//------------------------------// // Chapter 4: The Awakening (Part 4) // Story: Ponygoyles // by Alphamon_Ouryuken //------------------------------// Manehatten: High above the skyline of Manehatten. A helicopter flew above the clouds towards a massive skyscraper. Fancy’s corporation: Sunset Enterprises, a corporation that had constructed countless designs for as many destinations, ranging from pharmaceuticals to weapons to everyday appliances. There was almost nothing that Sunset Enterprises didn’t make, and Fancy Pants felt nothing but pride looking upon his personal tower, where the most of the fruit of his genius was born. This night, however, was, without a doubt, going to be his greatest accomplishment. That is, if the legends from that book and the words of his current business partners were to be trusted. Months of labor and millions of bits (almost nearing a billion, even) went into this project. After months of work and careful coordination, the entirety of Castle Horseshoe had finally been reconstructed atop his skyscraper, rebuilt to fit modern technology, while still keeping its ancient and historic air. As soon as the helicopter landed, Fancy made his way out and headed up the stairs of the tallest tower, and when he reached the top he stared over the horizon, watching the sun as it slowly set. "Don't disappoint me..." he said to the statue as the sun began to set and a storm started to brew... Finally, the moment the sun disappeared over the horizon the moment of truth took place. The stone statues began to shift and shake as cracks spread across their hard surfaces of their bodies. The first one to awaken was Twilight herself, Fancy backed away in awe and shock as the lavender Ponygoyle stretched her wings for the first time in centuries and let out a mighty roar that echoed throughout the halls of the castle in the very skies themselves. On their perches below, the other Ponygoyles awakened as well, each one of them roaring as they awakened from their slumber. Twilight gasped in shock she looked at her claws. She couldn't believe it; she was flesh and blood again! She could feel the cool breeze of the night against her scales, the wind blowing through her hair. 'But how, how is this possible? Could the castle really have been...' she thought to herself. Looking around, she could see that below the castle was practically a sea of clouds. 'Incredible! To be able to place the castle above the clouds as if it stood atop heavens itself! What kind of sorcery could be so powerful as to do this?’ 'Wait, if I'm free, then that means...' She immediately looked down to see none other than her friends on the perches below, still somewhat groggy from their slumber. The Rainbow-maned one was flexing her wings, the orange one seemed to be cracking her neck, the yellow one simply looked around timidly, the white one was examining her scales to make sure no dirt or grime had been caught in them, and the pink one was simply zipping around while looking over the edge. They were all just as she remembered them. She stared down at them wide-eyed before her face broke out into a massive, ear-to-ear grin and she descended to join her brethren. "Twilight, there you are!" the white one exclaimed, getting the rest of the group's attention. "Could you please tell us what's going on-HEY!" She yelp in surprise as she was cut off mid-sentence by Twilight embracing her in a tight hug. "Er… Twilight? Are you alright?" “You’re… you’re alive! You’re all alive!” she exclaimed excitedly as she embraced each of them in a big hug, trying to hold back her tears. “Yay! We’re alive! Woohoo!” the pink Ponygoyle shouted as she happily bounced around her friends, cheering like giddy child. She then zoomed over to Twilight and whispered. “What happened?” “Prince Blueblood cast a spell on you all that turned you to stone, permanently,” Twilight explained as they all gathered around her. “When he couldn’t break it, I asked that he cast the same spell on me.” Everyone went silent for a moment until the rainbow-maned one spoke up. "WHAT?! WHY?!" she snapped, her wings flaring out in anger. "After all we did for his ungrateful hide and those ponies, THAT’S how he repays us?!" She snarled, her eyes glowing menacingly. “For the first time I'll have to agree with our rainbow-maned friend. But…” the white Ponygoyle spoke reluctantly. “...why would he even do such a thing? I was never a fan him myself, but I never once thought he'd resort to such cruel methods…” “He thought the Queen was dead,” their purple leader elaborated. “He acted in a fit of grief and anger.” The others all looked to Twilight and to each other, unsure of how to feel about that revelation. “Whoa, whoa, whoa! What?!” The orange Ponygoyle exclaimed as she backed up a bit. “He thought we…. but we’d never harm the Queen! Even