Scootaloo couldn’t believe the atrocities she had seen so far. So many dead civilians of all ages. What did her psychotic “sisters” get out of all of this pointless violence? Was this all just some savage thrill to them? Some kind of twisted sexual relief?
“Do you hear that?” asked Jet Stream.
Scootaloo listened and heard the sound of loud whimpering coming from a bathroom. Someone was saying something; the same thing over and over again. Scootaloo knew she needed to get to Tom, but perhaps there was someone who had successfully hidden from her clones. Perhaps they could sneak this person out? As Scootaloo entered the bathroom, the words became more clear.
“It was Mercy.” She found a stallion in the bathroom, along with a dead mare, a dead colt, and a dead filly. All of them had their limbs bound so they couldn’t escape. He was holding a small scalpel with him, staring at it, chanting the words “It was Mercy” over and over again. The three dead ponies all had a number of lacerations and open wounds covering their bodies. Strangely enough, it looked as if someone had treated their injuries, though somewhat poorly. Most of the wounds were either poorly stitched shut, or had been cauterized. The only still open wounds were the cuts running across their necks.
Scootaloo noticed the stallion didn’t have a mark on him, and noticed the fresh blood dripping from his scalpel. “Did you do this?!” she shouted.
The stallion kept crying, and continued chanting, “it was Mercy. It was Mercy. It was Mercy.”
“This was mercy?!” shouted Scootaloo. If Scootaloo had been armed, this sick stallion would be dead by now.
One of the clones from earlier entered the bathroom. She wore the number 588 on her right shoulder pad. The left shoulder pad had a set of black angel wings, most likely representing her cutie mark. “Of course it was me. Not many others in the prototype generation can keep a victim alive as long as I can. I’m Mercy by the way. More importantly, why haven’t you suited up yet? I said get to the armory didn't I?”
“Right, we’ll get going in a second. But what happened here?” asked Jet Stream.
“Ordinarily I’d report your disobedience to the Prophet, but I do love to share my work,” said Mercy.
She approached the stallion, who was still shaking uncontrollably while saying the same chant over and over again. “This poor stallion watched his family suffer a horrible fate. Each one of them begged for death before the end while he watched. Listening to them scream my name over and over again. I know it’s a bit egotistical, but I like to hear my own name. I told them I would stop when they shouted it loud enough.”
“And then you killed them?” accused Scootaloo.
“Me? Kill anyone? No! That’s barbaric. I don’t kill people. I always aim to wound. I’m very good at it too,” bragged Mercy. “I just can’t stand to see someone die, so I patched them up before they could ever bleed out. They were so grateful each time I treated one of their newly created injuries that they just kept shouting my name even louder!” It was easy to see 588 was swelling with pride.
“Then who killed them?” asked Jet Stream.
588 pointed towards the shaking stallion. “When I satisfied, I handed the scalpel to their husband and father. He could either continue to watch them suffer, or end it all for them. He choose the latter.”
“That’s sick!” shouted Scootaloo.
“Actually I think that’s brilliant,” said Jet Stream.
“Thank you!” said 588.
“What the hell is the matter with you!?” shouted Scootaloo.
“Nothing is wrong with 36. She simply recognizes creativity when she sees it,” said 588. “But enough of my bragging. 01 and 36, get to the armory, and get suited up.”
Scootaloo looked at the still trembling stallion with the scalpel. “You’re just going to leave him like that?”
“If by “that,” you mean alive and healthy? Then yes!” said 588 with a smile. “I have to live up to my name you know? Now get suited up!” 588 walked out of the room, most likely to continue patrolling the halls, or to fight on the wall again.
“Come on Scoots, let’s go,” suggested Jet Stream.
Scootaloo looked at the stallion with the scalpel. There was no life left in his eyes. She had seen those eyes before. Every killer back at the ice house had same look in their eyes. This stallion was the furthest thing from alive and healthy. She could only imagine the horrors he would inflict on others when this was all over. He had already been forced to kill his family, the one thing he probably loved most. Anything else at that point would be trivial. Scootaloo could see 588’s intentions now. He would eventually kill again. Through him, 588 would take another life.
Scootaloo approached the still shaking stallion and put her hooves on his head. With a quick snap, she wrung his neck and put the poor soul out of his misery. “Let’s get our gear and get the hell out of here,” demanded Scootaloo.
The two mares eventually found the starport's armory. It wasn’t uncommon for a fortress world to keep such a place inside a starport. These facilities were often of vital strategic importance. Scootaloo quickly donned her reaper armor and equipment. Rainbow Dash’s armor was a bit larger, so Jet Stream was unable to wear it.
