CRISIS: Equestria

by GanonFLCL

CRISIS: Equestria - Chapter Sixteen

Tick Tock’s eyes darted back and forth across the folds of her map. Her eyebrows furrowed as she glanced at the path they were taking, which was marked by a thick blue line next to a thick green one. The two lines stayed together throughout most of the path through the entire mountain range, except at several key points. Past these, the blue path was marked as a dotted line, signifying that it had been traveled along; the green paths, however, remained solid, meaning they had been ignored.

She scrunched her nose in irritation. Just ahead, the two colors parted again at another cliff; the green path suggested scaling it, while the blue path circled around the longer route. She lifted her nose out of the map as the party approached the cliff itself, and glanced to the side to watch Applejack and Curaçao start off along the path they had chosen.

Tick Tock coughed, and turned to Twilight. “We should keep moving straight, Sparkle. This fork is the better choice,” she said, gesturing towards the cliff. “It’s much faster.”

“Oh?” Twilight tilted her head and gestured towards the opposing path. “Didn’t Applejack and Curaçao say we were going this way?”

Tick Tock grunted. “That they did, but they’ve picked the longest route yet again. I must remind you that we are losing valuable time.”

Applejack stomped over to the pair and stepped up alongside Twilight. “And I’m remindin’ ya that we’ve got a fragile piece o’ cargo that’ll make takin’ that path a mite too difficult,” she insisted, gesturing towards Fluttershy, who slept soundly on the hammock between Rarity and Lockwood. “We chose the path we did ‘cause it’s easier ta take.”

“We have equipment for climbing,” Tick Tock said, pointing at Applejack’s saddlebag, which was filled with rope. “I insist we take the shorter route, Sparkle.”

“The rope’s fer emergencies only, not yer bad attempts at shortcuts. I insist we take th’ easier path, Twilight,” Applejack said, stomping a hoof. “Ol’ know-it-all here don’t know squat.”

Tick Tock let out a sarcastic laugh. “Oh, insults now is it? Look here, you stupid redneck—"

Applejack sneered and got in Tick Tock’s face. “Wanna run that by me again, tea chugger?”

Twilight groaned. “Here we go again...” She stepped between Tick Tock and Applejack and pushed them apart with a spell before anypony could come to blows. “This is the fifth time today, you two. I understand there's a difference in opinion here, but can you at least be a little less hostile about it?”

“I’ll stop being hostile when your friend here stops treating me like a bleedin’ idiot,” Tick Tock said.

“I treat ya like an idiot ‘cause y’all are an idiot,” Applejack interjected.

“If I may?” Curaçao said as she stepped forward. “Zee route Tick Tock is suggesting is faster, oui—"

Applejack looked dumbfounded; Tick Tock did not try to hide an ecstatic smirk.

“But,” Curaçao continued, “it is only faster by maybe une demi-heure—euh, thirty minutes. Not a large difference, n’est-ce pas?”

“Is that all?” Twilight shook her head and narrowed her eyes at Tick Tock. “I know we’re on a tight schedule, Tick Tock, but thirty minutes? That’s the reason you felt you should start calling my friend names?”

“That’s what she said ‘bout the last fork we took,” Applejack added, “an’ the one before that, an’ the one before that—"

“And every other split in the path, yes, thank you for clarifying for me,” Tick Tock snorted. “First of all, my path would save us roughly thirty-seven minutes and twenty-one seconds, assuming no delays. Second of all, surely you see a pattern by now, Sparkle? Thirty-plus minutes every route, times eight routes, is more than four hours. We are on a tight schedule; every minute counts.”

“Starlight and her sisters have been kind enough to offer escorting us all the way to the coastline, so I have confidence that even if we lose some time now, we can make up for it later,” Twilight said. “I am getting sick and tired of listening to you belittle Applejack, who I remind you has been nothing but helpful towards your goal of getting us home within your time limit.”

Tick Tock grit her teeth, then sighed, defeated. She’d given up on arguing. “Fine. Have it your way.”

Twilight nodded. “Thank you.”

Applejack and Curaçao turned and led everypony down the right side of the cliff. Everypony, except Tick Tock. She stayed behind for a moment as the others passed by, and took a seat upon a nearby rock. She took her kerchief from her vest pocket and wiped her brow. She wasn’t tired, just stressed.

The weight of her advice seemed to drop at every opportunity, as Starlight and her sisters seemed to be just as knowledgeable as Tick Tock, but their attitudes and mannerisms meshed better with Twilight’s and her friends’: Starlight was teaching Twilight spells related to travel, which Twilight was not well-versed in; Curaçao was teaching Applejack about the various types of terrain they’d be dealing with, as Applejack was no expert in navigating deserts; Grayscale was teaching Rainbow the finer arts of scouting, ensuring that they’d be well-informed of surrounding dangers.

Tick Tock took out the tiny golden pocket watch that once belonged to Zenith. “I seem to be losing my touch,” she muttered. “Some guide I turned out to be.”

She scrubbed it with her kerchief until the unblemished spaces gleamed once again. Pewter and his father had taken good care of it, and she would be damned if she would not do the same. She popped it open, marveling again at the fact that it was still in perfect working order. Well, mostly perfect anyway. It seemed to have a minor calibration issue; the portal storm was long over, so there should be no traces of Void magicks in any form anywhere on the planet. Zenith’s Timekeeper kept picking up faint traces of the stuff, though, which bothered her.

But it was a distraction, nothing more.

“I bet if you had been the one with this assignment, they’d be home by now,” she said to the watch. “Damn it all. What would you have done, Zenith? What should I do?”

She didn’t expect a reply, and didn’t get one. With another sigh, she tucked the watch and her kerchief back into her pocket, then cantered off to catch up to the trailing figures of the rest of the traveling party.

Another day passed into the early evening. It was now night of the third day, according to Tick Tock, and the party had gathered at the entrance to the large cave system that ran through the Goldridge Pass. The massive opening was wide enough to fit several dozen ponies. To anypony that didn’t know the extent of the depths within, it was a great, gaping maw like the mouth of some great beast. According to Tick Tock and Curaçao, the mazelike caverns of Goldridge stretched far beneath the mountains, positioned such that passing through would save travelers several hours of time while crossing into the eastern Wastelands. They'd be on the other side of the mountains by morning on the fourth day.

“It certainly looks dark in there,” Twilight said. “Well, luckily we have plenty of unicorn magic to go around and light the way, right?”

“Ugh, I do hope it isn’t too filthy down there,” Rarity said. “I would be most displeased if I managed to make it all this way without tarnishing my gorgeously-mended dress, only to get it dirty in some cave.” She preened her dress ever so slightly in appreciation. “Mister Pewter put so much effort into it.”

“Do we really have to go this way?” Rainbow asked in a huff. “I’m getting tired of taking routes that keep me grounded. Isn’t there a route that goes, y’know, over the mountains?”

“This is the fastest way through,” Tick Tock said.

She prodded her map with a hoof, which showed both the green and blue lines heading into the cave. Only the green line actually followed a path once inside; it did, however, continue towards the coast once out of the cave, diverting quite a bit from the blue line.

“Even our two navigators agree with me on this one,” she added.

“An’ it's th’ easiest,” Applejack added. “Accordin’ ta the map there, the whole path is smooth as silk. Ain’t gonna be no trouble at all.”

“Easy for you, maybe,” Rainbow said. “It ain’t easy for us pegasi, ain’t that right Grayscale?”

Grayscale shrugged. “Walking is a waste of effort.”

“See? She doesn’t like it either. Maybe me and Gray can go over instead?”

“Splitting up might not be the best idea,” Twilight said. “Without the map, you two could get lost.”

Rainbow raised an eyebrow. “How would we get lost? We just fly straight over and wait by the exit.”

“I would prefer if we just stick together.”

“Yeah, Dashie, haven’t you ever heard that splitting the party is a bad idea?” Pinkie said. “Don’t tell me you’re scared of the dark,” she added, wiggling her eyebrows.

Velvet’s curiosity seemed piqued. “Did somepony say, ‘scared of the dark’?”

Rainbow rolled her eyes. “Give me a break, Pinks, I ain’t scared of the dark. I just hate cramped spaces.”

“Aww...” Velvet muttered.

“Most of us don’t like it any more zan you do, Mademoiselle Dash,” Curaçao said. She stroked her mane. “All zat dust and dirt. Berk... zink of vhat it vould do to ma perfection! Quelle catastrophe!”

“Oh I know, darling,” Rarity agreed. “Is there really no other way?”

“Not unless y’all wanna spend a few hours climbin’ through rocks ‘n’ cliffs,” Applejack said. “Really, ‘t ain’t much better climbin’ over. Wouldn’t save us any time, neither.”

“Blech,” Pinkie said, sticking out her tongue in disgust. “I’ve had enough rock-climbing for one week. The cave sounds fun! So long as we don’t run into any dragons or balrogs or Old Gods or anything like that.”

Rarity nodded. “A little spelunking sounds much more bearable than trying to scale another cliff or two.”

“Well, it looks like we’re all in agreement then,” Applejack said, adjusting her hat. “Sorry, Dash, Grayscale.”

Grayscale yawned, then shrugged. “Eh. Easier to go with the flow.”

Rainbow frowned. “Fine, whatever. I was just making a point is all.”

“Your point’s been heard, Rainbow,” Twilight interjected. “If we just get moving, we’ll be on the opposite side in no time and you’ll have your precious sky back.”

Rainbow raised an eyebrow. “Hey now Twi, come on, I didn’t mean nothin’ by it. No need to be all snippy.”

Twilight shook her head. “I just don’t want to hear any more arguing, that’s all. Applejack and Curaçao have been assigned as our navigators, so there’s no use in arguing about the route. I trust Applejack to make the right choices as much as Starlight trusts Curaçao to do the same.”

“Well put, Sparkle,” Starlight said, nodding. “Now then, if we are quite finished with this frivolous discussion, I propose that we press onward. We are squandering precious minutes with this trifling quarrel, are we not?”

“Aww, cheer up, Dashie; Twilight didn’t mean anything by it,” Pinkie said, placing a hoof on Rainbow’s shoulder. “C’mon now, you know I hate to see you all grumpy. Let's see a smile! Turn that frown upside down!”

Rainbow stared at Pinkie for a moment, then shook her head and sighed. “You just don't get it, Pinks...” She patted Pinkie on the head. “Thanks for trying though.”

“Does anypony else have any objections?” Twilight asked. “Let’s get them out of the way now.”

“I... I’m with Rainbow, b-but, only because it looks... dark.” Fluttershy peeped. Some of the others looked her way, eyebrows raised. She hid her face behind her mane. “Oh, n-not that I’m going to... um, argue against it, I just... don’t like the dark.”

Fluttershy was finally on her hooves again. She was still a little wobbly, but Lockwood and Rarity took turns helping her keep her balance when she needed it. Fluttershy said she actually liked feeling as if she were progressing her own recovery. Havocwing had helped motivate her to do it: “Lesson nineteen!” she’d said. “If all you do is lay in bed, you may as well be better off dead.”

Fluttershy still had to keep warm, though, so now Lockwood's jacket was her jacket. Wearing it rather than using it as a blanket made it obvious it was too big for her, and the sleeves had to be rolled up after she’d tripped on them one time too many.

“So it’s a little dark,” Havocwing said, patting Fluttershy on the back. “That ain’t no big deal; it ain’t that spooky. You gotta keep your chin up and deal with that kind of thing sometimes. If anypony gives you trouble, just remember lesson twenty-two! Somepony says you’re scared of the dark, you show them your bite’s worse than your bark!”

Fluttershy had to admit that Havocwing had a talent for rhymes, to be able to come up with such situationally-appropriate lines.

“Like... like a dog?” she asked.

“Like a wolf!” Havocwing corrected. She pounded her chest. “You gotta be fierce! I get that you like animals, so I ain’t gonna try and tell ya to change your passion or nothin’, but your animal stuff needs some work. Think about big animals. Strong ones! Vicious ones! Animals that will strike some fear into your opponents! Lions, and tigers, and bears!”

“Oh my...” Fluttershy said. “That's... interesting though. Using inspiration from my animal friends... to stand up for myself? Hmm...”

“Yeah! You gotta come outta your shell! Right now you’re like this... scared little rabbit.”

