//------------------------------//
// Chapter 13: Delusions and Grandeur 
// Story: The Pony Lisa 
// by Hi World 
//------------------------------//

>Rainbow Dash 1520 hours

Hooves and talons, claws and tentacles, carried her along like a living conveyor belt. Dark forms, warped and distorted, recognisable as Ponies and Griffins. Prisoners wore orange jumpsuits that stretched and bulged over the odd lumps that had moulded onto the bodies within. Redesigned Griffins, kings of the horde, even when they had been reduced to clusters of tentacles with Griffin parts. 

Rainbow Dash had never felt so far away from home in all her life. Whatever happened to rustling up clouds on her weather duty? Whatever happened to competing in flying competitions and races? Whatever happened to hanging out in Ponyville, having a bite to eat at the local bakery?

She’d gone down fighting, but she’d gone down. Both her wings were broken, three of her legs were broken, she was covered in scars and bite wounds, and had suffered a black eye. 

Now, she was slung over Octavia’s back, staring backwards at the tentacle horrors that brought up the rear. Crew Ponies, Pony and Griffin prisoners, Vinyl Scratch, whose mouth was overfilled with long, brown teeth that didn’t fit properly. 

At the very back was a changed Snowflake, even more twisted and hideous than she thought he already looked, and making disturbingly similar noises to the ones he used to make. 

She’d tried reasoning with them when fighting became a farce, often yelling, “Vinyl! Please take me back to the Pelican! I know you’re still in there.” 
Or she’d mumble, “Octavia, I know you don’t want to do this. I know you want to help me. Please, please, help me.” 
One time she even said, "If you could just let me go, I could do the rest. I can find the Princess… explain it was a mistake.” 

Bitterly, she laughed, then dissolved into ignored sobs. Everything was past repair, what was done was done, and there was no escape. 

All the hopeless Mare could do was be still; moving hurt, and her struggles were often punished with her blood being spilled. So she banished her energy, and waited to see where Octavia, Vinyl, Snowflake and their new friends would take her. They had their orders, and they didn’t come from the Princess. 
What if they’re all waiting for me at the Pelican?

>Luna 1527 hours

“Tis a rather large virus,” Luna piped up, forcing Trixie ahead of them. 

Major Trixie had told them of her ejecting the empty escape pods to stop the parasite from spreading, as well as stopping survivors from surviving, although she never admitted to that last one. 

“It's not a virus. More of a… infestation.” 
“I thought ya said it was a virus,” Applejack judged with suspicion. 
“Isn’t it an infestation of viruses?” Analysed Pinkie Pie. 
“Do my hooves hurt?” Derpy derped. 
Trixie was getting almost as stressed as Luna - no, forget that; nopony was anywhere near as stressed as she was right now, unless Rainbow Dash or anypony from Rarity’s squad had landed themselves in even worse bother. 

“It came with the Griffin prisoners, and just… spread,” Trixie continued. “The more bodies it took over-” 
“Taking over bodies! That’s crazy!” Pinkie studied ecstatically. “I wonder what it would be like to control somepony else’s body.” She thought about it for a few seconds before giggling. 

Trixie resumed her biology lesson, if that’s what it was. “It was a Flood infection form that took your Unicorn friend.” 
Derpy pondered, “Who? You mean Twilight? Twilight was never with us silly.” 
“Right, then it’s not Twilight.” 
“Rarity?” 
“Trixie doesn’t know any names, Bubbles,” referring to Derpy’s cutie mark. 
“Zebra Zecora? She’s right here! And she’s not a Unicorn, she’s an Earth Pony!” 
The Pink one giggled. “Oh Derpy, you’re so funny!” 
Zecora just kept quiet and followed. 
All out of rhymes there, eh Zecora? Probably not. 

“Anyway,” Trixie sounded awkwardly. “The Flood will assimilate her entirely, and make a better weapon out of her. A Flood combat form is immensely difficult to stop. They don’t register any pain. Don’t require all organs functioning. And they’re mindless as… well… as you guys.” 
Gosh, Trixie had the nerve to say that. 

Luna had hurt Trixie twice. Nothing too bad; no blood or broken bones. Just a sore jaw. She couldn’t help but feel sorry for Trixie, and half of her felt a little guilty for erupting like she did. Someday, Trixie would get her revenge, and she’d be ready to restrain her. But right now, Trixie was being shifty, even if she was being somewhat open about this “Flood” stuff. 
Luna needed to get her message across to her: Don’t play games with me, Trixie; it gets you nowhere.

Abruptly, Trixie halted and felt around the wall on the left. 
Impatiently, Luna demanded to know, “What art thou doing now?” 
“There is a concealed door right here. Just give Trixie some time and she’ll have it open for you.” 
“Huh, well you’re been helpful for a change.” 
“The sooner you get to the Bridge, the sooner Trixie gets off this ship.” 
Applejack joined in. “Trixie, Trixie, Trixie. Is that all ya care about?” 
And then, guess who. “Derpy, Derpy, Derpy! That’s my name.” She grinned, cut off by a guttural groan from around a corner, ten metres ahead. 

