Canterlot, 2:30 PM
"Twily..."
"Uggghh..."
"Twily!"
"Heeerrnggh..."
"Twily!!!"
"Mmmmmm, huh!?" Twilight snaps her eyelids upward and quickly shut them at the glaring light from outside her window.
"Twily, are you alright?" Reopening her eyes, she sees Shining Armor standing in front of her along with Cadence and her five friends. She also finds herself lying down, and trying to get up only results in pain coursing through some parts of her body.
"Ow!"
"Careful, you took quite a blow back there." Shining Armor tell Twilight, who was looking around in confusion.
"Ugggggghhhh..." she moans at first. "What happened?" Pinkie pronks in front of her and inhales deeply.
"Well, you got really pissed at how he was making fun of you, so you tried to hold him, he broke free, you messed up your magic, and he saved you from blowing up!" All of that was said in a very short span of time, and it didn't help Twilight understand the situation.
"Errr, what she's tryin' t'say is," Applejack explains, walking to the side of her bed. "ya got kinda pissed for his annoyance, and you tried to get you back, which led to a disaster, but he sorta saved ya." she finishes, smiling awkwardly.
"Well I still don't trust him!" Everyone turned to see Rainbow crossing her hooves. "Remember how he broke my wings? And the Wonderbolts!?" she was now shouting angrily with her hooves flailing in the air.
"Well, where is he now?" Cadence is the one to answer.
"Right now, he's being held in one of the deluxe guest rooms, you know, those spacey ones? A force field was placed around it so he won't escape." she sums up. "By the way, we were planning to have a talk with him as well when you wake up. Oh and be careful when you stand up."
"Huh?" Twilight removes her bed sheets and widens her eyes at the number of bandages on her body. "What in Celestia's name!?" Shining Armor bites his tongue and speaks.
"Ummmm, I'm not going to get too scientific here, but whatever you did, well, injured you." Twilight tries to stand up, but only results in stumbling down.
"This is going to be a looooong walk." she moans to herself as she groggily stands up.
Twenty minutes later
Deathstroke awkwardly waited in his room for his next talk. Although he could easily escape, he decided to save it for later.
"Wonder what Zod's up to." he thinks out loud as he examines one of his pistols. "Finding their secret hideout won't be easy. Neither is dealing with Zod when I get there. If I get there." On cue, he hears the opening of the door.
"Well look who finally arrived." he sarcastically welcomed, implying much impatience in his voice.
"It's not just him you're dealing with." he hears as more ponies gather inside the room, along with Rainbow in her wheelchair, who just spoke. "I'm not finished with you yet, mister!"
"You're right. I only led you halfway to death." That made Rainbow and some other ponies step back a little. "Don't be scaredy cats. Most of the time I come up with comebacks like that."
"Not funny mister!" Rainbow wheeled herself over to him, face to face. "You messed with the wrong pony!"
"Except I don't regret it." Deathstroke finishes, and raising his leg from his sitting position, he kicks Rainbow's wheelchair, making her roll straight into a wall.
"BONK!!!" The wheelchair tipped over as it rolled, making her hit her head on the wall.
"OW!!!" The pain coursed through her head, and through the bruise which didn't finish healing.
"There. Now you're finished." he humorously said to Rainbow as she was seeing stars fly around her. Shining Armor and Cadence approach him as the squeaking of his wheelchair is the only sound that engulfs the room.
"Whoever you are, I'm have some unfinished business with you, mister." Some of the other ponies enter, with Rarity helping Rainbow Dash up. She was going to protest, but stopped as they saw Shining sitting directly in front of Deathstroke. "You injure me badly, make me go through the painful surgery, and injure my sister as well!"
"I saved your sister from, whatever was going to happen. The band-aids were the side effects. So unless you want me to make you go through more surgery, you better get out of my face." Shining Armor was pretty pissed.
