//------------------------------// // Chapter Three: ...One Giant Weapon To Takeover Ponykind // Story: WWC: Spaced Out // by Chris-Cross13 //------------------------------// “This is simply perfect!” Paradox says as he glares down at the surrounded group. Christian, Luna, Supernova, and Pinkie all look up at him as he gloats. “I have all of you right where I want you!” He says with another laugh. “The heck is that supposed to mean?” Christian shouts up to him. Paradox hovers downward to meet the human at an equal eye level. “Why, right where I need you to see my plan come to fruition!” He states. Christian’s eyes dart over to The M.I.N.D. The contraption seems to have been finished right before Luna interrupted Trixie. “You mean with that… thing?” Christian nods to the machine. Paradox snickers at his question. Trixie laughs right along as well. Their laughter gives the group an unease feeling of worry. Well, everyone but Pinkie that is. “What’s so funny?” Pinkie asks with a blank smile. “That ‘thing’ as Christian put it; is the instrument for our takeover!” Trixie answers. Supernova looks at the machine and scans it with his eyes; appearing rather unimpressive with the design and the technology used within the supposed weapon. It just looks like a giant laser beam. “And how is that the instrument of your takeover? Looks rather simplistic to me.” Supernova comments, pointing to The M.I.N.D. Trixie grimaces and glares at the unicorn in a rather annoyed and insulted manner. She goes to counter his words, yet Paradox beats her to the punch. He smiles as he flies over toward his creation. “I was hoping one of you would say that.” He starts his maniacal laugh once more; the changelings even joining in one after another this time around. The four in the middle of the encirclement all gain the same feeling of worry once more. Maybe Supernova should not have asked. Paradox snaps to grab the group’s attention once more. “This is The Malevolent Influencing and Normalizing Device or simply: The M.I.N.D. It was created as a result from one of the blueprints that Trixie and I stole from Area 51.” He states while presenting the weapon with a hand. “We called that one.” Supernova whispers to Christian, who nods in agreement. “Its purpose is quite simple.” Paradox continues, not taking notice to the whispering below him. “The M.I.N.D uses a special mixture of diodes, wavelengths, and frequencies to create a specific laser that has the ability to warp the mind of the one who is struck by it to make them permanently evil.” The four gasp as Paradox announces the functionality of The M.I.N.D. Luna steps forward, again angry that such a weapon is on her moon. “And why would you have such a device on MY moon?!” She shouts with a pounding of her hoof. Paradox gives off another short laugh before returning to his student’s side. “Well Princess Luna; originally, we were going to use The M.I.N.D on you. Thus, it would transform you back into Nightmare Moon for all eternity.” Luna gasps at their scheme. Christian, Nova, and Pinkie all growl at Paradox’s intent. “However, considering that you are here now and that The M.I.N.D is not designed to be used at such a close range… We will use our secondary target.” “S-Secondary target?” Luna stutters, frightened at what the two have in mind. “But of course!" He says with an evil grin as he approaches her. "We shall use The M.I.N.D on your very own sister: Princess Celestia!” The group’s combined shocked reaction freezes them for a moment before they explode with the same words: “NO WAY!” Paradox scoffs at their faces. “Hmm, typical.” He says turning his head away from their angry expressions and moving back towards Trixie. “But it does not matter. Like I said earlier…” He thrusts his left hand toward them. “You WILL NOT ruin our plans this time! Changelings, capture them!” He then looks toward his student. “Trixie, start up The M.I.N.D!” “Of course, Paradox!” She rushes over to the control panel and starts pressing buttons and turning dials rapidly. The changelings surrounding the group prepare to rush at them full speed. Christian and Pinkie glance at each other and give a small nod; acknowledging the same plan that they had silently created. “Okay guys,” Christian says, calmly yet with a tone of shaking nervousness in his voice. Luna and Supernova look at him, wondering what idea he has. “On three, all of us jump up. Ready?” The others nod as the changelings begin to nosedive at the group. Christian takes a deep, nervous breath; silently praying that this worked. Just as the changelings are about to hit them, he exhales. “THREE!!!” The entire group leaps into the air; being boosted by the lower gravity, this