Chapter 6
A massive mushroom cloud formed in the distance as an explosion rocked the town, causing everyone to begin to panic.
“What the hell just happened?!” Lance said as he ran to the edge of the town, staring at the distant cloud of debris and dirt that were thrown into the air.
“Is that from them fighting Jun?” Shayla asked as she and Domitor stood off to the side, having been getting ready to go after her mother and Frederic.
“I don’t think Jun had an attack like that,” Lacy muttered, her mood still sour.
“We need to get moving then, they clearly need our help!” Lance yelled as he spread his wings, preparing to take off.
Just as he was about to take flight, a portal opened near them, and a wounded Frederic flopped out of it, hitting the ground with a groan.
“Fred!” Lance yelled as he rushed over and lifted his friend. “Someone get Calypso!”
Domitor dashed off as Shayla stepped forward, eying the portal as it lingered for a moment. When it snapped shut she worked her jaw, glancing to the heavily wounded Alicorn.
“Where’s my mother?” she asked roughly.
Frederic winced as he forced himself up into a sitting position, holding his side where a shallow cut sat. “Jun got a power up from that woman he called Lilith and he almost killed me,” he groaned. “I got the upper hand and was about to beat him, but then he decided to self-destruct… he…”
“What?” Shayla asked roughly.
“I’m sorry,” he said with a wince.
“Why are you fucking apologizing?!” she demanded. “Where is my fucking mother?!”
“She… saved me,” he finally said, going limp as seemed to pass out from his injuries.
“No…” Lance muttered, turning his gaze towards the slowly dissipating cloud in the distance.
“There’s no fucking way Jun would be able to take her out,” Lacy said in disbelief.
“What the fuck do you mean?” Shayla asked with a snarl, not catching the hint.
“Scamp, she…” Lance began, but he hesitated.
“Frederic is saying she died,” Lacy deadpanned, causing Shayla to seize up.
“No, he’s fucking wrong. Guys a fucking failure, can’t even fight Jun. My mother wouldn’t get taken out like that,” she said with a growl, her muscles twitching as she clenched her fist.
“I agree with you,” Lacy said, nodding her head towards the cloud in the distance. “Let’s go see if Scamp needs our help, yeah?”
“Let’s go,” Shayla said as she flared her wings. The two of them took off, leaving Lance and Frederic alone.
As soon as they were gone, Frederic gasped out, seeming to just be waking up. He started to get up, but Lance held him down.
“Stay down, buddy,” he warned. “You need to wait for Calypso to check on you before you move around.”
“I’m sorry,” he whimpered. “I’ve only made things worse since I came back.”
“No you haven’t,” Lance assured him. “You exposed Jun while the rest of us were fooled by him. If you hadn’t been here, he would have done who knows what.”
“But Scamp…”
A pained look overtook Lance’s face. “Are you sure she…”
“I’m sure,” he replied, tears running down his face. “She saved me, Lance.”
Lance could only nod as tears ran down his own face.
“We need to take down this Lilith character, as soon as possible,” Frederic said with a determined look on his face.
“Don’t worry,” Lance said. “We’re going to get her.”
“If you don’t mind,” Frederic began with a pained smile. “I actually have an idea on how to handle her.”
“I’m all ears,” Lance said, eyes narrowing. “Tell me what you need and I’ll make it happen.”
“Thanks, Lance,” he said with a smile. “There is something you can do for me…”
ooo000<^>000ooo
Frederic stepped out of the portal into the vacant dimension that used to be his old home dimension, before the Rapture emptied it of all life. The perfect place to hide things he wanted out of sight. As he strolled away from the flickering portal, eyes locked on the container ahead, he failed to notice someone else slipped through behind him.
A loud metallic grinding sound was heard as the doors to the shipping container were pulled open, casting light onto the curled up form of Annabel. She let out a whimper as Frederic stepped into view, walking towards her.
“It’s been six hours, do we need to do the full twenty four?” he asked as he knelt down next to her.
“No no, please,” Annabel mumbled, staring up at him desperately. “I-I-I never betrayed y-you, I promise!”
“Hm,” he hummed, tapping his hoof against the floor as he pretended to be considering something. “If I let you out right now, what would you do?”
“What e-ever you wanted!”
“Good, so you’re willing to go back to how things were?”
“Yes!”
“You’re not going to try and spill any secrets you think you know about me?”
“I swear I won’t! I’d never do that to you!”
“Hm…” he hummed again. “Maybe we should finish out the full twenty four hours…”
“Fred please…” she begged as she began to cry again. “I’ll do whatever you want, just stop this, please!”
“We’ll see,” he chuckled as he stood up. “Tomorrow.”
“Fred!” she screeched as he turned around, eyes going wide as he saw someone peeking in at them. They pulled away as he dashed forward.
Upon exiting the crate he saw a portal sitting open as someone, a woman with black hair, jumped through it. He vaguely recognized her from Lilith’s memories, which meant she was a problem.
“Fuck,” he growled as he rushed back in and stood above Annabel. “You want to prove yourself and never come back here?”
“Yes!” she cried out.
“Then you’re coming with me, and you’re going to do as I say, got that?!” he roared as he began to undo her chains.
She could only frantically nod her head yes as he hauled her to her hooves.
“Good,” he snapped as he pulled out a rune and touched it to her, removing all the dirt and grime from her, making her appear like she’d just woken up from a refreshing nap. “If you so much as act out of character even once, I will leave you here for the rest of eternity, do you hear me?!”
“Yes, Fred!” she said a bit eagerly, trembling as she desperately wanted out of this place.
