The Mane Six surrounded the hologram of Spike that had emerged from the messenger crystal they found on the body of Shiekra. They could barely recognize their former friend. The Corruption had twisted his face into something far crueler than they had ever seen. Twilight stepped closer to the crystal and glared up at him.
“You really think you’re going to be able to stop us by sending a small army after us?”
Corrupted Spike smiled, “Of course not, my pathetic little pony. But I do intend to bring you out into the open.” He crossed his arms, “It’s been 16 years since I’ve last seen you all, and I feel like we are long overdue for a little…reunion."
“The last time we saw yer wretched ass, ya nearly killed us!” Applejack snarled. “If ya send yer little herd of vermin here, yer just gonna be sendin' em ta their deaths!"
“Then I will send out MORE!!” he roared back. “And I’ll keep sending out more and more Hellions until they find you! Then they will put an end to your attempt to defy my rule, and bring Twilight to me!!”
Confusion took over Twilight’s face, “What the hell do you want me for?”
“YOU HAVE SOMETHING THAT BELONGS TO ME, AND I WANT IT BACK!!!”
They all slightly flinched at the ferocity of his voice. He cleared his throat to try and calm himself down. he looked down at her,
"Do you not remember? I was your only friend at one point. I was the only one who agreed with your thoughts on how the kingdom should've been ruled. I gave you all the power you would ever need to not only rule Equestria, but the entire world. All that power in your hooves, and you threw it away!!" He smiled, "But not this vessel. In fact, he's one of the most powerful vessels I've ever had, and I intend to make good use of him, and that includes channeling all of my power into him." He pointed at Twilight, "So long as you hold onto my magic, I will scour this world, destroying it in the process. And once I find you and siphon you of all my magic, AND YOURS...I'm going to force you to watch as my minions and I do..." he eyed her friends lustfully, “Delightfully sickening things to them…”
Chills rippled through them as he straightened back up,
“Farewell.” He waved at them. “I will be seeing you again soon.” He started to fade out, before snapping his fingers, “Oh, one more thing!” he settled his gaze on Applejack,
“You look like a cross between a pony and a wheelchair. You really should’ve just let me finish you off all those years ago…”
Applejack snarled as he cackled in her face. She spun around and reared her hind legs back. She bucked the crystal off the table, causing it to smash into a wall and shatter on impact. Pinkie was immediately by her side to calm her down. After a few moments, all eyes were on Twilight.
“So what are we doing? Because if it involves cracking skulls open,” Dash stomped a hoof, “Then I’m all game.”
Twilight turned back to face them, “Go and get your apprentices. It’s time for the next step in their training.”
~MLP~
Sparks sadly stared at her reflection in one of the bathroom mirrors. She still couldn’t believe that she was now a walking corpse. She had seen dead bodies before, but this was taking it to a completely different level. She stared a little bit longer before Dee walked into the bathroom,
“I figured I’d find you somewhere that had a mirror.” The Vampony stated. She sat down next to Sparks, “I used to stare into the mirror for hours when it first happened to me. You’ll learn to get used to it…”
“It’s just…this is fucking crazy. I’ve only been around any of the Fallen for a few days, and somehow....I’ve died and been brought back to life…how the hell does that happen?” Sparks finished off with a small chuckle.
Dee smiled, “Hey, those mares are unlike anypony else. I’d be surprised if you hadn't died after that encounter with Master Fluttershy. She means well though…they all do. And they treat us well, love us, and care for us.” She looked back into the mirror,
“And soon, we'll all follow in their hoof steps.”
Sparks arched an eyebrow, “What do you mean?”
Dee was about to answer her, but Applejack popped her head inside,
“Ah’m glad Ah heard ya’ll in here. We got a meetin’ about tah start. All Apprentices are attendin’. It’s time fer ya’ll tah step up. So let’s go, an’ get a move on.”
