The Chaotic Touch of Harmony 2: Bonded by Fire

by law abiding pony


13: Home Invasion

It was a chilly night in the top room of Section Nine’s headquarters. They were in little more than a drab concrete shelter as they waited for the Black Hawk helicopter to finish its final approach to the helipad. A quartet of black-garbed agents stood watch at the open door to the outside. The bright florescent lights cast the gathered humans and ponies in a painful radiance. When the foals were disturbed from their sleep by the loud helicopter and bright lights, Alexia and Crimson tried to keep them from crying.

Loki and Conrad listened in to Director Thompson as he gave a crash course briefing to Brad and Marcy, founders and chief researchers of Brad and Marcy’s Enchantment Company, and also well known as the inventors of Magitech. Brad was an African American in his late fifties, and even after being roused from his sleep, the man was dead set on wearing a smart business suit. On the other end of the spectrum, Marcy, a sky blue unicorn mare, couldn’t stop yawning even after several assurances that she fully understood the gravity of the situation.

Thompson was standing with his arms folded as he continued to talk to the couple. “Again, I want to thank both of you for agreeing to this mission. Your expertise in Magitech will be of great assistance to Agent Tune’s plans.”

Marcy spoke after coming out of her fiftieth yawn; she kept count. “Not like you spooks would have given us a choice.” A hardening look from Thompson was all she needed to know. “But when the fate of the world is in your hands and the princess herself is involved, who am I to say no?”

“Well, at least we’ll go down in the history books for this, right?” Brad queried with a tired yet excited grin.

That was Loki’s cue to ignore the rest of the conversation, and not a moment later the helicopter finally touched down. I hope Beth and the Andersons get here soon. My tail’s been twitching for the past hour. I hate it when that happens, because it always means—

Right before the guards would have ushered the group into the first helicopter, the inactive red strobe lights along the walls suddenly came to life. The call of an air raid siren ripped through the night from all over Trinity, including directly on top of the headquarters.

Panic set in the room as the guards shuffled inside while the Black Hawk pushed back up into the air. With the doors sealed, Thompson waved everyone to the stairs. His earpiece buzzed with news from the command center. “Satellites picked up a series of missiles coming in from the Midwest! I want every human in the basement shelter, now!”

With her foals trying to cry louder than the klaxons, Alexia weaved a sound damper around them as she ran up to stay side-by-side with Thompson. The group was thundering down the stairs as fast as their legs could carry them. “What’s going on and where do you need us?”

“Seven missiles are inbound from Nebraska. I want you in the shelter as well in case this is a conventional weapon strike.”

“And if it’s not?” Conrad asked as he flew down the stairs.

“Then I bet my job it’s a bio-bomb. I’ll need the four of you outside to neutralize anyone who gets caught in the clouds.”

“Y-yeah, okay.” Alexia fished out her smartphone and speed-dialed her sister. She barely kept enough situational awareness to keep from running into anyone or anything as the phone rang far too long for her liking. Pick up, pick up, come on pick up, do it!

“Hey, sis, got you on speaker—” Elisabeth answered with more than a little mania, only for Alexia to interrupt her.

“Tell me you’re at the gates of the building, please!” she added insistently. She glanced back at Crimson, who desperately wished she had time to put her headset on so she could use a phone on the run. All the earth mare could do is listen to Alexia’s conversation with terror in her eyes.

“No, we made it a few streets from the house’s driveway when the air raid sirens went off. We’re turning around and going back to the house!”

Bella Anderson held onto the grab handle so hard her knuckles were white. Elizabeth’s driving was only making it worse. “Honey, I know we’ve got a plane to catch, but can we try to stay on the road?”

Alexia looked at the timer on her phone and freaked enough that she would have slammed into the doorframe of the bunker if Loki hadn’t nudged her at the last minute. If she had a second to spare, Alexia would have thanked her herdmate and the stars that signal relays were present to keep the phone call active. “There’s no time, cut the engine and put it the car in isolation mode!”

The fur on Crimson’s neck stood up. “But if it’s a nuke—”

“It won’t matter!” Alexia roared back as they all skidded to a halt. “Besides,” she added a little too manically, “Nuke’s aren’t their MO.”