if she was a rotten, spoiled, little bi-!” “Ahem.” A new voice interjected. The Ponygoyles all turned to a white unicorn stallion, whose mane and tail shared a vibrant, bright shade of blue, an equally cerulean mustache over his lips. He wore a suit of what was clearly expertly designed, complimenting features that a certain Ponygoyle found extremely handsome. “Well hello~ there, handsome!” the white Ponygoyle cooed as she darted in front of the others, her wings spread out wide and infatuation instantly evident in her eyes. “And who do I have the pleasure of addressing?” she asked with an alluring smile, causing the rest of the group to roll their eyes. “Oh, boy, here we go...” The orange one muttered to the rainbow-maned one, who nodded and snickered to herself. The stallion smiled, rather amused by the white creature’s actions. “Rather energetic for having just woken up, aren’t we?” he quipped with a light chuckle. “My name is Fancy Pants, and I do believe that I owe you all some explanations.” When the Ponygoyles gave him confused, expectant looks, he simply gestured to the edge of the castle wall. Twilight, giving the unicorn a suspicious look, peered over the edge. At first, as she could see was the clouds below, moving like an ocean of fluff. Then, through a break in the clouds, she and her sisters saw what Fancy must have been alluding to. Below the clouds, countless structures stood tall, reaching for the sky, surrounded by lights of every possible shade and hue, some of which were moving quickly along the ground. “W-W-Where are we?” the yellow one asked, timidly looking over the edge before letting out a small “Eeep!” upon realizing how high up they were. “As I said,” Fancy spoke up again, regaining their attention. “I owe you some explanations.” “How long has it been since the spell was cast?” Twilight asked as she turned back to the unicorn. With a small, almost pitying, smile, Fancy said, “Come inside. I feel you may want to sit down for this.” The inside of the castle was much the same as the last time Twilight had seen it. The only significant differences were the tapestries, rugs, and some furniture. There were also a few paintings hung in places that originally held armor or flags bearing the royal symbol. As the group continued fourth, they were lead to a new room (new to everyone excluding Twilight herself, who recognised it as Prince Blueblood’s private study). It was paved with odd metal that they had never seen before, there were windows adorning almost every wall, yet strangely enough, almost every one of them were black, save for the one behind a large desk in the middle of the room where Fancy Pants sat. “Whoa… Ah’ve never been in this part o’ the castle…” the orange one whispered, the rest of the group (sans Twilight) nodding in agreement. “It used to belong to the Prince who cursed you.” Fancy Pants elaborated, getting everyone’s attention. “Now, I'm sure you all have many questions...” “Well, DUH! Of course we have questions!” The pink one interjected. “How long were we asleep? What happened to the castle? Are there any snacks in this new world? What kind of snacks are there? Do they still call you Fancy Pants even when you don’t wear pants? How many licks does it take to get to the center of a-MMPH!” That was as far she got before Twilight covered her mouth. “I apologize for her outburst,” The lavender Ponygoyle said, sounding slightly annoyed. “She’s one of the more… ‘optimistic’ members of our family.” Everyone else snickered at that. Fancy Pants only chuckled in amusement. “It’s quite all right. I’m no stranger to mile-a-minute questioning.” He then donned a serious expression. “To answer your first question… well, there’s no easy way to say it, so I’ll say it plain: one thousand years. You’ve been asleep for centuries.” Everyone went silent, letting the weight of this revelation sink in. The tension was so thick, one could cut it with a knife. Then, finally, the white one fell to her knees and broke down crying. “It-It can’t be!” she sobbed as the yellow Ponygoyle bent down to hold her. “One thousand years! We’ve been asleep for one thousand years! Do you all know what this means?!” She choked through her sobs, everyone shared an uneasy look. “I know it’s hard to grasp,” the rainbow-maned one said solemnly, sadness apparent in even her voice. “But… I guess we just have to-” “IT MEANS I’M SO OLD THAT I’M PRACTICALLY ANCIENT!” the white Ponygoyle interrupted. “THINK OF ALL THE WRINKLES I’M GOING TO GET!” she wailed as tears streamed down her cheeks. Everyone else could only stare at her in disbelief, the orange one in particular palmed her face in irritation. Clearing his throat, Fancy regained the attention of the six Ponygoyles. “I highly doubt that that’s much of a worry. You were stone for those ten centuries. You