Helen stared in frustration at the latest financial and ratings report from Fort Bumfuck. Numbers and profits were starting to drop as Fluttershy had approached maturity. Engineer's blunt handling of Fluttershy's 'Cutie Mark' - and his knowing what it was - had apparently broken some suspension of disbelief amongst viewers, causing the show to lose popularity. People still loved watching Fluttershy interact with the mercs, but they were apparently content to wait until an episode showed up in a rerun, rather than religiously watching each episode as it came out like they had at the beginning.
Of course, Helen had tried to liven it up by sending in more assaults on the fortress targeting Fluttershy, even if kidnapping at this point was infeasible and would lack emotional impact. With how often and easily Fluttershy had thwarted her plans, it had come close to becoming personal. However, BLU team now flat out refused to take any assignment regarding Fort Bumfuck: they were apparently terrified of Fluttershy and Chompy. She had also tried sending in more teams of constructs and machine mercs, but that had proved ineffective. Fluttershy had thrown a refrigerator magnet at one, which had cause it to short out when it stuck to the head. Engineer had discovered from that the effects magnetic force had on the machine mercs electronics, and had designed EM ammunition for the entire team, including an EM bomb for Demoman, the end result meaning that machine mercs were worse than useless in targeting the Fortress...especially since even the vultures would warn Fluttershy of any approaching threat. And constructs alone - even a full team of them - simply weren't fiscally feasible, considering how easily the mercs tore through them and the fact they couldn't respawn.
And if that weren't bad enough, Saxton Hale had become smitten, if you could call it that, with Fluttershy. His entire office was now decorated with every bit of Fluttershy merchandise Mann Co had made for the show, and he did watch every episode religiously on time, even going so far as to order the development of a TV screen and receiver small enough to fit on a glasses lens so he could watch it while he was out of the building fighting someone, and he always wore a pin of Fluttershy's Cutie Mark on his breast pocket. He automatically approved any request from Fort Bumfuck, doubling anything Fluttershy herself ordered. While Mann Co was in no danger of bankruptcy any time soon, Hale's infatuation was seriously cutting into the company's profit margins.
If only there was something, anything she could use to handle that blasted Pegasus...
Her eyes swung up as a flash of light became visible on one of the security cameras. As the light faded, she stared at the nine individuals who appeared on the screen. Five were obviously ponies like Fluttershy, while two more could possibly be the same type of entity, only much bigger. One was a small purple and green lizard thing. And the last...Helen wasn't sure how to describe the last beyond 'what would happen if Medic played Dr. Frankenstein'.
The smaller ponies included a white unicorn, a blue Pegasus, a very pink pony with neither horn nor wings, an orange pony also so lacking, and a purple pony with wings and horn. The larger ponies also had both horn and wings. The smaller was a dark blue, while the largest was pristine white. She started to reach for her console to send security, but then the figures began to speak.
"Are you sure this is the right dimenshawhatsit, Discord?" the orange pony asked. "It looks kinda scary."
"I'm sure this is the right place, Applejack," the amalgam creature - presumably Discord - replied. "This is where we'll find Fluttershy."
"Well, where is she, then?" the blue Pegasus demanded, tossing her rainbow colored mane.
"No idea, Rainbow Dash," Discord replied. Helen couldn't help but groan at the name.
"Then why'd you bring us here?" the pink pony demanded.
"Because, Pinkie Pie, the chaotic nature of this dimension is incredibly strong, and this was the only location anywhere on this planet stable enough to open a portal to," Discord sighed. "As is, I don't dare risk expending any more chaos magic outside my body in this world, aside from opening the portal home once we find her. Otherwise, I risk completely eradicating the stability of this world's dimensional fabric and warping it into the shape of a donut...or possibly a cactus."
The purple pony glowered up at him. "You sure you didn't make a mistake?"
He glowered back. "It's about Fluttershy, Twilight Sparkle. I wouldn't make a mistake with the safety of my first friend. Like, say, testing a newly developed dimensional viewing spell in a dusty basement while she was dusting?" The purple pony - Twilight, presumably - looked away, her head down and blushing.
"That's enough," the large white pony spoke up. "For now, we need to investigate our surroundings and figure out where we are and where we can find Fluttershy."
"Right you are, Celestia," Discord said. "No more lollygagging."
"Luna," Celestia addressed the dark blue larger pony, "you're better at such investigations than I. How should we begin?"
Luna glanced around. "I believe we should start by following the mechanical bipedal automaton dressed like a butler over there," she said, pointing to the side of the screen. "It appears to be demonstrating a miotaur style welcoming bow, which I would presume is common to all bipeds."
Helen smiled as she watched them head off screen. Her negotiations with Grey Mann had resulted in an alliance with her long term goals in mind, and having someone working with her who followed her same conspiratorial thought processes was a pleasant novelty...not that she trusted him for a moment.
She swiveled her chair to face the door as it opened, the robot butler leading the way. "Your guests, Miss," it said politely, bowing as it left.
Helen smiled coldly. "Welcome, strangers. How can I assist you? I understand you are looking for a friend of yours?"
Twilight nodded. "Yes, we are. Can you help us?"
Helen thought for a time, deciding it was time to gather some intel. "How long ago did she go missing?"
"Two months," Discord supplied. "It took a long time to sort through all possible dimensions to locate this one."
Helen frowned thoughtfully. There was obviously more to Fluttershy's arrival than there seemed, as it had apparently included reverse aging and time dilation, if two months equaled 16 years. "You wouldn't happen to be looking for a yellow Pegasus with a pink mane and tail and blue eyes?"
"You've seen her?" Rainbow Dash shouted, flying up to her. "Where is she? Please tell us!"
Helen held up a hand. "Calm down," she said coldly. "Retrieving her won't be as simple as you think."
