Chapter 9: Sector Sweep
"Carol...I'm sorry I missed it. I came as soon as I heard, but work was....I'm sorry. I'm making excuses again."
"No. No it's okay. Come here and hold your son."
The new father smiled and walked over to the bedside, and picked up the child wrapped in the blanket. He looked down at the sleeping infant, and began to gently rock back and forth.
"So...do we have a name?" he asked.
"I was thinking Anthony, you know, after my cousin?"
"Heh...Anthony...Cute. I doubt many others at school will have a name like that."
"They'll probably end up nicknaming him Tony like they did with my cousin."
"Why not just name him Tony then?"
"It just wouldn't be the same. You know it wouldn't."
"Fair enough."
He looked down at the baby.
"Hey little Anthony. You're gonna have a good life you are. And do you know why? Because I'll always look after you, and I'll always let you do whatever you want to do. You can be whatever you want to be."
He looked off to the side, and sighed.
"You won't ever hear me complain to you about your choices, and you'll always have my support, because you're my son, and I'll always love you. You can even sing if you want to."
He kissed the baby's forehead. His wife smiled sympathetically at him.
"You'll accomplish great things. You just wait and see."
***
The unicorns were exhausted, but they weren't done yet. Diligently, they jumped down off the crate and surrounded it, and began to use their telekinesis to rip it apart at the edges. Nearby, Frosty Morning of the Brotherhood of Man waited patiently for it to open, along with her zebra companion Ze!zar.
One of the sides popped off the crate, and the unicorns collapsed. Inside, the four members of the Knights of Man who had been sent out to deal with the dragon still laid unconscious. At the back, Ancient Tome and Iron Hoof both laid in the back seats of the Ferrari that Second had created. They both smiled upon seeing her.
"Frosty!" said Ancient Tome, "I've never been happier to see you!"
The pegasus walked into the now opened crate as her brother in law climbed out of the strange red vehicle and hugged her. Iron Hoof climbed out shortly afterwards. It didn't take her long to realise that he was missing most of his left foreleg.
"My goodness! Iron, what happened?"
"...Captain Chain Mail," the ex-royal guard answered, "Cut it off in a sword fight."
Frosty gave him a sympathetic smile and held up the bandaged stump to inspect it. Ancient Tome meanwhile had gone to the unicorns who had busted open the crate and was trying to convince one of them to help remove the magic restraining bolt that was still attached to his horn.
"Hmm," Frosty mused, "We may be able to fix this. Secopolis is home to a lot of advanced technology. I bet the Mages' Guild could fix up your leg with some cybernetic enhancements."
Ancient Tome returned, sans restraining bolt.
"Right, now I think we deserve some answers," he said, "Where are we? What's going on? What happened to Lord Second and the dragon?"
"Lord Second founded a city last night. Using his infinite powers of creation, he created a fledgling nation called the United States of America in what used to be the Everfree Forest, starting with a cathedral called the Palace of Kings built on top of the very clearing where we conducted the ritual which freed him, and he filled it with thousands upon thousands of ponies that he created to be his citizens and servants.
"Upon doing so, he sent out his best ponies to track down all the surviving members of the Brotherhood of Man and invite them here, where we now enjoy our comfortable positions as the High Priests in the Church of Humanity. You, Iron and Arcane Arts though were all imprisoned by the Equestrians, so he sent out a group of the Knights of Man to demand your release in exchange for peace with Equestria. Fortunately for us, Princess Luna submitted to all demands."
Tome and Iron looked around in wonder at the city.
"So all this is...?"
"Yes. Second's city. He calls it Secopolis."
"Wow," said Iron.
There was a roar and a sound of banging nearby. Iron Hoof and Ancient Tome exchanged a look and walked around the crate to see where it was coming from, and were shocked to find a giant glowing red metal cube behind them, surrounded on all sides by large piles of rubble.
"What...What is this?"
"Dragon prison," the zebra interrupted, speaking for the first time in that conversation, "Lord Second commissioned the mages' guild to create it. The rubble surrounding it was once the Secopolis Embassy, but it has fallen apart from the effects of the prison's spell. It is meant to contain the dragon who carried you here, who has breath hot enough to superheat steel. To prevent his escape, the prison is enchanted to periodically regenerate its metal walls. The regeneration and flow of liquid metal coming out of it destroyed the embassy minutes ago."
"Hmm," Tome replied, "Well we'd best get out of here then. Where is Lord Second? I'd really like to meet him, properly this time."
"All in good time," said Frosty, "Right now we need to get back to the church. I hear they captured some infiltrators from Equestria. They might know something important."
"Well then. Let's be on our way."
***
The Knights of Man and the teal blue stallion leading them backed away fearfully as Mystic Chant's horn began to glow. Sliske grinned as the magical field began to surround them all. They began to lift into the air. The fact he was lifting ten ponies at once was quite impressive. Then again, this thing had been alive for thousands of years and had possessed over seven hundred ponies, mostly unicorns. His accumulative knowledge of magic probably surpassed that of any single individual unicorn in history.
On the ground, their commander was left alone and out of Sliske's spell, just left to stare. A single layer of overglow enveloped his horn and the freakishly mutated colt turned his attention to the buildings around them. The magic swept over the buildings too. The commander expected them to explode and kill everypony right that minute.
Not so. Instead, the buildings began to break apart. Somehow, he wasn't even sure how, Sliske began to deconstruct the three large buildings around them brick by brick, and was floating each individual brick higher and higher above them.
This was getting beyond ridiculous now.
"Everypony take cover," the blue unicorn ordered in a raspy voice, "Thisssssssssss will be messssssssy."
The bricks began to circle above them as if caught in a tornado, at first not touching the still floating Knights of Man caught in the eye of the storm, but then they began to home in on them. It began lightly, just one or two bricks flying out of the swirling vortex around them to smash into them one at a time to break their bones and make them bleed. Then it began to pick up, and it became a hailstorm. Thousands upon thousands of bricks smashed into the knights from all sides, and seemed to almost rip them apart.