still look youthful.” He shook his head, trying to get back on topic. “Anyway, as for your second question, your castle now sits atop my tower, the headquarters of Sunset Enterprises in the city of Manehattan. I had your castle moved here brick by brick and rebuilt based on the same foundation and specifications.” “Um, e-excuse m-m-me…” the yellow Ponygoyle timidly chimed in. “W-W-What about the eggs in the rookery? Are they safe?” Fancy raised an eyebrow. “Eggs? I’m sorry, but neither I, nor any of the workers I hired, found any eggs.” He then perked up slightly. “Oh… your species reproduces with eggs. I’m sorry again, but no such thing was found. If they ever were there, they either hatched long ago, or were stolen.” There was another pregnant silence after this new reveal, this time with the yellow Ponygoyle falling to her knees and having to be supported by her white sister. Twilight however, knew what had happened, since she was the one who was frozen last. However, given the amount of time that had passed since the spell was cast, it was likely that they had hatched, grown up under the Queen’s guidance, and eventually passed on. ‘I can’t bring their hopes up just to crush them later on...’ she told herself, giving the yellow one, who was silently weeping, an apologetic look before turning back to Fancy Pants. “Fancy Pants… I don’t mean to sound ungrateful - my sisters and I owe our lives to you - but I have to ask: why? Why bring this castle, bring us, here? For what purpose?” With a smile, he stood from his seat and walked over to a display case that held an old-looking book, one that Twilight recognized as Blueblood’s spellbook. It was weathered had seen many years, but she still knew the sigil upon the tome’s cover anywhere. “Prince Blueblood wrote the whole story of how and why he imprisoned you in here. When I acquired this book and read those entries, I became curious. I wanted to see if these legends were true. It cost millions of bits and took several months of labor and patience, but it all worked out in the end, wouldn’t you agree?” “Yeah,” the rainbow-maned one said, sounding uncharacteristically dejected, “but… still… no young ones running about…” Fancy Pants nodded his agreement. It was a tragedy that those little ones had likely never even had a chance, but that was the past. Right now, he had the future to worry about. Just as he was going to tell them some good news, however, the sound of a helicopter’s whirring blades caught his ears. He wasn’t the only one, as Twilight and the other Ponygoyles looked around, trying to find the source of the noise. The stallion narrowed his eyes. “Odd. I’m not expecting anyone.” He headed for the doorway that exited to the castle courtyard, turning to the Ponygoyles before leaving them. “It would probably be for the best if you stay out of sight for a while. Ponies today aren’t used to seeing creatures such as yourselves.” "All these years and still nothin's changed." the orange one said with a role of her eyes, with the rainbow-maned one nodding in agreement... Outside, hovering over the castle courtyard, Fancy could see a helicopter approaching. It had no logos or symbols he could see or recognize as it descended. Stranger still, it it stayed in the air, hovering as several ropes were sent down from the vehicle. Then, a number of unicorns and earth ponies wearing paramilitary gear slid down the ropes, high-powered rifles in hand, while several pegasi flew out with guns ready, each one was wearing an azure blue uniform with golden yellow lightning patterns and goggles with black frames and sky blue lenses that obscured their eyes. “What is going on here!?” Fancy demanded, only to be answered by the clicks of rifles. He leaped out of the way just in time to avoid the shots, bullets zipping by his head by mere inches. “Don’t get in the way and there won’t be any trouble,” one pegasus with blazing orange hair said, her grin shining beneath her goggles. Unknown to any of them, however, the castles reawakened protectors were watching from the shadows. Twilight and her friends noted the aggressiveness of the attacking ponies. “W-Who are they? They don’t look friendly at all...” the yellow one stuttered, hiding behind the rainbow-maned one as she spread her wings protectively. “I don’t care who they are!” the rainbow-maned Ponygoyle hissed. “They’re attacking our castle and that’s all I need to know!” She nodded to the orange Ponygoyle. “You with me?” The orange one smirked, cracking her knuckles in preparation for the battle. “Aw, yeah, let’s get ‘em good.”  