The Chronicles of Swarm: The Equestrian Front

by kildeez

Chapter XXXIII: Darkness Rising

“Gwah,” Uris gasped, panting as the vision left him. “O-okay, uh…some foals, they were all in a circle, some of them were unicorns, they were practicing…I dunno, a levitation spell?”

“And magic makes it all complete!” Twilight said. By now, Fluttershy and her were the only ones left in the back, and she promptly hugged her friend, gave her a few reassuring pats, and cracked a door open. “See ya, boys!” She cooed as she levitated gently to the sidewalk.

“Damn, when did the bookworm become a badass?” Ramirez wondered aloud, still keeping his eyes on the road.

“I dunno, maybe she’s just been soakin’ it up from…hold on a second…” Uris looked the SEAL over. “How didja know she was the bookworm of the group?”

“Uh…” Ramirez blushed lightly. “Well, probably the same way you knew. She just…comes off as that, is all.”

“Nuh-uh, you’ve only been with us for, like, a couple hours. I knew she was an egghead because I’ve spent a day with them, and she was the one who interrogated me. You couldn’t possibly know that much about their personalities in such a short amount of time unless…” his eyes widened, a grin spreading across his face.

“Don’t you say it,” Ramirez grumbled.

“You’re a brony!” Uris gasped, an almost fanatical look of joy in his eyes.

“No! I just like some of the fanart is all, and maybe…maybe…” he couldn’t even look at the pilot anymore, holding up his hand to avoid eye contact. “Maybe I like the comic books too.”

“Oh, shit! A Navy SEAL brony! This is…this whole thing is a pretty big deal to you, huh!?” Uris said, visibly overwhelmed.

“Um, excuse me,” Fluttershy asked, poking her head in between the two. “Wha-what are you guys talking about? What’s a brony?”

“I’ll explain later, so tell me,” Uris turned back to the SEAL with a smug grin on his lips. “Who is best pony?”

“Aw, fuck you man, I’m not that big a fan,” Ramirez replied, although for the quickest second, his eyes darted to the right at the little yellow pegasus squeezed in between them.

“Oh, no way,” Uris looked to Fluttershy, and back to Ramirez, his eyes darting between them as the grin just kept getting wider and wider. “Really!? Oh man, oh that’s just precious!”

“I know thirteen different ways to kill a man with one hand, and I only need my left to keep this thing on the road. Not. One. Fucking. Word.”

“I’m sorry, but what’s going on?” Fluttershy asked timidly.

“Well,” Uris replied, ignoring the venom shooting from his human companion’s eyes as he put his feet up on the dash. “You see, our big, tough, ultra-manly SEAL here is…”

Suddenly, the world left him as he was once again pulled into a vision. When he came back, he turned to the little yellow pegasus in the back seat. The Humvee fell silent. “You’re up,” he said.

“Okay,” she swallowed nervously. “Okay, I-I’ll just…just…” another artillery impact demolished a storefront as they blew past; rocking the Humvee up on two wheels for the briefest moment before it came crashing back down on all fours. Fluttershy threw herself on the floor, shivering with her snout in her hooves.

“Shit, that was close! Fluttershy, you…uh…” Uris turned back to her, watching her little body shake from head to toe. “Okay,” he sighed, dropping the walkie and scooping up the pistol.

“What’re you doing!?” Ramirez screamed. “We gotta drop her off and get back to the front!”

“Look at her, man! Do you think she’s in any condition to head out there on her own!?”

“U-Uris…” the passenger’s side door cracked open. “Uris man, I don’t care if your dad’s the Captain, this is insubordination!”

“You can do way more good at the front than I ever could!” The pilot replied, scooping up the pegasus and bracing himself just inside the open door. “Retrieving the Elements is a support assignment: my territory!”

“Yeah, but still…dude, don’t leave, c’mon your dad’ll…”

“Good luck,” and with a last little smile, he hugged Fluttershy close and tucked and rolled out of the Humvee, landing right on the curb just outside.

“Goddammit, Uris!” Ramirez screamed, jacking the wheel to dodge another flying chunk of rubble. “Your dad’s gonna have my balls for this!”

Just behind the SEAL, with the Humvee tumbling off into the distance, the pilot rolled to a halt in the dust gathered in the gutter, the bundle in his arms still shivering. He stood, looked himself over, and was shocked at what he saw. His uniform was barely recognizable now. The camo green was covered in splotches of glitter and pink dye, as if he had rolled through the arts and crafts corner at a pre-school. The laces on his boots were frayed and on the verge of breaking, his pants covered in dust from the road and more pink crap from the forest. He smiled and shook his head. “I guess I can say Equestria’s really rubbed off on me.”

The bundle in his arms whimpered, and he stroked her mane. “Don’t worry, Flutters,” he mumbled as they walked into the ruined, gaping storefront closest to them. “I gotcha.”

