//------------------------------// // A Matter of Factory // Story: Masked Justice // by aggressive cornelius //------------------------------// Date: Monday, March 8th Apple Bloom was walking to school with Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle. Sweetie looked Apple Bloom over “Are you feeling better today?” she asked. Apple Bloom giggled “Don't worry, ah'm as fit as a fiddle. As long as Spike's okay, we can explore the palace today.” she said. Scootaloo grinned wide “I saw him this morning, he said he's raring to go.” she said. She then sighed in annoyance “I wish we didn't have to go to school. I just wanna hurry and kick some shadow flank already.” she said. Sweetie Belle gave her a disappointed look “Please tell me you've been studying. We have a test today.” she reminded. Scootaloo's eyes shot open “That was today? I thought that was next monday!” she exclaimed. Apple Bloom rolled her eyes in amusement “Ah guess that means ya didn't study.” she assumed. Scootaloo glared at her “I thought I had more time!” she turned to Sweetie Belle with pleading eyes “Can you just pass me a note with the answers when you finish. You're always one of the first ones done anyway.” she begged. Sweetie shook her head “I'm not getting in trouble because you don't study.” she said. Scootaloo hung her head in defeat “I'm as good as dead.” she said. Suddenly they heard mocking laughter behind them. They turned to see Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon walking behind them. Once the laughter died down, Diamond smirked at Scootaloo “Let me guess, you're gonna flunk the test today huh bird brain?” she mocked. Scootaloo glared back “I doubt you'll do any better!” she shot back. Diamond laughed “I'm going to ace it for sure.” she said. She then leaned to Silver to whisper in her ear “You're gonna let me copy off you right?” she asked. Silver rolled her eyes “Yeah yeah, I know the drill.” she whispered back. Scootaloo then gained an idea “You wouldn't be acting so superior to us if you knew about wh-” she was cut off by Apple Bloom covering her mouth with a hoof. Diamond started to walk past them “See? Even your friends don't want to hear you.” she said. “How sad.” Silver threw in before following after her friend. Scootaloo pushed Apple Bloom's hoof from her mouth “What was that for?” she questioned. “Ya were about ta tell her about the metaverse, weren't ya?” she asked. She nodded “Yeah, what's the use of being awesome heroes if we can't brag about it.” she said. Apple Bloom face hoofed “We can't tell anypony about this. What if somepony takes the ruby and uses it to enter the metaverse? They could get hurt.” she scolded. Scootaloo sighed “Fine. Let's just get to school and get this over with.” she said. Later, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle walked out of the schoolhouse with content smiles. Apple Bloom turned to her “So how'd ya do?” she asked. “Got an A. How about you?” she asked. “Could've been worse. Ah got a B-” she answered. Scootaloo then exited the building with her head hung low. Her two friends glanced at each other before offering her comforting smiles “What did you get?” they asked. Scootaloo started walking past them “I don't want to talk about it. Let's get to the clubhouse, I need to blow off some steam.” she said. Apple Bloom and Sweetie held in their giggles in before following after her. The four of them stood at the entrance of Filthy's palace in their metaverse outfits. Sweetie Belle turned to Apple Bloom “Do you think you can do that teleporting spell again?” she asked. “One sec” she said as she pulled out and closed her eyes in focus. After a few seconds, she opened them to see the safe room once again. Scootaloo walked towards the door “Now let's get out there so I can have some fun.” she said. Sweetie Belle furrowed her eyebrows “I think you're enjoying this too much.” she said. Spike shrugged with a smile “It is pretty exciting. If we have to do this then we should try to have fun with it.” she said. Sweetie chuckled and nodded “I guess you're right. As long as we're still careful.” he said. Apple Bloom put a hoof on her shoulder “We'll be alright. Ah won't let mah friends down. Now let's get that next key!” she said. “Yeah!” the three replied with wide smiles. Apple Bloom opened the safe room door to see three shadows guarding the staircase. Two of them had their backs to the them while the other paced slowly behind them. Scootaloo took her combat knife in her mouth as was about to step out of the door. Spike grabbed her and pulled her back “Calm down. We have to sneak up on them and get the jump on them.” he said. Apple Bloom nodded and narrowed her eyes and she planned out the attack “Once that wonderin' one passes the other two, me an' Hoodlum will take their masks off. At the same time, Aviator will do the same ta the other one.” she turned to the others “Okay?” she asked. Sweetie looked impressed “You're good at planning out sneak attacks.” she complemented. Scootaloo nodded in agreement “Yeah, I'm game.” she said. With them on board, they put the plan into action. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle ran as quietly as possible when the wondering shadow turned it's back. Once they reached the stationary guards, they jumped onto their backs simultaneously. They then pulled their masks. After hopping off of them, Apple Bloom turned back just in time to see Scootaloo ripping the mask off of the third shadow. The shadows wailed as they were forced into their true forms. Spike then joined the others as they faced the icy turtle, electric alligator, and zompony. The shadows stumbled around dizzily as they tried to recuperate from the attack. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle decided to take on the zompony together while Spike and Scootaloo split up to the other two. Scootaloo pulled her mask off as she ran towards the alligator “Earheart!” she shouted as her persona materialized and started flapping her wings. Sharp winds were sent and the shadow growled in pain from it. It recovered from it's dizziness and opened it jaw to send a ball of electric energy at the incoming filly. She nimbly sidestepped the ball and sliced across the shadow's body with her knife. The alligator whipped her with it's tail to send her sprawling across the floor. She got back to her hooves to see the alligator charging her with open jaws. She gritted her teeth and quickly took her mask off “Help me out!” she called out. She was covered in green energy as the shadow was about to bite down on her. It chomped down on air before Scootaloo came from it's right side to stick her knife into it's side. With that it dissipated into nothing, “Aviator!” Spike called. She turned to see him standing near a flipped over turtle shadow “Follow up!” he called as he held a fist out. Scootaloo quickly ran over and bumped her hoof to his fist. She then took her mask off “Persona!” she shouted. Earheart appeared and send a strong gust of wind down towards the unprotected turtle. The winds ripped through it's body and dissipated it. The zompony held a hoof up as it was engulfed in cursed energy. A large area of the ground was covered by the same energy. It shot up and Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle were engulfed in the attack. Once the attack let up, the two shook off the damage they had taken. The zompony then charged Apple Bloom, readying a slash with it's great sword. She brought her shield up in time to catch the attack. Her legs buckled slightly from the force but was able to hold the attack back. Sweetie took the chance to pull her mask off “Fagin!” she shouted. He held his hooves out as he formed ice on the zompony. The ice shattered hard causing the shadow to fall over and dissipate. They then looked around to make sure that all of the shadow's had been defeated and smiled in relief when they saw they were done. Sweetie kept her mask off and Fagin sent a wave of healing energy towards Apple Bloom “Are you okay?” she asked. Apple Bloom caught her breath before giving her a reassuring smile “Ah'm alright. Thanks for the help.” she said. Fagin finished healing Apple Bloom and started on Sweetie as the other walked up to join them. Scootaloo returned her knife to her holster “We're really getting the hang of this!” she said. Spike nodded with a grin “You're right. We'll have that treasure in no time.” she said. With that they scaled the staircase to return to the small room on the third floor. They saw that the star-shaped key was still where they left it. Scootaloo then turned to the next door “Let's see what's behind door number two.” she said before they walked through. On the other side was a long gap in the hallway with another door on the other side. They walked to the edge and glanced down to see a series of large gears spinning. Spike took a step back “T-that looks painful.” he said. Apple Bloom scanned around the room for anything that could get them to the other side “How is anypony supposed to get through here?” she wondered. Sweetie Belle seemingly noticed something and walked slightly closer to the edge. Scootaloo buzzed her wings a bit “Maybe it's to keep everypony but pegasi out. I'll handle this.” she said. Apple Bloom grabbed a hold of