//------------------------------// // "Mongo's Coming!" // Story: "Somepony! Help! Princess Celestia Has Lost Her Memory!" // by Kevin Lee //------------------------------// Those two words sent a sense of dread down Mustang Mack's spine. Fortunately, the pack didn't come into town that often. But the times they did they were led by their gigantic alpha, and it always left the entire town in a bit of a mess. Every bar had their own, unique weekly bar fights that tended to trash the establishment. But those fights were usually spread over the entire week, so that no one saloon was affected more than any other. However, when the diamond dogs came to town, the damage affected every bar as well as most of the restaurants and residences. Despite being one of the strongest earth ponies in town, when it came to the fight the best Mustang Mack had ever accomplished was to get a grunt out of Mongo. And a paw across the jaw that would send him across the street and through whatever wall happened to get in the way. Queen Chrysalis actually was about the only pony who could stand up to the giant diamond dog, and she was only good for a few minutes of trading blows with him. As the pack advanced, he worried about Princess Celestia. He had no idea of how much recovery the alicorn had gotten with her rest. She was oblivious to the danger approaching, as she continued to dance about in the middle of the street admiring her new shoes (anvils). Mack saw that Foaly had stepped out in answer to the call that was sending most townsponies inside. Grimly setting his jaw that he sure was going to get broken again, Mack marched forward, stopping when he got within reach of the gang. "Mongo! We don't want any trouble with you," he flat out told him, only to duck the swat from the diamond dog's paw. Spinning about on his hooves, Mack delivered a resounding kick to Mongo's face with both rear hooves. "Umph!" Mack had the satisfaction of hearing Mongo grunt before the inevitable paw slammed him in the ribs and sent the stallion through the front wall of the store they were standing before—this one was Morris Yoke's Dry Goods Store. Fortunately, nothing but his pride was bruised, and Mack was able to sit up in time to see Foaly take a crack at Mongo with his hammer. The result was the bank across the street was permanently opened for a while. Chrysalis stepped into Yoke's store to help Mack back to his hooves. "Looks like it's your turn," Mack said with a sigh. "I think I'll take a pass on this one today," she replied chuckling. "Wha—!?" Mack exclaimed. "But they'll wreck your bar! Plus, there's Celestia standing in their way." "That's what I'm looking forward to seeing," Chrysalis laughed. Celestia, for her part, had evidently noticed how the giant diamond dog had swatted aside her friends. Mack was very nervous seeing how she stood there glaring at the pack as they made their way up the road toward her. "That's far enough!" she suddenly announced, and Mack couldn't help but be impressed by the gravity in her voice. "You will turn around and leave. Now! After you apol—" WHAM! Mack couldn't believe his eyes. Celestia took a solid left hook to the jaw. And she was still standing there. Not even Chrysalis had ever remained on her feet after a solid punch from Mongo. Even Mongo seemed surprised. Celestia just stood there, with her head slightly turned away. Then she looked back at the diamond dog that stood eye-to-eye with her, and Mack could see her using her tongue to probe the cut to her lip. Then she smiled. Mongo grinned in return. WHAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!! Mack was certain he hadn't blinked, but he had never seen anything that fast. One instant, Mongo was standing there in front of Celestia. The next instant, her right front anvil-covered hoof was where his head had been. The ringing sound slowly faded as his brain tried to process what just happened. Mongo was gone! "Wh-where—where did he go?" Mack whispered. Chrysalis' tap to his shoulder got his attention. When he looked at her, he saw she was staring up into the sky, watching something going through the air. He shifted his view to where she was looking, and he could just make out the small speck of dark sailing through a perfect arc across the bright blue sky. He followed the object as it came back to earth to land in a small puff of dust on the road going out of town. "You bunch want to cause any trouble?" Celestia coldly asked. Mack looked at her as she glared at the remaining pack of diamond dogs. "Oh—uh—no! No trouble!" "We promises! We be good!" "You new alpha—uh—pony!" "You boss now!" "Din't mean to be means!" "We bes good!" "Can wes just—uh—get drinks?" "And to think," Chrysalis said sighing. "I once held power as great as that." Celestia suddenly looked up and narrowed her eyes. "You lot! Go out and bring him to me!" she commanded. "Meet me at the marshal's office." "At—at once!" the diamond dogs all shouted and ran back down the road. "Are you okay?" Mack asked Celestia as Chrysalis walked over to the bank and helped Foaly out of the building. "Yes," she replied, taking a moment to probe her cut lip again with her tongue. "I just can't remember ever getting hit that hard before. But it wasn't anything to worry about." "I'm just glad you're on our side," Mack said. "You've been