Spitfire’s eyes cracked open, revealing a world of blurring light onto her conscious. A soft groan echoed from her voice and she blinked. The details of the world sharpened around her; a sheet of white linen covered her body up towards the central point and her right front leg is littered with a potpourri of medical monitors, bandages and a needle that carried clear liquids into her body. Her ears picked up the beats of the heart monitor.
She turned to her right and saw not just one occupant in a chair, but four occupants in four chairs. A gasp of happiness shared itself between Mono, Lith, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash. The four operatives stood out of their chairs and approached Spitfire with smiles aching to witness their commander.
“Commander! You’re finally awake!” Rainbow Dash called out.
“‘Finally’ huh? How long was I out for?” Rubbing her left eye with her left hoof in a soft speed, Spitfire asked.
“You were comatose for about two weeks.” Lith answered.
Hearing her words, Spitfire’s back jolted upwards and her eyes shot open. She brought both of her front hooves to her eyes and rubbed them with disbelief.
“It couldn’t have been two weeks. I remember fainting at the docking bay an hour ago!” She called out.
“That was two weeks ago. There was a bit of a panic in the bay when you collapsed onto the ground, but the doctors managed to rush you to the medical ward in the base and managed to snag a heartbeat and stabilize your vitals.” Mono explained.
Spitfire glanced upon Mono’s face and saw a crestfallen frown upon his down head. His erratic breathing brought forth a wave of worry around her.
“Mono… are you alright? You look almost as if you wanted to cry.” Spitfire asked with a tender tone.
“Commander, you were in critical condition when you came here. The doctors gave you a grim prognosis. The fact that you are still alive now is a miracle!” Lith stated with a breaking voice. “You could have easily died! We were all worried about you. Each set of four operatives took turns watching over you every hour while you were comatose.”
The back of Spitfire’s neck tingled with regret. Her chest became heavy with regret. A frown appeared on her face.
“Wow… you all were that worried about me? You all took time out of your busy schedule to watch over someone like me?” She uttered in a soft voice of disbelief.
“Of course we did! You are our role model! A motherly leader! Our commander! What makes you think you are anything less than that?!” Rainbow Dash shouted in a shocked tone.
“Indoor voice, Rainbow Dash.” With her right front hoof held out towards Rainbow Dash’s direction, Spitfire warned.
Rainbow Dash scowled and flashed her teeth in anger. She banged her left front hoof against the wall that Spitfire’s bed lined up against. She directed the flames of her eyes into Spitfire’s pupils. Spitfire’s breath is taken aback by Rainbow Dash’s impulsive actions.
“Indoor voice nothing! I cannot think of anything less than what you are, Commander Spitfire! You’ve inspired me to become the war mare that I am today! You always taught me how a good operative should always be like. Everyone here looks up to you as more than just a war hero! You are a brilliant and loving leader who cares heavily for the new generation of operatives! You are the bravest Equusian I have ever got the privilege to even hear of! Now don’t even let me hear that you are anything less than that!”
The nerves of everyone in the room rendered themselves shocked from Rainbow Dash’s speech. They looked upon her with wary glances. Rainbow Dash shifted her head left and right and bore her teeth.
“Well someone had to say it! I will not let the Commander treat herself as anything less than what she is. I refuse to let her be that way!”
Spitfire looked down onto her blanket. Her expressionless face formed a small frown.
“I know. But, you have to know that I value all of my H.O.R.S.E. operatives over myself. I’ve already lived my glory days out, so I want the next generation to be able to do the same. It’s why I put my life on the line and made a gambit to save Fluttershy and the rest of her squad.
She pushed her back off the bed with her upper hooves. A burning spasm ran down her entire back. Her eyes jolted open and her teeth gritted upon instinct. Fluttershy held Spitfire’s shoulders with her upper hooves and laid her back onto her bed.
“No, Commander! You are still hurt from your injuries and you need to rest.” She called out.
“It doesn’t hurt that bad… trust me, Fluttershy.” Forcing a weak smile on her face, Spitfire responded.
