The cave was dim as the pony in dark armour marched in, clinking along with every step.. His hood was covering most of his head and cast a shadow over his face. As he walked there were small black jagged extrusions sticking up where his hooves tread. He was on a mission of a diplomatic nature. Although you can use "diplomatic" in a loose nature in this situation.
"Yesss..." he muttered under his breath.
There were several hisses coming from the shadows. The blue eyes were looking at him, watching, ready to strike at a moments notice. Changelings were fairly territorial and would jump at the chance to protect their queen.
The further he traveled the thicker the solid green substance in the hive got. Even the temperature seemed to rise as he continued inward. If it weren't for his spell he would be sweating buckets from the heat.
The figure stopped walking when he saw two guards wearing heavy chitin-us armour on and were carrying spears. A more accurate description would be long wooden sticks that are sharp and in no way would be able to damage the lone figure standing before them.
"Halt! Who goesss there?!" Shouts one of the guards.
"Crystals... Cryst-" He stopped to clear his throat but soon started to cough up a storm, trying desperately to stop.
The guard looked at him with a confused expression on his face. "Do you need a glassss of water?"
"No -cough cough- Thank you for -cough- the offer. Traveling the Badlands in the midst of a dust storm without a mask was not the best choice."
The guard went back to his serious face. "What isss your buisssnessss here, ssstranger?"
"I need to see your queen. It is a matter of utmost importance."
"Send him in..." Came a miserable sounding voice from beyond the guards. "And stop with the 'sss' thing! It's giving me a migraine!"
The two guards looked at each other and nodded him in, not far behind in case of trouble. As they walked in there were two others and a taller one laying in the middle with long blue hair. She groaned.
"Is there a problem?"
"Nothing, just-" She looked up "Wait, who are you?"
"You don't recognize an old friend?" He said pulling his hood off. His eyes we're green and had a dark haze drifting from them. A crown stood atop his head with his horn a bright red. A wicked grin crossed his face, revealing sharp canines that glinted against the lighting in the room.
"Sombra!?" She exclaimed as the guards surrounded her, spears pointed at Sombra and at the ready. "You should be dead!"
"Oh come now, you didn't think that little explosive fit would keep me down, would you Chrysalis?"
"Little? You call being blown to bits little?"
"A minor set back. Anyway, down to business. I was hoping you could help me."
"With what?"
"I'm going to take back my rightful throne. And then? Equis as a whole."
She looked at him. Disbelief was painted on her face. "You're mad. There's no way that you can be able to do it as one pony."
He chuckled again. "Oh that's where you're wrong. There are lots of ponies, gryphons, dragons and zebras that would just be delighted for there to see somepony new in charge. And you know what? I'm sure after that there would be plenty of love to go around. Almost more than the wedding itself..."
Queen Chrysalis thought for a moment. Sure there would be benefits to this but would they outweigh the downsides? After all there was a significant risk of the hive being wiped out as a whole. She couldn't risk her subjects being slaughtered, and if he did succeed then would he just execute her and the hive once their usefulness was through?
She shook her head. "No."
"No, what?"
"I won't do it."
He looked down and shook his head. "Well then, I was hoping to do this without resorting to force. But, alas, you leave me with no choice."
His horn lit up with a glow of red, forcing up giant versions of the dark crystals that blocked off the entrance to the chamber. Another spell charged and knocked Chrysalis away, tumbling to the ground. A loud crack of bone and a scream of pain came as she fell.
"SEIZE HIM!" She yelled to the guards.
They all charged at him, frenzied and out for blood at the sight of their queen bring harmed. Sombra was quick to act however, quickly raising his hind hooves and bucking one of them away. Another tried to shove his spear in through one of the cracks of his armour but only succeeded in being disarmed and getting stabbed in the shoulder with blood running down the shaft. Using the spear he did the same to the other two that were charging.
"Well then..." He said pulling out a dagger with his magic and walking over towards the downed queen. "I hope there aren't any more interruptions." It shimmered with the same dark haze that came from his eyes. "Because I have a bit of a schedule to keep."
He plunged the dagger right into her chest. She screamed as if her entire body was caught on fire and clenched her eyes closed as it remained in there. Sombra pulled it out as quick as it was dug. Chrysalis was still screaming however as something took root within her. The dagger was not covered in blood but the haze was gone. Chrysalis was still writhing on the ground when she forced her eyes open. A solid green colouring replaced the lighter shades, the irises had now turned a dark red and the purple haze drifted from the corner of her eyes.
"Don't fight it. There's not much you can do now." Sombra grinned.