The commander was still left alone, for some reason the sole pony to be spared the alien's wrath, and he stared helplessly as his knights were shredded by the flying debris. Eventually, Sliske let go, and the surviving knights all fell to the ground. They groaned in pain and misery, definitely crippled for life even if they did survive, and they tried to crawl away from the centre of the vortex.
Suddenly, Sliske cut the spell completely. All the bricks stopped floating, and a pile of stone as heavy as three buildings came crashing down on top of the surviving ponies, leaving nothing but a pile of rubble and a stunned teal blue stallion, who stared incredulously at the spot where ten ponies had once stood.
He turned to look at Sliske.
"There'ssssssssssss more where that came from," he warned, "Move along. If I sssssssssee you again, you will die."
The commander ran away almost the moment he stopped talking. Sliske grinned and looked over to his companions for approval, and was saddened to find them as equally shocked as the commander he had just chased off.
"Damn," said Gold Coin, "That was harsh Sliske. I just...I don't know how to feel about that."
"I do," Soft Spoken added, "I feel like that was the most sickening thing I've seen since Second ripped out Lady Arts' throat. What is wrong you? Do you have no concept of the value of pony life? Those knights were helpless!"
"Of courssssssssse I know the value of pony life. I jussssssssst happen to believe that sssssssome livesssssssss are worth more than otherssssssss. Like for example, the livessssssss of the Elementsssssss of Harmony are worth more than thossssssse of sssssssome random creationsssssssss of Ssssssssecond created for the ssssssole purpossssssse of killing usssssss."
"It is not that simple!" Soft Spoken snapped, "For one thing-"
"Guys, I'm angry about this too," Gold Coin interrupted, "but we really don't have time for you two to have a moral debate while Second's minions are probably heading this way as we speak. We need to get moving. Sliske, heal my injuries and then get out of that colt's head."
The alien sighed in resignation.
"Fine."
His horn lit up again, and Gold Coin was overcome with a feeling of calm and warmth. In no time at all, the business pony was on top form once again, and jumped in place with renewed energy. The two adults looked expectantly over to Sliske, waiting for him to vacate the colt's body. His teeth and snake tongue receded back into his mouth and the strangely coloured eyes returned to normal too, but Sliske did not seem to leave Mystic's body at all. The disoriented unicorn stumbled in place for a moment, before regaining his balance.
"Woah," he said, holding a hoof to his head.
"Mystic? Are you alright?" the old butler asked, "Where's Sliske gone?"
"He's still in here, just taking a break," the little unicorn answered, "He can still see and hear everything, but he's not in control."
"Okay, that's cheating," Gold Coin protested, "I told him to get out, not just stop controlling you."
"I really don't mind," Mystic said wistfully, "It's sorta cool really. I mean, did you see the magic I was doing back there?!"
"Mystic..." Soft Spoken began.
"No I know! You're gonna say it wasn't really me, but it felt so much like it was! I know what I was doing with it was pretty bad, but I've never done such good magic in my entire life! It's like Sliske suddenly turned me into a superhero!"
The little colt began bouncing up and down excitedly now and running about the ruined street making whooshing noises like he always did when playing pretend. It was actually really cute all things considered, but they still had to move on. Just as they were about to say so though, there was a brief flash of light, and the two adult ponies noticed a mark depicting a cloud of black smoke with two simple eyes and huge sharp teeth appearing on his flank.
Mystic Chant's cutie mark was Sliske.
***
Broad Sword stared at Explodey McGee as the strange unicorn, who was apparently a professional contortionist, wriggled his way out of the hundred upon hundreds of ropes that wrapped tightly around him and had not seconds ago kept him completely motionless. The earth pony still had not had time to think of why their captors had chosen to tie all these ropes to the walls and support beams and form a giant spider web of ropes to hold them.
Explodey had not explained anything. The moment Broad Sword woke up, his companion got to work on escaping. Apparently he could have escaped from the ropes at any time prior, but he was waiting for him to wake up so he could help. The ropes fell aside limply, and the unicorn was free. He trotted up to the stunned royal guard.
"I didn't know ponies could bend like that," said Broad Sword.
"Yeah, well, as we both know now I'm not exactly a normal pony, am I?"
The two shared a quiet moment as they recalled the events that had lead to them being trapped here in the first place. Explodey's discovery of his true nature, Broad Sword's promise to help him find some reassurance, and their (in hindsight) terrible idea to force the information out of Sun Rise, resulting in their arrest for the assault of one of the most powerful ponies in the city.
Though, if they were arrested it didn't really make much sense that they were now being held inside the Church of Humanity.
"Anyway," said Explodey, "I know some really effective long distance teleportation spells. If I can get off the restraining bolt on my horn, I can teleport us both out of here."
"Okay," Broad Sword replied, "How do you get it off?"
"I don't. You do."
"Oh. How?"
"Use your mouth. Isn't that how earth ponies do everything?"
"What?! I'm not putting your horn in my mouth!"
"Why not?"
"It's weird!"
"Weird how?"
"It's...You know!"
Explodey narrowed his eyes.
"You have a dirty mind."
"My point still stands."
"Oh stop being such a baby! I need you to remove this otherwise we won't be able to escape! Come on! We're all adults here!"
Explodey put his horn right in the guard's face. Broad Sword winced uncomfortably and sighed. Reluctantly, he lowered his mouth over the horn and his teeth grasped the magic restraining bolt at the base. He pulled back and tried to yank it off, but the bolt was persistent and refused to budge. He wiggled it around to try and loosen it.
"So baby, you come here often?" Explodey joked.
Broad Sword withdrew his mouth.
"Okay, if you're you aren't going to treat this seriously-"
"Okay! Okay! I'm sorry! I'll stop now."
Broad Sword eyed him suspiciously and then returned to trying to remove the bolt.
"...Careful not to swallow it when you're done."
The guard pulled away again.
"One more time-!"
"Okay! I'll stop for real this time."
After another minute of trying, Broad Sword was successful, and the restraining bolt came off with a click. He pulled it away and spat it out to the side. Explodey's horn lit up as the ropes around the earth pony began to loosen.
"Finally!" the guard cried out as he came loose, "Now let's get out of here!"