allows for the equivalent of the group jumping on a gymnastic trampoline. The changelings, not expecting the simultaneous jump, all crash into each other; becoming more mangled than a car wreck. The group use their own momentum to drift away from the two villains and land on the opposite side of the crater. Paradox and Trixie growl in disdain as their captives land. “So, that is how things shall be?” Paradox says with a wave of his staff toward the group. “So be it.” He vanishes from next to The M.I.N.D and in front of Christian. “Always having to do things the hard way. You are such a pest, human!” Christian backs up bit before giving off a small smirk. “Aww, but the hard way is always the most fun!” He comments back. Paradox lunges at Christian and attempts to swipe at him with his staff, yet Christian flips backwards into a handstand and flips back again to land upright once more. Paradox gasps at his agility, making Christian smile. “Impressed, Paradork?” He says. “So, you have acquired another ability? Interesting.” The spirit lands on the lunar surface. “Let us see how well you can use it!” Paradox points his staff towards Christian. Christian hesitates before getting into a battle stance; ready for his fight. Luna looks off as the two of them prepare to spar. “Pinkie, go help Christian. Nova and I will stop Trixie!” Pinkie eyes dart to her; nodding and saluting at Luna's request. “Sure thing, Princess Luna!” The pink pony bounces toward Christian as Luna flies over to Trixie; with Nova follows soon after with a quick portal toward The M.I.N.D. Meanwhile, Christian and Paradox remain in their stalemate; their eyes locked in an electric state of tense anger. “Go on, human. Make a move.” Paradox demands while pointing his staff at the human. Christian chuckles at his request. “Gladly.” With a crack of his knuckles, Christian leaps toward Paradox in a front kick. Paradox tilts his head in confusion as the human approaches him before knocking Christian out of the air with his staff. Christian skids to a stop from the hit. Paradox suddenly rushes at Christian, staff at the ready. He swipes at the human a few more times. Christian deflects each attack with a counter; knocking back the staff with ease. The spirit backs off landing on the other side of the crater without so much as painting. “Since when could you fight, human? If I recall, you and combat never got along.” Christian smirks again. “Let's just say that… A little unicorn helped me.” Paradox ponders his sentence for a moment before nodding slowly. He remembers the fight in Area 51 all too well. “Of course… The white one; another skill.” Paradox says before pointing his staff at Christian once more. “I will say, you are quite good human.” He rushes toward Christian once more. “But not good enough to stop me!” Christian frowns and gets back into a fighting stance. “We’ll see about that.” Christian says with a sneer. Paradox readies to deliver a blow to Christian; while he prepares to counter as the two fighters reach each other… “HI YOU TWO!” A flash of pink suddenly appears in front of Paradox’s vision. Taken by complete surprise at the pink object, he veers to the left; out of the way of both Christian and the anomaly and collides with the side of the crater they are fighting in. Christian, confused as to why Paradox missed completely, looks back to where the spirit was coming from. His question is answered as he sees Pinkie Pie sitting in front of him. “Geez, all I said was hi.” Pinkie says to Christian. “Sorry Paradox!” She shouts at the grounded time spirit. Enraged by the interruption, he warps back in front of the two. His yellow eyes are narrowed and his black aura is more intense than usual. “YOU! PINK ONE! IDENTIFY YOURSELF!” He booms. Suddenly, Pinkie appears at his right side. “Hi! I’m Pinkie Pie, and I love parties!” She says with glee. Paradox floats back in shock; confused and somewhat frightened as the pony somehow got next to him quickly and without him knowing. “How did you do that?” He questions, curiously. Pinkie then appears on his left side, and floating upside down due to the low gravity. “Do what?” She asks, confused. Paradox growls at the pony’s lack of an answer at her strange behavior. Yet at the same time, he is mystified as to how Pinkie is doing these acts. Paradox turns to Christian, hoping the human can give him an answer. “Human! Explain!” He demands. Christian shakes his head and shrugs. “Dude, it’s Pinkie. You CAN’T explain anything about her.” He says plainly. “Aww, thanks Christian!” Pinkie says as she appears next to Christian. Paradox gasps at the act. He pauses, staring at the two of them before casting a hand away from them. “You