A New Dimension, A New Threat

by ZeroChill

The World of Hollow Gears (unedited)

Blueblood sat down on a lone stool in the middle of a room with velvet purple carpeting and gold-framed pictures of his colt self that stood between Celestia, Luna and a filly version of Cadance. All four royal ponies wore smiles that shined with the intensity of the bright sun behind them. His eyes focused on a small-framed image on a tabletop that depicted him with his hooves wrapped around Mono and Lith, and as the three of them let out wide smiles. He let out a despondent sigh.

“Blueblood?” The voice of Fluttershy called out.

Blueblood jolted upwards with widened eyes and bucked the picture off of the round tabletop. He straightened out his coifed mane and his shocked composure.

“You are free to enter.”

Fluttershy walked through the door space and into the room. She glanced upon Blueblood’s upright pose and sparkling smile. Blueblood rubbed his hoof against a black stone on his suit, polishing the smooth exterior of it.

“So what brings you to my quarters today Fluttershy?” He asked with a charismatic tone.

Fluttershy looked away from Blueblood’s eyes and bounced her right hind hoof with an anxious shiver.

“Riona says that I need to awaken more of my latent abilities. She suggests that I go to the most dangerous place I can think of in order to train there. I have a location in mind,” She explained.

Blueblood leaned his head inwards and turned his face to the point where only his right eye became apparent to Fluttershy’s form.

“Are you suggesting what I think you are suggesting Fluttershy?” He asked.

Fluttershy shut her eyes and inhaled with a deep gust of air. She puffed up her chest, stood upright and looked into Blueblood’s eye.

“Yes. I want to go to the Machiner’s Field continent, and I want you to accompany me there,” she stated.

Blueblood took a step backwards and looked upon her with uneasy eyes.

“That’s quite a bold statement from you Fluttershy. I mean, the Machiner’s Field continent isn’t known as the most dangerous continent in the world for nothing. It is a continent that exists far to the left of the world over where the land of the Minotaurs used to be. Not only are the indigenous beings of the area all killer machines, but the Van’Goth also has their headquarters set up there if recon is correct.”

Fluttershy closed the distance between herself and Blueblood. She placed her left front hoof onto her chest and her eyes glimmered with courage.

“It doesn’t matter Blueblood; Mono ended up being a Shadow Pokémon and I want to be a part of the squad to rescue him. While everyone else is still improving on their skills, my latent abilities are still at minor healing. I need to get better with my abilities as quick as possible, and what better way to do that than to go into the heart of danger?”

“I admire your courage and dedication to helping out everyone at H.O.R.S.E. Fluttershy. You still need to gain official access to enter,” Blueblood replied.

“Already did that,” swiveling into the room on the tip of his shoe, Joker called out.

“Joker? What are you doing here?” Fluttershy asked.

Joker slipped behind Fluttershy and Blueblood and slinked towards the opposite end of the room. He lifted Blueblood’s photo of Mono and Lith from the floor and holstered it upon the top of the table. He dusted the frame off with his hand. Blueblood lowered his head and his face displayed a luminescent shade of red underneath his coat.

“Oh you know, just finally happy that the author is finally giving me attention again. It’s almost like he actually wanted to progress the story more than anything else!” Joker responded.

Fluttershy walked towards the tabletop with the frame resting upon it. Eyeing the contents of the photo, she frowned.

“I didn’t know you were close to the Pokémon Blueblood,” she noted.

“I just owe them favors. That’s all,” Blueblood replied with a hasty tone. “But still, Mono was being brainwashed by the Van’Goth and then turned into a monster without a heart. I know how monstrous the Van’Goth are, but I will make sure they pay for their crimes.”

Joker waltzed his way between the two ponies and wrapped his arms around their necks. He pulled them in for a casual group hug.

“Come on you two. Turn those frowns upside-down! We are going on an adventure!” Joker called out.

Blueblood flashed a burning scowl towards Joker and pushed him away with his right front hoof.

“Is it really the best time to act like Joker?” Blueblood asked with an impatient tone.

Joker rolled his eyes and left his jaw open.

“Come on! This story isn’t going to progress if you two just keep angsting like this!”

He grabbed Fluttershy and Blueblood’s respective left and right hoofs and fled out of the room.

---

Joker stood on the bow of Boreas’s head, gazing out towards the endless ocean. The cool breeze mixed with the ocean spray from Boreas’s Surf, refreshing Joker’s skin. On Boreas’s shell sat Fluttershy, Blueblood and a scowling Sophia.

