This is what we do chapter 33
By Foxgear
Rainbow Dash opened her eyes, the sound of someone screaming bloody murder sent a chill down her spine as she frantically looked around. Everything around her was black and brown. Her bare butt rested atop something soft and fluffy with the hard ground underneath. She stretched her arms, the room wasn’t big enough to even extend her arms fully. Her fingers rubbed against hard, rough wood, a few stray splinters pricked her digits making her yelp and retract her arms.
“Am I inside a fricking tree?” She questioned while pulling the splinters from her hand. A cold draft brew underneath the animal skin blocking the entrance. Rainbow hugged the fur blanket wrapped around her body tighter, shivering from the cold and wondering what happened to her clothes. When she tried to get up her body was stiff, and a sharp pain came from her leg. Unwrapping the blanket, she found her injured foot wrapped in plant leaves with a pungent scent rising from the vegetation bandages.
“What’s going on?”
She remembered being attacked, but nothing else. (Where’s Ebony?) The black snake had been in her mind for so long it felt strange not to hear its voice whispering into her ear. Rainbow’s head flashed with heat, her body becoming weak. “I’m Rainbow Dash, no I’m Ebony? Am I both or are we separate?”
Her head hurt a lot. She tried to remember her life before encountering the snake, but it was fuzzy. The last month was a haze. Especially the previous few days. She remembered going home, where ever that was, and going to her mother.
“I attacked mom…” Rainbow muttered holding her head. “Holy shit, I attacked mom!”
For a moment her life became clear again, it was within her grasp, her true self. But the entrance opened streaming light in from outside, outlining a dark shape. Ebony rose up, spreading her red wings and hissed. Rainbow’s eyes became dull, and she extended her arm, which Ebony bit, injecting black venom into Rainbow’s veins.
“Hi girl, what’s going on? Where are we?” Rainbow asked dully as Ebony slithered up her arm to wrap cozily around her neck. Ebony hissed softly and nuzzled Rainbow’s cheek. “I missed you too. I’m glad you're alright.”
Ebony licked Rainbow’s cheek affectionally.
“You’re my only loyal friend,” Rainbow said almost memorized. “And I’m yours.”
Ebony smiled and directed Rainbow to go outside as another ear bleeding scream shook the air. Rainbow hesitated. Afraid of what could be causing it, but Ebony nicked her ear, and she slowly crawled her way outside.
Outside the tree was a camp with a giant bonfire burning with an assortment of Timber creatures and other beasts surrounding it. Rainbow Dash eeped when they turned towards her, remembering what they did to her. They did nothing this time. Slowly Rainbow limped towards the source of the screaming. It came from a large tent, one like the native used, a Teepee.
The bone-chilling scream was even louder, it was filled with feral rage and vitriol as the owner cursed up a storm, their shadow thrashed through tent canvas. Another figure held them down and raised an arm holding a hatchet.
“Don’t you dare bitch!” The screamer screamed.
The hatchet came down. One last blood-curdling scream pierced the cold air, followed by deep sobs. The sitting figure began to do something, but Rainbow was too afraid to go see what. The shadowed person finished their task and patted the prone person, whispering soft coos to them.
Feeling brave Rainbow inched closer to the flap of the tent, finding it open, inside she saw a terrible sight. Fluttershy sat next to Pinkie Pie, out cold with her cheeks stained red with tears and blood. A bloody hatchet laid on the floor of the teepee, next to a pink arm on a blanket. Rainbow peered closer as Fluttershy turned, her fur clothing splattered with blood, the shy girl smiled revealing Pinkie’s bandaged stub.
“Ah, you’re awake Rainbow. I’m glad. Do you want some clothes? Some food maybe?” The normally meek spoken girl said with the casualty of someone who hadn’t just amputated one of their friends. Fluttershy looked at the sleeping Pinkie and laughed politely. “I suppose you might not feel up for food after seeing this. I had hoped to get this done before you woke up, but Pinkie was being Pinkie, troublesome and thrashing around like a child you know.”