know what? Forget this!” A dark orb appears in Paradox’s hand. Christian’s pupils shrink as Paradox prepares to cast his own magic. “Shoot. Pinkie, RUN!” He grabs the pink pony by a forehoof and takes off to the left, bouncing across the lunar surface as Paradox blasts the area the two were just standing in with a black laser. He laughs as he prepares to give chance. “Now is where the fun shall begin!” He flies after the two of them as more dark magic starts to gather in his left hand. Meanwhile, Supernova and Luna encroach onto The M.I.N.D’s main controls, with Trixie still typing in unknown commands. The M.I.N.D’s laser starts adjusting itself towards Equestria on the planet’s surface. Supernova gasps in horror. “Luna, we must hurry. By my calculations, that thing is preparing to fire in a few minutes!” Luna looks at the machine and then back at Trixie. She needs to think quickly. “I’ll get Trixie away from the controls so you can finish disabling this contraption!” She says, seriousness the only thing in her voice due to the current situation. “Right!” Nova portals away from the scene, leaving the princess with Paradox’s student. “Trixie,” Luna says rather calmly. The unicorn looks away from the controls to see the lunar princess; mad, but not furious. Trixie’s inputs become slower as she gets more curious as to why the princess was acting this way. “Step away from that panel. Or you will feel my wraith.” Luna says, again calm in tone. Trixie giggles at her request. This little act in an attempt to scare her is cute to her. “The Great and Powerful Trixie is not scared of you, Princess Luna. Besides…” Trixie taps a red button to the left of the console. The laser on top of the machine suddenly starts swiveling and recalibrating toward its intended target even faster. Then a voice echoes from the machine: “Lock-on in T-minus: One minute and counting.” Luna loudly gasps at the voice. “...You are too late.” Trixie finishes. “The M.I.N.D has been set to automatically fire after this countdown. Your precious sister will soon-” ZZZZZZZZZZZZZAAAAAAAAAAAAAAP! A brilliant blue beam is blasted out of Luna’s horn; aimed directly at Trixie’s torso. The smaller unicorn quickly ducks out of the way, diving to the lunar surface. The magical laser barely misses the unicorn; grazing the end of her starry cape as she lands back onto the moon's surface. Trixie grunts in pain as she goes to get back up, with the lunar princess over her. Luna’s face has changed to the look of a madness; the ground seemingly rumbling from the power of her anger. “YOU SHALL PAY FOR THINE ACTIONS, TINY UNICORN!!” He voice explodes throughout the crater; its deafening tone should have reached Equestria with this level of sheer rage behind it. Trixie is trembling in absolute fear at the alicorn before her. Yet she tries to keep her wits about her as Luna lifts her into the air with her magic. “T-Trixie is n-not scared. S-she can still e-escape!” She says with a new and violent shakiness in her voice. Before Luna can cast another spell, Trixie’s horn explodes in a bright light; blinding Luna for a few seconds. Luna turns away from Trixie’s blinding spell; shielding her eyes with forehoof. This makes Luna drop the unicorn, who quickly flees towards her teacher. “Forget Luna, Trixie must help Paradox. Besides, Celestia will be ours soon.” She murmurs to herself as she runs. Meanwhile, Luna is starting to regain her vision; being able to see Supernova madly typing away at The M.I.N.D’s control panel. “Nova, stop this thing!” Luna shouts as she stumbles towards him. Suddenly, the machine’s voice echoes again: “Lock-on in T-minus: Thirty seconds and counting.” “Working on it, Luna!” Supernova shouts nervously, madly typing on buttons like there's no tommorow. “Blast it!” He suddenly screams in frustration. “Trixie locked the main controls! I can’t do much of anything at the moment!” Luna gasps softly as she looks toward Equestria; sadness taking over her face. “Tia… No...” She whispers to herself in dread. Meanwhile, Christian and Pinkie are busy dodging incoming fire from Paradox by bouncing around like a couple of maniacs. The two of them are flipping, jumping, and weaving across the lunar surface while Paradox peppers the area with magic blast after magic blast. As the two scramble to get away from the time spirit, Christian notices Supernova frantically typing away at the console while Luna looks onward at Equestria with fear and worry written on her face. Christian instantaneously knows what is wrong. He looks over at Pinkie, who is having a grand time dodging Paradox. “Pinkie! We have to help stop that thing!” Christian shouts as he performs a cartwheel to avoid another