Elizabeth heard the whole exchange and glanced at the Andersons. Joe took one look at the long road between the royal estate and the edge of town. The steep twisting driveway up the hill didn’t help his mood. “Ain’t nothing close enough that could save us from an A-bomb. Just close us up.”

The car rocked forward as Elizabeth slammed on the breaks in the middle of town. “Glad sis got us one of the good cars.” Setting the parking brake, Elizabeth pressed the panic button on the dashboard.

“Isolation mode activated,” the car speakers announced with a prerecorded message. Grey sealing foam spread throughout the doors and sides of the windows. More of it spread throughout the intake filters before an air scrubber activated. The engine cut off with the scrubber switching to the battery. “As per Executive Order 3601, the engine is now deactivated until the viral particles decay. Be advised that forcing an engine restart could result in a fracture in the sealing foam.”


Joe growled and slapped the back of Bella’s seat in front of him. “Then you should have made better foam, you idiots.”

“Distress beacon activated. Please remain calm until the cloud has faded for at least three hours. The windows’ blow out mechanisms will be armed at that time to be used at your discretion. Thank you for trusting A&R Biohazard Protection Systems.”

No one had even a moment to think about being trapped in their own car before Bella pointed to the first missile as little more than a speck of light. A second, much faster streak of light raced towards it, but it was too late. A second before interception, the first missile exploded in an anticlimactic puff of light.

Bella wished dearly it had been anything else. Joe’s eyes widened, and he made the sign of the cross. “God help us.”

In Section Nine’s bunker, Director Thompson watched over a radar screen and punched the keyboard when the interceptor failed to connect in time before the first warhead detonated. “Damn it all! Why didn’t Satcom detect these sooner?”

A nearby observer gasped at what was on screen and quickly turned to the Director. “Sir, we’ve got a huge wave of missiles joining the first!”

“What?!” The data was quickly sent to Thompson’s monitor. There were now an additional forty-seven missiles on screen, all of them streaking straight for downtown Trinity.

“The new contacts all appeared within a hundred miles to the west!”

“Have the cultists adopted them for mobile launch platforms?” I want the National Guard informed at once!” Within seconds, all but two of the missiles had been shot down. When the building wasn’t blown away by nuclear fire or rocked by conventional warheads, he knew what the payload had been. He rubbed his face hard as he grabbed the offered headset from Conrad, who had been watching the same feed. “This is Director Thompson to all personnel. We have a Code Six-Oh-Six. I need all pony field agents suited up and on the streets.”

He didn’t want to say it aloud, not that he had to since it was implied to everyone who heard him. They’re the only ones who can safely euthanize any humans who get caught in the cloud.

Conrad reluctantly put Violet Spark down and looked to Brad and Marcy. “Please take care of them. I’d ask one of Thompson’s men, but I don’t think they’re all that good with kids.” The mares of his herd crowded around him to give their consent to the request.

“We know they’d be in good hands with you two,” Alexia added.

Brad wrung his hands and cringed at the three foals who still had tear-streaked faces and drippy noses. “I ahhh… I’m not really good with kids. But I can’t exactly say no to you four, now can I?”

Marcy was much quicker to take the foals into her care and soon got them cracking smiles with her natural charm and a silly face. “It is an honor to help you in any way I can, Princess,” she said directly to Alexia , rather than anyone else in the herd. “They’ll be well cared for.” She briefly noticed the momentary relief on their faces (and mild irritation on Conrad’s), as she glanced about the rather spartan bunker. “Assuming I can find some foalcare products in here.”

“Thank you so much.” Crimson bowed her head as the others ran off to the equipment lockers lining the walls. “Just be sure to keep their necklaces on in case the fillies have a mana flare.”

“Both of them?” Marcy and Brad looked to Violet and Aurora. The business partners knew unicorns could flare, but pegasi didn’t. Normally. Yet before either of them could press the question, the royal herd was already suiting up, and neither civilian wanted to gain the ire of the other CIA operatives in the bunker by interrupting them.

Marcy dug around in the pink and yellow diaper bag Crimson had left behind to find the gemmed necklaces and quickly put them on the fillies. The two promptly started teething on the jewelry, while Brad sat down to try his hand at childcare. “Better make sure they don’t take those off. The last thing we need is a surge somehow tearing a hole into the cloud outside.”


