//------------------------------// // Chapter Three // Story: P.O.N.I.E.S. // by Kieva Lynn //------------------------------// Chapter Three Heatherfield Police Deputy Bill Varghness rode full-speed to the front of his assigned substation, dismounting even as his horse slowed to a stop. Rushing in through the front doors, he took little note of the unusually heavy amount of activity as he made his way to the Captain's office and barged in the door without even knocking. "Captain Davis? I think we may have a problem..." Varghness began. "You don't say?" Davis answered, "And what was your first hint? All the deputies out front in riot gear?" "The... what...?" Varghness looked out the office windows towards the front of the station. "Damn, I really was tunnel-visioning." Davis laughed. "I'll let it go this once, under the circumstances... Where have you been anyway? They've been calling you with no reply for an hour." Varghness blanched. He hadn't heard. "Sorry Captain. Though, I guess you're more likely to believe me now." "That you saw a ten-foot tall robot thing? Yeah." "Erm... Beggin' your pardon Captain but a what!?" "A ten... Hold on, if you didn't see one of these things then what's held you up?" "A pegasus sir." "A winged horse? You saw a winged horse?" "Given it's size, more like winged pony. But yes sir. It attacked me on horseback, yelling all sorts of crazy stuff about it being wrong to enslave equines as mounts." Varghness replied. "Now if I may ask, what's this about robots?" "At least three giant robots have been reported around town. One has been engaged by central division with heavy losses on thier part to no apparent damage to the machine. There was also a report from near the beach of a robot pursuing a teenage girl and an orange pony with a blonde mane and tail. No mention of it having wings though." The captain pulled the straps on his kevlar armor tight. "Suit up, we're heading to the beach to see what we can find." "Yes sir." Varghness answered. Given a choice, he'd prefer to stay away from the beach of course; he didn't want to run afoul of ponies or robots. But there was a job to do and, for better or for worse, he was on the roster to do it. They arrived at the beach half an hour later, and Varghness led the team to where he had last seen the pegasus. "It seemed to give up chasing me here Captain. I think it was getting tired." "And what exactly did it say to you?" Another deputy asked. "I dunno exactly, nutty stuff about equine slavery and an 'Anti-Steeding Act' or some such." "Captain!" Someone called out, over here!" Following the voice, the team of officers rounded a narrow horn of rock and found the aftermath of a battlefield. The remains of two of the robotic giants were there, along with a tangle of thick vines, and countless footprints in the sand. "Sir, have a look at this." Deputy Farris said, pointing, "We've got prints that are clearly the robots, and also a lot of hoof prints, apparently from two or three of the pony-things. But here, these are human prints... small, probably female." Davis noticed a particular set of the prints. "Right. And do you see here? One set of each type of prints coming in from the streets. Probably the ones that were reported, the girl and pony running from a robot." "So, what?" Varghness asked, "There was a robot already here, attacking the pegasus and maybe others, and these two came to help, dragging their own robot behind them?" Davis nodded. "That would be my guess. And then the girls and ponies... ...somehow... ...beat the robots and took off that way." He indicated a set of six overlapping trails, three human and three pony, heading away along the beach. Farris grimaced. "Maybe... But sir, that swat team downtown got their butts handed to them by just one of these things. How could..." "No idea." Davis admitted. A fourth deputy asked "Sir? Shall we follow this trail?" "It'll be a dead end. But go ahead." The deputy nodded and took two others and a police dog with her to trace where the fleeing girls and ponies had been going. Davis ordered those who stayed to examine and secure the site, which they did until the pursuit team returned. "You were right Captain. The trail goes dead three blocks north at Willow Creek. The dog couldn't even get a scent." "Figured as much." Davis sighed. "Okay, we'll have National Guard troops mobilizing soon. For now, let's just keep an eye out here..." XXXXX Three blocks north and two blocks west from the battle site, Will Vandom led the way down a narrow alley between two large apartment buildings. Hovering alongside the girl at shoulder height, Rainbow Dash asked "So, do we even have a plan beyond 'hide?'" "Actually, we don't even have a plan that far yet." Will replied, "I mean, it should be safe to hideout in my place for a little bit, but Mom will be home at some point later and she's not gonna miss noticing talking ponies." "Why don't we just tell your Mom then?" Applejack asked. "Lyin' to all of your folks don't sit right anyway." "Tell her!?" Will exclaimed. "I see no way that would end well." Taranee agreed. "It's crazy