Chrysalis's screams died down when she slowly drifted off into unconsciousness. The last thing she saw before the darkness enveloped her was a smiling Sombra standing over her.
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"Okay keep coming, keep coming, keep coming... and stop!"
Pierce was helping The Boss back one of her cars into the shuttle. She would need it when she touches down to traverse the rest of the way to the palace.
"Okay that's transportation, now for gear." She said while pointing towards the armoury.
The armoury also doubled as a lab. There were several Zin in white suits doing experiments with various equipment and testing the various weaponry on dummy targets. On various screens there were readouts of the effects of weapons, schematics and concepts that danced about on the holographic displays. When they walked in they were greeted by the lead scientist.
"Ah! If it isn't the saviour of the Empire!" She said when The Boss entered.
"Que? (Huh?)" The Boss said while raising an eyebrow.
"Well if it weren't for you I wouldn't have anything to do!" She laughed. "I mean let's face it! I was only making minor tweaks to the standard rifle but then you came along and said 'Hey could you make the weapons that were in my simulation?' and I was all 'Sure!' So I got to work and-" The Boss put a finger on her lips.
"Show, don't tell..." she leaned over to Pierce. "She reminds me of Kinzie when she's eyeing the terminals."
"I hear that." Peirce whispered back.
She brought up a clear suit that ended at the upper thigh and extended to the wrists and placed it on the laboratory counter.
"Here is the cut down power armour you requested. The reason why it was chafing was because they were made for Zin to use and it had a silk lining. It should fit under your clothes." She then placed several human weapons on the table as well. "I made these the best of both worlds. Our weapons can hold a lot of shots but they were prone to overheating and didn't fire as fast. Your weapons do the exact opposite. Combine them and bada-bing, you have a nice gun. The kicker?" he pulled the pistol up and fired it at one of the targets in the firing range. The shot impacted and exploded. "Behaves just as you wanted."
"Yeah but is ammo going to be an issue while I'm down there?"
"Nope. Look here." The ammo clips had a small solar panel on it. "Just leave them out when they're not in use. They even charge at night."
Then she put out a sword. It looked like the energy sword but it wasn't glowing. "Touch it."
She did and it lit up purple. "It's a sword. Just stick the pointy end in the other guy. Best thing is that it cuts like butter and if someone tries to use it against you?" The scientist grabbed it and it de-powered. The then ran the supposedly sharp end on her wrist. No blood came.
"Also your 'special' request."
The music gun was put on the table.
"Oh my god, yes!" She grabbed it and jogged to the firing range.
She held down the trigger and aimed at the dummy target that had a picture of Zinyak taped onto the face.
The targets were blown away from their stands. The only thing left was the wooden stubs that were bolted to the ground.
"Aww, no explosions..."
"We tried to get it to work but it wasn't possible. We did however, add two new settings on it. DnB and Trap."
"I can live with that! Thanks... Um... I never caught your name."
"Zinthrai."
"Thanks Zinthrai, I'll bring you back something, alright?"
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After a quick change of clothes with the blue under suit beneath her hoodie and jeans she was ready to go.
"You ready, Star?" The Boss asked when she strapped herself into the seat.
"I have to be honest here. Not to happy to be flying there." He said slightly squirming in the co-pilot seat.
"Air virgin?"
"Let's just say that Celestia isn't the best chariot pilot."
She cocked her eyebrow at the last bit. "Don't worry about it, I know how to fly one of these things."
The flight deck attendant waved at her giving the go ahead to take off. She engaged the thrusters that propelled the shuttle off of the black landing pad to go out of the airlock. The engines shifted into flying position and then propelled the ship out and into the blackness of space.
The Boss looked at Starswirl. He was over the pre-flight jitters and was taking in the endlessness of space.
"Wonderful..." he said under his breath.
"Eh." She shrugged.
"Eh? This is the most amazing thing I have ever seen!"
"Not enough explos-" She got a look at the planet and noticed a very peculiar thing. "Why the hell... why is your sun and moon going around the planet?"
"Oh, The Princesses raise and lower them during the day. Quite the sight to see!" Starswirl beamed.
The Boss put on her headset. "Hey Kinzie, Matt or CID? Why the hell is it doing that?"
"I see it." The A.I. CID said. "It has something to do with two of the creatures on the planet. I shall do some more research and get back to you."
"While your at it can you check if Big-foot is real? Maybe even- oh wait that is real." She shook her head. She was never going to trust that Voo-Doo priest again after the second time.
"Your sarcasm is unbecoming of you." CID said before signing off.
"I agree with the floating metal ball." Starswirl sat back in his chair with an annoyed look on his face.