Tina Star rocked slightly on the floor of the paddy wagon as the engine cut out and the tell-tale sound of foam filling the joints of the vehicle filled her ears. She giggled manically to herself before shuffling in her restraints to look at her human accomplice, Frank. He had been sweating profusely and was jerking his head around as the noisy foam sealed them in. The engine had cut out while the two agents in the front could be heard contacting headquarters. Now that Frank was no longer having a panic attack at the prospect of being turned into a Mion, he finally noticed the air raid sirens.

“Ha! Yes! This thing has a sealing system. Fuck, I should have known the damn CIA would protect their own skin.” Frank sneered at Tina on the floor. “No red skin for this asshole.”

“I wouldn’t get your hopes up,” Tina purred cloyingly. She managed to get her hooves under her and flopped back onto the bench. “You don’t honestly think I was the only pony Tazzy sent over here, do you?”

Frank’s crazed grin fell when the vehicle was rocked by a heavy physical impact near the front. Shattered glass was quickly accompanied by a brief series of gunshots. Tina tried to twist around to plant her ear against the wall, only to have the commotion fade away. About a minute later, the backdoor of the van blasted itself outward from built in clearing charges.

“No, no! The gas is going to come in!” Frank threw himself at the front end of the cabin as thin trails of brown opaque gas drifted in. He covered his nose and mouth with squeezed his eyes shut, sobbing all the while.

Tina ignored him as the sound of feathered wings heralded the arrival of a beige pegasus stallion. Tina purred teasingly at his rather dashing handsome face, only for it to be sullied by a furrowed brow and a frown as he stepped fully into the cabin. Frank was cowering from the inflowing cloud, but the pegasus ignored him and focused on Tina. “You really jacked it all up this time, Doctor. Tazvadak got his ass chewed out when the Herald caught wind of that resurrection video.”

“How was I supposed to know she could resurrect like that.” She hummed and tilted her head. “Although I guess I should have suspected as much from a goddess.” Tina wiggled her bindings at the stallion. “Are you going to be a gentleman or not?” Grumbling all the while, the pegasus ignored Frank and pulled some heavy bolt cutters off his back, grunting while trying to cut off the lock around Tina’s horn restraint. A few muttered curse words later, the lock snapped off, and he removed the horn cover. Tina took care of the rest with a bit of magic and undid the plastic bindings around her legs. “I never got your name. You seem to know a bit about me, and I loathe being at a disadvantage.”

He huffed in bemusement and gave a slight nod. “My name is—huerk!” Frank shot forward and used both hands to clamp down on the pegasus’ throat. His eyes were completely bloodshot, and the skin around his nose and mouth were reddening.

“You let the virus in here! I’ll kill you for that!”

Tina stepped up onto the metal bench-seat as Frank grappled the stunned pegasus. She harrumphed at both of them and started pouring raw mana into Frank. “Just because you’re a simpleton, doesn’t mean you get to act like one.”

The mana sent the man into seizures, and loosened his grip just enough for the stallion to yank himself free. “Screw this! I did what I was paid to do. You two are on your own.”

He bucked Frank for good measure before he put on a surgical mask and a pair of goggles and then tossed one of each to Tina. “Oh, before I go, the boss wants the princess dead. He and the Herald both know she won’t join us after what you pulled.”

“What a pity,” she replied with a dismissive yawn. “I thought you were leaving.”

The stallion stepped to the door and flared his wings, yet he couldn’t take off with his eyes glued on Frank. The man was in the midst of a nightmarish grand mal seizure, banging on the floor and benches while his skin reddened and his muscles began to bulge frighteningly fast. Tina’s mana kept flowing into him, causing Frank’s body to glow with her amber magic. “What the hell are you doing to him!?”

Tina cackled at her work. “Funny thing, really. Tazzy told me, before I left, that the latest strains of the Mion plague are highly reactive to magic. The more you hit them with, the more volatile and brutal the transformation. And the best part is that this whole town has developed local ambient mana in the atmosphere.” Her tone of voice grew increasingly manic the longer she talked. “The longer anyone who gets infected stays here, the more powerful and mentally degenerate they become. He won’t be a real Mion, but a living wrecking ball!”

“You’re fucked in the head, you know that. I’m gone!” Wanting to put as much distance between him and Frank as possible, the pegasus rocketed into the air.