Fortunately, she found a few suits of diamond dog infantry power armor she could use as well. It wasn’t uncommon to bring a few extra suits. It was possible for a suit to get damaged while still protecting the pony inside. Bringing a few extra suits allowed the pony to change armor and get back into the fight. As Jet Stream activated the armor, a song started to play inside her helmet.
“Not that stupid song again,” said Scootaloo.
Jet Stream simply relaxed and smiled. “All of this violence is putting me on edge alright. When I hear this song, it just calms me down. All the fear and doubt just disappears. It keeps me relaxed and focused, even with all of this death and destruction,” explained Jet Stream.
“Suit yourself,” said Scootaloo as she picked up a few boxes of ammunition. She had every intention of taking far more than was compensated. “This armor can’t lift as much. Grab that box with Rainbow Dash’s armor, and whatever else you can get your hands on.”
“No problem,” replied Jet Stream.
The two mares made their way over to Tom after loading the boxes onboard. All that was left now was to find a way to the hospital. This part would be difficult of course. If they didn’t announced themselves as Diamond Dogs, then the Diamond Dogs would shoot them down. If they did, then the militia on the ground would take a shot at them. Tom was just a civilian cargo freighter, and had no weapons or shields. A well placed missile is all it would take to shoot it down.
“Any ideas?” asked Scootaloo.
“Yeah, just not any good ones,” said Jet Stream.
“Well choose the least crappy one and let’s go. If the clones catch us in this shuttle, they’ll get suspicious,” said Scootaloo.
Jet Stream activated the engines and started to take off. The roof was fortunately open. While drop pods were used to bring in the first wave of shock troopers, shuttles were used to bring in troops and supplies in larger numbers, as well as to evacuate any wounded.
“If those shuttles are able to come and go without getting shot down, then perhaps the area around the starport is relatively free of anti-air?” suggested Scootaloo. “Get us high enough over the starport, then make a run for the hospital?”
“Sounds like as good as any plan,” said Jet Stream.
Rainbow Dash didn’t like hiding in a corner like a coward, but there wasn’t much she could do at the moment. She had no weapon, no armor, and worst of all, no idea what those two idiots were doing. For all she knew, they've probably been captured by now. Probably dead if the merciless bombing of shops and houses is any indications of the Diamond Dog's extent of mercy on this raid.
Then she looked up to see Tom taking off into the sky. It was still dark, and the snow made it difficult to see the ship. One of the militia fired a missile, but fortunately he was too far for the missile to function appropriately in this weather. The strong winds blew the missile off course, and the shuttle made an escape into the whiteout above.
They made it!? Rainbow Dash thought to herself. Either they had succeeded in retrieving Tom, or the Diamond Dogs had decided to borrow a shuttle. If the answer is the latter, the mares were probably already dead and there was nothing Rainbow Dash could do. If the answer is the first, then the best thing Rainbow Dash could do was make her way to the hospital.
Rain Sight quickly made her way across town to the hospital. So far everything seemed just fine. Perhaps she was wrong about the Diamond Dogs going after Apple Bloom and Sovereign? Perhaps they just wanted to level the entire town, or inflict as much damage as possible? If that were the case, then that was just all the more reason not to stick around. She needed to find Apple Bloom, Sovereign and hopefully Sweetie Belle so she could have them ready for evacuation before Tom had arrived.
The hospital did have some measure of security around it, but not enough to hold off a dedicated attack. Rain Sight could only pray there wouldn’t be one. As she approached the hospital, one of the guards stopped her. He had a chain in his hand which had a very angry looking zergling attached to the other end growling at her. “Why are you bringing that weapon here?” asked the militia.
“Diamond Dogs are everywhere, and you ask me why I’m walking around armed?” asked Rain Sight. “My husband is in that hospital. I’m not leaving him here alone. You can shoot me or you can let me help defend this hospital, but I’m not going home!”
The military pulled back on the zerg and let her enter. The sound of gun fire was still filling the air, and it seemed to be getting closer. Rain Sight was starting to fear she might actually be right about an upcoming attack after all.
As she made her way inside, she saw Sweetie Belle running towards the front door. Holy crap she survived that teleport?! “Sweetie over here!” shouted Rain Sight.
Sweetie looked over to her, then approached. “Why aren’t you on the Iron Will? Where did you get that rifle?” asked Sweetie Belle.