Rainbow gulped, completely freaked out by Fluttershy’s nonplus attitude. It scared her. Fluttershy frightened her! “What happened did…”
“No,” Fluttershy said flatly. “I didn’t half rip off Pinkie’s arm. From what my scouts tell me, Mac did. I saved her, Rainbow.”
“You have a funny way of showing it!”
“Her arm was infected and half frozen, the cut was not clean. I had no choice. Besides.” Fluttershy picked up Pinkie’s severed arm, Rainbow gagged as she inspected it with a keen eye. “I have a way to make it better.” Vines and bark spouted from the severed arm, twisting and mutating it into a mix of flesh and wood. Fluttershy laid the Timber arm at Pinkie’s stub, the vines shooting out and digging into the bandaged flesh. Green veins spread across Pinkie’s skin as the arm attached itself. Pinkie let out a pained moan, the wood prosthetic moved, the fingers digging into the ground before going limp.
“A success.” Fluttershy cheered admiring her work. “Now Rainbow why don’t you be a good girl and get dressed.”
A Timber Lion walked up and dispensed a pile of clothes made of fur at Rainbow’s feet. Rainbow looked uneasily from the coats to Fluttershy. Her stomach in knots as Fluttershy tended to Pinkie’s arm. “But these are made of fur. You hate that, right?”
“The animal was old and dying, it’s meat fed my friends, and it’s fur keeps me warm.” Fluttershy turned around smiling at her, like a parent that just heard their child ask a stupid question. “When I think about how foolish I was back then, thinking predator and prey could get along, such thoughts are unnatural. A human construct. We romanticize animals, projecting our thoughts and feelings to make their cruel and bloody world seem more friendly. But I see it clearly now. The natural order and I will write the wrong humans have made. And you're going to help me Rainbow. Ebony has already conceded to me.”
“What! What the hell are you talking about! I don’t obey anybody!” Rainbow tried to attack, to prove she was the top bitch, but when Fluttershy raised her hand and said ‘stop,’ she did. Standing frozen like a deer in headlights.
With a stern tone, Fluttershy said, “Sit.” And Rainbow did, dropping like a brick to her knees on the ground, her cloak flying off, leaving her exposed to the cold. Yet even as she shivered, she could not move or even hug herself. She was frozen.
Seductively Fluttershy strutted over to Rainbow and with a clawed finger pointed the blue girl’s head up, so their eyes met. “I’m alpha, and you’re my bitch, understand?” Rainbow nodded meekly feeling intense pressure on her spine under Fluttershy’s stare. “Good, now get dress. I have important things to get ready.”
As she walked away, Fluttershy pulled the green Alicorn Amulet from between her breasts, eyeing the jewel with a marveled gaze. She lost a good chunk of her force attacking the farm, but evolution was built on the bodies of the weak.
“Now what other material can I work with?” She mumbled straying to another tent in the camp. Inside was Maddie with a barbed vine wrapped around her neck. When Fluttershy entered the Teepee, she snapped and hissed like a wild animal. Fluttershy slapped Maddie on the noise, and the mad scientist grew meek and whimpered. “That’s right, I’m your master now.” Fluttershy cooed.
Maddie nodded presenting her throat to Fluttershy, who stroked her chin lovingly. “Your practically an animal now. That’s good. Very good. Your just what I have in mind.” As Maddie leaned into her touch Fluttershy’s smile was radiant. “Yes, your perfect just the way you are and soon everyone else will be too. Humans will be what they truly are, animals, and my pets.”
“This is a mess isn’t it.” Mac drawled standing in what remained of his house. When he got home, it had been early morning, and now it was past noon. The past few hours have been pure chaos with dealing with the aftermath of the attack.
The house he had spent many weekends and summers fixing through his high school years. The house his father had raised him in, the house his grandfather had built. He could see through it from the living room through his bedroom. Snow gathered on the floor as the sound of hammers pounded behind him. Night Patrollers were nailing plywood over the holes. A temporary fix. He’d have to at least get the outside suitable, but he could rebuild the inside over winter at least. The windows were going to cost a fortune though.