"Shining, let me try." Cadence suggests as she rolls him away. "Alright. Now why did you injure my husband?"
"Well, they didn't take kindly that I resisted arrest."
"You didn't have to hurt my husband that bad."
"He should be thankful that I didn't kill him. Because that's what happens to most of my enemies." Three of the ponies in the room slightly gasp. Cadence glares at him.
"Fine. You win." Though it wasn't really something you would call a victory.
"Alright, anyone else here have a problem with me?" No one makes a sound. "Good. Because I'm hungry. It would be great if you politely let me have dinner."
"Silly you!" Pinkie exclaims, obviously not affected by the incident. "It's only midday! Maybe we should have lunch instead!"
"Yeah yeah whatever." he nonchalantly replies.
"Do me a favor." Shining Armor tells him. "Don't cause any more trouble. You got that?"
"Fine. But no promises." And with the glowing of Shining Armor's horn, he slowly took down the force field.
Ten minutes later
Deathstroke and the eight ponies reserved their dinner in the palace's dining room. They were sitting at a large circular table, with some glaring eyes from Rainbow and Shining Armor. The dining room was private, so no commotion would be caused.
"So what's on the menu?" he asked like any normal customer would.
"Depends. What do you eat?" Twilight responds.
"Just get me some fruits and a coffee and I'll be fine."
"Alright then. By the way, we privately warned the waiters about you, and how they should react normally." Deathstroke didn't respond to that. A pink pony wearing a maiden dress approached them. He saw her slightly look at him, but she did her best to continue her job.
"How may I help you today?"
"The lunch special, please. Oh, and a fruit bowl along with a coffee." The waitress writes down their order on a paper.
"Okay, we'll have that ready ASAP!" she says enthusiastically, and leaves the vicinity within a few seconds.
"Hey there!" Deathstroke turns to see Pinkie directly in his face."
"What do you want?"
"I just realized something! I didn't introduce you to all of my-"
"I know all your names alright? Just sit down."
"Okey dokey lokey!" And in a jiffy, she sits back down.
"Well what about you?" He turns to Twilight, who was still wearing a bunch of bandages. "We don't know your name."
"And I plan to keep it that way for now." he replies dryly. "By the way, good job on nearly blowing yourself up." Twilight only gives him a poker face in return.
"Look, I know I tried to get back at you, but I-"
"That's not my point. You injured your horn too."
"Wait, what!?" Twilight points her pupils upward to see a bandage covering her horn as well. Quickly, she bounces her head to Shining. "Why didn't you tell me!?" He looks at Cadence awkwardly.
"Shining, I thought you were going to tell her!"
"What? Same with me!"
"Oh no oh no oh no oh no!!!" Twilight starts to panic hard.
"Your order is here." Everyone turns to see a unicorn holding multiple plates. Slowly, he levitates them onto the table, along with the fruit bowl and a coffee, which Deathstroke takes. Everyone takes their food and starts to eat, with Twilight last. Applejack looks at Deathstroke, who drank his coffee while slightly uncovering his face.
"Tell me, whatever yer name is, what are ya hiding behind that mask?" he finishes sipping and places his mask back on.
"Don't dig too deep Applejack. It'll only lead to trouble." Applejack glares at him.
"Hey you!" Rainbow almost shouts at him. "You know, you've been kind of a pain in the butt lately. If you really wanna mess with us, then why don't we take it outside?"
"I agree darling." Rarity joins the conversation. "You are quite an annoyance. Not to mention you insult fashion with that horrible outfit and that mask!"
"And he made me injure my horn!" Twilight rants.
"You know, I don't see any of you trusting him!" Fluttershy was angry that they were ranting at him at once. "I want all of you to give him a chance! But you're not!" Meanwhile, Deathstroke just sips his coffee. The ponies stop ranting at him.
"Y'know, I jes' realized something." Applejack stands up to declare her statement. "We're s'posed to be savin' mah sister 'ere! Why are we just sittin' 'ere enjoyin' dinner?"
