//------------------------------// // Interlude 6 - Protectorate // Story: A Friend In Need // by sopchoppy //------------------------------// Without warning or movement Dragon was flung sideways and slammed into the the damaged side of an office building. Warning screens flashed as the building wall gave out and the armored suit was pushed through it and then pressed into the ground with enough force to begin cracking the pavement and popping joints on the suit. Dragon attempted to move, to roll, but the force pinning her did not waver. Purple fire licked at the hooves of the unicorn as she stepped through the hole Dragon had just made in the building and proceeded to climb on top of Dragon’s chest armor. Unbelievably, given the alloys it was made out of, the armor started to soften and glow where Twilight’s hooves rested on it. Remarkably, given her circumstances, Dragon remained calm as she spoke. “Twilight, It’s me Dragon, I’m your friend Twilight. Please, your hurting me Twilight, I’m Dragon, I’m your friend.” After a moment the unicorn’s head cocked to the side and the fires around Twilight’s hooves dimmed slightly. Hesitantly and as if from far away Twilight spoke a soft word. “Dragon?” Even as Twilight’s legs started to sink slightly into her armor Dragon retained her composure and spoke with a gentle kindness. “Yes, I’m Dragon. We stayed up together these past three days, we talked about your theories of magic and your home, we talked about getting to see each other in person soon.” The glow around Twilight’s eyes eased up enough that her pupils became visible once more. A shuddering breath escaped her throat along with a half sob. “Spike? No, no Spike was a dragon. Spike wasn’t Dragon. Dragon helped me like Spike the dragon. Dragon’s are good helpers and…friends?” The unicorn shook her head from side to side in a frantic confusion “It’s so hard..someone was doing something, something bad..we were trying to find them?” “Yes Twilight.” Concern creeping into Dragon’s voice as Twilight’s memory ventured near that topic. Suddenly Twilight broke down into tears and laid down on armored suit’s chest, the molten metal not seeming to effect her while hooves still hot enough to soften metal settled on new areas. “Oh Dragon, Dragon he killed them! He killed all of them!” Twilight wailed as one of Dragon’s arms tried and then failed to overcome the damage that had been done to it in an effort to comfort the crying unicorn. “Shh, it’s ok Twilight, it’s ok.” Dragon soothed as best she could. “No, No it’s not okay. Nothings okay! Nothings ever going to be ok again! He did that, he did that and then I…I..oh Celestia what did I do?!” Twilight sprung off Dragon’s chest flames flaring around her hooves brightly as she sprinted to the hole and looked outside. Rain speed by the wind stung her eyes and sizzled against the pavement where she was standing. Before her the wreckage of the PRT building and the wounded street and buildings around it were covered in dark crystal while towering black clouds laced with lightning massed high above. Twilight raced back to Dragon’s side. “You have to get out of here! The crystals are #!@$#, they’re negative !#$!#$#$#% emotion..$@#%$#@…fear. I’ve disturbed the magic @$%@%, I’m causing it, it’s #@$% cyclic @$%@%, I can’t stop it. If I…maybe, maybe it will dissipate? We have to get out of here!” Dragon tried commanding the suit to move again, one leg shifted, but that was all. “My suit’s damaged Twilight, I can’t move. Help’s coming.” “No, No tell them to stop, they can’t come here!” The flames got brighter and climbed the unicorns legs. The ceramic tile of the lobby cracked in the heat under the Unicorn. Suddenly the glow around Twilight’s horn got blindingly bright and when it died down Dragon and Twilight were on a distant rooftop. The Anvil head of the storm could be seen about twenty blocks away. “I have…I have to go..I can still feel the magic and Jack said…Jack said..” Twilight’s features turned hysterical. “No! You have to stay away from me! Tell everyone to stay away from me! Jack said..” And with that the Unicorn vanished in a flash of purple light. Armsmaster clicked a remote and the playback consisting of recording from Dragon, traffic camera’s, and Twilights necklace paused. “Well, thats a shit story.” Everyone in the room turned to look disapprovingly at Assault. “What? It is. Getting a pep talk from Jack Slash is about one step down from the Simurgh paying you a house-call.” Several people around the table winced at this, but no one denied it. From a screen on the wall Director Costa-Brown spoke up. “Ok. With the confirmation that the Slaughterhouse Nine are in Brockton Bay I’m issuing a general advisory and requesting those who think they have the ability to help with that threat to report to Protectorate-East-North-East. Do we have confirmation that Jack Slash is dead?” “Only what we have on the video feeds, we would probably need to talk with Twilight Sparkle for 100% certainty, but the aftermath looked pretty definitive.” Armsmaster said as he replayed that scene on the screen. “Very well,” Director Brown responded as if checking something off on a list. “We’ll get some Thinkers working on how the other members are likely to react to that development. Status of the area around Brockton Bay’s PRT building?” “It has a real post-modern Mordor look going for it.” Assault interjected before Battery spoke over him. “The storm has drifted out to sea, and now appears to behaving like a natural low pressure system. NWS thinks it will dissipate over the next three days, local fisherman and shipping interests have been advised to avoid the area. We had Gallant cautiously approach the site and he confirmed an overwhelming sense of fear and other negative emotions once he got within two blocks of the nearest crystals. We’ve cordoned off the area for now, the good news is that the crystals seem to be slowly dissolving. Armsmaster ran the numbers earlier and if nothing changes the last of them should vanish sometime next week.” “Hopefully that will be the case,” Costa-Brown continued, “we have to many quarantined areas around the country as it is. Finally, perhaps most importantly now that we have a better idea of the extent of her abilities and her emotional state, where is Twilight Sparkle?” An uncomfortable silence briefly descended before the monitor with Dragon’s face responded. “We don’t know Director. Shortly after reporting the situation to Armsmaster he followed the tracking device in the necklace he gave her to a dumpster about a mile away from where she left me. The asphalt around the dumpster had a series of hoof prints melted into it. I’ve got all the camera’s in the city that I can access running a recognition program for her and we’re keeping track of all the relevant media. Inferring from her statements that she needed to put distance between herself and the PRT building I have prioritized the areas furthest from there and nearby cities. Nothings turned up yet, but a purple unicorn is bound to draw someone’s attention.“ “Yeah,” Dauntless interjected, “Lets hope it’s not the wrong peoples attention.” “To late.” Assault added in a tone of gallows humor.