Equestria Nova: Brave New World

by Al-1701

Chapter 7: Welcome to the Jungle

Hurricane surveyed the ground below. The landscape was covered in snow, but judging by the more rounded terrain and presence of trees, he figured he had left the Land of Nightmares. He quickly calculated he had traveled about 25 kilometers south of Dream Valley for reference.

He returned his attention to what was below him and noticed several dark objects in a large pasture. He flew lower and realized they were equines. “I thought we were the first ponies here,” he thought out loud.

He flew down and landed in the pasture. These equines were much larger than him with longer snouts and eyes placed more on the sides of their heads. Their manes were also thinner and more course than a ponies. Their coat mane colors were also less varied with white, gray, black, brown, tan, and copper colors being the most common.

“So, what’s up?” Hurricane asked a nearby mare with a chocolate brown coat.

The mare looked to him for a second and then turned back to the snow-covered ground. She worked her nose into the snow to get at the grass below. Her stare seemed blank with barely a thought behind it.

Hurricane scowled as he tried to figure out what was with her when it hit him. “Duh, these aren’t ponies.”

They were equines, but a different species. It was like how those witches were apes. This would be like one of them coming across a gorilla or a chimpanzee. They looked similar, but they would not manage much of a conversation.

Hurricane grinned and petted the overgrown equine. “Pleased to meet, you cousin.”

The mare raised her head and nuzzled him. He chuckled as she sniffed him. “We’re certainly friendly. Unfortunately I already ate the snack I brought with me.”

A loud whinny caught his attention. He looked up and saw a much larger stallion with black coat and black mane rearing up on his back hooves. He held his head low and snorted aggressively. Hurricane suddenly remembered how gorillas had a bad reputation due to their territorial, silver-backed males.

He forced a grin and backed away from the mare. “Uh…I come in peace.”

The stallion pawed at the snow. He gave another whinny and charged at Hurricane.

Hurricane yelped as he took to the air. The stallion ran across the ground where he had been standing. The stallion snorted and trotted back to the herd.

Hurricane wiped the sweat from his brow. He reached into his saddlebag and pulled out his notepad and began writing. Believe to have found southern border of L of N approx. 25km S of D.V. Encountered large, non-sapient equines. Males highly territorial: approach with caution. He put away the pad and spat the pencil into the bag.

He then remembered Wind Whistler’s trip to meet the blarks. She had gotten back by now. “Hopefully the more intelligent species gave her a warmer welcome.”

---

Ribbon surveyed the city. The ridge they had hunkered down on gave them the perfect vantage point. They could see everything on this side of the city while being able to easily remain inconspicuous by lying low in the snow storm.

Calling the city an eyesore would have been an insult to eyesores. It was an ugly collection of tall, metallic structures that made modern art look gorgeous in comparison. There was no rhyme or reason to their height or shape. A ten story building would be right next to a tower five times its height. Some looked like they had been added onto but with no attempt to meld the additions to the original structure. The only thing the buildings had in common was their dark gray color and rare, tiny windows. Smoke belched from stacks sticking out of the roofs.

Seeing this nightmarish scene made Ribbon miss home. She grew up in Hoofington; a small, rural community with beautiful houses and rustic farms. It was a perfect meld of nature and architecture. This was an open, festering sore on the earth.

Ribbon turned her attention to the pens between them and the first buildings of the city. She raised her binoculars to her eyes and adjusted the focus. She could barely make out the brown blarks in one of the pens. She was disgusted that they would just be left out in the cold and snow like this.

Ribbon looked for Paradise. Her coat would obviously blend in with the snow, but that red-orange mane of hers should stick out against the white. However, there was no sign of her.

“Do you see Paradise,” Ribbon asked Babel next to her.

“No,” Babel said. “They must be holding her elsewhere.”

“The question is where,” Ribbon said. “I was hoping to avoid using my powers, but if we can’t find her from here—”

Ribbon stopped as a flatbed loaded with lumber drove towards the main entrance of the city. It stopped and the doors on the cabs opened. A pony shape leapt out of the cab.

