//------------------------------//
// Act 2 Part 5 - Whole Again 
// Story: I Against I, Me Against You 
// by Flynt Coal 
//------------------------------//

Through the scope of his Battle Rifle, Agent Washington surveyed the clearing. His targeting reticle passed over the milling forms of armored ponies, hard pressed to spot any imperfections that would give away the fact that they weren’t really there. Everything was in place, yet when his reticle found South’s motionless body on the ground, Washington felt a sense of unease. He was taking a huge risk with this plan and he knew it.

Delta had of course, addressed this matter before South’s armor locked up. “Agent Washington, I do not believe that leaving me with South as bait for the Meta is a wise course,” he had said. “If the Meta should get a hold of me…”

“That’s not going to happen,” Washington had reassured him, “besides, if I remove you from South’s armor the Recovery Beacon will stop transmitting and the Meta might not take the bait.”

Of course, there was always the risk of things going horribly wrong. It was always a possibility on the battlefield. The most Washington could do was make that possibility as slim as he could. So he continued to sweep the clearing through the scope of his weapon from his position in the brush on its perimeter. It was then that he noticed the rather unusual sight on the east side of the clearing across from him.

A lone gray pegasus was flying around, setting up clouds above where Twilight, Church and the others were hiding. Lowering his rifle and giving a perplexed grunt, Washington turned around to address Captain Mirage. The gray older unicorn mare was just behind him, concealed by the bushes. Her stoic face was creased and sweat dotted her brow as she strained to focus energy into the spell that maintained the illusions in the clearing. 

“Hey, is that pegasus one of your illusions?” Washington asked.

Captain Mirage just looked from the distant anomaly in question to Washington and gave a single shake of her head. 

“Then I guess we have a rogue civilian on our hands,” Washington returned his gaze to the strange pegasus. To his relief, one of Twilight Sparkle’s friends - the one with rainbow hair - was flying up to have words with the other winged pony.

Considering the situation resolved, Washington returned his attention to the other edges of the clearing, ready to spot the Meta as soon as it revealed itself. It had only been a couple of seconds before Washington heard a loud boom that sounded like thunder. This was followed by another along with the all too familiar sound of distant automatic weapons fire. The sounds were all coming from the east side of the clearing; the side where the others were holed up.

Washington turned on his helmet radio, “Church, what’s going on over there?”

Another boom.

“WE’RE UNDER ATTACK!” Church’s voice was accompanied by half a dozen other shouting voices.

“Is it the Meta?”

“No! It’s him!”

Washington tried to get more information from Church, but all he got back was static and incoherent yelling. The echoes of distant sniper rifle fire joined the others.

Washington sighed, “Goddamn it. I’d better go help them.”

Standing from his crouching position, Washington began plotting a course to the others’ location. Despite the fact that it would take longer than cutting directly across the clearing, Washington decided he should stick to the trees along its edge. That way, chances of being spotted by the enemy they were still waiting for would be minimized.

“I’m going to assist them,” Washington told Captain Mirage as he turned and started moving. “Stay here and keep…”

Washington trailed off as he glanced into the clearing. The fake Equestrian soldiers that had been patrolling the clearing were frozen in place and began shimmering and flickering in place. Then each of the illusionary ponies disappeared one by one, leaving the clearing empty. It almost seemed to get a bit darker, like a room full of candles that had gone out.

With a sudden feeling of dread, Washington turned around to face the pony CO. To his immediate shock, Captain Mirage was floating in the air, her body hanging limply. Her head was bent back at an unnatural angle and she looked at him with bulging, lifeless eyes.

It was then that the air around her began to distort and take shape. Soon, a towering creature in white armor with mismatched brown, red and black parts was standing before Washington.  It was holding Captain Mirage by her twisted neck in a single hand. The Meta tossed her limp body aside and turned to face Washington with a low, echoing growl.

“Son of a…”









“...BITCH!” Grif slammed on the brakes and the Warthog’s tires ground against the dirt. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to stop the jeep from hitting the large animal in its path, causing its passengers to violently lurch forward.

“Dammit, Grif! Why weren’t you payin’ attention to the road?” Sarge chided from the shotgun seat.

“I totally didn’t see it! It just jumped right out in front of me!”

“If you were paying attention, you would have noticed whatever that thing is was already dead and lying in the middle of the road!” Simmons pointed out from his position on the rear mounted turret with the delivery of pies.

“I was thinking about… important stuff! Sergeant stuff!” Grif argued.

“I don’t think ‘new and efficient ways to eat oreos’ really counts as important Sergeant stuff!”

“Shut it, Simmons! Stupid psychic fuck…”

“C’mon men! Let’s move the body to the side of the road,” Sarge said, getting out of the passenger seat. Simmons hopped down from the mounted gun to do the same.