"Whatever." She started their descent onto the planet.
She continued to descend onto the planet. The map had a red dot on the greenest part of it.
"You sure it's there? It's in the middle of a forest according to this map." The boss said double checking it.
"I'm sure of it! There must be something wrong with the machi-"
He was cut off by the sound of an explosion and subsequent blaring alarms.
"What was that!?" He yelled in surprise.
The Boss looked at the readout. "Jesus, our left engine is blown!"
"Trees!" Sarswirl yelled, pointing out the objects they were going to hit.
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"Here you go, Angel." Fluttershy said putting down a plate of baby carrots next to the frowning bunny. He looked at the plate and stuck his tongue out at it.
"Come on Angel you need to eat them. They help you grow big and strong." She said, nudging the plate closer. The response was him swiping away the carrots on the plate.
"Well then. I guess that somepony isn't going to get dessert tonight, is he?" Fluttershy crossed her hooves with a grin on her face.
No desert!? This is the worst thing! Nay, the worst thing possible! Fruit sundaes wasted on the bear that only comes to the cottage for food. This shall not be!
As the rabbit did his inner monologue he fake-fainted, quickly bringing himself upright. He started to pick up the carrots and shove them into his mouth. His cheeks were stuffed and nearly overflowing.
"Ah ah." She scolded. "Chew it."
Now the winged crazy wants me to chew it! What hell have I been brought into?
He chewed it slowly. His face emulated both disgust and hatred he had for the vegetables in his mouth.
It so dry! Garlic dip! I need garlic dip!
He was finally able to swallow after many minutes of trying and was heaving at the aftertaste.
"See? It wasn't so ba-"
A very loud crash tore through the Everfree and was very well heard within Fluttershy's cottage. As soon as it made touch down there was another sound of grinding metal, upturning earth and splintering of trees.
She looked out the window. There were bits of debris around the object that was embedded where a large section of trees used to be. There were flames coming from a cylindrical looking device on the back of the red and black vessel.
"Oh... my..." She whispered.
Okay whatever that was is a lot worse then the carrots...
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"Grh..."
Wake up.
"GRH."
Wake up, damnit! Shit's on fire! You need to get out!
"Ahh!" The Boss's eyes flew open. Smoke, Fire and small explosions were all around her. That was her usual thought process when she wakes up. In her line of work it was usually true like right now.
She tried to unbuckle the seatbelt but her arms were caught under a bar of metal. She looked to the side to see Starswirl still blacked out. She tried to push the bar off but it was to wedged in for her to release from her current position.
"Sonova..."
The then remembered. The suit! Hopefully the scientists were able to replicate the powers in the simulation because one of them was particularly useful in this situation.
"C'mon Zinthrai, work your magic..."
She focused her mind on the metal. She imagined that it would lift off of her and would be sent through the window. As she did this a great weight was lifted off of her. She opened up her eyes and saw that it was doing exactly as she willed. With a push of her hand the metal was sent flying out of the cockpit and was embedded in a tree.
"Yes!" she said in triumph, unbuckling the safety straps to check on Starswirl.
He was out cold but he was still breathing. She pulled out a soda can with Saints Flow embossed on the side. A sticky-note with black permanent marker read "Drink only in life or death situation. KEEP AWAY FROM PIERCE." She's going to need the energy right about now. She slammed back the can and tossed it away.
"Tiger milk, don't fail me now!" The FDA can suck it.
She had all of her weapons on her and Starswirl was still comatose over her shoulder. She needed to get to the cargo bay, get the car and get the hell out. Hopefully her watch didn't get damaged in the crash. She's going to need to make a few calls after this.
The cargo bay door was blocked by another bunch of pipes and flaming wreckage. She was able to telekinesis it out of the way and made her way through the flames and the carbon-monoxide. Her coughs were getting more frequent and worse, but she did reach where the car was. She put Starswirl in the passenger seat and went to the door controls.
She was rapidly pressing the release button for the door to lower. It started to lower but it then it stopped.
"Nonono, c'mon!"
She hit the button several more times, hoping it would un-catch on whatever it was stuck on. It didn't budge. She was then forced to try and pry the thing open.
Realistically she should have passed out long ago. The only thing keeping her going was near lethal amounts of sugar, taurine and adrenalin. She was making little progress as she was only able to get the door to fit her head out.
She was starting to get tired. Her arms weren't able to force the thing back even far enough to get bodies through.
"Harry, do something!" Came an outside voice.
Wait, who?
She looked up to see two giant paws help her open the doors the rest of the way. The sunlight burned her eyes trying to focus on the thing that's helping her. It didn't matter much however. The door was open wide enough to drive the car out.