“So can anyone tell me why I’m here again?” Sophia asked with a displeased tone.

Joker hopped down from Boreas’s head and onto her shell. He flashed a zany smile and sat between two prongs.

“The author wanted you to come along so that you can officially display your abilities. Plus, do you even know what’s at the Machiner’s Field? Way. Too. Many. Robots. Seriously, they’re like the only creatures over there excluding a certain island just off of its coast. So, we need our local adorable killer robot Pokémon hybrid to fend them off," Joker explained.

Sophia’s right eye twitched at Joker’s words. Her frown deepened further. Looking into Joker’s eyes and leaning forwards, a sly smile formed on her face.

“I would be mad at your comment about me, but I’m not the one who has a screwed-up family dynamic with their daughter," She taunted.

Joker’s eyes widened and his mouth widened into a silent scream. He pointed towards Sophia with a shaky hand.

“Don’t you dare mention my daughter in this fic! That is NOT something that should ever be mentioned by the decree of my creator!” Joker shouted.

“Daughter?” Cocking her head in confusion, Fluttershy asked. “I didn’t know you were a father.”

Joker hummed with a loud tone and turned away from the group. He put his index fingers in his ears.

“Lalalala can’t hear you! Boreas, Surf faster. Author, you end this scene. Now!”

---

The clear blue sky became murky with ash and the ocean underneath Boreas transitioned into a charcoal gray color. A massive tower made of rusted metals, gears and diodes stood before the group. The tower spanned across with the size of a continent. Boreas eyed a tunnel within the tower that expelled the black material into the ocean. She ferried the group through the tunnel.

Going through the dark tunnel, the group’s eyes met with the dark brown interior of the wide-open area. Islands made of copper affixed themselves within the sea of oil that Boreas swam in. The thunderous noises of large gears within the tower moving and the pulses of electricity filled the group’s ears. The aroma of crude oil filled their noses. Masses of copper land hung along the walls and components of the tower, which all connected each other through a series of bridges.

“So this is the Machiner’s Field," Fluttershy stated aloud with awe and fear in her tone.

“Yes. Out of all the continents in the world, this is by far the most dangerous," Blueblood said. “This also happens to be the main continent which the Van’Goth supposedly operates from.”

“If the Van’Goth operate from here, then that must mean Mono must be here as well," With a sullen frown on her face, Sophia stated. She blinked once and curled her right paw. Her lips perked with determination. “I swear Mono; I will get you back and make sure that the ones who turned you into that monstrosity will pay.”

Boreas docked onto a nearby copper island. Fluttershy, Blueblood, Sophia and Joker disembarked from the Transport Pokémon and set their steps onto the surface of the island. Joker stood in front of Boreas and grinned.

“You don’t want to stay in this liquid Boreas. That’s pure oil you’re dealing with! Scoot off to that nearby island and stay there while we are exploring this place," Joker instructed.

Boreas smiled, nodded and swam away from the island. She ventured through the tunnel, leaving the group by themselves. Fluttershy took two steps forwards and gazed at the brown horizon. Hearing the rhythm of the gears and pistons surge throughout the area, a chill rushed down her spine. Blueblood walked onto a gray platform with a green button located upon a box at the center of the area.

“Going up?” Pointing towards the ceiling that stretches towards an eternity, Blueblood asked.

Fluttershy, Joker and Sophia stepped on the gray platform and turned towards their backs. Blueblood pressed the green button. The button’s lit up with a red color and copper railings rose up from the edges of the octagon-shaped platform. The platform rose upwards at rocket speed, distorting the view of everyone. The platform stopped, revealing a set of catwalks, bridges and platforms before them. The group walked down the path with cautious steps.

“So Blueblood, why is this continent so different from the others?” Fluttershy asked.

“There are many theories about the origin of this place. The theory that many experts agree upon is that the Terraforming reacted with the rich minerals and abundant technology of the Minotaur Kingdom," Blueblood explained.

Black and silver-armored bipedal tanks with scythes attached to their fronts walked down the path. Fluttershy eyed the robots with a careful gaze. The sounds of the springs in their joints moving back and forth elicited a flicker from her ears. The robots gazed towards the group and their muzzles flashed with a red light.

“Everyone on high alert! These Walkers are aggressive and highly dangerous!” Arching his legs and curling his head inwards, Blueblood announced.