“Yes, Miss Applejack!!” the two younger ponies said in unison. They rose to her hooves and quickly followed Applejack to their debriefing room. Fluttershy and Rarity were already seated, with empty seats right next to them. Dee and Sparks took their seats next to their teachers. One by one, the other Fallen walked into the room, three younger ponies trailing right behind them. Two young stallions and a mare. The pony that sat next to Pinkie was a stallion with a dark violet coat. His blue mane was wild and spiky, and his tail was cut to a small tuft. His silvery grey eyes were wild, and his pupils were like black saucers, and he had a goofy grin plastered on his face. His body was laced with scars all over, and his cutie mark was a leaf with wispy smoke behind it. He clacked his hooves together as he turned to look at Sparks,
“Whoa, who’s your friend, Dee?” he chuckled, “She’s pretty…”
“Yeah, purty dead.” The other stallion stated. “She’s the one Miss Twilight brought back ta life.”
Sparks leered at the Unicorn stallion seated beside Dash. His reddish coat, black mane, and matching tail, were dirty and matted from sweat and motor oil. His body, like the other stallion, was also covered in massive scars. His left foreleg and the right half his face were made from machinery and metal plates. The lime-green light from his cybernetic eye glowed brighter, as he returned her glare,
“What are ya starin’ at, ya zombie?”
Sparks quickly rose from her seat, “Who are you calling a zombie, you trotting junkyard?!”
Rarity clamped down onto Sparks’ shoulder and forced her back into her seat, “No, absolutely not. There will be no fighting while we are in here.” the older Unicorn turned and settled her glare on the other stallion, “And you, stop picking fights with everypony. Such behavior is uncouth, and uncalled for!”
The stallion started to reply, but Dash smacked the back of his head, “Dammit Patch, you just don’t know when to quit! Sit down and shut up!”
“Yes, Master Dash.” He quickly sat back in his seat, “I apologize fer mah actions, Miss Rarity and Sparks. It won’t happen again.”
The purple stallion snickered, “Hehe, you can never stay out of trouble dude.”
Patch shot him a glare, “Shut up, Haze!!”
Haze giggled a little bit louder, before the Pegasus mare next to him gave him a hard elbow to the rib cage. She was a soft shade of baby powder blue, while her mane and tail were a brilliant blonde. Sparks couldn't see all of her cutie mark, only being able to see a sun peeking from behind an ocean's wave. Her sparkling magenta orbs glared at the stallion.
‘Knock it off, before you two piss them all off!’
"Or...ya could just mind yer business, Skye." Patch grumbled. Skye shot him a glare as well.
Twilight let out an irritable sigh, “I'm sorry, I didn't know I was supposed to be foal sitting, instead of planning.”
“Planning for what, Miss Twilight?” Haze asked.
“The Hell King has located this base. We’ve got to get all of our fighters and things out of this place before we do.”
“Wait, does that mean we’re runnin’?” Patch questioned, “Why are we doin’ that? We don’t run, we let the Hellions come, an' we tear their asses up!”
“Because you all need to realize that beating Hellions into the dirt isn’t going to do anything.” Twilight stated. “You’re going to be the next to take over and be the leaders of an army that is well over one million strong.” She looked over at all of the Apprentices, “And all of them, will follow every single command without question. So…you’re going to have to make sure that you don't fuck up.”
All of the younger ponies took a serious expression on their faces.
“But...until then, you’re still under our command. So no, Patch Work, there will not be any fighting. Not unless it’s required.” She grabbed a file from the stack of folders sitting in the middle of the desk, “Now, the closest base is Base S-13-”
Dash through her hoof up, “Hold up. Did you just say S-13?” she shook her head, “We can’t go there. Not if we’re taking a ton of valuable gear and intel.”
‘But, Miss Dash, that base is only 4.2 miles away from here.’ Skye stated. ‘We should be fine if everypony here is going.’
“Yeah, but there’s a ton of Automaton Hellions out there in between these two bases.” Dash replied.
“And that’s why you’re going to be going with the first wave.” Twilight stated. “You’re the best mechanic that we’ve got, so if anypony is going to be able to stop them, it’s you.” She looked over at Patch, “And of course Patch Work, since you’re under the tutelage of Rainbow, you’re going to assist her in destroying the Automatons.”
