//------------------------------// // Everybody Get Together, Try to Love One Another // Story: Psycho // by Bishibosh the Shaman //------------------------------// Psycho Chapter Eighteen Rarity watched curiously as Applejack slowly backed out of the brush, her jaw slack and her eyes wide. She was now more intrigued than before and went to look herself but was stopped by Applejack before she could squeeze her head through the brush. She lifted her head to look the farm pony in the eye, a little agitated until Applejack spoke. "Trust me Rarity... Ya don't wanna see. It's... messy." "I appreciate your concern darling, but a mare cannot be turned away by something because it is 'messy' so if you don't mind" The unicorn poked her head into the brush, despite the farm ponies warning. As she scanned the battlefield with wide eyes, red overflowed her mind. She gently pulled her own head from the brush and stare at Applejack. "Well... I guess you were riiii..." "Rarity!" Applejack caught her friend as she fainted, then slowly set her on the ground. She then looked at Pinkie and Fluttershy who had also poked there heads into the brush. The farm pony knew what was about to happen as she sighed. The timid pegasus lasted all of three seconds before passing out on the ground. The pink party pony however was enthralled by the bloodshed. "Applejack! Look at all the jelly! I bet it's cherry!" Pinkie was about to leap into the gore but was stopped by Applejack tackling her into the ground. "No! Ain't nopony gettin in that mess as long as Ah'm here!" "What was that?" An unfamiliar voice spoke from behind the brush. Crap Applejack thought... Chrysalis stared the Hyperion infiltrator down with a gaze to kill as he stood in front of her with his crooked smile. She didn't trust him, and he knew it. Had she not of been starving on power, she would have made the whelp kneel in his proper place. "Come know my queen, surely you can open up a little bit. After all, we are serving each other right?" Caine spoke in a clever tone as he smirked. "Consider yourself lucky that my people are starving..." Chrysalis scoffed. "What does your master need of me?" "Heh, first off Jack doesn't 'need' anything from you. You are merely a means to an end for now, a tool. As for what we want of you, we would appreciate an agent in the city walls of the Crystal Empire tomorrow. No later." "And why is it so important you have an agent in there by tomorrow?" "You are familiar with the shield magic used to protect cities on this planet yes?" "Your point?" "Let's just say Jack intends to make a big debut tomorrow and wants everypony in the city to get the 'full' effect." Caine smiled with his pale white lips. "I see... And you cannot get inside for what reason?" "Do I look like a pony? Besides, their guards spot us every time we get too close. As much as I enjoy blasting them inside out, the operation will be a much bigger success without casualties." "Cas..." Even though she was evil, she never intended to KILL anypony... This Jack was certainly mad with power, but Chrysalis was still too weak to fight back. She nodded to Caine as her horn began to glow. Shortly after, another changeling entered the room. "Caine, this is my most promising... son... Prince Carapace. He is a master of subterfuge and stealth" "Mother, why did you call for me?" The changeling asked.. "Because you have a very important mission for the hive, one that could save our race." Chrysalis tried her hardest to force a smile for her son, she knew he didn't buy it. "You are to go with this man, he will explain everything..." "Ok... but what about you?" "I will be fine, now go gather what you need to travel. And be swift!" Chrysalis was about to turn away, but in a small burst of emotion stopped Carapace. "And... be safe..." Axton stepped through the bloodied mess towards the voices he just heard, followed by Maya and Twilight. Twilight was certain she knew the voices, but felt concerned as she knew what they saw. The siren unicorn sighed, gaining the attention of Maya who knelt down and patted her back. Twilight smiled and continued. The remaining vault hunters scattered around the battlefield. "I heard it come from over here, come on out! Weapons down or we fire!" Axton shouted. "Yeah, sure. Let's scare the poor things even more..." Maya sighed. "It's safe to come out now, I think we have a friend of your's here." "Can ya come over here? Ah'm afraid ma friends are... stuck..." The southern voice rang from outside the brush. Twilight moved through the brush to see her friends. "Applejack! Uhh... why are you on top of Pinkie like that? And why are Rarity and Fluttershy passed out on the ground?" "Uh yeah, long story. Tell ya what Twi, how bout ya tell me what all that mess out there is for?" Applejack struggled to keep the pink pony down still. "Jeeze Pinkie! Since when are ya so.... tough!" "Yeah... that... you see..." Twilight began to explain the events to her friend, starting from the ship and finding the vault hunters. Then she told Applejack about Handsome Jack and his plans according to the other