The yellow one gave her sisters a hesitant look. “B-but Mr. Fancy told us t-t-to stay out of sight…” “Sister, dear, do you truly believe he would not appreciate our assistance in preserving the castle?” the white one inquired, although she had other reasons for wanting to fight, mainly getting the into the handsome stallion's ‘good graces’. “Yeah! Besides, we haven’t fought anything in…uh...um...” The pink Ponygoyle thought for a moment. “A thousand years, was it?” she asked while counting on her claws. “We’ll discuss hasty decisions and remembering the time of our slumber later,” Twilight insisted. “Now, we will live up to our names as protectors once more. Come, my sisters. Let us fight for our home!” “RAAARGH!” The Ponygoyles roared as one and jumped out of their hiding place. The blonde one bolted out of the shadows, ahead of the rest, towards the nearest invader, taking him by surprise. “What the hell are those things?!” one of the pegasi cried out as the Ponygoyle knocked her companion aside. “It doesn’t matter,” said the orange-maned pegasus. “We know what we’re here for. Let’s get it!” The invaders dispersed. Two of them found themselves cornered by Twilight and the pink Ponygoyle. They fired their weapons, but the Ponygoyles leapt out of the way. As the ponies turned to attack again, Twilight charged up her horn and fired of beam of purple energy, forcing the attackers to defend.. “It can use magic?” one of the ponies yelped in disbelief. His companion grunted in fear and loaded her weapon. “Things just got even more complicated.” The rainbow-maned Ponygoyle quickly took to the skies with two of the pegasi following close behind; the orange-maned mare from earlier and a stallion with a short dark gray mane. “Come on! Is that really as fast as you can go?!” I knew hatchlings that could move quicker than that!” she taunted as she soared past her opponents. ‘Although, their outfits… I kinda like them…’ She was instantly brought out of her thoughts upon being yanked from behind by her tail. "OW-HEY!" she screamed before looking behind herself to see that the orange-maned mare had caught up with her. 'What the-?! How can they move so fast?!' she thought as she tried to yank her tail free, only for her to start spinning in mid-air, throwing off her focus. "STOP-THAT-I'M-GONNA-HURL!!!" the rainbow-maned Ponygoyle screamed as she started to get dizzy. But the pegasus held on tight, even as the Ponygoyle spun around the tower. "Oooh! That looks like fun!" the pink Ponygoyle giggled, dodging another shot as she playfully danced around the soldiers, either playing leapfrog on their heads or simply tripping them up whenever they got too close. Suddenly, the orange pegasus let go, sending the cyan Ponygoyle flying straight towards her partner, who slammed his fist into her stomach before kicking her into a tower top. The rainbow-maned Ponygoyle slipped down onto the roof of the tower. "Ow..." "HEY! That's not fair!" the pink one screamed before ending her piggyback ride on a unicorn soldier, jumping onto the wall of the tower and climbing up to where her friend had crashed. However before she could get halfway there, the blue maned pegasus zipped above of her, cutting her off. “You stop right there!” he commanded. The pink Ponygoyle made an amused face and looked straight at the screen. “Did he just say that?” she asked. “Did that pony just tell me what to do?” “Erm, yes?” the pegasus replied hesitantly. “Who asked you!?” the Ponygoyle shouted. The stallion was so shocked his wings snapped to his sides and he plummeted, but he caught himself just before he became the first pancake on the castle floor in one thousand years. The cyan Ponygoyle got up and groaned. "Ok, she’s tougher that she looks..." she mused to herself as she spread her wings, getting ready to take off… only to be tackled to the ground by the orange pegasus. "Oh, come on!" she screamed as she thrashed and struggled against her grip. Sadly, the pegasus wasn't letting up. "I don't know what you are freak,” the pegasus growled fiercely, “but you’re not getting in our way! We’ve got a job to do!” “Yeah? Well so do I. It’s keeping you out of this castle!” She sneered as she continued to struggle. The pegasus snarled. “Struggle all you want, but you and your boss’ll be sorry for crossing the Wonderbolts!” 'Wonderbolts? Aw jeez, they've even got a cool name!' the Ponygoyle speculated momentarily before focusing on her surroundings. At that moment, however, a loud scream echoed through the castle halls. "Da da da da da dah! PINKIE POWER!!" The orange Wonderbolt looked up just time to see a pink blur charge into her, knocking the wind out of her and sending her flying off the tower. "Ugh, that last line felt dirty..." she mumbled to herself as she helped her cyan brethren up. "I'm never saying that again." Meanwhile, the orange Ponygoyle was fighting another group of soldiers. They fired again and again, but she just evaded their shots with inequine speed. “You bumpkins are pathetic,” she jeered. Seeing some rocks roughly the size of her head before her, she quickly threw them into the air and gave each stone a swift kick, sending them flying towards her opponents.          “Well shot, sister!” the white Ponygoyle proclaimed as she avoided another shot from one of the soldiers. “Let’s see how much they like their own medicine.” She started up her own magic and plucked a cloud of spent bullets from their holes. With a wave of her arm, she launched the round of ammunition back at their owners. Unknown to either of them, two figures were watching their battle from the highest tower. “She’s just as graceful as she was so many years ago...” the shorter figure sighed in a gruff male voice. “She could stand to put more effort into her attacks.” the taller figure scoffed, observing how they fought with a smirk. However, she noticed an earth pony sneaking up behind the white Ponygoyle while she was distracted by the other soldiers. The short figure growled and was about to jump down, only for the taller one to stop him via a magical barrier. “No, we cannot show ourselves,” she chided before turning her attention back to the right below. “Not yet...” The short figure grunted. “This is ridiculous! How much longer will it be this way, where we can only watch them from a distance?” “We need to make sure they’re committed to our cause!” his companion snapped, her violet eyes narrowing as she glared into his own. “We need to sure, or do you a repeat of last time?” The short one snarled, expelling smoke from his nostrils before turning away and crossing his arms. “Fine, but I don’t like it...” The taller one placed a claw on his shoulder. “Don’t worry. We will be reunited...” she stated before turning her attention to the battlers, specifically the lavender Ponygoyle. “Just what in Tartarus are these things?!” “Don’t ask questions. Just keep firing!” Twilight growled as she conjured a shield around herself, deflecting every blast. However, she noticed a few small cracks beginning to spread across it. ‘My force field couldn’t be broken by the strongest metal. What kind of magic could they be using to crack it?’ She quickly dispelled her barrier, sending it outwards in a wave of power that threw her foes onto the floor. "I don't know who you are, but I cannot—no, will not let you desecrate my home..." She roared as her magic began to swirl around her and her magic aura slowly became a deep red. "Our home..." she whispered as her eyes began to glow ominously, the swirling vortex of energy growing stronger and more dangerous by the second. "The only home we have left in this world!" With a mighty heave, she released the vortex and sent it spinning towards her assailants. The pegasi had only a moment to gasp in awe at the approaching accumulation before it barreled them down and blasted them across the flagstones of the castle, prompting several of their aerial comrades to abandon the fight in favor of saving them. Seeing her chance, the rainbow-maned Ponygoyle abandoned her fight with the orange pegasus and quickly dove towards the occupied pegasi as they lowered their comrades onto the floor. The soldiers, unprepared for the attack, barely had time to dodge, causing her to slash the stone instead. "Looks like I'm a little out of practice,” the Ponygoyle grumbled to herself. “I shouldn't have missed that one…” "LOOK OUT!!" She was immediately brought out of her thoughts when she heard the pink Ponygoyle’s scream. She looked up just in time to avoid another swirling red vortex. The vortex immediately collided with the stone she'd slashed, causing an explosion that sent several chunks of debris falling towards the street below. 'Well, that's going to come back to bite me...' Fancy Pants thought to himself as he watched the battle from above. "Hey, watch it, Twilight! You could've hit me!" the rainbow-maned one shouted at her friend… only to notice the insane look in her eyes. The realization then dawned upon her: Twilight had aimed at her! "Oh, no... not again... GIRLS! SHE'S USING THAT MAGIC!!" Almost instantaneously, the tone of the fight shifted. Every one of the Ponygoyles completely ignored whoever they were fighting and made a mad dash towards their leader and friend. The first one to get close enough was the cyan Ponygoyle, quickly wrapping her arms around Twilight’s waist from behind. "Snap out of it, Twilight! Don’t you remember what happened the last time you did this?!" she screamed, hoping to get through to her friend. Sadly, her attempts proved fruitless as Twilight easily levitated her off and tossed her into a brick wall. "Owww..." The yellow Ponygoyle, who'd opted to stay hidden the moment the fight had started, peeked out from her hiding place in one of the towers, her eyes wide in horror at the sight of her friend’s actions. "Oh, no... not again..." she whimpered, tears erupting from her eyes. Fancy