//------------------------------// // Recruitment // Story: Halo: Contact Equestria // by Dead_Account_0 //------------------------------// Nurse Redheart trotted across the wooden floor. The floorboards creaked with each step, somehow impossibly loud despite the roaring storm outside. Applejack was crouched over Big Macintosh. She stared at the still unmoving body of her brother; her signature Stetson sat on his face. She knew he was gone. Blood coated her fur, matting it together into messy clumps. “Applejack?” Redheart said softly as she stopped beside the orange earth pony. If Applejack heard her then she didn’t reply. She didn’t even move. Redheart put her hoof to the stallion’s throat and held it there for a few seconds. She stood back up again and turned to the little yellow filly behind her. Tears were in her eyes as she shook her head. Apple Bloom was speechless. Ah din’t make it in time. Ah-ah-ah killed my brother. The filly collapsed to the floor with thick heavy sobs. Redheart approached the filly when she heard a weak cry from across the room. Looking around she saw some kind of creature covered in blood. Redheart didn’t hesitate; one death was more than enough. She galloped to the strange beast’s side and pulled open her bag. Some kind of hard scales covered its body. Three clean holes sat in the scales, each oozing scarlet blood. The creature lifted one of its arms shakily and pushed what looked like a button on its skin. The scales suddenly fell off revealing what looked like fabric. Looking up, Redheart met the creature’s eye and saw a glimmer of intelligence and understanding in them. With a gasp she noticed the other eye had been bandaged over. Redheart continued anyway, there was a life to save. She grabbed a scalpel from her bag and cut the shirt open revealing the soft skin underneath. Three holes leaked rivulets of blood. Redheart was clueless about how to deal with those metal shards; she didn’t have a tool designed for that kind of thing. She hurriedly sifted through her bag looking for anything that might help when a weak cough made her look up. “Thanks for trying,” the creature mumbled in reply before its head lolled to the side. Redheart jumped back at the sound of the creature, it had just spoken in Equestrian. She checked its pulse; all creatures have a pulse she reasoned. This one did not, either it was dead or had no circulation system, all signs pointed to the former. There had been another death and Redheart had been powerless to stop it. Two deaths in one day, that hasn’t happened in Ponyville for a very long time. A sudden groan from the other side of the room attracted her attention. Another one of these creatures was trying to rise to its feet but couldn’t break out of the rope binding it. Beyond this one was a third creature who was very clearly dead. Redheart trotted over to the struggling creature tied with rope. “Release me from my binds!” the thing shouted in a low, menacing voice. “Not until I’ve gauged if you’re a threat or not,” Redheart replied. She inched in closer to get a better look at the creature. “Of course I’m not a threat! Just look at my weak fleshy appendages and distinct lack of magic,” the creature whined, somehow being menacing and wheedling at the same time. “That doesn’t mean anything. I have no idea what you’re capable of!” “Uhh, uhm, uhh… aha! We come from far away to make friends!” the creature said with a smile so obviously fake that it was almost painful to look at. “No you don’t! There’s a dead stallion in this very room!” Redheart shouted accusatorily. “Oh buck off lady,” the creature said sharply before realising its mistake. “I mean, uh, that was an accident,” it added with a nervous laugh. Redheart gave the creature a withering stare before turning away from it. “No wait! Umm, I’m sorry! We can be friends right?! Come back!” it cried. The door suddenly burst open as a trio of armoured stallions charged in. Two white pegasus guardsponies galloped forwards and tackled Redheart and Applejack to the floor. The third pegasus, a skinny green individual whose armour looked several sizes too large for him, advanced into the room with a loud snort. “By order of Prin… Prin… Achoo!” the green pony sneezed all over the floor and wiped his nose with his hoof. The guardspony holding Applejack turned back to glare at his incompetent team mate. “For Celestia’s sake Sniffer can’t you act like a captain for one bucking second? I