talk." Elyon confirmed. "Are you really sure about that?" Twilight asked. "I mean, I'm not the one with the Element of Honesty, that's A.J., but lying doesn't seem right to me either. And, what's the worst that could happen?" "Area Fifty-One? Dissection?" Taranee answered. "Really, you Ponies seem unusually trusting by human standards." "We don't like lying either." Elyon said, "But compared to the alternative..." "I still don't like it..." Applejack shook her head, "But I'll let it go... ...For now." "Good." Will said. "So, here we are." She jumped and pulled down the stairs for the back fire escape. "Wait here. I'll go in the front, make sure the coast is clear, then let you in this way." Leaving the others behind, she went around to the main doors, and ran up the stairs to the third floor apartment she shared with her Mother. As she eased the door open, Will called out "Mom? Mom you home?" But got no reply. Just in case, she quickly ran up and down the short hall, ensuring she was alone, and then opened the dining room window and climbed out onto the fire escape, waving the others up to join her. Rainbow arrived first, of course, having been able to simply fly up. Twilight and Applejack had troubles with the wide spacing of the ladder rungs, but with a bit of help also reached the window and climbed in, looking around the apartment with interest. Will closed the window behind them, and flopped down onto a large recliner. "*Whew!* We should be okay for two hours here." She said, "But I'm not pushing it past that." "Which means we have two hours to figure our where we can hide out safely." Twilight mused. Taranee had another question. "Will, are you sure we've even got the two hours? I mean, I know your Mom doesn't get off work for three normally, but what if she's been sent home early?" "She works a town over in Faddon Hills remember? There's nothing going on there. Heck, she might not even be able to get into town with the evacuation!" "I hope you can excuse a dumb question," Twilight asked, staring at the large living room television, "But why do you have a theater screen with no projector?" "Because this." Will said, grabbing the remote and pressing 'on.' Twilight fell back with a yelp as the device powered on. "What the...?" Regaining her footing, the unicorn walked all around the t.v., examining it from every angle. "This is amazing! I thought you didn't have magic here!" "We don't." Taranee said, "This is good old-fashioned technology." "Incredible." Twilight whispered. "Will, do we really wanna create pony couch potatoes?" Elyon asked. Will waved this off. "Don't worry, I'm just gonna look for the news, see what else is going on, be it pony or giant." Will began rapidly flipping through the channels, looking for local news. The ponies all watched as she flipped past comedies, soap operas, a horror film, Star Trek, and a number of commercials. "Whoa! Stop! Go back!" Rainbow suddenly exclaimed. Curious, Will did as the pegasus asked, stopping on an advertisement for a shrimp and lobster eatery. The three human girls looked at each other, all sharing the same thought: "How are we gonna explain that humans eat meat to herbivores?" Then Rainbow said "That looks tasty! Can we go there someday when we don't have to hide?" "Erm... Rainbow? The thing of it is..." Will began hesitantly, "I don't think that's something you would want to eat." "What? Why not?" Twilight asked. "It looks pretty good to me too." Elyon said "It's just that, well, different species eat different things, and that might not be good for a pony..." "Y'all are hiding somethin' big." Applejack said deadpan. "Why don't you just tell us?" "Yeah, it can't be that bad." Twilight agreed, "What is it anyway?" Unable to take it any longer, Will blurted out "Meat! Okay!? It's meat! Shrimp is meat! Humans eat meat! We're omnivores and we can't help it! It's how we're designed!" Twilight, Rainbow and Applejack looked at each other for several seconds, then fell over onto their backs laughing. "What's so funny!?" Taranee demanded. Wiping her eyes with her fore hooves, Twilight turned back over. "That's what you were afraid to tell us? Why?" "Well duh... You're ponies! Herbivores!" Elyon said. Twilight fixed the girls with a flat look and said "My last morning in Equestria, I had salmon and eggs for breakfast." "I have sardine smoothies every day as a part of my health regime!" Rainbow said. "Bacon's fine, long as y' get it from dumb pigs an' not the smart ones." Applejack said. "But... you're..." Will said. "I think we broke her." Rainbow laughed. "I should have seen this coming, shouldn't have I?" Taranee asked. Twilight nodded. "Obligate herbivores are rarely if ever intelligent. Sapience seems to be reserved for carnivores and omnivores, probably because large brains require so much energy that you can't justify them if all of your food just sits there, not running or hiding, or fighting back, not needing to be outwitted. In any case, meat is on the Equestrian menu, so long as in comes from a non-sapient." "I guess that's for the best." Elyon said, "It'll make