Marks Of Babylon

by Phoxjes Rome

Intelligence Accredits Governing Capability

Marks of Babylon

Chapter 5

Intelligence Accredits Governing Capability

For the most part of Equestria, all was normal. Waking up on schedule, getting ready for the day ahead, going to work or school, or staying at home, occupying themselves.

Alas, that was not the case for everyone. And everyone, in this case, is the Mane Six. For them, a great loss had just been bestowed upon them all.

A loss that they would work night and day to rectify.

It was three days later after Spike had sacrificed himself to save Rarity and her soul, and the mane six went back to Ponyville. After much sobbing, weeping, and talking about him, they decided to go to the princesses to see if she knew anything else that could help.

"Alright girls, the chariot service is down; something about a formation blocking a passage." Twilight told the girls as they headed for the Ponyville Station. "If it was any other time we could help out ourselves, but right now we gotta see Celestia. So it looks like we're just gonna have to take the Friendship Express instead."

"The Friendship Express." Pinkie repeated. "The only service that runs on smiles and joy!"

"Yeah... Which raises the question why they still charge ponies to board it..." Rainbow muttered.

After a minute, they arrived at the station and took a look at the time schedule. The next ride to Canterlot was in less than five minutes.

"We've got here in time." Twilight stated. "Alright girls, let's get moving! Next stop, Celestia."

They each brought train tickets and climbed aboard, only to see that every seat were filled with other passengers. They searched around the train for a bit, but there were little to no seats available; every last one of them, save for a few were taken by other ponies. Most of which none of the girls recognized.

"Isn't there ANYWHERE to sit on this thing!?" Rainbow exclaimed. "Why's it so busy, anyway? The train's usually never this full."

"Hey Girls!" Pinkie exclaimed. The five of them turned around to see her pointing at a pair of seat rows. "I found an empty one!"

"Finally!" Rainbow rolled her eyes. The mane six then took their seats, just as they heard a whistle blow outside and saw the doors close. The train began to move forwards.

Meanwhile, on the outside of the train, a pony with a dark yellow coat, brown mane and old timey mustache was staring at the giant standing clock, waiting for it to departure. Once it left the station, he turned his head to see it and make sure that the six girls were all on it.

"Clockwork to Schedule." He said to seemingly no-one. Before anypony noticed him say this, he got a reply in his head.

"I hear you." Another pony's voice answered him.

"They've left the station; they're heading to the capital. I'm ready at anytime you are."

Back to Twilight and her friends, they would normally be messing about on the train, either playing or doing whatever they did in their spare-time here. But knowing how serious these Babylonians were being against them and that a friend's life may be at stake, they could only focus at the task at hand.

Speaking of which, the girls were now recalling the better times they had with Spike.

"They could be hurting him for some more information again, or maybe even trying to get him to fight us so they can watch." Said Twilight, when the dark blue light emitted from her chest again. This time when it did, it followed through to the drivers room.

"If Celestia can't help us, then I'm willing to go straight up to Illiux myself and get my Spikey back." said Rarity with a focused tone.

"Rarity, we might not-"

"Twilight, because of me, Spike's been in danger twice. I need to set things right."

"They didn't hurt Rainbow Dash when she was down there, so he could be merciful on him." Hoped Fluttershy.

"We can only hope for now." Twilight answered her. "I'm angry too, but we need a plan first. Celestia knows more about this Babylon than we do, so only she can tell us anything."

"What's the first thing we wanna know 'bout this Babylon thing?" Applejack asked.

"If we want to get Spike back, we'll need to know how to get to this Babylon, so we can confront them sooner."

"We already know it's underground." Fluttershy continued. "But it's not as if we can just dig our way down there... Could we?"

"I'm up for it!" Pinkie announced, popping up from the side, holding six shovels in her hooves. "And I think I speak for all of us when I say we're ready to go dragon digging!"

"Uh... Maybe not all of us." Rarity replied, backing off from her a bit.

"Besides, something tells me that it's not going to be that easy, Pinkie."

"-BZZZ- Attention all passengers, this is your conductor speaking -BZZZ-" An unfamiliar male voice came through the monitor. He sounded dull and bored, but was definitely not sounding like anyone they knew. "-BZZZ- We appear to experiencing slight malfunctions with the gear box, so the trip may take a few minutes longer than expected. We apologize for any inconvenience that this may cause. -BZZZ-"

"Well, great." Rainbow Dash spoke up. "Now I have to wait even longer before I kick Illiux's plot."

"Hey, we have bigger things to worry about right now." Pinkie said.

"Such as?" Twilight asked in response.

"Well, call me crazy, but I thought that we weren't the only ones on this train."

"What're you talking about of course we're not the only-" She and her friends looked around to see everypony who was on the train was now gone. "Hey! Wasn't the train completely filled with passengers a second ago?"