Fluttershy pulled out her sniper rifle and fired two rounds within the span of a second, both of which aimed into the barrels of the bipedal tanks. The long round burst into flames upon entering the darkness of the barrels. Blueblood and Sophia’s eyes widened at the display of Fluttershy’s skill. Joker clapped his hands together and cheered out loud.

“That marksmanship was amazing Fluttershy! Where did you learn how to be so accurate?” Blueblood asked with an impressed tone.

“My training with Rainbow Dash and Riona improved my accuracy, reflexes and reaction time," Fluttershy answered.

The two bipedal tanks ran out of the explosions with the gait of a sprinting ostrich and swung their scythes with a quick frenzy. Sophia leaped forwards and closed the distance between the robots and herself. She thrust her right front paw forwards, shattering the sound cone around it fifty times over. She struck through the armor of one of the tanks, tearing through the metal with the fluidity of a warm knife through butter.

Sophia moved her paw through the inside of the robot, eliciting a horrible creaking noise from the contraption. Folding her paw upwards and snagging onto a solid frame, she lifted the robot without any effort and chucked it into the other robot. The force of the throw launched the two robots into the air and caused them to fall off the path. Fluttershy, Blueblood and Joker eyed below and saw the robots fall into the oil. Both robots exploded on contact. Joker let out an impressed whistle.

“Do you see why I brought her here now?” He stated with a confident tone.

Blueblood and Fluttershy nodded with gaping mouths and unfocused stares. Sophia walked towards the group with a cheerful smile.

“Now that we got that out of the way, why don’t we further Fluttershy’s training?” She asked.

---

Blueblood walked ahead of the group and appeared before a large circular platform that served as an intersection between four bridges. Blueblood smiled and kicked off the black-bladed katana holstered on his left flank.

“This should be a good place to train. Enemies will be swarming us like nothing!” He said with an enthusiastic voice.

Fluttershy edged towards Blueblood with a cautious step and forced a smile on her face. She shut her eyes and inhaled through her nostrils. A yellow aura surrounded her body and synced with her breathing. A pressure formed within the area, causing the hair and fur strands on everyone’s body to stand upon each other. The flood of power attracted the sounds of whirring machinery.

Humanoid-shaped robots armored with slender black steel rushed from all bridges around the area. Fluttershy lifted her eyelids, revealing blood-red eyes directed towards the machines. The machines paused in their steps and gazed upon the pegasus. They aimed their clawed turrets towards Fluttershy and unloaded a round of bullets towards her direction. Blueblood conjured a light blue barrier around the group, shielding them from the storm of bullets.

“What are you doing Fluttershy?!” Blueblood shouted.

Fluttershy stared towards the robots with her red eyes, ignoring Blueblood’s question. Blueblood narrowed his eyes and bent down towards the ground. He grabbed his katana’s hilt with his teeth and charged through his barrier. He sprinted down the path and swung his blade against the bare support of one of the machines. The torso of the robot fell off and a fountain of oil spurt from the slashed area.

Joker appeared before another robot’s side within the speed of an eye’s blink. He pulled out a gray handgun from his pocket and fired it into the machine’s head. He eyes darted towards the left, where a bulb-shaped machine that propelled through the air with a fan on its head headed towards him. A red laser struck the machine, incinerating it. Joker eyed the direction of the beam, gazing upon the flash of smoke hanging from the tip of Sophia’s right front drone.

“Dang… nice beam!” Holding his right thumb up, Joker complimented. “If it was possible, I would have had you join the Royal Flush Gang.”

Sophia narrowed her eyes and shook her head.

“Thanks, but no thanks," She responded.

Fluttershy’s eyes flashed with a yellow color. The robot she set her gaze upon brought itself down to its knees and looked towards Fluttershy’s face. It bowed its head in respect. Blueblood gazed upon the fluid movement of Fluttershy’s left front hoof, sighing in awe upon witnessing the robot’s movements follow the pegasus’s hoof.

“Fluttershy. Did you take control of this robot?” He asked with a stupefied tone.

Fluttershy nodded with her focus set on the robot before her. She held her hoof out and curled it inwards. The robot sliced its head off with its sharp claws. Fluttershy’s eyes restored back towards their natural color.

“It’s one of the tricks I have learned under training with Riona. Apparently, I wasn’t healing others, but I was commanding the cells in their bodies to repair the abnormalities in the body at a supercharged rate," Fluttershy explained.