supply issues easier." "Yeah, and I guess we should apologize for jumping to conclusions." Will agreed. "Actually that was kind of good... I mean, with everything else happening, I think we all needed a good laugh. So thanks." Twilight smiled. "Anytime!" Will laughed. "So, what's next?" "What's next," A voice all too familiar to Will said, "Is that you start explaining all of this to me..." "Mom!!" Will exclaimed, "W-What are you doing home this early!?" "What are you doing home at all in a city-wide evacuation!?" Susan Vandom demanded, "And what are they doing here!?" She glared hard at the trio of ponies. "I've heard the news, these things are dangerous!" "No! Mom, they've got it all wrong!" Susan breathed out a longsuffering sigh. "Alright... I'm listening. Start talking." Susan listened, often in disbelief, as teens and ponies took turns explaining as best they could. Finally she sat, rubbing her forehead. "Will, look... Maybe I believe you all. Maybe. But I'm your mother. I can't just stand by and allow you to be involved in this!" "Beggin' yer pardon Miss Susan," Applejack said, "But I'm not sure any of us have a choice... And, I say that as somepony who at least sorta knows what it must feel like to you; I'm not really a mother yet, but I might as well be t' my little sister since our folks passed." "Besides, if you think about it we're the ones who are in the most danger here." Rainbow added. "Away from our own world, most of our magic blocked, needing the magic from the books to be the only ones that can fight back!" "And," Twilight said, "Though I can't prove it yet, it stands to reason that the giants are connected, somehow, to whatever happened to Equestria..." "...Which could mean Earth is in danger now that they're showing up here." Susan finished. "Yeah, I see it... And you're right. But still..." "Mom, why don't we just take a day and think on it? I mean, we seem to be pretty safe here right now anyway, right?" "All right... I'll agree to that much for now." Susan said. "Great!" Rainbow cheered, "Now let's see what's in the 'fridge! I'm starving!" She flew straight for the window that opened between the living room and kitchen, but as she went she clipped the edge of the mysterious crystal that Taranee had left sitting on the counter. It fell towards the floor, Twilight, Applejack and Rainbow all shouting and jumping to grab it before it hit. All three touched the crystal, and a burst of pure white light shone momentarily all through the apartment. And when the glow faded, everyone was gone... XXXXX Getting out of an evacuated city undetected is never easy. Getting out of an evacuated city undetected while also smuggling out a pair of brightly colored alien ponies is nearly impossible. And getting out of an evacuated city undetected while also smuggling out a pair of brightly colored alien ponies one of whom is Pinkie Pie, well, yeah. Not happening. After much debate, Fluttershy had agreed to fly above the group, carefully tracking them as she winged from rooftop to rooftop. Pinkie Pie would hide inside the satchel Hay Lin had originally used to get Fluttershy to the zoo, the better to disguise her brightly colored coat. This left a disgruntled Irma to carry the pink party pony over her shoulder. Which wouldn't have been so bad, Pinkie was surprisingly light weight, but the talking, "Oh dear Lord the talking..." Irma thought. It seemed her new partner was incapable of being quiet for more than a couple of milliseconds at a time. "Hey get me! I'm a blind-bag!" "Eye holes! My kingdom for eye holes!" "When do we reach the border senior?" "Okay that last one was just wrong." Irma complained. "So sue me." Pinkie replied from inside the bag. "You could at least give me a running commentary on what's going on out there!" "You want commentary? All right, how's this: We're walking down a dark smelly alley. We're still walking down a dark smelly alley. Hey guess what? We're still in the same alley!" "Can you change the station please? This one's boring." "Grrrrrr...." "Will you two stop it!?" Hay Lin hissed. "We need to be quiet!" "Yes, I can hear you all the way up here!" Fluttershy added just loudly enough to be heard from her perch three stories up. Irma rolled her eyes as she sat the bag down and opened the drawstrings. She plucked an mp3 device from her belt, switched it on, and jammed the tiny speakers in Pinkie's ears before shoving the pony's head back down and reclosing the bag. "That oughta shut you up for awhile." And it did. Almost. Irma and Hay Lin could still hear the sounds of Pinkie singing along, but at least she was doing so under her breath. Two hours and several blocks further along, the girls took shelter when they heard a deep rumbling sound that grew louder and louder. Joined by Fluttershy, they knelt behind a large dumpster and to the sound of Pinkie's soft singing "...Just eat it! (Eat it) Eat it! (Eat it) If it's gettin' cold reheat it..." they watched as a convoy of National Guard troop transports rolled down Main Street, headed east into town. "I think maybe we're on a timer now." Irma said. "No