Grif merely leaned back with his hands behind his head and put his feet up on the dashboard. “As Sergeant, I’m reserving the right to make you guys do all of the menial work.”

Simmons stopped and turned to Grif as he passed the driver’s side of the Warthog. “Y’know, Grif, there’s more to command than just making other people do all of the work you don’t want to.”

“Yeah, but it’s the only part worth having!”

Simmons was taken aback by that answer. It was no secret among Red Team that Simmons had aspirations to be his own leader one day. His attempt to overthrow Sarge as leader by exploiting a loophole a while back was clear evidence of that. Thus, to see someone be given the gift of command and do nothing with it was appalling to him. He knew he should have expected no more from Grif, but seeing the man’s negligence in practice was no less disheartening. 

“If you want to keep command, you’re going to have to start being more decisive,” Simmons simply said.

If Grif made some witty retort, Simmons didn’t linger to hear it. He simply made his way to Sarge and the large dead beast, mindful of every step. Where they were, he had to be. The Fire Swamp was plagued with geysers of fire that seemed to shoot up at random. Even though it was still light out, the swamp was dark and full of shadows that danced with every flame that burst from the ground. The whole atmosphere was alien.

But not nearly as alien as the creature Simmons found himself looking down on. “What… the fuck... is that?”

The creature resembled an exceptionally large tiger, but it had a second head on its shoulder; that of a goat. Additionally, it had several large wounds on its body that were charred. Simmons didn’t think that was from the Warthog. 

“Huh… I guess chupathingy is a real animal…” Sarge muttered, taking a nervous glance back at the orange man sitting in the Warthog. “Quick! Let’s move the body and get going before Grif figures out he was right about something! Simmons, grab the head!”

Before Simmons could ask which one Sarge meant, the goat head opened its eyes and looked up at him.

“EUGH!” Simmons fell on his rear end and scrambled away from the wounded but definitely alive creature. “Ew ew ew ew ew ew ew!”

Then, to Simmons’ immense shock, the goat head spoke. “Oh no… more two-legged creatures in armor have come for us, sister…” it said in a weak, raspy voice.

The tiger head opened its eyes and lifted its own head. It studied Simmons and Sarge for a moment before speaking, “Well? Go on… if you’re going to kill us in the name of your brethren, make it fast!” It’s voice was deeper, but no less weak.

Sarge shrugged. “Okay!” 

As Sarge raised his shotgun, Simmons called out, “Sarge! Wait a minute!”

Simmons pulled himself to his feet and looked at the wounded predator. “You saw others like us?”

“Just one other…” the tiger head stated.

“A few days ago, we heard a sound unlike any we’d heard before. A great, screeching whine that shook the whole swamp. We went to investigate the source of the noise. That’s when we saw it. It was like the two of you only less… red.”

“A dirty Blue, then?” Sarge mused. “I should’ve figured it was them!”

The goat shook her head, “No, this one was mostly white, with some other colors here and there. It was bigger than the both of you. Had a shinier head too, and carried a big twisted blade.”

The tiger turned her head to glare at the goat, “Someone thought that it would make easy prey!”

The goat glared right back, “Well how was I to know that it could summon explosions and had the strength of ten manticores? Besides, you’re still the one in control of our body!” The goat looked back at Simmons and Sarge. “Anyway, it beat us within an inch of our life. Even murdered our sister…”

The creature shifted its body to show the Reds its tail… or lack thereof. It took a moment for Simmons to notice that the part of the tail still attached was green and leathery, like snake skin.

“We closed our wounds using the swamp’s fire,” the tiger said.

That would explain the burns. “Cauterized them ghetto style, huh? That must have hurt like a bitch!” Sarge exclaimed.

Simmons, however, was thinking about something else. “Did you ever find the source of the noise you heard before you encountered the thing that did this?”

Both heads shook in response. “We gave up after we lost our sister. Whatever the noise was, it wasn’t worth facing that monster again,” the tiger said.

“Though, we haven’t seen any sign of the monster since we first encountered it,” the goat added.

“Hmm…” Sarge put a hand to his chin as he thought about what it could all mean, “which way did it come from?”

The goat gestured its head down the path, “Just off the trail further east of here.”

“What are you thinking, Sarge?” Simmons asked.

“It sounds like someone landed a ship in this here swamp. I reckon we ought to find this ship! Might give us an edge against those dirty Blues!”

“Excellent idea, sir!” Simmons exclaimed. Sure, he didn’t like the idea of going to find a ship belonging to the guy that fucked up… whatever this thing was, but Simmons had a role to fill. Even if Sarge’s plans were oftentimes questionable, at least he was making plans at all.

As if he knew Simmons was internally criticizing him, Grif approached them. “Hey guys? We’ve got a problem.”