“I never heard of anything like that before. What makes that different from healing?” Blueblood asked.

“Blueblood; I have control over everything. I can command the flowers to dance for me and for my attackers to stop. I’m not real good at it, but I know I can do any of these things.”

Sophia shook her head and frowned in disbelief. She walked up towards Fluttershy with a glint of disbelief in her eyes.

“I’m sorry, but what? Fluttershy, there’s a being that can do what you can do. His name is Arceus. Do you mean to say that you are in the same league as the god of all Pokémon?!” She asked with shock?

Fluttershy shook her head with shut eyes.

“Arceus has dominion over the realms of creation, preservation and destruction. I only control the realm of preservation. I am incapable of creating or destroying anything with my abilities," She responded.

Sophia looked upon Fluttershy’s figure once more. Her eyes glanced upon the faint remnants of the aura Fluttershy exuded before it faded into obscurity. She blinked once and shrugged her shoulders.

“So, how much longer are we going to be here? This place is a bit unsettling.”

“We can leave this place, but there is one place I want to see before we leave," Fluttershy responded.

Stating these words, she took several steps forwards and had her sights set on a smooth-rounded pillar of copper with a spiral heading upwards. Blueblood, Sophia and Joker closed the distance between themselves and Fluttershy with their eyes open with wariness.

Giacomo emerged from the pillar’s blind spot and looked towards the group of H.O.R.S.E. operatives that scaled the screw. Setting his gaze on Sophia, his stance changed and his eyes burned with vengeance.

---

Fluttershy stepped off of the elevator platform and onto the platform of open space before her. She peeked down below and saw the ocean of oil below the size of a puddle. Her muscles tensed up and her teeth chattered in fear. The bottom drew her attention over the edge with the tenacity of a black hole.

“Fluttershy?” Tapping Fluttershy’s right shoulder, Blueblood asked.

Fluttershy leaped upwards and let out a shrill scream. She hovered in the air with her wings and looked below. Her wings stiffened with anxiety and stopped flapping. Blueblood caught her in his telekinetic grip and levitated her towards his side. Fluttershy looked into Blueblood’s eyes and frowned.

“…Sorry. Heights just scare me.” She reasoned.

“I was actually going to say if you were alright with looking at the bottom from this height. Some of the operatives I took here have a fear of heights. Knowing this, are you sure you want to continue?” Blueblood asked.

“Of course. Heights scare me, but I have to learn to not be afraid of heights. Fear is blocking the understanding of my potential, which has a negative impact on my abilities.” Fluttershy explained.

Sophia and Joker looked ahead onto the large span of copper footing before them. At the center laid a red carpet with weapons, armor, food and medication assembled into neat columns. At the center of the rug stood a bipedal chameleon with green flesh and red zigzag pattern around its abdomen. Its tail curled into three layers and a green spine jetted out from its back.

Closing the distance between the chameleon and herself, Sophia eyed the yellow frills that ran down its head and the yellow markings of its face. The chameleon grinned, walked off of the carpet and approached Sophia and Joker with enthusiastic steps.

“Oh my! Customers at last! Kek.” The chameleon called out with glee.

“Hey, you’re a Kecleon! What are you doing out in the Machiner’s Field?” Sophia asked with a curious tone. “Actually… why are you even here? I don’t know any Kecleons from Opelucid City’s labs nor did you come from the Royal Flush Gang. Heck, you bear no similarities to any of the humans who turned into Pokémon.”

“Plus, why do you act so much like the Kecleon shop owner from the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon series? You go out into some random dungeon randomly to sell stuff to poor shmucks who happen to wander into the dungeon. Are you going to call upon other Kecleon to assault us if we take your stuff without paying?” Joker asked.

The Kecleon eyed the two with confused eyes that matched the asymmetry of its body. It unwound its long tail, brought its right claw underneath its chin and cocked its head.

“…What? Aren’t you two extremely judgmental?” It asked with an offended tone. “Yes, I’m a Kecleon. Yes, I am trying to sell my wares inside of this mechanical contraption you call a dungeon despite having a poor time trying to sell anything. And yes, I will attack you if you try to steal any of my wares. Kek.”

Focusing its sights on Sophia and Joker further, the Kecleon narrowed its eyes and paid attention to the unusual style of the Sylveon’s appearance and Joker’s clothing.

“You two are definitely not natives of my world.” It stated with an accusatory tone.