“The Iron Will was shot down. As far as I know, everyone on board was killed. The only reason me and Jet Stream survived was because Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo were able to fly in this weather. All the other pegasi were blasted away by the winds. Those without wings either fell to their deaths or went down with the ship,” explained Rain Sight.
“Everyone died?” said Sweetie Belle. A smile crept onto her face. “That means that if I didn’t put Apple Bloom in the hospital, then she would have been on board the Iron Will and would have also died! That bitch owes me an apology!”
“Well if you want to go by that logic, then the only reason she is still alive is because she slept with Sovereign in the first place. Technically neither of you owe the other an apology,” corrected Rain Sight.
Sweetie Belle paused to reflect on that logic. “Damn... I guess you’re right. That also means I can’t be mad at Sovereign, because he actually saved Apple Blooms life by sleeping with her. Crap! That means I still owe him for shooting him in the leg! Maybe I can hook him up with Scootaloo? She’s never one to sleep with the same stallion twice anyway.”
Rain Sight lifted an eyebrow. “You really take this equilibrium thing in a relationship seriously don’t you?” she asked. “Actually never mind that. The others are on their way with Tom. We need to find Sovereign and Apple Bloom, and make sure they’re ready for evacuation. The Diamond Dogs are blowing up the entire town, so we need to leave now!”
“Diamond who?” asked Sweetie Belle.
“It’s what I heard Rainbow Dash call them. They’re mercenaries apparently, and I think they’re here for Sovereign and Apple Bloom. Like I said, we need to move now. I’ll explain the rest later,” said Rain Sight.
So we really are under attack, thought Sweetie Belle. “I know what room they are in. Come with me,” said Sweetie Belle.
Sweetie Belle guided Rain Sight to the hospital room she had left the two ponies in. “Are you sure they are going to hit us? Twilight did tell us the hospital was the safest place to be right now,” said Sweetie Belle.
“Twilight also said she could get my dad out of the execution!” shouted Rain Sight.
Sweetie Belle frowned. “Right… listen I’m really sorry about your dad. I’m sure he was a great guy. He didn’t deserve to die like that. I know he is only dead because of me.”
Rain Sight tried to calm down. Despite their rough start, Sweetie Belle had tried to help her through this rather difficult time. “Thanks. I can’t deny it is your fault, but there is nothing we can do about it now. Let's just focus on the current crisis.”
Another realization just hit Sweetie Belle. She was uneven with both Sovereign and Rain Sight. She had to make things up to Rain Sight, but she couldn’t exactly bring her family back from the dead now could she? Maybe the best thing she could do was step out of the picture. Let Rain Sight have her life with her new husband and start her own family. Or even better, help Rain Sight protect her new family. She decided it would be best to keep such thoughts to herself. She might get a better idea later on after all. One that didn’t involve giving up Sovereign.
“Alright, the room is just up ahead,” said Sweetie Belle. She opened up the door only to find it empty. “Oh come on!”
“Are you sure this is the right room?” asked Rain Sight.
“Yes, Apple Bloom was right here in the bed next to the wheel chair,” explained Sweetie Belle. Then she noticed the wheel chair was gone as well. “You have got to be kidding me!”
“Umm… I hate to be the one who points out the obvious, but I don’t see a wheel chair here,” she explained.
“That idiot! I told him to stay put. He must have taken her somewhere else,” said Sweetie Belle.
Before she could say anything else, Rain Sight tackled her to the ground. The sound of gunfire filled the air as one of the Diamond Dog raiders fired a salvo from its gatling guns across the hospital. Both their ears were ringing, and now Sweetie Belle was freezing as well. The raiders' gatling guns had completely blown out the wall. The Sweetie looked up to see the floor above them was starting to collapse. Sweetie Belle used her telekinesis to throw Rain Sight out of the room, then teleported herself as well before they could be crushed.
Rain Sight said something to Sweetie Belle, but her ears still had that ringing sensation. She assumed it was a thank you of sorts.
Unlike Rain Sight, who was fortunate enough to have a nice thick coat on, Sweetie was still in her dress. She quickly got up and retreated deeper into the hospital to avoid freezing to death in the cold nighttime air.
Rain Sight however could see more Diamond Dogs approaching in the distance. They were mostly in standard power armor, but two of them were in devastator suits armed with auto cannons. The few militia below started firing, but they would be no match for that kind of fire power. Those devastator suits are Dominion technology. How do mercenaries have access to our hardware?! Right Sight followed Sweetie Belle retreating into the hospital as well.
“We’ve got trouble heading our way!” shouted Rain Sight.