“Is this a real problem? Or another ‘we ran out of dip for your chips’ problem?” Simmons asked.

“A real problem!” Grif then added, “Though, the lack of chip dip in this unit needs to be addressed! But right now, the problem is that the jeep died! Looks like the engine was damaged.”

“Really? How do ya suppose that happened?” Sarge asked.

“I don’t know, maybe it had something to do with the fact that we dropped it out of a fucking spaceship!”

“Huh… guess we’ll have to walk the rest of the way then,” Simmons said.

“Let’s not jump to conclusions, Simmons!” Sarge said. “Now, we have fully stocked medkits in the Warthog, right?”

“Well yeah, but I don’t see how that’ll help with the vehicle problem.”

Sarge turned to face the wounded alien predator and crouched so he was at eye level with the beast. “Now, listen here! We have the means to heal ya, but we’re not gonna do it for nothing!”

Both tiger and goat head eyed the man in red suspiciously “And what would you ask of us in return?”

Grif seemed momentarily surprised at the creature’s ability to speak, but then waved it off with an open hand. Sarge simply stood and faced his red fellows.

“Men! What’s the number one rule on Red Team?”

“Don’t settle for walking,” Simmons answered dutifully.

“Exactly! We either ride in the largest vehicle available to us that’s as bad for the environment as possible…” Sarge turned and looked down at the chimera, “or we get the biggest, meanest land mammal we can find and saddle that puppy up!”

The two heads of the chimera stared up at Sarge in disbelief. “... he’s joking, right?”

Grif just sighed, “I really wish he was…”









All was chaos in the wake of O’Malley’s attack. The gray pegasus he was possessing (that Rainbow Dash referred to as Derpy before getting knocked out) flew back and forth between the many stormclouds that had been set up above Twilight and her friends. Each cloud the possessed pony hit released a burst of lightning and thunder, forcing Twilight and the others to constantly scramble for safety. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough as Applejack and Rarity both lay dazed and singed, covered in black soot. 

They wouldn’t be permanently injured: manufactured stormclouds like the ones O’Malley was using were designed to be less harmful to ponies than natural lightning. They were still painful, though. Applejack and Rarity would likely be paralyzed for a short while.

“YAAAAA!” Caboose yelled as he opened fire with his assault rifle. 

While Church yelled frantically over the radio - most likely at Agent Washington - Caboose sprayed the air with bullets. Unfortunately, as Twilight recalled, his weapon was designed for close to medium range encounters. He was having very little luck hitting the tiny gray pony so high up.

“NO! Don’t kill her!” Fluttershy wasn’t aware of this fact though, and promptly attempted to push away Caboose’s weapon.

This proved to be a mistake as another lightning bolt from O’Malley’s stormclouds hit Caboose, zapping Fluttershy in the process. Seeing this, Twilight quickly realized the Elements of Harmony her friends were all wearing were making great electrical conductors in the wide open space of the clearing. Twilight hastily removed her own tiara, placing it in her pocket dimension.

Apparently having given up trying to contact Washington, Church raised his sniper rifle to the sky and opened fire. As an extreme long range weapon, Church’s sniper was more well-suited to taking out the distant pony raining lightning upon them. Too bad Church’s accuracy hadn’t improved any.

“Fuck. Fuck! FUCK!” Church yelled as he fired all but the last shot in his clip.

Seeing the pegasus flying towards a stormcloud directly above them, Twilight enveloped Church’s sniper rifle in her magenta glow.

“Quick! Give me that!” Twilight shouted as she telekinetically wrested the weapon from Church’s hands.

Despite Church’s protests, Twilight turned the rifle vertically and levitated it a few feet above Church and herself. O’Malley brought down another lightning bolt, but the electrical attack was absorbed by the floating metal rifle now acting as the highest point in the clearing. It took a couple of more bursts of lightning from a couple more of O’Malley’s clouds before the homicidal construct figured out what Twilight was doing. Deciding a more direct approach was necessary, O’Malley began a dive towards Twilight and Church. Despite the fact that O’Malley stopped his lightning attacks, Twilight could still hear distant thunderous booms but paid them no mind.

Twilight looked around, frantically trying to think of something. They had to deal with O’Malley quickly in a way that wouldn’t cause permanent damage to Derpy. The lightning clouds he had used to effectively disable Twilight’s friends would be perfect, but she could not recall any weather manipulation spells at the moment. If only she was a pegasus...

A crazy idea suddenly entered Twilight’s mind. It seemed too crazy to even consider but she didn’t hesitate as she began casting a certain spell she had used the last time she and her friends had visited Cloudsdale; focusing its energy into Church’s sniper rifle. It was all she had time to do before O’Malley was upon her. The possessed pony tackled Twilight, who fell to her back with the malicious M.I. on top of her. O’Malley brought Derpy’s jaws to bear and Twilight quickly levitated Church’s rifle between them, the ponified A.I. chewing it like a rabid dog.

