//------------------------------// // Chapter 7 // Story: The Kindness of Strangers // by Wheller //------------------------------// Chapter 7 "Twilight, this is the WORST idea you have ever had!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed at her friend. The two of them were walking, or in Rainbow's case, flying, along the high street, discussing the plan of action Twilight had come up with late last night. "To be honest, I totally agree with you. But I don't think we have any other choice. There's no telling what Monty would to Pinkie Pie if we wait to come up with a plan that isn't likely to get us killed." "What I don't get is this, Floppy was the nicest pony we had ever met, why would what's left of him work Pinkie Pie to death?" Rainbow asked. "I don't think there's much choice involved. It's just an imprint, a fragmented part of his consciousness with a single goal. It doesn't care about anything else but achieving that goal because it can't. It's too simple. It probably doesn't even know that it's working Pinkie Pie to death." Twilight said. The two ponies stopped talking; they had reached the point in town where they needed to be. Rainbow Dash landed, and looked at Twilight nervously. Twilight nodded at her friend, she was just as nervous. She tilted her head up towards the sky and called out. "Overdrive!" The Alicorn looked over the edge of his cloud down at the two mares. He leapt off the cloud and landed gently on the high street. He cocked his head slightly at the duo before looking them over before uttering a single word. "What?" He asked them. "We need a favour," Twilight said. "It involves Montana Ulhan." The Alicorn cocked his head slightly. "Who?" he said, feigning ignorance. "Don't play games with me," Twilight said. "You know exactly what I am talking about." The Alicorn looked at the unicorn before him with his usual cold, blank stare. "You are either incredibly brave, or incredibly stupid, for speaking to me in such a manner. It appears I have misjudged you Twilight Sparkle, but very well. Yes, I know who Montana Ulhan is. He is dead; the fact that we are here to have this discussion is proof enough of it." "Not entirely dead. Before he died, he accidentally imprinted himself of Pinkie Pie, and the last bit of his consciousness left in the world is working her to death to achieve some kind of goal. Some dying wish and I want you to take it out." Twilight said she prepped herself for the Alicorn's response; it was not going to be favourable. "And what makes you think I am even remotely interested in helping you?" The Alicorn said, his eyes narrowing on her. "Because, you doing me a favour would make it so that I owe you a favour. Let's face it, I have connections that you could never obtain, you know the pony mind inside and out, and there will come a time when you want something that you can't get by intimidation, and then you'll look at me, and you'll realise that I still owe you a favour." Twilight said. The Alicorn thought about it for a moment, he tilted his head up towards the sky, going over every word of Twilight's reason. Before long, he looked back at the two mares before him. "Very well, lead the way," the Alicorn said. Twilight was a little surprised to hear him say that, and she tried her best to hide it. Clearly he had seen the use in Twilight's offer, which was a good thing; because her connections with the royal family were the only thing she had to offer. She also knew that Princess Celestia would not be happy that she had done this, and was honestly more afraid of what she would do than of anything Overdrive would. She understood Overdrive, he was manipulative, and had his own agenda to advance, Twilight hadn't a clue what it was, but she did know that it did not have anyone but his own best interest at heart. Princess Celestia on the other hand... Twilight had never seen her act out in anger, she didn't know what to expect from her. The two mares led the way to Sugarcube corner, Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy were standing out in front of the building waiting for them to return. "Are we ready?" Twilight asked. The other ponies nodded in affirmation. "Mister Cake said that Pinkie had gone down into the basement several hours ago, and that she hadn't come up sense." Fluttershy said. "Oh I hope she's okay..." Twilight smiled at her friend trying to make her not worry, but felt the same feeling in the back of her mind. The group of friends, plus the omnipotent Alicorn overlord, went inside, and made their way down the stairs into the Sugarcube Corner basement. What they found astonished them. Situated in the centre of the room, were two large metal coils being tended to by Pinkie Pie. She was kneeling down looking at a control panel with a torch in her mouth for light. The group of mares were dumbstruck by what these were. Even Twilight had no idea what they were for. Overdrive clearly recognised them. The Alicorn turned to Twilight, his red eyes piercing her skull. "You lied to me!" The Alicorn snorted with anger. His eyes grew beady, Twilight felt herself beginning to be overcome by fear. Pinkie Pie looked up at what was happening, and she quickly hit a button on the console. Overdrive was too busy to notice as the coils began to make a small humming noise, a crackle began to fill the air and the other mares noticed as lightning began to arc between the two. Twilight was unable to notice, she was caught in the Alicorn's death stare, fear grew in the mare's heart as her mind was filled with terrifying images, and it was as if the Alicorn was driving a poisoned dagger into her mind. The Metal coils were running at full intensity at this point. Electricity was running through Pinkie Pie and she was clearly struggling with the pain of it. Her hair returned to her normal shape from the electric charge. Her eyes widened, and she quickly lost consciousness. A blue mist seemed to flow from her and it quickly took shape, soon enough, by something that nopony in the room could explain, there was a glowing, translucent pony standing over Pinkie Pie's collapsed body. Overdrive had finally taken notice of what was going on, and looked over. Twilight collapsed on the floor, the link between the two had been broken. "You!" The Alicorn spat at the new comer. "Me." It returned. Montana Ulhan stood before the group, staring down the Alicorn. Overdrive reached out with his mind and attempted to latch onto the ponies mind and rip it to pieces. Montana merely smiled. "You know the rules; you can't manipulate the dead... Fortunately for me, and my friends, I don't have to follow the rules!" Overdrive's eyes widened, and Montana leapt into action, he charged the Alicorn head on and passed right though him. The light the group had seen when Overdrive first appeared had returned the Light was radiating around him. "What? No! You can't! It's against the rules!" The Alicorn shouted. Against the rules? No. it's not. It's me playing your own game. Lightning began arcing between the coils and Overdrive, even the ponies who had no technical minds at all knew that they didn't want to be around here. Rainbow Dash grabbed Pinkie Pie, and Rarity and Fluttershy picked up Twilight and the group hauled them up the stairs and outside into the high street. "Everypony run!" Rainbow cried out. "Get away from here! As fast as you can!" Several random ponies in the High street took the warning to heart and ran away as fast as they could. Far too late, Sugarcube Corner exploded.