Patch nodded, “Yes Ma’am.”
“Okay, which one of us is going with her on the first wave?” Twilight questioned.
Applejack raised a hoof, “Ah’ll go with her. She’ll need some good ol’ fashioned Earth Pony power.”
Skye clacked their hooves together and squealed, ‘I’m very excited to go on a mission with you once again, Master Applejack.’
Applejack grinned, “Ah know ya are, sugarcube. Ah know ya have been itchin’ tah get back out there.”
Twilight nodded, “Good. Now, after Rainbow, Patch Work, Applejack, and Skye Wave take care of the Automatons, the second wave will leave, along with Rarity, Bright Spark, Pinkie, and Purple Haze as it’s power houses.” She looked over at Fluttershy, “I’m going to need you and Dead Moon’s Vampiric powers. Yours more so, because of the further stages of your powers. We’re going to stay back while I teleport all of this important information and equipment to S-13. If Spike comes, you’re the second strongest pony that we have.”
Fluttershy shook her head, “I don’t want to turn back into that thing. Not until I learn how to control it…”
“You might have to though...” Twilight replied softly, “You won’t kill any of our friends. I give you my word.”
Fluttershy sat still for a moment before nodding, “Okay…”
Twilight placed her hooves on the table, “Alright, we’ve got to do this as smooth and quickly as possible. Rainbow, Applejack, grab the first 450 ponies you see trotting around here, and get them geared up and ready to go in 30 minutes. Pinkie and Rarity, you do the same. Your wave will be going out 15 minutes after that.” She rose to her hooves, “Does everypony understand their part?”
The group nodded. Twilight’s face hardened,
“Alright then. Let’s get started!”
They all nodded and jumped up from the table. Dash, Applejack, and their Apprentices took off in one direction of the hallway, while Sparks and Haze followed their mentors. They made it to an open room full of workers and fighters. Pinkie’s face suddenly went serious,
“Hey everypony, listen up!”
All eyes focused on her,
“We’ve got to get out of here ASAP. We will be heading to Base S-13. Everything will be explained soon, so gear up and lets go!”
“YES MA’AM!!”
Sparks watched in awe as ponies left and right stormed around the room, quickly gathering up whatever they needed for the trek. Pinkie turned to Haze,
“Haze, go get geared up, and be at the gate. I want you on standby when Dashie and Jackie go through with the first wave.”
Haze nodded, “Yes, Master Pinkie Pie.” He looked over at Rarity, “Miss Rarity, can Sparks come with me as well? Haze asked. “She could learn a trick or two from me. I promise.”
Rarity smiled, “That’s a fine idea.” She turned to Sparks, “Go with him. When Pinkie and I lead out the second wave, you’ll join us.”
“Yes, Master Rarity.” She turned to follow Haze, who had already dashed to the other side of the room. Suddenly, there was a loud *BOOM!* and the whole room shook violently. Every pony in the room froze. A few seconds later, an EvenTide crystal shot out of the ground. Twilight’s face appeared on it,
“Everypony, grab as much intel as you can, and make your way to the bomb shelter immediately!!”
The entire room burst into chaotic noise, as every pony in the room grabbed as many documents as they possibly could. They flooded and stormed the hallways as they made their way to the bomb shelter. Within a few minutes, they were all standing in front of Twilight. The Unicorn quickly scanned the room,
“The Hell King sent a small army of Hellions here. They got here far sooner than anticipated.” Twilight started. “Everything will be explained later. But for now, I’m going to teleport you all to Base S-13.” She looked over at Applejack, “You’ll go and talk to Sound Warp, and tell her what’s going on.”
Applejack nodded, “Gotcha, girl.”
There was another loud *BOOM!*, and the sound of hissing and galloping followed. Twilight’s horn glowed brightly, “I’ll see you all shortly!!”
