//------------------------------// // Training // Story: Pony Force // by 5thWriter //------------------------------// One year until the Elements return to the Tree of Harmony The land was dark, barren, and grey; not at all like the fruitful lands of Equestria. In fact, if one were to look up at the sky that moment they would see the stars of the heavens and have a full view of all of Equestria, as one would have to be on the moon to see the entire country. Upon the surface of the moon, somepony would see an ancient temple that help been built long before the pony tribes of old and after searching the temple long enough one would find the deepest chamber and in this chamber one would see a large stone with what could have been a tree and with small glowing stones on it. However, it would have been difficult to guess as the stone was covered in cracks; in truth it was a miracle the stone hadn’t just collapsed. If anypony had been looking at the ancient stone they would have found it to be very boring and uninteresting, and they would have been right for it was what was on the other side of the stone that was interesting or terrifying if you weren’t insane. “The seal is nearly to its breaking point. Soon we will be free of this wretched prison.” A deep baritone voice sounded through the darkness. “Yes, and then we can finally stop having to listen to your complaining,” replied a second voice with a slight buzz to it. “Honestly, do you ever stop bitching about our being sealed?” “NO,” roared the first voice in reply. “Sealing us was a cowardly act. If they wanted peace, they should have killed us for it.” “You know they weren’t strong enough to kill us,” commented a third voice. “Besides, by not killing us we have been gifted with this second chance, Tirek.” “Until we are free, we haven’t been given anything,” growled the being known as Tirek. “There is still time for them to return the Elements. Let us hope they are still stupid enough to keep the Elements from the tree.” Six months until the Elements return to the Tree of Harmony She glared down her beak at the small boulder before her. She had punched it over and over again with only the smallest of cracks starting to form. It had been nearly two years since she left that small town and only a few months since she came out here to these remote mountains to hone her skills. Why couldn’t she just get Rainbow Dash out of her head? If Dash didn’t want to be friends anymore then that was fine, it was feathers off her wings. However, with the loss of Dash as a friend made her realize that she didn’t have any friends. There were very few in Equestria she’d talk to simply for the fact she didn’t interact with the ponies who lived within its borders. It would be a cold day in Tartarus before she considered anyone back home a friend. Most back home didn’t see her, but rather saw a quicker way to be noticed by her father. “Still angry, Gilda?” a voice behind her asked snapping her from her thoughts. Gilda turned around to see tall lanky brown coated unicorn stallion with a dark grey mane and van dyke style goatee with streaks of much lighter grey running through both. He had dark grey eyes and was wearing a dark cream colored suit with a light green bowtie. And finally, he was grinning like an idiot at her. “You the heck are you suppose to be?” asked the griffon. “Well, to many and at the same time to a few I’m know as Professor Poni. You, however, may call me Discord,” he replied. “You?” asked Gilda arching a feathered white eyebrow. “You just as heck don’t look like how the stories describe Discord. I thought Discord was suppose to be over eleven feet tall with razor sharp fangs and made up of more animal body parts than a Chimera.” “Oh? You mean like this?” As soon as the question was out of the pony’s mouth he began to change. His body and arms lengthened as his legs got shorter. From his back two small wings emerged and his eyes grew in height as they grew closer together with one eye eventually being taller than the other. “So, how about now? Do I look like Discord now?” Not being able to find her voice, Gilda just nodded her head dumbly. “Wonderful then,” Discord cried out in joy. With a snap of his claw he reverted back into his Professor Poni form and said, “Now that we’ve established who I am, let’s get down to the reason I’m here. It seems that Equestria needs help and you have the talents to help it.” “Why should I help this country of dorks?” Gilda asked with a huff. “A few reasons actually,” replied Professor Poni. “First reason, you’re still angry at Rainbow Dash; you want to prove that you’re better than her. Well, the Squad just might be the best place to do it. After all, the things we’ll be doing Rainbow Dash simply can’t do. Second reason, you have the skills. For years you have trained, but none would dare to challenge you push the limits of your skills for fear of your father’s wrath. Which brings me to my third and final reason, ever since you were hatched