her before she could even attempt to fly “Stop Aviator! You know you can't fly!” she said. Scootaloo struggled out her grip “Maybe danger like this is just the motive I need to get flying!” she argued. As they continued their argument, Sweetie narrowed her eyes at certain spot over the gears. She took a few steps back and stuck her tongue out of the corner of her mouth in concentration. Her actions caught Apple Bloom's attention “Whatcha doin' Hoodlum?” she asked. Without answering, Sweetie took off running towards the edge. Her three friends gasped “Hoodlum!” they all called in panic. She ignored them and leaped off of the ledge. To everyone's shock, she landed on seemingly thin air. She turned back to face them and gave a bright smile “I thought so.” she said in a prideful tone. The other three were at a loss for words. Apple Bloom attempted to speak “How...what?” she asked. Sweetie knocked on what she was standing on with a hoof “There are platforms that lead across the gap. They're really hard to see but they're definitely there.” she said. The three blinked a few times before staring down at Sweetie's hooves. After a few seconds Scootaloo shook her head “I still don't see it.” she said. Sweetie rolled her eyes before she took her mask off and summoned Fagin. Without any order he started forming ice in a square around Sweetie. There was now an outline of the platform “There, now you can see it. I'll lead and Fagin will do the same thing for the others.” she said before turning and jumping to another invisible platform. She continued to jump as Fagin outlined the platforms with ice as they passed. With the path clearly marked, the others were easily able to follow until they finally reached the other side. Spike breathed a sigh of relief “I'm glad we have you with us Hoodlum.” he said. Apple Bloom nodded in agreement “Yeah, that was amazin'.” she complemented. They then continued through the door to see a similar room to where they found the star-shaped key. This time there was a robotic pegasus standing in the middle of the room. Behind it was the white cloud-shaped key. She hummed in thought “Another one of these, but this one's a pegasus.” she noted. Scootaloo smirked with confidence “We already beat one of these, this will be no problem.” she said. Spike gave her a disapproving stare “Don't get overconfident, remember to be careful.” he reminded. Apple Bloom took her weapons in her hooves “Let's do it.” she said before walking forward with them into the robot's line of sight. It activated and gave the usual warning “This is a restricted area! Come quietly or suffer the consequences.” it said. Spike narrowed his eyes “We won't be scared off so easily.” he said back. “Hostility detected. Activating attack mode.” it said before flapping it's metallic wings. From the wings came dangerously fast winds pointed towards Spike who was too caught off guard to dodge. “That's not happening!” Scootaloo shouted before ramming into Spike's side to knock him out of the attack's path. The winds then surrounded her but they were barely able to scratch her. The pegasus was about to fly towards her to attack but Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle intercepted it. While they distracted it, Spike got back to his feet and rubbed the back of his neck “Thanks Aviator. I owe you one.” he said. Scootaloo shook her head “You don't owe me anything, this is just what friends do for each other. Plus that attack would've hurt you way more than me.” she said. “You're right, but let's get back in there. Paladin and Hoodlum need us.” he said. They both gave a nod before rejoining the fight. Apple Bloom tried to bring her hammer down on it but her attack was easily blocked by a metal wing. Sweetie attempted to attack from behind it but caught a hind hoof to the face. Spike came in and dug his daggers into it's side. The pegasus then spun around quickly with it's wings sticking out to knock Spike and Apple Bloom away. It then summoned four storm clouds with a flap of it's wings. They each flew above each of the intruders. They all started to panic but none of them could avoid getting struck by the lighting. Spike, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle all screamed in unison while Apple Bloom quickly shook the attack off. While the others tried to recover, the pegasus set it's sights on Sweetie. It took off like a bullet towards the already hurt unicorn and rammed it's head into her. The attack was powerful enough to knock her into the wall. “Hoodlum!” Apple Bloom called with concern before running to her fallen friend. Scootaloo and Spike started attacking the