The room flashed a bright lavender light. When the light faded, only Twilight, Rarity, Fluttershy, Sparks, and Patch were left in the room. Twilight plopped onto her haunches as her horn sparked and fizzled,
“Everything in the Fallen Room must get teleported. If they get a hold of anything in here, we’ll be in serious danger.” She tapped her horn, “Unfortunately, teleporting over 3000 ponies, and almost nine tons of intel burned out my horn, as I knew it would. I’ll need about 10 minutes for my magic reserves to recover, so you’re going to have to teleport the gear for me.”
Rarity’s horn glowed, “Let’s get this done quickly then.”
There was another flash of light. They appeared in the Fallen Room and started teleporting gear. They only had a few more items to teleport before there was a loud banging on the doors. The steel doors flew off of their hinges, one of the two ton slabs smashing into Sparks. She rolled a few times and slammed into a wall. Rarity was quickly beside her,
“My Gods…Sparks, are you alright?”
Sparks slowly rose to her hooves, “Strangely enough, yes. I guess I don’t feel physical pain anymore.”
“Then you’ll be one of the lucky ones in this room.” A voice spoke out. All eyes focused on it as a tall, dark coated pony rounded the corner. Twilight, Rarity, and Fluttershy all had a look of horror and on their faces. Sparks and Patch looked back forth between them. Twilight took a few steps forward,
“L…Luna?”
The mare stepped forward, “It’s been so long since I’ve heard that name. You know that I don’t go by that name anymore anyway.”
Fluttershy glared at her, “You monster…how in Tartarus are you alive? We watched you die!”
The Alicorn smiled deviously, “Great Dragon Spike has seen me worthy enough to bring me out of that wretched state you all put me in.” She took a couple steps forward, “He wishes for the end of your lives, and I shall do as he asks of me.”
Rarity’s horn glowed bright once more, “You’re not going to beat us.”
A dark aura surrounded Eternal’s horn, “And you think you'll have a chance against me? You walked away from Great Dragon Spike looking like a freak.”
Rarity snarled, and started to charge, but Fluttershy grabbed her,
“Don’t! You know better.” She leaned closer to the white Unicorn, “She’s still an Alicorn, and has the power to kill you...”
“I’ve gotten stronger too.” Rarity whispered back. “I’m the strongest Unicorn we have besides Twilight. Trust me, I think I’ll be fine.”
The room began to tremble as Rarity’s eyes burned with a bright, sapphire blue light. Eternal’s horn crackled even louder.
“Let’s see how long you can fight against my power until I turn you into ash…”
Rarity let out an angry snort and charged. Dust kicked up from where she once stood, as she suddenly appeared in front of a slightly surprised Eternal. She jammed her horn into the meaty portion of Eternal’s shoulder. She fired off a quick beam of magic that pierced clean through her shoulder and blew half of her face off. Eternal’s tongue lolled out of the wound as she staggered back from the blow. Rarity smiled as a small amount of steam radiated off of her horn. Eternal looked up at her, black particles starting to form around her wounds. The air in the room suddenly got frigid, and the lights started to flicker. The lights suddenly went out. Black light aura radiated off of Eternal,
“Youf got some powuh, ah giff yoo dat.” Eternal stated as her maw started to repair itself. ”But ah’ve got da powuh oof da Gweat Dwagon.” She smacked her lips a few times to make sure her face had repaired itself properly, and shot Rarity another look.
“And the power that Great Dragon Spike has bestowed upon me, greatly surpasses yours.”
She stomped her hoof, a surge of magic pulsed through the air, making every pony stagger backwards. Another wave of magic pulsed off of her, and they stumbled to the ground, giving Eternal the opportunity to be in front of Rarity before she had time to react. The dark Alicorn slammed a hoof into Rarity’s muzzle, her jaw snapping out of place almost immediately. Eternal was on top of her again, as Rarity tried to get back up. Fluttershy quickly transformed into her vampiric form, and slammed her body into Eternal’s. Sparks summoned magic into her horn, causing it to crackle and spark with power. Eternal suddenly jumped up and looked at her,
“I can smell it…” she smiled at her, “What power…what dark, foul, power. Great Dragon Spike would love to have you as one of his pawns.”