Suddenly, the door at the other end of the room burst open, and four ponies rushed into the room. The duo recognised them as members of the Brotherhood of Man. Or at least two of them anyway. Sun Rise, the pegasus who had brought them here in the first place, appeared to be the ringleader, and one of the other ponies next to him was an apple green earth pony who was obviously Swift Justice's twin sister that they had heard about.
Grimly, Broad Sword wondered for a moment if she was even aware that her twin was dead.
The other two ponies they did not recognise, but they were a middle aged earth pony stallion who had a face full of stubble and a stuffy looking dark grey unicorn. The four figures blocked the only other exit from the room, and all of them looked extremely angry with the two.
"Okay you two," said Sun Rise, "Make another move and you're dead."
Explodey looked back at Broad Sword for a moment, and the guard could swear he had seen just a hint of a smile there.
Without warning, the unicorn's horn lit up, and suddenly Broad Sword vanished. The four ponies made a move towards Explodey, and the grey unicorn immediately set up an anti-teleport barrier to prevent him from escaping too. However, they didn't realise until all too late that he was not trying to teleport out.
Outside, Broad Sword laid face down in the dirt in somepony's front garden, just across the street from the Church of Humanity where he had been held just minutes ago. He pulled his head out of the soil and looked up at the church, just in time to see the whole building explode into a giant fireball.
***
Second pressed a button on the side of his lightsabre, and the blade of red light retracted back into it. On the floor before him, an armoured white pony with no forelegs groaned in pain, nursing his already cauterised stumps. By the side of his throne, Bullseye was only just recovering from his headache and climbing to his feet again. Second walked over to confront him.
"Well, that was pathetic," he said, "Your brother was killed in one hit, and you were beaten by an old man staring at you."
"Old pony sir," Bullseye corrected automatically.
"Fuck you and your insistence of species-specific language!" the human shouted, "I should have just created the lot of you to speak like people do!"
"I apologise sir."
"Still though...That Soft Spoken fellow has the Stare. This is not a good sign. Quite obviously he is the successor of Fluttershy as the Element of Kindness. This situation just became a whole lot more serious. We may be in legitimate danger now."
"Because of a stare sir?" Bullseye questioned.
"Yes because of a stare! You may not know it, but the Stare is the most dangerous weapon the Elements of Harmony have in their arsenal! I've seen that thing take down dragons! That's why we must be cautious. Effective immediately, I am placing this city under full alert. Code Yellow."
Bullseye stood up and saluted.
"Yes sir!"
"Wait," Second stopped him, "Where is the SPAS? I gave it to Buckshot but I don't see it around here anywhere."
"...I don't know sir."
"...Make that a Code Black."
Bullseye saluted again and flew off. Left alone in his throne room again, Second looked around at the mess he had created. Arcane Arts' corpse laid just at the base of his throne, still lightly bleeding from the throat, and Buckshot and his head laid side by side next to the beaten form of Captain Chain Mail. He walked over to him.
"Well, that wasn't smart, was it?" asked Second, "Trying to fight me with a regular sword when I have a lightsabre. And while poisoned from Bullseye's crossbow bolt. Did you really think you even stood a chance?"
Chain Mail grunted and looked up at Second angrily.
"No!" he shouted, "I didn't! But I brought them some time! My job was to protect them! If I die here, I'll die knowing I did my duty!"
Second reached down and grabbed the helpless pony by the mane. Chain Mail winced and held back a scream of pain as Second yanked him up from the floor so that they were face to face.
"Silly little bitch!" Second gloated, "You don't get to die yet! You're a main character! That means you have to live in spite of being crippled for life and slug through the rest of this horseshit like I do! We're in the same boat now my friend."
He dropped the pony on the floor.
"GUARDS! GET IN HERE!"
Chain Mail looked to the end of the throne room, where several members of the Knights of Man emerged from the hallway beyond, mostly earth ponies, but they all wore the same black armour that he had come to associate with their ilk.
"Yes sir?" asked one of the knights.
"Take whatshisname here to Mages' Guild and tell them have fun with him."
He reached into his coat and pulled out the lightsabre that he had used to cut off the captain's legs. He threw it over to the knight, who caught it in his mouth.
"And tell them to give him this afterwards as a present."
***
Soft Spoken and Gold Coin felt awkward as they made their way through the street. Mystic Chant was still prancing about in front of them happily, and he seemed to have not yet noticed his new cutie mark. The two adults were reluctant to point it out. Right now, neither of them had even the slightest inkling of Mystic's emotional state.
He was all over the place. On the one hoof, in the last few days he had found out his entire family were evil cultists, seen the human personally promise to bring about the apocalypse, seen his auntie murdered in cold blood and he had been personally responsible for the death of Chameleon.
Then on the other hoof, he seemed to recover surprisingly quickly from all these traumatic events. He had taken a real liking to the both of them, watched the gladiator match earlier with enthusiasm and ate popcorn, and now he was playing pretend and rushing about, having evidently enjoyed being possessed by Sliske and murdering all those knights to a disturbing degree, and he had just gotten his cutie mark. And it was of Sliske.
"What do we tell him?" Gold Coin whispered, "How do we break the news?"
"I haven't any idea!" Softy replied, "I don't think anything like this has ever happened before! I can't even imagine what Mystic would think!"
"Well...He's got his cutie mark, right? He knows his special talent now. Even if it's a bad talent, that's got to count for something, right? All fillies and colts dream of this day."
"Yeah, but they all have an idea of what they want in a cutie mark before that happens. They have aspirations and dreams of great careers relating to their talents. What is Mystic's talent exactly? Getting possessed? Murdering ponies? Either way, that cutie mark does NOT represent a bright future."
"As if he won't have a bright future anyway. Remember, he's an Element of Harmony just like the rest of us. He'll be a national hero one way or another. Come to think of it, after that display back there, do you think he might be the Element of Magic?"
"Could be. I always thought Sliske was our Element of Magic, just because he knew so many spells."
"Maybe Sliske and Mystic are the Element of Magic together? Perhaps that's what his cutie mark represents; that he works best with Sliske."