you’ve been known to all in the Griffon Kingdoms as ‘Gilda the daughter of Silver Wing’ and all you’ve ever wanted, the very reason you had a friendship with Rainbow in the first place, was for others to just see you as Gilda. Join with us and you can prove that you’re better, have your skills pushed to the limit, and have others see you and not your father.” Gilda considered the disguised pony’s words. Everything he said was true and more than anything, even proving that she was better than Dash, she wanted to be out from under her father’s shadow. Gilda stood for a moment longer to mull over the pros and cons of joining. She then looked up and extended her right clawed hand and said, “Okay. I’ll join up.” “Glad to hear it, Gilda,” replied Professor Poni as he shook her hand. With his free hand he snapped his fingers, making a piece of rolled up parchment appear in the air. He grabbed it out of the air and handed it to Gilda. “In one month’s time you are to present this at the gates of Canterlot Castle. From there, we’ll begin your orientation into the Squad. I’ll see you then.” He then let go of her hand and began to walk away. “Why a month?” Gilda called out to his retreating form. “Because I need to get the other members of the Squad,” he replied back over his shoulder as he pulled out a small piece of paper with a list of names on it. He then grabbed a pen from the air and crossed off Gilda’s name. ‘Let’s see, next we have Beatrice. Well, this is shaping up to be a lot of fun,’ he thought just before he disappeared in a flash of light. Wonderbolt Academy “What?” shouted a voice across the Academy. Many looked towards the direction of the voice’s source; Captain Spitfire’s office. Inside the office Spitfire stood behind her desk as she stared at the two before her. In front of her was her long time best friend and vice-captain to the Wonderbolts, Soarin and the Wonderbolt’s most daring flyer, Surprise. “What do the two of you mean that you’re both quitting when the season ends next month?” “Well, I can’t speak for Surprise, Spits,” began Soarin. “But I meant just what I said, ‘Here’s my letter of resignation. I’m quitting when the flying season ends next month.’” “Its ‘Spitfire’ or ‘Captain’, to you Soarin,” snapped Spitfire. She wasn’t happy; two of the team’s best fliers had just told her they were quitting, so it wasn’t the time for buddy-buddy and joking. “You’re reason, Surprise?” She asked the blonde maned mare next to Soarin. “Ma’am, I’m quitting the Wonderbolts for the same reason as Soarin. We have been summoned to Canterlot by Princesses Celestia and Luna for an unspecified amount of time. We have been asked that, before arriving in Canterlot, to end any other obligations we have to anypony.” Surprised explained. Spitfire sighed and slumped slightly. She certainly couldn’t go against a princess’s order much less two! And, if both Princesses had summoned them then it had to be something really big. “Alright, fine. As you’re both being summoned by the Princesses you won’t suffer any backlash from getting out of your contracts early. However, before the season is up, I expect you both to continue on as normal in both training and our shows. And, you Soarin will need to select your replacement for vice-captain.” “Understood,” replied the two before her. As Soarin turned to leave, Surprise stayed were she was and said, “Ma’am, I hope this doesn’t mean you won’t come to the party.” “Party?” Spitfire asked. “Oh, yes Ma’am. I’ll be throwing a small good-bye party for when Soarin and I leave,” she replied. “I don’t throw parties like my little sister, but even I like to party a little, too.” “I’ll be there,” replied the Captain. “Thank you, Ma’am,” Surprise said with a smile before bouncing away. Spitfire watched her bounce away and not for the first time wondered how she got around so fast by bouncing everywhere. ‘Ah well, its Surprise just being Surprise,’ Spitfire thought to herself before going back to her paperwork. Camp Hood or rather twenty-five thousand feet above it The plane rumbled along as it leveled out high above Equestria’s largest training camp. It was at Camp Hood that any pony could be trained in nearly all aspects of the Equestrian Military; from underwater maneuvers to hand-to-hand combat to wilderness survival, and to its newest addition parachuting. There were a few different types of parachuting, but the one this particular plane specialized in doing during training was known as HALO jumping. It would climb up to a high altitude and then the ponies on board who were jumping would jump out and after falling for a while would open their parachutes and safely land on the ground. It was this type of jump that a certain large, red, Earth Pony, stallion was preparing to do for the first time. ‘I’m crazy,’ Big Mac thought to himself as he looked out the window of the plane and saw how high it was. He had done a few jumps up to this point, but never this high. ‘First, I lie to AJ, Bloom, an’ Granny. Then, I keep my new job a secret from everypony who’s important to me except Luna and that’s cause she’s one of my two bosses. Everything finally comes to a head when I tell AJ that I’ve hired some farm hands and she wants them gone. So, to push my point I had to inform her that maybe we wouldn’t need farmhands if she wasn’t always away from the farm and with the farm’s upcoming expansion we’ll need the extra help. I’m not just crazy, I’m insane. If I survive this, I really need to think about having myself committed.’ “Are you ready, McIntosh?” a voice asked in front of him, bringing him out of his thoughts. Big Mac looked away from the window to the source of the voice. In front of him stood a short, blue, Earth Pony Stallion with a light blue mane and a scar across the top-left of his face to the bottom-right of his face. The Stallion was Night Star, who held the rank of Chief Master Sergeant, but most just called him Sergeant Star. “McIntosh, I asked you a question,” Sergeant Star barked. “Sir, my apologies; I’m ready to jump at anytime, Sir,” replied Big Mac as he stood at attention. “Then, let’s go over your training one last time before we jump.” Sergeant Star said as he began to lecture. “As always double check everything before jumping and for the love of Faust, make sure your oxygen tank and breather are properly secured in place. When you jump, your helmet’s timer will start and once you reach the optimal safe zone do deploy your parachute a loud ringing will erupt from your head set. When it rings, pull your cord; because if it stops ringing, that means you’ve passed the safe distance and even if you deployed the parachute you’d still be approaching the ground to fast and wind up with several shattered bones at best.” With the lecture over Big Mac began going over everything. He checked his parachute, the straps, his tank, breather, and helmet. Once he had checked and double checked everything, Big Mac began to make his way over to the plane’s sliding side door. As he grasped the side and looked out at the opening air, he had one last thought, ‘Well... I’ve lived a full life.’ He then inhaled deeply and jumped. A road in the middle of nowhere Her hooves fell softly on the dirt path that served as the road in the middle the barren field. For miles in every direction there was nothing; no buildings, no tress, no boulders. Not even a cloud in the sky. There was only the green grass, the blue of the sky, and the light of Celestia’s blazing sun. “Doing the right thing is harder than it looks,” she said to herself with a sigh. “Oh, come now. It doesn’t have to be so hard,” a voice above her replied. Her head snapped up and when she saw what was above her she let out a scream as she fell down in shock. “Discord! What are you doing here? I thought you were imprisoned?” She cried out in disbelief. Up above her, lounging around without a care in the world, was the Draconequus, Discord. “Oh, I was ‘imprisoned’, but now I’m out on good behavior and being a good lil’ spirit.” “I highly doubt that,” she replied. “Oh, but why must you doubt me,” Discord asked. “I’m living in a cozy little home in Ponyville, I take my daughter to school like any other good father, I always make time for my darling wife, Screw Loose, and I even got a job. In fact, my job is why I’m here. “And what job, might that be,” she asked with a roll of her eyes. “Why helping Equestira of course,” Discord replied. “I believe after your previous stint in Ponyville, you wanted to become a better pony and help others. Well, here’s your chance to make it happen.” “I highly doubt you’re doing it to help Equestria,” she replied. “So, no deal.” “You are right, I’m mostly doing this because I just feel like doing it,” agreed Discord. “So, look at it this way. This is your chance to be a better pony, help your fellow citizens, oh and avoid having Celestia shove her hoof up your ass. Surly you didn’t think that she wouldn’t find out what you did? I mean usurping the government of a town and then thinking you can just walk away without any form of punishment is pretty damn stupid. Especially, if it’s the little town where the Elements of Harmony happen to live. And you won’t be getting the usual form of punishment, oh no. At best, your magic would be sealed and then you would be banished.” “What would I have to do,” she asked with a barely contained fear. ‘That was nearly a year ago! I thought if I was to be punished it would have happened sooner!’ “You wouldn’t have to do much. In fact, I think you’ll like it as you get to expand on your hobby, Beatrice.” “DO NOT CALL ME THAT,” she yelled at the top of her lungs. “I AM THE GREAT AND POWERFUL TRIXIE!!” At Trixie’s outburst, Discord’s face became expressionless. He came down from his position in the sky and stood before the unicorn mare. Then, without warning his tail lashed out and struck her hard in her head. “Trixie, do me favor and never refer to yourself as ‘great and powerful’ again. Of the list of ponies who are great and powerful you are at the bottom of it. In fact, you’re so far at the bottom that the list ran out of paper five hundred and forty-two names above yours.” Discord then leaned in close and asked, “If you were to die right now, who would honestly remember you?” Without bothering to wait for a reply he continued, “don’t bother answering, I can see it in your eyes. No one would be there, no one would remember you. However, accept my offer and I can make you remembered.” “What would I have to do?” Trixie asked quietly. “As I said, it would just expand on your hobby; shooting.” Discord said with a smile. “Wh-what? I don’t shoot for a hobby,” said Trixie disbelief. “Don’t try and kid me. Other than magic, you’re good at shooting in fact, you’re better at shooting. I know about those three guns you’ve got on you. An H-45 automatic, a double barrel .50 Longshot, and a Sonic Boom 66, which is otherwise known as a hand cannon. I believe that last one was made illegal five years after its release. I must say, this isn’t looking to good for your probation.” “That one was a gift from my heirloom form my father,” cried out Trixie. “Wellll,” began Discord over exaggeratingly as he rubbed his chin and looked up as though he was thinking deeply. “Maybe if you accept my offer and join the squad; I might be convinced of your willingness to help others and just forget I ever saw anything.” “Yes! Trixie agrees, she shall join the squad,” she said in agreement. “Really, Trixie? You’d do that for me?” Asked Discord. “Well then, here you go.” Discord then summoned a rolled up scroll and handed it to her. “Present this to the guards at Canterlot castle on the thirty-first.” “Okay, Trixie most certainly will.” “Oh and you’ve only got thirteen days until it’s the thirty-first and if you don’t show up then you shall receive the harshest punishment for high treason.” “And what is that?” Trixie asked with a touch of fear. With a quick snap of his paw, Discord popped out and in his place appeared a tall muscular pony wearing black pants that were being held up by black suspenders. His face was covered by a black hood and in his hands was a giant axe. “EXECUTION!!” He yelled in a loud voice as lightning flashed behind him. Trixie screamed at the top of her lungs and took off, she hoped, in the direction of Canterlot. As the hooded pony watched her run away, he began to laugh and reached up to take off his hood. With the hood off it was revealed to be Discord underneath. “Ah, that was just too funny,” Discord said to himself with a grin. “But dad,” a voice next to him spoke. “It is a fourteen day journey from here to Canterlot and its fifteen days until the thirty-first.” Discord turned his head to look upon a young lavender filly with a purple and white mane and purple eyes with pink swirls. On the young filly’s head sat a beanie with a propeller on top. While this may all seem normal to most, the young filly was floating in the air despite being an Earth Pony; so she had no wings like the pegasi or magic like the unicorns To many ponies this filly was Screw Ball, but to Discord she was the chaos of his eye as she was his daughter. “That’s very true, sweetie. However, while daddy promised not to cause any world changing chaos, he never promised not to light a fire under his squad’s asses. They need to be able to do things quickly and get them done right.” Discord explained to his daughter. “Wait a minute, why aren’t you in school?” “I didn’t feel like going, so I didn’t go today,” explained Screw Ball. “Besides, I wanted to watch you work.” “Young filly I don’t care what you feel like, unless you are sick, in this family we do our best to meet our required obligations and if we can; we go beyond them,” began Discord as he pulled out a pair of glasses from seemingly nowhere. “I myself went through my required years of schooling grades 1 - Ÿ so don’t you complain to me about having to go to school for 12 years. After my basic education I went on to college where I earned my many PhDs and Master’s. You don’t think all those papers on the walls of my study are for show do you? Although I do admit they make lovely wallpaper. After finishing my 500 years of college I went backpacking across the dimensions of the multiverse and while traveling I learned even more. I learned how to survive on my wits and the bounty of the land, interpretive dance, and it’s where I picked up my love of throat singing. I’ll sing you some.” Before anything could be done to stop him, Discord opened his mouth and proceeded to make a noise that sounded like it came from a large animal or even whale. Over and over the deep vibrating sound was made. Screw Ball grabbed her ears and fell from the air. “Alright, alright,” she cried out in frustration. “You win. I won’t skip school.” “That’s good to hear, sweetie,” replied Discord. “Now come on, you’re mom is making dinner. As the two hovered away Screwball asked, "Dad, didn't you mean 'your' instead of 'you're'?" "Screwy, if