He sat in his chair a space heater roared gently in the corner as more patrollers worked on the hole in his and Adagio’s bedroom. His wife upstairs wrapped up tight in as many blankets as she could find after nearly freezing outside. Applebloom and Sweetie with her, Twilight was moved back upstairs as well. Adagio didn’t have it as terrible as Aria who they found naked with Rarity sharing her body heat while covered by a patchwork blanket made of their clothes. Both girls along with Sunset were taken through the mirror and were enjoying Twilight’s private bath and being treated for their injuries. Fury companied them needing some healing himself. That left him to entertain the guests.
“So, Adagio’s mirror is the portal now?” He said running his fingers over the armrests of his lazy boy as Princess Celestia sat on his couch with a cup of tea imported from Equestria. Sixes and Kira sat across from the princess both of them looking at the destruction with empathy.
The Princess took a sip before speaking. “For now. We can move it at a later date if you so wish, which I’m sure you will. It’s hard to tell how stable it is right now. I’m sure my sister and Twilight are nervously waiting for my return. It would be inconvenient if I were to be trapped here.”
“Yet you stay despite the risk?”
“If I were to be trapped in another world, then I would rather be the one with my granddaughter Mac. I’m sure Sunset will want to return.” Celestia padded the journal with her and Sunset Shimmers marked meshed together. The Princess stroked the cover lovingly as she wiped a stray tear from her eye. “This was going to my heartwarming gift for Sunset. I should have given her this sooner, but I… well… that’s a personal matter. None the less it provides another connection to this world in case we need it.”
Mac wasn’t sure how to reply to that, so he leaned back in his chair watching as a patroller walked out of his bedroom with a trash bag full of ashes that had once been Timber Lions. “So, what happened in there?”
“I got angry,” Celestia replied without looking up from the book.
“Understandable.” He chuckled looking away from the Princess. “So, ah… after all, this are you going to make Sunset Shimmer go home with you?”
Celestia paused mid-sip, set her teacup down and frowned. “I would have taken her home a long time ago if it weren’t a sure-fire way to make her hate me again. As her grandmother, I want nothing more than Sunset’s safety and happiness. It is taking all I am not to simply walk through that mirror and seal the portal so I can keep her at my side, but as I said, I want her to be happy. And this world makes her happy. Besides she’s an adult in Equestria, whether I like it or not, she can live her life the way she wants.” The Princess leaned forward, her hair falling over her face, but it didn’t dampen her words enough for Mac not to overhear her say, “I hope she comes home forever soon.”
Mac ran his fingers through his hair, his mind playing out the same question if it was his child. He didn’t know if he could be that open-minded about possibly never seeing them again.
“I’m going to go check on Adagio if you don’t mind Princess.”
“Not at all. I’ll begin discussing our next course of action with Sixes and Kira.”
“Right, please don’t plan anything too crazy,” Mac said half-jokingly. Really, he was quite fearful what the Equestrians might do this time. They didn’t say anything, but he could read the room, they might not take prisoners this time. Especially Sixes. With the world on the brink of discovering magic, they might just rip the bandage off and really go crazy.
As Mac turned to go up the stairs he peered into his bedroom, the entire room was scorched, whited spots marked the Timber Lions bodies and the place where Celestia had shielded Sunset from whatever magic she had used to defeat the monsters. Sixes probably wasn’t the only one he had to worry about. He didn’t truly understand the extent of a Princess’s magical power. Luna had briefly gone over it in her lessons, but Adagio liked them to the Greek gods.
Upstairs Mac stealthily moved to his old room, keeping quiet as he leaned in through the doorway. Adagio lay asleep on the bed, Applebloom and Sweetie Belle tucked in with her. Leaning against the doorframe Mac took in the sight of his wife sleeping with the two kids. For a brief moment, the two preteens were replaced with imagines of what he imagined his and Adagio’s children would look like and found comfort in the scene, like a light at the end of a dark tunnel. Mac knelt next to the bed, reaching over Applebloom to pat his wife’s stomach. She was about to hit five months if he remembered correctly. Her bump wasn’t anything anyone would notice in a baggy Tee shirt, but it was notability bigger now.
It made him happy gently stroking her stomach. Imagining the child to come. “Don’t worry. You’ll have a good home again before you come out there.” He whispered to the growing infant.
