SWWC: Something Wrong With Canterlot

by Lighttone GryphonStar

File 4: Month 16-Part 1: The Encounter!

The flapping of the helicopter's wings buzzed around them all as they held tight to the straps above their heads. Nine soldiers, three from each race of pony all dressed in the same attire. Purple cut tight full-body suits with blue gloves and blue boots, with blue masks and purple large-brimmed hats.

They were all gathered together with one purpose and as the sounds of blades outside altered into a hover they took in a gulp of fear almost in unison. They knew what was coming next. They all faced a screen at the front of the room.

Light from it shone over them, but a shadow broke it as quickly as it appeared. The shadow was black and always void of a face or any form of an appearance outside of a small hat brimmed differently from theirs and a single solid red circle where the left eye would be.

"Maredowells, Dos, Cinco, Siete, Nueve, Catorce, Diecisiete, Diecinueve, Veintidós, Veinticuatro," the figure called out each of their numbers. Though the voice was hidden behind static, it was female and a distinct ascent that she was trying to hide. "You nine are my best soldiers. Therefore I expect the best.” The floor opened under them; they gripped tighter to their straps. "Strich Blauer will allow us in this airspace for only a few minutes, so Uno will drop you off and leave there as soon as possible. Complete your mission and find your escape routes. Dos, Catorce, and Diecinueve will be in command until you return to base." With that, the figure saluted them.

They saluted back, and in better unison spoke, "Of course, Commander Mad Jack." The transmission ended. The three in the front nodded to their soldiers pulled up some explosives and let go of their straps. The rest followed, falling into the pitch-black night.

******

A faded pink batpony with a gray beard twitched at the booming sounds above him. Nevertheless, he walked down a hallway and looked over the experiments. Around him, several tanks filled with liquid, and each of them had ponies with tubes hooked up to them. "What are the results?"

Another pony with files on hand followed him and spoke, "Sir, it's only been ten days. These tanks can only harvest so much."

"Do you not hear those outside?" The pink batpony pointed his metal fingers to the ceiling. "He'll be very angry if I don't deliver an ample amount to him before they stop us."

"Of course, Rhyme Right," The other ponies flipped through the files. "We have gathered about two tons of the source code."

"Only two!" Rhyme Right finally gave in to his frustrations.

"These bodies are a poor subject matter. We need better corpses."

"True, radiation level varies with each of them. Though maybe I should add you to the harvest list at the next base!"

"No, please, no!" The pony held up the files in a poor defense.

Another loud boom stopped them. Rhyme Right knew this was different from the other explosions as he pulled out his wings and finally rushed down the hallway. "They’re inside! Send out all the soldiers we have!"

"Yes, sir." The pony pressed a button on his earpiece before rushing to catch up. "Send everypony, now!"

******

Above, the Maredowells landed through three openings that had to be torn through. The battalion split into three groups, each one taking a certain entrance and going down a certain path. The earth ponies pulled out their axes, the pegasi their long blades, and the unicorns their shurikens.

The earth pony soldiers were unheeded by the enemy guards. Chopping and bashing enemies left and right. They moved quickly through the first hallway until they reached the tanks.

Dos stood watch over them as they bashed open every tank. She held up her arm to her eyes and looked over a green screen. On it, she could see the other teams moving. The pegasi and unicorns quickly moved into place to grab their targets.

She pressed a few buttons before aiming it at the large screen in front of her. “Please, be right, Twist,” She whispered under her breath. The large screen opened four files and showed images of each. The first was a deer skull, the second was a dragon, the third was a fogged-up tank, and the final one was a faint image of an alicorn.

She couldn’t tell which alicorn it was but smiled either way. The mare pressed another button to download the file of the alicorn. Her sneers followed when discovering the file was too encrypted to open here.

“Did you get it?” Cinco asked.

“Yeah, but I won’t be able to read it just yet.”

“Mad Jack isn’t going to like that--” Cinco was stopped as a loud explosion echoed above them. “Looks like the rest of the mares are ahead of us.”

“Yeah, looks like it,” Dos smiled and lowered her hand once the file had been taken, “We better get these ponies out of here and to our exit.”

The group moved toward their escape routes slowly yet aggressively to ensure the rescued ponies could keep up and remain safe. None knew what this twisted experiment was for, nor cared. They simply didn't want to lose a single again.

******

Further ahead of them, at the far end of the base, Rhyme Right watched through cameras. Fear grew more than anger now as his guards fell left and right. "Damn it, he'll send one of the Anti-Six now!" He shouted to the camera workers.

"Maybe this whole idea was wrong in the first place." Seeing all of this made the other pony finally break down. "We should have just called in the King--"

Rhyme Right jumped back as ashes splattered over the screen. The other pony screamed in agony before being consumed by fire and ash. Standing over his burnt corpse was an all too familiar ally. "You're early, Slice Kilm."