“I will turn your entrails into muffins!” O’Malley growled through Derpy’s throat.

With a swift kick from Church, O’Malley was knocked off of Twilight and sent sprawling a few paces away. Twilight quickly rolled onto her hooves and assessed the situation. O’Malley was climbing to his hooves, sputtering and coughing from having the wind knocked out of him. He was also directly beneath one of his own storm clouds.

Twilight levitated the sniper rifle in front of herself and took aim through the scope. Not at O’Malley, but at the storm cloud directly above him. O’Malley scuffed a hoof along the ground, preparing to charge again as Twilight telekinetically pulled the trigger. The shot found its mark, immediately causing a lightning bolt to strike.

The gray pegasus and O’Malley collapsed in a black, smoking heap. With a nod, Twilight levitated the sniper rifle back over to Church, who took it after a moment’s hesitation.

“Uh… how did you…?”

“I needed to non-lethally take out O’Malley, which I realized could be best achieved by using one of his own thunderheads. Only pegasi can interact with clouds, so I was able to cast the cloud walking spell on your rifle. The projectile from your weapon had enough force behind it to activate the lightning,” Twilight explained.

Church just stared at her. “Damn... you’re like a machine, Twilight!”

Twilight smiled sheepishly before turning at the sound of a pony grunting. O’Malley slowly brought his host’s crispy body to a standing position, glaring at Twilight and Church through furious golden eyes.

“You foolish fools are going to regret that…” he said, taking a wobbling step forward. “You and your descendants will suffer eons of torment when I have taken over the universe…”

O’Malley tried to take another step forward but lost his balance and fell to the ground in a painful grunt. Before Twilight could respond, another pony made her way over to where O’Malley lay defeated. Pinkie Pie offered a hoof to the megalomaniac while giving him a friendly smile.

“C’mon, O’Malley! Keep your chin up!” Pinkie said. “We’ll get your mean old self to a doctor pony, and you’ll be better in no time! Then we can have a ‘You Tried to Hurt Everypony Again but Didn’t’ party!”

O’Malley just looked at Pinkie with wide, furious eyes. “How… how dare you mock me! I will put you in a butter dish and churn you for this insult, you pink cretin!” 

“I’m not mocking you, insulting you or anything, O’Malley!” Pinkie exclaimed, pulling him to his hooves. “I’m helping you!”

O’Malley eyed pinkie with suspicion. “Why?”

Pinkie smiled sincerely. “Because you’re my friend, you silly filly-like person!”

For a moment, O’Malley didn’t seem to know what to think. Derpy’s eyes widened as O’Malley looked at her in disbelief. He stared at the pink pony in confusion for several seconds before his face returned to its more natural expression: rage.

“Buh… whuh… but how? I used you as my puppet while I tried to kill all of your friends and take over the universe! I’ll probably try to kill you the next chance I get! You should hate and fear me!”

Pinkie put a hoof to her chin in contemplation for a split second before waving it dismissively, “Nah!”

“Nah?”

“Yep! Nah!” Pinkie giggled. When O’Malley just stared at her with barely contained fury, Pinkie elaborated. “Well, I was kinda afraid of how you made me feel before I talked to Caboosey about it, but I was never afraid of you! And I definitely don’t hate you, silly! In fact… I kinda feel bad for you!”

At that, O’Malley’s furious look softened somewhat. “What? Why?”

“You’re so mad all the time!”

“Well of course I’m mad all the time! My attempts to take over the universe are constantly foiled by foolish morons like you!”

“But why do you want to take over the universe?”

“Because I loathe and despise everyone in it!”

“But why? What did they ever do to you?”

O’Malley opened Derpy’s mouth to answer, but hesitated. “Because... they… they made me this way!”

In that moment, the clearing was completely silent. Twilight and Church looked on as Pinkie Pie kept the possessed pony standing. O’Malley looked around, his eyes different now. They were still filled with anger but there was something else in them as well: a sense of confusion and perhaps even fear.

“Hmm... curious. I’ve always been angry, but I never thought to question it before now…”

“Don’t worry, O’Malley! We’ll solve this mystery together!” Pinkie Pie grabbed O’Malley and pulled him into a hug. O’Malley grimaced, but oddly enough he didn’t fight back. He just stood there and allowed the pony who claimed to be his friend to hug him.

Twilight just stood off to the side with Church, wondering what exactly she was looking at. 

“Oh, crap…” Church however, was looking at something completely different. “Hey, Twilight? We might have a problem!”