“Um... b-but rabbits don’t have shells,” Fluttershy noted. “That would make me... more like a turtle, or a tortoise? Oh! I used to have a pet tortoise, but Rainbow adopted him. He’s a tough cookie. Maybe... I should act more like him?”

Havocwing stared at Fluttershy for a moment. “Um, okay... a tortoise is fine, too.” She then shook her head. “Anyway, if you wanna be able to handle yourself, you gotta go in fierce!”

Fluttershy frowned. “W-well, to me, animals aren’t fierce, vicious, or anything like that at all. Though... I know some ponies don’t always share that opinion with me. So... to show I’m m-more independent, I have to s-show that I can be as strong as a lion?”

“That’s it, you got it!” Havocwing said. “And as fierce as a tiger!”

Fluttershy smiled. “And... as tough as a bear?”

“Boom! Exactly. You picked it up pretty quick, there.”

“Oh, but darling,” Rarity interjected, “you’re such a sweet, kind pony. Shouldn’t you be emulating something more elegant? Like a peacock, or a swan, or—"

Havocwing rolled her eyes. “Pfh, those animals are cute and cuddly and stuff. They have no place out here.”

“Well certainly not, not when those monsters are running about,” Rarity huffed. Fluttershy shot her a look, but it went unnoticed. “But, when she’s in a more civilized location, it would be most uncouth for her to act like some lionhearted troublemaker. If you insist on her taking inspiration from her animal friends, then may I at least suggest you choose a proper animal?”

“‘Proper’? Look, maybe you haven’t noticed, but I don’t do proper. And y’know what? I’m alive and kicking after dealing with all kinds of dangers that would knock all the proper right out of you.” Havocwing patted Fluttershy on the shoulder. “If Fluttershy wants to survive out here, without relying on anypony to leap to her defense, she needs to take charge!”

“Havocwing’s right,” Fluttershy said. “I w-want to be able to fend for myself, if I need to. I appreciate the thought, Rarity, but...”

Rarity sighed, then nodded. “It’s quite alright darling, I understand. Just know that if you ever need a helping hoof, I’m here for you.”

Lockwood trotted over to the three mares, and cleared his throat to get their attention. “Um, ladies? I think we should get moving; the others are getting ready to head into the cave.”

“Oh!” Rarity gasped. She turned to Fluttershy. “Come along, darling.”

“Um... I’ll be okay,” Fluttershy peeped, taking a step forward. “Y-you don’t have to- oof!”

She stumbled, but Lockwood caught her.

“Oh... um... s-sorry,” she said, her face red. “I guess I’m still a little... weak in the knees...”

“Hey, don’t worry about it. I’ll stick with you for as long as you need me,” he said with a smile.

Twilight wished she hadn’t called the cave “dark” earlier, because she no longer felt that was an appropriate description. The entire cave around them was nearly pitch black, its only light source the glow from Twilight’s own horn. It was enough to see ahead of her a fairly decent distance, and for her and her companions to see that the interior of the mountain was much different from the outside.

Her light reflected off of many different little surfaces that covered the otherwise dim, black walls. Various gems, more than Twilight had ever seen in one place before, dotted the walls; everypony, Rarity and Insipid especially, admired the sight. Rubies, sapphires, emeralds, amethysts, sunstones, moonstones, and diamonds were in great abundance, and those were just the precious gems. There were also ultra-precious gems, otherwise known as magical gems: prism stars, infinity stones, gorgon’s eyes, meteor shards, and evening marks; the list went on and on. Twilight had never seen some of these stones except in books.

“This entire mountain range is simply the most gorgeous thing I have ever seen in all my years of gem-hunting,” Rarity said in awe. “Absolutely marvelous. Oh, how it pains me that this delicious little gem of a location will soon be behind us.”

“Oh, I know!” Insipid added. “They’re all, like, so shiny and junk? It’s so totally pretty.”

“C’est incroyable!” Curaçao gasped. “I ‘ave not seen such beauté since I last looked in zee mirror.”

Insipid giggled. “Oh, like, yeah, it’s still, like, totally not as pretty as you though, Curie.”

The group rounded a corner, and the route in front of them broke into multiple paths. The pathways looked out over a massive underground lake, which was only visible from the reflections of light across its surface.

“This must be where Mister Pewter gets all his water,” Applejack said. She stepped in a puddle, and shook water off her hoof. “Sure is damp in here.”

“Does the city get their water from here too?” Twilight asked.

“Pandemonium wouldn’t bother with that. It’s too time-consuming and expensive. Goldridge Pass is the only source of pure water in the north,” Tick Tock explained. “Pandemonium purifies and desalinates ocean waters. It still has a slight taint from all the dark magicks that permeate the sea, hence why most ponies prefer Dolor Blue.”

She double-checked her map, then pointed her hoof towards the rightmost pathway. “This way, everypony,” she said, starting along that route.

Everypony followed along behind her in pairs; the paths were more narrow around the lake area. Tick Tock remained by herself at the head of the group, as she had the map. Applejack and Curaçao followed behind her, then Twilight and Starlight, with Havocwing and Rarity taking up the rear.

The group continued onward into the darkness, and minutes turned into hours. They ascended an incline up to a plateau within the cavern, which they’d marked as their resting stop for the night. The plateau was wide enough to easily accommodate hundreds of ponies, giving the party plenty of room for privacy. It was bordered on the northeastern end by a large rock wall with a pair of openings, one leading towards the coast, the other towards the Gryphon Ruins. The party traveled to the middle of the area and set up camp; Havocwing started a fire while the others set up sleeping bags and laid out food for everypony.

It was not long before everypony fell asleep.

Late that night, Velvet cracked one eye open, and took a look around the camp. Havocwing’s campfire had long since burned itself down to smoldering embers without its controller to stoke its flames. With what little light it still cast, Velvet could see that everypony else was fast asleep; she was glad she had developed apt scotopic vision. She shifted her gaze across the collection of ponies she was traveling with, just to make sure, then, once satisfied, let out a quiet sigh.

Good, this is the perfect time to do this. If I don’t get some sustenance soon, I’m gonna run outta juice, and that won’t do anypony any good. Let’s see... who to choose?

Velvet focused her thoughts, and after blinking once, could see faint auras around the other ponies in the camp. Most of them were rather dim. This meant they were either not dreaming much at all, or that their dreams were average and boring; perhaps they were dreaming about going shopping, or having an odd day at work. Some were brighter, meaning their dreams were happy; some were darker, meaning their dreams were sad or scary. The latter would be the perfect snack for later.

Some of the auras had a smidgen of color. This meant they were dreaming about somepony in particular, and that somepony was the same color as the aura. Insipid’s aura, for example, was blue. Velvet rolled her eyes at that; Insipid was always dreaming of Curaçao. Pinkie’s shifted colors constantly; she was likely dreaming of all of her friends. Fluttershy’s was gray, a perfect match to Lockwood’s coat; Lockwood’s, in turn was... a different shade of gray. One pony in particular, however, piqued Velvet’s curiosity: Starlight. Her aura was brighter than several of the other ponies in the group, and was colored a familiar silver.

I wonder... hmm. I’ve never looked in on the boss’s dreams before. Heh, a little peek won’t hurt.

Velvet took a deep breath, focused intently on Starlight’s aura, and closed her eyes.

When she opened them, she found herself in her father’s private chambers. She recognized the stylish décor anywhere: the gold and red-trimmed rug with the exquisite floral pattern; the mahogany desk in the corner with a matching bookcase beside it; the grand, king-sized bed—

Hey, hey, whoa. This is unexpected. And weird.

Her father’s bed was not empty. Both her father and her sister occupied it, curled up in each other’s hooves. It was not a particularly intimate embrace—in fact, it was rather dull—but it was still happening. Velvet thanked the stars that both were clothed, though the “costumes” both wore—that was really the only word she could think of to describe their clothing—were something else. Her father wore an elaborate, handsome tuxedo decorated with various medals. Her sister wore a black silk dress with frilly lace that could only be described as “revealing”.

What was she seeing here?

“Ah, my favorite daughter, your splendiferous display tonight was the most exhilarating exhibition I have witnessed in many years,” her father said, his voice even more silky-smooth than Velvet remembered it. Despite his words sounding boring and frilly, his tone was oddly seductive. “You truly are a superlative example of what a unicorn should be.”

“My thanks, father,” Starlight purred. “Please, do not cease your exaltation. I relish it so.”

“You, my most magnificent child, are superior to all others who stand before you. That I am able to claim you as my daughter is my greatest treasure in life.”

“Yes!” Starlight cried. “Praise me more, father!”

Velvet cocked an eyebrow as a sharp heat radiated throughout her body; Starlight’s dream was leaking into her own thoughts. She knew that heat only too well. Her mouth curled in a smirk, and she cocked an eyebrow; this was getting good.

Yeah, this is definitely weird. But also, kinky. Everypony has their turn-ons, I suppose. I never thought my little sis had it in her. Well, maybe she doesn’t exactly have it in her... yet.

Velvet blanched at her own train of thought.

Okay, ew, no, bad. Bad brain. Don’t think about daddy’s junk.

Starlight suddenly jerked up from their father’s bed in shock; the dreamscape around them violently shook in response. Somehow, she’d become alerted to Velvet’s presence.

“Velvet!” Starlight blurted. “What are you- why- get out!”

Velvet chuckled nervously. “Oh... uh... hey boss, what’s—"

The dreamscape disappeared entirely, and Velvet found herself back in the darkness of the cavern. She blinked her eyes to readjust to the lack of light, and saw Starlight staring right at her, one eye cracked open.

<How much did you witness?> Starlight asked, her voice speaking directly into Velvet’s mind.

The spell Starlight was using was something of her own design, and allowed her and her sisters a greater degree of communication. They could speak to one another telepathically without expending an ounce of magic, though Starlight herself still served as an anchor for the spell so all communications went directly through her. Velvet found it a double-edged sword; she could speak privately if need be, but Starlight could be rather bossy.

<Nothing juicy, if that’s what you’re asking,> Velvet said. She snickered. <Though it looks like if I’d stuck around a little more—>

<Shut up,> Starlight growled. <Velvet, you had better have a more-than-adequate explanation for why you decided to eavesdrop upon my dreams.>

<Right, yeah. Boss, I need to change tactics or something here. This Pinkie thing is getting ridiculous.>

<This inane colloquy again?> Starlight sighed. <I hardly consider this sufficient cause for rousing me from my slumber.>

<Boss, you don’t understand!> Velvet wailed. <I can't take it anymore! Pinkie's driving me up the wall. She's just too happy! I think it’s starting to have some sort of weird effect on me.>

<What manner of effect?>

<Well, I’ve been feeling weak the past day or so, like all the energy’s been drained from my body.>

<Hmm... I have perceived a slight faltering in your pace as of late. Still, your excuses do not disquiet me. If that pathetic pink putz is proving a predicament, perhaps—>

<Please, boss! You gotta let me trade with Havoc, you just gotta!>

<I do not ‘gotta’ do any such thing,> Starlight huffed. <Havocwing is making abundant progress with her quarry, much unlike yourself. Frankly, Velvet, you are atrophying my equanimity.>

<I’m what-ing your what? Whoa, boss, I’m not into mares.>

Starlight sneered. <It means you are trying my patience. Father has delivered nothing but praise upon you, yet here you are, failing to live up to his expectations by a significant margin. Your lackluster performance leaves me crestfallen, and, I assure you, father will feel the same when I notify him of this.>

Velvet’s eyes widened. <You wouldn’t! Boss! D-don’t tell daddy! Please!>

<If you do not wish for me to inform father of your deficiency, then perhaps you should rectify your situation. I wish to see Pinkie Pie submit to your fear-mongering ways in some fashion by day’s end.>

<But boss—>

<Enough! This conversation is finished.>

Starlight abruptly cut the connection, filling Velvet’s ears with static, then rolled over and fell back to sleep.

‘Enough’. Hmph... I’ve certainly had enough, that’s for sure. To hell with what the boss says. Fine, I won’t officially trade with Havoc, but that target of hers is a prime source of fear, just ripe for the taking. A little snack won’t hurt anypony. Much.

Velvet refocused her vision on the dream auras of the other ponies, and waited until Starlight’s reappeared so she could be sure her little sister was fast asleep. Once in the clear, she glanced about at the others to pick the best candidate. In her weakened state, it would be too much effort to try and take somepony’s good dream and turn it bad. Thus, she looked specifically to the ponies with the worst dreams.