Ribbon, Spearhead’s thoughts entered Ribbon’s mind, we’ve arrived. Are you in place?

We’re on the ridge to your right, Ribbon replied mentally.

Any sign of Paradise? Spearhead asked.

No, Ribbon replied. I also won’t be able to read your thoughts or transmit messages to you once you get into the city. There’s too much mental noise.

That’s why we brought Echo, Spearhead transmitted. She should already be following us.

Ribbon looked back to Echo. She stared on even more blankly than before.

Fan Belt waved his hoof in front of Echo’s face. She did not move at all.

Fan Belt put his hoof down and turned to Ribbon. “I don’t think anypony’s home in there.”

Ribbon gave Echo a quick read. Only her most basic mental functions were there. Her actual consciousness was elsewhere with a wire-thin connection to her body. Ribbon followed it down to the group. It disappeared into the sea of mental noise with the others as they walked into the city.

It was the first time Ribbon had witnessed telepresence. It sent a shiver down her spine.

Wind Whistler tapped her hoof as the elevator climbed through the building. The numerical value digital display continued to increase. They were in the fifties and still going up.

It reminded her of the elevators in Manehatten. There was even a gizmonk standing at the lever like the elevator operators in Manehatten’s towers. However, this thing was much louder as the motor whined and strained.

The operator threw the switch back and the elevator slowed. Wind Whistler felt her innards continue up before they joined in the deceleration. The elevator came to a stop and the doors opened.

“Top floor: King MacGyver’s throne room,” the operator said dispassionately. “Have a nice day.”

“Thank you,” Wind Whistler said uneasily.

Wind Whistler followed Spearhead into the hall. It looked like it was under construction with all the pipes, ducts, and wires exposed. Everything was gunmetal gray and absorbed much of the light from the overhead lamps.

The hall led to a pair of massive doors with gizmonks standing guard on either side of them. The doors had a carving of gears and tools that apparently meant something to the gizmonks.

The guards held weapons like Drudge had. She had called them laser rifles. Wind Whistler was familiar with lasers and with rifles. She guessed these things could generate a laser powerful enough to damage a target at range. She took the opportunity to look more closely at theses weapons than she had at Drudge’s trophy. They looked like a flashy version of griffon muzzle-loaded blunderbusses; only the muzzle was parabolic and had a stalk ending in a red orb coming out of it.

Spearhead stopped in front of the door. “We’re here to see your king.”

The gizmonks hit buttons next to them at the same time. Dull clunks and whines resounded around them. The doors opened outwards and stopped with loud clunks. “Go in,” the gizmonk on the right said.

Wind Whistler walked in behind Spearhead and the others behind her. Once they were all in, the machinery started up again. Wind Whistler looked back at the doors closing. The thud of them closing made Shady jump.

Wind Whistler faced forward. A gizmonk sat on the throne at the other end of the room. He was lanky and covered in coarse fur like the others. However, the casing of his machinery was perfectly polished and had a gold tint to the chrome. The helmet also covered the top of his head completely, with spikes in a circle to make it look like a crown. Other than him, there were guards at the doors holding laser rifles like those on the outside. The throne seemed empty and unfinished, and their hooffalls echoed against the hard surfaces.

Wind Whistler also noticed Paradise was not in the room. When Spearhead said she was not in the pens with the blarks, she had hoped she was there to be handed over. She smelled a trap.

The gizmonk on the throne sat up. “I am MacGyver, King of Gizmas City.”

“I’m Colonel Spearhead, governor of Equestria Nova,” Spearhead replied. “We’re here to retrieve our citizen you detained.”

MacGyver sat back. Wind Whistler saw his mouth twist up into a smirk. “I’ll have her sent for, but why don’t we try to smooth things over after a terrible misunderstanding.”

Wind Whistler felt the fur on her back stand on end. She knew this was a trap. They were high value targets in the belly of the beast. She was not sure what to do in this situation. She ran through the possibilities to avoid the trap.