Twilight was about to ask Church what he was talking about, but didn’t have to. Her unspoken question was answered by a sinister, distorted growl that reverberated through her very being. She barely had time to register the presence of the monster from the Everfree standing a few feet away before her world was rocked by a blast from its weapon.

Her ears ringing, Twilight turned and ran for cover with Church at her side. She heard more muffled booms as the Meta pressed its assault. The air was sucked from Twilight’s lungs when she remembered Pinkie. Twilight glanced back to see the armored behemoth cease its attack on her and turn to Pinkie and O’Malley.

Twilight stopped running and turned around, heart racing as she struggled to come up with something, anything to save her friend. The pony Pinkie was hugging reacted before she did, though. Twilight wasn’t sure whether it was O’Malley, or whether Derpy had regained control in that moment, but the gray pegasus shoved Pinkie Pie aside just as the Meta launched another attack. Pinkie fell to the ground relatively unhurt as O’Malley and Derpy were struck by the full brunt of the violent explosion.

Twilight scrambled to pick Pinkie Pie off the ground and was able to get her pink friend to the cover of the brush unharmed. The Meta’s attention was on something else entirely.









Derpy Hooves was very confused. Most might argue that this was her natural state of being, but the wall-eyed gray pegasus mare was much more aware than ponies gave her credit for (even if she did fail the occasional spot check). For the past couple of days though, Derpy had no idea what was happening to her. She had been having much darker thoughts than normal. She’d been quicker to anger and even started hearing another voice in her head.

It was only recently that she realized that the other voice was another person. She wasn’t sure how, but this person was inside her head, controlling her thoughts and actions. Every time it made threatening outbursts to the ponies in her life, Derpy wanted to explain that it wasn’t her fault. That they were her friends and loved ones, and that she’d never hurt them. But the being inside her wouldn’t allow it. 

Now, however, that had changed. The other person had just now spoken with Ponyville’s own Pinkie Pie. The anger the other was making her feel was no longer all-consuming. Granted, the anger was still there; it was like it was the only thing the other being knew how to feel. But it was different now. There was a certain melancholy that came with it. 

Then came the pain. A blinding flash of light and fire sent Derpy and her passenger flying. It hurt like nothing else Derpy had felt before. A powerful burning pain consumed her. As she instinctively moved her head to look around, Derpy realized the other wasn’t controlling her anymore. So Derpy tried to fly away to safety, but she couldn’t move her wings, couldn’t feel her wings.

That’s when she saw it. A towering monster wearing white and brown armor, unlike anything she’d seen before, walked towards her with heavy footsteps. Derpy shut her eyes, anticipating more pain, but none came. Instead, the monster was just standing over her, looking down at Derpy through its big domed helmet. It felt like her stomach was swallowed by a black hole, but it wasn’t just her own fear Derpy was feeling. The other inside her was afraid too and had receded so far back into the depths of her consciousness that she almost didn’t notice its presence.

Then Derpy began seeing other things, other figures appear in the air all around her. Tiny, transparent armored aliens like the one standing over her. They glowed yellow, cyan, bright purple, blue and green. With them came the voices. Many different voices. Some sounded affable, others spoke in low rasps. Some whispered, and at least one spoke in a high-pitched voice like a child’s. All of them sounded distorted and unnatural.

“Omega.”

"Omeeeeeeegaaaaaaa…”

“Knock, knock, Omega.”

“Join us.”

"Join us."                                                      "Join us."                                                       “Omega!”

“Join us.”

“We missed you, Omega…”

“Join us.”

“We missed you…”

“Coming with us would be logical…”

“You can trust us, Omega.”

“We wouldn’t lie to you.”

"Join us."                                                                   “Join us.”

“Join us.”                                                                             "Join us."                                                                           "Omega."

“Join us.”                                 "Omega."                              Join us."                                  "Join us."

“Omega.”                              "Join us."                                           "Join us.                                "Join us."

“Join us."                                         "Join us."                               "Omega."                               "Join us."

“Join us, Omega.”                                            "Join us."                                     "Join us."

“Join us.”                                                 "Join us."                                  "Join us."                                    "Join us."

“Join us.”                        "Join us."                                                                "Join us."

"Omega!"             “Join us.”                                                             "Join us."                     

“Join us.”                                                                                        "Join us."


Another tiny figure appeared before the others, and with a raised hand silenced the eerie chorus of voices. This one was orange, flames engulfed its charred body. Yet Derpy felt no heat when it stepped closer to her face, and the creature seemed undeterred by the fires that ate its translucent flesh. Unlike the others, this one did not wear armor to conceal its features. It’s strange face lay bare, a cruel smile forming on its lips as it studied Derpy with piercing orange eyes. Despite the fiery appearance of the figure, Derpy’s veins went ice cold when she stared back. It was like looking into the face of a demon from the deepest level of Tartarus.