"What do you mean?" the white unicorn asked. "Surely we can just locate her, teleport to her, and then open the portal home?"
"When has anything thou and thy companions done been that simple, Rarity?" Luna pointed out.
"And why are you so happy, Spike?" Celestia asked in confusion.
"Are you kidding?" the lizard creature replied. "For the first time since moving to Ponyville, Twilight and the others are going on an adventure, and I get to go along! This is so exciting and awesome!"
"But what about Fluttershy?" Applejack asked incredulously. "How can you be so blasé about the danger she could be in?"
"Because it's us!" Spike pointed out. "Seriously, between the eight of us, there's probably nothing in this world we can't handle."
"I wouldn't be so sure," Helen pointed out. "You see, those Fluttershy is with are...unlikely to be willing to let her go."
"They're holding her against her will?" Rarity asked, shocked.
"She no longer believes so," Helen replied, putting extra emphasis on her words to let them interpret what they would. "And given that those she is with are on the far side of psychologically sound, who knows what unspeakable things she's witnessed or experienced under their care." Like her pet Chain Chomp's tongue, she added silently, suppressing a shudder.
Discord growled deep in his throat. "And I'm going to be helpless since I don't dare risk my Chaos! Have you got anything we can use to help us fight them?"
As Helen turned towards where Grey Mann was sitting, she was surprised to see he had already prepared what she wanted. While he couldn't come up with plans at her level on his own, he had gotten quite good at anticipating the next stage of each plan once it was unfolding. She gestured to the device he presented. "The ones holding her are the sort to shoot first, ask questions later. As you are unfamiliar with most of the armaments of our world, it's entirely possible - even likely - that one or more of you will die in the assault. So I suggest you take this with you."
"What is it?" Applejack asked nervously.
"It's a portable respawner," Helen explained. "Set it up a safe distance from their Fortress and place a drop of blood from each of you in a petri dish, one dish to each of you. Should you be killed within range of the device - a half mile radius - it will resurrect you. So long as only one of you dies at a time, you won't even experience a time delay."
She wasn't going to explain the additional device in the center of the disc. It was a data recorder. As long as even one of them was respawned, she could later retrieve it and would have a full biological profile of these creatures, all the way down to an analysis of their genetic code and energy generation properties.
Twilight gasped. "Wow! That's amazing!" Seeing the looks on the faces of the two taller ponies, she sighed. "I promise I won't take it apart to try and figure out how it works," she whimpered disconsolately.
Great, Helen thought silently. A pony version of Engineer. She called up a holographic image of the planet. A light illuminated on it. "This is where we are right now." Another light appeared on the same continent, closer to the center. "That is where Fluttershy is. Can you find your way there?"
Pinkie Pie nodded vigorously. "I know the way!" she said happily.
Luna glanced at her. "How?"
"Pinkie Sense!" she said happily. "Besides, I've played this game before!" With that, she pricked her hoof to let a drop of blood fall into a petri dish on the portable respawner, and then dashed out the door.
The other other-worlders glanced at each other, shrugged their shoulders, and followed her out. Luna was the last to say something. "I do not fully trust that human..."
Helen leaned back in her chair and smiled. For once, everything was going to go according to plan.
Fluttershy carefully paced the outer walls of the Fortress, checking all the defensive turrets she had set up and where she had prepared her other combat equipment. Turning towards the sun, she took a deep breath and let it out. She then looked at her own reflection, just to make sure she was ready.
Her pink mane was carefully groomed out straight, tied in a ponytail behind her head so it wouldn't get in her eyes during battle. She had recently dyed a single red streak in it, and it proved a nice contrast. Her red uniform vest-jacket was recently cleaned, and her Cutie Mark pin shone from a recent polishing. Strapped to her back were her primary melee weapons: pan, butterfly bandolier, and tee ball bat. On her right foreleg just below her shoulder was one of her new tattoos. A large red heart was emblazoned in front of a lineup of her family's signature weapons - medigun, flamethrower, rocket launcher, bomb launcher, mini-gun, wrench, baseball bat, dagger, and rifle - with a scroll across the front. Written on the scroll was "Daddy's Girl". In the same place on her left foreleg was her other tattoo, a stylized explosion with a scroll proclaiming "Flawless", to indicate her flawless combat record.
She was rather proud of the fact that - outside of when her family had used paint ball guns and squirt guns to teach her dodging - she had never been hit in combat, which was why she had a tattoo proclaiming it. Truth to tell, though, she was a bit prouder of the events that led to her getting her Cutie Mark.
She had enjoyed the practice combats that Daddy Sir had set up, but she'd wondered what it would be like to dictate a battle. So, gathering the paint ball guns and squirt guns, she had called a few of her animal friends together and instructed them in their use before setting up a mock battle. Using the squirt guns as mediguns to wash off the paint injuries, she was able to direct the entire battle to a quite enjoyable conclusion. She had been having a great deal of fun and was quite proud of herself...until her butt had glowed and the 'weird mark' had appeared. That had freaked her out, and she only learned later that it was normal and something to be proud of.
Today was her first turn as lone sentry on the walls. Her Daddies, Mommy, and Big Brother had decided she was ready for the responsibility, and she was determined to do them proud. So, when her animal friends had told her that a strange group was approaching armed with a portable respawner, she hadn't announced it through the communicator. She had instead set all this up, ready to defend the fortress all on her own. Besides, if she did get over her head, she could always call her Daddies, Mommy, and Big Brother then...or Chompy.
Picking up her sniper rifle, she sighted in the direction she knew the enemy was approaching from, gripping the butt and barrel with a hoof each, holding the trigger with her wing. As soon as she saw the respawner set up, she would choose her target and take her shot.
To be continued...