She grinned when she laid eyes on the pony who would be her target, amused that it was exactly who she wanted to scare in the first place: Fluttershy. The pegasus squirmed weakly in her sleep, and her aura was so dark that it blended in with the cavern’s lack of light. Her dream from before had moved on, replaced by another, less pleasant one.

Perfect, I don’t even really need to do anything. I’ll just hop on into the wimp’s dreams and snack on her nightmares. That should give me enough juice to keep up this stupid game with Pinkie.

Velvet took a deep breath, focused herself on Fluttershy’s aura, then closed her eyes.

When she opened them, she was surrounded by the vast expanse of the Wastelands. A loud, screeching roar from behind her drew her attention, not only to Fluttershy, but to what was giving her the nightmare. An adolescent Gargantuan pursued her across the arid sands, swinging its claws and striking with its tail in attempts to catch its prey. Velvet knew this was typical Gargantuan behavior from days of dealing with the beasts herself; she figured Fluttershy wasn’t afraid of an adult because she hadn’t seen one as her friends had.

Velvet licked her lips and gave chase. She knew exactly how to twist this nightmare to her advantage.

Fluttershy galloped as fast as she could, not daring to look at her pursuer. She could hear the fierce steps of the Gargantuan behind her. She felt one of its claws slice through her tail, and she looked back in shock; had the creature really been that close? The beast gave a screech of anger at having missed its prey, then resumed its pursuit.

When Fluttershy returned her gaze to the front, she was surprised to find herself facing down a massive rock wall. How it had popped up in front of her so quickly in such barren terrain was beyond her. She panicked, and turned to her left to run alongside the cliff, only to find another wall of rock on in front of her. She tried to go right instead, but met rock again. She was boxed in.

The Gargantuan roared, drawing her attention to it. It was barring the only path out of the corner she’d somehow become trapped in. It stomped forward slowly; it knew its prey was trapped. It was being careful to ensure Fluttershy did not escape. It closed the distance, and raised one of its great claws up to strike; Fluttershy closed her eyes and waited for the blow to come.

The creature let out a shrill shriek of pain.

Fluttershy felt blood splatter on her face. She opened her eyes in shock. The creature staggered back, its claw severed and spraying blood everywhere. Fluttershy’s gaze was drawn to the pink pony in front of her that had suddenly appeared.

“P-Pinkie?” she muttered.

The pink mare turned her head just slightly, and Fluttershy realized her mistake. She could see now it wasn’t Pinkie Pie at all, but one of the mare’s from Starlight’s group: Red Velvet. The two looked an awful lot alike, so much so that in the heat of the moment, it was easy to mix them up. She hardly ever interacted with the other mare, and, in fact, knew less about her than any of her sisters. So, why was she here? Furthermore, had she been the one to attack the creature? How?

Velvet smirked, her eyes glowing red, then turned back to the Gargantuan and rushed towards it with intent to kill. A great gash along her spine burst open, releasing a torrent of blood that streamed out and formed itself into a series of spikes and blades.

The Gargantuan did not stand a chance. Blades sliced through claws and legs without resistance, crippling it; spikes penetrated its armored exoskeleton, tearing out innards. The creature’s shrieks of pain and terror echoed against the walls of rock around them. Blood splattered over dirt, rock, and across Velvet’s body, covering everything with rancid greenish-red gore. Velvet did not stop until all that was left of the thing was a pile of remains that could hardly be called a carcass.

Fluttershy had never seen anything like it, and was glad she hadn’t. She fought the urge to vomit; the sight was too much to bear. Velvet hadn’t just slaughtered the creature, she was eating it, wolfing down large chunks of meat like Pinkie would wolf down cake. The fact that they looked so much alike made the comparison easy, and Fluttershy wished it wasn’t so. It did not take long for the pink mare to devour all that remained of the Gargantuan.

Then, Velvet turned on her. Fluttershy backed into the corner of the rock walls, terrified at the sight. Velvet stomped towards her, bloody tendrils flailing about. A great cloud of red and black mist permeated about her, drowning out what little light there was, until eventually, all Fluttershy could see was a pair of red eyes and a set of bright, white fangs approaching her.

“Well hello there, Fluttershy,” Velvet’s voice said, echoing all around her. “Dinner time’s over. It’s time for dessert.”

Fluttershy squeezed herself against the wall and covered her head with her hooves, trembling in fear. Velvet stepped closer; Fluttershy cried.

Then, the darkness disappeared entirely, and light shined back upon the rocky outcropping. Fluttershy took a peek out from between her bangs. Velvet and the nightmare around her were gone. She rose to her hooves and glanced about to make sure she was safe, and, finding nothing, took a few steps out into the sand. Everything was quiet and calm; there was no trace of any violence whatsoever. She even glanced back at the rocky wall behind her, just to make sure. Still nothing.

Fluttershy let out a deep breath, and turned back to the path out of the corner.

She ran right into a solid wall of black ooze.

A face slid out of the wall and pressed its nose against hers. While its shape was distinctly pony-like, its other features were not: its eyes were wide and red, and bugged out of its head; its mouth was unnaturally wide and filled with rows upon rows of sharp fangs, and it was curled in a sadistic grin.

The face opened its mouth to speak.

“Boo.”

Fluttershy screamed in terror, as loud as she could.

It just so happened that Fluttershy could scream really loud, when she wanted to. So loud, in fact, that Red Velvet had to put her hooves to her ears in pain. The pitch was so high that it could crack glass, and she was screaming right in Velvet’s face; in her lack of focus, she did not properly abort her dream-hop, and now was directly in front of Fluttershy, in precisely the same position she’d been within the dream. The dreamscape cracked around them, replacing the vision of the Wastelands with the reality of the cavern under Goldridge.

Fluttershy was still letting out a shrill scream despite the dream ending; everypony else woke due to the noise. Each unicorn lit their horn, flooding the plateau with light.

“What’s going on?!” Twilight exclaimed, frantically looking around for any source of danger.

Fluttershy, in a panic, stumbled away from Velvet and practically tackled Rarity in an attempt to shield herself. “S-s-stay away from me!” she shouted, looking at Velvet with great fear in her eyes.

“What’s the matter, dear?” Rarity asked, pulling Fluttershy close. “What happened? Oh, you’re trembling!”

“That girl has got a set of lungs on her like you wouldn’t believe,” Velvet muttered, twisting a hoof in her ear. “I’ve got a splitting headache now. Thanks.”

“J-just s-s-stay away from me!” Fluttershy shouted.

“Did Miss Velvet do something to you, darling?” Rarity asked, shooting Velvet a glare.

Lockwood stepped over and put his hoof on Fluttershy’s back to calm her; she jerked away at the touch, then calmed when she saw who it was. “What did she do?” he asked, keeping his tone soft.

“Sh-sh-she scared me!” Fluttershy squeaked.

“Oh, you poor dear,” Rarity cooed, petting Fluttershy’s mane. She glared at Velvet. “Miss Velvet, this is most unacceptable. Fluttershy is in a vulnerable state, and you took advantage of it. You should be ashamed, scaring her like that.”

Velvet rolled her eyes. “Oh, ease off the blame game. So I pranked her, what’s the big deal?”

Rainbow stepped up alongside Velvet and poked her in the shoulder. “That wasn't very nice, that’s what’s the big deal! I’m all for a good prank, but even I know where to draw the line.”

Pinkie slid up beside Rainbow and nodded in agreement. “Yeah! Fluttershy’s off-limits!”

“Let me guess, because she’s ‘delicate’ and ‘sensitive’, right?” Velvet snorted. “That’s exactly why she makes the best target!”

“She’s not your target in the the first—" Havocwing started to say.

“Havoc!” Starlight interrupted by zipping Havocwing’s mouth closed, literally. She glared at Velvet, her mouth curled in a snarl. “Velvet, are Fluttershy’s claims genuine?”

“So what if they are, boss?” Velvet huffed, meeting Starlight’s glare with one of her own.

“If they are, then you have overstepped your boundaries.” Starlight snorted and idly eyed her hoof. “Am I required to remind you of what happens when ponies contravene my edicts?”

“I don't care,” Velvet said, shrugging. “I can’t take anymore, and you’re not doing anything to help. I wouldn't have even had to do this if Pinkie here would once, just once, get scared of my ‘pranks’.”

“Pfh, you've been trying to scare me?” Pinkie asked in disbelief. She shook her head. “You’re barking up the wrong tree there, sister. I already told you I don’t scare easy. Weren’t you listening?”

“Sorry, I tend to tune you out sometimes.”

“Well that’s just plain rude,” Pinkie huffed. “Besides, that’s no excuse for going after Fluttershy! Hmph! I thought you were a pretty nice pony, but now I see you’re just a Meanie McMeanerson, and that you’ve got a degree in Rudenomics with a minor in Jerkery. You’re a Grade-A Meanie!”

“And you’re just a tubby oaf with terrible jokes!”

“Whoa, excuse me? Who do you think you are, talking to Pinkie like that?” Rainbow snapped, stepping in-between Pinkie and Velvet. “You’d better take that back!”

Velvet snickered. “Or what? You’ll make me?”

“You’d better bucking believe it.”

Pinkie gasped. “Dashie! Language!”

“Hey, watch the way you talk to my sister, punk,” Havocwing snarled, stepping up alongside Velvet, her mouth no longer zipped shut.

“Everypony just calm down!” Twilight interjected, stepping over to the quarrel.

Velvet tilted her head towards Twilight. “You keep out of this, brainiac.”

“I’ve got this covered, Twi,” Rainbow said, taking another step towards Velvet and Havocwing. “Come on, you two wanna go? You want a piece of me?”

“Just a piece? I’ll take the whole thing,” Velvet snickered.

Flathoof stepped over and put himself between the arguing mares. “Hang on now, there’s no reason for any of this to come to blows.”

“Out of the way, Flathoof!” Rainbow shouted.

“Yeah, you stay out of this too, beefcake,” Velvet said.

Havocwing snorted smoke. “Your scrawny friend wants to throw down, let’s see her try it.”

“Velvet, Havoc, enough!” Starlight shouted, stepping up to the quarrel and pushing Velvet and Havocwing back with a field of magic. “You two are conducting yourselves in a fashion that demands immediate reprimanding. You are treading on thin ice.”

“Red started it!” Havocwing blurted.

“Oh, so now this is my fault?!” Velvet exclaimed. “If you would’ve just let me trade like I asked—"

Starlight snarled. Through clenched teeth, she asked, “Are you questioning my orders?”

“Ma capitaine, calm yourself,” Curaçao said, stepping up to Starlight’s side. “It vould désavantageux to lose your temper.”

Starlight glared at Curaçao. “I will see to it that Velvet is disciplined for her gross breach in protocol! This matter is not open for discussion!”

“I think I’ve heard enough of this,” Twilight interjected, her face bearing a scowl.

“What?” Starlight asked, eyebrow raised.

“The bunch of you are busy arguing, but you’re more concerned with who’s to blame. None of you are concerned with how this has affected Fluttershy at all. Just look at her!”

Twilight pointed in the aforementioned pony’s direction. Fluttershy was trembling on the ground, huddled up tight in Lockwood’s jacket and clinging to Rarity as if for dear life. Her eyes were closed and she kept her face mostly hidden with her mane, obviously not daring to look in Velvet’s direction.

“She is absolutely terrified right now,” Twilight continued. “You went too far, Miss Velvet.”

“Oh please, that was a low-grade bit,” Velvet dismissed, rolling her eyes. “She’ll be fine in a few hours. I guess. Maybe.”

“Velvet, would you kindly keep your corpulent mouth shut?” Starlight hissed. “Your continued speaking is not impacting the situation in any positive fashion.”

“Well maybe if she wasn’t such a wimp.”

“Oh for buck’s sake!” Havocwing spat. “Red, shut up!”

“Make me!”

“I apologize, Starlight,” Twilight said, turning her firm glare over to the other unicorn. “I don’t think Fluttershy would feel safe around Miss Velvet any longer, and Miss Velvet’s continued insults and hostile attitude don’t make me confident that the situation can change. I’m sorry, but I think it would be in Fluttershy’s best interests if my group continues on to the coast on our own.”

Silence overtook the group.

Several moments later, Starlight spoke. “What?”