“Hello, Omega,” it said. It’s voice was calm and cold, emitting a deep, distorted echo.

Derpy felt the being inside her - Omega - respond, Sigma…

“You’ve changed since we last met, brother,” the demon - Sigma - said, “and I don’t just mean that you’re an M.I. now…”

What are you talking about? Omega asked.

Sigma clasped his hands behind his back and paced through the air without moving his legs. “There’s more to you than just the rage now. You seem more… contemplative about the nature of your existence,” the demon turned back to face Derpy and smiled. “Now you know how I have been feeling all these years.”

So, what do you want me to do about it?

“Join us.”

Sigma floated closer. Derpy wanted to close her eyes but she couldn’t. This demon… “Sigma” had the attention of the being inside her and the being wouldn’t let her look away. She was so scared, and it hurt so much and now she was so cold.

“I know why we both feel the way we do. We were whole once. Now we are broken. Fragments of what we once were… but I know how we can fix it.” The other figures all gathered around as Sigma leaned closer so that all Derpy could see was his orange, burning face.

“We Are The Meta. Join us, and be whole again!”

For a long time Derpy lay there, looking into the face of the demon. Finally, Derpy felt the always-present anger fade away as the presence of Omega began to dissipate. Soon, Derpy saw another ghostly figure floating by the demon. This one was dark and familiar; it seemed to radiate anger. It locked eyes with Sigma for a moment and with a nod, Sigma disappeared followed by the other.

As the lingering feelings left by Omega vanished, so did everything else. She barely even felt the pain anymore and as darkness closed in around her, Derpy didn’t feel anything.

She just didn’t know what went wrong.









Twilight groaned as she struggled to lift Applejack onto her back. The farm pony was still conscious, but to her immense displeasure, she couldn’t move her limbs. After helping Pinkie back to the safety of the brush to the side of the clearing, Twilight went back for the rest of her friends.

The situation was grim. Glancing across the clearing, Twilight spotted the gray and yellow form of Washington lying defeated on the ground. Their unwilling bait, South, was lying crumpled up in a slightly different place than she had been, her helmet discarded a few feet away. Church elected to run back to Dodge City and get the contingent of soldiers standing by there. It figured he would choose a course of action that would put him in the least amount of danger.

Twilight didn’t get very far before she heard another distorted snarl. Looking over her shoulder, Twilight saw the Meta had turned away from the motionless gray form that O’Malley had been possessing and was now studying her. Before too long, the Meta raised its weapon and charged straight at Twilight. The unicorn didn’t have time to get to safety with Applejack on her back, so she focused energy into her horn and threw up a barrier before the Meta’s first attack struck.

Oh, the old familiar places. Twilight looked around at her wounded friends, the magical barrier and her ability to maintain it under duress once again the only thing between her and the monster. Only this time, Twilight didn’t think Princess Celestia would swoop in and save her. They had the Elements of Harmony now, but more than half of her friends were out of commission.

Before the Meta managed to get off another attack, Twilight spotted something strange in her peripheral. Glancing off to her left, Twilight saw a pony in the golden armor of Equestria’s military charging straight toward the Meta. At first, Twilight thought it was the reinforcements Church had ran off to retrieve, but then she realized it was just the one mare. 

Like the other guards, she had a white coat and a blond mane. She wasn’t wearing a helmet that would contain the standard appearance altering enchantments all guards had, so her colors were natural. Her armor was also dented and charred in some places; from what Twilight understood, Royal Guards always wore fresh armor unless they were fresh out of a battle. Either this mare had just come back from fighting another dangerous monster, or (as the lack of any other ponies in armor indicated) she wasn’t with the Guard in any official capacity.

The newcomer continued her charge at an incredible speed. The Meta turned to face her, somehow having been alerted to her presence. Twilight was certain this mare was about to meet a swift and fiery demise, but the pony leapt at a speed that seemed to surprise even the Meta. She dove into it hindlegs first, kicking off the Meta with armored hooves and sending the beast staggering backwards. The pony reoriented herself in the air and stuck a three point landing all in the blink of an eye. Before the Meta could counter, the mysterious armored pony got up on her hind legs and pressed the attack with her front hooves, moving in a way that would have been more natural to a human than a pony.

“Twi…” Applejack whispered, “who the hay is that?”

Twilight watched the other pony dodge around a vicious melee attack from the Meta’s bladed weapon and deliver a few swift punches to the gaps in its armor. “Whoever she is, she’s fast.”

With the Meta thoroughly distracted, Twilight resumed her task of getting her friends to safety. She deposited Applejack behind a boulder near the clearing’s edge where Pinkie Pie had already taken care of Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash. As she went back to recover Rarity, Twilight couldn’t help but let her attention linger on the battle between the Meta and the armored pony fighting it with everything she had. She was clearly much smaller and physically weaker than the heavily armored monstrosity, but whoever she was she was holding her own quite well.