Pants wasn't exactly happy about the turn of events either, but all he could do was stare in slack-jawed awe and terror as Twilight’s power began to overwhelm his magical senses, his horn tingling in response to the sheer ferocity she bore. “Incredible,” he whispered to himself, completely unaware of how badly his hands were trembling. With the rainbow-maned Ponygoyle out of the way, Twilight turned her attention to the soldiers, all of whom had their weapons aimed at her. Despite having all their guns trained on this one creature, her immense presence was enough to make the hardened soldiers shake in their boots, the barrels of their weapons rattling in their hands. “I can taste your fear…” Twilight said with a malicious smile, her eyes glowing unnervingly. “And it tastes… so… good…” The soldiers immediately fired upon the lavender Ponygoyle, some screaming as the hail of bullets stormed at her, only to stop barely an inch from her skin. "Your weapons are impressive..." Twilight mused as she levitated the bullets in midair before aiming them back at her opponents. "...but your skills are… less so." She snapped, and with but a flick of her wrist, the bullets went flying back at the ones who’d fired them. Their armor deflected many of the projectiles, but that didn’t save an unfortunate few who took a number to their faces, killing them instantly. Up above, the two figures watched intently. “This feels... vaguely familiar…” The shorter one commented uneasily, taking a hesitant step back. The taller figure however, seemed more interested than afraid. “Such destructive power... even after a thousand years, you haven't lost your edge…” "Twilight, STOP!" the white Ponygoyle cried out as she darted in front of her with a diamond-shaped shield surrounding her, "You need to calm down!" she screamed as some of the bullets deflected harmlessly of her shield. "If you don't—" "SILENCE!!" Twilight screamed, releasing bolts of red lighting from her claws, the white Ponygoyle just barely holding them off. "They are invading our castle, our very home, the only thing we have left in this world!" With one final roar, her lightning burst through the shield. The orange Ponygoyle rushed forward to move her white sister out of harm's way and towards their cyan sibling. The yellow Ponygoyle bounced back and forth behind Twilight, muttering. “Oh, no, oh, no, oh, no!” over and over again with her claws in her mouth. Twilight ignored them all, focused entirely upon her beaten foes. The ponies who had survived her last attack were either checking their unmoving allies or picking up their firearms for another round. “Stop, Twilight!!” the rainbow-maned Ponygoyle screamed as she tackled her from behind, but Twilight remained standing. ‘Crud, this won’t work’ she realized. Then the cyan Ponygoyle looked up and found herself gazing into Twilight’s eyes. “Twilight, please. You’re gonna-” The lavender Ponygoyle held her gaze on her sister. “Don’t interfere!” she roared, her rage barely contained in her tone. With a casual flick of her leg and tail, Twilight launched the cyan Ponygoyle into the wall beside her yellow sister. “Oh, my goodness!” she squeaked as she leaned down to tend to her sister. “Are you all right?” “I feel like I got used as a dragon’s chew-toy!” she groaned in pain as she tried to stand up. “...not as bad as last time, though...” Twilight ignored them and turned her glowing eyes on the invaders, for that is what they were to her: invaders. “You come here, in your artificial dragon, blowing apart our home,” she growled in anger, as more blood-red magic swirled around her body. “You attack my sisters…” she continued, two orbs of crackling energy.appearing in her claws. “And now… you will all suffer!!” she screamed as she raised both claws, ready to obliterate everyone that stood in her way— “HEY TWILIGHT!” Twilight’s attention was drawn from her targets and to the pink Ponygoyle, who’d somehow gotten within arm’s length of her while munching on... something. “Hey, Twilight! I was just playing around with that blue pegasus guy, but then I got thrown into this really cold part of the castle and it had so much raw meat and—WOAH!” she yelped as she beheld the storm of magic above their heads. Her expression became serious, which still looked silly with the piece of meat sticking out of her mouth. “Oh, you silly, you’re all angry again!” “Stay out my way!” Twilight roared, feeling her magic heating the air around them. “You need to let it out!” the pink Ponygoyle insisted, slurping up the last of the meat. “I know! How about a game of PPP? That always loosens you up whenever you get stressed!” She giggled and bounced out of the way just as Twilight lunged at her, the purple Ponygoyle using one claw to hold up her magic funnel. “Stop it!” Twilight yelled, her voice less angry and more irritated. “I will not be made a mockery of—” *SMACK!