"Truthfully, you are lucky that he sends one of his Anti-Six!" Slice Kilm shouted out to the rest of the workers beside Rhyme Right. He swung his arm splashing ash remains everywhere to emphasize that point. He looked to Rhyme Right and questioned, “How far ahead are you?”

“I only have two tons of liquid to work with.” Rhyme Right walked over to a free screen and typed up a few files. The screen showed the image of a deer skull. Opening the file revealed a strange monolith made of permafrost and level monitors. “With the poor samples you keep bringing me, I can only harvest so much.”

“If I aim for large amounts, the locals will begin to notice the amount missing.” Slice Kilm sneered but walked forward. “What about the current stock we have?”

“What current stock?!” Rhyme Right questioned in defiance. “I may be the best blood scientist, but I can’t work with no resources.”

Slice Kilm laughed, “You're only second to Norman Nox. It’s just a shame he refuses to work for me.” He approached the screen and started typing.

“Don’t bring him into this--” Rhyme Right was stopped as Slice Kilm raised his hand to his neck.

“Either way, you have far more than enough resources.” Slice Kilm pulled up the camera feeds specifically to his monitor.

“What are you talking about?”

“I mean this,” He pulled up the scanners over the feeds.

Rhyme Right’s eyes went wide. “That’s the same radiation.” He looked over the intruders.

“Exactly--” Slice Kilm calmed his blackened flesh at the sound of another explosion and readied himself. This one was directly above them. He looked up to see three pegasi falling toward his position. Blasting flames out of his feet sent him upward to clash with them.

The three aimed their blades and swung at him. Unfortunately, he had an advantage as the edges of the weapons melted to a dull state upon touching his intense heat. They knew this just as much as he and fought their hardest before pulling their grappling hooks.

Slice Kilm refused to let them gain the upper hand. He punched the nearest one hard into a wall, making sure not to kill it. From that position he jumped to the next one, grabbed it in mid-air, and swung it around, breaking its arm before throwing it to the ground. In the same move, he caught sight of the final one. Pouncing forward, he crashed it through a window. This pegasus gave a far better fight. The two tumbled through a few rooms before landing in front of the earth pony group.

Dos jumped back at the sight of Slice Kilm as he heated the floor and melted the skin of the pegasus in place. “Catorce!” she shouted, knowing this one all too well. On instinct, she rushed forward swinging her axe toward Slice Kilm’s side.

Slice Kilm took the attack and lit the axe aflame with but a flinch. Dos dropped the weapon and jumped back. Her second attempt was to slice the flesh holding Catorce down.

Catorce finally broke free and got a stab in, tearing her blade through Slice Kilm’s shoulder. He sneered and melted the weapon all the same. "You stop with the stabbing already."

Dos jumped back and looked at her soldiers. “Cinco, go check on Catorce’s group and escape with them.” She looked to the other earth pony, “You get those rescued out of here.” They followed her orders without question as she turned her attention to Slice Kilm. Just in time as Slice Kilm blasted flames right at her.

Dos dropped into the split and stabbed him between the legs with the wooden remains of her weapon. Catorce herself was still fighting the pains of her tumble, yet she helped Dos up.

"I told you to stop!!" Slicee Kilm leaned back and yanked it out. "I am nothing but ash, there is nothing left to stab."

“What are we going to do, BB?” In the fear of battle, Catorce dropped the numbers and switched to the nicknames as she dragged her friend out of there.

“I don’t know NG.” Dos couldn’t help but answer her.

Seeing no way out, Catorce gritted her teeth and whispered, “Hand me all your bombs.”

“What?” Dos looked at her with shock. Even through their masks, they could sense each other's words. It was clear there was no way she could convince her otherwise. “Don’t do anything stupid.” She handed her what she had before charging into Slice Kilm, trying to punch him next.

While Dos fought Slice Kilm, Catorce tied up all the bombs. She looked at Dos and smiled. “Sorry about this?” She aimed her arm device at Dos. Pressing a few buttons a laser pointed to Dos. Catorce waited for the right moment. Seeing her chance as Slice Kilm shot flames out in all directions, she pressed the enter button. A vortex opened below Dos pulling her in.

Seeing what Catorce was planning she screamed, “No, don’t!!”

“Goodbye, Bon Bon!” Catorce smiled as the flames of Slice Kilm hit the explosives. A massive flame tore through the entire room.

Dos turned around and screamed, “Night Glider!!” The vortex closed before she could reach out, sealing her off from the base.

******

Author's Note:

So yeah, now it's Slice Kilm that will be chasing the agents, saving Flash or rather Iron Sentry for other targets. We also get our name drop of the Anti-Six, which obviously aren't the main six, but will get their own origins as the anthology continues.