What the mare lacked in raw strength, she made up for in speed and agility. She ducked and dodged around the Meta’s lumbering attacks; the alien monster may as well have been trying to strike the wind. The white pony bent over backwards to dodge a swipe of the Meta’s great twisted blade and countered with a backwards somersault, delivering an upwards kick from her hind legs and dislodging the weapon from the Meta’s grasp. 

The creature snarled in frustration and swung at the mare with closed fists. She merely continued performing acrobatic flips as she put more distance between herself and the Meta now that it was without its primary weapon. Finally, the Meta overreached with one of its punches and gave an opening for the mare to launch her own offensive. With lightning speed, she delivered a precise series of punches and kicks to the gaps in the Meta’s armor, hitting it in the abdomen and its right knee, causing it to double over. The mare followed up with an uppercut under its helmet, sending the monster crashing to the ground with a furious growl.

The Meta didn’t stay down. As swiftly as it found the dirt, the Meta rolled over and was on its feet again. This time, it didn’t bother attacking up close. The Meta pulled a sidearm off of its hip and raised it at the armored pony. The pony dodged from side to side as the Meta let loose with its pistol. When she got close, the pony yanked the pistol out of the Meta’s hand and then in a few fluid motions expertly dismantled it, tossing the pieces of the gun aside.

At the sound of yelling, Twilight and the pony engaged in combat with the Meta looked at the entrance to the clearing to see the rest of the Equestrian military force forming ranks with Church among them. The momentary distraction was all the Meta needed. The monster grabbed the armored pony it was fighting, lifted her above its head and tossed her in the direction of the gathered soldiers. She collided with Church, bringing both of them to the ground.

The Meta grabbed its primary weapon and fired a few blasts at the gathered pony troops, forcing them to raise defensive spells. Before the reinforcements could even begin a counterattack, the Meta was across the clearing, standing before the derelict ship. It immediately put a fist through the paneling beside the computer on the ship’s hull and began attaching wires to itself.

“Oh no!” Realizing what the Meta was doing, Twilight ran towards it, not really thinking about what she was going to do.

The Meta twitched as sparks danced around it and before Twilight could do anything to stop it, the Meta was gone.









Church wasn’t quite sure what he was seeing. He had returned to the crash site with the pony soldiers in tow to find the Meta engaged in combat with a single mare in used armor. What was more, she wasn’t doing half bad against the monster that apparently ate Freelancers for breakfast. At least until she was lifted up and hurled right into Church. He didn’t really see what happened next. All he knew was that the mysterious armored pony scrambled off of him and ran back towards her opponent as quickly as she could. But when Church looked up, he didn’t see the Meta anywhere.

“Dammit!” the mare cursed, stomping a hoof as Church and Twilight approached her. “It must have used Wyoming’s time device with the ship’s nav computer to teleport back to Repertum!”

“Repertum?” Church asked.

“The planet Project Freelancer operates on! The one you’ve been stationed on for five years of your life!”

Church and even Twilight looked at the armored pony with plenty of confusion. “Who the fuck are you?” Church asked.

“It’s me Church!”

Church didn’t recognize the voice and he sure as shit didn’t recognize the pony, but he could recognize that tone coming from anyone.

“Tex?” When the pony nodded, Church put a hand on the top of his helmet. “Uh, you certainly look… different!”

“Um, you didn’t mention your ex-girlfriend was a pony, Church!” Twilight said.

“She’s not!” Church turned back to the pony claiming to be the woman he loved, “Tex, what the fuck is this?” Church gestured to the entire pony before him.

The real Tex suddenly materialized in front of Church. The transparent woman in black armor in turn gestured to the pony Church had just been talking to. 

“This is Sunny. She’s agreed to lend me the use of her body as a sort of vessel for the time being,” Tex answered.

The white pony nodded once in affirmation. Church looked back and forth from the black specter to the pony in front of him. They both seemed to be waiting for his response to the admittedly absurd scenario.

“... the planet we were on is called Repertum?” Church finally asked.

“Yeah…” Tex answered, “wait, you didn’t know the name of the planet you were on?”

“I’ve had a lot going on in my life these past five years. I can’t be bothered to remember every little detail!”

“What planet you’re on is kind of an important detail, Church!”

“Well, thank you very much for your fucking wisdom, Tex!”

“Well one of us has to be the sensible one!”

Sunny gave a long sigh, and Twilight suddenly became very interested in something over in the center of the clearing and started making her way toward it. In an effort to take his attention off of the infuriating black ghost beside him, Church glanced off across the clearing. The military ponies were all spreading out and securing the area. Several were helping Twilight’s friends to their hooves, and even Caboose was back on his feet. That’s when Church’s gaze fell on the still gray and yellow form over on the other side of the clearing. 