mean I’m not your…” the pony shouted before suddenly finding himself flying upwards into the ceiling before crashing into the ground. He tried to lift himself back up but with his wings but just collapsed from the effort. “Stalwart!” the other guard shouted to his fallen comrade. He grabbed Nurse Redheart roughly, holding her between him and Applejack. Redheart shrieked in shock. “One step and I’ll break her bucking neck!” he shouted to the orange pony who spat on the floor in reply. Judging from the fact she didn’t charge him, he assumed she was complying. “Sniffer, secure that earth pony,” he added to the green pony who was still snorting loudly. “Hey, I’m in charge here!” Sniffer shouted through blocked nostrils. “Sniffer!” the guard barked back. “Y-y-yes, Clear Skies.” “Excellent, now… argh!” the guard suddenly shouted in pain as he fell to the ground releasing Nurse Redheart. A little yellow filly hopped onto his back. “Right in the apples sis! Jus’ like ya told me!” she exclaimed. Seeing both his companions down for the count the green pegasus turned to flee when two more pegasi landed outside the door. A hulking grey pony ducked under the doorway and advanced in. The green pegasi backed up again, finding himself caught between the two parties. A normal sized grey pony pegasi strolled in next and Applejack noted that both wore the armour of the Lunar Guard. “Y’all wanna scrap too? C’mon I’ll take y’all down!” Applejack shouted as her eyes began to leak again. C’mon Applejack, fight through the pain, she told herself. “We’re here for the humans,” a voice whispered from behind her. Applejack spun around to see an almost white pegasus had slipped in through the window. “Y’aint touchin’ those things! They took mah brother, so Ah gets to deal with ‘em!” Applejack returned; unfazed by the fact she was now not only outnumbered, but also surrounded. “Achoo!” the green pegasus sneezed again loudly causing everypony to turn to him. “Uh, well I’ll just leave it to you guys to figure out what to do. I’m just going to walk out this here door,” he began as he trotted over to the front door. The hulking grey pony growled menacingly sending the pegasus backing up again into the centre of the stand-off. “No? Okay, then I’ll just stay right here,” he mumbled in a vain attempt to reassure himself. “Look here little Missy. We aren’t the enemy, so if you’d just hand over the humans then we can leave you to your business,” the average sized grey pony said as calmly as he could manage as he trotted forwards. “Don’t I get a say in this?” the bound human suddenly shouted out taking everypony by surprise. Applejack took the opportunity to buck backwards and deliver a decisive kick to the white pegasi’s face sending into the wall. She charged forwards and bucked out again into the lead pegasi’s chest sending him flying back and out of the doorway. She then quickly rolled to the side, dodging under a strong kick from the big pegasus. Redheart eventually stumbled to her hooves to find Applejack dodging an oversized pegasi’s kicks. Occasionally she’d get a quick jab in but she spent most of the time on the defensive. Redheart looked up to see a green pegasus inching closer and closer to the door. “I can help here! Let me help! Just cut this rope and I’ll take care of it!” the desperate thing, which she now assumed was a human, cried out to her. Redheart thought the offer through. Applejack was out of her league here and another fighter might turn the tide. “Promise me that you’ll help,” she eventually relented. “I’ll help! Just cut these binds!” the human said with an overly enthusiastic nod. Redheart walked over to the unconscious white pegasus that had held her hostage and pulled a steel dagger from a sheath by its side. Rushing over with the blade in her mouth she lowered her head and started cutting. A few seconds later she heard the first rope snap but she kept at it. The small blade took a bit of working, but it parted the strands with all the finesse required. Redheart raised her head back up again and spat the knife out onto the floor. The human rolled over and attempted to stand up. Okay Nightmare, easy does it. Let’s try two feet, just like Lairsey did. She managed a very shaky stand before stumbling around like an idiot. With an odd lunge she managed to stick herself to the wall, back raised and stand there. “You promised to help,” Redheart whispered urgently to the now standing human. “I will