The idea then struck. They could not avoid the trap, but she could set it off when she wanted it to. She also knew just how to do it. She wanted to get this off her chest anyway.

“What your machine did in Scrapsburg wasn’t a misunderstanding,” Wind Whistler said sharply. “Why do you enslave the blarks and use such brutal methods collecting them?”

MacGyver scowled and glowered down at her. The aperture of his lens narrowed to a pinprick.

“Wind Whistler,” Spearhead mumbled.

“No—” MacGyver held up his natural hand. “—it’s all right. I think this young lady needs to know how things work here.”

MacGyver put his hand down. “We gizmonks are the producers of this planet. Most of the technology you see on this planet was built by us or derived from our devices. We believe everything should produce something.”

MacGyver looked down at Wind Whistler. “The blarks don’t produce. They’re parasites that root through dumps of other races for what they use. They add nothing to the world, so we put them to work.”

Wind Whistler scowled. “The blarks do add something. They add use to things thrown away before they’re completely useless. You, on the other hoof, collect resources in a way that hinders the biosphere’s ability to recover with no intention to assist in its restoration. I was a factory controller back home and find your methods insulting to industrial ethics. You simply convert one thing to another thing, and I would argue take away more from this world than you give back.”

MacGyver curled his lip to expose his sharp teeth. He gripped the armrests of his throne. “You lowly equine,” he snarled. “How dare you come here and insult us? Let’s see how high and mighty you are hauling ore.”

That’s it, Wind Whistler thought, get mad.

“Guards!” MacGyver roared, “restrain our new slaves!”

The two guards ran towards them. The doors opened as more guards ran in. Panels opened in the side walls and yet more guards flooded into the throne room. They were apparently more prepared than Wind Whistler thought.

“You just had to take the moral high ground,” Rosetta growled.

“They were lying in wait anyway,” Gusty retorted.

Shady hunched to make herself as small as possible. “What do we do?”

“Get down!” Spearhead shouted.

Wind Whistler ducked with the others. Spearhead held up his horn and a ring of red energy blasted horizontally. The energy struck the gizmonks and blasted them back.

“Echo, dagger,” Spearhead shouted.

---

The line connecting Echo to her body pulled in quickly. An aura surrounded Echo’s horn as she returned to her body. “Dagger,” Echo’s horn transmitted in Spearhead’s voice.

That was the signal things had gone south. Ribbon pulled the rifle out from under her cloak. “You heard the governor. Let’s take it to them.”

---

Wind Whistler followed behind Spearhead down the hall. Her heart pounded in her ears and her breaths came short and fast. The gizmonks would be getting their feet any second.

“So, how do we get out of this?” Rosetta hissed.

“The same way we came up,” Wind Whistler panted, “the elevator.”

“Only it’s currently twenty floors below us,” Gusty said. “We’ll be dog meat by the time it gets here.”

“Maybe we can get to it,” Fizzy suggested.

“How?” Shady asked.

“We can go down in one of my bubbles,” Fizzy said.

“That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard,” Rosetta snapped.

“No,” Wind Whistler said. “It’s brilliant. The bubble’s reduced terminal velocity will allow us to float safely down to the elevator.”

“Then get ready.” Red energy surrounded Spearhead’s horn. The energy surrounded his body and he shot forward. He crashed through the doors and Wind Whistler leapt into the shaft.

A bubble quickly expanded to envelop them. They floated slowly down the shaft.

“Just keep the bubble away from the walls,” Gusty said.

They descended to the elevator and bubble popped. Wind Whistler planted her hooves on the roof.

Spearhead opened the service hatch with his magic and jumped in. Wind Whistler jumped in after Gusty.

The operator looked to them in shock. “What’s going on here?”

Gusty swung around and bucked him in the hard in the head. She smashed his lens and he slumped over against the wall. She then wrenched the lever to the downward position.

The elevator began to descend and Wind Whistler felt her innards again lag behind the rest of her. She exhaled a deep breath as she regained her composure.

