew she didn’t have John by mistake. Liz’ goal was to keep her in this hold until she passed out due to lack of air, flexing her muscles tight so she wouldn’t try and break out. John's ants clicked on his button, causing him to shrink immediately. His theory of being able to move again worked, as he was free. Katrina’s eyes widened in shock.
“We call this a choke hold. So why don’t we put the kitty to sleep?” Liz said, not hiding the smile she was showing as she only tightened her grip around her neck, making it harder for Katrina to breath.
“I'm way ahead of you,” John replied, delivering a right hook to the feline Sorceress’ face. The small punch had enough face to not just knock Katrina out but caused a few of her teeth to fly out.
Liz didn’t say much to that as she let Katrina go and she was now unconscious on the floor. “Some surprise guest.” Liz couldn’t help but joke.
“Damn… we beat that pu-” John joked before the now tiny Pinkie tapped his shoulder, getting his attention.
“Kids are reading this!” She yelled.
“Oh… how'd you get small?”
“Katrina hit me with a spell.”
“... Right… Hold on just a sec.” John clicked on his button, making him grow back to his normal size, before plucking the pink pony by her tail. “Hey, Liz. ♫My little pony, my little pony.♫”Liz facepalmed herself. The groan of Katrina was heard. They turned to see her getting up.
“You… may have won this feud… but I will return!” She hissed before throwing blue flowers at them.
“Flowers?” Liz asked. Before she could get an answer, Katrina jumped into a portal below her feet, disappearing as the portal went away.
“Was that… an attempt for a gift?” Liz only asked, not seeing how else a bunch of flowers would be brought into the picture. Picking up one of the flowers, she sniffed it. “Normal plant scent.”
“I think it was just a distraction,” John replied. Pinkie let out some small, quiet squeaks. “Ok, fine, we'll take you to Twilight. Hold your horses.”
“Though, we should probably go without the suits,” Liz suggested, figuring they wouldn’t need it now that Katrina fled.
“Come on! We gotta show off our victory! We just beat our first official villain! Think about it; She's just the first of many in our own Rogue's Gallery! I wouldn't be surprised if the next villain we face saw this and will ambush us.”
As he said that, looking through a pair of binoculars, another bipedal figure wearing a cloak saw it all happen in the far mountainside. It placed the binoculars down and ran into a cave, stopping at a radio of sorts with a microphone attached to it. Taking the mic out, it sent a signal out and spoke in its strange language.
“The humans have defeated Katrina. Equestria’s new champions are much stronger than we thought.”
“What!? How!? They have no magic! They're weak in just about everything we can imagine!”
“I know… for being the last of their kind, these humans are proving to be quite the problem.”
“You mean…?”
“Yes. We must bring back the Storm King.”