I meant to say 'your' I would have said your," Discord explained with a sigh. This is what he gets for thinking having a kid would be a good idea. Canterlot Luna’s private spell chambers Deep within the private parts of Canterlot castle resided Luna’s private spell chambers. It was within these chambers that she had been working hard for the past six months in preparing a new way to access the power of the Elements. It had taking quite a while of planning and a little trickery to get everything ready. She had searched many hours for the purest gold and then spent weeks having it refined over and over again to have all of the impurities burned out. While the metal was being purified she had procured a vial of blood from each of the Elemental bearers under the guise of a blood drive. Fluttershy had been the most difficult to acquire as the mare was scared of needles. With the blood acquired, Luna then proceeded to chip away tiny fragments of each Element. The gems that Elements had composed themselves as were different from other gems. When a small piece was chipped away the main part would instantly repair itself; while the small shard would still retain the magic of the original piece. Once Luna had enough shards of each Elements she then took a small piece of her and her sister’s magic to add to the mix. Now, that everything was ready the hardest part was to begin. Luna separated the gold into six equal amounts and added the shards to each amount of gold. Then, in the corresponding gold and shard mix, she added the vial of blood. Luna then carefully drained the magic of her and her sister into each mixture. As the final part would be the most difficult, Luna uttered a small spell and split herself into three. Each of the three Lunas took two of the mixtures and brought them over to a large metal table. As one, the three poured out the mixtures onto the table, being careful not to have the mixtures touch each other. They then discarded the containers that had been holding the mixtures and lifted a large mallet in each hand. As one, the three began to chant, saying, “Spiritus senex, spiritus antiqua. Ades et anima mea virtutem. Praesta risus bonitas benignitas, probitas, fides, ac in novam formam luctus. Sed ut vis fac ut ex praemissis patet.” Rhythmically they struck the mixtures as they chanted over and over. With each strike a wave of power and magic was released and what was once liquid gold was now becoming a solid piece of metal in the shape of a coin and harder than steel. With a final strike, the power that erupted was enough to send all three Lunas backwards and to the floor. The three formed formed back into one Luna as she opened her eyes. Luna looked towards the table and saw sparks of red, yellow, blue, pink, black, and white. She slowly stood up and made her way over to the table. Resting on the table were six golden coins, each with an animal emblazoned onto them. Luna gently picked up one of the sparking coins, a fierce bear looking back it her. “Well, it’s going to be very interesting to see where these things take us,” She said as she gazed down at the remaining five coins. Canterlot Camp Hood 3 days after Twilight Sparkle’s ascension to Alicornhood Tartarus. Pure Tartarus is what the last two months of training had been to Big Mac. After his HALO, gun, and maneuvers training, came the final leg of training torture and unpredictability. One the first day, his trainers had snuck into the room he was sleeping in took his entire bed, with him still in it, tied a limb to each bed post and then had the pegasi drop him from the air and into Voorhees Lake. Waking up to find himself surrounded by water hadn’t been even close to a remotely good time. From that moment forth, there had been daily psychological and physical tortures. One day he had received a phone call and listened to a mare who specialized in voices sound like Applejack and act as though she was being raped. The next morning he had woken up to an imitation body of his youngest sister Apple Bloom with her throat slit and hanging over her bed. Add in the random beatings and electrical shocks and at the end of the week McIntosh Apple was at the end of his rope. However, he wasn’t broken. While true that he had been pushed and pushed hard, he was still standing. Many ponies, including members of his large family, always thought that Big Mac didn’t say anything because he didn’t have anything on his mind. In truth, Big Mac always had something on his mind; usually more than one subject. The night at the Ponyville Spa with his special someponies was one of the few times were he didn’t have a single thought in his head. But after his first week with torture training, Big Mac did have a thought in his head, ‘payback’. Before passing on; his Pa had always told him not to let others push him around and to give them a chance to stop pushing. However if ever forced to pushback, then pushback so hard that these who pushed him would deeply regret pushing him