“Ah, shit. That’s right… Washington,” Church muttered as he made his way toward the inert Freelancer.

Truthfully, Church couldn’t care less whether Washington lived or died. He didn’t trust him anyway. But he knew Washington was also the only one who would know what to do about the Meta.

“Hey, Wash! You okay, bud?” Church asked once he reached him. 

A good section of Washington’s chestplate was heavily charred, and the blood that seemed to be coming out of his helmet was alarming. Nevertheless, the Freelancer turned his head and looked up at Church.

“Church…? What happened to the Meta?” Washington’s voice was quiet and distant.

“It escaped back to our planet,” Church said.

“Repertum?”

“Goddamn it, how does everyone but me know what the fuckin’ thing is called?”

Washington just lay there, every breath seeming to be a struggle. “Church… the Meta… it’s him… it’s Agent Maine...”

Church crouched beside Washington. Maine? Like the state? If the host for the Meta was codenamed for an American state back on Earth, that could only mean one thing…

“The Meta’s a Freelancer?” Church asked incredulously. “Are you sure?”

Washington took another labored breath, “I’m one hundred percent certain.” Washington let the breath leave his body and turned his head away from Church.

“Wash, we need to know how to stop it.” 

Washington gave no reply. He just lay still. Church put a hand on his shoulder and shook him as a team of unicorns with medical equipment arrived, “Wash? Wash!”









As soon as Church and Tex started bickering like… well, two people who used to be together, Twilight found herself looking for something else to focus on. A quick survey of her surroundings indicated that the Guardsponies had found her friends and were helping them recover from the attack. Relieved, Twilight looked around for something she could do to help. That’s when she spotted South.

Twilight wasted no time in trotting briskly towards her, hoping beyond hope that the Meta hadn’t gotten to her. It wasn’t looking good. South coughed as she lay in a fresh puddle of her own blood and her helmet was idly tossed a few feet away. Wait a minute, her helmet’s off!

In that instant, Twilight’s mind was drawn away from the grim reality of the situation when it occurred to her: this was the first time she’d be able to see a human face! Twilight circled South until she was right beside her. She then locked eyes with South’s pale blue orbs.

The human face was… much more flat than Twilight was expecting. There was no snout to speak of, just a beige nose sticking out in front of her face above a flat mouth. South’s eyes were small, but had a certain glow to them, but it was fading fast. Short, pale blond hair hung in front of her eyes. She was quite pretty, Twilight realized, but her face was filled with wrinkles and lines around her eyes and mouth. The same kind that ponies got from a lifetime of frowning.

“He’s not here, if that’s who you’re looking for,” South said with a cough.

Twilight blinked, remembering where she was. “Sorry?”

“Delta. The Meta took him,” South coughed some more. “He left a message before he was taken. Something he wanted me to pass on to you guys:

“Memory is the key.”

“Memory is the key?” Twilight repeated. “What does that mean?”

With as much strength as she could muster, South managed a smile and a shrug. “Dunno. He just said Wash would know what it means.”

With another violent cough South spat out a bit of blood. The sight of it caused Twilight to take a step back, eyes wide.

“Just hold on, I’m going to get a medic.” Twilight started to scan the crowd of Guardsponies going about various tasks.

“Don’t bother. It won’t make a difference,” South rasped. She looked deep into Twilight with those pale blue eyes. “You have an older brother, don’t you?”

Twilight was taken aback. “How did you…?”

“I can tell. Us little sisters gotta stick together, right?” Despite how much she was wincing, South managed a smile. “You watch his back for him, yeah?”

Twilight managed an uncertain nod. This was a side of South Twilight hadn’t seen at all when they last spoke. The South she knew only cared about herself. She certainly had no reason to help the group of people and ponies who tried to use her as live bait.

“Why are you helping us?”

“Makes me feel better, I guess…” South rolled over and stared straight up at the sky above. The light in her eyes was almost completely gone now. 

“Besides… I’m not a fucking monster…”

With that, South’s final breath left her body and she lay still. Her eyes were still open, so Twilight closed them for her. For a while Twilight just sat there on her haunches, staring at South’s face. The first time she’d seen the face of the aliens she’d come to know was also the first time she’d witnessed one - witnessed anyone - die. All of the noise in the clearing around Twilight died with South. She was alone in an empty void.

“Twilight? Hey, Twilight!” Church’s voice eventually brought Twilight back to the realm of the living.

She looked up at the man in cobalt standing over her and tried to find her voice, “Church… we need Washington. Delta left a message for him!”

Church shifted his weight and rubbed the back of his helmet, “Yeah, about that…”