do!” it returned sharply. It then rounded on the yellow filly, “You! Where is my weapon? The weird metal thing,” it demanded. “Ah put it somewhere safe,” Apple Bloom mumbled in reply, backing up a little from the human. Applejack suddenly cried out as the large pegasi got a lucky hit, sending her sprawling. “Big sis!” Apple Bloom shouted as she turned to gallop over to the orange pony. Applejack pushed herself back up and spat a large wad of blood on the floor. “Is that all ya got?” she shouted at the big pegasi. The pegasi reacted with a mad rush straight towards her which Applejack easily dodged. In his rage he had finally made the mistake that Applejack had been waiting for; he exposed his rear. She leapt onto the gap between his two wings and turned around preparing a very strong buck before releasing it. The big pony cried out in pain as the back of his head was smashed by two horseshoes leaving big red imprints in the back of his head. The pegasi swatted madly before Applejack kicked again. The creature finally began to stumble and a third kick caused him to collapse, smashing into the ground with an almighty thump. “Woowhee! That was one tough sonuva gun,” Applejack said as she hopped off the now prone pegasi. “Ya showed him, Sis!” Apple Bloom shouted, hopping up and down with excitement. “I wish you hadn’t of taken him down like that,” Redheart scolded. “He could develop serious brain damage from such powerful kicks.” Seeing his chance Sniffer took another shot at fleeing through the open door; only to run into the other grey pegasus as he meandered back through the doorway, shuffling left and right with a hoof on his forehead. “By… the order of… Princess Luna,” he began, stumbling over his words, before collapsing forwards onto the floor. The green pegasus attempted to gallop through again only to find a lasso of rope around his waist. “Uh oh,” he whispered to himself before he was sent flying back into the room and into an orange hoof, headfirst. Nurse Redheart looked around at the six guards that Applejack and Apple Bloom had taken down. She was literally speechless. A chorus of groans and moans sounded from the assorted pegasi. “Now it’s your turn!” Applejack bellowed as she span around to face the human. “What? No! No! I didn’t do anything!” “Ya killed mah brother! You and that infernal contraption o’ yours!” she shouted again. Her teeth were gritted in anger, her eyes starting to get wet again. “Whoa! That wasn’t me! That was the female one. Whatsherface!” it tried to back away but tumbled over its own feet. “Applejack. He weren’t the one that killed Big Mac. Ah-Ah was too slow. Ah galloped as fast as mah legs could carry me but… but me and Redheart, we still din’t get there in time,” Apple Bloom said, her eyes brimming with tears as she strode forwards. “It ain’t your fault little hayseed. Ya can’t blame yourself for that. Ya tried your best. Ask yourself, was there anything more ya could’ve done?” Applejack said as reassuringly as she could, considering the circumstances. Another pegasus landed outside the open door and peeked his head in. The room looked like a battlefield, white and grey pegasi lay dotted around the place groaning in pain. In the middle stood an orange earth pony who turned when she heard the door, “Not another one! Am ah gunna have to kick your flank too?” she said with a self-conceited, but ultimately shallow, smile. “By order of the Night Princess, I am here to…” “Y’sure ya wanna finish that sentence? That’s what grey over there tried.” Applejack points with a hoof towards the grey pegasi collapsed just inside the doorway. “Fly home birdy, trust me you’ll live longer,” Applejack said with an odd mixture of sorrow and confidence. “I promised Princess Luna herself that I would assist Neil if he ran into trouble. We expected the Celestial Guard; those guys have been causing us all sorts of problems, but you? An Element of Harmony? You should be working with us, not against us,” Comet said in what he hoped sounded like a rational argument. “Y’all come tromping in here making demands o’ me! Whadda ya expect? Me to freakin’ roll over? I have had it up to here with all of ya!” Applejack shouted, stomping her hoof against the ground to punctuate her points. “Princess Luna herself is with your friends Fluttershy and Spike! We can all head to the cottage and meet them there now,” Comet returned. “How do ah know ah can trust ya?” Applejack gave Comet a