The call button flashed rapidly. MacGyver and the guards must have gotten back on their feet. Hopefully they had no way to cut the power. The numbers descended into the teens. They could not reach one fast enough.

---

Ribbon ran towards the pens. She saw gizmonks swarm out of the nearby buildings with weapons in hand.

Ribbon fired her rifle. The rifle shot a puff of smoke along with a barrage of shells. However, it now had to be reloaded. The gizmonks flinched for a second to the loud bang, but quickly collected themselves and took aim.

Ribbon hid behind a column of one of the empty pens. The others joined her. Red beams flew past them on either side, and Ribbon could hear more hitting the column they were using for a shield.

“This is just great,” Sparkler said sarcastically. “Now we’re pinned.”

Ribbon took a moment to catch her breath. “Maybe a bum rush wasn’t such a great idea.”

“Their guns are too good,” Fan Belt said. “If only we had some.”

“Be back in a sec.” Whizzer disappeared to the side. She was back a second later with her front legs full of the beam rifles the gizmonks were using.

“Where did you get those?” Babel asked.

“From the gizmonks,” Whizzer replied.

Ribbon peeked out from behind the column. The gizmonks were standing around looking confused and were unarmed.

She pulled her head back behind the column and looked to the others. The other unicorns already had beam rifles in their magic.

Ribbon picked up a rifle and dashed out from behind the column. She fired it in the general direction of the gizmonks. The odd sound it made firing was joined by the others. The gizmonks covered their heads and ran from the barrage of beams towards the buildings. They fired in such a way to avoid hitting them while still chasing them off. The gizmonks disappeared into cover.

Just as Ribbon thought they could relax, she saw more gizmonks running in with rifles. They took aim and started firing. Ribbon was back behind the column with beams flying everywhere.

“They just keep coming,” Truly said.

“What we need is a distraction,” Stargazer said.

An aura sounded his horn and copies of everypony appeared. He swung his head to the side and the copies ran. The beams chased after them.

“Don’t let them get away!” gizmonk shouted.

Ribbon again peeked out from behind the column. The gizmonks were chasing after the copies.

She turned back to Stargazer. “How long can you keep those illusions up?”

“I’ve projected to maybe a hundred meters,” Stargazer said. “It’s a temporary solution to permanent problem regardless.”

“Then let’s work fast.” Ribbon dashed towards the pen with the blarks in it.

---

Wind Whistler braced herself as the elevator came to a screeching halt and the overhead lamp went out.

“What happened?!” Shady shrieked.

“They must have cut the power,” Wind Whistler answered.

The floor display had gone dark with everything else, but she believed it had been on eleven before they stopped.

“Get back on the roof of the car,” Spearhead said. “We’ll have to find another way down.”

Wind Whistler fluttered through the service hatch and helped Shady up when she jumped up. The unicorns appeared in flashes. They were stuck between floors with a pair of doors just above the roof of the elevator.

Spearhead and Gusty used their magic to force the doors open. Wind Whistler flew into the opening and looked around. The hall was empty. “It’s clear.”

Shady jumped from the elevator to the floor followed by Spearhead and the other unicorns.

Gusty looked around. “You’d think there would be more guards.”

“The equine creatures are on floor twelve!” a voice shouted over the loudspeaker. “Repeat, the equine creatures are on floor twelve!”

“There soon will be,” Wind Whistler said. “We need to find stairs or some kind chute to the ground floor.”

“And how are we supposed to find stairs in this architect’s nightmare?” Gusty asked.

“I found some!” Fizzy cheered.

Wind Whistler and Gusty looked to Fizzy pointing at a door. “Are you sure they’re stairs?” Gusty asked.

“That’s what the sign says,” Fizzy replied.

The sign next to the door had a picture of stairs on it.

“Oh,” Gusty said sheepishly.

“Good work, Fizzy,” Wind Whistler said.

Gusty opened the door, and they all dashed inside. They descended the stairs as quickly as they could while still keeping their hooves under them. The steps were designed for bipeds, steeper than the stairs in Equestria.