"First the conductor about the gearbox, and now this." Applejack spoke up.

"But... But I thought this train... Didn't have a conductor." Said Fluttershy.

"Wait... She's right! This train is magical; it moves on its own." Said Twilight.

"-BZZZ- You managed to deduce that much quicker than anticipated, your highness. So your brain agility isn't as slow as imagined. However a deserted train is only the least if your problems as of now. For if you wish to see your little dragon again, that is. -BZZZ-" the monitor said again.

"Tell me where he is now!!" Demanded Twilight.

"-BZZZ- His location can be found on the roof of the train, princess Twilight Sparkle. My mistress is expecting you there at once. -BZZZ-"

"Let's move!" Twilight ordered her friends.

In an almost uncharacteristically fashion, she bolted from her seat and charged to the nearest roof hatch at a speed that Rainbow herself might've called excessive.

They wasted no time and climbed flew to the top of the Friendship express's carriages.

They saw someone in the distance, but wasn't who they were hoping for. It was likely another Babylonian. They had a mask on their face as well, similar to the ones the Marks wore.

"Are you a Mark!?" Twilight asked the pony in the distance.

They didn't answer.

Twilight stood on the roof as well, balancing herself, before her friends followed suit. The girls moved a little closer to get a better look.

They had on a dark blue sweater over white polo shirt, tied with a red bow tie. They also had a matching extended skirt on, reaching down to the side of their legs, so as not to blow it over their barrel, indicating that this Mark was most likely a female. They finished up the look with white knee-socks and black Mary Sue shoes.

"Alright then, whoever you are!" Twilight shouted to her, as she smiled under her mask with the fast wind running through their hair. "We're up here like you asked, but I'm not seeing my friend anywhere!"

"Of course you're not. That's seemingly because he's not up here."

"WHAT!?" Shouted Rainbow dash. "But you just said-"

"My colleague, Rail Works, informed you that 'His location could be found up here!' He didn't clarify he WAS here. An elementary mistake on your part, Princess Twilight Aurora Sparkle. That is truly part of the reason why I chose to come here: to test how high your IQ truly is. So far, your first test has resulted in failure."

"You lyin' dirty no good little..." Applejack shouted.

The mare's horn then lit up for a second, before dimming again a second later.

"From what I recall, he is already in Canterlot. He'll be fine; he's on his first mission already."

"Oh great!" Said Pinkie. "Of all the messes Spike could have made, this is the one we've been unable to fix."

"I can relate to cleaning up messes that dragons can cause, especially ones of his breed." The mare said to them.

"What? You're saying that you know about dragons?" Twilight asked, somewhat interested about this.

"That is correct. I know about his species, his purpose, his adaptation to life, and likely a lot more than you and your friends know."

"How does someone like YOU know about that kind of thing?" Twilight questioned her.

"Simple. As you are likely already aware by now, I have been alive for thousands of years, and as opposed to the likes of Caxpe and Calsuricxs, I have decided to use that life time to learn and study about all that a common being would not know. That is why I founded the Ingenium Faction to begin with."

"The likes of Caxpe and whom?" Rarity asked her, keeping her leg above her head, so that the wind didn't ruin her mane too much.

"Another Babylonian, miss Rarity." She answered. "However, staying on the subject of your former assistant, I'm reluctant to tell you that due to my capacity of knowledge involving his breed being superior in comparison to yours, Princess Twilight, he would be better of staying with me and my faction."

'Faction?' Twilight thought about that word.

"Yes, faction." The mare replied, shocking Twilight.

"Did... Did you just read my thoughts?"

"Indeed, I did. It was a magic that I learnt when I was a little hundred years older than yourself." She answered again.

"Anyway..." Twilight shock her head. "Back to what you said, you're not keeping Spike with you! He's my fami- my best friend! I'll do whatever it takes to get him back with me!"

"Is that so? Then would you give yourself up to join our cause for the Babylon? The two of you would be back together then."

"NEVER!" Twilight snarled at the mare.

"WHO EVEN ARE YOU!?" Rainbow Dash yelled to the mare at the other side of the train.

"My name is Xandra Beswick. I am the fourth Mark of Babylon, as you may or may not have deduced at this point." She said as she then lit up her horn in a dark blue flash, and she fired a magic beam into the sky.

The beam the turned into a shield like form, surrounding a small portion of the train track.

Suddenly the train they were standing on ran into the bright light she fired and emerged over an ocean.

It seemed as though that they were all trapped on an endless track, above an ocean in the middle of nowhere, with absolutely nowhere to go but ahead.

The mane six looked at this power. Some looked in shock because of the power, others in amazement because of the scenery.

"From what your former assistant has told me, your majesty, you pride yourself on being a strong Alicorn, with both your magic and friendship being your strongest element. Is this true?" Xandra asked her,

"That's none of your business!" Twilight retaliated in an angry tone.