look over; the grizzled pegasus certainly didn’t look like a liar. “If you can trust Luna, you can trust me. But we must hurry, any second now Sabre will be sending reinforcements!” “Fine. You look the trustworthy sort, but what about your friends?” Applejack asked the black pegasus. “It’ll probably be quicker for me to bring Luna and your friends here then wake all these guys up. I’ll be back as soon as I can,” the pegasi replied before bolting back out of the door and into the distance. Adrenaline no longer causing through her veins, Applejack sat down on the floor. She turned once more to Big mac and sat and gazed at his body with the thousand-mile-stare. "Big Mac," she sighed. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Moon Dancer lay perfectly still underneath the market stall in the town square. She was near invisible in her hiding place and dead silent. She had gotten under without any trouble and now found herself in quite possibly the greatest vantage point ever. Sabre happened to stop right in front of the stall to make her speech to the gathered guards. The civilians must be elsewhere. Moon Dancer opened her ears and lay there, waiting for the information to filter in. “Okay guardsponies! We have yet to locate a single human. What the hay you guys? There were supposed to be two of them waiting for us, ready for delivery. We are stepping up the efforts. I have ascertained that all three Elements of Harmony are missing.” “Brigandine Sabre! Brigandine Sabre!” a voice called out. Moon Dancer saw a small purple dragon and a yellow pegasus guard come running from the library. The dragon stopped in front of the red pegasus and held out something. A sparkle of gold revealed Celestia’s royal seal. The dragon looked conflicted; he had the worst poker face in the world. Sabre took the scroll and opened it, reading it through when she suddenly froze. “Is-Is this real?” she stuttered. Spike weighed up his options, a battle taking place in his mind between Luna supporters and Luna doubters. Based on what evidence he had, he plucked up his courage and opened up. “This letter was given to me by Princess Luna, it’s a forgery Ma’am.” “Spike!” Raindrops shouted in shock. “A forgery? From Luna? Is she here right now?” Sabre said fiercely, strolling forwards. “Y-y-yes! She told me to hand you the note. She was in Twilight’s library when I left her, Ma’am,” Spike said snapping off a mock salute. “This changes things. Deuces, take your best to the library. If Luna is here we can assume she knows. No quarter. It’s better to have her dead than telling Celestia,” the red pegasus said turning to a jet black pegasus with a large cocky smile and a toothpick in his mouth. “You can count on me boss,” Deuces replied, shifting the toothpick to the other side of his mouth with a dark smile. “Good. Echoes, I need you to go and tell Precious we’re stepping up the plan; we’ll need her troopers too,” he said turning to a grey pegasus mare with almost no discernible features. The pegasus nodded and took to the air, vanishing into the distance. “Lieutenant Escutcheon. I’m putting you in charge of the reclamation program. I’m heading back to Canterlot. I need to intercept any messages and see if I can twist them against Luna,” she announced to a white armoured pegasus, one of the Celestial line no doubt. With a nod, she took to the air and flew off in the distant direction of Canterlot. “Your wish is my command,” he said bowing deeply before turning around to face the assembled remaining guardsponies. “Right you sorry bunch of buzzards! Listen up! I want a full perimeter established. I want twenty four-seven surveillance on the civilians. If one of them so much as scratches their ear, I want a detailed report on which bucking hoof they used to do it with. Do I make myself clear?” he shouted to the guardsponies who mumbled in reply. “I said do I make myself bucking clear!” Some of the troopers replied more confidently but there was still a surprising amount of hold-outs. He trotted forwards up to a snide looking dark blue pegasus. “You! Straighten up and act like a soldier. We are in the Celestial Guard not out on the streets of Manehattan!” he bellowed at the pegasus, clipping him around the ear with a hoof. The pegasus replied by spitting at the lieutenant’s feet. Escutcheon pulled a hoof back, his face contorted with rage. Deuces slipped in, grabbing Escutcheon’s hoof before he could strike. “Lookie ‘ere toy soldier. Don’t. mess. with my guys,” he said quietly but extremely fiercely. Escutcheon stared daggers at him but lowered his hoof. “Smart move. Now, I’m taking my boys to deal with Luna. So you can have fun with the others,” Deuce said before turning to trot away. A group of eight of the more rough-and-tumble ponies trotted after him, including the blue pegasus that Escutcheon had been insulting. “Right, well,” Escutcheon mumbled to himself. “The rest of you have your orders! Now get to them!” Escutcheon screamed, funnelling his rage into a sharp shout. Raindrops found herself being herded along with the real guards as they all shuffled away to make themselves look busy. Spike sprinted after her with a concerned expression on his face. Moon Dancer saw a chance to end it. Escutcheon was alone and in charge. A light tap on the shoulder and the troopers would find themselves leaderless. The lieutenant trotted up to her hiding place and started rooting around in the stall above her. She kicked as hard as she could aimed right at his crotch. She heard a horrible crunching noise which she realised was her hoof smashing into a concealed metal plate. Cursing her foolishness and her now crippled limb, Moon Dancer slunk out from underneath the stall and vanished into the distance. Escutcheon looked down at the ding of his metal plate to see a hoof shaped dent in it. Son of a biscuit, somepony just tried to geld me! Escutcheon leapt to attention, scanning the horizon for any signs of an attacker. When nopony revealed themselves the lieutenant slowly backed away in the direction the guards had run earlier. “I demand that you release my townsfolk right now! Celestia would never condone these kinds of actions!” a beige earth pony that Escutcheon vaguely recalled was the mayor was shouting at a very unsympathetic white pegasus. Escutcheon kept a straight face but he was clearly perturbed, he couldn’t help but glance over his shoulder as he trotted. The white pegasus that the mare was complaining at waved a hoof. Escutcheon debated walking on but he couldn’t abandon his duties. With a sigh he trotted over to the irritated pony. “Sir! This civilian will not stop interfering with official guard business!” the pegasus shouted with a glaring aside to the tan mare. “Excuse me? Official guard business? I wasn’t aware the guard condoned mass foalnapping and imprisonment!” the mayor shouted angrily with a sharp riposte. Escutcheon’s forehead began to bulge as he gritted his teeth preparing for to tear that mare a new one when he suddenly began to stumble. His leg felt numb and it was spreading. The paralysing shot through his nerves, he felt the slow loss of control over his body. He tried to speak but his mouth refused to open. Lieutenant Escutcheon fell to the ground; for all intents and purposes he might as well be dead. He was completely paralysed, incapable of any movement at all. “Sir!” the guard called worriedly and galloped to his side as he saw him sway and fall. The tan mare strolled over to his side too. “If I’m not mistaken, that’s the effect of Cockatrice tears.” “What? Did you do this?” the guard shouted aggressively. “Celestia no! I’ve been in politics for a long time. In the darker side of managing a town, you see this kind of thing. It’s very popular with mobsters; the perfect intimidation tool,” the mayor said distractedly. “Is there a cure? What do we do? How did this happen?” the pegasus shouted, grabbing the mayor and shaking her in panic. “There is no cure,” Mayor Mare said, earning a sharp intake of breath from the pegasus. “But it does naturally wear off.” Her companion exhaled with a relieved sigh. “In around four days.” The pegasus inhaled again and leapt onto his rear hooves. “No! No! The plan’ll all be over by then!” the pegasus shouted as he started pacing, anxiously nibbling his hoof. “There’s no way you’re going to get him up before then. Who’s his second?” “He doesn’t have one. This makeshift division only appointed Sabre and her left and right wing. With Sabre gone and Escutcheon down, I guess Deuces is technically in command,” the pegasus said with a gulp. “Deuces?” Mayor Mare raised an eyebrow at the irregular name. “The idiot was a member of the Canterlot Cruisers and still fashions himself as a gangster. Sabre pulled some strings to get him in; she’s the only pony he’ll listen to,” the pegasus replied half-heartedly. “Maybe… maybe Deuces is already down for the count and we should pull back to Cantelot now,” the guard whispered conspiratorially to the mayor who nodded in response. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Buzz knocked eagerly on the door of the cottage. A quick-flyby had revealed no signs at all of the Celestial Guard. If there’s nopony on the outside, they’re either inside or not here. I can take on a few of them if need be, so let’s get on with this, he said to himself. He knocked again louder this time. He heard the sound of something approaching the door; its irregular sounding footsteps hinted that it wasn’t a pony. The door opened ever so slightly and an unusually small eye peered around the door. “What do you want?” a voice said from the other side. “I am here on behalf of Princess Luna. She is accompanying your friend, uh, the yellow pegasus. They’ll be here soon but I need to know if you’ve seen anypony else.” The eye scanned him over, up and down before the door slammed shut. Buzz then heard the sound of locks being undone as the door flew open to reveal a human that he recognised from the crash site. “I see the storm’s stopped,” the human said conversationally as he ushered the pegasus in. “Yeah, the storm stopped just after we got here. Before we could help somepony named Ditzy Doo apparently destroyed the source cloud.” “I’m assuming you’re here for me,” Leif said as he motioned to the sofa which he had slept on last night. “Yes, we’re rounding up the remainder,” Buzz replied cordially as he took the proffered seat. “Remainder? Has something happened to the others?” Leif asked as he took the chair opposite. “Five of your friends were kidnapped by a mercenary group for an unknown client. We’ve been investigating leads but so far nothing has come up. This could be related to the current crisis though,” Buzz replied with a sad sigh. “Current crisis?” Buzz exhaled heavily and leaned forwards. “We are on the brink of civil war. One of Celestia’s most trusted guardsponies is trying to rally the army for a coup. For some reason, she believes that humans are the key to their victory.” “Wait, so we’re just strategic assets?” “She’s already stolen your weapons we recovered from the ship, she probably wants to know how to use them.” “She?” “Brigandine Bejewelled Sabre,” Buzz spat out the name. Another knock at the door brought Leif from his chair and back towards the door. He swung it open to see Fluttershy stood outside with a dark blue winged unicorn and a turquoise unicorn, both carrying one of his companions. They both gently placed them on the floor. Leif recognised Victor and Darrell and could see them both breathing. “Leaf; you’re okay,” Fluttershy said with a relieved sigh as she trotted up to him. “Where’s Angel?” “Dunno. Little critter wasn’t here when I woke up,” Leif said, turning to view the new arrivals. “Oh, I told him to keep his eye on you,” Fluttershy said with a huff. She then trotted up the stairwell calling Angel’s name. Fluttershy’s two companions trotted inside and the door shut behind them as if by magic. “Wait, you’re the pony from the crash landing! You’re the boss one!” Leif said suddenly as he jumped to his feet. He then instantly recognised the pony on the sofa. “And you’re one of the troopers!” “Calm down Leaf,” Luna said softly. Leif didn’t want to calm down but he felt his surprise and frustration leave him by itself. The winged unicorn’s horn was glowing and he suspected some kind of connection but he didn’t have the heart to rebuke her. “We need you to trust us; we would never put you at risk. You and your friends’ safety are of the utmost importance to us. We will do all in our power to make sure you are safe and comfortable,” Luna said in a slow drawl. “Then… then why were you present at the crash site with guards?” he asked in a similarly slow manner. “I am one of the rulers of this Kingdom. I travel everywhere with guards. We were there to meet you.” “But… but you attacked us,” he mumbled confusedly. His footing was no longer quite as sure as he stumbled forward. “We defended ourselves. You took us hostage and expected us to just take it?” “We were… we were desperate. We can’t afford… to trust,” he managed as his eyelids began to close. Luna released the spell and Leif suddenly shot back to his usual self, eyes snapping open wide. “What did you do to me?” He shouted accusatorily, the banked rage seething to the surface. “You have to believe our intentions are pure. But