“Insurance should cover the repairs if the world doesn’t end,” Adagio said softly, placing her hand over his. She craned her neck, so they were looking at each other, their fingers interlocked as they leaned in to share a brief kiss. Adagio visibly relaxed, pecking him twice more on the lips before backing off and laid back down. “I needed that.”
“Me too,” He replied squeezing her hand tight. “I… I almost lost you.”
“Not even close,” She joked, but Mac’s expression remained grim. “Ok. Maybe it was a little close. Perhaps too close, but I’m fine Mac.”
“I want you to go to Equestria.” Mac blurted out, to both his and Adagio’s surprise. “Now just you. Sonata, Aria, Applejack, Applebloom, everyone. I want… I need you to be safe. I thought the farm was safe and it’s not. Nowhere is safe here. Not anymore. Please, go stay with Princess Twilight, at least until this is over.”
Adagio’s mouth moved, but no words come out, she was speechless and feeling a whirlwind of conflicting emotions. “I don’t know if I should be happy or offended that you want to lock me up in a castle in another world just to keep me safe. Moreover, I’m surprised you’d even suggest it. You’ve always been… Earth-centric.”
“I know, I know,” Mac replied falling back against the dresser to rub his temple. “But that’s how I honestly feel right now. I’ve always been able to leave thinking you would be safe here, but now… I don’t know. You were attacked, and there was a good chance you and everypony else would have been killed before I could have even gotten here to do anything. I can’t go hunt if it leaves you vulnerable.”
Adagio sat up, “And you expect me to sit here and worry that you might not come back?” She retorted glaring at him. “The road of worry goes to ways, Mac.”
Mac opened his mouth to speak but closed it can and smiled humorlessly. “Yeah, your right, but what do you expect me to do?”
“Let Sixes and his people take care of this.”
“I can’t ask them to do that.”
“Probably don’t have to, they have skin in the game Mac, Sunset is Princess Celestia’s and Sixes' granddaughter! They have as much right to be involved as anyone, if not more so.”
“I know, but this is our world, and it’s our problem, we should be the ones to fix it.”
Adagio sighed in frustration. “It’s not just our world or their world, both worlds are joined at the hip now, why can’t it be both our problems? Fuck just about every magical piece of bullshit, myself included, came from Equestria! I think it’s time that Equestria starts cleaning up its own fucking mess for sending every evil artifact and villain to earth like it was a landfill!”
The two teens sleeping on the bed began to stir from Adagio’s rant. The siren patted their head and cooed them back to sleep and laid back down. The two girls wrapping around her like snug bugs in a rug.
Mac stood up to leave, stopping when Adagio called out to him. “I’ll think about it. Going to Equestria I mean, but I want to talk about it with Sonata and Aria.”
“That’s fine,” Mac said exhaustedly walking back into the hall. His phoned buzzed in his pocket, he took a sharp turn to the end of the hallway slipping into Sonata’s room to answer the call.
“How are things?” Asked Ferocious over the line. “Stryker told me you had to rush home.”
“Things,” Mac said licking his lips. “Things could be a lot better.”
“Anyone dead?”
“No.”
“Then they could be worse, what happened?”
Mac sighed and told his godfather what Adagio told him. The red detective stayed silent only grunting every now and then through the report.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t there to help,” Ferocious said, sounding haggard. “Not that I might have been much help with my leg and arm messed up, but fuck, I was just sitting here flipping through fucking papers!” The sound of something hitting the wall come through the speaker, followed by a hard smack to what was most likely Ferocious’s desk. “Is there anything you need, Mac?” Ferocious asked sounding a little calmer.
“I could use some advice I guess,” Mac slumped against the wall sliding to the floor. He ran his fingers through his hair, his body tense, everything was just too crazy lately. “I told Adagio she and the others should go to Equestria for safety. Half of them are there now anyway.”
Ferocious laughed. “I bet she didn’t like that.”
“Not really. Adagio didn’t like it, but she wasn’t one hundred percent against it either, if she wasn’t pregnant, she’d probably be more headstrong about it. Honestly I kind of miss having her with me.” Another truth slipped out without his permission. He leaned out into the hall wondering if Adagio heard him or if she was asleep again. “Got any advice on how to calm down most likely silently seething wife?”
