Crystal Guardian Chronicles

by GrumpyMonk97

Chapter 3: Another Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

It was nighttime, and all of the students were gathered outside the front of Canterlot High. As Sunset donned the crown, her form was overcome by a blueish black flame, which then revealed a shift to a demonic visage, with red skin, blueish black eyes, and large leathery wings sprouting from her back. She laughed maniacally as she cast her brainwashing spell over the entire student body, and as her laughter echoed into the night, Sunset awoke suddenly and found herself back in her bedroom, the early morning sun barely peaking in through the curtains.

Haven’t had that dream in a while. She thought to herself. Looking over, she saw that Flash was still asleep next to her and she smiled to herself. Evidently his gig the previous night had gone incredibly well, and they had decided to celebrate, first with the rest of his band and then a celebration for just the two of them. She sat up and stretched before quietly getting out of the bed, taking care not to make too much noise so as to let her boyfriend sleep. Picking up some of her clothes from off the floor, she quickly got dressed and decided to go out for a walk, taking a deep breath as she enjoyed the quiet and peaceful morning. Sunset’s brow furrowed as she remembered her dream, a recollection of her antics at the Fall Formal when she turned into, as she put it, a “raging she demon.”

Why now? After all this time? Sunset thought. As she continued her walk, she eventually found herself standing at the entrance to Canterlot High. She looked up and saw the school’s famous Wondercolt statue, which acted as the portal between this world and Equestria. Seeing it caused her to reflect on her journey to this point, from starting out as the cruel and malicious former student of Celestia to someone trying to do as much good as they can. She placed a hand on the statue and smiled. If it hadn’t been for Princess Twilight chasing her through this very portal to get her crown back, she probably wouldn’t be the person she is today.

“Thanks Princess Twilight. For everything.” Sunset said quietly as she turned to make her way back home, ready to see what the day will bring.

In the abandoned lab on the outskirts of the city, Rose typed away on her computer as she put the finishing touches on the next iteration of her super soldier formula. The vial next to the computer distributed the formula just as her computer made a loud beeping sound. She took the vial out of its holder and examined it, a viscous liquid with a blueish black arcane glow sloshing around inside the thin glass container.

“The formula is ready. Let’s see how Subject 42 handles it.” Rose said to Garl as he leaned up against the wall off to the side from her desk.

“I’ll need the neural transmitter too.” He said as he held out his hand. She reached over and picked up a small headpiece sitting on her desk and handed it to him, along with the formula. Taking both in hand, he made his way down to a designated holding area where a man who looked to be in his mid to late 30s was strapping to an operating table. As Garl came into the man’s view, he began to grow more and more nervous.

“What are you people going to do to me? What is it you want?” The man asked in a panicked tone.

“To repay old debts. A task you’ll be helping with.” Garl responded. He presses a button on the side of the table to make it stand upright and straps the neural transmitter to the man’s head.

“Please…” The man whispers desperately.

“Don’t worry. It’ll be over before you know it.” Garl said as he injected him with the formula. The man began to change, his veins pulsing with that same blueish black color as the formula as he grew to a large size similar to Crusher, though with a more demonic looking visage. The creature lashed out at everything around it in a blind rage until Garl activated the neural transmitter, eventually returning him to a more docile state. From the control room, Rose watched the fruits of her labor coalesce as the man transformed before her eyes, causing her to grip the arms of her wheelchair tightly in a mixture of excitement and dread. Garl made his way back up to the control room, placing a hand on Rose’s shoulder as he walked up to her side.

“Looks like it went off without a hitch. And the neutral transmitter seems to be holding up just fine, even with the heightened aggression.” Garl said. Rose looked at her computer screen once more and saw that the neural transmitter was operating flawlessly and was keeping their newly made beast under control for the moment.

“The numbers are looking good. All that’s left is the test run.” Rose said as she studied the numbers on her computer.

“Did you have anything specific in mind?” Garl asked. Rose thought it over for a moment before her eyes were drawn to an old advertisement for the grand reopening of the Flixiplex Cinemas, and suddenly an idea went off in her mind.

“If you want to attract as much attention as possible, where would be the best place to do it?” Rose asked.

“Somewhere with a lot of people.” Garl answered.

“Exactly. And I think I know just the place.” Rose said without taking her eyes off the advertisement.

Rainbow Dash let out a heavy groan as she and Applejack stepped into Canterlot Mall. This had been their fifth stop, and her patience was starting to wear thin.

“Come on, we’ve looked all over town. What makes you think it’s even here?” Rainbow asked in an annoyed tone.