"Because we can't just go look everywhere. We need to be patient." Deathstroke answers.
"Ah can't wait! We have to start lookin' raht now!" she slammed her hooves into the table, making it shake slightly.
"Laughter, Kindness, Honesty, Loyalty, Generosity, and Magic." he points out. "Each of you possess these qualities. But none of you have patience. You want to save your sister, you follow my advice." Applejack grumbles at the fact that he just corrected them like some kindergarten teacher.
"Incompetent waiter! I expect you to have some respect for somepony like me!" Everyone turns to the commotion, and the ponies wince at who it is.
"What in Equestria is he doing here!?" Rarity complains to the others. The rude pony turns and wears a face of disgust. He and his bodyguards approach their table.
"Now what are you supposed to be?" he rudely asks Deathstroke, who only sips his coffee nonchalantly. "Why are you incompetent ponies sitting with this vile creature!?" again, he ignores him.
"Fool!!! Do you have any idea who I am?" Now he was in his face.
"Of course I do. You're the bumbling, spoiled prince of Canterlot. I suppose the royal bastard would like some of my coffee?" he jokingly gestures his coffee toward him. Prince Blueblood was awestruck at first, then with a sense of rage, he knocked the coffee straight out of his hand.
"Well apparently not." He determined jokingly. Time slowed as he flipped over Blueblood from his chair. He then brought down his hands and flipped him onto the chair upside down.
"CRACK!!!" The coffee mug hit Blueblood's skull and coffee was dripping all over his face. It gives him a strong burning sensation, and many moments of silence pass.
"You. Will. PAY FOR THAT!!!" Blueblood was now steaming, along with the dripping coffee on his head. He recklessly charged Deathstroke, who leaped over him and onto the table. The other ponies were watching in interest, Rarity was even snickering.
"Your highness, allow me to serve you tonight's special." Deathstroke jokingly mocked as he kicked up one of the plates. Another kick sent the plate flying straight toward Blueblood, who turned just in time to have salad splattered all over his face.
"GUA-" He tries to call for his bodyguards, but another plate full of food muffles his voice, not to mention the guards are watching in humor as well. Suddenly, all of the ponies started laughing.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!" Rainbow Dash laughed the hardest, and she brought up her own plate and threw it at the annoying prince. This made the others join in as well, even the guards.
"HA!!! GOTCHA!!!"
"TAKE THIS YOU RUFFIAN!!!"
"FOR EQUESTRIA!!!"
"YEAH!!! FOOD FIGHT!!!"
Meanwhile, Deathstroke exited the scene as he wiped off some food on his armor.
"That should keep them busy for a bit. Now it's time to get down to business." Carefully opening the window, he ducks to barely avoid a cake flying toward him. Ignoring it, he climbs outside and shuts the window behind him. He slowly makes his way up onto the roof of the castle.
"If Zod's here, then I have business to get done." he says to himself as he climbs onto the roof. Looking around, he sees a tower with a balcony.
"An observatory" he determines. "Just what I need." Running to the bottom of the observatory, he starts to climb it. Thankfully there were a lot of ledges he could use to get to the top. He pulls himself up onto the balcony. With the telescope in hand, he views the surrounding area.
"There's Ponyville. And some broken houses. We brawled in that area, so the Brain flew in that direction." He points the telescope slowly toward The Brain's direction of travel. "It leads to that forest over there. Just need to find out where they're hiding. He examines the telescope and finds a dial. Turning it, he zooms into the forest.
"Don't see anything through all that foliage. Then again, an underground base doesn't seem very... fitting for someone like Zod. He looks around more with a telescope, and sees an oddity in the mountain ranges. Zooming in more, he sees a small opening in the mountain, and inside were some people. Not ponies, actual human people.
"Ah hah." He quietly exclaimed. "Ya sneaky little devil."