kind to me," Celestia replied. "I didn't like to see any of you hurt." ******************** Celestia's scream resounded throughout the night. A stroke of lightening illuminated her falling body just before— Twilight's scream of horror echoed off the walls as she bolted out of her slumber. Then she had to immediately shield her eyes with a hoof from the glare of the sun coming in from the window. When her eyes finally adjusted to the light, she saw the pink alicorn standing by the window. "Ca—Cadance?" she inquired. "I see our little talk the other day hasn't had any influence on you," the pink alicorn scolded her. "Actually, it has," Twilight said, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. "Yes. I can see that," Cadance said sarcastically as she looked over the several billboards covered with notes, pictures, diagrams, reports, and a web of string connecting them all that would make any spider envious. "Believe it or not, I'm actually making progress," Twilight told her. "I can certainly believe the 'or not' part." "It was my grief that was getting in the way," Twilight tried to explain. "In the way of 'what', exactly?" Cadance demanded. "So that you can reexamine an accident that was just that: an accident! The three of us were there, Twilight! You, me, and Celestia! Lightning struck the chariot! Ponies died! Including—including—including our friend. End of story. Yes! It's tragic, but it was an accident! That's what accidents do: they strike without warning and take friends away. I'm not about to cheapen her memory chasing something that's not there!" "But that's just it, Cadance! It's not the end! There's something the investigation missed! I know it!" Twilight protested. "If I—if I could just get past these nightmares! I could certainly use Luna's help on them." "Except you're up all night," Cadance pointed out. "And when you do sleep, most times, it's during the day. Luna, if you'll recall, is Princess of the Night. You can't exactly expect her to chase after dreams 24/7. Especially as you tend to sleep on a 56.7-hour cycle when you get into such moods—" "Will you at least take a look at what I've done?" Twilight demanded. "Yes, you've emulated Lyra's father almost perfectly," Cadance said sighing as she scanned over the work. "He's always going on about abductions and alien visitations. No wonder she takes after him. Of course, you've completely managed to outdo him. He's got an entire office in the EUP Bureau of Investigation full of X-files to devote his time on, whereas you've managed to cover a whole wall with just one incident, which doesn't even have a single human involved—" "Will you please at least hear me out?" Twilight pleaded. Cadance rubbed the top of her muzzle beneath her horn and sighed. "Against my better judgement," she muttered. "Fine! Let's hear it," Cadance finally snapped. "You won't regret it!" Twilight happily announced. "Trust me," she replied. "I already have!" ******************** They trussed Mongo up in the jail using chains to bind him on the inside of the cell door, facing out. Mack had to release Francis and Cletus early for their own safety, and because he'd need Cletus to help keep an eye on Mongo. "You got lucky there, Mack," Doc told him after finishing examining the marshal. "Tell me about it!" the big stallion replied. "I've been punched by Mongo before. I'm really impressed by Celestia, though. Neither me, Foaly, nor Chrysalis can even budge Mongo. At least Chrysalis can get back up after getting hit by him. But to see somepony who could reverse the tables on Mongo like that!" Celestia, for her part, didn't seem all that happy. "I dented my shoe," she complained. That's when Doc and Miss Filly seemed to notice what Celestia was wearing on her front hooves. Both Mack and Chrysalis were amused by their reactions. "How did—?" Filly began as Doc got up and looked closer at Mongo, feeling the giant diamond dog's jaw. "Damn! Still in one piece!" he exclaimed. "Oooh!" Mongo groaned as he woke up to Doc's examination. Doc quickly retreated and the others in the room tensed up—except for Celestia, who was critically looking at the malformed tip of the anvil's horn. "Heh!" Mongo said when he opened his eyes. "Mongo like Pretty White Pony! Pretty White Pony hit good! Mongo impressed!" Celestia looked up at him. "I'm impressed, too," she said. "You're the first thing I've kicked that ever got up again." "Mongo follow you!" Mongo announced smiling. "You Alpha, now!" "If that's all that it takes to tame him—?" Doc muttered beneath his breath. "You should've tried using an anvil years ago, Mack." "Heh! You funny pony!" Mongo said to Doc. "Hiyah, Marshal Mack! Hiyah, Pretty Black Pony! You in Pretty White Pony's pack, too? Mongo happy to join Pretty White Pony's pack! We're all pack-mates now!" he finished, grinning. "Really?" Mack exclaimed. "After all the times you've knocked me out?" "Yeah," Mongo happily said. "You kick good. Could be better, but Mongo feels it when you kick. Pretty Black Pony got good punch, too! Fights good! Mongo happy we're all pack-mates finally." "Hmf!" Filly exclaimed. "How about that? Seems like diamond dogs just wanna have fun!" "Yeah! 'Fun' you call it," Foaly grumbled, rubbing his jaw with a fore hoof. That evening, after the sun set, four changelings set off toward the east.