“Because it’s the only place we ain’t looked yet. Look, just humor me for a bit longer would ya? It’s for Big Mac’s birthday after all.” Applejack responded. Rainbow gave another groan but conceded as they continued their trek through Canterlot Mall. They were about to walk into another store when suddenly, they heard the distant sounds of screaming and crashing coming from the other side of the mall’s atrium.

“What the heck’s going on over there?” Rainbow asked as she stepped out to try and get a better look at the situation. She saw that people were running past her, seemingly away from whatever was reeking havoc down the walkway. Suddenly, a hulking monstrosity came running into view, causing all sorts of havoc and destruction in its wake. As it closed in on Rainbow Dash, she activated her gemstone and did a backflip to avoid the creature’s ferocious strike.

“What in tarnation?!” Applejack exclaimed as she stepped out of the store. She activated her own gemstone and saw the figure standing before her; a giant brute, similar to the one they had fought in the bank before, though this one lacked the vials of liquid on its back, and also had a more demonic appearance, something Applejack swore she had seen before.

“Another one?!” Rainbow asked as she let out an exasperated sigh.

“We better go at this carefully Rainbow. Remember what happened last time.” Applejack cautioned.

“Yeah yeah I got it.” Rainbow said as she dashed forward with lightning speed towards the brute. She threw a punch into the brute’s face, which actually ended up hurting herself more than the brute, and he responded by throwing a strong punch of his own, sending Rainbow crashing through the glass into a nearby clothing store. The brute roared and took off running deeper into the mall, intent on causing more trouble. Applejack unfurled her lasso from her belt and tossed it out, wrapping it around the brute’s shoulders and digging in with all of her super strength to try and hold him back. To her surprise, the brute not only resisted her pull but move almost completely uninhibited, dragging her along for the ride. As the brute rampaged through the upper floor of the mall, Applejack did her best to hold on as she looked for some way to slow the brute down.

“A little help wouldn’t hurt!” Applejack called out. “Get the civilians out of the way!”

“On it!” Rainbow responded. She zipped ahead of the brute with her super speed, snatching people out of the way just as the brute came rushing past with Applejack dragging behind hanging on for dear life. Applejack finally managed to dig her feet into a banister that she used as a makeshift foothold to finally hold the brute in place, though she knew she wouldn’t be able to hold him for long.

“Rainbow?! Any time now!” Applejack said through gritted teeth as she strained to hold the brute in place.

“Comin in hot!” Rainbow yelled back as she zipped towards Applejack lightning fast. As Rainbow caught up to Applejack, Applejack reached out to grab Rainbow’s hand and launch her into the air. Rainbow then used her speed to roll into a ball and plummet back down to earth, slamming the brute down and leaving him vulnerable for a moment. Applejack let go of her lasso as this happened and leapt into the air, slamming both fists down onto the vulnerable brute and crashing through the floor down to the first level of the mall. As they landed, the brute rolled over and grabbed one of the nearby benches, tossing it at Rainbow Dash in the process. As he did, Rainbow managed to slide underneath the bench and avoid it entirely before springing back to her feet and using both legs to deliver a strong kick to the brute’s chest, knocking him off balance. Behind her, Applejack caught the bench, leapt upward and slammed the bench right down onto the brute just as Rainbow knocked him off balance. With that, the bench Applejack used as an improvised weapon shattered to pieces on impact, and the brute finally fell still. Both of them let out heavy, ragged breaths as the battle was now over, and now that they got a good look at the brute their eyes went wide.

“Don’t this fella look like-“

“Sunset when she went total she demon at the Fall Formal? Yeah, I was thinking the same thing.” Rainbow finished. She pulled out her phone and snapped a quick picture of the brute before the police arrived and started sealing off the area to civilians and sent it to their group chat.

At her job, Sunset felt her phone buzz with the alert from Rainbow’s text. She checked to make sure she wasn’t being watched before opening the message to reveal its contents.

AJ and I just went head to head with this guy after he tore up the mall. Anybody else think this looks kinda familiar? Rainbow’s message read, and Sunset swore she felt her heart skip a beat. It was as if fate had been moving everything into alignment, first with Crusher, her dreams, and now this. Her breath grew more rapid and shallow as she did her best to keep her emotions contained, but in her mind she knew that whatever was going on, it was about to get a lot more dangerous from here.

Comments

[Pete100]

It seems like everyone is getting access to equestrian magic.

[nightshroud96]

If I may ask, is there any plans for Spike in this?

Just wished he wasn't left out hard.
Like I wished he got powers too.