She started to slowly walk towards her. Fluttershy helped Rarity to her hooves. The Unicorn stared at Eternal with almost dead eyes. Her jaw snapped and cracked as it refitted back properly into her face. She looked over her shoulder at Patch,
“Patch Work…darling, you’re not being of much help right now. Do me a favor and get the girls out of here, will you?”
“Ah’m sorry, Ma’am. Ah’ll do it right away.” Patch replied, as he used his magic to start teleporting the others to safety. Twilight smacked him,
“No you fool, send the rest of the equipment to the base first!”
“Ah’m sorry! Yes Miss Twilight!” Patch stammered out as he began casting teleportation spells all over the room. He was soon done sending the equipment away, and teleported Fluttershy away first. Before Twilight could make a statement, he sent her to the base too. He galloped over to Sparks,
“We gotta get outta here!” his horn started to glow. Sparks fired a small beam at his horn. He let out a snort of pain and anger,
“Dammit, what the hell is yer problem?!”
“I’m not leaving Master Rarity behind!” she replied defiantly. She looked back over at the older Unicorn, whose gaze was locked onto Eternal. Sparks trotted over to stand beside her. Rarity glanced over at her,
“Darling, you should've been gone already.”
“And leave you?” Sparks slightly shook her head, “I’m sorry, but I can’t do that, Master Rarity. It wouldn’t be fair to leave my mentor to fight this monster alone.”
Eternal scoffed, “Monster? Me?” she let out a harsh chuckle, “You think I don’t know what you are? You’re the monster, not me. You shouldn’t even be standing here.”
“And neither should you.” Rarity spat out.
Eternal rolled her eyes, “Enough of this foolishness. It’s time to stop playing games.” She stomped her hoof again, sending off another wave of power. This time, the three Unicorns stood their ground. Rarity looked back at Patch,
“Take your leave to the base, Patch Work. Sparks and I can take care of things from here.”
“A-are ya sure, Miss Rarity?” Patch asked.
Rarity nodded, “Tell the others that we’ll meet up with them as soon as we’re done taking care of our little insect infestation here.”
“Insect? How unique. You know, I thought you would be the most mature pony out of that group. I can see that I was wrong.”
“Fine. Patch, we’re going to get rid of this low-browed, crooked toothed, inbred horse. We’ll meet up with the others at the base when we do.”
Eternal snarled, and charged at the white Unicorn. Patch’s eyes turned green and the room trembled. A tall spire of metal burst from one of the walls, and pierced Eternal’s side. She brayed out in confusion and hurt as her wild eyes turned to see what was causing her pain.
“Ah took care of her! Now please, can ya’ll come with me?”
Rarity chuckled, “Well done.” She started to trot towards Patch, with Sparks in tow. Eternal roared out in anguish as she watched them turn away from her,
“I WILL NOT LET YOU LEAVE THIS ROOM ALIVE!!!!”
The gravity in the room shifted to heavier proportions, causing the three Unicorns to crumple to the ground. They tried numerous, futile attempts to move, as Eternal used her magic to pull the metal out of her body. She lightly dropped to the ground, her smile growing as she slowly walked over to them,
“Oh, how things have fallen back into my favor…” she looked over at Patch, “I’ve got to admit, little one, that metal summoning spell was pretty good. What wasn’t good about it though, is that you pissed me off. And for that…I’m going to have to kill you.”
“NO!!” Rarity screamed. She used all of the strength she could muster up and rose to her hooves.
“I won’t let you harm them! You’re going to have to go through me!!” She stomped, causing the ground beneath her hooves to crumble. She started to walk towards Eternal, each hoof step cracking the ground beneath them.
“You really think that things haven’t changed when over 75 years have passed?! I’m going to show you the power of the Fallen Diva: Fair Rarity!!"
An orb of powerful magic and light formed atop her horn. Her eyes glowed brightly and the room started to tremble once again.