* Whatever she was about to say was silenced when the pink one threw a slab of meat her, hitting right in the face. “C’mon, Twilight!” she squealed, skipping off in the direction of the ponies, who were watching the unique sight unfold with unbelievable confusion. “What in Equestria is she doing?” Fancy Pants asked, appearing beside the other Ponygoyles and startling the yellow one. “I really wish I knew...” the white Ponygoyle admitted. “Our sister has been like this since she first hatched; buoyant and excitable, not unlike a hyperactive foal.” They weren’t the only ones baffled by this spectacle. The remaining soldiers and Wonderbolts could only gawk as the pink Ponygoyle backflipped away from her lavender sibling. Then confusion turned to panic as the pink Ponygoyle bounded in front of them. ”Okie dokie lokie, Twilight. Let’s play Pink Ponygoyle Pursuit!” “Augh! PINKIEEEEEEEEEEEEE!” Twilight slashed through the air and ribbons of red magic leapt from her accumulation and sped after the pink Ponygoyle, only for her to dodge out of the way. The magic blades shot towards the pony invaders, and they all dove aside, letting the dangerous blades explode against the castle walls. The orange pegasus climbed to her feet and was about the fire her weapon when she heard her partner groan as he pulled himself out of a hole in the ground. “Ow… man that girl can punch...” he mumbled as he nursed his jaw. “What’d I miss, Spitfire?” “What you missed is the purple monster almost blasting us all to kingdom come!” the pegasus ranted as she grabbed her partner and took to the air. “I think our enemies are having a falling out amongst themselves, Soarin. It’s time we got the goods and got the hell out of here.” “Those things have kept us busy,” Soarin muttered apologetically. “We haven’t had much time to search the place.” “Well then, use this nonsense as a distraction and get searching!” Spitfire commanded before flying off towards one of the turrets. Soarin saluted smartly and ran towards one of the doorways. “Yes, ma’am!” “Try and catch me!” the pink Ponygoyle taunted as she dodged another blast of crimson magic, which narrowly missed her. As before, the attack continued towards the castles, this time just barely missing Soarin, and crashed against the wall, sending bricks and rubble flying everywhere. “Okay, that was way too close!” Soarin panted as he turned his attention back to the door, only to notice a glimmer of light emitting from where the Ponygoyle’s magic had impacted against the wall. The Wonderbolt soared through the crack to inspect the strange light… and found himself inside a metal room. “What do we have here?” Closer inspection revealed the walls to be rather thick. As Soarin continued through the room, he noticed several glass cases, each one holding either ancient-looking artifacts or high-tech devices. “Well, well, seems like this’ll be easier than I thought,” he mused as he passed a few cases, one holding an odd-looking staff that resembled a tuning fork and another holding a golden triangle-shaped necklace. However, after a few minutes of searching, he found the very object that they had sought to retrieve. "Bingo!" Back outside the battle (if it could even be called that at this point; it was more like a game of tag) continued as the pink Ponygoyle dodged every blast that Twilight threw at her, either by ducking, bouncing off the walls, or simply throwing off her aim by chucking a slab of meat at her face (where she was hiding so many slabs was anyone's guess). "JUST HOLD STILL ALREADY!" Twilight screamed as continued her onslaught of energy blasts, her attention having shifted from the invaders themselves to her sister. "Aww, come on!" the pink Ponygoyle giggled as she munched on another slab of meat. "What's the point of this game if I just let you catch me?" She quickly took to the air to avoid another blast. "Honestly, Twily, I thought you were smarter than that!" "SHUT UP!" Twilight snapped before clasping her claws together, Pinkie barely had time react as she was enveloped by Twilight's magic and yanked out of the air. “That’s our cue!” the orange Ponygoyle shouted as she flew towards her lavender sister. “Grab her, QUICK!” She put her arms under Twilight’s armpits before moving them up over her shoulder, restraining her arms and wings from behind. “How dare you!?” Twilight yelled as she struggled to break free. “Unhand me at once!” Her claws began to glow with a sinister red aura… only for them to be encased in diamond-shaped shields, just barely hindering her own magic. “I’ve got her!” the white one shouted as she focused hard, trying her best to surpasse Twilight’s magic, “But it won’t hold her back for long!” She turned to the yellow Ponygoyle. “We need you to use