"That...makes a scary amount of sense."
"I wonder who the other elements are?"
"Broad Sword has GOT to be loyalty. You weren't there in the throne room when Second killed Celestia, but I was, and when Second was trying to tempt Sliske to leave with him, I saw the true extent of his dedication. That pony wants to be loyal to all his friends, even if they're on opposing sides."
"And obviously I'm the Element of Honesty."
"...What?"
"What do you mean what?"
"You? Element of Honesty? Why?"
"Why not? I'm an Apple, aren't I? As in the descendent of Applejack? Honest Applejack the bearer of the Element of Honesty? It just seems natural that I should be her successor."
"Being a bearer's descendent doesn't make you bearer of that same element, otherwise the Brotherhood of Man would be the new Elements of Harmony. Besides, you lie way too much to be Honesty."
"Lie? Me? When?!"
"How many ponies knew you were in the Brotherhood before I met you?"
"Well..."
"How many ponies were you actually honest with about your allegiances?"
"...Point taken. So if I'm not Honesty then, what am I?"
"How should I know?"
"...I bet the Element of Laughter is-"
"-Explodey."
"-Explodey. Yes."
***
"EXPLODEY!"
Broad Sword screamed out his friend's name as he rushed into the pile of rubble that used to be the Church of Humanity and started digging.
"Come on Explodey! Please don't be dead!"
He shifted a brick and found a charred black skeleton. At first he cried out in horror, thinking it was the unicorn he had once shared a cell with, before noticing that it didn't have a horn. This was an earth pony, probably either the green mare or that middle aged stallion. He sighed in relief, and immediately felt bad for it. As respectfully as possible, he moved the bones out of the pile of rubble, and continued digging through it.
He found a bloody orange hoof in amongst the ruins. Sun Rise.
"Umm..." he said awkwardly, "If you can hear me, wiggle your hoof a bit."
It remained motionless. Gingerly, he reached down and grabbed the hoof in his teeth to try and pull Sun Rise out. The moment he did so, the hoof came loose, revealing that it was severed from the rest of the body. Broad Sword spat it out in shock and jumped back, nearly falling over another pile of bricks. He wanted to wash his mouth out now, but he had to keep searching.
He ran over to a piece of fallen roofing. There was a white hind leg sticking out from underneath it. Rushing over, Broad Sword kicked the remains of the roof off to free the pony underneath, and discovered not Explodey, but just his left hind leg and park of his flank with his cutie mark. The guard just stared in shock at the sight, and he felt the tears welling up.
"No..."
The leg moved. Broad Sword stopped and leaned in close. It started kicking.
"No...way..."
The rubble around him began to shift. The earth pony looked on, completely stunned, as random pony body parts began to crawl out of the wreckage and move across the rubble towards the leg. He looked down as Explodey's head was pulled across the ground by an invisible force. The eye turned to look at him and blinked.
Explodey's remains all came together where Broad Sword had found his leg and began to form together. They didn't just jump around and reconstruct themselves though. Instead, they all seemed to melt into a green liquid and merge together. The mass of green stuff swirled around for a moment, and then grew back into the shape of a pony, before slowly changing colour back to white again, and leaving behind a dizzy looking Explodey McGee.
"Ugh..." he groaned, "I hate it when that happens..."
"Explodey?" said Broad Sword, "Are you an alien too?"
"No. At least I don't think I am."
"Then mind explaining to me how you just did...whatever that was?"
"It's my special talent. I can self destruct and regenerate afterwards."
"...That's it? That's all the explanation I'm going to get?"
"Hey, I was created by Second. All the rules fly out the window when he's involved."
"...Good point. Let's get out of here before the authorities show up."
***
Chain Mail looked up as the walls rushed past him. He was laying on his back in a cart that was being pulled through the corridors of an unfamiliar building by some scientist ponies in white lab coats. He looked to the side at a unicorn trotting next to him. He considered saying something, but they then emerged into a sterile white room, and the scientists began milling about busily.
"Everypony to your stations!" one of them barked, "Lord Second wants this done right! If we can pull this off, we may just be able to create the world's first cyberpony!"
Another scientist leaned in over Chain Mail's face and grinned maniacally at him.
"But first, we need to replace all those pesky organs of yours! Stay still, and try not to scream. We're all out of anaesthetic, so brace yourself!"
He held up a giant drill and turned it on, and it began spinning and whirring loudly. The captain whimpered in fear.
***
Celestia and First were flying out above the valley. The princess looked around at all the ponies playing below, while the human just floated lazily next to her. Being in total control of this realm, he needed neither wings nor magic. He just cancelled out gravity for himself and moved around mentally. The two eventually came to a stop some way out from the cliff where they had spent most of their time together.
"Now the thing about main characters, is that they need to be relevant and important. The Elements of Harmony back in the day were the focus of the show. They were main characters. The humans even called them the main six. However, they weren't the only ones to gain that honour. The Cutie Mark Crusaders, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Bell and Scootaloo, all gained main character status too because they had so many adventures of their own and got a lot of screen time. And Spike, though not quite as important as the main six, was enough of a constant in the show that he could be considered a main character too.
"To become a main character, you have to do noteworthy things. Not just reference things you've done in the past, otherwise it'll just become background detail. No, you need to act in the present. You need to do something worthy of screen time."
"Like what?" asked Celestia, "What should I do?"
"Anything! You can do anything! You're Princess Celestia! You are worshipped as a God by ponies the world over! You raise the sun in the morning! You're a former Element of Harmony yourself! You took down Discord and Nightmare Moon and Sliske and countless others back in the old days! If the universe doesn't recognise your importance, MAKE it recognise you!"
First pointed up at the sky.
"Look up there. That's my version of the sun, used to heat and light the entire land of the afterlife for all the ponies and griffins and zebras and donkeys and cows and dragons and sea serpents and everything else that has ever lived. Without it, this land would be nothing but darkness and cold for the rest of time. I'm going to destroy it."
Celestia looked at First in shock.
"WHAT?! NO!"
First raised his hand.
"I'm going to do it princess. You're not a main character, so you can't stop me. After I destroy it, you've got thirty seconds to fix the problem, and then it's too late for everyone."