"Keep calm, as a princess should be. I'm simply clarifying if what he's informed me is correct." They could tell she was smiling under the mask.

"Stop stalling! Where's Spike!? Undo this spell and let me see him!"

"Hmm. Curious, really." She started to slowly approach Twilight on the other side of the train.

"What?" Twilight questioned.

"It almost sounded as though your actually concerned about him. As opposed to the dozens of times in his life that you either left him alone at home, put his life in danger before your own, or both."

"Ho- How dare you talk to me like that about him! HOW DARE YOU!!"

"Oh?" Xandra looked puzzled, as she stopped walking.

"You have no right in telling me how to bring up my family!"

'Family? Interesting.' She thought.

"What happened to your Babylon is between me and you, so leave Spike out of this and deal with me about it, one on one!"

"You Elements of so-called 'harmony'. Tell me, do you get tired of being incorrect and naive all the time?"

This made Twilight even more enraged.

"This wasn't just about you and me, Princess Twilight. This was about the six of us and the six of you, until Rarity was so generous of giving the victory to Illiux. Then your- pardon, my dragon stepped in and gave away his freedom as opposed to hers."

"That doesn't give you the right to steal him from me!"

"Incorrect once more. We saw that he had the heart of a hero, which is exactly what we need right now."

"Take me to him! Now!"

"But we have yet to start our battle yet. I still need to analyze your magical capacity, so..." Xandra lit her horn up again, not exactly showing what she was doing with it. "As Illiux might say: Shall we dance?"

"I didn't want to ever have to use my magic this way..." Twilight said, putting her head down, sighing, and looked back up at Xandra. "But if this is the only way to save my friend, then bring it on, Xandra!"

"Excellent." Xandra confidently said, before she raised her fore hoof, and the ocean beneath began to rumble, and a tsunami rose and formed into a giant water snake-like being that crashed on Twilight.

"Twilight!!" Her friends shouted in worry. When they did the dark blue light appeared from Twilight and went straight into the mare's mask. Hers was with blue lines in the form of being part of a bigger logo.

"Hold up..." Said Applejack. "I've seen this here trick before when ah faced Xoa! So yer the Element of Worry, are ya!?"

"I am not an Element; I'm a Mark, Applejack." She replied, as her horn started to glow.

Another wave came from the newly formed ocean and slammed into the side of the train knocking Twilight off the side, hanging on by a hoof. She then flew her soaking wet self up and looked directly at her.

"Alright, now I'm mad." She weakly said as she charged up her horn for an attack of her own. She released the magic beam and, like before, no results came about her.

"I see." Xandra stated.

"You see what, Xandra!?" Twilight demanded to know.

"You'll have to forgive me, but it seems as though I've overestimated your powers. For the pony who supposedly defeated lord Tirek, you certainly don't seem to have quick enough reactions to my skills, your highness." She said.

As she commented on her efforts, something else came from out of the vast water beside them: it looked like a shield with six spikes pointing in different directions on the curved top. It had four diagonal lines across the center to the corners, two from each corner, and one line across the bottom separating it. It also had razor sharp wings on the side of the shield.

It took awhile, but the six finally got it and they figured it was what the different lines on each Babylonian masks were a part of.

"XANDRA." It shouted. She bowed before it as it called her name. "I REQUIRE TO SEE YOU AT CANTERLOT IMMEDIATELY." It then faded.

"Well, how fortunate that our magical showcase has come to an end. Or, perhaps this is unfortunate, depending on your perspective of this strife." she said to Twilight and her friends. "Although, despite my requirement to leave now, this does not necessarily mean that we will not see each other later today."

"Where is Spike!?!" Twilight practically screamed, still trying to get the information out of her.

When she said it, the same brown light emerged from Applejack again, and faded a second later, showing how obsessed she was getting about him.

"I believe that I already told you that, your highness. You should really begin to open your ears more often, as opposed to thinking that you can know everything simply by asking the same question."

The girls all stared at her angrily, before Xandra spoke again.

"I give you my word that your friend will not intentionally be hurt whilst he is with me in Babylon. However, any accidental cause of conflict is entirely reasonable."

"YOU TOUCH ONE SPINE ON MY BABY DRAGON, AND I'LL-" But Xandra had already jumped into the ocean.

"COME BACK HERE YOU-" Rainbow dash shouted as she tried to jump into the ocean as well, but the same light came as before and they reappeared at the Canterlot station where Rainbow hit her head against the platform.

"So Spike's already here..." Said Rarity as she looked around.

"Hey I think I know why he's here!" Pinkie said optimistically. "What if he's actually devised some sort of secret undercover plan to save us from the Marks of Babylon!?"

"Pinkie..." Rainbow unsatisfactorily said. "That's a little insane, even by your standards."