She ran back to the car and revved it up. Her modifications were definitely going to be useful right about now.
"Outta the way!" she cried as she burned out her tires to gain speed.
She let loose on the gas and tore out of there. Whatever helped her was well out of the way when she gained air on the incline.
The car landed with a thwump and a grind as the suspension compensated for the landing. She was quick to put on the brakes when the smoke was starting to clear. She then skidded to a stop in front of some building. She felt tired. Her body felt as if her limbs weighed a tonne. She looked up from the wheel after having her energy crash. There was a single alien and other creatures looking at the car with fear.
She stepped out with Starswirl on her shoulder.
"I'm looking for the Royal Palace." She was wheezing and felt a pain in her left leg. "Can you point where it is?"
The alien was looking terrified. "You... Um, you..."
"Can we speed this up? I'm in a bit of a rush"
"... have something in your leg."
The Boss looked down to see a small metal slab sticking out of her leg, blood dripping from it, staining her jeans.
"Oh... How 'bout that?"
She started to feel light-headed. The next thing she knew was her on the ground and darkness enveloping her.
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"What is it?" Rainbow Dash said, inspecting the unknown creature while hovering over the bed that it lay in.
"Ah reckin it has somethin' ta do with th' strange red lights in th' sky last night." Applejack said while looking over her face. She was perplexed at the face paint that it was wearing. "And ah have no clue as to why it had 'nother pony with it."
"Do you think it's gonna try and take over the world?"
"Nonsense! Ah mean... Shucks, Ah don't know." She shook her head.
"I do like its fashion sense. That sweater and whatever it's wearing on its legs, ohh it would look marvellous with the right accessories" Rarity said while examining the scraps of denim that were on the bench next to the bed.
"It needs it's rest, so I suggest that you, Pinkie Pie, stop trying to throw a party for it." Fluttershy said while putting another antiseptic strip on the wounded leg.
Pinkie was balancing on a stack of boxes to put up streamers "C'mon! It needs to be welcome!" She looked at the thing in the bed. "Does it like cupcakes? I hope it likes cupcakes 'cause seriously, who doesn't like cupcakes? I mean I knew a stallion from Manehatten and he absolutely hated them so I had to-" Pinkie was interrupted by the sound of groaning.
The Boss opened her eyes to find five new alien faces.
"SUPRI-" A pink alien was about scream but now had a mouthful of hoof to shut her up.
"Wha-" She started as she tried to sit up, only to be forced back down by the five.
"Whoa there, sugarcube. You've been out for a while." The one with the hat said.
"How long?"
"'Bout a day and if Fluttershy didn't come get us you might have bled out right there." The rainbow haired one explained.
She removed the pillow. "Alright, which one of you is Fluttershy?"
"Um... that would be me..." the timid looking one said.
"Guess I owe you then."
"Oh it was nothing." She said, slightly blushing.
She sat up and looked around. The bearded alien was nowhere in sight.
"Where's Starswirl?"
"Right here." The alien said when he entered the doorway. "Quite the nasty spill you took. But if it weren't for you I guess I would have died."
"Oh thank god, I thought I'd be down a shuttle for nothing." She said jokingly. Starswirl only rolled his eyes. "Anyway, I guess that we should go."
"Wait, where?" The Rainbow one asked
"I'm here to return him." She said while shifting to the side of the bed and pointing at the grey pony. The others looked at her with confusion. "It's a long story. Don't really want to explain."
"Um, not to impose or anything but you did crash from space and had a giant chunk of metal jutting out of your leg." The white one pointed out.
"Believe me, I'm fine."
"Are you sure-"
The Boss looked at the white coloured alien with a look of seriousness. "Okay, I know you don't know anything about me but I've been shot, stabbed, broke many a bone, bruised, burned, got caught in a boat explosion that put me in a coma for about three years, give or take, got caught in many more explosions after that, I even got hit by a plane mid-air! I think, think, loosing a bit of blood is the least of my problems."
They all seemed taken aback by the history snippet they were given.
"Wow." The rainbow one rubbed her hoof on the back of her head. "Guess I can't complain about breaking my wing anymore."
She pushed her covers aside and stood up. Her legs were still trying to get readjusted after having a whole day of not moving them. On her thigh was bandages stained with blood and gauze. It was numbing at the least and wasn't hurting to the point of screaming, so that was a plus.
She looked at her clothes. They were tattered, burned and blood stained. "What I wouldn't give for a Planet Saints right about now." She said aloud.
"I can help you with that!" The white one said cheerfully.