Celestia looked around frantically, for what she was not sure, and tried desperately to think of something, anything she could do to stop the human. First snapped his fingers. Above them, the sun imploded. There was a loud banging sound, and then the light and heat around them began to die. The sun shrunk back, eventually dimming to the point she could actually see it. It was little more that a tiny ball of flickering fire, and soon, even that died. The land was left in total darkness.
She heard a voice just in front of her.
"Thirty..."
She span around in the air in panic. What could she do?!
"Twenty nine..."
There had to be something!
"Twenty eight..."
Anything!
"Twenty seven..."
There had to be a solution...What to do...There was no sun...So...
"Twenty six..."
So she would have to make a new sun.
"Twenty five."
Could she do that? Recreate the sun? Was that even possible? Especially here. The rules of this world and hers were wildly different after all. This was going to be insanely hard.
"Twenty four."
Or...Maybe the old sun wasn't completely gone? First said he had destroyed it, but surely after its destruction there were still remains?
"Twenty three."
Remains she could salvage. After all, working with the sun was what she was best at. She even had a picture of the sun on her flank. If anypony could relight a dead sun, it would have to be her. Even then though, it would take a lot of magic to do it. More magic than even she could expend without it killing her.
"Twenty two."
Wait, killing her? She was already dead! So it wouldn't kill her to use all her magic...Maybe. She didn't really know. What happens if you die in the afterlife?
"Twenty one."
No time to find out. She would have to try it and just hope that she couldn't die twice.
"Twenty."
Her horn lit up, and she reached out with her magic. She searched above her and found it. The sun was just a husk now, an empty shell of what it once was, but its essence was still there. She held onto it and began to channel magic back into it.
"...Nineteen..."
First noticed her spell in the darkness, and his voice betrayed an air of curiosity. Good. She was on the right track.
"...Eighteen."
She poured magic into the sun. A layer of overglow enveloped her horn. She closed her eyes in concentration, but behind her eyelids saw red instead of black. There was light again!
"...Seventeen."
She felt it heat up. There was a fire going again, and a strong one. It wasn't enough though. This sun was about as hot as a really big bonfire right now. She had to push it harder. She put more magic into the tiny star and another layer of overglow wrapped around her horn. She felt the sun expand by a significant amount.
"Sixteen."
She smiled and looked up at the sun. It was big again, but not quite the same size as before. And it was still dim enough to be looked at. It had to be blindingly bright. She added another layer of overglow to her horn as she pushed even more magic into the sun. She was beginning to strain now, and beads of sweat began to form on her brow. The sun pulsed for a moment, and then expanded again.
"Fifteen."
The light became too intense for her to continue staring into it. She averted her eyes, but still kept adding more magic to it. A fourth and fifth layer of overglow appeared, and the princess began to feel her magic draining. The sun was just about restored now.
"Fourteen."
With the last of her strength, she tried to stabilise the burning mass above them, and hold it together properly. The sun shuddered a bit under efforts, but nevertheless settled down. Her version of the sun was probably still not quite as it was before, but she had made an adequate substitute.
"Thirteen."
Celestia smiled and fell backwards towards the ground below.
***
Deciding that their best option at this point was to hide, Gold Coin, Soft Spoken and Mystic Chant made their way into a small coffee house down one of the many side streets of Secopolis. As they entered, Softy noticed two familiar white ponies sitting at one of the tables, a unicorn and an armoured earth pony. He gestured over to them for Gold Coin, and the three made their way towards it.
Broad Sword and Explodey looked up at them as they came over and sat down, neither looking very surprised at their sudden appearance. Instead, Broad Sword just silently moved aside to give Mystic a place to sit as well. They sat in awkward silence for half a minute, before Gold Coin broke it.
"Well, this is certainly convenient," he said, "What are you two here for?"
"Oh, you know, just passing through," said Broad Sword, "So what have you guys been doing?"
"Went to the museum," Soft Spoken replied, "Saw a gladiator death match. Sliske possessed Mystic Chant. Arcane Arts and Buckshot are dead. Second got really pissed and last we saw of him he was duelling Chain Mail. What about you?"
"Me and Explodey blew up a church. I'm fairly sure we killed at least four members of the Brotherhood of Man including Sun Rise. Explodey was dead too for a little while, but he regenerated."
Two elderly mares on the table next to them stared at their group.
"Hmm," said Gold Coin, "Have any of you noticed that our lives are becoming progressively weirder?"
"I don't know what you're talking about," Explodey replied, "My life was always like this."
"Thissssss issssss hardly the ssssssstrangessssssssst thing I've ever sssssssseen."
Broad Sword almost jumped at the sight of Mystic Chant suddenly growing rows of huge sharp teeth as Sliske took him over again.
"Oh, I see you've decided to join us again," Soft Spoken said dryly.
"Hey doc! Why are you in Mystic now?" asked Broad Sword.
"It isssssssss a long ssssssstory and there will be time for that later."
"Oh hey Sliske, I wanted to ask you something," Gold Coin interrupted, "Umm...You are aware that Mystic now has a cutie mark, right?"
"What? He hassssss a..."
Sliske turned to look at his host's flank and recoiled at the sight of it.
"Oh."
"Care to explain yourself?" asked Soft Spoken.
"Exxxxxplain what? What makessssssssss you think I know anything about thisssssssss? It'sssssss not my cutie mark!"
The old ponies at the next table got up and left now.
"Well we need some answers! Why is his cutie mark of your face?! That is wrong on so many levels! You took away what made that colt special and replaced it with yourself!"
"Thisssssss isssssssss hardly my fault! How wasssssssssssss I sssssupposssssssed to know thissssssss would happen? I've never had a problem like thisssssss before! Besssssssidesssss, what'ssssss to sssssssay I'm not meant to be his ssssssspecial talent? Maybe he wassssssss alwayssssss going to have thissssss cutie mark."
"What does a cutie mark like that even represent?" asked Explodey, "It's...your face. So what does that mean? Is Mystic's special talent being your host?"