“Nope, never been married and even if I did have some advice, I would have written a book on it and become rich.” They both shared a much-needed laugh at the stupid joke. “Look Mac it’s probably for the best that she goes to Equestria. Make her go, she may hate you for an awhile, maybe a year, but at least she’ll be around to do it. That’s my advice. I’m going to head down to the hospital and check on things there and keep watch. If you decide to send Sonata to Equestria too, I’ll arrange to get her to you.”
“Nothings been decided, but thanks. I better go check on Sixes and the Princess before they decide to nuke something.”
Feri chuckled, “Best do that. Stay in touch.”
Mac stood and pocketed his phone feeling a little better. Making his way downstairs Mac pondered what to do next. Fluttershy had Pinkie and Maddie, and Rainbow Dash was MIA, though it was possible she might be with Fluttershy too. It was hard to figure out how the infected girls would act. They followed their host's personalities in a very hit or miss fashion.
Pinkie acted like a full-blown psycho, though from Limestone’s testimony before the fight, they might not know the pink party girl as well as they thought. At least he didn’t know for sure. He’d have to ask Limestone more about what happened to try and get a read-on Pinkie/Spite. The real tough part would be telling Limestone he half cut off Pinkie’s arm. He’d probably hold off on that.
Rainbow was missing but keeping low, from what Stryker Six said she was in pretty bad shape. Her running to Fluttershy was possible.
Now Fluttershy herself. Out of the infected girls, she had the smallest footprint. In fact, nobody ran into her, spotted her or anything. She was like a ghost. “A ghost that bred a fucking army of Timbers,” Mac muttered under his breath as he reached the bottom of the stairs. Celestia, Sixes, and Kira were still sitting on the couch but now joined by Shadow Spector.
“Ha, Mac your back, good. I think we have some good news.” Celestia chimed smiling with a fresh cup of tea. A maid, a real-life maid, dress and all, stood in his living room, refilling the Princess’s cup. “Do you want anything? Lemon Milk can fetch you something from home if you desire.”
“I’m fine, did you come up with a plan? One that doesn’t involve nuking the town?” The Equestrians stare blankly at him. “Right, you probably don’t know what that is.”
Celestia padded his chair, urging him to sit, which he did, after another sip of tea she spoke. “We maybe have a way to end this ordeal without harming the Sin’s hosts any further. Well, no harm might be too generous, but unmaimed.”
“I cut off Pinkie’s arm.” Mac inserted.
“No further maiming then. Our secret weapon is Shadow Specter. Shadow, please explain Mac our idea.”
The ghost man nodded and faced Mac, “I think I can use my possession to force the Sins to separate from the girls. Mind you they will have to be softened to increase the chances of success.”
“Define softened,” Mac inquired.
“Beaten to or near unconsciousness?” Shadow Spector shrugged. “Usually my hosts are willing volunteers. Forcingly possessing someone takes a lot of energy, and I’m going to have to do it four times from what I understand. The weaker they are, the easier it will be.”
“Time is also an issue, Mac, you know this.” Kira lamented. “If we don’t wrap this up soon those girls will be lost to us. We have a plan, we must act on it and soon.”
“We still don’t know where they are,” Mac argued.
“We’ll find them.” Sixes insisted. His tone did little to put Mac at ease.
“You can’t kill them,” Mac stated.
“We know Mac,” Celestia affirmed placing her hand on his knee. “Trust us, we know, but we are… high strung right now. You’ll have to forgive us if our tones aren’t very reassuring right now.”
Mac wearily sighed and slumped in his chair. “Sorry, this whole thing has been a ride. We think Fluttershy is in the wildlife preserve, she defiantly has Pinkie Pie with her and Maddie. Rainbow is unknown right now, but she’s probably only slightly better of then Pinkie. I can take you guys there.”
“I think you should rest, for now, Mac. Is there someone else that could take your place for the time being?” Celestia asked as Mac struggled to stay awake.
“Yeah, my Godfather, Ferocious his numbers in my phone…(YAWN) when did I get so tired.” Mac chomped his jaws unlocking his phone for Celestia. As he handed it to her his hand went lax, and he fell asleep.