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Getting The Boss in the building was a bit hard to do as there were many other aliens trying to get a look at the crash and they had to hide the car in Fluttershy's shed. The guards stationed there were already on the scene and were investigating. They had to sneak her out in a rug in the back of a wagon. At least on the rest of the way they were able to introduce themselves to The Boss.
Carousel Boutique was what it said on the tin. There were many mannequins mimicking the forms of the aliens that the clothing was made for and many shelves were stocked with various articles of clothing and sewing supplies. There were many mirrors around the ground floor to the point where The Boss could see her cat eyes no matter where she looked.
"You know I never caught your name." The white one said as she was taking a measurement of The Boss's left leg.
"Yours first."
"My name is Rarity." Her voice had a bit of flair in it when she got to the name.
"Jeeze, does everyone have a whacked-out porn star name?" The Boss muttered.
"What?" Rarity looked at her with a cocked brow.
"What?"
"So what's your name?" She went back to measuring various bits of cloth.
"That's on a need-to-know basis."
"So that means...?"
"If the universe is ending and you need to know my name, I'll tell you."
"Do you never tell ponies your name?"
Ponies... That's what they're called... Still a bit weird.
"If by ponies you mean people, then no. Just call me Boss. Everyone else does."
When she worked it was mostly one-sided small talk as The Boss was rather silent. After a bit of stitching, measuring, ironing, dyeing and more stitching it was finally done. For some reason The Boss felt irritated on various places of her body.
"Well what do you think?" Rarity asked.
The Boss looked down at the clothing. It was a long dress that reached down towards her ankles. It had frilly pom-poms on the shoulder and a purple sash down the left side of her chest.
"Uh..." there was an itch on her leg. Her leg started to itch. Really bad.
She remembered back to her time in office. At first they were iffy about her wearing jeans to Department of Defence meetings. She was allergic to anything that wasn't full cotton or denim. Many a meeting was ruined when everyone heard very loud scratching and saw an errant twitch on her face. Only then they started letting her wear jeans.
"Are you okay?" Rarity asked when she started scratching her thighs furiously.
"Dios- What is this made of?"
"Oh, just silk."
"Oh my god, it's like I'm wearing fire ants."
Her knees were now in full itch mode.
"I can makes some adjustments if you-"
"I would be more appreciative if you just fix the other clothes."
"But those are too-"
"Anything but this!"
A loud crash was heard from the upstairs room.
"What was that?" Asked The Boss.
Silence there after. They both looked at each other. Rarity was the first to speak up.
"Sweetie Belle? Are you up there?"
No response.
"I thought she went to sch-"
The windows broke as six different aliens jumped in armed with swords, daggers, hammers and crossbows. Four of them were of the average winged and horned lot while the other two looked like a cross between a lion and a eagle. Their eyes had a dark haze coming from them, their pupils glowing red with rage.
"Get the element bearer!" One of the lion-eagle-mixes yelled to the others. "We need her alive!"
"What about the other thing!?"
"Kill it! I don't care!" The leader yelled again.
"Oh come on!" The Boss yelled as she pulled back her arm to let loose a ball of ice that engulfed the leader, confining him in solid ice.
The others only took one look at the ice to realize the bigger threat in the room and charged at her.
The first one tried to do a running lunge of its sword into the stomach of The Boss. She countered with kicking the flat side of the sword to knock it out of its hooves. He tried to scramble for it but was met with a brutal punch to the throat. The remaining eagle-lion mix and another rushed her as well. They both swung with war hammers but The Boss was able to duck and roll behind them. A loud crack was heard when one of the hammers got stuck in the wooden paneling of the wall. The other threw the wielder off balance and onto the ground. The Boss followed up with kicking the one over onto it's back and going to town.
"WHY. DOES. EVERY. ONE. ATTACK. ME. WHEN. I. TRY. TO. SHOP!?" She yelled when she was curb-stomping the would be assassin into the tiled floor.
"HELP!" Rarity cried. The Boss looked up to see she was fending off the attacker with a roll of fabric.
"Lady, you are making my job horrible right now!" He said while trying to put a net around her.
"Well good!" She shouted hitting him again with the roll.
The Boss took one of the war hammers and used it as a miniature pull-vault to deliver a drop kick into the face of the winged pony. He was propelled out of the window and landed in a thorn bush. The other war hammer wielder came up from behind with a vertical swing. Both Rarity and The Boss were able to duck out of the way to see one of the shelves crumble on impact. He readied up for another blow but by the time he had it over his head The Boss had her shotgun pressed against her shoulder.
"Adios! (See ya!)"