"It might be. Come to think of it, I achieved much better resssssssssultssssssss with Myssssssstic than with mossssssst other unicornssssssss. Looking back on hissssss memoriesssssssss, he doessssss come from a family of powerful magic ussssssssersssssss. Maybe me and Myssssssstic jussssssst work much better together?"
"I still think this is sick and wrong," said Gold Coin.
"Well you would do, becaussssssse you never liked me from the outsssssset. Which isssssss pretty bad if we're meant to be the new Elementsssssss of Harmony. Think about that for a moment. You have to ssssssssstart being nicccccccce to me, or the entire world isssssss doomed. You don't want to desssssssstroy the world now, do you Gold Coin?"
"No. But-"
"But nothing. Be niccccccce to me, or you are perssssssssonally ressssssponsssssible for the apocaylpssssssssse."
The teeth and snake eyes receded and gave way to Mystic Chant's natural features again. The colt shook his head in disorientation for a moment and then looked at his flank. Soft Spoken groaned as he realised that Mystic probably heard and saw everything that Sliske did. His face lit up with a huge smile, and he jumped out of his seat and began bouncing in circles around the table.
"Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!"
Broad Sword and Explodey watched on with amusement, while Gold Coin and Soft Spoken just buried their faces in their hooves.
***
Second looked over the alicorn that he had spontaneously created to tempt Sliske with. Host, he had called her. She was a majestic looking creature. Pupil-less blank eyes, mane of fire, brilliant white all over. Certainly one of his most impressive creations. He considered for a moment what to do with her now that Sliske had rejected his offer.
For a moment, he considered creating an army of alicorns like her to combat the new Elements of Harmony. They were a major threat after all, and they now had a weapon that could kill alicorns. It would make sense tactically. It wasn't like there was any limit on his power. He could create as many alicorn supersoldiers as he wanted without consequence.
"No," he thought, "I have to abide by the rules. The heroes can't defeat an army of alicorns all as powerful as the princess, God-killer or not. I've got to be threatening, but I can't send anything against them that they can't overcome, otherwise the entire story arc could fall apart. I'm treading on thin ice here..."
He rubbed his moustache as he pondered what to do with Host.
"That said, there's no reason I can't send just a single alicorn against them. Host could be the mid-story boss. Just like that Manticore from episode two that they faced before Nightmare Moon. Yeah. That could work."
Second smirked and pulled out his pencil again. He scribbled some words in the air in front of him.
'Then suddenly, Host's mind reawakened, and she obediently looked up to her Lord and Master, the Second, awaiting orders.'
The words disappeared and floated away, and sure enough, Host began moving again. She looked around at the palace, and then sat on her haunches waiting for orders.
"Host, I have a job for you. You know the Elements of Harmony? Kill them. Painfully."
Host didn't say a word, but instead saluted Second and unfurled her wings. Second stepped back as she took off, and much to his annoyance left by smashing through one his stained glass windows. He almost lost his temper, but he quickly brought it back under control before he started screaming, and just sighed at the sight of the broken window.
"...One crisis at a time Howard."
***
Ancient Tome and Frosty Morning stared dumbstruck at the remains of the Church of Humanity. Not hours ago, there was a huge old building standing there where now there was a huge old pile of smashed bricks, bits of timber and broken glass. Iron Hoof limped up behind them, and noticed the wreckage himself, and he shared his companions' silent shock.
"...What...What happened here?" Tome asked quietly.
"...I don't know," the pegasus answered.
They slowly approached the rubble, humbled by the sight of such a mighty structure reduced to this state. Iron Hoof noticed a skeleton off to the side, an earth pony by the looks of it, obviously removed from the wreckage by some good citizen looking for survivors. He walked over to it and stared down at it. Ancient Tome came over to join him. He lifted it into the air with his horn and span it around to inspect it from several angles.
"It's Rail Way," he concluded, "I can tell by the bulkiness of it. Poor pony looks like he was incinerated. He must have been right in the centre of the blast."
Frosty Morning stepped in.
"There are more body parts strewn around the wreckage in various states," she said, "I found this."
She reached under her wing and pulled out half of a unicorn's horn in her teeth, which she dropped on the floor in front of them. Ancient Tome lifted it up too.
"Sharp Mind."
Frosty began to shift uncomfortably. Tome and Iron both looked at her.
"Frosty," said Tome, "How many ponies were here?"
"...Five, maybe six," she answered, "When I left, Sharp Mind, Rail Way and Intensive Care were all waiting here, but Sun Rise came to me a little while before we busted you out of the crate and informed us that he had taken two prisoners here. They were probably the ones responsible for this."
"Tomey? Do you think Sun Rise is dead too?" asked Iron Hoof.
The old unicorn sighed.
"I don't know. He might be. I'm more concerned about Intensive Care. As our team medic, it's her job to deal with injuries like yours."
The trio returned to searching the wreckage for any signs of survivors or corpses. Over half an hour, they found most of the rest of Sharp Mind, minus some of his torso, bits of Sun Rise though not a lot, and Intensive Care, surprisingly intact, but badly burned and most definitely dead. Her face wore a look of shock and horror, and was disgustingly mutilated by the explosion and debris that had fallen on her.
"Ugh," said Tome as he moved her body out from the pile, "This is just...ugh..."
"Did either of you know her?" asked Frosty.
"No," Iron Hoof replied, "She was just another member of the order to me. Sure, I talked with her once or twice, but I never really knew her well."
"Same here," Tome answered, "I sort of knew her, but we weren't exactly close friends. I got on well enough with Sharp Mind I guess, but I never saw him much either."
"I feel bad," said Frosty, "I just feel like I should have known them all better. I mean, they were in our order for what? Twelve years? And after all that time they're gone, and I only just realised that I know almost nothing about them. I should be sad that they're gone, but I just feel...empty..."
There was a coughing sound. The group all looked to each other in surprise. They heard it again, but none of them were making it. The sound was coming from below. Ancient Tome used his magic and tore up the ground beneath them, throwing the rubble aside and into the empty street beyond, and looked down into the hole to see a little pocket of space below where the rubble had fallen, in which a pony was lucky enough to have been when the church came down. It may have saved his life.