They rounded the corner at the eighth floor when Wind Whistler saw the gizmonks crowded in the stairwell making their way up.

“What do we do now?” Shady asked in a panic.

Gusty growled. “I say we stop running and start fighting.”

Gusty blasted a huge gust of wind down the stairs and into the first gizmonks. She knocked them back into the gizmonks behind them who fell into the gizmonks behind them. The gizmonks fell backwards like dominos apparently all the way down to the ground floor.

“Do you always go in horn first?” Shady asked.

“You ask that like there was another way,” Gusty replied.

Gusty picked up a laser rifle with her magic off one of the stunned gizmonks and three more to the other unicorns who caught them in their magic. She then kicked in the door. “Let’s go.”

---

Ribbon slid to a stop in front of a closed gate in the pen. One of the columns to its side had a twelve button control pad on it to probably open a gate with a combination. A blark wearing an apron ran to the edge. She had her arms folded around her and shivered.

“Drudge,” Babel said. “Are you all right?”

“I’m wet, freezing, and waiting to be thrown into a gizmonk labor camp,” Drudge responded irritably. “What do you think?”

“We’re here to rescue you,” Ribbon stated. “Where’s Paradise?”

Drudge pointed to a nearby building. “They took her into an animal exhibit.”

Ribbon scowled. That was yet another strike against the gizmonks in her mind. “Thanks.”

Ribbon turned to the group. “Sparkler, Powder, Stargazer, Masquerade, and Truly; free Paradise. The rest of us will free the blarks.”

“And we better work fast since the gizmonks have figured out my illusions.” Stargazer pointed to the side.

A mass of gizmonks was running towards them.

Moondancer looked to Powder. “If you can slip them up, I think I can put them in their place.”

Powder nodded to her. “You got it.”

Powder pointed her horn at the wet ground in front of the gizmonks. A beam of purple energy shot from her horn and spread over the ground. The thin layer of water on the ground quickly froze into ice. The gizmonks ran onto the ice and slipped.

An aura surrounded Moondancer’s horn. The gizmonks lost their footing and literally flew through the air into an empty pen. Buttons took away the laser rifles with her magic and dumped them just outside of the pen. The gizmonks hollered and screeched words in apparently their native language as the translation matrix was ineffective.

“Go!” Ribbon shouted to the ponies assigned to rescuing Paradise.

The five ran around the pen and towards the building Drudge had pointed to.

Fan Belt reached his hoof towards the barbed wire of the gate. He pulled it back when an arc of electricity went from it to his hoof. He grimaced and shook it out. “It’s electrified.”

Ribbon glanced to the pad and then turned her gaze warily to the gizmonks. She was not sure if any of them knew the combination. She was also still uncomfortable entering any of their minds. She had always attached the image of fire to anger and hatred, and there was a raging inferno in that pen.

She turned to Buttons. “Do you think you can rip the wires down with your magic?”

“I can do better than that.” Buttons brought out a pair of wire cutters.

---

Sparkler ran into the building and was almost knocked over by the stench. She managed to avoid gagging and simply shook out the disgust. She quickly surveyed the cages and tanks holding a menagerie of bizarre creatures. She finally saw Paradise lying in a small cage.

Sparkler pointed. “There she is.”

The others followed Sparkler to the cage. Paradise picked up her head and looked to them. She jumped to her feet with the biggest, broadest grin she could manage.

“You’ve come to rescue me!” she cheered.

“Of course we did,” Powder said. “Put how do we get you out of there?”

“The lock needs a key,” Paradise said. “I’m not sure where they keep it.”

“I got your key right here.” Sparkler got out a tin of guncotton and opened it with her magic. She tore off a small piece and stuffed it into the loop of the padlock.

Sparkler backed up. “Go to the back of the cage, duck down, close your eyes, and cover your head.”

“What are you doing?” Paradise asked.

“Just do it!” Sparkler snapped.

Paradise backed up against the back of the cage. She got herself as low on the ground as she could, closed her eyes, and covered her head with her pasterns.