Sweetie Belle’s ears were still ringing, but she heard the loud shout. “What kind?” shouted Sweetie Belle, trying to make sure Rain Sight could also hear her.
“The kind that is about ten feet tall, has auto cannons and is covered in armor!” shouted Rain Sight who was also still recovering her hearing.
Sweetie Belle looked outside, despite the blistering cold winds. She saw one of the devastators shoulders open up to reveal a rocket pod. The suit launched a rocket, dislodging a pair of guards from their cover. The devastator then proceeded to use its auto cannons to smash the unfortunate militia to pieces. Where the hell is the Dominion?! They should be here by now! thought Sweetie Belle to herself. Indeed Dominion drop pods should have been deployed from the space platforms several minutes ago.
Rain Sight appeared beside Sweetie Belle and took a shot with the rile rifle, bringing down one of the attackers. One of the mercenaries took cover behind the devastator suit, while the rest took cover elsewhere and began looking for the sniper.
“Get back inside and deal with anyone who makes it in. Use that magic of yours,” ordered Rain Sight.
Sweetie Belle didn’t want to leave Rain Sight by herself, but there wasn’t much she could do. It was far too cold, and her excessive shivering wouldn’t help out her aim or concentration. Not to mention there wasn’t much she could do with pea shooters.
Rain Sight next aimed in on the Devastator and shot it in the head. The pony inside seemed only to be annoyed by the attack. At most, it was like a light smack on the head. He looked up towards Rain Sight and launched another missile. Fortunately Sweetie Belle was able to once again grab Rain Sight with her magic and pull her out of the room before it exploded. Before any words could be said, a barrage of fire from the devastator’s auto cannons followed, threatening to once again bring down the roof. The two mares got on their feet and cleared the hall before they were buried.
“I need to find a way to get behind that thing,” said Rain Sight.
“Or we could try to find Sovereign and Apple Bloom, then try to run out the back,” suggested Sweetie Belle. “These people were kind of ass holes. I don’t think we owe them anything,” said Sweetie Belle.
“Is this another equilibrium thing?” asked Rain Sight.
“Of course,” said Sweetie Belle. "After what they did to your dad, do you really want to stay and help them?"
Thinking back to how horrible the Cadians treated her father’s corpse, and probably wanted to do the same with her husband, Rain Sight was inclined to agree. “One problem. What do we do about the cold?”
“We’ll figure something out, but first we need to get out of here!” said Sweetie Belle.
The intercoms suddenly went live in the hospital, and a strange song started to play.
Twilight happily sat in her private shuttle, which was currently hidden away in the mountains, safe from the upcoming danger. At the moment she was dressed in a thick fur coat made from Cadian hide. She had the heater turned up with relaxing music playing, a cup of hot tea floating in front of her, and of course entertainment. She had full access to just about every camera in the city thanks to Apple Bloom's laptop. In a few minutes, the greatest raid in the history of Cadia would commence, and she would have one of the best seats in the house. Her private shuttle was not only fast, well armored and stealthy when need be, but was also built with luxury in mind.
The only thing that could make this better has having a stallion by her side. Not that she was looking for any romantic interest, but she’s been so busy the last few months with her scheming that it had been a while since she had bedded a stallion. She had intended to capture Sovereign for a night of fun before handing him over, but in his current state Twilight doubted he could satisfy her needs. She kept a few toys in the shuttle for this sort of thing, but being in the cold Cadian air these past few days, the last thing she wanted inside her was anything cold to the touch.
Concluding this was as good as it was going to get, Twilight got to work. “Spike, take a letter please,” requested Twilight.
“Right away Twilight,” responded the shuttle as it began recording her voice.
Twilight then began her message.
Dear Emperor Stone Hoof,
I regret to inform you that due to the incompetence of leadership in Dominion Intelligence, not only has the same hacker who released the reapers struck again, but this time the hacker has put the Imperial family in danger as well. The Iron Will, the pride of the Dominion Armada, was shot down over the night skies of Cadia. The princess has been kidnapped, while I have been hospitalized at the hand of an enemy assassin. I succeeded in capturing my would-be assassin, but he managed to escape once again due to the failure of Dominion Intelligence who allowed a group of mere mercenaries to bypass Cadia’s defenses. They did so using the same hacking device that was used to release the reapers. My matriarch now lays dead at the hands of the mercenaries. The people of Cadia demand the stallion responsible for this colossal failure to be held accountable.