“Be quiet,” hissed Luna. 
Everypony froze, the sounds of growling and crashing echoing just around the bend: A barricade was being trampled. 

“Get to it, Trixie,” she ordered her superior. 
Trixie had slid open a coded lock and began punching in numbers, a steady bleep, bleep, drowned out by whatever angry monster fought its way through the blockage. 
“That’s get to it, ma’am,” corrected the blue Unicorn. 
“Whatever.” 

The door sighed open, and Trixie whispered, “Its open. Everypony get inside.” 
Trixie entered first, of course, and Luna gave courtesy to Applejack and Zecora, beaming up her horn to levitate Pinkie Pie and Derpy in with her. One last crash and piercing uproar to mark the destruction of the barrier, followed by uneven foot falls. 

“Close thy door.” 
Pinkie was closest, and she didn’t hesitate to bop the shiny, red “close” button with her nose. Gently, the door slid shut, and the herd waited in complete silence as the heavy thuthuthud, thuthuthud, of irregular, three legged running grew louder… 
Louder… 
Louder… 
... Drifting straight past. 

The six of them remained hushed for at least another ten seconds before finally exhaling the breath they were all holding in. 
“Phew! That was closey wosey,” exclaimed Pinkie Pie, followed up by Derpy: 
“Yeah. Too closey wosey.” 
“Let us proceed,” Luna ordered, still with a hushed tone.

A short walk down the tunnel lead them to what Trixie had called, “the lab.” Glass smashed to hell and back sprinkled the white, tiled floor. Banks of equipment lined the edges of the lab, computers sparking every now and then. Containment beakers stood shattered on metal tables, a strip of unrecognisable flesh hung from one of the shards. The floor had been glazed with red and green blood, and even a pile of vomit in one corner. Green fungus reached from the floor, up the wall and to the ceiling, like some sort of bio-mass. It stunk. The whole room stunk. Everything Trixie said stunk. Stunk, stunk, stunk. Why did everything stink so much? Why couldn’t things just smell nice for once? Anywho, whatever had been here had moved on. Whatever Trixie had been up to on the Pony Lisa, it had started here. This... was ground zero.

“Geez, Pinkie Pie!” Derpy groaned, as if the Pink Pony was the one to blame for the pong. 
“Hey! That wasn’t me! Who smelt it, dealt it,” Pinkie retaliated. 
Funnily enough, Zecora joined in. “Who said the rhyme, did the crime.” 
A pause, as Pinkie and Derpy stared at her, then Derpy stated, “You always say the rhyme.” 
“Zecora dealt it!” Announced Pinkie Pie before Luna silenced them with a “Sshh,” and then addressed Trixie: 
“Pray tell; what were thou doing here?” She interrogated a little less forcibly. 

Trixie slumped onto her haunches and wiped a hoof solemnly across a ruined console, sighing. 
“Research and Development,” she began, a touch of sadness in her voice. “Just like PONI’s always done. You should be thanking Trixie… We discovered something that will make Griffins more vulnerable to our weapons. And something that will help treat wounds made by Griffin weapons.” 
“Like a needle in thy heart?” Luna inquired, remembering her own injury, her scar itching a little less, but still itching. 
“Well, as great and as powerful as Trixie may be, she’s still a long way from "resurrection."” 

She was right; that needle should have killed her, but it didn’t. ‘Twas a miracle. How, in all of Equestria, did she survive it? She’d cheated death before, but nothing like that. 

Applejack inspected a dent in the floor, lined with red and green, surrounded by brown feathers. 

“What about your "Flood?"” Luna asked, more concerned about them than anything else. 
Trixie rose slowly and adjusted her hat. “The Flood is… relentless… Primordial… Pure of intent. And it is a virus; spreads as fast as one. Trixie had to study it.” Correcting herself, she said, “We had to study it.” 
“Ya didn’t have to do anything,” Applejack spoke, an annoyed looking face beneath that brown cowboy hat. 
“Such measures will be what wins us the war. Don’t tell Trixie you’re getting soft for the Griffins now.” 
“How will studyin’ a plague help us win the war against the Griffins?” 
“That plague is a weapon in itself. Trixie needed to see how it worked, how it spread. It’s just…” she hesitated, shaking her head slightly. “It’s strong… It’s so strong.” 

“Thou were testing on prisoners?” Luna interrogated, already knowing the answer, and appalled at it. 
Even as Trixie answered “No,” Luna pieced together a jigsaw in her head: 
The Red Horse explores Halo’s debris to find whatever there is to find, and they stumble across a prison ship full of parasites, with PONI personnel on board? Coincidence? Yeah right. 

“Thou were not trying to cure plasma burns,” she growled, unable to even look at Trixie. The volume of her voice increased. “This is a prison ship! A civilian prison ship! THOU WERE TESTING ON PONY PRISONERS!” Royal Canterlot always got the message across. Always. 