It wasn't just anypony though. The survivor was Sun Rise. Burnt black, missing both his back legs, missing one of his fore hooves, wing ripped clean off and laying next to him, one eye burnt shut and his cutie mark no longer visible after being charred black by the explosion. He was barely clinging to life. He certainly wasn't aware of them.
Tome looked back to Frosty.
"This pony needs medical attention. Fly over to the nearest hospital and get somepony out here. Stat."
A smile crossed the other pegasus's face.
"I know a better place for him than just a hospital."
***
Spike stopped for a moment to catch his breath. He had been breathing fire all over the walls for what felt like days, but so far they had held against him. He didn't understand. He was almost knee deep in liquid metal from all the steel he had melted through already, and yet the walls still held, and the room didn't even seem to be any bigger. The only explanation he could think of was that the ponies were somehow adding more metal to the walls as he melted through them.
So either magic or a really dedicated construction crew was what was foiling him.
Either way, they seemed to have found a way to actually trap him, though for what purpose he was not sure. Were they counting on him to drown himself in all this liquid metal? Were they eventually planning to send a pony in to interrogate him? Neither of those made much sense. If it was the former, he would obviously stop long before it got that bad, and if it was the latter, he'd roast the pony alive.
These ponies either didn't know him very well or were planning to just keep him here indefinitely. He could go a while without food if necessary, so that was a very real possibility. Was Second maybe trying to turn the hostage situation around and use him to gain leverage over Equestria?
Spike had a moment of horrifying realisation. Second would probably do exactly that. And what was worse, was that he knew Princess Luna would submit to any demand to save him. She had just lost her sister. She would probably bend over backwards to make sure nothing happened to Spike.
He couldn't allow that. He would not allow himself to be used to bring about Equestria's downfall. He had put too much time into saving those little ponies to let himself be the cause of their demise. One way or another, he was getting out of this prison.
***
The ponies all exited the coffee house together, idly wondering where to go next. Their mission to barter peace with America had failed, and they were technically terrorists now after Explodey and Broad Sword's adventure at the Church of Humanity. Really, it the whole thing could not have gone worse.
"So what now?" asked Gold Coin.
"I think we should rescue Chain Mail," Explodey suggested, "Assuming he's still alive, being held prisoner by Second can't be pleasant. We should find where they're keeping him and bust him out."
"Can we even do that?" asked Soft Spoken, "I don't know about you two, but I am neither a soldier nor an action star. I don't think I'm up for a prison break."
"You seemed to deal with what happened in Second's throne room well enough," Gold Coin countered, "Like that Bullseye fellow, who you crippled without touching somehow. If you're not going to help us out, at least teach me how to do that?"
"Damn, we missed a lot," Broad Sword sighed.
"So you're all for this then?" asked Soft Spoken.
"Hell yeah I'm for it! I spent my whole life thinking the human was here to save us, and now it turns out the whole thing was a lie? No way I'm leaving this city without doing some damage first! That two legged motherfucker is going down!"
Soft Spoken turned to Broad Sword.
"And you?"
"I just follow the crowd," the guard replied.
The ponies all turned to face Mystic Chant.
"Well?" asked Gold Coin, "What do you think?"
The little colt looked around nervously, not liking being put on the spot.
"Umm...Well...Mr. Chain Mail seemed really nice...I don't think we should leave him."
"You know, that's nice kid, but we were asking Sliske," Explodey clarified.
"No wait a moment," Soft Spoken interrupted, "Why shouldn't we factor in Mystic's opinion? After all, he's a part of this group too. He's also an Element. Probably the Element of Magic, and that technically makes him the most important pony here."
"Speaking of important ponies," said Gold Coin, "Shouldn't we have some kind of group leader? You know, somepony to make all the big decisions like this? The original elements had Twilight for this, but even if Mystic is the Element of Magic, I would not feel comfortable taking orders from a child. Or an evil snake alien either."
Mystic sprouted fangs.
"I nominate Chain Mail for the possssssssition."
"Chain Mail is not here right now," Explodey pointed out.
"Well, when we rescue him then."
"We need a decision maker now though," Gold Coin argued, "Who's our second-in-command?"
"I nominate Sssssssoft Ssssssspoken."
"Why me?"
"Processsss of elimination. Exxxxxplodey issssss too hyperactive, Broad Sssssssword isssssss an idiot, and Gold Coin isssssss an arrogant douche."
"Hey!"
The teeth and snake eyes disappeared again.
"Hey! Sliske!" Gold Coin shouted, "I know you're in there! You can't just insult me and run away and hide! I know where you live! I'll still be out here when you next take him over! Just see if I'm not!"
Mystic blinked at him.
"Goldie, stop shouting at a child," said Soft Spoken.
"But-"
"Shhh!"
Explodey cut them off and raised a hoof to silence them. They all listened in. There was music in the background.
***
Chain Mail groaned in pain. He was doing that a lot today. After his incredibly painful surgery, the doctors and scientists had thrown him into a jail cell in another part of the building. He held up his new hooves to look at them. For reasons he didn't quite understand, they had seen fit to repair him after his battle with Second. He was now what they referred to as a 'cyberpony'.
His mechanical hooves were linked to his biological functions. He could control them just like he could his hooves before. He could even feel through them somehow. He wasn't sure how. It felt like having real hooves again, just that they were not. He wasn't sure how to feel about that. By all rights, it was a violation, because he never asked for them, though he couldn't very well say he wanted to go without his hooves for the rest of his life. He was conflicted.
Now the removal and replacement of all his vital organs, that he had quite a bit to say about. He had grown quite attached to his stomach and kidneys, and their loss left him feeling empty. Literally. They hadn't even replaced those two. They had just given him a weird battery thing. He no longer needed to eat or drink, because he now ran on electricity. For that matter, he couldn't eat or drink anymore. Without a stomach, it was literally impossible. That pissed him off.
The cell door opened, and a teal blue stallion walked in. He smiled darkly at the helpless captain.
"Captain Chain Mail of Celestia's royal guard, it's so good to finally meet you. My name is Commander Throatfuck."