black blast from Paradox. Pinkie twists her head around a full one hundred and eighty degrees to see The M.I.N.D charging up, and quickly swivels back to Christian and nods. “But how?” She asks while leaping over another dark laser. Christian thinks to himself as he tries to come up with an answer. Suddenly, an idea hits him quicker than Pinkie on a sugar high. “Pinkie! Break out the party cannon! I got an idea!” He snaps. In seconds, Pinkie pulls out her prized cannon from seemingly out of nowhere. Paradox looks at the unbelievable act before him with complete confusion. “Where did that thing come from?!” He shouts at the two of them below. Pinkie and Christian take no notice to the question as the human quickly hops onto the cannon as Pinkie turns it away from the giant weapon. “Alright Pinkie; since we’re on the moon, the force from the cannon should propel me and the cannon towards The M.I.N.D. I should be able to knock it out of alignment if I jump and body check the thing.” “Alrighty! Then what?” She asks as she wheels the cannon along to moon's surface, dodging incoming fire. “Uh, haven’t gotten that far yet. FIRE!” Pinkie pushes the button and the cannon explodes into a slew of colorful confetti and streamers. While doing so, Christian and cannon fly toward The M.I.N.D at somewhat of a high speed. The whole ordeal makes Paradox and Trixie stare in shock and awe as Christian rides his way towards the laser. “Lock-on in T-Minus: Ten, nine, eight…” Luna and Nova gasp in horror as the countdown as it nears completion. Christian hears the final numbers tick down and leaps from the cannon in mid-flight. He soars toward the top of the laser as the timer hits five; preparing to hit the laser’s head with a full force body check. As his arm connects to the machine, a sound best described as a hammer striking the side of a tanker truck echoes across the moon. Nova and Luna look up to see The M.I.N.D’s top half swiveling away from Equestria… and Christian flying along with it. As the timer hits three, Nova casts a portal spell in Christian’s line of fire as he soars away from the weapon. A split second after the first spell, Nova casts the second portal on the far side of the crater. Christian shields himself as he enters the spectral doorway and flies out onto the lunar surface once more. Crashing downward in a plume of white dust and rocks, he glares up and braces for the result of the concluding countdown. As the countdown time finally ends, a brilliant maroon beam is fired out of the tip of The M.I.N.D’s laser. However, instead of hitting its intended planetary target; the laser flies out towards space… yet its flight path is also en route to Supernova’s portal. The beam zips in one portal and out the other; inches above where Christian is ducking down on the lunar surface. The beam then makes a horrifyingly loud bang and crackle as it hits something: The M.I.N.D’s main structure. The portals were aligned in such a way that the beam was able to fire from and hit the machine in one shot. As the laser dissipates, The M.I.N.D starts shaking wildly and the console starts flashing red and emits a high pitched beeping. Trixie and Paradox gasp at the turn of events and quickly dash over to the main console to see what the problem is. Luna, Pinkie, and Nova meanwhile; go to Christian’s aid. “No! No! No!” Trixie repeats as she pounds the controls in anger. “The M.I.N.D has gone critical from getting hit by itself! If it isn’t controlled…” “Then fix it, Trixie! QUICKLY!” Paradox shouts at her. Trixie starts mashing on the control panel like a crazy pony. Yet the beeping begins to get quicker and louder as she types madly. Suddenly, a booming siren wails from The M.I.N.D; making Paradox and Trixie look at each other in grief. “Oh, shoot.” They say in unison as a certain unnerving future becomes apparent to them. Christian glances up to see the machine reacting wildly; twitching and sparking out of control. He puts his head back down to shield himself from the obviously inevitable outcome of that thing exploding. As Trixie starts pressing buttons even faster, the weapon emits a low beep as the main head of the laser starts to spin faster and faster. Paradox slams his staff on the ground in rage. “Curse those ponies and that human.” He says just as the entire contraption explodes in a brilliant array of sparks and machinery; ending in a spectacular red-orange fireball. The magnitude of the explosion shakes the surrounding area violently; causing moon rocks to crash downward into the crater and the tunnel from earlier to cave in a bit. Christian prepares for the worst. Yet despite the sheer chaos around him, the area he is in is relatively