Celestia picked up the phone with a guilty look. “I’m sorry Mac.” She said patting the farmer’s hair and handing the phone to Sixes. Behind them, a trio of guards emerged from the stairs with Adagio, Twilight, Applebloom, and Sweetie Belle cradled in their arms, fast asleep from the same spell she cast on Mac. Gently she levitated Mac off the couch and carried him towards the portal with the others.
“It’s time we cleaned up our own mess.” She said to the sleeping man as she and the guards entered the portal. Her last words before disappearing were, “I leave this in your hand's Sixes.”
The black rinin nodded as the group disappeared in a flash of light. With Mac’s phone in hand he fumbled his way through the device, finding Ferocious’s name in the contacts and per what Sunset Shimmer had shown him with her phone, pressed the screen instigating the call.
“Mac?” Ferocious questioned.
“No, but I am a friend. Where can we find you?”
“Who was that?” Luna asked as Ferocious ended his call. She sat on his office bed, the blanket wrapped around her body, a blush adorned her cheeks as she remembered all the times she spent with Ferocious on the worn mattress in their twenties. This last time she had actually used the bed for it’s intended function for sleep after falling face first to the ground when her magic training with Ferocious ended. “Also why did you strip me?”
“I thought it would be fun, your clothes were all sweaty too, they’re in the dryer right now.” Ferocious replied, his voice strained, and his eyes darted away from her, but not out of embarrassment. He was hiding something from her.
“Ok, so who was on the phone?”
“Nobody, wrong number.” He growled hopping onto his leg, using his arm to steady himself against his desk while he tried for his crutch.
“Let me get that.” She said fitting the blanket into a loose toga before walking across the room. At Ferocious’s leer, Luna looked down to see her makeshift dress was much thinner than she first thought. Almost see through. “Like’s its anything you haven’t seen before.” She huffed grabbing Ferocious’s crutch from the wall and setting it against the table.
“It’s nice seeing it again though,” Ferocious jested as he hobbled past her, smacking her on the ass.
Luna whipped around and grabbed Ferocious by the shoulder, feeling the tenseness in his muscles. He was upset about something, and he was trying to hide it from her.
“It’s been years, but I still know when your bullshitting me and when you're trying to protect me from bad news. Last time it was when Nico died, so what’s wrong?”
Ferocious exhaled, “The farm was attacked. Several of the people there were hurt really bad, so bad that they had to be taken to Equestria for immediate healing, through the new portal. Some guys named Sixes used Mac’s phone to call me, saying they sent Mac and the others to Equestria for safety. I’m going to meet Sixes and his team, and I’m going to help them find the infected girls.”
“In your condition? Why not have Stryker do it?”
“Stryker’s guarding the hospital, Nyx and Sonata are there. I can do this.” He said brushing her hand off and limping toward the door, Luna ran around him and blocked his path.
“Not without me.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“No.”
“Ferocious!”
He bit his lip as they glared at each other, neither one budging an inch. “I don’t want you in danger.”
“Last I check I decide how to live my life, not you, maybe if you hadn’t walked out it would be different. Maybe if…”
“Don’t go starting on about what if’s, we both made our choices. Maybe mine was misguided and in vain in the end, but I did them because I loved you and wanted to you be safe and happy. I didn’t think it would work after Nico and Applejane died! Maybe if they hadn’t, I would have…” He clamped his lips tight, realizing what he was about to say. Luna looked curiously at him, her temper cooling as she processed his words.
“You would have what? What would you have done if Nico and Applejane hadn’t died?” Luna asked softly, stepping closer to him. Pressing her body to his as she gazed up with hopeful eyes. “What would you have done?”
Before Luna knew it Ferocious had his arm around her and pulled her close, his lips crashed against hers in a passionate and heartfelt kiss that made her weak in the knees and sent her back in time to the young woman she had been in her twenties, young, dumb, and in love.
Maybe she was still in love.
When Ferocious broke the kiss, he kept holding her running his hand through her hair. “You’re a smart woman, it should be easy for you to figure out.” He stepped back just as the dryer finished. “If you can get dressed before I get to my car then you can come.”