Sparkler summoned a spark on the tip of her horn. “Fire in the hole!” she shouted. She shot the spark at the padlock. The guncotton exploded on impact with the force of a small firework. The cage swung open from the impact.

“I love my job,” Sparkler said with a grin.

Paradise jumped to her hooves. “You’re absolutely insane, Sparkler!”

“You want me to find another lock?” Sparkler asked sarcastically.

Paradise walked out of the cage. “No. I want out of here and a nice long shower.” She walked past the group towards the door.

Sparkler could have sworn the stench got stronger as Paradise past by. Sparkler fanned the air away from her. “A really long shower.”

“Now we just need a distraction to cover our escape,” Powder said.

“A distraction like them?” Masquerade motioned to the animals.

Sparkler smirked and got out more guncotton. “I really love my job.”

---

Wind Whistler stopped at a door with a window to the outside. “I think this is an escape exit.”

“Then let’s use it to escape.” Gusty swing around and bucked it open.

Wind Whistler stepped onto the fire escape. They were still eight stories off the ground. She flew off and hovered several meters away. She looked around for any gizmonks. She would be a prime target for their laser rifles. However, the streets were empty.

Gusty came out and stopped. She looked down and Wind Whistler could say she saw her trembling.

“What wrong, Gusty?” Fizzy asked.

“I—uh…” Gusty trailed off. “I’m afraid of heights.”

“Oh for the love of—” Rosetta grumbled. “We’re gonna be put into slavery because Little Miss Tough Mare is scared.”

“Can you teleport down?” Wind Whistler asked.

“I—I don’t know,” Gusty stammered. “I can try.”

Gusty disappeared in a flash. She appeared in the alley below.

The others started down the stairs.

“I think the strike team is doing its job,” Wind Whistler said to the others as they made their way down the steps. “I don’t see any gizmonks heading this way.”

“Maybe we should have just done the strike only,” Rosetta grumbled. “It would have saved us the trouble of getting out of this city.”

“We had to give the gizmonks a chance,” Fizzy said.

The four ponies got to the second floor and jumped off the fire escape and planted their hooves on the pavement. Wind Whistler landed among them.

“Now what?” Shady asked.

“We have to get to the others on the northern edge of town,” Wind Whistler said.

“Easier said than done if we run into trouble,” Rosetta said dully.

Spearhead looked to a pallet of metal plates. “We need armor.”

Spearhead summoned his magic and created a dome with the plates over them. A gap between two plates in the front made it possible to see.

“Cool.” Gusty’s voice echoed around the dome. Wind Whistler flinched at the hollow sound.

“Follow me,” Spearhead said.

Spearhead ran towards the end of the alley with the dome following him. Wind Whistler and the others ran with him.

---

Ribbon watched as the blarks poured out of the gate now missing five rows of barbed wire. There were at least hundreds.

“How are we supposed to get all of them out of here?” Babel asked the question on Ribbon’s mind.

A blark stopped and pointed to a nearby building. “There are transport vehicles in that warehouse.”

Ribbon looked to Fan Belt.

“I’m on it,” Fan Belt responded to what Ribbon was about to say. He turned to Moondancer. “Can you help me hardwire one of them?”

“Sure,” Moondancer replied.

Fan Belt stopped some of the blarks. “We could also use some limbs that can grip.”

“We’d be glad to help,” one of the blarks replied.

The group dashed towards the warehouse.

I’m starting to wonder if they’re reading my mind, Ribbon thought.

Sparkler’s group came out of the building with Paradise. Ribbon exhaled a sigh of relief seeing her. The moment was shattered by bizarre animals running out of the building after them and dashing in various directions.

Sparkler’s group ran around the pen to Ribbon.

“We got her!” Sparkler shouted. “She’s safe!”

“Did you have a hard time finding her?” Ribbon asked sarcastically as they stopped in front of her. She caught the smell of animal filth coming off them.

“Hey!” Sparkler snapped. “Part of our mission was creating a distraction.”

Sparkler looked around. “Where are Fan Belt and Moondancer?”