“Wait… what do you mean ‘your world’? Do you happen to be a part of Keldeo’s world?” Sophia asked.

“You speak as if I know this Keldeo fellow. Maybe I do, maybe I don’t. But if my former home is what you are looking for, then I was a part of Kurisutaru before that nasty Demiurge fellow made everything into a living nightmare! Kek.” The Kecleon responded.

Joker strided by the Kecleon’s side and slammed a white signpost through the copper ground with its arrow point directed at the Kecleon. The sign read ‘Original Kurisutaru Resident trying to sell stuff in the Machiner’s Field and is sucking at it.’

“Hah! No wonder I can understand your speech without having to read this chapter to understand what you are saying. And it’s good that your dialogue isn’t solely written through the italicized commands from FiMFiction too.”

The Kecleon pushed Joker away and flashed an angry stare directed towards him.

“Shut up and get the hell away from me you annoying cretin!” It shouted.

Sophia smiled and giggled at the display of behavior between the two.

“Thanks for shutting Joker up. Seriously, he’s an obnoxious loud-mouth fellow who deserves to be put in his place.” She said with a blunt tone. “My name is Sophia, a Sylveon.”

Sophia extended her right front paw with invitation. The Kecleon grasped at it, but felt only tufts of fur covering cold steel. It shrieked and blinked once.

“By Arceus’s wheel! A Sylveon is not a Sylveon if it has the appearance and touch sensation of a killer robot! You may look cute like a Sylveon, but you are definitely not a Sylveon! Kek.” It shouted.

Sophia narrowed her eyes, let out a disappointed and folded her paw inwards. The drone on the paw glowed with a pink energy that hummed with power. The Kecleon’s nerves grew cold upon seeing the concentrating energy that focused a mere foot away from it. A nervous giggle rang from its open mouth.

“Call me cute, a killer robot or a cute killer robot and I will make sure to blast you to smithereens.” Sophia threatened.

“I uhh… I didn’t know you were that sensitive to being called those things. M-my apologies Sophia. K-K-Kek!” The Kecleon called out in panic.

Sophia dropped the energy around her drone and her paw. She let out a despondent sigh.

“It’s not your fault. I just hate being called those things. Plus, that cybernetic implantation surgery didn’t help with my own self-esteem either.” She said.

The Kecleon lowered its head and scratched the top of it. It walked up towards Sophia and patted the base of her neck.

“You know what would help with that self-esteem? Buying one of my wares~! Kek!” It proclaimed with a proud tone.

Sophia stared at the Kecleon with a twitchy right eye. She cupped her right front paw and socked the Kecleon across its face. The Kecleon’s eyes shot open, uttering out a stunned groan. It fell onto the ground.

“If you dare try to take advantage of me when I pour my heart onto you, then I will do much worse than just a simple punch you ignorant lizard-brained merchant!” Sophia shouted.

Fluttershy and Blueblood ran over towards the sound of bones cracking with an audible noise. They stared at the Kecleon on the ground, where a dark bruise marked its left cheek, blood leaked from its nostrils and its eyes formed into exaggerated swirls. Fluttershy dropped down towards the Kecleon’s level and treaded her hoof along the impacted area. Feeling the jaw-line shattered, Fluttershy’s eyes shot open. Blueblood glanced upon Sophia with shocked eyes.

“Geez Sophia! How hard did you hit it?!” He shouted.

“Enough to make sure that the Kecleon will never try to exploit my emotional state.” Sophia responded with a proud huff.

Joker’s ears rose at the sound of quick steps approaching the group. He pulled out his gun, turned at the speed of a single frame and fired a bullet towards the direction. Giacomo pulled out Chaotic and pulled the trigger at an instant. The two bullets collided into each other, cancelling their energy.

“That all you got bastard?!” Pulling out his dark scythe and driving it towards Joker, Giacomo shouted.

Joker stepped away from the strike range of the scythe, dodging it. Joker whipped his pistol towards Giacomo, who parried a strike with his gun Dance. The two humanoids both smashed their guns against the other’s guns with the finesse of fencers.

“You know, I know you were stalking us ever since the end of that last scene. I keep tabs on the chapter’s progress.” Joker stated with a cocky tone.

“So you’ll be the one who will impede my progress from getting to that robotic bitch, aren’t you?” Giacomo responded with a casual tone.