in the first place. Over the course of the next month Big Mac made life for everyone at Camp Hood a living nightmare. He poisoned the food supply, causing everyone to have loose bowels. Had every article of clothing for mare and stallion alike destroyed and then triggered the emergency alarm at three in the morning. Rewired the camp’s closed circuit television to play a legendary hardcore porno called ‘Sun-Butts #9’ at full blast during the camp’s anniversary ball. Destroyed four of the camp’s eight barracks; all of them the mares. Through a sheer amount of luck, Big Mac snuck into the Captain’s office and duct tapped a grenade to the Captain’s desk. He then carefully tied a string to the grenade’s pin and the other end to the Captain’s boot. When the Captain woke up, he didn’t know the string was there and left his office like normal. When the Captain was several yards away from his office; his office suddenly exploded. The crown jewel of Big Mac’s payback was the camp wide riot he had stealthily started. A few well placed rumors here and there about some of the stallion’s wives and some of the mare’s sexual preferences; add to the mix some very convincing doctored photos and suddenly the entire camp as it each other’s throats. The riot ended with a hundred hospitalized, a hundred and twenty-seven injured, six buildings destroyed, four officers demoted, three divorces, two stallions coming out, and finally one huge flank chewing out by Celestia herself to the General. The most shocking thing of all was while everypony suspected Big Mac, there was no physical shred of evidence to support it. Some of the cadets thought about getting back at the red stallion. However, they quickly changed their minds when a few of them were dragged through the Everfree Forest. This, and all the other acts that he had done, caused many of the older and more experienced guards to approach Big Mac with great caution. It wasn’t that he had done what he did, but rather that in a camp of slightly over five hundred ponies no pony had seen him do it. Big Mac had been good at hiding before, but now he was downright frightening. The last week had pasted quickly enough and now Big Mac was approaching the end of his training. All the remained was to start training with the supplies he would be using out in the field and in the outfit he would be using. This particular training was to start today, which is why he wasn’t at the camp, but rather at the princesses R&D division in Canterlot. “Hello Director McIntosh, my name is Jewels,” spoke the slender mare in front of him. She had a dark purple coat and a long green mane. She wore a simple jeans and t-shirt combo under her white lab coat. “I have been the pony personally overseeing the construction of everything for your department and I must say, you’re going to be getting to play with some very interesting toys. Shall we get started?” “Certainly, doctor,” replied Big Mac. The two walked over to where a black outfit was hanging. “This is your full body uniform. It’s black to help you blend into the shadows and is made out of a special material weave to stop most weapons including bladed objects and phaser shots, except for the fourth setting. The suit also comes with temperature regulator to help you blend into your surroundings thermal wise. Located on the suit’s left arm in your Operational Satellite Uplink, otherwise known as your OPSAT; this device will allow Milano and Know to be in constant contact with you as well as Princess Celestia as everything will come from her. Also, it produces an untraceable homing beacon that will locate you within a three foot radius of where you actually are. Attached to your OPSAT you have an optic cable to see around corners and under doors. Throughout the suit you have various pockets to hold everything you will need. Located on the suit’s right shoulder, you have a special pocket that is holding a reel of steel wire; it also has a small titanium razor attached to help cut the wire. That’s pretty much it for the suit, so next will move on the multi-vision goggles.” The two walked away from the suit and to a nearby table. On this table rested a pair of goggles with straps to be worn over a pony’s head. It was also completely black like the suit, except for the three lens of the goggles which were emitting a low green light. “These goggles may not seem like much, but they will allow you to see a whole lot of shit, most ponies won’t see,” explained Dr. Jewels. “These goggles are equipped with Night vision, Thermal vision, Electromagnetic Field (EMF) vision, Electronically Enhanced vision (EEV), and Sonar vision. With a simple press of the buttons on the left lens you can change the filter. Next, we’ll be discussing your weapons.” Big Mac and Dr. Jewels then walked towards the final table. The table wasn’t overly big, but it was covered in variety of gadgets. The largest object on the table looked like a gun, but it was too short to be a hand gun and wasn’t long