"What-!?"
With a single pull of the trigger a loud boom ringed throughout the building. The attacker was blown away and landed against the wall. It slinked down with smearing blood stains on the wall paper. She looked to the side to see the last one readying a cross-bow bolt aimed right at her. She took aim and fired at the would be attacker. He was knocked back into a row of mannequins.
The Boss came up out of her crouched position. She looked at Rarity to see that she was pretty shaken up.
"Are you okay?" She asked.
"You killed them..." she muttered.
" It was in self defense. What did he mean by element bearer?"
"T-the elements of harmony. Pinkie, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and Applejack are bearers of them as well." She explained.
"Shit, that means that there could be other groups where they are. Where are they?"
"Pinkie should be at home, Fluttershy and the rest were together, headed toward Applejacks farm..." She started muttering to herself.
"You okay here then?"
"Just go."
"You sure?"
"Go!"
She sprinted out of the front door. She was stopped by two guards and she told them the situation.
"Wait, who and what are you?" The guard asked before she sprinted off.
"I was in that thing that crashed the other day!"
"What?!"
"I'll explain later, just check on her!"
After a few seconds her suit kicked in and she was running a lot faster than before. As she ran, posters and decorations fell off of their intended positions as dust was kicking up behind her.
"Okay, if I were a pink ball of pure sugar and ADHD, where would I live?"
She looked around as she ran. She slid to a stop when she found a giant gingerbread house. The sign out front said "Sugarcube Corner."
"Bingo." She smirked.
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There was cake and unconscious bodies everywhere. Icing was covering the walls so thick that if you were to push your index finger into it you would have frosting on your knuckles and wouldn't be able to touch the wallpaper. She was careful to step around the bodies.
They were writhing in pain. All of them were wearing the same armour that the others wore when they attacked the Boutique. The culprit was busy loading up another shot into her cannon.
"You take one step closer and I'll-" She then took a look and realized who it was. "Oh hi there, Boss!"
"How did you know-" Boss started but was cut off by the pink pony that was now staring her in the face.
"Silly, it was a couple of paragraphs back!"
"Wha-?"
Before she was even able to get her thought out she noticed Pinkie go stiff and started to twitch violently. Her pupils dilating rapidly and limbs fidgeting.
"Dios, now it's having a seizure."
"Oh no! Fluttershy, Applejack and Rainbow Dash are in trouble! You need to get there!"
"How do you even know that?!"
"No time to explain, you need to go!"
The Boss tried to raise a finger to ask what was wrong with her but was being shoved out by the pink pony.
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The suit had done her good so far, allowing her to reach the orchard far faster than any of the guards were able. From a rooftop she was able to see there was at least twenty to twenty-five other aliens attacking the three. Fluttershy was too scared to do anything yet Applejack and Rainbow were handling themselves just fine.
Applejack was using a lasso to disarm the ponies that were charging their position while Rainbow was dive bombing the unsuspecting ones.
"What in tarnation is with you ponies!? Leave us be!" Applejack yelled to the attackers while bucking a hoof into the beak of a mix.
"Back off feather-brains!" Shouted the rainbow blur.
They were getting overwhelmed and The Boss could see it. She needed to act. Now.
She gave a running start and gave a mighty leap. Using the suits glide ability she flew over to the middle of the crowd and readied her foot for a gigantic stomp. One of the attackers looked up to see a size ten sneaker come down on his face. The others were sent flying, the shockwave knocking them to the side.
"How 'bout that?" The Boss said while getting up off her knee.
The remaining ones that weren't knocked out got up and tried to attack all at once.
"Crazy bit-ghak!" A rope was now rung around his neck as he was pulled back.
"Oh no ya don't!" Applejack said through her teeth.
Another attacker went for a slash at the throat but he was caught from the side by another dive bomb. The Boss started to pummel away the remaining two with flails of punches and kicks. One was missing most of his teeth with a broken nose while the other wouldn't be able to walk straight for a good week or so.
When the dust settled there were many unconscious bodies as they were strewn about the pathway to the orchard.
The Boss was holding onto on of the attackers necks until she caught her breath and let it go.
"Is everypony okay?" Applejack asked.
"Yeah... I'm good..." Rainbow Dash said when she landed.
"Who were these guys?" Asked The Boss kicking over a unconscious body to get a better look.
"Ah have no clue."
Rainbow Dash looked to the hillside to see a lone figure standing and watching.
"Who's that?" She asked only to see it dart off in the direction of the forest.
"It's getting away!" Applejack called after it.