quiet. Confused, Christian opens his eyes to see Luna conjuring a shield around him; with Pinkie and Supernova jumping into view and helping the human to his feet. “Are you okay, Christian? That was quite the stunt you pulled off!” Nova remarks with a relieved smile. Christian nods. “Yea, i’m good.” He says while looking around at the fireball surrounding the magic shield. “Whoa, talk about a bang.” He says has the fireball starts to dissipate. Luna smirks as she sees the destruction before her. “TAKE THAT YOU TWO! NEXT TIME, DON’T MESS WITH MY MOON!” Her scream echoes across the moon. The three inside the shield cover their ears at the magnitude of Luna’s yelling. Yet, the group was also filled with simultaneous relief that the two villains were subdued. As the debris from the machine drifts off into deep space, Paradox and Trixie are floating right along with it. Trixie has the emotion of pure rage on her face, while Paradox remains expressionless. “The nerve of those meddlesome ponies and Christian! Ruining our pla-” “Nevermind that, Trixie. Our task here is complete.” Paradox cuts off his student. Trixie looks at him, bewildered by his comment. “Pardon me? Complete? But Trixie doesn’t-” Suddenly, Trixie gains a blank stare of remembrance. “Oh, right. Nevermind, Paradox.” She says with a small smile. Trixie’s horn glows as she casts a periwinkle portal in the darkness of space. Paradox nods as the two of them along with a small group of changelings enter the portal and vanish in a matter of seconds, hidden from the heroes on the moon’s surface. Meanwhile, the group below is celebrating madly from their victory. Luna and Nova are high-hoofing while Pinkie and Christian are flipping in the air in glee. With that device destroyed and Celestia saved, Paradox and Trixie’s plan had been stopped. “Nice job, everyone!” Luna announces. “Thanks to you three, my moon is safe and secure once more. And so is my sister.” She looks back at the planet. “I don’t know what I would have done if they would have succeeded. Thank you all.” She says with a small smile and a look of content. “No problem, Luna!” Christian says with a nod. “Yea! It was fun!” Pinkie shouts happily. “You know I would help you with anything, Luna.” Nova says, shutting down his scanner. “Plus, the orb was due for an upgrade.” He adds with a smirk. As Luna smiles with joy, she looks around the destroyed crater; her eyes focusing back onto the tunnel where they first entered. A chill rides up her spine as the familiar and old feeling returns to her. Allured by this sense, she makes her way back over to the tunnel. Supernova eyes this new behavior of hers; perplexed and also a bit nervous that something is wrong with the princess. “Umm, Luna? Are you alright?” He asks. Yet Luna takes no notice to his words as she re-enters the tunnel. Nova quickly dashes after her. Meanwhile, Pinkie and Christian take no notice of the two of them until Nova alerts the two of them of what is going on. “Pinkie! Christian!” He shouts. The two stop their celebration and land back onto the moon’s surface. “What’s up, Nova?” Christian asks. “Hey, where’s Princess Luna?” Pinkie questions aloud. “That’s ‘what’s up’, Christian.” Nova states, looking back toward the tunnel. “She went in there. We must follow her at once!” He says while rushing into the cavern after the princess. Pinkie and Christian nod at each other before following after Nova in seconds. Inside the small tunnel, Luna starts wandering down the path as if in a hypnotized state. Suddenly, she stops in front of a partially cracked part of the interior wall of the cavern. The sense within her feels stronger as she gets closer to it. Suddenly, as if a certain realization strikes her. She gasps and blasts the cracked part of the cave with a magic beam. The beam shatters the wall; revealing a whole new path. Luna stares at the entrance wide-eyed. “No… It can’t be…” She mutters to herself. Just then, Nova and the others arrive to her location. “Luna!” Supernova calls out. Yet once again, Luna ignores the call and jumps into the new path. The other three run towards where Luna vanished, staring at the dark and mysterious hole in the wall. Nova is the first to step forward, and places a hoof onto the other side of the wall and into the darkness. “We need to follow her! Come on you two!” He demands as he continues and disappears from Pinkie and Christian’s line of sight. The other two look at each other, worried and nervous; hesitant to follow their friend into the unknown and mysterious depths of the moon lying before them. With a loud and simultaneous exhale, Pinkie and Christian march onward into the darkness and after the two ponies before them.