enough to be a rifle. In truth it looked kind of stumpy and futuristic; like something Big Mac would read about in his Sci-fi books. “This is your gun, the CS-25,” Dr. Jewels said as she picked up the large object. “As you can see it doesn’t look like any normal gun on the market. That’s because these guns were never released. They are called assault rifles; they shoot more and pack a bigger wallop than your standard hand gun, but they don’t shoot as far as your standard rifle. Unlike normal guns, when you fire this gun very small metal shavings are released with it. As the shavings are not infinite you will need to replace the cartridge after every 250th shot. This gun has semi-auto and full-auto capabilities. It can also fire more than just phasers. Such as Sticky Cameras, Ring Airfoil, Sticky Shocker, Gas Grenade, and a little thing we call the Cottonball.” With each new item, Dr. Jewels held the item up for Big Mac to see the item. “You’ve also got Camera Bots,” Dr. Jewels said as she held up what looked like a little round ball with triangular legs. “You control these with your OPSAT. They’ll give you a wider view of the area and if need be you can detonate them for a nice distraction. The final gadget is behind you.” Arching an eyebrow at the doctor’s comment, Big Mac turned around and was shocked to see a camera at his eye level floating in midair. “This is your personal aerial drone. Like the Camera Bots you control it with your OPSAT and can be detonated. Unlike the Camera Bots, the drone has night vision, Thermal vision, and EEV. It can also fire a limited amounts of phaser shots, so be sure to make them count. The final items will be your implants, which we will be putting in your tomorrow. I figured you’d want to see them, though.” Dr. Jewels then held up a small vial and inside the vial was a small chip. It was so small that one could mistake it for a grey pill. “This will go behind the inside of your ear. It will allow us to hear everything you hear and communicate with you while you’re in the field. Now, as I’m sure you don’t want everything you hear to be known by others all the time; we will also be implanting the chips on/off switch into your collar bone as well.” Dr. Jewels held up a second vial with a slightly larger chip in it. This one had a very noticeable button on it. “Do you have any questions to ask before tomorrow?” Dr. Jewels asked Big Mac. “Only, what time will we be starting the surgery,” replied McIntosh. “We will start the surgery at eight in the morning, so you will need to be here at seven,” replied the doctor. “Well, if that’s everything. You are free to go Mr. McIntosh.” “Thanks, doctor,” Big Mac replied with a nod as he turned and left the office. P.I.B. HQ Ponies In Black Headquarters; the gateway to entering the world for humans. It was the duty of the agents appointed by this department to make sure that the citizens of Equestria and at large the world where not harmed initially or unknowingly by humans and to keep the truth about humans as secret as possible. At any given time there was up to two thousand humans in Equestria and another thousand outside of Equestria’s borders. As such, the agents were kept busy by all manner of obligations. One such agent was currently sitting at her desk going over an extensive report. She was lime green unicorn with golden eyes and a lime green mane with a white streak running through it. “Hey L. What’s going on,” asked a voice. L looked up and saw her partner W approach her and their desks. W was a brown furred earth pony with a matching brown mane and grey eyes. “Not much W, but look at this,” replied L and she swiveled her monitor around so W could see. W leaned down and looked at what his partner had to show him. It was a line graph; at the start of the graph everything looked normal. The line would occasionally dip or rise, but it usually stayed fairly low. However, three fourths of the way down and the line suddenly spiked to the top. From there, it went all over the place and three more times it hit the top. “Now, take a look at this graph,” L said as she brought up another graph. Unlike the first graph, this one had several spikes in it. However, like the first graph, three fourths of the way down suddenly it spiked to the top and did so three more times. “L what exactly am I looking at?” W asked with an arched eyebrow. “The first graph shows the threats; each spike is Nightmare Moon, Discord, Queen Chrysalis, and finally King Sombra. The next graph show the fluctuation of magic. As you can see, at each major threat the magic spikes as well. This graph covers the past sixteen years.” L explained before bringing up a third graph. “Now, look at this third graph. This graph shows humans who have illegally sold blueprints of their technology. When we became agents five years ago the number doubled from five years before that. In the past five years that number has tripled. All three of these graphs end at a month ago. Now, here are the three