robot again to get it's attention. Once Apple Bloom reached Sweetie, she saw blood seeping from a wound on her forehead. Her eyes widened “Are ya okay?” she asked. Sweetie tried to push herself back to her hooves but was too wobbly to make it “I...d-don't feel so well.” she said through the pain. Apple Bloom laid a comforting hoof on her head “Sit the rest of this fight out. We'll get ya help after.” she said. Sweetie nodded and sat on the wall while breathing hard. Apple Bloom turned back to the fight. The pegasus was busy trying to fight off Scootaloo and Spike so it didn't notice Apple Bloom approaching from behind. She swung her hammer as hard as she could into it's side causing it's legs to buckle. Spike pulled his mask from his eyes as Butch appeared “Get it!” he commanded. Butch blew a small amount of fire at it which seemed effective as the pegasus fell to the ground and it's synthetic mane caught fire. Spike smirked and turned to Scootaloo and held a fist up “It's your turn!” he called. Scootaloo bumped his fist with her hoof “On it!” she said before dashing towards the downed robot with her knife at the ready. She gave a devastating slash to it's torso which created a large gash. She then turned to Apple Bloom and held her hoof up “Finish it!” she called. Apple Bloom bumped hooves with her before glaring at the robot “Gladly.” she said before raising her hammer high. She then brought it down into the gash Scootaloo had created. With a few sparky twitches, the robot dissipated. Apple Bloom then faced Spike and Scootaloo with urgency “Hoodlum's really hurt! We need ta retreat now!” she said. Spike nodded “You two help her. I'll grab the key.” he said before running off. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo ran off to Sweetie Belle. They each got on one of her sides to help her walk. Luckily Fagin's ice still marked the in invisible platforms so they made it over without much trouble. Spike quickly placed the cloud-shaped key in it's place while the others started down the staircase. They quickly brought her to the safe room and Apple Bloom teleported them out. Once out of the palace, they pulled Sweetie into the cover of some apple trees so that no one could see her. Scootaloo started to panic “What do we do? Should we bring her to a hospital or something?” she asked. Spike shook his head “We can't do that. Just imagine what kind of questions they'd ask. We have to bring her to somepony who can keep a secret.” he said. Apple Bloom gasped as she got an idea “Ah think ah know who can help her. It will be a bit of a walk though, how're yer legs feelin'?” she asked. Scootaloo spoke up before she could answer “I'll just carry her on my back, we need to hurry.” she said. Sweetie smiled at her “Thanks Scoots.” she said before resting on her friend's back. They made their way through the everfree forest as quickly and carefully as possible. Soon they saw the residence of Zecora coming up in the distance. Apple Bloom glanced back at Sweetie who was still being carried by Scootaloo. The wound had been bleeding for long enough that it was now dripping from her face. Apple Bloom furrowed her eyebrows in worry and picked up the pace. They reached Zecora's front door and Apple Bloom banged on it. The zebra luckily answered quickly and smiled when she saw who had knocked “Apple Bloom, it's nice to see you. What do I owe this visit to?” she asked. Apple Bloom gestured back to her injured friend “Can ya help her?” she asked. Zecora frowned at the sight but turned to walk into her house “A wound like that is nothing new. I happen to have the perfect brew.” she said. Apple Bloom smiled at the news and followed her inside with the others. Zecora walked over to a shelf filled with different potions and quickly found the one she wanted. It was a small round bottle with a cork blocking the red liquid. She uncorked it and held it out to Sweetie “Drink please and allow your pain to ease.” she said. Sweetie gave the potion a sniff before pouring down her gullet. She felt almost instant relief as the pain in her body lifted. Zecora took a nearby rag and wiped away the blood from the filly's face. The others were shocked to see that the wound was nowhere to be seen, as if it was never there to begin with. Sweetie pulled herself off of Scootaloo's back and put a hoof where her wound was with a smile “That's amazing! What was that?” she asked. “My brew will heal those in slight danger, but be warned it cannot heal wounds too major.” she said. Spike chuckled “I guess we were lucky that the injury wasn't too bad.” he said. Zecora then turned to them with a questioning stare “Now explain to me how a filly got so hurt. Please make your explanation overt.” she said. The fillies and dragon suddenly got quiet as they thought of some way to answer that wouldn't get them in trouble. Apple Bloom suddenly spoke up “Our clubhouse! We're fixing it up and we made a mistake that caused Sweetie's injury.” she said. Her friends smiled and nodded in agreement. Zecora rubbed her chin in thought as she pondered the explanation. After a few seconds she nodded “Construction can be risky. I'm glad you made it here quickly.” she said. Scootaloo got and idea and spoke up “Now that I think about it, we still have a lot of work to do on the clubhouse. It would be nice to have a few of those potions on hoof in case we hurt ourselves again.” she said. Apple Bloom raised an eyebrow and leaned in to whisper to her “What are ya doin'?” she asked. “Think about it, we could heal from bad injuries without needing to use Butch or Fagin.” she whispered back. Apple Bloom nodded in understanding and smiled before turning back to Zecora to get her answer “The potion isn't easy to make. Something in return I'd need to take.” she said. Apple Bloom took out her bag of bits “How much fer five?” she asked. Zecora frowned in suspicion at how desperate they seemed for the potions “I can let them go for five bits each. That is the deal we can reach. I'm still not sure why this is what you need, but I'd rather sell these to you than leave you to bleed.” she said. Apple Bloom started counting out the correct amount “Trust me, these will be a big help.” she said before offering the bits. Zecora took the bits before turning and grabbing a saddle bag. She then filled it with five of the same healing potions. She then gave Apple Bloom the bag “Use this to help carry the load. And remember that you are always welcome at my abode.” she said. They all waved to her before leaving. Scootaloo gave a wide smile “Awesome! With these potions, we'll be unstoppable.” she said. Apple Bloom giggled but frowned when she saw Sweetie Belle. She walked a bit closer to her “Are ya goin' ta be okay?” she asked. She nodded and smile “I am! That potion really did the trick!” she exclaimed. Apple Bloom stared down at the ground sadly “That's not what ah mean. After what happened, do ya still want ta help us? Ah won't blame ya if ya don't.” she said. Sweetie frowned as well “It was really scary.” she shook her head “But you're one of my best friends, I would go through anything to help you. Plus what Filthy Rich is doing is wrong and I want to put a stop to that too.” she said. Spike put a hand onto Apple Bloom's back “You don't have to worry about us. We're doing this because we want to, it's our choice. You aren't forcing anypony to do anything.” he said. Scootaloo nodded “We're all in this together and we're getting out of it together. We'll be just fine. Filthy Rich won't get away with this.” she said. Their words brought a smile back to her face “Thanks. Ah really couldn't ask fer better friends.” she said. Spike nodded before glancing around “We should hurry home. It's getting dark and the everfree forest is much more dangerous at night. We'll meet up for the palace tomorrow.” he said. Apple Bloom nodded “Yeah, ah sure can use a rest after all that.” she said. Date: Unknown Twilight narrowed her eyes in suspicion “So Sweetie Belle got that injury in the metaverse? But I thought you said that couldn't happen in the metaverse. You said that a slash from a great sword wouldn't cut through you so how did the wound happen?” she questioned. “It's because of the power of our personas. They protect us from fatal injuries but the more damage we take would weaken the protection. Eventually it could weaken enough ta let a sword cut straight through us.” Apple Bloom explained. Twilight took a few seconds to put down some notes before continuing “So that was the moment you realized how dangerous what you were doing was?” she asked. She nodded “It was.” she said. “Then why did you keep doing it?” she wondered. Apple Bloom averted her eyes and stared down at the table between them “It was the right thing to do. Ah couldn't quit when ponies were still suffering and ah could've stopped it.” she glanced back up at the princess “Ah'm sure ya can understand that.” she said. Twilight's ears flattened against her skull but she shook the sadness away “Wait, no. You still haven't convinced me to believe in your story. It still doesn't make any realistic sense.” she said. “But yer gonna listen ta the end right? Ya did promise.” Apple Bloom said. Twilight sighed “I will, but try to be a bit quicker. I don't have all night.” she said.