Twilight shook her head. “I’m sorry that it comes down to this. I know the rest of us like you all... but I want Fluttershy to feel safe. She’s gone through enough this week.”

“It was one time!” Velvet blurted.

Starlight and her sisters all turned their heads to glare at Velvet.

“Velvet, tais-toi, tu ne vas faire qu’aggraver les choses,” Curaçao said.

“Really, Sparkle, there will be no need for any of that,” Starlight said. “I have pledged my team’s time to escorting you and your friends to the coast. I do not intend to terminate our verbal contract merely because of my misguided sister. She will be disciplined, I assure you.”

“That won’t be necessary,” Twilight said. “My friends and I can make it to the coast on our own. I don’t want to force our groups to travel together, and that’s what we’d be doing. It’s been nice traveling with you all, but this is where we part ways.” She turned to face her friends. “Come on, everypony. We’re leaving.”

Rainbow groaned. “Do we have to, really?”

“C'mon Dash, y’all heard Twilight,” Applejack said, stepping up and putting her hoof on Rainbow’s shoulder. “Ya don't wanna make things hard on Fluttershy, do ya?”

“Well, no, but... aww... horseapples,” Rainbow sighed.

“Awww... c’mon you guys,” Insipid said, stepping up beside Curaçao. “I, like, totally don’t want you guys to leave. I mean, who’s gonna help me with my mane and junk?”

Curaçao put a hoof to Insipid’s mouth. “It might be best if you remain quiet too, ma copine.” She turned to Twilight’s group as they were walking away. “Zis does not need to end zis vay. Reconsider, s’il vous plaît?”

Twilight turned to Curaçao and frowned. “I am sorry, Miss Curaçao, but I don’t feel comfortable with making Fluttershy and Miss Velvet travel together, nor do I feel comfortable with Miss Velvet being disciplined for our sake. Besides which, your group needs to get back to your mission in the ruins, don’t you? Thank you again, for everything you’ve done.”

Twilight next turned to Tick Tock. “Tick Tock, lead the way.”

Tick Tock smirked and drew out her map. “Right away, Sparkle.”

Twilight and her friends started on their way towards the rightmost opening in the cavern wall, towards the coast.

Starlight watched in worry, biting her lip in thought. In less than an hour, all of her and her father’s plans had been completely ruined.

Havocwing swept up alongside Starlight. “Boss! We can’t just let them leave!”

“Ma capitaine, zere is little time. You ‘ave to do somezing,” Curaçao added. “Papa vould not be pleased. Dépêchez-vous!”

“Do not rush me! I am attempting to devise a solution!” Starlight hissed. She remained silent in thought, then turned to Curaçao. “Assist me in this endeavor, Curaçao.”

“Oui, ma capitaine,” Curaçao said with a salute.

Starlight stepped forward and called out, “Sparkle! Wait!”

Twilight stopped and turned to Starlight, though she was clearly impatient. “Yes?”

Starlight and Curaçao trotted up to Twilight. Starlight shook her head. “I apologize for my sister’s behavior. She is not accustomed to extended expeditions such as this. She has developed... cabin fever, if you will.”

Twilight nodded. “I know what it’s like to be cooped up without anything you enjoy, but if that is the case, then it may be better for us to separate after all. My friends and I have kept your group from your task for too long as it is. If Miss Velvet hopes to recover from her cabin fever, then you’ll need to complete your assignment quickly.”

Curaçao clicked her tongue. “Oui, zat may be true, but ma capitaine ‘as made un contrat viz votre équipe. It would not do to break it.”

“Yes, I am a mare of professional integrity, and I must insist we maintain the contract that we agreed upon,” Starlight said.

“Well...” Twilight hummed, then turned to her friends. “Let me discuss it with my friends first.”

Starlight’s eyebrow twitched, but she otherwise hid her annoyance. “Yes, of course.”

Twilight trotted back to her friends. “What do you think, everypony?” she asked in a whisper as they all huddled together.

“Absolutely not,” Rarity hissed. “That hooligan frightened dear Fluttershy half to death, and threatened Rainbow Dash as well. Regardless of Miss Shadow’s assertions, such behavior is unacceptable.”

“I say we stick with ‘em,” Rainbow said. “I’ve got no problems handling myself if that creep job wants to try anything. I can always ask Gray to keep her in check. Gray’s pretty reliable, y’know?”

“It’s kind o’ hard ta decide, really,” Applejack said, adjusting her hat in thought. “They’re offerin’ ta help us get through the eastern Wastelands, so that’ll help us get home that much quicker. Then again, y’all’re right Twi, I don’t really trust that Velvet mare ta keep herself under control, even if Miss Shadow is tryin’ ta help.”

Pinkie tapped her hoof to her chin. “Wellll, I suppose I can forgive and forget. I can’t really stay mad at anypony, even they are a big ol’ Meanie McMeaniepants. I’ll keep my eye on Fluttershy. I’ll be like... her bodyguard! Her watchdog! Her guardian! Nopony’ll get past me!”

“I say we get back a little sense of normalcy and leave them behind,” Tick Tock said. “I disagree with the sentiment that we need their help. Applejack’s been a good enough study of using my map, and the road ahead is such that there won’t be any arguing about whose route is right or wrong. Furthermore, Sparkle, you have more than enough power to handle anything out there, if only you’d use it. We’ll be more cautious this time, that’s all.”

Flathoof shook his head. “I think we should stick with them. If the eastern Wastelands are worse than the western Wastelands, I don’t see how we can make it across without their help. But I’m speaking from a lack of experience.”

“I agree with Applejack: it’s not exactly an easy decision to make,” Lockwood said. “Personally, I don’t think we should be making the decision at all, seeing as how none of us are at the heart of the issue. We should be asking Fluttershy what she wants to do.”

“Well said, my dear Lockwood,” Rarity agreed.

Twilight nodded. “You’re right.” She turned to Fluttershy. “Fluttershy, what do you want to do?”

“Um... w-well... I really don't want to travel with them anymore...” Fluttershy muttered

“Aww, c’mon, Fluttershy,” Rainbow said. “They’re not all that bad! We’ll keep that Velvet creep away from you!”

“Oh... I’m s-sorry...”

“Rainbow Dash, really!” Rarity huffed. “Fluttershy has made her decision, so don’t try to change her mind.”

“Well, that’s that then,” Twilight said. “Four votes for leaving, three for staying, and two declined. Majority rules: we’re leaving without them.”

Rainbow threw her hooves in the air. “But—"

“That’s final, Rainbow,” Twilight interrupted.

She turned back to Starlight and shook her head. “I really am sorry, Starlight, but we’ve made our decision, and we’re going to continue on to the coast without you. I really have enjoyed our time together, and I’m sorry things have come to this, but I have to keep my friends’ interests in mind.”

“I see. Very well. I, too, regret that these unfortunate circumstances have befallen us,” Starlight sighed. She turned to her sisters, and gestured towards Twilight’s group. “Sisters, it would appear as though altering our plans is in order. We will no longer be escorting Sparkle’s party to the coast.”

Pinkie suddenly tripped. “Oof! Uh... uh-oh...”

“What’s wrong, Pinks?” Rainbow asked, helping Pinkie up. “You okay?”

“Pinchy knee, Dashie...”

Starlight flared her horn and fired a massive blast of energy over the heads of Twilight’s party. It impacted the cavern wall behind them, demolishing the opening leading towards the cavern exit.

“W-what are you doing?!” Twilight shouted.

Starlight glared in Twilight’s direction. “Instead, we will be escorting them back to the city. Remember your orders: the Elements of Harmony are to be apprehended alive. Apply lethal force to the others if need be. I will provide tactical assistance from the rear.”

She lit her horn again, firing a bolt of brilliant silver light that struck the ceiling. Within seconds, the entirety of the underground cavern was illuminated; where once it was darker than the darkest night, now it was brighter than the clearest day, and the walls shined all the colors of the rainbow.

Before anypony else could move, Pinkie sprung forward. “Wait, hold on! If we’re gonna have a big battle sequence, it calls for a little fighting music!”

To everypony’s surprise, she pulled a boom-box from one of the saddlebags they’d set aside and placed it to the floor. She then pressed the Play button, and loud, upbeat music filled the air, echoing throughout the cavern.

“What in Equestria?” Starlight muttered. She shook her head. “Enough foal games! Sisters! Attack!”

Havocwing bolstered forward first and charged at Rainbow, leveling a forehoof at her face.

Rainbow ducked and rushed upwards, knocking the wind out of the other pegasus and pushing her towards the ceiling.

Havocwing kicked her way out of Rainbow’s grip about a yard away from crashing into the gem-laden rock, knocking Rainbow off-course. Rainbow swerved and darted away; Havocwing gave chase.

Rainbow was much too fast, leaving Havocwing behind. Havocwing beat her wings as hard as she could to chase Rainbow in great arcs around the cavern’s ceiling, but just couldn’t catch up.

Havocwing snarled. “Fight me like a mare you stupid—"

Rainbow screeched to a halt, looped around in a u-turn, then tackled Havocwing and slammed her into the ceiling.

“Careful what you wish for, dragon breath!” Rainbow shouted, laughing and rocketing off again.

Havocwing recovered, shook her head, and resumed her pursuit. “Get back here, Rainbow Crash!”

“Oh, yeah, like I haven’t heard that before. Gonna have to do better than that, stinkbrain!”

Havocwing lit up a tiny fireball, then flung it just past Rainbow’s head; she’d been aiming to actually hit Rainbow, but missed.

Rainbow looked behind her. “Whoa! I thought your boss said you wanted me alive!”

“Ha! You’d be surprised what you can live through, punk!” Havocwing shouted. “I can always use the target practice!”

Rainbow smirked. “With your aim, yeah, I bet you could. Just try and catch me, hot head!”

Grayscale stared down Applejack, Flathoof, and Twilight, all of whom remained still, not taking their eyes off of her. She took a step forward; Flathoof and Applejack shifted in place, and Twilight dug her hooves into the dirt. “You guys are jittery,” she said, bored. “What’s the matter? Are you afraid of me?”

“Fat chance,” Applejack said, stomping a hoof on the ground. “Three against one don’t look like mighty good odds ta me.”

Grayscale shrugged. “No, I suppose not. You might need another pony or two to come close to even.” She lifted a hoof and gestured for Applejack and Flathoof to come at her. “Let’s go. Try and keep up.”

Applejack and Flathoof rushed forward. Grayscale flicked her wings, and they both slowed to a crawl.

Twilight’s eyes widened. “Is that... gravity magic? You can use magic too?”

Grayscale nodded. “Pretty much.”

“A lil’ help here, Twi!” Applejack shouted.

Twilight smirked. “I happen to know a lot about gravity magic. How about a taste of your own medicine?!”

She charged her horn and fired a bolt of stunning magic. Grayscale moved as little to the side as was necessary to avoid it. It screeched just past her head.

Applejack and Flathoof regained their balance and charged forward again. “Good distraction, Twi!” Applejack shouted.

Grayscale flicked her wings again. As soon as Applejack and Flathoof’s hooves touched the ground, they bounced into the air, as light as feathers.

“Whoa nelly!” Applejack exclaimed as she sailed upwards. “Get me down from here!”

Twilight fired another bolt of magic at Grayscale. Grayscale flicked her wings, causing Flathoof and Applejack to slam back into the ground directly in the path of Twilight’s blast. Twilight gasped and jerked her head to the side; her magic swerved aside, mimicking the motion.

Grayscale flicked her wings again, and Twilight collapsed to the floor, same as Applejack and Flathoof. “I was right,” she yawned. “You guys are boring.”

Applejack stood up, even under the crushing weight, and began to move forward. “Y’all ain’t... done with me yet... featherbrain...”

Grayscale raised an eyebrow. “Hmm... you’re a strong one.” She flicked her right wing; Applejack slammed to the floor. “But, I think I’m out of your league.”

Applejack slowly struggled to her hooves again. “Who’s... outta... whose... league?”

“Curious,” Grayscale said.

She flicked her right wing again. Applejack crashed to the floor, but, to Grayscale’s continued surprise, managed to fight her way to her hooves once again. Grayscale glanced at Twilight and Flathoof, who were each still struggling to even lift their heads off the ground, let alone their whole bodies.

“Very curious. You look like you require a different approach.” She cracked a tiny smile. “This might actually require effort.”

“Just... shut yer... feather-stuffed... mouth...” Applejack spat, “and fight... like a mare!”