“I swear if you betray me,” he snarled, but left the threat in the air as he dragged her out of the container and opened a portal. “Now, the story we’re going with is-”
ooo000<^>000ooo
Annabel and Frederic appeared outside the Mellowed Pie and casually walked inside. Frederic was tense as he expected to see the woman in question, but she was nowhere to be seen, just Lance and the other Bronies. Plus a few others who apparently had Holy Energy within them as well.
“Ah there you are,” Lance said as he quickly made his way over to Frederic and Annabel. “I got most of the Bronies, plus a few of the others who have been near God as well. Was there anything else you needed for this plan?”
“Yes,” Frederic said, still looking around a bit nervously. “Nova should be bringing the rest by soon.”
“So what is this plan you have for dealing with Lilith?” Cody asked as he stepped over to them, his signature scowl on his face.
“I’ll explain it once my daughter gets here,” Frederic assured him as he walked further into the room. “First, however, I need to discuss something I’ve just found out with all of you.”
He looked at each person, making note of the ones he needed to deal with, as requested by Lilith. Twilight Sparkle being at the top of that list, however she was not here, even though he had requested for her to be.
“What’s up?” Greg asked as he wheeled around the room lazily.
“I’ve found another agent of this Lilith here in this town, or rather, Annabel found them for me,” he said, getting a few solemn looks from those around him.
“Great,” Lance muttered. “Who is it this time?”
“Annabel, go ahead and tell them,” Frederic said, causing everyone to look at the meek mare.
Her body trembled as she tried to recall what she’d been told to say, forcing herself to do as she’s told. “I-It’s… Erm… Belle…”
Lance clicked his tongue in annoyance as the others showed their own displeasure in different ways. “I fucking knew she’d be a problem,” he growled.
“I told you we should have locked her ass up!” Louie exclaimed, slamming his fist on the table. “Strawell told all of you as well that she shouldn’t be allowed to do whatever she wanted!”
“We didn’t touch her out of courtesy to Domitor,” Cody interjected.
“Well now look where we are?! Scamp’s dead and Lilith has her little agents among us, unchecked!” Louie roared as everyone else began to yell as well.
“Everyone!” Frederic boomed in his Royal Canterlot voice. “Cease this bickering. We just need to proceed with my plan and she won’t be a problem for much longer.”
As if on cue, the doors opened as Domitor stepped in, flanked by his mother in her human form.
“Speak of the devil,” Cody muttered as everyone got up and advanced on the pair who’d just entered.
“Guys,” Domitor began, taking note of the hostility they’d walked in on. “I know how we feel about her, but my mother just told me-”
“Step away from her, Domitor,” Lance ordered as everyone flanked them. “She’s working for Lilith.”
“No?” he said, a bit dumbfounded. “She just told me Frederic has Annabel trapped in another dimension as a prisoner.”
“Oh is that so?” Frederic said as he stepped aside to reveal Annabel. “Annabel, are you trapped as a prisoner anywhere?”
“N-No…” she muttered, averting her eyes from everyone else.
“Clever…” Belle said under her breath, her baggy eyes and tired expression never changing. “Should have come here first.”
“Domitor, for your own good,” Lance said carefully. “Step over here with me. She’s not on our side.”
Domitor looked at Annabel, then to his mother, a conflicted look on his face. He’d told her he’d give her a chance to prove to him she cared, and then she pulled something like this. And now he was being told she was working with Lilith.
“Damn it,” he hissed as he stepped away from her. “Is that true?”
“Would you even believe me?” she asked in an almost whisper, her slumped posture still unchanging.
“I honestly wish I could,” he said after a few moments. With that he joined the others, leaving her alone and surrounded.
“You tried,” Frederic said a bit smugly. “And you failed. Working against the people who took you in? That’s low.”
“You’re a piece of work, aren’t ya?” Belle asked as she looked around at the ponies around her. “This man is a manipulator. I don't know what he did to her, but she’s scared of him. Just open your eyes and really look at him.”
“If you tell us all you know about Lilith, we’ll let you leave the dimension,” Lance said, seeming to not care for her words. “That’s the only deal you’re getting right now.”
A sigh escaped her lips as she lowered her head. “I’m just ‘that one lackey of Lorenzo’ to all of you. That’s all you see when you look at me. You look past everything else about me and hyper focus on that… okay.” She looked to the smiling face of Frederic, “this will end badly for you.”
“It won’t,” he said with a growing smirk. “Because with my friends, nothing can stop me.”
“Ugh,” she groaned as she suddenly exploded with energy, pushing everyone back as she transformed into a Super Sayian and shot through the roof.
“Oh shit!” Lance yelped as he spread his wings. “Don’t let her-”
“No, let her go,” Frederic said, stopping everyone in their tracks. “She’s just a lackey, we’re going after Lilith herself. No need to split up now when we’re so close.”
Reluctantly, Lance lowered his wings, chewing on his lip. “... You’re right, Fred.”
“I know,” he chuckled as a flash behind him caused him to smile widely. “Perfect timing!”
“I’m sorry everyone,” Nova announced as she levitated a box up onto a table. “It took me longer than I thought it would to get the Elements gathered up. Shayla’s room was a mess and she had hers buried under a pile of clothes and trash.”
“You did good, sweetie,” Frederic praised her as he stepped over to the table and flipped the box open, his eyes gleaming as he looked upon the familiar Elements. He pulled an item out of his pocket dimension and smiled at it. An item he spent years trying to find. “You performed perfectly, honey.”