“Wait, what? Why did you… hey wait, are you serious right now? Ferocious!” Luna beckoned, but the red detective didn’t stop and began hopping down the stairs.
“Hurry up if you’re coming, woman!”
“You’re a bastard, Feri!” Luna screamed from the top of the stairs only to run to the dryer and quickly began dressing. “And you don’t wash delicates with other clothes!” The backdoor of the bar slammed shut, Luna growled and finished pulling her shirt over her head grabbed her coat and leapfrogged down the stairs. Sprinting to Ferocious’s red dodge challenger, her hands pressed against the glass as the engine rumbled to life. The door unlocked and she got in.
“I thought you weren’t going to wait,” Luna said as she bucked in.
Feri smiled as he pulled into the street. “A man always waits for his woman, and I won’t leave you behind this time, because I’ve been doing some thinking. If those kids can make things work, then maybe we can.”
“Your talking about Mac and Adagio?”
“Who else? Now let’s go be adults and clean up this mess. After that…”
“After that?” Luna repeated eying Ferocious.
“Well, we’ll see what a happens, but I’m looking forward to you in white.”
“White?” Luna’s brain did a quick reboot as she slumped in the leather seat and then smiled. “Took you long enough. I’m going to call Tia and tell her what’s going on. She’ll want to help too.”
“You’re not going to tell her the good news?”
“When I want to give her a heart attack I will.” Luna giggled as she scrolled through the phone. A sense of hope for the future budded inside her. This was her chance to finally do something for her godchildren and her students. This time she would stop the magical threat, to take care of the problem that shouldn’t be laid at the feet of children half her of her age. “Time to make up for all those failures.” She muttered as the call went through and she told Celestia what was going down. Her sister, of course, was happy to join in.
After the call the rest of the drive was in silence, Luna just stared out the window watching the street lamps turn on. Remembered the nights they’d cruised around with her hanging off Feri’s shoulders like a drunk love floozy. Which is what she had been at the time. In particular, she loved riding on his motorcycle more, the intimacy was defiantly a factor.
Looking back Luna realized that Ferocious would have been doing secret monster hunting with Nico back then, just like Mac was doing now. She wondered how things would be different if she had been pulled into that life back then. Would things be the same? Would she had stayed a teacher or done something else? Like, become a detective like Ferocious did? Questions with no answers.
“We’re here.” Ferocious announced pulling into the hospital parking lot. Celestia waited outside her van for them, Sixes, Kira, and someone with a terrifying face stood with her.
“Luna, Ferocious, so glad you could make it.” Celestia greeted with a nervous smile as she presented the Equestrians. “Ferocious have you been introduced to Sixes and his friends yet? Luna and I know him and Kira, but ah… they scary guy is new.”
“I’m Shadow Specter, I’m a ghost pony.”
“Like Danny Phantom?” Luna blurted out, much to Celestia’s embarrassment, and everyone else’s confusion. “What? Look it’s a show about this kid with ghost powers, you know what forget it! It’s not important right now.”
After a brief awkward pause of silence, Sixes stretched out his hand to Ferocious. “So, your Fierce Fury’s counterpart. You could pass for twins.”
“I could say the same to you, you look just like my buddy Stryker Six, safe for the hair, his hair is blue.” Ferocious chuckled. It was weird meeting alternate versions of his friends. On that thought. “You gotta tell me, are these two really Princesses in your world?” He asked pointing to Celestia and Luna.
“Yes,” Sixes said with a hint of red in his face. “The other Luna and I are… well, we can leave that for now. Let us get down to business. I believe there is a pony… err person of interest inside the healing faculty.”
“Sonata is inside,” Ferocious confirmed while spotting a Pie Construction pick up truck parked a few spaces away. “Pinkie Pie’s sister is inside too it seems if you have questions for her too.”
Sixes looked at the hospital with interest. “Pinkie’s sister huh, that will make this much easier then.”
“What got a trick to track Pinkie down?” Ferocious asked while hobbling after Sixes, who had started walking towards the hospital.
“A drop of Limestone’s blood is all we will need.” The Night Patroller said as they entered the hospital. “Then the hunt will begin.”