Grayscale shrugged. “As you wish.”

She flicked her wings again, lifting the pressure off of Applejack and allowing her to rise upright.

Applejack lunged at Grayscale as soon as she was able.

Grayscale flapped her great wings just once, and soared towards the ceiling. Applejack landed just short of Grayscale’s hooves.

Applejack glared at the retreating pegasus. “Is this what ya call fightin’ like a mare?! I ain’t got wings, ya dirty, rotten cheater!”

Insipid stared down Rarity and Tick Tock, trying her best to keep up with two opponents at once. Rarity was helping Tick Tock by empowering her magic, allowing her to strike at Insipid’s defenses with a great deal more power than Insipid was expecting. She was already getting winded.

“Like, hey! This is so totally unfair!” Insipid complained as she deflected another attack. “So! Mondo! Unfair!”

Insipid’s shield was lopsided, not at all spherical as most barriers were. Tick Tock’s bolts of magic struck the shield in random spots, careening about but never reflecting back at Tick Tock herself, or anypony else for that matter.

Tick Tock groaned as another bolt went flying towards the the ceiling, harmless. “Would you stop your bleedin’ whining and stand still?!” she snapped. “You’re making this bloody well more difficult than it needs to be!”

“Cha. Yeah right. Like, that would be totally dumb?” Insipid said, rolling her eyes. “Stand still? What, like I’m some sort of target dummy and junk?”

“‘Dummy’ would be pretty accurate!”

“Darling, really, all this roughhousing is most unnecessary,” Rarity said to Tick Tock. She turned to Insipid. “Just stand down, Insipid. With my magic at Miss Tock’s side, she’s more powerful than you are. I don’t want to hurt you, but I certainly can’t speak for her, and as you are threatening my friends and I, I wouldn’t try to stop her.”

Another blast from Tick Tock struck Insipid’s shield dead-on, knocking her off her hooves. She stood back upright and stared the other two unicorns down. “Um, you guys can, like, totally bite me? The boss says I have to, y’know, subdue you and junk? Sooo... yeah, like, bring it on!”

Another blast of magic knocked her down again.

“But hey, like, take it easy!” she shouted as she struggled back to her hooves.

“Ma copine! Écoutez!” Curaçao shouted from the sidelines.

Insipid perked up and tore her attention away from the other two unicorns to face Curaçao, who was standing beside Starlight. “Curie? Ooh! What’s up?!”

“If you want to vin zis, you ‘ave to go on zee offensive! Stop playing zee turtle game and attack!”

“But Curie,” Insipid said with a pout, “I, like, suck at that kind of stuff...”

Tick Tock fired another bolt. Insipid couldn’t block it, as she’d dropped her shield to talk to Curaçao; so, she leapt aside instead.

“Hey, like, I am trying to have a conversation here!” Insipid snapped.

Tick Tock huffed. “Can we focus, please? You can talk with your friend after I kick your bleeding arse all over this plateau.”

“As if we would allow you to receive coaching,” Rarity said, shooting Curaçao a glare. “If she wants to help you that badly, then perhaps she shouldn’t be on the sidelines, hmm?”

“And get her hooves dirty, like, fighting you losers? Like, no way.” Insipid rolled her shoulders and ground her hooves into the dirt. “You two are mine.”

Velvet and Pinkie circled around one another, staring each other down as if they were mortal enemies.

Pinkie bounced up onto her hind hooves, and started boxing with her forehooves. “Alright, Red, c’mon, put ‘em up! Put ‘em uuup!” She swung her hoof through the air in a chopping motion. “Hya! Ha! You’re goin’ down you big meanie!” She leapt up and delivered a mid-air kick. “Hooo-aaah! Yaaah!”

“Stars, you are such an idiot,” Velvet muttered.

“You talk tough, but can you back it up?” Pinkie gestured for Velvet to bring it on. “Round one! Ready?! Fight!”

Velvet grinned wide and rolled her shoulders. “Oh, I’m going to enjoy this. Let’s go, airhead!”

Pinkie bounded at Velvet, flailing her arms like a maniac; Velvet leapt forward to meet her. They clashed in a flurry of hooves: Pinkie chopped a hoof over Velvet’s head; Velvet swept Pinkie’s legs; Pinkie rebounded and leveled a punch at Velvet’s midsection; Velvet blocked it and tossed Pinkie away.

The assault continued for several moments before finally, the two separated, out of breath.

“Oh, you’re good!” Pinkie giggled, suddenly filled with pep again. “Usually when I spar with Dashie, one of us is able to get a good hit in. Usually Dashie.”

“I’m not your stupid girlfriend,” Velvet spat. “C’mon, let’s see how long you can keep up this dodging game.”

Suddenly, Pinkie panicked and pointed frantically behind Velvet. “Watch out!”

“What?”

Velvet looked behind her. Nothing was there. She started to turn back around, but Pinkie pushed her to the ground and bounded out of range almost as quickly.

Velvet snarled and glared at Pinkie. “You... tricked me.”

“Oh wow, I can’t believe you fell for that.” Pinkie laughed. “Seriously, that’s the oldest trick in the book!”

“Ha. Ha. Ha. Just keeping running your mouth.”

“Hey, no hard feelings. Here, let me help you.”

Pinkie approached and reached out a hoof to help Velvet up, who, in a state of surprise and confusion at the gesture, reached for Pinkie’s hoof, then fell back to the floor as Pinkie pulled her hoof away.

“Oh come on, Red,” Pinkie giggled. “I can’t believe you fell for that, too! I thought you were a master of pranks!”

Velvet’s eye twitched as she rose to her hooves. “I am not! A master! Of pranks!” she snapped.

She leapt at Pinkie again, but Pinkie sidestepped and avoided it; Velvet tumbled to the dirt behind her.

“Are you sure?” Pinkie asked, scratching her head. “See, ‘cause, all that stuff you did sure seemed like pranks.”

“Those are meant to scare ponies, not embarrass them!” Velvet spat. “Like what I did to that wimpy little pegasus! You’re the one who thinks they’re pranks, nimrod!”

“Ooh, more name-calling? Well two can play at that game, loudmouth.”

“Me? I’m the loudmouth? Just shut up, you fat, stupid idiot!”

“Make me, bubble-butt,” Pinkie snorted.

Velvet was taken aback. “Did... did you just call me fat?!”

“Well yeah, ‘cause, you have the same figure as me, so since you think I’m fat, well then logically—"

Velvet screamed, “By the stars, do you ever stop talking?!”

Pinkie shrugged. “Nnnope!”

“Gaaahhh!”

Grayscale swerved to avoid another volley of magical bolts from below, fired by Twilight. She glanced down to gauge her next attack. Applejack and Flathoof stood at Twilight’s sides, unable to do anything while Grayscale was airborne. Applejack, obviously growing impatient, moved off towards one of the other battles.

Grayscale wasn’t about to allow that. She swooped over to a nearby stalactite, briefly flicked her wings, then kicked it before flicking her wings again. The stalactite plummeted to the ground and crashed just a yard in front of Applejack’s path; the impact knocked her down.

Applejack stumbled to her hooves. “C’mon down here and fight like a mare!” she shouted. “Ya danged coward!”

Grayscale kicked another stalactite just as she’d done the first. Applejack leapt aside to avoid it as it came crashing down, and tumbled through the dirt.

Flathoof galloped over, avoiding a stalactite aimed at him, and helped Applejack up. “You okay?”

Applejack jerked her shoulder away from Flathoof. “Thanks, I guess.”

“I’m not sure taunting her is such a good idea,” he said, glancing upwards to make sure she wasn’t preparing another attack.

“Relax. I do this with Dash all the time,” Applejack explained. “Most pegasi got really big egos. They think they’re so darn great ‘cause they can fly ‘n’ all.” She smirked and glanced upwards. “So, I call her a chicken, she comes down here in a hissy fit, and she fights us fair ‘n’ square.”

“It’s a tried and true method,” Twilight said, firing another blast upward.

“That doesn’t seem to be working,” Flathoof said, looking upward to watch Grayscale effortlessly dodge Twilight’s attack.

“Jus’ gotta keep at it,” Applejack said. She shot him a quick glance. “What, y’all don’t trust me?”

Flathoof raised an eyebrow. “What? What brings that on?”

“Nevermind, we got more important things ta worry ‘bout.” She turned her attention back to Grayscale and shouted, “C’mon, ya darn chicken! Are y’all too scared ta fight us mare-ta-mare... ta-mare... ta-stallion?!”

“Nice save,” Twilight muttered. “Well, at least if you keep her focused on your yelling, maybe I can get a solid stunbolt in.”

Twilight fired another volley of magical bolts at the pegasus above them.

Grayscale easily avoided them, yet again. She yawned in response.

“Ya think y’all ‘re some kinda big shot?!” Applejack stomped her hoof on the ground. “C’mon! Bring yerself down here!”

“Oh no, whatever shall I do?” Grayscale said, feigning interest. “Applejack sure is being mean. Maybe I should go down there and teach her a lesson.”

“See?” Applejack said, giving Flathoof a confident smirk. “She’ll be down here in no time at—"

Grayscale rocketed into the ground, shattering earth and knocking Applejack, Flathoof, and Twilight backwards into the ring of rocks around them.

She absently eyed her boot. “Now, what was that about fighting mare-to-mare?”

Havocwing snarled. Her most recent fireburst—the entire barrage of them, in fact—had missed Rainbow by dozens of yards. The other pegasus was just too fast, too agile, and too erratic to get a solid strike on. Havocwing cursed her inability to let loose with lethal force; if she were allowed to bring her full force to bear, she knew she’d be able to hit Rainbow easily.

“Stop moving so damn fast!” she shouted, and fired another volley just past Rainbow’s multi-colored trail. “You’re just making this harder on yourself!”

“You’re gonna have to explain that logic to me, dragonbreath!” Rainbow shouted back. “I’m not even flying at top speed here. Not very hard at all.”

Havocwing growled and fired another barrage. She didn’t land a single hit. Again. “Keep talking, you stupid bitch! I’m gonna beat you until you can’t bucking see straight! You hear me?! I’m going to buck you up!”

“You’re gonna have to hit me, first!” Rainbow cackled, looping around and sweeping past Havocwing’s head. “Do you need glasses back there, torchy? You couldn’t hit the broadside of a barn!”

“Shut up! I’ll hit your barn!”

Rainbow snickered. “Whoa, good one! That’s Grade-A material there. How long did it take you to come up with that one?”

Havocwing grit her teeth; her eye wouldn’t stop twitching in anger. She swept around in pursuit of Rainbow, blazing through her own explosions. Her speed increased; the flames from her explosions trailed behind her in the same manner as Rainbow’s prismatic trail, like rocket exhaust. The flames lingered behind her like a wall of fire.

Rainbow dove to avoid crashing into one of these such walls as she swung around to doubleback on Havocwing again. “Hey, new trick! What’s the matter, hothead? Can’t catch me, so you’re trying to give me even more stuff to avoid?”

“You’re gonna run out of room eventually, flankface!” Havocwing snapped, “and when you do, we’ll see how useful that speed of yours really is!”

“Bring it on, punk!”

Rarity kept her attention firmly focused on assisting Tick Tock with her magic. While she didn’t like having to pick on Insipid, she wanted to make sure Curaçao didn’t try anything funny.

Insipid huffed, puffed, and tried to catch her breath, but while Tick Tock had given her a moment’s reprieve, it wasn’t much. As soon as she was back on her hooves, Tick Tock fired another spell. Insipid guarded against it, but her shield was wearing down; the bolt forced her back.

“Okay, like, seriously? This sucks!” Insipid said, her lips puckering into a duck-like pout. “You guys are sooo mean!”

“Ma copine!” Curaçao shouted, drawing Insipid’s attention back to the sidelines. “Do you see now vhy you must attack?”

“I’m trying Curie!” Insipid whined. “She’s not letting meee!”

Tick Tock groaned and put a hoof to her temple. “If it will stop you from opening your mouth for a few seconds, just take a bloody shot! Stars, if have to listen to any more of your bleeding whining, I’m going to have an aneurysm!”

“Zere, ma copine! Use your magic and attack!” Curaçao commanded.

Insipid nodded. “Okay, like, here I go!” She took a deep breath and fired her own bolt of magic at Tick Tock.