Tina angled her head so she could keep feeding Frank mana, while also looking outside towards the pegasus. “What a bore. Now… where was I?” She cut her mana flow after seeing Frank’s skin go completely crimson and his hair fade away. Rough scales and spines protruded in haphazard angles from the rapid forced changes. “Now let’s go kill a goddess.”


By the time Alexia, the herd, and twenty other pony field agents finished suiting up and made it to the biohazard-exit point of Section Nine’s headquarters, the miasma from the three missiles had fully spread throughout the large town. The exit point was little more than an infantry marshalling area where the air could be cycled for events such as this.

Loki glanced around the room at all the familiar faces. The earth ponies wore helmet guided weapons on their backs, while the pegasi had smaller weapons on their forelegs to allow flight. Most unicorns forwent traditional weapons in favor of offensive magic, save for runeblades. There was next to no medical equipment or rescue gear among them, not that Loki needed to notice to know what the nature of their operation would be.

Search and destroy, she thought glumly as Conrad did the final checks on the light machine gun strapped to her back. I really hope people had enough time to reach a shelter.
Alexia and Crimson were fits of nervous energy pacing by the large garage door. Thankfully, they didn’t have to wait long for the well-drilled agents to finalize their checks before a male mission commander spoke over the intercom. “Cameras along Ninth Avenue and Mercer Street have detected infected human activity in the area. Be prepared to handle anyone they drag out of shelters as Mions. No matter who they are, once infected, the only way to help them is a clean death.” While the commander was able to keep his voice level, everyone could feel the fear he had for friends and family.

The moment the commander finished speaking, the doors shuttered opened with the brown-greenish cloud pouring inside as if it was formless beast actively seeking new hosts to infect. It would find no such luck in the gathered ponies. Alexia’s herd were the first ones to bolt outside and into the murky depths of the dense cloud.

Between the moonless night and the heavy blanket of the cloud, streetlights and scattered signs provided the only illumination in the sudden ghost town. While the other agents fanned out onto Trinity’s streets, Alexia made a beeline straight to Elizabeth’s car.

Loki’s headset marked the car’s location. Her visor’s thermal sensors reported no activity on the primary avenue thoroughfare, but that did nothing to calm her nerves. “The way’s clear for now.”

“Good, we have to hurry!” Alexia shouted with a manic tone. Letting Loki and their only navigator through the cloud take the lead. The lenses on her gas mask started to fog over as the panicking alicorn trembled with rage. This isn’t some randomly dropped cloud. Those damned cultists did this on purpose! Once I save my human family, I’m going to kill that ocean sphere myself!

The herd thundered through the streets, seeing a handful of other cars with humans trapped inside. Standing guard was a squad of twelve ponies in gas masks. Alexia’s brief worry that they were Mion collaborators vanished when she saw former general Mayor East standing watch on top of a pickup truck.

The herd stopped briefly as the ponies have her crisp salutes while East jumped down from her perch. “Glad to see you and Section Nine are on the job. Don’t worry about these people here, if any son of a bitch cultists try to infect these folks, they’ll have to go through us.”

Conrad’s approving grunt was nearly lost behind his mask. “Glad to see the civilian life hasn’t softened you too much. You and your boys got out here faster than we did.”

“Since we’re dealing with an enemy that can strike at any moment,” East said with an self-gratifying smirk, “I decided to revive the pure American grit of the Minutemen Militia.”

Alexia gave a thankful nod. “Thank you, General, but we should get moving.”

“Right. We’ll have time to waggle tongues later.” Mirroring her subordinates, East snapped a firm salute. “Good luck out there, Princess.”

“You too, General,” Alexia saluted as she broke back into a gallop. Barely two city blocks further east, the noise of breaking glass and tormented screams spurred the royal herd even faster.

Crimson and Alexia most of all were horrified by the noise. That was in Elizabeth’s direction, Crimson worried miserably.


Shattering glass allowed the terrified screams of three women in an SUV to spill out into the street. Frank’s now massive hands easily grappled the driver’s door. His scaly skin crunched the glass as his grip tightened. “You, join Herald now,” he grumbled in a guttural drawl. With a heavy tug he ripped the latch open, with a second fully ripping the door free.