“I wouldn’t be too sure of that, Commander. You are still very strong for your age, but your body isn’t what it was twenty-five years ago.” Lith stated.
Mono levitated a clipboard with a pile of papers clipped onto it and scanned through their contents. A low hum rumbled from his voice.
“You are going to be feeling those back spasms for a while, Commander. Whatever caused you to suffer those electrical-related injuries has left some indented scarring within your muscular system. On top of that, you just woke up after two weeks of lying in bed, so your body would be unadjusted to that pain.” He stated.
A small smile appeared on Spitfire’s face. A chuckle can be heard resonating from her mouth.
“What are you, Mono, a doctor?” She said with a lighthearted tone.
“Actually, I hope to become one someday. I’ve packed up on some medical knowledge over the years under Professor Pasque’s tutelage. Even if I am a scientist, I have some knowledge that would be useful for medical applications.” Mono answered.
Fluttershy frowned with an uneasy grit of her teeth and looked towards Mono, Lith and Rainbow Dash.
“Ummm… would you three mind leaving Commander Spitfire and I alone? I want to talk with her in private please.” She asked.
“Is it really important for us to leave, Fluttershy?” Rainbow Dash questioned with crossed front legs.
“Very. This is a matter that is on a need-to-know basis between the Commander and me. I’m sorry to say this and I hope you do not think differently about me asserting myself over this matter, but you three do not need to know this.”
Lith blinked twice in stunned silence upon hearing Fluttershy’s words. She rolled her eyes around before setting them on Rainbow Dash. She grabbed Rainbow Dash and Mono’s respective upper left and right limbs.
“Since you told us in a polite fashion, we will be happy to honor your request. Just let us know when you are done speaking.” She stated, dragging the two operatives out of the room.
“Great… I’m being dragged along the floor again.” Mono stated with a monotonous tone.
“Eh, you get used to it.” Shrugging her shoulders and shutting her eyes, Rainbow Dash responded.
Fluttershy focused her attention onto Spitfire and gazed into her eyes. A small frown formed on her face.
“What Electric-type move did you use, Commander?” She asked with a voice rising with stern concern.
“A bit late for that, don’t you think?” Raising her eyebrow in impatience, Spitfire responded. Fluttershy stomped her left front hoof into the ground and flashed a drilling stare into Spitfire’s eyes. Spitfire blinked and shook her head. “It was Wild Charge, okay?!”
“W-Wild Charge?” Fluttershy stuttered out. She placed her hoof onto her chin and shut her eyes. Feeling a spark of epiphany light up her mind, her eyes opened with a sad glint of light flashing within them. “I know that move. It’s a powerful move, but the resulting electricity built up for the assault damages the user in the process. Do you realize that-“
“I could have died? Yeah? I’ve told myself many times.” Spitfire snapped back. “I am perfectly aware of my condition and how Wild Charge is like taking two vials of poison. But you know what? I would gladly do it again if it means getting to see my happy and healthy operatives.”
Fluttershy stuttered underneath the pressure of Spitfire’s blunt honesty. Her right front leg itched with anxiety.
“I’m sorry I even asked, Commander.” She said.
Spitfire grinned and sat up on her bed. Despite her back screaming to drop back into the bed, she reached her right front hoof out towards Fluttershy’s shoulder and patted it.
“You don’t have to be. You were just worried about my health and condition. If it wasn’t for your concern for others, we would have lost lives out in the battlefield two weeks ago.” She leaned her head towards Fluttershy and brought her hoof within the space between the two pegasi. “Get Rainbow Dash in here right now. That is an order.”
Twilight Sparkle stood before Spitfire’s desk and a chair whose back is shown towards them. Standing by her side are Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy. Fluttershy stood in place, flashing a smile of esoteric knowledge while the other ponies stood with their eyes looking upwards in confusion.
“How odd… why is it that Commander Spitfire called us all into her quarters when she is still in the infirmary?” Rarity questioned.
“Didn’t the doctors say that she ain’t in any condition to move? And if she brought us here, then where’s Rainbow Dash?” Applejack asked with a tone ripe with irritation.