way we get clear once those soldiers are on patrol." "How much further to the edge of town?" Fluttershy asked. "Hard to say exactly... I don't know how Pony towns are built, but ours tend to have lots of suburbs and in-fill around the edges." Irma answered. Hay Lin added "Yeah, it's probably just two or three blocks to the city edge on paper, but in reality..." Fluttershy stayed on the ground from this point; the buildings were too short, and too spread out, to make keeping to the roofs worth it any longer. As soon as the Guard transports were out of sight, they raced across Main Street and continued southeast between a filling station and a tavern, and scared a family of raccoons nesting under a cheap motel in the next block. Trouble eventually struck, as it usually does, without warning. By the time it happened, they were clear of Heatherfield proper, passing through a suburb called Goshen Heights. The group had become a bit less cautious after getting out of the city itself, but that was hardly to blame. After all, the Soldiers who they suddenly found themselves facing down had been well hidden, and quiet as death. There were four of them, wielding assault rifles, only revealing themselves when the group was out in the open, exactly half way across the street they were trying to clear. Hay Lin and Irma held their arms up, Fluttershy made a sound like "Eep" and hid behind Hay Lin, and Pinkie, well, Pinkie was still singing in the bag, so softly the troopers didn't hear her. "That's good! Keep those hands up!" One of the soldiers shouted. "And you! Yellow horse-thing! Get out here where I can keep a good eye on you!" "Oh-Okay..." Fluttershy whispered, nervously stepping out from behind Hay Lin. "What's in the bag girly?" Another soldier demanded of Irma. "Just some supplies." "Really?" The first soldier eyed the girl warily. He motioned with his gun. "Why don't you just put those 'supplies' down nice and easy on the ground?" Having no choice, Irma did as she was told. But, before the soldiers could give any more orders, there was a sudden blast of white light, and a stirring of the air, becoming a whirling vortex as another magic portal opened several blocks down in the middle of the street. As it swirled around and around, three new giants like the ones already defeated emerged, followed by a larger entity. This new creature looked bio-mechanical like the giants, but was shaped rather like a scorpion, and was easily the size of three or four full grown bull elephants. As Fluttershy and the girls stared at the new arrivals, as one of the soldiers radioed for help and the others divided attention back and forth between Pony and monsters, Pinkie decided to put in an appearance. Popping her head loose of the bag, she looked back and forth between soldiers and monsters, before looking at Irma and saying "Okay, see, this is the kind of thing that needs a commentary..." XXXXX Susan Vandom carefully pulled her hands away from shielding her eyes. The flash had been blindingly bright, but brief. She was relieved to see that everyone was unharmed. And alarmed to see that they were no longer in the apartment. Trees surrounded them on all sides, a thinly populated forest of birch and white ash with sparse ground cover underfoot and what looked like thick white fog at the edge of visibility in all directions. "What the hell?" She murmured. "Hey!" Rainbow Dash suddenly exclaimed, "I know this place! I recognize it! We're back in Equestria, this is Whitetail Woods!" "Dash I do reckon you're right." Applejack agreed. "But I thought you said your world had been destroyed or something." Taranee asked. "Yeah, that's what we saw... But this is Whitetail Woods." Twilight said. "Which means, however we got here, that Ponyville is this way!" Twilight turned and galloped away, only to come to a sudden stop when she reached the white fog, which proved to be a barrier of some type. "A forcefield?" Twilight wondered, "But who would put a forcefield over Whitetail?" "Ah, that would be me my dear." A nightmarish form swam into sight, serpentine and mismatched. "Discord!" The ponies exclaimed. Rainbow Dash flew up into the Draconequus' face. "What did you do!? Is all this your fault? Was the whole 'reformed' thing just an act!?" She demanded. Discord waved the pegasus down. "I'm still on your side, I promise. But yes, I did do this. It was the only way." He looked over the group. "Fluttershy isn't with you? That's too bad. But rest assured she is on the same world I sent you to." Twilight stepped forward. "Okay then Discord, we're listening... What. Happened?" "Well we were attacked of course. By what I can't tell you for the simple reason that even I don't know, though my lack of knowledge on the subject suggests that whatever it is comes not just from outside of our world or our dimension, but from beyond the limits of what we would consider reality." "Considering how broad your definition of reality is, that's downright terrifying." Twilight said. "You have no idea." the chaos spirit replied, incredibly somber for himself, "Don't judge this by the