“Getting our ride,” Ribbon replied.

---

Fan Belt watched the blark work on the wires pulled out of the steering column. Fortunately, they were close enough to Babel for the translation matrix to still be in effect, so they could communicate while they tried to hardwire this thing. Equestria had few motorized vehicles, but he had learned his way around their wiring. Hopefully the gizmonk vehicles had similar wiring.

“We sabotaged the other vehicles,” Moondancer said from behind Fan Belt.

Fan Belt turned back to Moondancer. She and the blarks held several wires.

“Good,” Fan Belt said. “They shouldn’t be able to follow us once we get this thing running.”

He turned back to the blark working on the steering column. “Speaking of which—”

“Cross your fingers—or hooves rather.” The blark touched two wires together.

The engine sputtered and turned over. The blark exhaled a laugh. “We’re in business.”

“Then let’s get the others and find Governor Spearhead’s group.” Fan Belt shuffled into the driver’s seat.

He quickly recalled his driver’s training. Fortunately this thing had automatic transmission meaning there was no clutch to deal with. He stepped on what he believed was the brake pedal and the engine did not ramp up meaning he had chosen right. He shifted to drive.

Moondancer got into the passenger’s seat, and the rest of the blarks climbed into the first passenger compartment behind the cab. The vehicle was more like a small train on tires with three passenger compartments behind the cab: the perfect escape vehicle.

Fan Belt released the brake and stepped on the gas gently. They pulled forward and he turned to the wide open door. They passed through the threshold and snow began splattering against the windshield. Fan Belt turned on the windshield wipers to brush the melting flakes away.

“Uh oh,” Moondancer said in a low voice.

Fan Belt stepped on the brake and turned to her side. Most of the gizmonks were occupied with the animals running around and some of the more aggressive animals were chasing after a few gizmonks. However, another large group of gizmonks were running towards them. Several metal plates surrounded by red auras hovered above them and slammed down on them.

The gizmonks falling to the ground under the plates revealed Spearhead and the others running towards them. They leapt over the stunned gizmonks and ran towards the vehicle.

Fan Belt exhaled a sigh of relief seeing them all alive and well. “At least we don’t have to find them.”

Moondancer rolled down her window and stuck her head out. “Governor, get in this!”

The six ponies ran to the back of the vehicle. Moondancer watched and then pulled her head into the cab. “They’re in.”

“Then let’s get the others and split.” Fan Belt pressed the gas pedal.

He drove between the pens to where the others were waiting.

“Everypony and blark get on board quickly,” Moondancer shouted.

Fan Belt watched the scene in the mirror. The gizmonks were starting to get control of the animals and some were running towards them.

“Come on, hurry it up,” Fan Belt said.

The gizmonks suddenly collapsed to the ground. They struggled to get to their fit, but it was like invisible weights were on them. Fan Belt immediately turned to Moondancer who had an aura around her horn. She strained with her teeth tightly clenched.

Moondancer looked to him. “I can buy us some time.”

Fan Belt looked behind them. The last of the blarks got on board.

Moondancer relaxed and the aura faded from her horn. She took a quick glance behind them before she turned to Fan Belt. “They’re all in.”

“Then let’s blow this industrial nightmare.” Fan Belt slammed the gas pedal to the floor.

They accelerated into the snow and onto the terrain ahead. The vehicle rocked and shook as they went over the rough terrain, but seemed to take it well and to not lose much speed. The gizmonks would never catch them on foot.

---

MacGyver ran into the open and his jaw dropped at the scene. Animals were everywhere, but most had been corralled. The pen that had held their latest batch of blarks was empty, but another was full of gizmonks as others tried to get the gate open. He just caught a transporter disappear into the snow.

“What’s happened here?” MacGyver snarled.

“It was the equine creatures,” a worker said. “They came in and wrecked the place. They freed the blarks and the equine we had. They then all got away in a transport vehicle.”

MacGyver clenched his robotic hand. All their technology and knowhow, and these equines made absolute fools of them. “Go after them. Kill them all as an example to their race.”