Discord appeared within the round-up of operatives in a veil of smoke. His eyes lit up with annoyance.
“She brought me here for some reason, and she definitely sounded very adamant about wanting me to be here. What could she possibly want with the Spirit of Chaos?!” He shouted in an aggravated tone.
“I am not too sure, but it probably has to do with also bringing Gnasher and Valet in here as well.” Twilight Sparkle whispered, pointing to the two Krookodiles with subtle movements of her hoof.
“This is seriously pissing me off. I don’t have time to be in here waiting for some blowhard to show up.” Valet groaned out with a vitriolic tone.
Gnasher rolled her eyes away from Valet in frustration.
“One thing I’ve learned from Mono is that complaining will get you nowhere when it doesn’t have a point.”
Pinkie Pie shut her eyes, raised her chin and brought a wide smile onto her face.
“Well, I’m happy that we are all just together. Now the only thing that matters is trying to find where Dashie is.”
Spitfire’s chair spasmed towards the glass window. It turned around, revealing a distraught and embarrassed Rainbow Dash. Pinkie Pie grinned and leaped towards her direction. She wrapped Rainbow Dash in a body crushing hug.
“There you are, Dashie! We were all worried about you!” She commented.
“It’s nice to see you too, Pinkie.” Rainbow Dash uttered out of her squished lungs. “Ummm… could you please lighten up your hug and not call me ‘Dashie’?”
Pinkie Pie dropped her grip on stood on all fours. A sheepish smile came upon her face.
“Hehe, sorry. Sometimes, I don’t know my own strength.”
“Rainbow Dash, what are you doing sitting in Commander Spitfire’s seat?” Twilight Sparkle questioned with a stern and corrective voice.
Rainbow Dash hovered above the seat and looked onto everyone in the room with shut eyes, a prideful smile and her chest puffed out.
“While the Commander is recovering, she made me the temporary commander of H.O.R.S.E.!”
Discord brought his eagle’s talon to his lower lip and hummed with a dissatisfactory gaze on his face.
“She made you the temporary commander over H.O.R.S.E. operations? Somehow, I doubt the legitimacy of that comment. Could you perhaps cite your sources?” Whirling his lion’s paw with enquiry behavior, he asked.
A hologram of Spitfire’s face appeared over her desk and directed a stare direct into Discord’s eyes.
“I can personally attest to that, Discord. I made Rainbow Dash commander while I am recovering. You don’t have to like it, but you still have to give her the respect that you would give me.” She stated.
Valet stuttered in disbelief and held out his two clawed appendages forward with an open mouth.
“That’s such complete and utter bullshit! I only agreed to even being here because Joker ordered me to do so, but I draw the line at having a complete airhead of a loser be my boss!”
Rainbow Dash clenched her teeth and flashed a scornful stare towards Valet’s direction. Valet gazed at Rainbow Dash and crooked his eyes with apathy. Gnasher threw an uppercut underneath Valet’s massive jaw. The strike threw him into the air and tossed him on the floor with a loud thud. Rainbow Dash flashed a smile and nodded with an approving gesture.
“It’s an unusual change, but I’ll give it a chance. I’m curious as to why you gathered all of us together though.” Gnasher stated.
Valet stood up from the ground and looked into Gnasher’s eyes. Hidden from the eyes of everyone, a coy smile cracked upon his Krookodile mouth.
“So, allow me to explain myself; I am injured and am in no shape to be the commander of this organization at this moment. Rainbow Dash may look incompetent at first glance, but she is one of the most skilled operatives that H.O.R.S.E. has to offer. Therefore, I put her in charge of all operations until I have fully recovered and gained back my strength.” Spitfire explained.
“Well, that explains why Rainbow Dash is the commander, but that still doesn’t explain why we are all here.” Twilight Sparkle said with an inquiring tone.
Rainbow Dash flew down to Twilight Sparkle’s eye level and flashed a confident smile.
“Simple; we have a mission that requires your individual skills. I’ll also happen to be coming along this mission as well.” She said with a tone resonating with perky energy.