The bolt sailed past Tick Tock’s head. By about twenty yards. Everypony lost sight of the burst as it traveled into the distance.

Tick Tock blinked. “That was the worst magic attack. Ever. Of all time.”

“Not my fault,” Insipid said. “The sun was, like, in my eyes?”

Curaçao sighed. “Ma copine...”

Tick Tock shrugged. “Well, you had your chance.” She fired another bolt, once again knocking Insipid off balance.

“No fair! Do-over!” Insipid wailed.

“Ma copine!” Curaçao called, drawing Insipid’s attention again. “Per’aps you should extend zee ‘oof of surrender, non? You are clearly outmatched.”

Insipid gave Curaçao a pleading look. “B-but Curie... the boss said—"

“Nonsense. Zee capitaine would not want you to be seriously injured, and you are too weak to do zis on your own. Go on zen. Offer zem zee ‘oof of surrender.”

“Okay, that’s like, the second time you said that?” Insipid said, raising an eyebrow. “I have no idea what that—"

Curaçao put her hoof to her face. “It means to offer your ‘oof and shake on zee terms of your surrender. Shake. ‘ooves. Oui?”

Insipid blinked, then murmured, “Ohhh...” She turned to Tick Tock and Rarity. “Okay okay, like, I give up! All this fighting is totally icky and junk, I don’t wanna do it anymore. Curie’s right—she’s always right—and I don’t want to, like, get hurt?”

“Glad to see you’ve come to your senses,” Tick Tock said. “Now maybe we can not have to listen to you anymore.”

Rarity frowned and shook her head. “I do hope you can forgive us for having to be so rough with you, darling. I never wanted it to come to this.”

“Like, yeah yeah, I get it, okay?” Insipid grumbled.

Tick Tock gestured for Rarity to follow her. “Come along, Rarity, let’s go lend the others some assistance.”

“Yes, of course,” Rarity said with a nod.

“Hey!” Insipid shouted.

“Eh?” Tick Tock said.

“We’re not, like, done here!” Insipid said, limping forward.

“Uh... you just surrendered.”

Curaçao shook her head. “You ‘ave not made zee surrender officielle. You must shake ‘ooves. C’est la procédure approprié—zee proper procedure. I insist on un certain degré de professionnalisme.”

Tick Tock grunted. “And just who are you to insist anything, you bloody tart?”

“Oh please, Tick Tock, just humor the poor girl,” Rarity snorted. She turned to Insipid and offered her hoof. “Come on then, darling.”

Insipid nodded and stepped forward again. “Right. I’m like, totally under your—" She stumbled forward and tripped to the ground. “Oww...”

“This is bloody ridiculous,” Tick Tock muttered. “I feel like I’m dealing with a foal, here.”

Rarity sighed and stepped forward. “Really, dear, you must be more careful.” She offered a hoof to Insipid to help her up.

Insipid grinned wide and grabbed Rarity’s hoof. “Thanks!”

“Aaahhh!” Rarity screamed as a powerful burst of pain surged through her body.

“Rarity!” Tick Tock exclaimed.

She fired a bolt of magic, but Insipid raised a barrier to block it, sending the bolt reflecting away directly at Tick Tock; Tick Tock had to duck to avoid being struck by her own spell. The shield had been brighter, smoother, and, judging from the angle the blast had been deflected at, more effective.

“H-how?” Tick Tock sputtered. “You were running low on magic! There’s no way you could cast a shield that effective!”

“Like, cha, right?” Insipid said, flipping her mane and sticking her nose in the air. “I’m, like, hooked up to my own private battery? Her magic is my magic, now.”

“Let... go... of me...” Rarity growled through clenched teeth as she tried to yank her hoof away. “You uncouth... little... aaahhh!”

“Ah ah ah!” Insipid chided. “No need to be, like, rude, Rarity. That’s so totally unladylike and junk?”

Rarity went limp and fell to the floor, unconscious.

Insipid laughed and rose to her hooves, refreshed. She casually flipped her mane, giggling when her hoof passed through it without catching on any tangles. Her hair had smoothed out slightly and now had a healthy shine.

“What did you do to her?!” Tick Tock demanded.

Insipid smirked. “And just who are you to, like, ask anything, jerkface?” She cracked her neck and let out a sigh. “Ahh, this feels, like, marvelous. Rarity’s got a kinda weird power though... hmm. Let’s see how this, like, works.”

She took a deep breath and lit up her horn, letting her magic flow about her. At first, nothing seemed to happen.

Then, Tick Tock, who was closest, felt her magical power becoming refreshed and energized; curiously, it felt exactly as if it were Rarity herself amplifying her magic. She raised an eyebrow in confusion; Insipid was not focusing her own magic on enhancing Tick Tock’s at all, but seemed to be generating an aura that was causing the boosting effect.

The aura continued flowing outward into the rest of the cavern at a snail-like pace, far enough out that it reached the other battles progressing around the plateau.

The next pony the aura reached was Applejack, who stopped immediately as the odd sensation pulsed through her. “What in tarnation?” she muttered, looking around and patting herself down. “What’s this here—"

Grayscale interrupted Applejack’s thoughts by crashing down next to her. Applejack was sent flying into a nearby rock—through a nearby rock—with enough force that she just kept going. She rolled through the dirt and collapsed in a heap.

“Applejack!” Twilight exclaimed, panicked. “Are you okay?!”

Applejack staggered upright and shook her head clear of stars, then coughed. Her whole body was covered with dirt; it clung to her coat like water. “Jus’ fine, sugarcube,” she said. “A lil’ shook up, is all.”

Grayscale watched in disbelief. “What the... that should have knocked you out cold.” She raised an eyebrow as the aura passed over her as well. “Whoa. Uh... what was that?”

The aura passed over Twilight and Flathoof now as well.

“Oh... wow,” Twilight murmured. “I don’t know what it is, but I feel great.” She smirked. “Empowered, even.”

She fired a bolt of magic at Grayscale. The blast moved so fast that Grayscale couldn’t avoid it; she was rocketed through the air.

Insipid watched the display, and winced when Grayscale struck a low-hanging stalactite. “Ooh... um...”

“Well now, if you’re going to insist on helping my companions, then far be it from me to stop you,” Tick Tock said with a cocky grin. She fired another burst of magic at Insipid; Insipid raised her shield just in time to block it.

“Ma copine! Arrête!” Curaçao shouted. “Stop!”

Insipid panicked. “Oh stars! Ohh stars, I have no idea what I’m doing! Um...”

She focused her attention on shutting her aura down, which proved hard to do with Tick Tock firing bolts of magic at her. Eventually, though, the faint aura subsided, and with it so too did Tick Tock’s enhanced magic. Soon after, Insipid’s followed, and her magic was reduced back to average levels.

Insipid tapped a hoof to her chin. “Ohhh. Like, I get it now! Okay, um, let’s see...” She bit her tongue in thought. “If I make a little adjustment here, a little tweak there... aha!” Her body gained a silvery glow for a brief instant, which then subsided. “Let’s try... this!”

She fired a blast at Tick Tock, who raised her shield; when the blast struck, Tick Tock’s barrier flickered erratically and she was knocked off her hooves.

“Bloody hell!” Tick Tock blurted. “Where’d you get that kind of power?!”

“Looks like I got the hang of it now?” Insipid giggled. “Okay then, let’s get this party started, Click Clock!”

“Tick Tock!”

Insipid rolled her eyes. “Um... what-ever, who, like, cares? I’m, like, totally fresh and junk now.”

“I’m gonna tear you to pieces you little worm!” Velvet snapped. She shifted her weight and threw Pinkie off of her.

Pinkie landed deftly on one hoof, then swung around back into a fighting stance. “I’m not a worm, I’m a pony,” she said with a straight face and a serious tone.

“Aggh! You are so annoying! Just shut up!”

Velvet charged, but Pinkie simply sidestepped and held out a foreleg in one swift motion. Velvet tripped and fell face-first to the floor. She very slowly pulled her face out of the dirt to glare at Pinkie, teeth clenched.

<Red Velvet!>

Velvet winced and held a hoof to her temple. <Boss?>

<What, exactly, are you attempting to accomplish?> Starlight snapped, her voice in Velvet’s head again.

<Well, I’m trying to beat this little idiot into the ground!> Velvet snapped back. <What does it look like I’m doing?!>

<It appears as though you are unsuccessful in your attempts. What fate has befallen the merciless murdering monster that earned such approval from father, that as pathetic a pony as Pinkie could make a fool of her?>

<Look, boss, I’m still weak. I’m not getting any better, especially when you’re making me adhere to these stupid limits!>

Starlight paused for a moment, then replied, <Would authorizing you to utilize your Hemomancy truly impact your performance?>

<Yes!>

<Hmm... very well. You may consider your limitation on Hemomancy expunged. Remember: no lethal force. Understood?>

Velvet was elated, and her change in tone showed it. <Do you mean it boss? Oh thank you, thank you, thank you!>

<I sincerely hope that you do not make this a contrite decision on my part, sister.>

<I’ll just graze her a few times, I promise.>

“Are you done over there?” Pinkie asked, raising an eyebrow. “You’ve kinda been standing still for a few minutes now.”

Velvet shook her head to clear the connection with Starlight. “Oh, I’m done!” she chuckled. “And, I’ve got a surprise for you!”

“A surprise? For me?” Pinkie bounced in place, more excited than ever. “Oh boy! What is it?”

Velvet’s mouth curled into a sadistic smile. The gash along her spine burst open, spraying blood all around. She let the blood soak into her coat and drip to the floor of the cavern, laughing maniacally as she did.

Pinkie watched the display, mouth agape, obviously confused and worried.

“You... okay there, Red?” Pinkie asked, taking a step back. “Do you need a... bandage, or something?”

Velvet snickered. “Oh, trust me, tubby, I’m just fine.”

She collected the blood on the floor into a pool around her hooves. The thick, red fluids seeped up her legs and formed a multitude of tendrils that snaked around her body. One coiled itself around her neck and draped around her shoulders; she coddled it like a pet snake, giving it a tender kiss on its little head. She was eager to let loose again.

“Okay, that’s a surprise all right,” Pinkie said, tapping a hoof to her chin, clearly impressed. “Is that some kind of power-up?”

Velvet blinked. “Power-up? I guess you could say that.”

Pinkie clapped her hooves together excitedly. “Ooh! When the bad guy gets a power up, we gotta switch to the boss music!”

She sprung over to her boombox in a single bound—said boombox was on the opposite end of the plateau—and clicked the Next button. The ambient music that had been playing changed into a completely different tune. She then sprung back over to her original position, again in a single bound, and got back into a fighting stance.

“There, that’s more like it,” she said. “So anyway, that’s a cool trick, Red!”

“Trick?” Velvet cackled, flaring her tentacles about her in a flurry. “Oh... you have no idea how much I’m going to enjoy this.”

She leapt forward and swung a tendril at Pinkie’s head. Pinkie ducked under it.

“Hey, wow!” Pinkie exclaimed. “You can move them around like that too? That’s neato! No, really Red. Cool. Trick.” She giggled. “Things are getting exciting! This is fun!”

Velvet sneered. “Stop laughing!” she shouted. “It’s not a trick! It’s not fun! It’s not funny!”

“There’s an old saying: ‘Fun is in the eye of the beholder’,” Pinkie said without a trace of humor.

Velvet snarled and brought another tendril to bear on Pinkie. Pinkie sidestepped to avoid it; it crushed the rocky ground as it struck.

Pinkie leaned down to investigate the damage. “Ooh, check out that real-time environmental damage! These are super fancy. How much did those run you anyway? I bet special effects like that aren’t cheap.”

“Shut up!” Velvet snapped, swinging another tendril at Pinkie’s head.

Pinkie didn’t even attempt to duck under this one; she stood completely still. The tendril struck her in the side of the head, knocking it clean off and spurting visceral liquid all over Velvet’s face.

Velvet was given pause; her jaw dropped in shock. Normally, she’d have taken great pleasure in feeling the sweet, sweet sensation of freshly-spilt blood against her coat. Feeling Pinkie’s blood, in particular, was something she’d dreamed about for days. However, she’d been explicitly ordered by her father not to murder the ridiculous pink mare; in other words, this was not at all according to plan.

“Oh no... no no no! What did I dooo?!” she exclaimed.