He idly dropped the door behind him. The driver was feverishly trying to undo her seatbelt so she could get away from the crimson beast, even as lines of crimson started to develop on her lips and nose. The front passenger pulled a pistol out of the glove box and aimed at Frank as he tore the seatbelt off of the driver.

Firing wildly, she hit him three times in the arm, three more in the chest, with the last shot hitting him dead center on his forehead. The first six cause him to stagger backwards with the last one tossing his head back and causing him to fall heavily onto the pavement.

Tina had been waiting in front of the engine for Frank to pull the women out, but the headshot put that on hold. “Get up, you big baby. You don’t have enough of a brain for that to kill you anymore.”

Not willing to wait for Frank to stop grumbling childishly, Tina pulled upon the ambient mana and sank it into the SUV. The manic screams and crying within the vehicle slowly died down as their minds quickly faded away. About the time the three women were climbing out of the car under the Herald’s direct control, Frank had stopped whimpering and was dragging himself to his feet.

Tina halted her mana control and cantered over to Frank. “Come on big boy, we have to rally more troops.”

“Making friends is fun,” he clapped cheerily. He bounced on the balls of his feet as the three women-turned-mions gathered around Tina. The driver looked at her with profound irritation, her spiteful scowl amplified by the crimson color eating away at the last blotches of the woman’s original skin color. “Tina Star. Your failure makes a poor impression. I should have you killed here and now.”

Tina cringed and dipped her head in submission. Even she knew the Herald when he spoke, no matter the host. “Tazzy’s ambitious, but we both know the goddess would have never sided with us. The only thing we can do is get the government to turn on her. Cut off her allies and what not.”

“As if we have any real choice in that matter now.” The Herald’s reprimand was cut short by the distinctive clop of four sets of hooves coming from the direction of Section Nine. The Herald’s attention snapped to the source of the noise, but the dense cloud concealed everything beyond five meters. “Go. Find a way to kill or isolate Alexia Tune.”

“Yes sir, boss sir.” Prodding Frank forward with her magic, the two of them ran off towards the royal manor. If the goddess has one weakness, it’s her family. I’m just glad her kids are ponies so the cloud won’t harm them.

Frank’s quick but loping gait grated on Tina’s patience. There were a few other cars on the road, but all of them were empty. The stores and businesses along their path were completely darkened, so there was no way of knowing if any humans were hiding on the other side of the windows.

The hour is late. Most of them would be at home right now, and the residential areas are further up this road. Tina’s musings came to a halt when Frank nearly ran into a car parked in the middle of the street and stopped.

“Oh boy, more friends.” Frank gave a dimwitted giggle. Tina ignored the alarmed cries from within the car, content to just let him smash the glass and keep moving. However as he raised his fists above his head, completely oblivious to the terrified screams, he hesitated and cracked a toothy grin. “Hey, I know those guys. They be them Tune family. Helloooo!” he singsonged while waving at them.

The Andersons quieted down after Elizabeth hissed at them to be quiet and whispered at them. “Play along so my sister can get here in time.” Bella and Joe nodded nervously and flashed their best fake smiles. Elizabeth wasn’t sure how to talk to a hulking Mion that seemed to not only have a few loose screws, but knew them as well. “Ah, hey buddy. What ah…” She looked at Bella, who feverishly waved at her to continue. “What’s up?”

“Da sky.” A line of brown-stained drool started to leak from his smiling face. “You’re a pretty lady.”
Elizabeth’s reply went unheard when Tina ran up from the other side of the car and jumped up onto the hood. She glared at Frank with an impatient scowl. “Would you hurry up and break it open already?” Her gaze followed her ears at the sound of gunfire and flying spells from the direction of the SUV. “We don’t have time to make friends.”

Elizabeth honked the horn to get the unicorn’s attention. “You better call off Big Red, or my sister’s going to kill your ass!”


Alexia growled a war cry as she launched a spear of magic ice at the bulky Mion between her and the road towards Elizabeth’s car. The Mion dug its fingers into the back of the SUV and toppled the vehicle into the path of the spear, tearing through the SUV entirely, and impaling its left arm.

The Herald left off a half chuckle as he yanked the spear free and tossed it onto the ground. “Careful now, you wouldn’t want to break quarantine on any buildings behind me, right?” he added condescendingly.