giant robots. Those are just pawns, and weak pawns at that; The real enemy here took on me, Tia, and Lulu simultaneously and barely flinched. This naturally caused an uproar among the trio of ponies. "What could do that!?" "How could it do that!?" "Are they alive?" At Twilight's question, Applejack and Rainbow Dash looked to Discord with apprehension. "They should be." He said after a moment. "That's where you six ending up on earth, and the shattering of Equestria you witnessed, come into play." "Was everything breaking it or you?" Rainbow asked. "Me. The enemy was winning. Tia was on her knees, Luna unconscious, and my power reserves were down by more than half. And I could tell, it wanted to destroy Equestria and kill every living creature... I mean, come on, even at my worst I wasn't that bad! Anywhy, I knew I had to do something. So I threw all the strength I had left into two spells: One to drive the enemy out of Equestria before it could do anymore damage, and one to gather up you Element Bearers and send you someplace where you'd maybe be able to get help." Taranee said "So, if I'm following this... Your world shattering was a side effect of the spell to push the bad guy out, and the crystal we found contained the piece of Equestria we're standing in right now." "And!" Twilight enthused, "All the rest of Equestria is still okay as well! It's just trapped in more of the crystals!" Discord nodded. "You have it." "But why would driving the enemy out break the world?" Will asked. Twilight answered "Probably because it's so big and powerful, in a sense, that the shards were too small for it to fit." "Most likely... Remember, I use chaos magic. Even I often don't know exactly how a spell will resolve until it does so." Discord shook his head. "I put massive power into a spell matrix and told it to 'push the bad thing out.' Shattering into twenty parts too small for it to fit is what it chose to do." "Twenty parts... So we've got nineteen more to find?" "And I suggest you hurry. The enemy's servants are seeking them too, after all." "Hold on a minute here though..." Applejack said. "It sounds like you expect us t' take on something that the princesses and you together weren't up to! How are we supposed to do that!?" "Yeah! I mean, you know I'm all for the heroic adventure angle... But 'Fight the thing that shrugs off Alicorns!?' We'll get creamed!" Rainbow agreed. "That's where strategy comes in, isn't it Discord?" Twilight asked. "Very good again. What the six of you need to do is gather as many world shards as you can. Each shard you recover and activate will restore another part of Equestria, parts that will begin to link together again when they happen to be adjacent to each other. Obviously, the Canterlot shard for the sisters, and the Crystal Empire shard for Cadance, are the most important. But each shard that has ponies in it will be a boon, as each pony represents another who might bond with a human partner and add their magic to the final battle." "And with luck," Twilight said, "You, three alicorns, the elements, and others, will be able to do what just you and two alicorns couldn't... Yes, I suppose it could work..." "I still have another question here." Elyon said. "What about all of the ponies who are trapped in these crystals? I can't imagine how scared they must be right now!" "And also," Susan said, "It sounds to me like ponies are supposed to be able to use their magic on their own... So what's up with the books and the 'human partner' thing?" "Don't worry for the sake of those still trapped. Until you find and enter a crystal, it's frozen in time inside. And as for the books-" Discord was interrupted as Taranee and Twilight both facepalm/favehooved and said "Ugh... I get it." "Either of you care to enlighten us?" Elyon asked. "He already told us." Twilight said. "Remember Discord's words earlier?" "His magic is chaotic and unpredictable by nature..." "...Even he can be surprised by what it does..." "...And in this case, it added a twist to just sending us to earth..." "...By binding each pony's magic to a book and a human partner..." "...Which is probably it's interpretation of..." "...Sending them to find help." Taranee finished, and jumped as her book lit up. "Okay, even I gotta admit, that was pretty cool for egghead stuff." Rainbow laughed. "Okay kids, time to go!" Discord announced, "You've all got work to do." "Yeah but go how?" Will asked, "We got here by accident!" "Easy-peasy my dear! To activate a crystal, simply have three or more ponies touch it with a hoof at the same time. Once it's been activated, any one of you can enter by touching it and wanting to come inside." "And how do we get back out?" Rainbow asked. Discord snapped his clawed fingers and glittering red shoes appeared on everyone's feet/back hooves. "Tap them together three times while repeating 'There's no place like home.'" Will stared at the Draconequus. "He's kidding right? Please tell me he's kidding." "No joke Auntie Em! Now get going before something nasty gets ahold of you, my pretty, and your little pony too!" Hesitantly, Twilight