Fortunately not all news is dire. Thanks to the efforts of one of your more competent agents, Vice Admiral Sparkle, we have managed to reacquire the hacking device that threatened our networks. She is also confident she can retrieve or eliminate the hacker responsible as well. Given how much damage this individual has already done, I believe hunting down this hacker should be the Dominion's highest priority. In order to allow Vice Admiral Sparkle to perform her duties to the fullest in these most dire times, I request she be assigned the new directorship of Dominion Intelligence and be granted the rank of Admiral immediately.
~ Your devoted Son in Law, Prince Shining Armor Stone Hoof.
“Spike, make the earlier mentioned alterations, and replay the message,” ordered Twilight. Spike did as he was told, and the message replayed. This time the message played in the voice of her brother. “Excellent work Spike. Bring up my check list please.”
The shuttle brought up a holographic display with Twilights to do list and began naming off the agenda. “Acquire hacking device,” began Spike.
Twilight patted Apple Blooms laptop. It was a custom made device, down to the circuit boards. It arguably surpassed the equipment used by Dominion Intelligence, and with the technical readout of the Dominion Battle nets most secure systems, it was currently the deadliest weapon against the Dominion. “Check,” replied Twilight.
“Extract all vital assets from the Iron Will prior to the attack,” continued Spike.
Twilight had already confirmed Shining Armor was off the Iron Will. More than likely to once again visit his mistress, whoever she may be. Sovereign was sent to a hospital, and should be completely safe during the attack. “Check,” replied Twilight once again.
“Liberate Rain Sight's father,” said Spike.
“Cross that one out,” replied Twilight.
“Extract all personal assets from the Iron Will prior to the attack,” continued Spike.
Twilight sighed. It was unfortunately losing an asset as powerful as Sweetie Belle or Rain Sight, but there was nothing she could do about it now. That stupid lover’s quarrel has caused a number of her carefully laid out plans to go astray. “Cross that one too,” ordered Twilight. At least with Rain Sight dead, the loss of Karn wouldn’t have any repercussions.
Spike complied, then continued. “Pay Cable Bill.”
“Uhh… leave that one blank for now,” said Twilight. “Next one.”
“Shut down Cadian orbital defense platforms, thus betraying your home world to help fulfill your own selfish desires,” continued Spike.
“That’s not what I wrote and you know it! Sounds like someone doesn’t need their next tune up…” retorted Twilight.
“Shut down orbital defense for the greater good of your home world, and the Dominion as a whole,” corrected Spike.
“Thank you. You may check that off,” said Twilight.
“Kill Matriarch Cadenza,” continued Spike.
“Again, leave it blank for now,” ordered Twilight. She was confident this would be the last night the Cadenza would ever see. Naturally Twilight would be nowhere near the scene of the crime.
“Eliminate non-essential assets, particularly the enemy hacker,” concluded Spike.
Again Twilight sighed. While the less important lose ends, like Rainbow Dash and her sister would certainly go down with the ship, Twilight had intended for Apple Bloom to also be onboard the Iron Will. Fortunately she had other means of getting that job done. While she could just kill Apple Bloom herself in the chaos of the attack, there were too many things that could go wrong. As always, Twilight would find someone else to deliver Dominion justice for her.
“Leave that one blank for now and prepare another letter. The greater good needs to call in one of its assets,” ordered Twilight. “I think it’s time we buck a few bad apples.”
At long last the Prophet had set down on Cadia. Up above her capital ship, the Vengeance, was retreating into orbit while it still could. No point in risking getting caught in the snowstorm should the beacons go down. The shuttle opened up and the cold darkness of Cadia rushed inside. The Iron Feathers by her immediately closed their visors. Somewhat because it was too dark and snowy to see with their naked eyes, but mostly to keep their faces from freezing off.
The Prophet however stepped outside onto the snow with her bare hoofs. The robe she was wearing has hardly fit for this kind of intense weather. The ridiculous looking Tacoville shirt she wore over it didn’t do much to add protection either. Even in this snowy environment, the Prophet was unbothered by the weather. She casually made her way through the snow completely oblivious to the ice covering her fur.
As she made her way through town with her bodyguards, she discovered one of her downed shuttles. There were a number of dead Diamond Dogs surrounding the ship, all of them had slash marks on or through their armor. A devastator suit looked like it had been impaled, and another suit was even ripped in half. Whatever did this was powerful.
The Iron Feather units with her showed no fear of course. These dead Diamond Dogs were not their sisters, and they were confident they could protect the Prophet from whatever had done this. This was the Iron Feather programs debut battle after all. They were going to make a name for themselves that would strike fear throughout the sector. They certainly had no intention of letting a few zerg stop them from achieving that goal.