“Well, what mission is that?” Shrugging his shoulders with a mix of confusion and annoyance, Discord asked.
Rainbow Dash pressed a button on the table, bringing forth a large map with sonar waves echoing from the center. A red dot flashed in a large landmass underneath the Twiluminescent Jungle continent.
“Our sonars have picked up some insane activity originating from the Desert of Forgotten Souls continent. From Commander Spitfire’s expert point of view, we could be detecting a Pokémon here.” Rainbow Dash explained.
“A new Pokémon? Who could it ever be?!” Pinkie Pie asked.
Discord narrowed his eyes and his mouth crooked itself into an upset frown.
“Oh give me a break. You took me out of my own mini dimension just to help you all look for a Pokémon? Do you honestly need me to help you out?” He reasoned.
Rainbow Dash let out a gust of impatient breath from her mouth. With her right front hoof, she slammed a blue button near the edge of the table. A blue dot resonated right next to the red dot on the map.
“I had a tracker placed on Screwball for a while and her signal is acting up hard in that area. Wherever she is, she is right next to that Pokémon we are looking for.” She explained with a cut and dry tone.
Discord’s eyes lit up with joy and a grin cracked on his face. All of the orifices on his head leaked out with yellow hope. He teleported right in front of Rainbow Dash and snagged his upper limbs onto her shoulders. He shook her with a fast and strenuous tempo.
“Screwball is there?! Of course I’ll join you silly ponies and Pokémon on your mission!”
“T-T-That’s g-g-great D-D-D-Discord. C-C-Can you p-p-please st-t-top shak-k-king me now?” Rainbow Dash responded with a blurred voice.
Discord’s movement ceased within his tracks. He lowered Rainbow Dash onto all fours standing and pat her mane.
“I had to get that out.” He responded.
Spitfire cleared her throat and lured everyone’s attention to her.
“Since everyone in here but Discord has never been into the Desert of Forgotten Souls continent, I’ll let a guest I’ve asked for appear before you to tell you about it. Some of you may know her, but she will be tagging along with you as a teammate.”
Upon the declaration of her words, a brown-robed hooded quadruped walked into the room. The air around her hooves filled with a thick mist at her mere presence. Twilight Sparkle gazed into the darkness behind the gap in the hood with a morbid sense of curiosity veiling her mind. Spitfire narrowed her eyes in annoyance.
“Alright, Zecora; you can cut the act now.”
Zecora flipped her hood, revealing her visage to everyone in the room. Gnasher’s eyes raised with enlightened epiphany.
“Heeeeey, aren’t you that zebra we met in the Everfree Forest a few months back?” She asked.
“So we meet again, young alligator. You have not changed much, fierce gladiator.” Zecora responded with a keen smile.
Fluttershy hovered towards Zecora and hugged her by her neck.
“Oh it’s so good to see you alive and well, Zecora!” She sang out with a chipper tone.
“It is nice to see you too, Fluttershy. Is your hidden power still on standby?”
Twilight Sparkle’s ears jolted to their tips upon hearing Zecora’s words. Fluttershy turned away from Zecora and hid behind her mane. Zecora laughed and patted Fluttershy’s shoulder.
“I am merely jesting with you. You do not need to feel so blue.”
“Ummm… right.”
Spitfire cleared her throat and pounded her chest with her right front hoof. She set her glare on Zecora.
“I did not bring you here to make light chat with my operatives, Zecora. I brought you here to fill in the blanks I left and guide them to their destination.”
A sad sigh let itself out of Zecora’s mouth. She faced the operatives and smiled.
“I apologize for getting off-topic Commander Spitfire. I will give the details in a way so that they do not tire.”
“I will hold you onto that. In the meantime, I am going to see if I can start moving again.”
Finishing her communication with these words, the hologram of Spitfire vanished back into the table. Zecora brought all of her focus onto the operatives. Each of them looked at her with curious glints in their eyes.
“So what exactly is the Desert of Forgotten Souls continent? Why does it even have a ludicrous name like that?” Gnasher asked.
Zecora pointed onto the marked continent on the hologram. The map zoomed in onto the location and colored the continent with a hazy yellow-brown color.