tapped the shoes together and vanished after the third click. The others shrugged and followed suit, finding themselves back in the Vandom apartment. "Well that was different..." Taranee said. "That's just Discord for you." Twilight said. "He is the spirit of chaos and randomness after all." "Yeah but let's focus on what matters!" Rainbow said, "You got your book working!" "True, but I think we shouldn't use it until we need it." Taranee mused. Susan laughed. "And what makes you think you'll get the chance? I'm still not liking Will or any of you girls being a part of this, and you know I'll have to tell your parents if you don't." "Oh don't worry, we'll tell them... If only because you won't give us a choice in the matter." "But, still, do we have a choice?" Will asked. "I wish I knew." Susan said. "I hate this- No offense to you ponies, I do believe you're as much the victims here as the girls- But... This is just gonna come to you if you don't go to it, isn't it?" "Most likely." Twilight agreed. Staring at the television that was still turned on, though muted, Applejack said "Eeyup... And I think maybe here it comes now..." Everyone gathered in close to watch the screen, which depicted a new vortex and an enormous scorpion like creature, while Will turned the volume back on. "...New incident in the Goshen Heights area," The newscaster, reporting from a helicopter, was saying, "Involving multiple entities like the ones which assaulted Heatherfield Police earlier today and a larger creature of unknown provenince. National Guard troops, armed with heavier weapons than the police, have succeeded in neutralizing the smaller beings, but reports indicate that even fifty-caliber automatic weapons are having no impact on the larger threat." The voice of a news anchor in the channel's studio was heard, asking, "David, am I correct in assuming that Goshen Heights has now been included in the evacuation?" "That's right Dan, though the suddenness of this attack has led to pandemonium on the streets below, we've even seen some teenagers out in the thick of it..." The camera panned down, to show... "Is that Hay Lin!? And Irma!?" "And look there! That's Fluttershy!" "Pinkie Pie!" Will's phone rang. "Cornelia!?" She exclaimed upon answering. "You're never gonna guess what's... I see, hang on..." She looked at Rainbow and asked "You know a "Rarity?'" At the widened eyes of all three ponies, WIll answered back to Cornelia "Tell her we've got Twilight, Applejack, and Rainbow here. What, giants? Yeah, seen 'em, but there's a bigger problem now..." She explained about the scorpion. "Okay, we'll see you there." "See her there?" Susan asked. "Will you had better not have just agreed to go marching into danger!" "Mom, I've got no choice. You know that." Susan nodded, shuddering with fear and concern. "Yeah, I... ...I know..." "Okay, so how far away is what we're seeing here? And in what direction?" Twilight asked. Elyon said "Northeast, about five miles." "Okay that's good." Twilight nodded, "If the book can restore enough of my power I think I can do it... Taranee? Can you activate the spell please?" Taranee nodded, opening her book and reading aloud, "Mystic Prodigy! Quantum Transposition!" With a blinding flash of violet light, Twilight gasped as she felt a portion of her magic return. "That's it! It's what I thought it had to be based on the name of the spell! I've got my ability to teleport back!" "Teleport!?" Susan asked. "Right. Now let's go!" Twilight declared, "Everyone in close to me!" Susan watched, still torn, as the three girls and their pony partners huddled close together, and vanished from sight in a flash of magical light... XXXXX The soldiers who were holding Irma, Hay Lin, and the ponies with them were too well trained to be distracted by the nearby battle. Even as other groups of soldiers arrived and engaged the giants, the original squad stayed focused on their captives. Automatic gunfire, roars, screams, even a massive explosion did nothing to break their concentration, and Irma grew afraid that her next stop would be some secret underground dissection bunker. But then, as the last of the giants fell the scorpion figured out that the soldiers couldn't hurt it like they could its lesser companions. Blowing them off even as they continued to fire on it, it turned away and lunged to attack the side-wall of an eight floor office building. A hoard of cubicle workers unfortunate enough to have been trapped inside when the attack began came screaming and shouting out the front doors. Directly towards where Irma and the others stood watching. Even under the circumstances they were in, the soldiers were unwilling to fire on civilians. Meaning that they, teen girls, and ponies were separated and swept along with the frightened mob, Pinkie gleefully exclaiming "Wheeeeee!!!" As she crowd surfed along the top. Seeing no better choice, Irma jumped as hard as she could, joining Pinkie who she grabbed by a hoof and tried to pull towards the edge of the mob. Nearby, Hay Lin could be seen dangling in the air, carried by Fluttershy who was