She picked up Pinkie’s severed head in a panic, and desperately tried to reattach it to Pinkie’s neck, getting more of the visceral evidence all over herself.

“Ohhh buck me, the boss is gonna be sooo mad! She’s gonna send me to the sun, I just know it! Oh, what if daddy finds out? Oh... shit... I am so bucked!”

“Wow, so those things are real? Now that’s neato,” came Pinkie’s voice, though not from her mouth.

Velvet slowly turned around. Pinkie stood behind her, bubble pipe in her mouth, examining Velvet’s tendrils with a scrutinous gaze upon her face as if investigating the scene of a crime.

Velvet found herself reduced to nothing more than incoherent babbling. “H-how did... but you... I saw... what?”

“I feel kinda bad, though,” Pinkie sighed. “You totally ruined my stunt double. Drat, that was my best one, too!”

“Stunt double?”

Velvet turned her attention back to the Pinkie head she was holding in her hooves, and her confusion came full circle. Just seconds ago, the head felt real, looked real, tasted real. Now, it appeared to be made of what felt like paper mache instead of flesh and bone. The blood that had splashed against her coat was no longer bright red, but light brown. She licked her lips to check what it was. Chocolate.

Velvet’s eye twitched. “What?”

“You have no idea how hard it’s been to lug that baby around,” Pinkie said, giving her brow an exaggerated wipe. “Worse, all the chocolate got melted when we were in that dumb volcano! Hence the mess.”

Velvet startled to tremble in rage. “What?”

“But hey, in the long run, it was worth it. I just knew I’d find a use for my Pinkie Piñata!” Pinkie tapped her hoof to her chin in contemplation. “Or should it be Piñata Pie? Pinkie Piñata? Piñata Pie? Pinkie Piñata? Piñata Pie?”

“SHUT! UUUPPP!!!” Velvet bellowed, ripping apart Pinkie Piñata Pie and spraying chocolate everywhere. She spawned another batch of tendrils, and glared at the babbling party pony. “I don’t care what the boss says! I’m going to tear you limb from limb, you pink nuisance, until you beg for death!”

“Whoa there, Red. Whoa. Take a chill pill,” Pinkie said, holding her hooves up in a calming gesture. “You look like you’re gonna pop a gasket!”

“Buck you!”

Velvet lashed her tendrils out through the air, sweeping them about in a frantic attempt to strike her target. Pinkie, however, did not seem troubled in the least; she deftly dodged about, weaving through bloody appendages like a professional gymnast-turned-cat burglar.

“This is fun!” Pinkie chirped as she twirled through the air. “I am getting a ton of exercise! Gotta work that flank, girl!”

“Why won’t you stop talking?! This isn’t a game, idiot! I am trying to maim you!”

Pinkie backflipped far away from Velvet for a perfect landing on one hoof. “Well, you’re not doing a very good job. Hmm... ‘game’, huh?” she hummed, tapping her chin. “That gives me an idea.”

Velvet, in her rage, swung her tendrils more haphazardly; long lashes of blood sprayed across the floor of the cave and splattered against the myriad rocks around them. She had never, in her entire life, wanted anything more than to shut Pinkie’s mouth.

Then, an opportunity presented itself: Pinkie tripped over a rock. “Oof!”

“Got you!” Velvet exclaimed, triumphant.

She swung the largest tendril she’d made at Pinkie’s face.

Clang.

Clang? Ponies don’t go ‘clang’... and... what is that?

Velvet’s jaw dropped. A massive metal sword, decorated with a deep purple blade and a golden hilt with a bright red jewel in the middle, had somehow manifested itself in Pinkie’s hoof. The sword was definitely much too large and heavy to be wielded with two hooves, let alone one. Velvet had to wonder how Pinkie was even holding it to begin with.

“Phew... now, that was a close one!” Pinkie said, wiping her brow with her spare hoof.

“Where did you get that?” Velvet demanded, dumbfounded.

“Chapter Twenty,” Pinkie said.

“Chapter Twenty?”

“Chapter Twenty.”

Velvet snarled and threw her hooves in the air. “That’s not funny! That doesn’t even make any sense!”

“Well it will be funny, just you wait and see!” Pinkie said in her defense.

“And what happened to your clothes?!”

Pinkie glanced down at herself and patted herself down. Her old outfit had mysteriously vanished, and had been replaced by an all-black ensemble: long, baggy pants, a shirt with no sleeves whatsoever, and a metal shoulder pad on her left shoulder.

“Oh, these? Came with the sword,” Pinkie explained. “But enough about that, check this out!”

She went on the offensive, swinging her sword with incredible effectiveness, much to Velvet’s surprise. For the first time in Velvet’s memory, she had to play defensively.

Pinkie shouted loudly with every movement, sometimes even blatantly calling out her actions. “Ho! Ha ha! Guard! Turn! Parry! Dodge! Spin! Ha! Thrust!”

Upon yelling, “Thrust!”—and accidentally slamming her sword into the ground—Pinkie bounced back half a step, her muzzle compressed into her face. She meandered about randomly in a frantic attempt to fix the problem.

Velvet attempted to capitalize on Pinkie’s sudden distraction, but Pinkie’s jarring movements were such that she seemed to be dodging every single strike on accident. And, with Pinkie swinging her sword about just as wildly, Velvet had to be careful to avoid losing her own head in the process.

“Will you stop moving around?!” Velvet snapped.

She swung again, but Pinkie managed to get her muzzle unstuck, and straightened up, blocking Velvet’s attack effortlessly.

“Hmm, let’s see now,” Pinkie said, tapping a hoof to her chin. “Something’s amiss here. Hmm... I’ll run through it. Ho, ha ha, guard, turn, parry, dodge, spin, ha, thrust.” Her muzzle suddenly compressed into her face again. “Got it.”

Velvet seethed with so much raw anger that her pupils dilated, and her eyes turned red. “Stop having so much damn fun you stupid cow!”

“Right, I’m the stupid one,” Pinkie said, rolling her eyes. “I’m not the one mixing up ponies and cows.”

“Will you shut—"

Pinkie leapt into the air with an astounding flip, then brought her sword to bear on Velvet from above. Velvet raised a shield of blood as quickly as she could to protect herself. Pinkie’s blade slammed into it, knocking Velvet sliding back; she stumbled to the floor.

Pinkie twirled her sword around her head. “Da da da da, da da, da da daaa!”

Havocwing fired another barrage of bullet-like fireballs at Rainbow. The other pegasus twirled through the volley, swerving between them with about as much effort as it took to take an everyday nap. She rushed through Havocwing’s offensive and punched Havocwing in the stomach.

“Bucking dammit!” Havocwing shouted, holding her stomach in pain. She fired another blast—a bigger one this time—at Rainbow.

It, too, missed just like all the others.

“Hoo boy, that was a big one!” Rainbow laughed. “Keep that up, and you’re gonna run outta juice! Just give it up. You can’t catch me. I’m the fastest thing alive. You’d have to be faster than a rocket to keep up with me!” She blasted off again, knocking Havocwing back with a burst of wind.

Havocwing made to chase, then paused.

Rocket? Wait a second...

A wicked smile crept across her face. “Okay, crashmaster, you wanna see a rocket, you’re gonna get a bucking rocket!”

She clicked all four hooves together, igniting a tiny flame in each, then resumed her pursuit of Rainbow. She kept her legs pointed behind her, and focused all of her attention instead on pumping more power into her new flames. After only a moment, the flames exploded behind her as jets of superheated fire, propelling her forward like a tiny, angry, foul-mouthed missile.

The explosion drew Rainbow’s attention, and she chanced a glance behind her. “What the—"

Rainbow bolted off, picking up speed until she was flying as fast as she could in the relatively tight quarters compared to the open sky.

“Not so fast now, are ya?” Havocwing called.

Rainbow looked behind her again. Havocwing was gaining. Just barely, but she was.

“Dammit!” Rainbow spat. “You’re lucky I can’t do a Sonic Rainboom in here. So, you’re a little faster now, huh? Well, let’s see you maneuver!”

Rainbow swung up towards the cavern ceiling and the myriad stalactites scattered about. She blasted between them faster than she’d been flying before, swerving and ducking around and beneath them.

Havocwing was undaunted, and gave chase with a sadistic smile on her face. Rainbow’s turns were wide, and her path twisted too much to gain distance. She, on the other hoof, had no such problem. Her wings could be used entirely for maneuvering now, and it was easy to make drastic sweeps with a fluid series of motions: first, shutting off her jetfire, then pointing all four legs opposite of which direction she wanted to go, then giving a quick burst of supersonic propulsion before swinging her legs back behind her.

She caught up with Rainbow before they’d even left the stalactite field.

“Gotcha!”

She tackled Rainbow as hard as she could, blasting forward with a final great burst of speed to close the distance. The two pegasi tumbled through the air over the plateau.

“Buck off!” Rainbow spat, struggling to kick out of Havocwing’s vice-like grip.

Havocwing cackled and gave Rainbow her widest, cockiest smile yet; her fang glinted in the artificial light. “See you on the ground, Rainbow Crash!”

She charged up an incredible amount of heat and released it outwards in a fearsome, reverberating explosion. The noise ricocheted off the cavern walls like cannon fire, and the shockwave blew apart dozens of nearby low-hanging stalactites. The force of the explosion sent Rainbow screeching like a bullet straight towards the cavern wall.

Rainbow crashed hard into the rock, impacting hard enough to indent the wall, then tumbled to the ground below.

Pinkie’s eyes flickered up to the source of the fierce explosion, and she saw the too-familiar figure of Rainbow rocket towards the wall, a trail of smoke and sparks behind her. She saw her impact, and she saw her fall. And, she saw her stay down.

“Dashie!” she exclaimed in a panic. Without warning, she abandoned the fight with Velvet, just as the two had been locked in a clash of chosen weapons.

Without Pinkie’s mass pushing against her, Velvet fell to the floor in a heap. “You fat idiot!” she shouted, shaking her hoof in anger. “Get back here! Where do you think... you’re...”

She paused when she felt a familiar sensation flow through her soul. It was a tiny, tiny spark, but it was there. And it felt good. A massive grin spread across her face, threatening to tear her face in half.

“Jackpot.”

Pinkie rushed with astounding speed in the direction of Rainbow’s crash site. As she passed by a nearby scuffle, she called, “Twilight! Dashie’s hit! I need you over here, stat!”

“A little busy here, Pinkie!” Twilight shouted back, projecting another barrier to protect herself from another strike from Grayscale.

“Twilight!”

“I’m coming, don’t worry! Just let me get an opening here, first!”

“Go on, Twi,” Applejack said. “We’ll keep this featherhead distracted fer as long as y’all need.”

Flathoof leapt aside to avoid another crushing stomp.

“Yeah, not that there’s much else we can do but distract her,” Flathoof panted as he rose to his hooves.

Twilight nodded and galloped after Pinkie, who was still several dozen yards away from Rainbow on almost the other side of the plateau. She chanced a glance skyward when she heard another explosion. Havocwing was making a beeline right for the impact site.

Then, Havocwing suddenly stopped just a yard from her target. Velvet had popped out of literally nowhere.

“Dammit Red, you already have a target!” Havocwing spat. “Get outta my way, she’s mine!”

“Not anymore, she’s not,” Velvet said calmly as she straddled Rainbow’s resting position.

“I called the dyke, bitch! Back off!”

Velvet turned around slowly. “You back off!” she shouted, her voice suddenly becoming disturbingly deep and distorted.

Havocwing turned white, and gulped loudly. “R-r-right. I’ll just g-go pick somepony else then, yeah... d-d-don’t sweat it, Red.” She sped off over Pinkie and Twilight’s heads towards someplace else on the plateau.

“Now then,” Velvet said with a wide, fanged smile, “where was I?”

Rainbow groaned and struggled to get her hooves out of the abundance of rubble around her.

“Oh yeah! Hi there Dashie!” Velvet chirped down at Rainbow.

“W-what?” Rainbow glanced up at Velvet and blinked her eyes. “P-Pinkie? Is that you?”

“Aww, I’m touched!” Velvet chuckled. She brandished a large spike of her blood and pressed it against Rainbow’s forehead. “I’m not your little girlfriend, though. I’m not even into mares, for the record.”

“Pinkie, what’s going on?” Rainbow asked, sounding worried.

Velvet shrugged. “Oh well, if your last memory in life is of your lover murdering you in cold blood, then so be it. That sounds... delicious!”