graphs from last month to now.” L then brought up the final image and W’s eyes widened at what he saw. “Aww… shit!” He exclaimed with shock. While the threat was currently low, the magic was spiked so high additional levels had to be added to the graph. And, the human incident graph had just caused the numbers to be quadrupled in illegal blueprints sold. “Yep,” L said in agreement with her partner. “I don’t know what’s about to happen, but when it does it’s going to be one hell of a shit storm and we are going to be fucked.” “Let’s hope we’re prepared,” replied W. “Don’t worry partner, we aren’t going to just rollover.” L said with a smirk. “Now, let’s go. We’ve got work to do.” L then turned off her computer and the two walked out to begin a day of keeping Equestria safe without Equestria knowing about it. Canterlot Lower Side Despite what many ponies of Equestria, outside of Canterlot, would think, Canterlot did have a poor district. As it was such a large city, how could it not? The rich and nobility of the city needed somepony to serve under them. It was here, in the shadows of the light, that one’s dark desires could be fed; whatever they might be. You just had to be careful who knew of your desires. With a quickening breath and a racing heart, he tightened the strap on his arm to bring out his arm’s vein. Once the vein was located, he grabbed the syringe filled with a light purple liquid and took the cap off the needle. Without even flinching he pushed the needle into his arm with practiced ease and drained the contents of the syringe into his body. With the syringe empty, he pulled the needle out and tossed it into the nearby wastebasket. He then leaned back and waited for the syringe’s contents to start affecting his body. In the blink of an eye, the changes started. His muscles bulged, his bones lengthened, the shirt he was wearing quickly became too small for his body and was ripped away by his growing body mass. Once the change was complete he stood up and as all the times before marveled at the changes in his body. Before he would stand at a simple six feet four inches and was nicely built for a stallion of his size. But now, with the drug pumping through his veins, he towered at a height of eight feet two inches and his body was ripped with muscles. He was like a living mountain tall and imposing, but able to crush all in his path and crush them he would. Now, his body wielded power worthy of his status; unlike those sisters who sat on their flanks all day. “My, my isn’t this interesting,” commented a voice from the doorway into the apartment’s bedroom. His head immediately snapped toward the voice and saw a brown coated unicorn stallion with a dark grey mane and van dyke style goatee. “Who are you?” He asked. “Oh, I’m just somepony enjoying watching your fall from grace,” then unicorn replied. “If of course, you could have ever called it, that.” “I’LL CRUSH YOU!!” He yelled in rage as he charged the unknown stallion. Just as he was bearing down on the stallion, the unicorn shot his hands forth and slammed them onto his ears. Though he was disoriented, he was not so much that he missed what happened next. The unicorn began to change, his body shifted and meld until no longer a unicorn was in front of him, but the bringer of chaos, Discord. “Oh, shit,” he eloquently stated. “You got that right!” Discord said with a grin. The Draconequus then wrapped his tail around his muscled legs and with strength, that many would think Discord didn’t have, lifted him into the air before violently slamming him into the ground over and over again. With a final thrash he was slammed into the floor and before his body could even register that he had been slammed, Discord stood above him. The Lord of Chaos pressed his goat leg down on his throat and kept it there with enough force to just allow a small amount of air, but still snap his neck with a simple twist of his leg. “Here’s how this is going to work,” Discord began as he took out his nail file and began to file his eagle talon. “I’ve recently been put in charge of putting together a team. A team of less liked ponies in Equestria to help protect Equestria. And for a while I was wondering what to do about you. After all, if anyone is unliked by the populous as a whole it’s you. Most would take a dinner with a griffon torturer than you; because at least with the griffon there would be some actual conversation. So, I said to myself, ‘Dizzy, he needs to be on your team.’ I’ll see you at ten sharp on Saturday.” “And if I refuse?” the stallion grunted out in gasps. “I’m sure Celestia and Luna would be very interested to know what you’ve been doing,” Discord replied with a grin. “Fine, I’ll be there,” he replied with anger. Discord removed his hoof from the stallion’s throat and smiled as he walked towards the apartment’s door. “I knew you’d see it my way.” He spared one last look back at the stallion and said, “It’s going to be a lot of fun having you around Prince Blueblood.”