The Boss started to sprint after it. Her suits speed was no match for the figure who was trying to get away. As she got closer it looked more and more like the mixes that she had fought earlier. It gave a look back to see that The Boss was gaining on her. She stopped to try and take off.
"Oh don't think you can get away that easily!" The Boss grabbed its tail and pulled it down. It landed with a thud and a yelp. She then kicked it over onto it's back and held her foot on its neck. It tried to claw her way free but she added pressure to the neck.
The Boss looked up to see the rest of the group run up to her and the prisoner.
"Get up." She said while pointing the barrel of an SMG to the back of it's head. "Slowly."
Rainbow Dash got up close to it. Her eyes then widened in surprise. "Gilda?"
The prisoner looked up at Rainbow, eyes shimmering with the same purple haze that the others had. "Well if it isn't Celestias errand girl. How's it like being a slave?"
"What?"
Gilda chuckled. "I'm guessing Celestia hasn't told you about my Lord Sombras return."
"T-that's impossible! He-" Applejack started
"Exploded? Quite the explanation actually..."
"Yeah? Well you're going to tell it to whoever's in charge." The Boss held her head back to look at her.
"How are you going to get to Canterlot then? We've taken out all means of escaping." She chuckled...
"Have you now?" The Boss smirked
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The gang was all gathered at the shed. Applejack had Gilda hogtied as they placed her in the trunk of the car. There was a bit of resistance due to the fact that one was
"Okay, you break the speakers back there I will cut your tail off." It was the last thing she said before closing the trunk on her beak.
"Death to the false ruler!" was Gildas muffled cry with several thumps against the metal of the trunk.
"So, where were you?" The Boss asked the grey pony, ignoring the subsequent thumps from the trunk.
"Being questioned by the guards. They said that they have never heard of me! Feh!" he scoffed "The one time that I want someone to recognize me, they don't."
Everyone piled into The Boss's car. The Boss at the helm, Starswirl was riding shotgun while the rest were crammed in the back. The sixth of their group was at the castle where the princess lived, as the pink one, in one long breath, explained.
"Is there anyway to move your seat up?" Rainbow asked trying to adjust the position of her hooves.
"Nope."
She put the engine into gear, speeding off towards the forest.
Applejack looked out the window. "Uh, Ah don't think that yer goin' the right way."
"Nonsense!" Starswirl interjected. "I remember this place like the back of my hoof."
When she pulled into the pathway of the forest and continued onward. The ones in the back looked a little uneasy being in the greenery, not really looking out of the window. She drove through the forest until the trees got to thick for the car to pass. There was no sign of any sort of castle or even a brick house.
"Then again she could have moved in the time that I was away...."
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It took an hour by train to get there, Rarity said, but the walking path that they were driving on took about three at the speed they were going. They had to go slow on the winding mountain path. Rarity had regained her composure and was now patching up The Bosses old clothes out of repayment for saving her life. She had realized it was either them or their own life and The Boss had chosen the only solution.
The only time The Boss was able to speed is when it was relatively straight but even then it had a the giant risk of the car tipping. The five other passengers were looking rather irritated being squashed in the back seats.
"Rainbow, get your hooves off my tail! You are scuffing it!" Rarity said trying to shove her hooves away.
"Well I wouldn't be if somepony adjusted the seat a little!"
"Dios- You've been whining about it for two hours." The Boss equally had enough.
"For a good reason!"
"Well learn to deal with it." She paused to adjust her glasses. "'Cause you know I can send this thing flying off a cliff."
"You're bluffing." Dash said with a stern look.
"Am I?" She put it into high gear and pressed hard on the gas pedal. The engine roared as the fuel was injected into it and the needle on the speedometer was now bordering on the two hundred mark. The passengers were screaming at the top of their lungs as they were getting very close to a cliff edge
"She's not bluffing, SHE'S NOT BLUFFING!!"
"You gonna stop complaining then?"
"YES! FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS GOOD, YES!!" she screamed.
"Alright then." She slowly put on the brakes and the screaming came to a stop as the car did. There was a audible crumble from the dirt falling off of the edge of the cliff.
"Madam, you are mad." Starswirl was struggling to regain his composure.
"People have called me a lot worse." She put it back into gear and drove off.
They had reached the capitol in due time. The rest of the element bearers had exited the car to explore the city and to stretch their legs and wings. But in reality it was so they could get away from the crazy person that brought them there. The Boss and Starswirl then continued their way to the castle, greeted along the way by confused, staring ponies.
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"- and there are refugees pouring into the border cities from the Gryphon Republic and most of our surrounding nations. Most reports are saying that their leaders have gone mad with power! Even siding with Sombra, himself!"