Alexia’s ears twitched at the Herald’s voice. That same haunting echo in his tone was unforgettable. “You!” She telekinetically heaved the SUV up and over the Mion. She briefly glanced to her left where Conrad and the others had the last two Mions pinned down between earth tremors and weapon’s fire. “Why are you doing all of this!?” Alexia’s rage seethed as her brain dredged up countless news reports of fallen cities and countries, all at the hands of the Mions and clouds. “Why do you have to kill so many people? We’ve done nothing to deserve this!”

The Herald’s puppet found itself gripped in Alexia’s magic and yanked over towards the alicorn. Her monumental anger was starting to affect her magic aura, tinting it navy blue. Despite the danger to his puppet, the Herald was unmoved by her aggression. “I must admit, Princess Alexia, you alone have my respect. I’ve been watching your little village for some time now, fully expecting it to fail.” He tilted his head slightly as he studied her.

“I don’t want your damned respect!” Alexia spat venomously. Her right ear’s radio declared most of the area around her as free of Mion activity. “I want the lives you’ve stolen returned to your victims!”

“Don’t lower yourself, Princess. You and I both know that’s impossible.”

Alexia’s knowledge about the ocean sphere and her plan came to mind, but even with her fury-addled mind, she knew not to speak of it. Nevertheless, it did cause her to sneer wickedly. “Maybe so, but that just means it will be all the more satisfying when I kill your ass.”

With a savage roar, she thrust the Mion’s head straight into the pavement, caving it in before the Herald could reply. I have to save Elizabeth, then purge every Mion from my city! I won’t let another human fall to this vile disease.

A quartet of gunshots caught her ear, and saw Loki had just peppered one of the Mions trying to flee the alleyway it had taken shelter in. The former human fell dead on the spot. Alexia clicked her radio. “I’m going ahead to secure my sister’s car.”

Conrad flew up and over the buildings to cut off the last fleeing Mion while Crimson carefully cracked the earth beneath its feet to stumble her. Loki was aiming her back-mounted weapon when Alexia’s call came in and could hear the terrified tremble in her alpha’s voice. Loki felt a muscle tick on her neck, throwing her own fear to new heights. “No, no, no, not good, that’s a bad twitch!”

Her distraction was short lived when the trapped Mion was cut down by Conrad from above. “Alex is in bad shape; we gotta save her!”

Conrad extracted a bloody hoof from the Mion’s torso, after his dive bomb managed to cave the Mion’s chest in. “What? Loki, wait for us!” Neither he nor Crimson got five steps before the mission commander barked over their radios.

“Team one, we have a containment break logged in Bill’s Liquor store one block south of you. There were four patrons and three staff reported in the lockdown. I need you four down there ASAP.”

Crimson scanned the area where Loki was running off to, and would have lost her in the dense cloud were it not for the thermal sensors on her helmet. We’re not going anywhere unless we’re together. She looked at Conrad and jabbed a hoof towards Loki while using her mouth to activate her radio. “We’ll be there as soon as we clean up here, sir.” She clicked it off as Conrad flew past her and soon joined him in sprinting off to find Alexia.


Frank fell on his rump in front of the Tune family car with a sorrowful pout marring his face. “But I wanna make more friends noooow!”

“Ugh, I almost miss your intelligence,” Tina muttered under her breath from her perch on the car’s hood. The sound of gunfire from around town was starting to ebb away to the city outskirts as she inspected the car’s occupants. Damn. Leave it to Section Nine to clean the place up so fast. If the goddess doesn’t show up soon, I might just give Frankie what he wants and get out of here.

The light thump of a fist on the windshield drew the unicorn’s attention towards Elizabeth. “You better leave before my sister shows up and kills your ass. She despises you traitors with a passion.”

“I certainly hope so,” Tina replied with a savage grin that managed to show through her mask. “Killing a goddess may no longer be possible for me directly, but I just might get your government to do it for me.” Tina closely scanned the occupants and noticed the foals were absent, and that the humans were not acting like they were physically hiding them from view. Excellent, there’s nothing holding me back from cracking this car open.