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Pinkie sped through the streets at a full gallop. Since being dropped off, she had instantly caught the smell of her Element, and now ducked into a small wheat silo (emptied earlier by marauding Ridchir soldiers) in hopes of getting closer. Inside was dark as night, the only light coming from the few scattered beams of moonlight peeking through the tiny, ragged holes in the roof. The few scattered stalks of grain The Ridchir had missed crunched beneath her hooves as she walked along the floor, looking around. She put her nose to the air and sniffed, closing her eyes as she tuned to her Pinkie Sense.

Small twinge in the right shoulder, minor ache in the center of forehead, little shake in the booty, she pondered, frowning. Her Element was close, but where? She scanned around again. It was probably someplace high up, judging by that shoulder twinge. Maybe just above, maybe even…

A small glint caught her eye somewhere on the roof, dangling from a rotted support rafter. “Found you!” She beamed, skipping happily towards the ladder, her hooves still crunching along the floor. Then she stopped. Her smile faded.

“I see,” she sighed. “Headache at the back of the skull, small twitch in the eye. There’s only one thing in all of creation that can do that.”

She looked around, a shadow darting out of sight in a darkened corner. She heard the sound of knives scraping together. “I knew this was inevitable,” she explained to her dark companion. “I knew someday, we would meet, and the only possible result for that would be bloodshed. Deep down, I always hoped this confrontation wouldn’t need to happen, but I guess it truly was inevitable. Tell me, have you felt the same way? Did you feel this day coming, too?”

A loud thump sounded behind her: hooves on wood, followed by the sound of a pair of knives being removed from their sheaths. “Hello, Pinkamena,” Pinkie said before deftly cartwheeling away, narrowly dodging a pair of kitchen knives as they sliced the air behind her. The Element of Laughter turned and stood her ground as a figure advanced from the shadows: one with perfectly straight hair, an odd gown, a blade in each hand, and a look of pure insanity on her face.

In disgust, Pinkie backed away at the sight of the dress covering the figure’s body, made from the skinned cutie marks of at least a dozen ponies all sewn together like a macabre fabric. Right across the chest, featured prominently like a badge of honor, was the newest addition: a lightning bolt breaking from a rainbow cloud, set against a cyan background.

“Pinkie, dearest,” the figure cooed, grinning with a face almost like her own but wearing a cold, insane grin that nearly made her heart stop with fear. “I didn’t just know this day was coming, I was living for it!”

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Mars blinked, watching the Element of Laughter as she backflipped away from the machete her double savagely struck with. “Impressive,” he muttered, though he couldn’t say the same for the pink mare’s friends. He blinked again, the images streaming to him from the satellite placed high in Equestrian orbit flashing by. Here, the Element of Honesty fought a discorded version of herself with a streamlined body and crab-like forelegs. There, Generosity backed into an alleyway, stalked by her double with a bullwhip in her hoof and a strange set of scars down the side of her face. Next, the Element of Loyalty swooped through the sky, dodging a series of rainbow blasts from a doppelganger who was screaming rabid nonsense about her prey making the most beautiful rainbows once she was “processed.” He carried on with Magic, who by now was standing in fear, jaw agape and head shaking as if she couldn’t even believe that she was looking at her own face, twisted into an insane grin. Covered in blood, Twilight’s copy pulled out a set of electrodes and mumbled something about “advancing science.” He blinked one last time and finally, there was Kindness, carried in the arms of some human scumbag, not even knowing that two sets of eyes were watching them intently.

He grimaced at that. A human wasn’t supposed to be in the mix, these battles were scripted for the ponies alone! “Minor setback,” he mumbled, leaning back in his chair and sipping at his Chianti, only to grimace again at the taste. It was a bit drier than he was used to, but then, he just couldn’t resist the Lecter reference, could he? Pouring a bit of the wine out over the ground, Mars pressed his finger to his ear.

“{Yes?}” A voice crackled back to him through the little receiver in his earlobe.

“{Sturmgewehr One, this is the Eagle’s Nest,}” he replied. “{You are to abandon your current objectives and divert to Point Gestalt. There, you are to intercept a single hostile on foot carrying a small, daisy-yellow pegasus and ensure that he is incapacitated in any way, shape, or form you see fit.}”

“{Roger that, sir, and the pegasus?}”

“{Allow her to continue on her way,}” he replied, keeping his eyes on the satellite feed and focused on the human and the little yellow pony. “{There’s something I wish to see; an experiment, if you will.}”

“{Roger, Sturmgewehr out,}” the voice clicked off, and Mars smiled, raising his wine glass.

“The darkest sides of each of the Elements of Harmony, summoned from the deepest corners of the metaverse to do battle with their gentler halves,” he sipped again, and this time he grinned. “Your move, ‘father’.”

Author's Note:

I'll go over each of the darker halves as they pop up. Don't worry: I'm not here to steal anybody's OCs.

Pinkamena is from the fanfic "Cupcakes," by Sergeant Sprinkles