Chapter 9
“Scootaloo! Are you here!?” Vinyl Scratch called as she and Twilight threw open the door into the Cutie Mark Crusader Clubhouse. Vinyl’s ears drooped when they discovered that it was empty.
“She’s not here,” Vinyl said and sighed defeatedly.
Twilight took a closer look at the details of the clubhouse, there were three bedrolls lying on the floor, two of them were zipped up neatly, one of them however was messy and left open.
“Look!” Twilight said, she dropped down and felt the open one. “Still warm, they can’t have been gone five... ten minutes at the most.”
“But where would they go?” Vinyl asked.
That was when they heard screaming. Twilight and Vinyl looked out the window and saw that a white Pegasus with a bright pink mane was flying east at top speed, screaming her head off as she went.
“Who is that pony?” Twilight asked.
“No clue, never seen anypony that looked like that before,” Vinyl said. She used her magic to slip her goggles off her head, her soft red eyes contrasting the dark night; she pulled a pair of binoculars out of her saddlebags and brought them to her eyes.
“Okay... Loudmouth MacScreamywings is flying east on a bearing of 117 degrees... let’s see if I can’t approximate a point of origin...”
“Loudmouth... MacScreamyings?” Twilight asked at the ridiculousness of it.
“Hey! Don’t criticise me while I’m working!” Vinyl harked back at her. “And... bingo! Gotcha! Oh... I hate it when I’m good.”
“Why? What do you see?” Twilight asked. Vinyl passed her the binoculars and gave her the references that she needed. Surprise and Scootaloo were trotting out of the Library together and were walking to the northeast, along the path that would take them towards Whitetail Wood... and EPMB.
“Oh no,” Twilight said.
“Come on! If we hurry we can catch up before she does any damage!” Vinyl called out.
...
Scootaloo was amazed by the interior of EPMB, she had been in the caves that hid its entrance several times, but had never realised that it held something like this!
Surprise was humming a tune that Scootaloo wasn’t familiar with as she skipped merrily down the hall. Surprise reminded Scootaloo somewhat of Pinkie Pie, only far creepier.
“Um... Surprise? Where are we going?” Scootaloo asked.
“You’ll see!” Surprise sang in response.
The two pegasi walked into a large open room, filled with computer terminals, and large consoles with many buttons, causing Surprise to grin widely, but what she was most interested in wasn’t actually in the room at all, but was rather visible through the windows at the far end.
The missile sat in pristine condition as if it were brand new. Small round robots, each with four fluttering wings danced in the missile silo, scrubbing away any sign of the missile’s age.
“What are those?” Scootaloo asked, pointing to one of the robots.
“You mean the Sprite-bots?” Surprise asked. “BORING! We’re here for the big prize! Not the party favours!”
Surprise leapt into action, she went over to the biggest console and began to push buttons and pull levers that appeared completely random to Scootaloo, but actually seemed to be having the effect that Surprise desired. Alarms began to sound, and with that, the room began to shake.
...
The citizens of Ponyville too felt the shakes.
“It’s an earthquake!” somepony shouted, and with that, it sent the entirety of town into panic and disarray.
The ground near Sugarcube Corner began to crack, with a shudder, it ripped open and sent the building clattering down to its foundations.
Mister and Missus Cake watch in horror as their sweet shop was destroyed for the second time.
“Oh not again!” they called out in disappointment.
Their disappointment was short lived, it quickly turned to terror, as the ground began to heave and pull up, the rock and dirt of the street slid off, revealing large metal doors that opened into an abyss below.
The EPMB Missile rose, sticking its tip out of the newfound whole where Sugarcube Corner once stood.
The Police and Kangaroo soldiers had once again gotten into a fight about who was to take control of the situation, they both stopped and watched in horror as the missile appeared from its hiding place.
Captain Blackthorn looked it over, and instantly realised it for what it was.
“Detective Chief Inspector Clockwork... we need to evacuate this town, and we need to do it right now,” Blackthorn said.
DCI Clockwork looked at the kangaroo, worry forming on her face. “I never thought I would be saying this... but I completely agree.”
...
Twilight and Vinyl had made it to the large metal door of EPMB when the ground began to shake, dust shook from the ceiling and both ponies were afraid that the tunnel would collapse upon them. The metal door to EPMB was open, and with that the duo took off running, leaping through the open door and skittering onto the cold metal floor. The shaking stopped, and to the duo’s surprise, did not collapse the tunnel, of which they were extremely thankful for.
Had it collapsed, they would have been sealed inside the complex with Surprise for the rest of their lives, which would likely have been very short, all things considering.
Hazard lights were flashing all along the hallway, Twilight and Vinyl took off running, they had to find Scootaloo and get her away from Surprise as quickly as possible.
Fortunately, they didn’t have a long way to go, and they had something to follow. They heard Surprise talking very loudly, and while they could not actually make out the words, they could follow the insane mare’s voice right to her.
...
“Well, ah guess it’s happenin’ then,” Applejack said as she watched Ponyville evacuate from her far off perch.
“I don’t care.”
Applejack looked at her companion, the straight maned Pinkie Pie with disdain. “How can ya say that!? Our friends are down there! ”
“What friends?” Pinkie Pie asked. “They’re all dead.”
“Not all o’ them! Twilight and Rarity...”
“Might as well already be dead,” Pinkie Pie interrupted pessimistically. “Not like we could do anything about it even if we wanted to.”
Applejack frowned; she tried to lift her leg, but discovered that it did not budge. She let out a sigh; she couldn’t do anything unless it was exactly what Overdrive wanted her to do. Right now, he wanted them to watch, so they would be watching.
Pinkie Pie sighed again, lying down on her stomach and closing her eyes. Unlike Applejack, Pinkie Pie still had control of her body, her mind had been broken, and she was in no position to offer any kind of resistance to it. It bothered Applejack more than ever that her friend didn’t care in the slightest, but she understood that it wasn’t really her fault. It was his. Overdrive had taken the form of Monty Ulhan and used Pinkie Pie’s trust of him to force her into tearing her family apart, her parents were in prison, and her childhood home now a strip mine for harvesting limestone. Applejack felt for Pinkie Pie, but she could do nothing for her.
And even if she could, Pinkie Pie wouldn’t care.