Sophia glared towards Giacomo’s direction. A fire surged from her mechanical heart and into her spirit. Joker brought out a green handgun with his left hand, twirled it and fired a glob of goo towards Sophia. Sophia adhered onto the ground and struggled in its grasp.

“Easy there. I already called dibs on this dude for the longest time.” Joker stated. “So you’ll just have to be a good robot Sylveon and wait there.”

“Excuse me?! I have every reason to strangle this Meowstic-mutilating asshole and my thirst for vengeance will not be quelled until I pound him to a bloody pulp!” Sophia shouted.

“Meowstic… wait, isn’t that the soldier that Wilhelm caught?” Giacomo asked. He looked into Joker’s eyes, whose handgun struck against his pistols blow for blow. He smiled. “Should I tell her about how that Meowstic was tortured? It’s not like she can do anything under that goop.”

“Go ahead. I never held any type of emotional connection with either Mono or Sophia.” Joker responded with a lackadaisical tone.

Joker fired two more rounds of goop towards Fluttershy and Blueblood, pinning the two ponies onto the ground. He glanced towards Giacomo and sidestepped away from him. Giacomo grinned and walked towards Sophia. Sophia glared at Joker with a fiery stare.

“So, you want to know how that cat was tortured do we?” Looking into Sophia’s eyes with a gnarled grin, Giacomo asked. “I won’t lie; it was not pretty. That cat got cut up in more ways than my scythe wishes it can go into. His organs are fornicated with beyond belief! You should’ve seen the look on that cat’s face. He was crying and wanted to die. How cute!”

Sophia spat into Giacomo’s face with an oil-based liquid. Giacomo wiped away the spittle on his face and stared down at the fuming Sylveon.

“If I get out of this goop, I’m going to ravage your body and mutilate your corpse!” Sophia shouted.

Giacomo brought his hand around Sophia’s neck and squeezed it. To his surprise, Sophia did not flinch from the choke nor did she utter out a choked noise. She focused her anger into a stare that bore into Giacomo’s soul.

“You humiliated me back in the Twiluminescent Jungle. If I can’t choke a bitch to death, then I’ll just cut you with my scythe!”

Joker fired a bullet into Giacomo’s back, stunning him. Giacomo glanced behind him and stared into Joker’s eyes.

“I’m not going to let you kill Sophia by the way. You still have to get through me first.”

Giacomo turned around and glanced towards Joker.

“Fine. If killing you is what it takes to get to the one who humiliated me, then I’ll gladly accept that challenge you franken-faced fu-“

“You aren’t allowed to say that word in this fic. Author’s rules.” Joker responded with a wag of his right index finger.

“Fine, but prepare your anus as my scythe will rape it with slow and powerful stabs! There, better?” Giacomo asked with an annoyed tone.

Joker nodded and pulled out a knife from his pocket protector. He flipped it in his hand and pointed it towards Giacomo. “Cowabunga!” he tells, and lunged at Giacomo.

Giacomo parried Joker’s strike with his scythe. He pulled out Chaotic and aimed it towards Joker’s chest. Joker stuck his finger in the barrel. Giacomo pulled out Dance and aimed it at Joker’s face. Joker stuck a finger from his other hand in that gun’s barrel. Giacomo growled and dropped both of his guns. He brandished his scythe and aimed the point towards Joker’s head.

“I’m seriously getting tired of your shit,” He stated with an annoyed tone.

“I'll have you know that I wiped vigorously,” Joker told him with a hint of offense in his tone, “which was difficult because ponies don't use or make tp.”

Giacomo growled and thrust his scythe forwards. Joker parried away the attack with his switchblade, and kicked out at Giacomo’s legs. Giacomo leaped over the kick and above Joker. He held out his right hand and fired bolts of dark magic from its palm. Joker shook in place for a moment before the crackling energy blasted him into a wall.

Joker coughed out a puff of smoke. “That was shocking.” he said before grabbing his head and cracking his neck, and easily walked back into the fight.

GIacomo stood on the ground and twirled his scythe. The dark energy filled the charcoal atmosphere of the Machiner’s Field, mixing with it and filling the air with a foul scent.

Joker folded his knife blade back into the handle, and then pushed the button. A foot long blade popped out of the six inch handle. “People should get some popcorn right about now.” he said cheerfully.

“Popcorn? The only popcorn those people will get will be the chunks that come from your blown-up body after I’m through with you!” Giacomo shouted.

“Mortal Kombat eh? I like where you’re going with this!” Twirling his blade and holding it over his right shoulder, Joker called out.