“We can’t,” another worker said helplessly. “They took all the ignition wires from the other vehicles.”

MacGyver growled. If he never saw a pony again, it would be too soon. “Don’t think this is over, equines!” he screamed into the snowstorm. “No matter what it takes, I will have my revenge!”

---

Hurricane sat in front of the passage to the blark tunnel. It had to have been hours since he came down here.

His sense of timing could not have been worse. He left on his scouting run maybe an hour before Wind Whistler had returned, and by the time he got back she was gone with Spearhead and a bunch of others. He could have gone on the mission with them, with her.

He heard the murmurs about how upset Wind Whistler was when she returned. He felt a pit form in his stomach which was still there. He was not about to say it out loud, but liked Wind Whistler. More than that, he was attracted to her not just as a beautiful mare, but as a pony. Her personality, her mannerisms, her intelligence, it all spoke to him for some reason. Hearing that she had been so hurt emotionally made him feel guilty for not being there. Though, as a scout, it was something you just had to accept.

All he could do was keep vigil until they returned, and that was exactly what he would do.

“How are you holding up?” Firefly asked from behind him.

Hurricane turned back. Firefly and Medley stood behind him. The two pegasus mares looked to him with concerned expressions. Firefly had a pink coat and blue mane she kept straight and short while Medley had a mint green coat and long, sea green mane that curled.

Hurricane managed to weak grin. “I guess I’m doing fine. I’m just waiting for them to return.”

“It’s too bad they left while we were gone.” Firefly hovered in the air and began shadow boxing. “I would have shown those gizmonks a thing or two.”

Medley ducked to avoid an errant punch from Firefly. “Our scouting missions are just as vital.”

“But not nearly as fun.” Firefly landed.

The door suddenly opened. Firefly and Medley faced forward, and so did Hurricane. The pit seemed to deepen in his stomach.

Spearhead walked out with Wind Whistler behind him. The others began filing into the hall with Paradise and dozens of blarks.

“Wind Whistler!” Hurricane shouted. Before he had thought better of it, he was embracing the shocked pegasus mare.

She smiled warmly. “We did it, Hurricane. We saved them all.”

“There was never any doubt in my mind,” Hurricane replied.

Wind Whistler brought him closer.

Gusty came in and tapped Wind Whistler on the shoulder. “Come on, you can be close later.”

Wind Whistler let go of Hurricane and followed Gusty. Hurricane stood there and watched her walk towards the stairs with the crowd. She was okay, both mentally and physically. Everypony was, and that was all that mattered at the moment. The pit was gone, replaced with relief and elation.

---

Wind Whistler climbed the steps to the main hall. Ponies were standing against the walls and stamped their hooves in celebration. Cheers and congratulations came to the group as they walked down the hall.

“You need to get used to this,” Gusty said to Wind Whistler. “You’ve been a hero twice in a week already.”

A thought crossed Wind Whistler’s mind. She remembered how angry she was about the damage and causalities the gizmonks caused in Scrapsburg. She wondered what damage and injuries they caused in Gizmas City.

“I just hope we didn’t injure too many gizmonks too badly,” Wind Whistler said uncomfortably.

Gusty scoffed. “I don’t. They were the enemy. It was them or us, and if we put some out of commission, it’s less we have to worry about.”

Gusty playfully nudged Wind Whistler. “Come on, let’s celebrate!”

Gusty ran ahead hooting a hollering with the others.

Wind Whistler slowed a bit. Those words from Hydia returned to the front of her mind. It’s kill or be killed. She had looked down at Hydia as a savage for that mentality. Yet, she and her fellow ponies were already becoming another beast in that jungle trying to scratch out their means of survival.

Comments

[ColdGoldLazarus]

Hmm, interesting. I especially like the last part; a lesser author would have taken Gusty's position without even considering the possible repercussions behind this turn of events. That being said, it's good that Paradise is safe.

[Leave a Whisper]

suddenly makes sense now at how few allies they seemed to have in ponyland. ha! they're really shaking up the order