we really need to get moving,” Luna said, her tone urgent. “The Sunset Squad will be here any moment to take us out of commission,” Buzz reinforced Luna from the sofa. Leif choked back his rage and exhaled calmly. “Look, I know I’m in no bargaining position here; but I can’t just let you take me and my comrades, god knows where. I need more than a guarantee, I need some leverage.” “Leverage? No offence here Leaf, but we hold all the cards,” Buzz began but Lyra suddenly leapt forward. “Leafy here has a point. We are expecting him to take a lot on our word,” the green unicorn said, gently nudging Buzz with her shoulder. “As I’ve said and he’s admitted; he is in no bargaining position. The fact is we could quite easily just knock him out and drag him with us,” Buzz replied gruffly to the irritating unicorn. “Yeah and there goes all of our goodwill. We’d be being just as bad as those Celestial nutjobs outside.” “But we wouldn’t be because we’re not trying to kill him!” Buzz shouted. He instantly realised what he’d said and his eyes went wide as he slowly closed his mouth. “Kill me?” Leif repeated before shaking his head sadly and letting out a sigh. “Boss knew this would happen. I thought that maybe, just maybe, I’d finally found a peaceful race that didn’t decide to annihilate humanity whenever it got the chance. I guess I was wrong.” “No! You mustn’t believe that,” Fluttershy shouted from the landing. She trotted up to the human with Angel sat on her back. “Goddamn it all Fluttershy,” he sighed again before raising his head with a smile. The yellow pegasus had something in her mouth. He took the shotgun eagerly and pumped it. The spectacular piece of equipment clunked happily bringing music to Leif’s ears. He then turned to the other ponies. “I just got my leverage,” he said with a smirk. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Moon Dancer was shooting back to Fluttershy’s cottage, darting from rooftop to rooftop using the cover to keep herself unseen. Every so often she’d snake off and use a building as a sight barrier to hide from patrolling guards. The Celestial guard seemed to be in control of the entire town now. She made to shoot across to the bakery when she heard hushed voices inside. Hushed voices meant somepony didn’t want to be heard. That means they’re probably not guards. Civilians or looters would be the best bet. Moon Dancer risked a peek through an upstairs window to see a cream earth pony trotting around the room anxiously. Off to her side was another pony whose expression was so infinitely sad that even she had a sudden urge to smash through the window and give her a reassuring hug. Resisting it she did what she did best, went out of sight and opened her ears. “Come on Pinkie! We don’t know that’s what happened,” the cream mare said nervously. Her mane was looking a little frazzled as if somepony wouldn’t stop running her hooves through it. Sure enough she ran her hoof through it. “What else could have? Lyra hasn’t returned and there are guards all over town,” the one who must be Pinkie replied. Her voice matched her appearance, heavy with melancholy. “Lyra will be back any second, she’d never abandon me!” the mare barked back. “Yet she has now,” Pinkie whispered. “I’m not listening!” the mare shouted back and covered her ears. The expression in her eyes however showed that the well placed sentence had struck her heart like a dagger. “Bon Bon, they’re not after you. Leave me here and gallop away, as far as you can,” Pinkie said, staring at Bon Bon with wide, sad eyes. “No! I’d never leave another pony behind. You’re not okay Pinkie! They’re not after you. You’re just being paranoid!” Bon Bon countered although it was evident she was at wit’s end. “Look at me Bon Bon. They know. They know who I am. They know who my real parents are,” Pinkie said in a dreadfully flat voice, as if every emotion she’d “You always said they were rock farmers,” Bon Bon hazarded. “Think about it Bon Bon, why would anypony farm rocks?” Pinkie said in an oh-so-obvious tone. “Because… because… hmm,” Bon Bon wracked her brain but came back empty. “My real parents were cultists. They were members of a large cult calling itself “The Followers of Monocularism”. They never truly believed in it and found the day-to-day rigors too testing. Rather than live a lie they fled together to Canterlot. My mother,” Pinkie stopped for a second to swallow back a sob. Her eyes had started watering