“The Desert of Forgotten Souls continent used to be my ancestral homeland. Unfortunately, it was ravaged and the aliens changed it with their black hand. Now it is but a land of death that houses the deceased of my kind. No one would dare venture there even if there were rich treasures to find. The spirits of the dead still haunt this realm. The strongest of hearts they can overwhelm.” She explained.
“Umm… pardon me Zecora, but you wouldn’t happen to be talking about ghosts right? Ghost-ghosts? The ones that spook and go bump in the night?” Applejack asked with a shrinking voice.
Zecora’s eyes fixated themselves into Applejack’s trembling ankles. Her ears picked up on her chattering teeth. She saw her chest breathe in and out at a quicker pace.
“Yes, I am talking about ghosts. They are always looking for hosts. They wish to be a part of the living, but their methods can be unforgiving. They will try to steal your body and drag your soul into the realm of unliving.”
Fluttershy’s pupils rolled out of regular view and she dropped onto the floor on the right side of her body. Rainbow Dash walked towards her with a wary frown on her face and poked Fluttershy’s left shoulder. No conscious response flashed from her body.
“Great job, Zecora, you scared Fluttershy to death with that story.”
“Wait! Don’t you dare end this scene yet!”
Fluttershy woke up at the sound of the crazed screaming. All of the operatives shifted their direction towards the source of the noise above. Joker broke through the ceiling and had his front side land on Spitfire’s table. A cloud of debris filled the air. Joker stood up from the table and dusted himself off. He looked towards the equine operatives, who looked at him with slacked jaws and wide eyes.
“S’up, Joker?” Valet responded in a casual tone.
Joker smiled and waved towards him.
“Doing good.” He said with a nod.
Discord walked towards him and shook his hand. A cold and narrow-eyed smile shined from his face.
“I have a good feeling about you. We will definitely be getting along.”
“Joker! What are you doing here?! I never invited you!” Rainbow Dash shouted with her front legs thrown into the air and a notable scowl over her eyes.
“You’ll need me, trust me. That, and Stag Prince felt that I would be perfect for this chapter.” Joker stated.
“…You are referring to ‘Bambi’, prince of the cervines we have in the city, right?” Rarity asked with a wary tone.
“Stag Prince is only my lord and creator. His collab with the author of this fic is the reason we are even here in the first place.” Joker responded.
Everyone in the room gazed at him in a deathly silence. Applejack looked towards Pinkie Pie and spun her right front hoof in the air around her temple. Pinkie Pie stood up from the ground and shrugged her shoulders with raised hooves. Twilight Sparkle’s right eye twitched at every second. A blood vein could burst in her head at any moment.
The group of operatives sat within padded benches of a black hull. Their ears whirred with the sounds of a rotating engine that came from above them. The motion of the vehicle’s descent rushed the blood of everyone onboard up their bodies. The large door towards the end of the hull opened, bringing forth a sharp light that flashed within everyone’s eyes. Everyone but Gnasher and Valet winced and averted their eyes from the light.
“It’s too bright!” Applejack complained.
Gnasher rolled her eyes and stood up from her seat. Stepping outside of the carrier, she felt the touch of smooth and grainy sand underneath her feet. The deep blue sky stretched beyond what the eye could see and without a cloud in sight.
The rest of the operatives disembarked from the plane. The blistering wave of heat became the first thing that their minds noted. Through the scope of the distance, their eyes viewed large plains of brown sand and patches of rough earth spotted amongst them. A small smirk folded itself over Valet’s mouth.
“Feels exactly like home.” He said. “I don’t know why you wimps all shielded your eyes from the sun.”
“Well, it’s because our eyes do not have membranes that shield them from intense sunlight like you and Gnasher do.” Twilight Sparkle retorted.
Joker and Discord walked out of the plane. The two of them are adorned in dark shades, floral-patterned button-up shirts and khaki shorts. Discord pulled out a parted coconut and sipped its liquid through a pink straw.
“It’s a good thing we brought our shades today, isn’t that right Joker?” Patting Joker’s right shoulder with his lion’s paw, Discord asked.