"Maybe the princess can help."

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The six hurried to the palace and immediately went inside to the Princesses room.

"Your highness! We've come across some... More... Of..."

She was nowhere to be seen in the room. The other elements came to witness this as well. They took a look around for any sign of either of them. They stayed for a bit, but then they thought it would have been better if they tried elsewhere.

Eventually, they ended up in an empty throne room.

"Hey, maybe she's still at that ridge thing that she was told to go to." Pinkie reminded them.

"Oh, yeah." Twilight said looking depressed.

"You're still worried about him, aren't you dear?" Rarity comforted her friend.

Twilight didn't respond, only stared at the ground some more.

"Don't be. It was me who lost to Illiux; it's my fault."

"Rari-"

The six of the then turned to hear the sound of the door to the elements of harmony being opened. From the inside.

Suddenly, they looked in amazement at the sight of a young Drake Twilight was talking about not too long ago.

"Spike!! You've returned to us at last!! See?! Told you it was all a secret undercover plan." Said Pinkie full of hope, and she and her friends saw some certain jewels in his claws. "What're you doing with half the elements of harmony, my clever little friend?"

"Stealing them, trying to get away from here. What does it look like, you pig?" He answered with a confused look.

"Oh. Well, it defiantly looks like that, but I still think that maybe this is all some secret undercover plan..." She whispered and Twilight used her magic to grab her closer.

"Pinkie!" She shouted. "He's stealing our elements! How can even you POSSIBLY not understand that!?!"

"W-well, Twilight I'm-" Pinkie looked in extreme fear of her supposed friend.

"Forget it! Just let me handle this!" Twilight threw Pinkie onto the floor, causing Caxpe's dark purple aura to flow from her body, showing her fear.

"Turning against your friends already? Nice. Now out of my way if you want all of your bodies still in tact!"

"I can't believe they did this to you! My little Spikey Wikey on the side of evil!?" Rarity exclaimed. He ignored her and carried the elements to the doorway and attempted to make a break for it, when the others came and blocked him.

"Evil, Rarity?" Spike asked. "Caxpe was right. Not only do you look like a marshmallow, but you're probably as thick as on too."

"Spike, stop!!" Twilight worried. "We're your friends; we don't want to hurt you!"

"Oh, what a shame, 'cause I WANT to hurt you!" She shouted as he held the three elements in his single claw and pounced on Twilight using his available claw to rip across her face.

His claws caused a large scratch mark of her face, as she squinted in pain.

She looked in shock that he'd willingly do that. He was about to attack again until he felt a lasso around his arm. He turned to see his former friend Applejack rope him tight and trying to pull him closer.

He used this to jump up high enough to pounce on her and slam her into the ground. This was followed by Rainbow grabbing him and throwing him off.

"Come on, squirt!" She said. "This isn't who you are! You'd never do this; you're on OUR side!"

"Rainbow, stop messing with my head and just fight!" He replied annoyed. He then did something they never saw him do before.

He held out his palm and he created a small green flaming meteor in it and let loose to fire.

It hit her and knocked her over. Applejack got back up and readied her lasso again. The two began circling each other.

"Jus' think, Spike. What's more harsh than turnin' a couple o' old friends against each other? They stole ya after that fight at tha hospital." She said.

"Not like you didn't any better in your fight, Applejack!" He retaliated by grabbing the lasso end and quickly wrapping it around her, catching her off guard, and knocking her down.

"You're more than this, and you know it! Remember, my little Spikey wi-" Rarity was cut off.

"STOP CALLING ME THAT!!" He lashed out tackling her. When she was down he headbutted her and caused her head to get bruised. When he did this gave an opening to allow Twilight and Pinkie grab him by his arms.

"GET OFF ME! GET OFF ME!" He roared. They kept their grip on him as he struggled, until suddenly, a large magnitude shock everything around them.

The vibrations intensified, and large gush of water flooded the room from outside, and the floor.

The water then formed into a fountain, and out the fountain, a certain mare popped out and knocked Rarity down again and stood on her.

"You look as though you could use a bit of help." Xandra said to him as they stood there.

"Gee, whatever could've given you that silly idea(?)" He replied, clearly pleased to see her. Her smile faded quickly as she turned to the others and focused all of her power on her horn and released.

"Farewell." Xandra said, and the whole room began to vibrate when the fountain lid imploded and surge of water shot out at Twilight. This caused the room to flood. Spike then used his available claw to get Pinkie off him as well.

He jumped over to Xandra and struck a battle pose as she did as well. He then used his fire breath on the water causing it to turn into steam and aiding their escape.

The steam then flew directly at their eyeholes, blindly them momentarily. 5 of them then got straight back up, whereas Twilight just knelt there, crying her eyes out.

"Spike... We really have lost him." She sobbed.