Giacomo and Joker’s blades clashed against each other, sending sparks throughout the field. Both combatants swung their bladed weapons at the speed of an eye’s blink at a continuous pace. Joker frowned and tossed his sword on the ground.

“You know what? This isn’t working,” Pulling out a purple box with a turning lever, he said. He wound up the lever on the box, catching Giacomo off guard.

“What the hell are you doing?!” Giacomo shouted.

Joker let go of the lever. The lid on the box opened and a red boxing glove fired out of it. The boxing glove socked Giacomo across his jaw, knocking him back. Giacomo rubbed his jaw and glared at Joker.

“What can I say? You look better with your face punched in.” Joker stated.

Giacomo growled and tightened his right hand into a fist. He smashed it into Joker’s teeth. Joker covered his mouth and looked down onto the palm of his right hand, revealing a mixture of blood and spit. He pulled out his middle tooth.

“OWWW!!!” Leaning forwards with an exaggerated motion and his hands over his mouth, Joker shouted.

Giacomo leaned forwards and dashed in front of Joker with the blink of an eye. Giacomo threw another punch into Joker’s teeth. Upon colliding with his mouth, the Van’Goth assassin felt a wild surge of pain wrack through his entire arm. Lifting away his fist with a shaky movement, his eyes met with green metal covering Joker’s teeth.

“Mother...f----WHEN DID YOU GET THAT GUARD UP?!” Giacomo shouted.

Joker spat his guards out of his mouth and into the palm of his right hand. He looked forwards and grinned.

“Simple; you took too long with your dash and I added the guard in-between sentences.” He stated.

Giacomo regained his composure and glared into Giacomo’s eyes. He looked around him and eyed Fluttershy, whose eyes burned with a golden aura.

“You know what? I’ll make sure to push in your shit especially hard after I kill this freak of nature.” He said.

Joker yawned and held his gun up towards Giacomo’s head with his right hand. Giacomo looked around him and found his ankles and wrists chained towards the ground with pink plastic. Joker brought his hand to his mouth and giggled. Giacomo pulled with all of his strength, but failed to even bend his plastic prison.

“Try all you want, but that plastic is not coming off anytime soon.” Joker answered.

Saying these words, Joker fired a red bullet towards Giacomo’s head. Giacomo pulled out his scythe and twirled it, deflecting the bullet. He launched his scythe towards Joker’s head. Joker evaded the blade with a sidestep. Giacomo grinned and held his hand out. The scythe stopped in midair, turned onto its side and flew back towards Joker. Joker leaped above the blade of the scythe and fired a bullet towards Giacomo.

“You really want to try that again?” Pulling out another staff with his right hand and twirling it around, Giacomo stated.

The staff deflected the bullet. Giacomo stopped twirling his staff. A vicious curve of black energy formed at the top of the staff, revealing another scythe. Giacomo’s initial scythe flew back towards him, which the Van’Goth grabbed with his left hand.

“Well two can tango as well,” Pulling out another katana with his right hand and kicking up the katana at his left foot, Joker said. He grabbed the katana with his left hand, “Now we are doing it live!”

The scythes and swords of the two combatants struck each other with lightning slashes and slices; Giacomo let out flurries of slashes within the span of a second, which Joker parried with slashes of his own. Joker let out a dull yawn and kicked his goop gun into the air with his right foot. With that same foot, he kicked the trigger and fired pink blobs that aimed towards the trapped operatives.

Fluttershy, Blueblood and Sophia shut their eyes and turned their heads away. The pink blobs collided with the green goop and dissolved it, setting free the captives from their bindings. Giacomo’s eyes shot wide-open at the act.

“What did you do that for?!” He shouted.

“Bored now.” Joker complained with a droopy-faced expression.

“Bored? Are you freaking kidding me you asshat?!” Giacomo screamed out. “I’ll show you who’s bored after I kill you!”

Joker shook his head, closed his eyes and smiled with a confident aura bursting from his face.

“I’ve seen all of your tricks. You have nothing more to surprise me with.” He said.

Giacomo grinned and held out a black remote. Joker frowned and looked up into the sky with a puzzled frown.

“Author! You never told me this!” He shouted.

Giacomo looked to his other enemies with a quizzical frown, “Exactly what is wrong with him?”

Sophia shrugged her shoulders and shut her eyes.

“He has issues.”

“Hey! I'm not crazy! I just don't give a darn.” Joker explained, and hopped around for a bit yelling “Woohoo!”