“Yep. I would’ve brought some more shades for everyone, but nobody asked.” Joker stated.
A frustrated sigh emerged from Rainbow Dash. She looked towards the ground and stomped onto it. Her coat radiated from the intense heat of the area. She glanced towards Fluttershy, where a string of dark brown beads wrapped around her head. Fluttershy’s teeth chattered with an uncontrollable motion.
“Fluttershy, what are those?!” Rainbow Dash questioned.
“Oh, these? Umm… well, these are prayer beads. As a trained priestess of Deus, I feel that it is important to bring these beads along with us on our journey here.” Fluttershy explained.
“Is this about the ghosts Zecora was talking about?! You know that it is just superstitious mumbo-jumbo that Zecora spouted to make this place feel more exotic, right?”
With an uneasy smile on her face, Applejack patted Rainbow Dash’s left shoulder.
“I wouldn’t bag on Fluttershy for bringing something very important with us. I mean, I hear that ghosts would love to drag us into the pits of Tartarus.”
“Not you too Applejack! We are supposed to be here on a mission. We aren’t going to be busting any ghosts.” Rainbow Dash stated with a voice seething in annoyance.
“Besides, if you see any ghosties, just do as my grandma taught me to do; just giggle at them!” Pinkie Pie advised.
Zecora took her first steps onto the land. She is adorned in her brown robes.
“My friends please cease in your bickering. The flames of ghosts are still flickering.” She stated.
“There are no such things as ghosts! It’s all a bunch of tales told by parents to get naughty foals to sleep in the night!” Rainbow Dash shouted.
“I know it is not in my place to say anything, Rainbow Dash, but this land is foreign to the both of us. We don’t know what will happen here, so it is best that we remained protected.” Holding her hoof onto Rainbow Dash’s right shoulder, Rarity stated.
“I guess you’re right. Even if I knew that this place would be hot, I didn’t think it would be this hot!”
“Oh right! That reminds me!”
Joker ran back inside of the plane. Everyone but Discord looked at each other with their heads cocked and eyes marked in curiosity. Joker ran outside and threw eight red robes into the sky. The robes floated towards each of the non-Pokémon operatives and fitted themselves onto their bodies. Rarity looked onto her body with her lips formed into a wary frown.
“These look a bit tacky. Exactly what are these?” She asked.
“Einstein finally managed to develop some protective gear by using the Fire-type matrix of the Pokémon genome. These will keep you cool and resist Fire-type and Ground-type attacks.” Joker explained.
“Wait a moment! Why wasn’t I told about any of this?!” Twilight Sparkle questioned.
“Well duh!” Holding his tongue out with his head cocked and eyes tilted towards the bottom, Joker taunted. “Because he just sent me these robes through a data transfer when he heard that we were going here.”
“But that still doesn’t make any sense! Professor Pasque said that this would take about a month to even begin developing this type of clothing.”
“Well how long did you think it took since that chapter when he made that claim? At least a month in real time. Now don’t give me attitude or else I am going to take those robes back and leave you suffering out in this heat!”
Twilight Sparkle shook her head in disbelief and mumbled an inaudible sentence of words.
The group walked along the blistering sands of the desert with their hoods over their heads. Rainbow Dash walked ahead of the group with a keen smile on her face. She hugged herself and turned around.
“I like wearing this robe! It’s comfy and easy to wear!” She said with a tone that exploded with euphoric delight.
“Now you see why I like my robes? It relieves me from the heat’s strobes.” Zecora said.
“So you mean you don’t wear that get-up just to be creepy and mysterious?” Applejack asked.
Zecora shut her eyes and shrugged her shoulders.
“That happens to be an added effect. I do not mean to be so indirect.” She stated.
Taking their next step through the desert, Pinkie Pie’s eyes picked up on three golden felines. Their large and muscular bodies radiated within the sunlight. They yawned, revealing their sharp and plentiful fangs. Three ethereal runes hovered behind each of their heads. Pinkie Pie leaped over the group, stood on her hind legs and held out her front legs in desistance.