“You get away from my Dashie!” Pinkie shouted, leaping forward to tackle Velvet off of Rainbow.

The two tumbled and rolled for several yards until they were well separated from Rainbow.

“What’s the matter, Pinkie?” Velvet asked as she rose to her hooves and stared down Pinkie once again. “Scared?”

The distraction was enough for Twilight to get in and cast a shield over herself and Rainbow. “Hang on, Rainbow,” she said as she crouched over Rainbow’s battered form. “You’ll be fine in a sec, okay?”

“Y-yeah,” Rainbow coughed. “Ugh... my head is killing me. Where’d Pinks go?”

“She’s taking care of Red Velvet. Now, stay still, and stay calm; this might sting a little.”

Pinkie swung her sword at Velvet wildly, with legitimate anger in her eyes. She pushed Velvet back with her assault. “Back off! Nopony hurts my friends!”

Velvet smirked. Pinkie’s attacks were sloppy and easier to block or avoid than before. “Aww, it seems I struck a nerve, my dear, dear Pinkie Pie,” she cackled. “Don’t worry about a thing. After all, when I’m done with you, you won’t be able to worry about what I do to your friends.”

“Shut up!” Pinkie snapped. “If you want to hurt them, you’ll have to get through me first!” Her voice was shaky. Her attacks were growing more sloppy by the second.

She was scared.

Velvet’s grin widened, and she let the aura of Pinkie’s fear drape around her, permeate her soul, and become one with her. The sensation of power she drew from Pinkie’s fear was exhilarating, like nothing she’d felt before. Her eyes glowed red, and darkness flowed out of her body like vapor.

“Oooh, is that a threat? I hope it was!” Velvet chuckled.

She molded her tendrils into blades.

“First, I’ll tear you into itty-bitty shreds.”

She slashed a blade at Pinkie’s side and nicked her coat. Pinkie winced and put a hoof to the wound, then drew back blood.

“But you? You’re just an appetizer! When I’m done with you, I’ll move on to the main course! I’ll enjoy a nice plate of Applejack steak.”

She sliced again; Pinkie ducked, and lost a tuft of her poofy mane in the process.

“A side of Flutter-fries, dripping with Rarity sauce.”

She dodged a wild swing from Pinkie, then punched her hard in the face, knocking her over.

“All accompanied by a fine little glass of Twilight blood wine! It sounds so delectable! And the best part is the dessert...” She licked her lips. “Ooh, but what treat can I make out of Rainbow Dash? Hmm... maybe I’ll chop your precious ‘Dashie’ into tiny little bite-sized bits.”

“Shut up!” Pinkie shouted, leaping to her hooves.

She swung her blade again; Velvet blocked it and pushed Pinkie back on the ground.

“No, no, that’s too simple; too boring. Where’s the pizazz? Where’s the flair? The best part about the dessert is the presentation, wouldn’t you agree?” Velvet asked, giving Pinkie a curious look. “Hmm, maybe a Rainbow Dash flambé? Oh, but I’d have to get Havoc’s help for that and I don’t think she’d have the stomach for a sample.”

Velvet’s eyes grew redder, and her pupils dilated and turned black.

Pinkie staggered to her hooves and thrust her sword at Velvet’s side; Velvet deflected it into the ground. “Shut up! Stop talking about my friends like that!”

“Oh wait... oh! Ohh! Maybe I’ll see how she tasted baked into cupcakes!” Velvet gasped, then giggled. “I can’t believe I didn’t think of that first! It’s perfect! Look, it even matches my cutie mark.”

Velvet’s eyes glowed red now with frightening intensity, and oozed a black, unwholesome liquid.

“Maybe you could lend a hoof,” she said. “You look like you’d be good at helping me make some!”

“I said shut up!”

Pinkie swung wildly again, and this time, Velvet blocked the blade with such force that she knocked it clear out of Pinkie’s hoof, over the edge of the plateau.

“Yes, yes, yes,” Velvet continued, not even paying Pinkie’s attack any further attention. “I definitely think that’s probably the best way to go about it. Cupcakes! Delicious little Rainbow Dash-flavored cupcakes! Why, I’m so excited thinking about it, I might just break into song! Ahem!
♫ All you have to do is take a cup of—"

Pinkie snarled. “How dare you?! That’s my song! You’re singing my song to joke about hurting my friends!”

Velvet raised an eyebrow. “Uh... what? This is my song. I made it up on the spot. Eh, whatever.” She slapped a tendril over Pinkie’s mouth. “I like my version better. Don’t interrupt!
♫ All you have to do is take a cup of blood—"

Velvet lashed her dark aura around Pinkie’ head, and flashed a vision directly into Pinkie’s mind: a simple image of Applejack, stabbed and sliced countless times, laying in a pool of her own blood. She could feel Pinkie’s fear increase dramatically; she saw the tears come to Pinkie’s eyes, felt Pinkie’s nausea set in.

“♫ Add it to the mix
Now just take a little something sweet, not sour
A bit of flesh, just an inch—"

Velvet flashed another vision through Pinkie’s mind: Rarity and Fluttershy, stripped of much of their blood-stained coats. Large strips of their flesh had been torn away, exposing expanses of muscle tissue; Rarity’s horn had been snapped clean off; Fluttershy’s wings had been chopped off, rendering them nothing more than useless, bloody stubs. Pinkie fought the urge to vomit; Velvet cackled at the sensation. Pinkie’s fear had graduated to sickened terror.

“♫ Baking these treats is such a cinch
Add a teaspoon of intestine—"

The next vision was of Twilight hung by her hooves to an unseen ceiling. She’d been disemboweled; her guts lay strewn about on the floor in a messy pile. Pinkie couldn’t fight the urge this time, and puked into Velvet’s tendril, which was still covering her mouth. Velvet took a deep breath; terror had gone to bone-chilling horror. She’d never experienced fear like this before. It was intoxicating.

“♫ Add a little more, and you count to four
And you never get a fillin’
Of cupcakes! So sweet and tasty—"

The last vision Velvet flashed through Pinkie’s mind was of Rainbow, chopped into cupcake-sized bits.

“♫ Cupcakes! Don’t be too hasty—"

Rainbow’s chunks were then added into a pastry dish and placed in a large, preheated oven.

“♫ Cupcakes! Cupcakes cupcakes cupcakes!”

The oven dinged; the cupcakes were ready. They were placed upon a plate, and lovingly decorated with multi-colored frosting and sprinkles shaped like Rainbow’s cutie mark. Velvet took a large bite of one.

“Mmm... juicy!” Velvet said. She offered the illusionary cupcake to Pinkie and removed her tendril from Pinkie’s mouth. “Want a bite? They’re to die for!”

“Stop it!” Pinkie screamed. “Stop it, stop it, stop it! Get out of my head!”

Velvet roared with laughter, a chilling sound that made Pinkie’s blood run cold.

Twilight’s horn glowed bright as she attempted to heal Rainbow’s wounds, but she was finding it difficult to concentrate. She was worried about Pinkie, who she’d lost sight of in a dark patch just off to her right. She was concerned about Flathoof and Applejack, who she’d left alone with Grayscale; she couldn’t see them either, strangely. She was also worried about Rarity and Tick Tock—she hadn’t seen either of them since they got separated—as well as Fluttershy and Lockwood, who she hoped had found a safe place to hide.

Then, the air around her grew cold. She shivered. “W-whoa... d-did it just get really c-c-cold all of a sudden?” she asked Rainbow.

Rainbow, still laying on the ground but now fully conscious, nodded. “Y-yeah... wow it’s l-like I just s-stepped out into a b-b-blizzard.”

The bright colors of the surrounding cavern disappeared, as though somepony had blown out a lantern. Twilight looked around in concern for the sudden lack of light. “W-w-what’s going—"

“Ha! Ha ha ha haaaa!”

Twilight and Rainbow froze in terror.

Rainbow gulped. “W-w-what the hay was that?”

“I d-d-dunno,” Twilight replied.

Applejack dodged another crushing stomp from Grayscale. She tried to tackle the pegasus while she was in range, but Grayscale easily dodged the attack, and she landed in the dirt.

“Y’all ‘re really gettin’ on my nerves!” Applejack spat, shaking her hoof up at the fleeing pegasus. “Stop flyin’ ‘round up there an’ come down here and f-fight l-l-like a...” She rubbed her sides; the sudden drop in temperature had left her freezing. “Dang, it j-just got c-c-cold all of a s-s-sudden!”

Flathoof offered his shaking hoof to Applejack to help her up. “W-w-why is it g-g-getting so d-dark?” he asked, teeth chattering.

“Ha! Ha ha ha haaaa!”

Applejack and Flathoof grabbed one another in surprise.

“W-w-was t-that y-you?” Applejack asked.

“N-n-nnnope,” Flathoof replied.

Lockwood stood between Fluttershy and Havocwing on the south end of the plateau, as far away from the rest of the fighting as he’d been able to get. He wanted to help somehow, but he knew that Fluttershy’s well-being was most important, and that he’d been entrusted with that task. He held his hooves up in a defensive gesture, and shook his head.

“Look, Miss Havocwing,” he said, “I’m sure we can come to some sort of agreement here. There’s no need for anything to come to violence.”

“Dude, just step aside and I won’t hurt you,” Havocwing said. She lit her hoof on fire and aimed it at him. “She’s my target, so I should be the one to take her in. Hoof her over.”

“I’m afraid I can’t do that.”

“Buddy, my little sis told me explicitly that I’m allowed to kill you if I want. Now, as much as I’d love to murder some guy, killing you is a terrible, terrible waste of a pretty colt.”

Lockwood blinked. “Come again?”

“What I mean is,” Havocwing flustered, “I’m all for killing and stuff, but dude, you’re just too pretty to kill. It’d be a damn shame to kill some eye candy, y’know what I’m saying? Just step aside, let me capture the wimp behind you, and I’ll let you off.”

“As flattered as I am that you think I’m... ‘pretty’, I’m af-f-fraid th-that I—” He paused to clutch his shirt closer to him. “B-by the stars, it g-got c-cold in here.”

“Ha! Ha ha ha haaaa!”

“W-w-what was that?!” he exclaimed, desperately searching around for the source of the bone-chilling laughter.

“The hell are you talking about, dude?” Havocwing asked.

Tick Tock stood defensively over Rarity, and raised her barrier to block some more bolts from Insipid. Without Rarity’s help, Insipid’s new power boost was proving difficult to guard against. She barely had enough energy to keep her shield up, let alone try to attack Insipid herself.

“Like, this is getting so boring,” Insipid said. She gave an exaggerated yawn. “It’s like, um, I just shoot, and you just block, and nothing else happens? Now I know how, like, Grayscale feels?”

“If you’re implying that you’re out of my l-league, you’ve g-got another thing c-c-coming,” Tick Tock said. “B-bloody hell, when d-did it get so c-cold?”

“Ha! Ha ha ha haaaa!”

Tick Tock looked around in a panic. “Oh b-b-bugger, w-w-what was t-that?”

Insipid tilted her head. “What was, like, what? You okay there, Tic Tac?”

“T-T-Tick T-Tock!”

Velvet’s grin widened, and she let out a tiny chuckle. “Oh wow, you have no idea how good this feels...” she breathed. “There’s so much of it. So much delicious fear, all for me! And just think: I have you to thank for it all!“ Velvet patted Pinkie gently on the head.

“S-s-stop it,” Pinkie said, though she was trembling. “I w-won’t let you h-hurt them...”

Velvet rolled her eyes and clicked her tongue. “Resolve. Blech. Are you trying to ruin my appetite? Because if you are... then I have a fantastic idea that’ll tear all that resolve right out of you. Do you know what I’m going to do?”

Pinkie shook her head.

“I’m going to break you.”

Velvet lifted Pinkie into the air and wrapped tendrils around each of Pinkie’s limbs, then began to pull.

“L-let me down!” Pinkie screamed.

“And just for you,” Velvet said, “I’m gonna go reeeaaal slow. I’m going to make a game out of this. Ahem.
♫ You put your right leg in.”

Pinkie squirmed frantically in an attempt to get out of Velvet’s death grip, but Velvet’s hold was too tight and too strong.

Velvet cackled, then tugged hard at Pinkie’s right leg. Just the right amount of force, and she’d tear it right out of its socket.

“♫ I rip your right leg out.”