Eternal smiled, “You’re not going to be able to kill me, you fool. My body can regenerate at an incredible pace.”
“Maybe not…after all, you are still an Alicorn…” her head lowered as the orb got bigger, “But I can damn sure injure you badly enough to keep you from hurting them!”
She fired.
The orb slammed into Eternal. She let out a scream of agony as the orb disintegrated her body into ash. The world went bright, and when the light faded, Eternal was gone. Rarity took a deep breath, before collapsing to the ground. Sparks and Patch ran up to her,
“Master, are you okay?”
Rarity rubbed her head, “I’m fine darling. That just took a toll on my horn…” she stood up and brushed her shoulders off. “If either you or Patch Work could teleport us to S-13, that would be absolutely fantastic.”
Sparks quickly nodded, “Yes, Master Rarity. Of course.”
She focused her magic, and quickly teleported herself and the others to S-13.
~MLP~
“Pardon me, First Fallen…but what exactly is down this way, and why do I not have the ability open the door?” a yellow Pegasus mare questioned as the Fallen and their Apprentices stood in front of a large metal door.
“Because you have to have level 10 Alpha security access in order to unlock this gate, Captain Sound Warp. That’s how Rainbow programmed it.” Twilight replied curtly.
“There’s an level 10 place in here, and I have no access to it? How is that supposed to work?” Sound Warp asked in an irritated tone.
“It means that only the Fallen and the Apprentices have access to it, and nopony else. That’s how it works.”
“How are you going to have an area that I don’t have access to in my base?!”
Twilight quickly spun around, lavender irises glowing brightly “What did you just say?"
The air around them grew thick, as Twilight trotted up to Sound Warp, towering over the Pegasus as she stared down at her,
“This is not your base. All bases belong to the Fallen, and we do what we see fit with them. If there is an area that you cannot get into, then it is for a good reason.” She took a step closer to her, and Sound Warp shrank a bit under Twilight's gaze, “You seem to be a bit power hungry just because we have left one of our bases in your care, and it has also made you far too complacent around us. Let me go ahead and remind you that it would do you well to keep your feelings to yourself and give us the proper respect. Have I made myself clear, Captain?"
Sound Warp nodded and backed down, “Yes First Fallen…forgive me…it won’t happen again.”
“As expected…now take your leave. We have business that takes absolute precedence right now.”
The Pegasus took off in the opposite direction, while the others turned their gaze to Twilight.
“Geez, Twiliight…that was harsh, even for you.” Pinkie spoke up.
“I am a leader. I don’t have time to be soft. Soft means weak, and weak means getting trampled on. I don’t need some young filly showing her ass to try and get her way. We are fighters…not foals.” Twilight replied. She turned back to the door and placed her hoof on it. A beam of red light scanned over her,
“Good Evening, Twilight Sparkle." a synthetic female voice greeted. "Access has been granted.”
“Thank you.”
The door clanked and groaned as it slip up into the ceiling. Twilight started a brisk trot, with the rest of the group following her. They came up to another door, to which Dash quickly caught up to Twilight. She whispered something into her ear, Twilight whispered back, and then they both turned back to the group.
“What the hell are ya'll whisperin’ about?” Applejack questioned,
“Before I open this door, there’s something I need to tell you.” Twilight started. “You see, Rainbow and I have been working on a little project down here for about 16 years-”
“And it’s probably going to blow your minds when you see it!” Dash exclaimed.
“What did you guys make?” Pinkie asked.
“Well…I need you to keep calm when you see it. All questions can wait until Rainbow and I explain everything. Okay?”
Every pony eyed one another, then back at the two. They all nodded in agreement.
“Very well then…” she turned and tapped a few buttons on the panel. The door slid up and they all stepped inside. Twilight and Dash stepped to the side to allow the rest of the group in. The Fallen’s eyes all fell on something in the middle of the room. Their looks turn to expressions of shock and horror. Pinkie took a couple steps forward,
“Holy shit…is that-”
Twilight nodded, “As of now, she is Experiment CBS-01…but yes…it’s Celestia.”