clearly having trouble with the added weight. "This is fun!" Pinkie exclaimed, "But we should probably get out of here anyway!" "Yes. If you don't mind." Fluttershy agreed. "Left!" Irma decided, "We can jump to the roof of that place!" She pointed to a structure with a low-edged shingle roof. She and Pinkie made their way atop the crowd, stepping on heads, shoulders, whatever was available, getting yelled at and cursed but ignoring both to reach the relative safety of the rooftop just as Fluttershy sat Hay Lin down there and landed herself. "Well, we're safe for right now." Fluttershy said. "But, if you don't mind me asking, what should we do next?" She stared wide eyed out over the mass of fleeing people and the carnage creating scorpion creature, still tearing the building it had chosen apart. "I mean, I don't think I've seen any animals here that would be strong enough to handle something like that." "And my book's still not switched on." Pinkie agreed. Hay Lin said "Well, we'd better come up with something fast." "Work you stupid thing!" Irma shouted, pounding the cover of Pinkie's book with her fist. A sudden ringing sound startled her. "Hey! I did it! It's ringing!" "Um, actually Irma, I think that ringing sound is coming from your belt." Fluttershy said. Irma blushed as she pulled out her cell phone. "Uh, yeah, I knew that... Hello? Will? Hang on, I'll put you on speaker." "Are you guys okay?" Will was asking, "We know you've got Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie with you." "How do you know about that!?" Hay Lin asked. "Take a guess." Will answered. Twilight's voice came across the line. "Fluttershy? Pinkie?" "Twilight! You're okay!" Fluttershy smiled hugely. "We're all okay now." Twilight said. "Have you figured out the books?" "Hay Lin and I have mine working, but Irma and Pinkie don't know what to do with that one yet." "Okay, hang on..." Will came back on the line. "Irma, can you send me your precise location from your phone?" "Sure, just a sec..." Irma fiddled with her phone for a moment. "There, did you get it?" "Got it. Stay right where you are." Will replied. They could hear her and Taranee talking with Twilight. "We're pretty close. Look, here's where we are now and this is where they are. Can you do it?" "Easy." Will said, "Hanging up now, we'll be there in about three seconds." "How can they-" Hay Lin started to ask, but went silent as her friends and three new ponies appeared in a violet flash. "Oh wow." "I could get used to teleporting!" Elyon exclaimed. While the ponies ran to each other and piled into a group hug, the girls stared out at where the scorpion was finishing the demolition it had started mere minutes earlier. As it scuttled out of the ruins and selected another building to begin anew, the ponies joined them. "I'll go bring Rarity and this Cornelia here as soon as I rest for a minute." Twilight said. "Meanwhile, what do we have to work with? I can teleport, obviously. Applejack gets rapid plant growth. And Rainbow Dash's book gives her back her fighting skills. What magic have your other books restored?" "My ability to communicate with animals." Fluttershy said. "No clue yet." Pinkie added. Irma asked "Yeah what's the deal? How do we make these things work?" "I... have a suspicion..." Twilight began. "Rainbow, Will, what were you doing immediately before your book turned on?" "We were just talking." Rainbow said. "Although, we had just figured out that we're both athletes." Will added. "Fluttershy?" "We were both really worried about the animals in the zoo getting hurt." Taranee nodded. "Our book activated when we both figured something out at the same time." "And ours when we bonded, seein' as we're both orphans." Applejack said. "We'll have to ask Rarity to be sure. But I expect the key is friendship. Bonding. Each pony here is paired with a human who is like them in some significant way. Orphans. Scholars. Athletes. Animal lovers. Figure out what you two have in common and you should be good!" Twilight smiled. Pinkie and Irma looked each other over warily. "I dunno..." Irma began. "She's nothing like me!" Pinkie agreed. "There's something." Twilight insisted. All right, all right..." Irma sighed. "Let's see... I'm a tomboy... I love rollerblading and radio dejaying at our school's private station...." "I got kicked out of a radio sound booth once." Pinkie said, "I have no idea what rollerblading is, and are you telling me you're actually a guy?" "Guy!? What!?" "Well you said you were a boy..." "Tomboy!" "I've seen Deliverance." Pinkie said deadpan, eyes narrowed, "Don't do anything that will make me hurl." "Why you little!