Elizabeth glanced at her telekinetically-broken phone on the dashboard. The Andersons were silently praying, with Joe reaching forward from the backseat to his wife and adopted niece. Elizabeth was too busy staring down Tina to join in. “Good luck with that,” she added with blatant sarcasm. “She’s a damn hero, not that you’d ever understand such a thing.”

Tina started impatiently tapping her hoof on the car as she thought of a plan. Where is she!? Tina ultimately ignored Elizabeth’s comment. “I’ve read a lot of Equestrian history; most of it is rather fascinating.” She turned to look at Elizabeth, who was indignant at being a hostage. “Tell me, before the plague erases your intelligence, have you heard of the Fall of Luna?”

“Haven’t had the time.”

A dangerous laugh crept out of Tina’s throat, making Elizabeth and Bella slide back into their seats. “Then allow me to show you that history loves to repeat itself.” She looked to Frank. “Big Red, bust the back door open, and get your first new friend out.”

Believing the burst of panicked shouting from the car to be cries of joy, Frankie gave off a joyful laugh. “Oh boy! Come here, friend.” Joe pushed himself to the far side of the backseat, while the women crowded around the driver seat. Frank reared a fist back and smashed through the glass in one go.

The moment the glass broke, the lights in the car instantly shifted to red, and a magic forcefield formed between the front seats and the back. “Major breach detected.”

“Joooee!” Bella screamed as she pounded her fists on the magical barrier as more foam rushed in to fill every nook and crevice between her and her husband. “No, stop it!”

Nothing could stop the giggling Frank from ripping Joe out of the car and tossing him into the dense cloud. “Happy time, friend!” Joe tried to hold his breath, but Frank patted him on the back, forcing him to breathe. “Now you can have funses with me all day.”

Tina jumped onto the roof of the car and started gathering the ambient mana in the air while addressing the two women. “I didn’t expect a second layer of defense, but this could work out even better.” She looked to Joe, who was coughing heavily as the virus started to spread through him. “As for you, I think—“

Tina was cut short by a wordless yell and the noise of running hooves upon the road. A scant few seconds later, Alexia appeared underneath a streetlight with her phone to her ear. Alexia’s blood froze at seeing Joe writhing on the ground as the virus wormed its way through him.

Alexia was caught between terrified denial and abject hatred at the unicorn and full Mion before her. Tears misted over her vision as she ground her teeth and gave of an enraged equine snort. “If only I had known exactly where she was, I could have just teleported here.” She looked to Tina with hellfire in her eyes. “You bitch!” Her horn lit up with an angry azure, and she swept it to the right, grabbing ahold of Tina and flinging her across the street.

Frank saw his mistress fly off and merrily started clapping his hands. “I didn’t know you could fly!” He scratched his head at the oddity of Tina crashing into a window of a furniture store. “You not very good at iiiittt!” he yelled as a telekinetic fist punched him out from in front of the car. A follow-up hit with a motorcycle knocked him fully off the street.

Alexia felt tears falling down her face at the sight of Joe writhing in pain. “I-I I can fix this,” she said to herself as she raced forward. I just need to get another ponification crystal from Sensei Twilight.

Tina feigned unconsciousness as she watched Alexia approach Joe. The impact had caused her bones to rattle; she felt whole, but the tell-tale feel of flowing blood could be felt on her left flank. Heh, just try to use magic on him, my goddess. Be the cause of your own fall.

Alexia quickly shaped a sleep spell while trying to think of what she would say to Crimson and her family. They’ll have to be sworn to secrecy. Maybe even move out of town, but I won’t lose him to this curse!

As Alexia cast her spell, Joe’s pain and flailing redoubled as her magic accelerated his transformation. “What?” She fed more power into the spell, but that only caused his head to turn blood red within seconds. She cut the spell in an instant. “What the hell; what’s going on?”

Joe stopped struggling and flailing after a few seconds. Then, much to the horror of the women in the car and Alexia standing over him, Joe’s legs flashed around and kicked Alexia’s hooves out from under her.

In a voice not his own, Joe growled pure indifference. “So this is Tina’s plan. Effective, I suppose.”

Alexia knew that voice. The slight echoing quality belonged to the Herald alone. She tried to scramble to her her hooves, but the Herald, in Joe’s body, was too fast, and he grappled her in a chokehold far stronger than the old man had ever been capable of. “Tell me, goddess, can you kill your own family?”