“Regardless, if you have a care for anything in the world, then you should know that this is a very special remote.” Giacomo stated.

“Okay?” Joker picked his nose a little.

“This remote has direct control over a mechanism that triggers dangerous mutations among the children of Equus by feeding off of their positive emotions provided they have an activator inside of them. It turns them into monstrous beings that will slaughter everyone in their way,” Giacomo explained, “and I know three certain fillies that will be perfect for this.”

Nobody moved. Fluttershy, Sophia, and Blueblood glanced upon Giacomo with wide eyes and their hearts shook from his threat. Sophia looked towards Joker and felt a metaphorical chill run down her spine; his face lost its perpetual smile.

“Excuse me? ‘Three certain fillies?’” Joker asked with a disbelieving tone.

“Don’t play stupid around me. I’ve seen you hang around a pale yellow Earth Pony filly, an orange pegasus filly and a white-coated unicorn filly. While they were asleep, I injected them with an active gene that makes them susceptible to the rays of that machine. I have control over that machine with this remote!” Giacomo elaborated.

Joker bent over, picked up a pebble, and flicked it quite forcefully into Giacomo's thumbnail, breaking and pushing it up and letting the small rock burrow into the alien’s finger.

Giacomo dropped the remote, which was caught by Blueblood’s magic.

“YOU MOTHER FUUUUuuuuuuu…..” Joker pointed at his face, interrupting Giacomo’s curse.

Joker's arms were each carrying a multi-barrel rotating machine gun with belt ammo feeds coming from the large pack on his back. The ammo filled the insides of the see-through plastic tubes that made up the belts.

“Are those paintballs?” Blueblood asked.

“Minus the ‘t'.” the man, still not smiling, told them.

Giacomo looked onto the guns with curious eyes and set his gaze onto Joker’s face. He pointed at Joker with curious eyes.

“Is this your weapon against me?” He asked.

“Instead of paint, the balls are filled with various chemicals that mimic Pokémon attacks. And they are propelled at the same speed as most bullets. I call them the Paintball Guns of DOOOOM!; always spelled with four ‘O's.” Joker explained to him.

Giacomo grinned, leaned towards Joker’s face and lowered his eyes and said, “I bet you don’t have half the balls to shoot me with that than I believe you do.”

Joker pulled the trigger on his machine guns.

Fire balls, clouds of poison gas, electric shockwaves, bursts of super cold freezing air, acid, various powders, explosions, whirlwinds, bursting shrapnel shards, and even simple metal balls cascaded over Giacomo's body in an endless stream of chaos.

The constant attacks striking against Giacomo pushed his body to his limit. The final explosion collided with his chest, knocking him into the air and causing his body to soar through the walls of the Machiner’s Field. Blueblood looked onto the remote and let out a sigh of relief.

“Thank goodness that crisis was averted… but how did that Van’Goth know those specific details. Could there truly be a breach of security in Neo Canterlot?”

Joker glanced towards Blueblood and smiled once more. He patted the unicorn at the base of his neck.

“First of all, we’re going to remove that serum from those fillies above all else. Who knows what would happen if we left them in there?”

Sophia walked over towards Fluttershy and held out her right front paw. Seeing the helping paw before her, Fluttershy smiled and wrapped her left front hoof around it. Sophia pulled her up from the ground and smiled.

“I’m glad to see that you are alright Fluttershy.” She stated with her red eyes flashing with relief.

“Yes, but what about the Kecleon?” Pointing towards the Kecleon that lied fainted on the ground, Fluttershy asked and said, “We can’t just leave it there.”

“Good point. We’ll take him back to Neo Canterlot.”

---

Spitfire sat at her table and examined the holographic map of Equus before her eyes. A red dot appeared at the mass of land towards the southwest of the Terraformed Wilderness.

“We found him!”

Author's Note:

I apologize with the long wait for this chapter, but it's here now. Next chapter though, tons of fecal matter wil hit the fan.

Comments

[OSJ Vanilla]

In an unrelated note, after watching the ending to Neon Genesis, I can imagine this story ending like that.

That would be funny.

[ZeroChill]

7117296

*darts eyes back and forth*

I totally do not understand what you are talking about. Nope. Not at all!

[OSJ Vanilla]

7117339

Congratulations!

[Cookie_Girl]

Been a while since I looked at this. Looks like I've got 15 chapters to read.