-" "Oh! And I also like playing pranks, like the one I just played on you!" Pinkie grinned, leading to multiple face palms and face hooves. "Huh..." Irma said. "I'm not a half bad prankster either... Maybe we've got something here after all." Shaking her head, Twilight said "You two keep working on it. I'll be right back with Cornelia and Rarity." Taranee showed her a map with the location of the Hale farm, and the two of them teleported away... XXXXX Rarity and Cornelia sat side by side on the tailgate of John Hale's truck, sipping lemonade and keeping watch over Lillian. They had returned to the farm once the giant was out of the way, whereupon the pair had been left to watch the younger girl while John and Beth went to examine the damage to their barn. "She's a cute one." Rarity said of Lillian, "Quite reminds me of my own little sister actually." "She's a terror." Cornelia snarked. "Yes, well, if anything that just makes the comparison even more apt. Sweetie Belle and her friends can strike fear into the hearts of an entire town... I do hope that they're all right." "I'm sure things will work out okay..." Not knowing what else to say on the matter, Cornelia decided to change the subject. "So, what's the deal with these 'bootie-shark' things?" Rarity chuckled. "Cutie Marks, darling, Cutie Marks... Every pony gets one when we first discover something that we're both very good at and enjoy doing. For example, my own Cutie Mark came in when I used gemstones I had found using the spell you saw earlier to enhance costumes for a school play, confirming my desire to work in fashion." "Hmmm... You know, on the one hand that sounds kind of cool, you know, getting a clear signal that you're on the right track for your life. On the other hand... I'm not sure I'd like knowing my destiny was set for me." "Oh! Well it's not. Take Pinkie for an example; Yes, her Cutie Mark of balloons reflects her skill at throwing parties. But she also bakes, and baby-sits, and countless other things as well." "So it's more like a guidepost than a set in stone order." "Exactly." As Cornelia was preparing to speak again, she was interrupted by a flash of light and Taranee's voice saying "And this is where we find you. Drinking lemonade while the rest of us fight the giant monsters." "Well it's not like we could walk into the sealed off town." Cornelia answered, while the unicorns embraced. "Indeed. We had to wait for you." Rarity agreed. "Though I am so very glad to see you Twilight." With a shout, John and Beth came running out of the barn, still carrying shotguns, demanding to know what the flash had been. John caught sight of Twilight. "Oh Lord another one." He grumbled. "Yeah. Can you watch Lil again now?" Cornelia asked, "We've gotta go." "Again!?" Beth asked, "Your folks are gonna kill us for allowing this!" "Sorry." "Just come back intact when it's over." "Right." Cornelia nodded. "Let's go guys." They gathered in close to Twilight, and were gone from the farm a moment later, the view of crops fading out even as the view of the city faded in. The first thing Rarity noticed was the rest of her friends, and the girls with them. The second was the thick black smoke rising into the sky as the scorpion monster demolished yet another structure. And the third was Pinkie and Irma laughing as they passed lame jokes back and forth. "Getting along better?" Twilight asked the pair. "No longer than y'all were gone and they figured it out." Applejack answered. "Pinkie's book is working now." "Yeah! turns out we just had to find a mutual appreciation for bad jokes, lame puns, and awesome pranks!" Pinkie said hopping up and down." "So? Come on!" Cornelia asked, "What does Pinkie's book do?" Pinkie shrugged. "Dunno! We were waiting on you to get here before we tried it out!" "Well that, and Irma doesn't want to read it out loud." Hay Lin added. "Of course I don't!" Irma confirmed, "I mean, it's just five random words that don't even seem to make any sense together! I'll feel ridiculous saying it!" Pinkie fixed Irma with a wide-eyed pleading look. "Pleeeeeease?" The mare stared with eyes that grew wider and wider, impossibly so. "Oh all right!" Irma suddenly shouted. "Stupid pony puppy dog eyes..." She grumbled. "But no one laughs at how dumb this is gonna sound, got it?" Everyone nodded, and Irma opened the book. "Okay here goes... 'Fourth Wall Fracture! Gator Grappler!'" Pinkie glowed brightly, and began to rapidly spin in place, looking like a miniature pink tornado. As she spun to a stop, the others could see that she was now dressed in an Adam West style Batman costume. She pumped one hoof in the air, declaring "I'm back, baby!" then reached behind her back, under the cape, and moved her hoof as if rummaging around for something. When she pulled the hoof back out, she was holding a small alligator dressed as Robin. "Gummy!!!" She squee'd, and hugged it tightly. Everyone stared. "Um..." Will started to say. "Yeah." Elyon agreed. Irma just rolled her eyes. "Great. My pony is defective. Anyone wanna trade?" Noticing the stares, Pinkie looked back and forth between Gummy and the girls, seemed to figure out why they were staring, and with a degree of self awareness rarely seen in her said "This will actually come in useful. Trust me." "I hope you're right Pinkie," Applejack said, "Cause here it comes!" Everyone looked where Applejack was looking, seeing the scorpion moving towards where they were gathered. "Okay, now would be a good time for the plan I bet nobody here even has..." Rainbow said. No one disagreed...