your special talent, sister!” she explained as she winced in pain, beads of sweat rolling down her face as Twilight’s struggled to break free, becoming more violent by the second. “Hurry, while we can still hold her back!” Fancy Pants raised a brow as he watched the shivering Ponygoyle, wondering if he’d heard right, that this girl, the most timid of the bunch, had a special talent that surpassed the rampaging purple Ponygoyle. The yellow Ponygoyle’s eyes widened upon realising what her white sister was implying. “B-b-but I… I only use that when—” “It‘s ‘when’ right now!” the cyan Ponygoyle shouted as she grabbed her and flew towards Twilight, who was on the verge of breaking the white one’s shields. “We have to stop her now before she blows up the whole castle!” They landed in front of Twilight, who vainly tried to kick them away as they approached, only for the cyan one to grab her legs. “Traitors! I’m protecting the castle, the one thing we have left from our time! I am the only thing standing between these invaders and our home!” Twilight screamed as she continued to thrash in the orange one’s grip. “No, Twilight...” The yellow Ponygoyle gently placed her claws on the purple one’s shoulders. “You’re angry and confused. We’re your sisters. We can help you,  just as we did before. But first you must let us...” She gazed right into Twilight’s burning eyes. “Please, forgive me. I never wanted to use this on you, my sister….” she whispered as her eyes glowed blood red, causing Twilight to stop moving almost immediately, her eyes locked onto the yellow one’s, unable to look away. “N-no! Not again! I won’t fall to your gaze again!” Twilight screamed as she tried to close her eyes… only for the pink Ponygoyle to pop up behind her blonde sister and grab Twilight’s head, using her claws to hold her eyes open. “Ah-ah-ahhh! No closing your eyes, Twily!” the pink Ponygoyle teased as the yellow one’s gaze took hold of her mind. Twilight groaned as her thrashing became weaker, her crimson magic slowly returning to it natural purple color, and her eyes finally going back to normal. Soon, all of Twilight’s movement’s ceased, and her eyes closed as she fell unconscious. “Whew! Finally.” the orange one said as she and her sisters let Twilight go, letting the purple Ponygoyle fall into the yellow one’s embrace. “Never thought we’d have to go through that again.” ‘“Again”? This has happened before?!’ Fancy Pants thought as he approached the group. ‘What possibly could have triggered such a rampage like this in the past…?’ The cyan Ponygoyle breathed a sigh of relief as she wiped the sweat from her forehead, but she quickly spread her feathery wings with a serious look on her face. “Don’t start celebrating too soon. We still have these guys to take care of!” she stated, pointing at the soldiers, some of which aimed their weapons at the group while the others were carrying their wounded or deceased comrades back to the helicopter. “They’re getting away!” Fancy Pants exclaimed. “Get to da choppa!” the pink one called out as climbed up the wall and leapt up towards them, ready for round two. The invaders saw the Ponygoyle approaching. “Oh, no you don’t!” Spitfire shouted as she darted right in her path, throwing a punch at the pink creature, only for the elusive Ponygoyle to counter it. “Nice try, but you’re gonna have to be faster than that to catch—” “REVENGE SHOT!” Before the pink Ponygoyle could continue to taunt her, Soarin flew up from behind her and drop-kicked her into the rubble. Seeing their chance, the soldiers quickly threw several smoke grenades at the other Ponygoyles and boarded the helicopter. “AGH!” The pink one pulled herself out of the rubble. “That was a cheap shot!” she complained as she shook her head, sending several rocks and pieces of junk flying out of her mane. Fancy Pants glared at the retreating chopper, then turned his attention to the giant hole in the castle wall. The very one leading to his vault. “Well, that’s not good...” “So how’d that feel?” the orange-maned pegasus smirked as the helicopter took off into the sky. “It felt awesome!!” he shouted. “Glad to hear it,” Spitfire deadpanned as they flew off. “You got what we came for, right?” “Oh, yeah! It was pretty easy to find.” Soarin held up a small suitcase. “You sure this thing is as powerful as our client says it is?” “Considering how much they’re paying us,” she said as the skyscraper became smaller and smaller behind them, “let’s hope it is.” Up above, the shorter figure breathed a sigh of relief. “Finally, it’s over.” The taller figure simply smirked. “Indeed. Now then…” She turned around as blue light swirled around their bodies. “It’s time for us to fulfill our role…” And with those words, the two vanished, but not before the short one shot a longing glance at the white Ponygoyle...