“Stop!” She said.
“Stop? Why?” Gnasher responded with a hasty tone.
“There are three shiny panthera-type creatures up ahead. When they see us, they will maul us. Plus, they have some really powerful magic that only the most sporadic and unpredictable of living things can hope to avoid.” Pinkie Pie explained.
Twilight Sparkle’s horn flashed with a lavender color. A tablet materialized in front of her and levitated in spot. She treaded her hoof upon its screen and scrolled through various menus until an image of the creatures ahead appeared on display.
“I have a creature in my records here that is native to this region of the Desert of Forgotten Souls continent. Apparently, it is known as Deus’s Leopards. They work in packs, but are extremely territorial when it comes to outsiders.” She explained.
“Yeah! That’s them. That’s why we need Discord, Joker and I to take care of them.” Pinkie Pie said.
“Ummm, but I could probably communicate with them.” Fluttershy reasoned.
Joker smiled and pats Fluttershy’s head with his left hand.
“Silly Fluttershy; we know that you are more than capable of handling this situation yourself. Unfortunately, that’s going to bore the readers since they probably want to see some unpredictable actions and fighting going on in this chapter at this point. Because really, this chapter has gone on this long time without fighting.” He reasoned.
“See? Joker knows what he’s talking about. Now, let’s fight Deus’s Leopards!” Pinkie Pie stated.
From the black holsters on her flanks, she pulled out two red and pink guns with a twirl. Approaching the leopards with silent steps, she walked towards her left and kept her eyes on them. At the moment the eyes of the leopards met with Pinkie Pie’s eyes, she faced the beasts and strafed to her left.
Two streams of bullets fired from her guns towards the leopards. A numerous number of runes lit up on the ground underneath Pinkie Pie, Discord and Joker. Discord tore apart a gap of air and fled into a swirling purple portal. Pinkie Pie’s guns retracted themselves onto her hooves and formed gauntlets. She lowered herself on all fours and spun herself through the sand. Joker stayed in place with a smile on his face.
The runes exploded into pillars of light that ate away at the entire battlefield. The signaling lights burned away the visions of Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, Applejack and Zecora. They shut their eyes and directed their heads away from the lights. When the lights faded away, the three combating operatives stood in front of Deus’s Leopards with no signs of damage on their body. A bored yawn escaped from Joker’s mouth.
“That flashy light show was supposed to destroy us? I barely had to do anything.” He taunted.
“Good thing these Volcanic Guns come with Dig!” Pinkie Pie commented.
“I’ve seen these creatures before. But, your parents must have raised a bunch of losers if you can’t even hit one of us.” Discord teased.
Each of the leopards leered and growled towards the battling squad. Pinkie Pie stood up on her hind legs once more. Her gauntlets formed back into her guns. Joker pulled out a red boxing glove on a spring-loaded launcher. Discord snapped his eagle’s talons. A purple and brown minigun materialized within his upper limbs. Its barrels in its back crackled with purple lightning.
Pinkie Pie sprinted forwards towards the leopards and dove onto her backside and slid at the base of her tail. Defying the rules of physics, she twirled her guns and cross-aimed them towards two of the leopards to the side. She fired a burst of round towards them. The leopards lifted their paws towards their face and blocked a majority of the fire.
“She isn’t the one who you should be afraid of, stupid cats!” Standing on Pinkie Pie’s head with the boxing glove launcher in hand, Joker taunted.
He fired his boxing glove towards the face of the leopard to the right, knocking it onto its back. Discord appeared upon Joker’s head with the minigun aimed towards the leopard Pinkie Pie slid towards. A stream of lightning and bullets burst out of each of the barrels and struck the leopard in front at a disabling pace. Pinkie Pie’s right gun formed into a gauntlet. It cloaked itself in an aura of fire.
Discord warped off of Joker’s head and Joker hopped behind Pinkie Pie. Pinkie Pie leaped into the air above the Deus’s Leopard in front of her. She thrust her flaming hoof into the face of the leopard and knocked it flying into the air. Discord aimed his minigun towards the Deus’s Leopard to his left and flashed a narrow-eyed smirk towards its direction. The Deus’s Leopard’s eyes widened and ran off.