The Prophet had assumed the shuttle was taken out by anti-aircraft fire at first, but she quickly found that to be a false assumption. A loud screeching noise began to fill the air, and the Iron Feather body guards looked around to see where it was coming from, but their challenger remained clear out of sight.
Even over the sound of the howling winds, they could hear the screeching as if it were coming from all directions. The Prophet and her body guards looked up to see a flock of Cadian banshees flying towards them. These zerg were like giant bats, specially evolved to fly in this weather. Their fangs were as hard as diamonds, and their mouths oozed an acidic saliva. It wasn't hard to imagine a couple of these downing one of their shuttles. They gave off an ear piercing screech as they approached, using it as a form a sonar to see in the whiteout as they descended towards ponies below. Below them a number of zerglings burst out of the ground and started rushing towards the Prophet.
The Prophet was unimpressed by the display. Without any orders, the dozen Iron Feathers units formed a protective perimeter around her, and began firing. Zerg after zerg in both the air and on the ground began to fall before their unrivaled marksmanship.
Throughout the chaos, the Prophet eyed her surroundings for their attacker. Even with the sound of gun firing, screaming zerg and howling winds, she remained completely focused. She looked far into the distance, past the normally blinding darkness and snow. There she saw a lone unicorn on the second story of a distant building. She was wearing a suit of ursalisk leather armor, and had a pair of binoculars.
The unicorn mare inside was watching the fight from what she thought was a good hiding spot. Then she heard someone shouting, “I found you, I found you, I found you!” The unicorn turned around to see the Prophet right behind her. “Tag!” she shouted as she punched the mare, sending her flying out the window. Fortunately the thick hide armor absorbed some of the shock, or the friendly “tag” may have caused serious injury otherwise.
The mare landed into a thick pile of snow, which helped to break her fall. She looked up to see the Prophet disappear into a flash of red mist, then reappear in front of her. The mare got up and began to run through an ally hoping to escape her pursuer.
The Prophet started to run after her shouting, “Wait, you’re it now! You’re supposed to chase after me!” As she turned the corner, she received a massive fist to the face that launched her across the street and head first through a brick wall. The Prophet wiped a small trace of blood from her mouth, while a stream made its way down her forehead. She tried to get back up, but a number of powerful claws burst out of the ground and held her down, slowly sawing against her flesh as small cuts began to form across her body as the claws dug deeper. Across the street she could see an ursalisk charging towards her.
The creature had the build of a bear, but was probably larger than a tank. Its claws and teeth were massive, and were most likely what had torn those devastator suits in half earlier. It charged towards her roaring in hopes of intimidating her. On top of the beast was the same unicorn from earlier, no doubt controlling the monster, as well as the claws that had her pinned. This of course wasn’t the first time the Prophet faced death. She’s had lots of close encounters, and this was one was nowhere near the most dangerous.
The beast leapt into the air, smashing through the buildings ceiling and landing on top of the Prophet. Its feet piled on top of her and made a crater on the ground. The unicorn gently patted her companion, then had the ursalisk lift its foot so she could observe the crushed pony underneath. The crater was empty with no pile of gore to be found.
The mare then felt someone tapping her on the back. She turned around to see the Prophet had joined her atop the ursalisk's back. The Prophet quickly wrapped both of her hooves around the mare’s horn and asked, “Is this the remote?” The mare couldn’t react before the Prophet ripped the horn clean off her head. The mare screamed in agony as the blood oozed and froze over her face, steam steadily rising from the wound. As she writhed in pain, she fell off the top of the ursalisk.
Now having access to the “remote,” she asked, “so how does it work?” The ursalisk started shaking violently trying to get the annoying pink mare who had assaulted her master off of its back. The Prophet responded by holding the horn like a microphone and speaking into it, “Stop!” The ursalisk immediately stopped resisting. “Oh! So that’s how it works! Let’s see… bite off her legs, that sounds like a simple command.”
The ursalisk picked up the injured unicorn and put her legs inside of its mouth. It did everything it could to resist, but somehow the Prophet had used what should have been a worthless severed appendage to dominate its mind. “No, please no!” shouted her former master as the monster bit down and tore off all four of her legs. She again screamed in agony, then was tossed onto a couch.
“Wow, with no legs or horn, I guess that means you’re going to spend your life as a "couch potato." Get it? Couch potato?” teased the Prophet. The mare simply continued screaming, and at this point was now crying as well. “Tears of laughter! A beautiful thing. Let’s go Mr. Bear… um… Grylls. Yeah! That’s your new name! Bear Grylls!”