humans. After that, she attempted to explain the mess but was interrupted as Krieg stepped through the brush. "What can I say, I wanted a shiny new bicycle..." Krieg sighed, then followed with a chuckle. "Twi, perhaps we should get away from this mess... so your friends don't faint again." At this, the other vault hunters began climbing out of the bush. Axton and Maya stepped through first, followed by Zer0 and Brick. Lilith and Mordecai also crawled through the mess. Salvador then stepped through the bushes, bandit arm in one hand. The other half of the arm was caught in the gunzerker's teeth as he ripped a large chuck on flesh off and chewed. The other vault hunters just covered their faces as Twilight and Applejack stared, unsure of what they felt most. Disgust or sick. "What!? Not like there was much to eat since we landed!" The gunzerker shouted as he bit off another chunk of bandit flesh. "Hey! Why does HE get the candy!?" Pinkie pouted, receiving strange looks from everyone present. "Pinkie... I'm sorry" Applejack apologized. "For what?" Pinkie asked back. "This" Applejack bucked the pink pony across the face, knocking her out cold. "Jeeze that pony sure can take ah beatin..." It stayed quiet for a moment as everyone watched the sudden act of violence between the two earth ponies. The silence was quickly obliterated by the psychotic screams of a certain fan girl. "Oh my gosh... Applejack? Rarity!? FLUTTERSHY!?" Gaige squeeled like the school girl she was as she rushed the K.O'd pegasus, scooping her up in a massive hug. Fluttershy woke up to the glittering face of Gaige. The pegasus let out a soft 'eep' at the surprise but quickly warmed up to the warm cuddling of the mechromancer. "Umm... hello" Fluttershy softly greeted. "HI! Like oh my gosh I am totally talking to Fluttershy... This is the single greatest day EVAR!" "Um, excuse me?" Fluttershy asked with a confused look on her face. "No need, just let me bask in this a little bit... and everyone made fun of me for 'The Stare' heh..." "Oh... well... ok then." Fluttershy smiled, normally she never liked this kind of attention but now she was just glad it was a friendly face. Nightfall began to come, and it was still a days trek back to Canterlot. The vault hunters and ponies decided to make camp (Far away from the battlefield). Most the ponies were slow to trust these humans, but Twilight and Krieg opened them up to the newcomers and soon they all were laughing and exchanging stories. By time they all finally made it to sleep, Everypony had found a new friend to call their own. Rainbow had made herself comfortable in Mordecai's lap as he sat perched in a tree. He took a liking to the spunky pegasus, she reminded him of an old friend. The pegasus began to snore and kick softly, but the hunter didn't mind. His thought's left this strange world and took him to his happy place, remembering the countless times Bloodwing had saved his ass. He chuckled as he remembered the fun times they had. He was only barely aware that he had begun to scratch Rainbow's ears causing her to stretch in enjoyment. Twilight slept with both the sirens, they spent most the night sharing whatever information about sirens they could to the pony. Twilight wanted to stay awake and listen more, but when Lil began nod her head in half sleep, she decided it best to have this talk later. She lay in her ball between the two sirens, her dreams filled with learning more about her new powers. Fluttershy really bonded with Gaige, despite their opposite attitudes. She was most impressed by the D374-TP robot she could create. Sure, it was scary but it seemed so friendly to her. Fluttershy sat silently most the night as Gaige rambled and praised her and her friends, it was only late into the night that Gaige started talking about her past. Fluttershy felt bad for the girl, and opted to spend the night with her to help her sleep. Brick fell hopelessly in love with the pink party pony. Her energy and spastic attitude reminded him of his old dog, not to mention the conversation was to his liking. She would talk about parties, he would talk about smashing things. She would talk about different treats, he would talk about smashing things. She would talk about anything, and he would still talk about smashing things. Krieg was probably the most comfortable. Between Rarity and Applejack, he really closed the gap between high classed and farmer. His thought's still haunted him, but thanks to his friends, he was able to conquer the nightmares that awaited him. One arm held the soft head of Rarity while Applejack just plopped her head on his chest and passed out. Before falling asleep himself, the psycho inside spoke in a hushed tone. "Warm feelings... inside me...." Krieg drifted off to his dreams of ponies and happiness. The night was late, and everypony and everyone was sleeping soundly. They all knew the trek to Canterlot would be a long one so they all needed their rest. None of them even considered the possibility that everything would go completely wrong. For the night, they all wanted to enjoy the peace they had.