Trixie squeed, a face that weak Ponies used when you’d caught them doing something bad, but they weren’t really sorry. AJ, Pinkie, Derpy and Zecora congregated to each side of Luna, surrounding Trixie, who began to sweat, eyes darting from face to face. 
“Um… er… Ponies! Arrest the Princess!” 
Ha, pathetic. Luna’s stars did no such thing, even if, by UPSC rules, they should. 

“We aint arrestin’ our Princess,” stated Applejack. 
Pinkie shook her head. “No sir-ee.” 
“What a fool. How could you be so cruel?” -Zecora, of course. 
And lastly, Derpy; “That’s bad! You’re bad! Bad, bad, bad!” 
“Ugh! Very well…” the guilty Unicorn croaked, frightened by the crowd of armed Ponies around her. “You’ve done what you thought was necessary. And now… so is Trixie.”

Holy moley, she was fast! She was panicking, but she was fast! A glow from her horn sent shards of glass rocketing at Zecora. As soon as the Zebra yelped with the sting, her BR85 rifle was yanked from her soldier saddle and under the power of Trixie, who galloped for the door they had come through, firing burst after burst behind her, at them. 
“I’m sorry, but Trixie is leaving!” She called out over the sound of her new toy. 

Pinkie, Derpy and AJ dove for cover, as did Luna, but Trixie’s explosion had come too fast, too sudden, too unexpected. A three round burst from what had been Zecora’s rifle, slammed into her harness, right where her scar was. The force rocked her back, she reared up and whinnied in pain before collapsing onto her side, wheezing for air, even if that air was clogged with the odour of the Flood. 

Before she knew it, Trixie was closing the door, whispering the words, “Oh no. What have I done?”

“Is everypony ok?” Probed Pinkie Pie, regaining her composure. 
“Land sakes! The Princess!” Applejack cried out, and rushed over with Pinkie and Derpy. 
“Oh no!” Derpy whimpered, “Princess! Speak to us!” 
Groaning faintly, Luna strained, “I… can’t… breathe.” 

Her harness had been dented inward by the impact, and pressed hard against her chest. Against her scar. 

“Go… check on… Zecora.” 
“Oh, right! Zecora!” Pinkie Pie complied, returning in a matter of seconds to deliver the news direly. “She’s gone.” 
Derpy pointed a hoof at the still Zebra on the floor, shards of glass protruding from the front parts of her black and white striped body. “But, she’s right there.” 
“No Derpy. I mean…” 

As those two continued on, Applejack tended to Luna. 
“Don’t fret now Princess. Yer gonna be just fine,” she reassured her, plonking another un-needed yet refreshing ice pack on to her sweating blue head. “Come on y’all.” 
The farm Pony nudged the Princess of the night off her side and stabilised her on her belly. 
“Thank you… fair-” 
“You two! Ya gonna help us out or what?!” 
“I am here for you, Luna.” That wasn’t Applejack, nor was it Pinkie or Derpy, but she recognised it all the same. 

“Nightmare Moon… You are… no longer needed.” 
“Poor little Luna. What have those ungrateful Ponies done to you? Imagine how much easier things would be with my help.” 
“Your help… is not required… You’re evil.” 
“That’s no way to talk about yourself.” 
“We are not… the same!” 
“We are the same, Luna.” 
“We’re not!” 
“We are.” 
Nightmare Moon wasn't going to relent, was she? It increased Luna's frustration. 
Not knowing what else to say, she bellowed, “Nnnngg! GET OUT OF MY HEAD!” 

She came around, panting, sweating despite the ice pack, much easier to breathe now. Her harness lay on the floor before her. Her three remaining stars jumped back with fright; made her feel all the more monstrous. 
"Oooo, she's doing that thing again," Pinkie Pie analysed. 
“Uh, Princess? Y’alright?” Worried Applejack. 

It felt weird not wearing that shiny black harness anymore; she felt more loose and free, and boy was it good to breathe. 

Clearing her throat, she assured, “Yes, fair Applejack. Thank you. I just…” She was embarrassed to talk about it, especially with these Ponies. 
She didn’t like advertising how unstable her mind really was, arguing with alter-egos n’ stuff. 

Before she could finish her hesitation, Pinkie Pie pointed at the scar on her chest and gasped in awe. “Woah! What’s that?” 
Getting a close inspection, Derpy pushed her muzzle against her aching reminder, saying, “Cool,” and prompting her to weakly shove her away. 
Great, more embarrassment. 
“’Tis a scar,” she mumbled. 
"Coool, how'd you get it?"
Luna sighed. “I got it when I was shot with a Needle Rifle.” 
“But don’t needle rounds explode?” Pinkie asked curiously. 
“If enough rounds made it in me, yes. But only one found me.” 
Wide eyed, Derpy asked, “And you survived?!” 
“No Derpy, I didn’t survive.” 
“…” 
“Of course I survived, Derpy. I am right here.” 
“Ooohh! Haha.” 

Removing her harness was what earned her that big ugly scar in the first place, and now she had to complete the rest of the mission without it. Well, Derpy, Pinkie and AJ had made it this far without harnesses… what could possibly go wrong?