Having defeated the other zerg, her body guards arrived to make sure their mistress was safe. They almost opened fire on the ursalisk before she shouted, “Don’t shoot! He’s a friend. Just “bear” with me ok.” The Iron Feather didn’t ask any questions. They simply lowered their rifles and followed the lumbering behemoth to the hospital. “Good. Let’s hurry it up. It’s “unbearably” cold out here. I’m just “barely” getting by. They should really put a saddle on this thing as well. I’m just “barely” hanging on.” She continued the puns for as long as she could as the Iron Feathers escorted her to the nearby hospital.
After not even an hour of waiting, the attack had begun. Twilight took a sip of her tea as she watched an ursalisk bite a Diamond Dog in half. “OH! Doesn’t that hurt?” she commented as she put down the tea. “Spike make me another cup, a little less sugar this time.”
“Right away Twilight,” said Spike as a small drone picked up her tea while another one prepared another cup. Shortly afterwards the Ursalisk was also blown in half by a missile. Its blood turned to frost as it spilled on the ground. Twilight shivered a bit in her thick fur coat as she saw pony after pony die in the frigid nighttime air of Cadia.
“Spike turn up the heat another degree. It’s getting a bit chilly in here,” she said as she saw a family of Cadians freeze to death outside as they evacuated their destroyed home. “That’s much better, thank you.”
As entertaining as the assault on Fort Cadence was, a disturbing development had caught her attention. The raid was supposed to be limited to the capital. While five cruisers floated in orbit, deploying gunships, shuttles, drop ships and drop pods onto Fort Cadence, the Vengeance was floating above a town that should be far away enough not to be experiencing an attack. She checked the camera feed, and found raiders terrorizing the citizens. Twilight was displeased to see the Diamond Dogs were taking this further than they were supposed to, but she felt no reason to intervene. She would let them have their savage thrill, then use it to fuel the media fire soon to be lit under Hawkens when he takes the fall.
Then the situation broke down further. They were landing ground forces and had already captured the town’s small starport. Even worse, when she took a look at one of the Diamond Dogs whose visor was lifted, she could see it was an Iron Feather unit. More ground forces had also landed outside of the starpart. These forces began to make their way towards the hospital where she was holding Sovereign in for safe keeping. The Prophet herself was leading a group of soldiers personally. Looking at their marksmanship skills, she had to assume these were Iron Feather units surrounding her.
“What the hell is she thinking?!” shouted Twilight. I specifically told her not to go anywhere near that hospital. Instead then she sends the most psychotic soldiers under her command to attack it!? “Spike contact the Prophet. I need to know just what the hell is going on,” ordered Twilight.
The Prophet watched excitedly as her minions closed in on the hospital. They had arrived ahead of her and her Iron Feather bodyguards, but had strict orders not to enter. Her and her favorite mares would be handling this job personally. The minor injuries she had received from earlier had also completely healed as well. The moment was interrupted as something in her robe began to vibrate. The Prophet let out an annoyed sigh as she pulled out a small phone.
“Mr. Penny Pincher, you’re throwing off my dramatic entrance! This better be good. Do you have any idea how lucky I was to find an ursalisk to ride on? You’re ruining my moment!” said the Prophet.
“You have a call coming in from Miss Sparkle through a secure line. She demands to speak with you at once. Shall I put her through?” asked Penny Pincher.
“Ugggh. Fine! Put her through,” said the Prophet in an annoyed tone. A few seconds later Twilights voice came through. “What is it?!” asked the annoyed Prophet.
“Pinkie Pie, why are you attacking the hospital!? I told you it was off limits!” shouted Twilight.
“Hey! What did I say about calling me that!” retorted the Prophet.
“I’m not here to argue with you! Pull back your soldiers now!” demanded Twilight. “Sovereign is in there and your soldiers are going to get him killed!”
“Relax Twilight. My stallions are trained professionals. They aren’t going to kill the target,” assured the Prophet. As she said that, a loud noise went off as one of her gunships fired a barrage from its gatling guns into the hospital. The barrage destroyed some of the pillars, and caused the floor above to collapse onto the rooms hit by the barrage.
“What was that?!” shouted Twilight through the phone.
“Uhhhh,” was all the Prophet could say as she watched that portion of the building crumble. “That was some static. The weather is really messing with reception.” The Prophet began to breathe into the receiver to simulate static. Another loud noise filled the air as one of the devastators fired a missile into one of the rooms with the collapsed ceiling, then followed it up with a barrage from his auto cannons.