“Well, that takes care of that.” Dusting his hands off of each other, Joker stated. He put his boxing glove launcher back into his pocket protector.
Pinkie Pie turned her sight towards her teammates not involved in the fight. Their jaws slacked to the left and dropped down to the ground. Their eyes flashed with mesmerized shock.
“What? They were only in our way.” Pinkie Pie reasoned.
“I will never… ever make fun of her again.” Gnasher said with her voice stunned in shock.
“Some of those movements were impossible! Just…” Twilight Sparkle uttered out.
“And you are surprised that the most unpredictable members of our team can do that?” Discord chided.
The leopard punched out by Joker’s got back onto its feet. It approached behind Pinkie Pie, Discord and Joker with its lips growling in ferocity. Pinkie Pie’s body froze upon itself. She edged her sight towards her back and the leopard. Her face became covered with a sheepish smile and she waved with her right front hoof. Valet rolled his eyes.
“I’ve had enough of this already.”
Saying these words, he ran towards the Deus’s Leopard. The leopard raised its right paw high in the sky and glared down towards Pinkie Pie. With its paw falling towards her, Valet grabbed the paw with both of his claws and held it tight in his grip. He somersaulted over the leopard and threw it beyond the limit of the sky. Landing on his feet, he dusted off his hands and an arrogant smile appeared on his face. Pinkie Pie grinned and ran towards Valet. She squeezed his chest with a powerful hug.
“Wow Valet! That was an awesome move!” She shouted.
“T-that’s good and all, but please stop hugging me.” Hearing some of his bones crack from the sheer force of Pinkie Pie’s hug, Valet groaned out.
Pinkie Pie released her hug, leaving Valet to shake off his body. Within that moment, a fierce tremor echoed from below the sands. The tremor knocked Fluttershy’s face into the sand. Within the distance of several meters, a brown pillar shot out from the sands ahead. The pillar rose into a small and golden fixture. The structure continued to rise until a massive building formed out of gold held itself high above the sand. A wide smirk cracked over Zecora’s lips.
“Ummm… what exactly is that building?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“Do you not know what this area is? This is the tomb of fabled queen Isis!” Zecora proclaimed.
“You mean like the goddess Isis in ancient Saddle Arabian mythology?” Applejack asked.
Zecora and the others approached the large staircase the width of all the operatives combined. It reached out all the way towards the top of the building, where a small chasm rested upon that led into its depths. Many statues depicting sphinxes littered the cliffs of the opulent building.
“Her name’s origins are traced back to that very deity. Being able to see this fills me with spontaneity!” Zecora exclaimed.
“Wow… this entire place is a tomb?!” Twilight Sparkle shouted with awe flashing in her eyes. “How did your ancestral folk ever manage something like this?!”
“That I do not know. This is just for show. The inside is loaded with history, so let us delve into its mystery.”
Rainbow Dash looked down upon her watch. Her eyes widened at the sight of red and blue dots resonating from the area towards the north.
“Tomb or not, our mission objectives look like they are inside there.” She stated.
“Hold on Screwball! Daddy’s coming to get you!”
Shouting these words, Discord ran up the stairs towards the top. Rarity raised her right front hoof towards Discord.
“Stop! We should all go as a team!” She insisted.
She sprinted off towards Discord. With an upset groan, Rainbow Dash flew towards the top. Gnasher and Valet ran up the stairs, skipping large portions of them. Pinkie Pie leaped onto the smooth railing of the stairs and clambered up at running speed. Shaking her head, Twilight Sparkle’s horn flashed in its lavender color. She disappeared and reappeared at the top of the tomb before the chasm.
“Wait a second… why don’t I just warp in here? It’ll make finding our objectives easi-“
Before she can finish her words, the hoard of her teammates behind her crashed into each other and pushed them over the edge. Their hearts all plummeted into their stomachs upon looking into the infinite darkness of the chasm. A clamor of screams echoed out of the gap.