properly now. “Susan Marie Pie, she wrote a book. The book contained every detail about the cult they knew: structure, creation stories, birthrights but most importantly the One-Eyed One. Their mystical god. I was conceived in Canterlot and sent to the Manehattan Orphanage with only the book as my companion. When I was older, I was told my dad committed suicide and my mother went missing. She never resurfaced again,” Pinkie ranted. The tears were coming thick and heavy now as she opened up a floodgate in front of an acquaintance. Moon Dancer began to feel extremely awkward but she could tell this information was valuable somehow. She had an unnatural ability to pick up small pieces of information and organise them into something workable. She was the Lunar Guards answer to the Celestial Specialist Division; a lone wolf with a wide and varied skill set. “Oh Pinkie! I’m so sorry!” Bon Bon said in her most sympathetic tone. The mare rushed forwards and hugged Pinkie with her forehooves. A nearby chuckle snapped Moon Dancer away from the touching sight as she reeled around. Behind her she saw a pair of guards walk around the corner and right underneath her. She held her breath and leant backwards, against the roof of the bakery. She was using the building to balance so she wouldn’t have to beat her wings; she was absolutely silent. The two guards walked into the library, laughing as they did. The bell chimed and Moon Dancer saw the cream mare jump to her feet and excitedly call, “Lyra!” before the pink pony could stop her. Moon Dancer cursed under her breath as she forced open the window and flew in. Pinkie gave a resigned look at the guard giving her a solemn stare as she landed. Bob Bon jumped in front of her upon seeing the guard. “You’re not taking her,” she screamed. Pinkie gave a soft but sincere smile in at her supposed saviour. “Shut up,” Moon Dancer hissed. “Stay away from Pinkie! She’s never done anything to hurt you!” Bon Bon shouted, grabbing up a candlestick in her mouth and waving it around threateningly. The sound of hoofsteps sprinting up the stairs rang out loud followed by a loud bang as the door to the room flew open and two guards galloped in. “By order of…” One of the guards began but stopped when he saw Moon Dancer. “The Lunar Guard? What in Celestia’s name,” he tried to continue only to find Moon Dancer had somehow gotten behind him. He leapt forwards in a desperate attempt to escape and landed awkwardly on his wing. “Argh!” he cried as he smacked into the wooden floor. The other guard pulled out a sword and charged forwards aiming for the pegasi. Moon Dancer shifted slightly to the right, avoiding the blade by the skin of her teeth before yanking her helmeted head forwards and smashing it into the guardspony. Dazed the guard stumbled backwards and swung his sword wildly at thin air. Moon Dancer knocked it flying with a hoof where it spun into the air. With a piercing scream the sword found a mark, the downed guardspony from earlier. Moon Dancer didn’t waste an opportunity to get in and buck the other pony sending it flying onto the hilt of its own blade. With a sharp smack followed by a sickly slurp, the pony slid down the hilt and met the other guardspony in a final grim embrace. Bon Bon dropped the candlestick onto the floor with a loud clatter as she turned sickly pale. Moon Dancer had managed to not get a single spot of her blood on her immaculate white coat. “You are the Element of Laughter,” Moon Dancer stated in her wispy yet harsh voice, like the biting winds of the north. Pinkie nodded slowly. She carefully avoided staring at the twisted pony shish kebab. “Follow me,” Moon Dancer whispered before jumping back out the window and levitating outside. Pinkie began to trot down the stairwell when Bon Bon suddenly stopped her. “What are you doing Pinkie?” she screamed, grabbing the pink pony and spinning her around until she was facing her. “She saved our lives. Its either follow her or die at this stage,” Pinkie said sadly and turned away from Bon Bon to continue trotting. “Wait! Pinkie! She just killed those two guards!” Bon Bon shouted after the mare who continued to walk on untouched. “Those two guards would have killed me and probably you for being near me,” she said back over her shoulder. Bon Bon stood still for several seconds as Pinkie walked straight out of the front door. Eventually she shook her head and galloped after her back out into Ponyville.