“Pinkie! I just checked the buildings internal security cameras. Your men just shot into the room Sovereign was in! What the hell are you doing down there?!” shouted Twilight.
The Prophet looked around frantically for a solution. In a panic, she threw the phone on the ground. Three of the IF units surrounded the phone and shot it mercilessly. The Prophet pointed towards the Devastator who was firing into the hospital and gave an order. “Bear Grylls, take care of that!” demanded the Prophet while shouting into the severed unicorn horn. The ursalisk took off quickly, causing the Prophet to fall off its back. Her beast tackled the devastator and began clawing into the suit, ripping open the chest piece and revealing the stallion inside. With the operator exposed, the beast grabbed the stallion and ripped him out of the suit. Unfortunately for the stallion inside, his hooves were still hooked into the suit; when the ursalisk pulled out the operator, the hooves were left behind. The ursalisk ended the hooveless stallion’s pain by biting him in half.
Unfortunately for Bear Grylls, the other Diamond Dogs took the attack as a hostile gesture towards all of them. They set their gauss rifles to full auto, and quickly filled the fearsome beast with holes. Seconds later the wounded beast fell to the ground.
The gunship up above made another strafing run on the hospital. The Prophet face hooved when she saw the attack. “Can one of you do something about that?” Two of her Iron Feathers used missile launchers to fire on the raider. The first one damaged the shields, the second sent the ship falling out of the sky. The gunship fell to the ground and slid towards her and her bodyguards. She stood resolute as the downed vessel slid towards her; her Iron Feathers standing right behind her also unmoving. Either by luck, or perhaps by the power of her will, the vessel stopped mere inches in front of the pink mare.
When the raider came to a halt, she punched into the side door of the airlock, then ripped it open with her bare hoofs. “Open up! Everypony outside now!” she shouted. The interior of the air lock opened up, and four battered stallions exited the gunship. They stood in front of the Prophet in a straight line, all four of them shivering. Obviously they were literally freezing to death, but they might have been shaking either way after seeing the furious look the Prophet's face.
The Prophet grabbed one of the four stallions and threw him onto the snow. “Get back up!” she demanded. The clearly terrified stallion obeyed her instruction. “You’re in charge of this ship. Why did it fire on the hospital?!”
“Well we were told this was a terror raid. I thought that taking out a hospital would be a good way to demoralize the citizens,” explained the stallion.
“Oh! Well if that's the case, then I guess everything is fine. We’ll just ignore the fact that the stallion we need to capture just happened to be in the room you idiots destroyed!” replied the Prophet as she started kicked snow onto his hooves. The stallion tried to think of something to say, but nothing came to mind. Just sheer terror. “I should have you executed right now!” As she said that, four of the Iron Feathers formed a firing line and prepared to execute the ships captain.
“Please, it won’t happen again! I swear!” begged the stallion.
The Prophet let out a deep sigh as she laid a hoof on his shoulder. “Fortunately for you, I’m just not that cold hearted. Everyone get back inside the ship before you all freeze to death,” said the Prophet as she left the crew alone.
The three other freezing stallions gladly obliged and made their way back inside. The ship’s captain however found the snow the Prophet had kicked onto his hooves had frozen solid. He was now suck in place outside. “Guys wait! I’m stuck. Help out of this, I’m going to freeze out here!” His crewmates didn’t dare defy the Prophet. They closed the inner airlock door and let the stallion freeze to death outside. He would only last a few minutes in this temperature.
"Cold hearted! Get it!?" shouted the Prophet from a distance.
The rest of her men held the perimeter outside while the Prophet and her Iron Feather body guards entered through the front door. They received no further resistance, so it seemed likely that any defending militia were dead or dying. “Alright ladies. You have a whole building filled with terrified civilians to yourselves, so have fun with it. Just don’t kill the hornless unicorn. You are free to use any methods necessary, but I want him alive.” The Prophet walked up to the Iron Feather with a flame thrower and pointed a hoof at her, “No disintegrations.”
“As you wish,” replied the Iron Feather unit.
An Iron Feather approached the intercom with a small device, then plugged it into the computer. After a brief session with the interface, every Iron Feather unit’s favorite song filled the hallways as they got to work.
While they were armed with rifles, missile launchers and flame throwers, every one of them also brought a knife as well. Knifes tended to be more fun to work with; after all, it was time to enjoy themselves. After only a few minutes, the Prophet could hear the sounds of screams filling the room as her little angels of death got to work.