The three princesses and one empress were listening attentively to the generals as they assessed the situation. To be frank it looked bad as they could be attacked on all sides at a moments notice.
"Even with the battalions that had rebelled from the various countries, we're still outnumbered." One said as he was looking at the map, crossing out various forts that have cut ties with their respective nations.
"Cadence how is thy army faring?" Luna asked glancing over to here while keeping her focus on the maps.
"We aren't as numerous but we will provide troops as we can."
Celestia wasn't looking at the maps but at her protégé. Stress and concern was plastered on her face as they were assessing the situation. Only a few weeks since the coronation and her first task is to help with a war that could threaten the fate of the entire world.
"I guess it was either sooner or later..." she said under her breath.
"What was that?" One of the generals pulled her head out from the maps.
"Nothing, I am just thinking out loud." She looked over at Twilight again. "Could I talk to you in the other room?"
"Yes, Princ- I mean yes Celestia, you can." Twilight was trying to get on terms of calling her by her proper name.
The servants exited the room as they entered. They walked out onto a balcony that overlooked the courtyard. They could see the various guardsmen doing drills, practicing magic, target practice and other various exercises.
Celestia sighed. "I know this wasn't what you had in mind for your first duty as princess."
Twilight didn't say anything. She stared at the ponies in training down below. Pretty soon, she thought, they would be giving their lives in the protection of their county and their princesses.
Celestia looked down then back at her. "Twilight, I'm sorry."
"Don't be. This is all my fault."
"But this wasn-" Celestia started.
Twilights face turned into a scowl. "I should have made sure that he was gone for good. If I had even gave the second thought that-"
"Hey! You two up there!" somepony called. "I'm trying to get in but apparently I need a invitation?"
"I'm sorry but-" Celestia looked down to see a creature that was completely alien to her. She might even be one for all she knew. The rest of the guardsponies were staring the strange metal carriage that she stepped out of. "Um, not to impose but who are you?"
The creature looked around at the ponies staring back at her. "I'll tell you if you let me in!" she shouted. "I came to bring something back to you, plus an added bonus!"
She went to the behind of the carriage and popped open a trunk that was built into it.
"Let go of me!"
The sound of that set the two princesses on edge. The creature dragged out a gryphon in full leather armour.
"I don't know if word had reached you guys yet but there was a bit of an attack on one of your towns to the south." The gryphon flailed and tried to get herself free, only to stop with a kick to the back of the neck. "Led by this pinche cabron (fucking asshole), right here."
"There was an attack? Why haven't we heard of it yet? Is everypony alright?" Twilight asked the creature.
"I handled it, don't worry. Now can you let me in? The one by the anvil is giving me a weird look."
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The four alicorns and one human were sitting at a round table filled with various foods ranging from vegetables, fruits, some sort of alcohol and pastries. Seeing how they didn't know what The Boss ate the cooks had to wing it.
"So your civilization were the ones behind the red lights in the sky?" Twilight had asked while the boss was putting a deviled egg on her plate.
"I wanted it to be changed to purple but the captains were all; 'No, we have to keep them red. It strikes fear into the enemy.' And I was all, 'Screw that, they're gonna be purple with bitchin' racing stripes.'" She was greeted with stares of confusion as she rambled.
Luna leaned over towards her sister and whispered "What are 'bitching racing stripes?'"
"I think those are what Cadence tried to put on her chariot." Celestia whispered back. Cadence only coughed in response.
"Um, I don't think that you have properly introduced yourself." Twilight said, trying to change the subject away from the less important things.
"Oh, let's see..." She muttered. "Most people call me The Boss. I guess you can too. If we're going for titles then I'm President of the USA and Empress of the Zin Empire."
"So wait, why didn't you send somepony else to give whatever it is back?"
"'Cause I don't like being cooped up in a spaceship with little to nothing to do." She said. Twilight was about to ask her another question until The Boss spoke again. "I know what you're going to ask and yes I do have a name. It's just..." She didn't really know how to explain it. "Trust issues I guess..."
The Boss shook her head. "I'm getting off topic. Les' get down to business." She motioned for someone to enter the room. "C'mon in, Star!"
The grey and bearded pony stepped into the dining room. As soon as he did the two eldest princesses fainted out of shock, them now lying on the floor. Twilight was looking at them in horror, trying to comprehend why the two princesses are now lying comatose.
"Uh, w-who are you?" Twilight asked.
"I'm, uh, Starswirl. Starswirl the Bearded."
There were now three comatose princesses and another one calling for a medic.
"Wait, why are there four princesses?" He asked himself.