Chain Mail tilted his head.
"Beg your pardon?"
"You heard me. I've been sent here to oversee the next stage of your conversion, though that's not going to be for a little while yet. You need time to recover from the surgery before we begin the brainwashing."
"Brainwashing?"
"Oh, you'll love this next part. I'll explain more about it later. I just wanted to come and make sure you were all okay and still alive. And that your mechanical parts were still working. They are working, aren't they?"
Chain Mail held up a shiny steel hoof and wiggled it about slightly.
"Yeah..."
"Good."
He turned around to talk to somepony the other side of the door who the captain could not see.
"Lock the door."
It slammed shut. The stallion turned to look at Chain Mail and broke into an evil grin.
"Now, do you know where I got my name from?"
Chain Mail winced.
"I suppose it's hoping too much to assume you got it from swearing a lot?"
The commander laughed.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
He calmed down.
"Actually you're right. That's exactly where my name comes from."
Chain Mail blinked.
"Seriously?"
"Yep. I just love screwing with prisoners by doing that whole 'lock the door' bit. Your face. You should have seen it. In fact, I got it on camera thanks to the cell surveillance. I will be adding it to my collection of funny faces. I'll show it to you some time. You will laugh..."
The door opened again and the commander trotted out. It slammed shut behind him, and Captain Chain Mail was just left confused.
***
The group soon found themselves on a hilltop overlooking a huge grassy field. At the other end of it was an open air concert stage full of ponies that they didn't recognise. There was one sitting just behind a set of drums, there were ponies with guitars, there were a number of dancing mares in skimpy outfits all dressed in red, white and blue for some reason, and in front of the stage was a huge crowd of ponies all screaming and hollering and stomping their hooves in excitement.
The crowds were all keeping busy. Some were cheering, some were stomping, others were drinking, there were ponies dancing, ponies waving glow sticks, and some of the pegasi were flying around above the crowd doing amateur stunts. The crowd consisted of all types too. There were families out with their foals, teenagers out with friends, college students partying way too hard, all sorts.
"What are they cheering for?" asked Soft Spoken, "This music isn't even very good."
"It's just an opening," Broad Sword explained, "I've been to these sorts of concerts before. This is the stuff they play while the ponies make their way in. The main act hasn't begun yet."
"What's the main act?" asked Explodey.
"Wait, Buckshot mentioned this when we were in the museum," Gold Coin recalled, "He said that Second was holding a concert to celebrate the twelve hour anniversary of the town's founding. And he said that he would be personally performing!"
"Wait, we're going to hear Lord Second singing?" asked Broad Sword, "Oh dear sweet Celestia, I have to see this!"
"We don't have time to wait around guys," Soft Spoken reminded them, "Second is going to take a while to get onstage, and we could be using that time to-"
Fireworks exploded out of stage below and the crowd screamed even louder as the whole event was clouded by smoke. As it cleared away, a silhouette became visible, and Lord Second stepped to the front of the stage, holding his arms above him triumphantly. He had taken the time to change since they last saw him. Instead of his regular long coat, he was now wearing a smart looking black tuxedo, only fitted for human use.
He held out his hand and a microphone flew into it.
"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, WELCOME TO THE SHOW!"
The fireworks burst out of the stage again.
"I WANT TO THANK YOU ALL FOR COMING OUT HERE! THIS IS GOING TO BE THE GREATEST MUSICAL EVENT EVER HELD! WE'VE GOT ALL SORTS LINED UP FOR YOU OUT HERE TODAY, BUT TO START US OFF, WE HAVE PONIFIED VERSIONS OF FAMOUS DEAD MUSICIANS FROM THE HUMAN WORLD! WE GOT IT ALL HERE TONIGHT FOLKS! MICHAEL JACKSON, THE BEATLES, ELVIS, BARRY WHITE, HENDRIX, FREDDIE MERCURY FROM QUEEN, HELL, WE EVEN GOT BOB MARLEY HERE!"
The crowd erupted into more cheering and applause. The ponies on the hill could only look at each other in confusion, having never heard any of those names before.
"First though," Second continued, toning down his voice, "Before all that, I'd like to ask that you all join me in a respectful rendition of the American national anthem, to show a bit of pride and patriotism in these troubled times of our founding, and to help us brave the challenges that this fledgling nation still faces."
Everypony was quiet now. Second turned to face the musicians on the stage behind him.
"Boys? If you will."
One of the ponies with a guitar played a few notes, and the crowd began to sing together.
Suddenly, without warning, the drummer started playing, and the guitar picked up in intensity. Second held up the microphone again and began shouting into it along with the crowd, who also became notably more enthusiastic.
"AMERICA! FUCK YEAH! COMING AGAIN TO SAVE THE MOTHERFUCKING DAY YEAH! AMERICA! FUCK YEAH!"
A number of the ponies on stage behind joined in much softer voices.
"Freedom is the only way, yeah!"
"TERRORISTS YOUR GAME IS THROUGH! 'CAUSE NOW YOU HAVE TO ANSWER TO, AMERICA! FUCK YEAH! SO LICK MY BUTT, AND SUCK ON MY BALLS! AMERICA!"
"FUCK YEAH!" screamed the crowd.
"WHATCHU GONNA DO WHEN WE COME FOR YOU, YEAH?!"
The other ponies began to sing another verse again, but Soft Spoken had long since stopped listening.
"I've had enough of this," he said, "Come on. Let's go find out where they're keeping Chain Mail and do this damn rescue mission that you all wanted to do so much."
"One minute," said Gold Coin.
***
Ancient Tome, Iron Hoof, and Frosty Morning walked through the clean white corridors of the medical section of the Mages' Guild together. The burnt remains of Sun Rise rested on the pegasus's back, coughing periodically, while Iron Hoof limped along as fast as he could. A scientist pony in a lab coat led them through the area towards their medical bay.
"And you say you can fix him?" asked Tome.
"Oh yes," the scientist replied cheerfully, "Why, just hours ago we tested our experiments in cybernetics on a volunteer, and they seemed to work like a charm. A pony who just like Iron here had lost his fore hooves, and now has them again thanks to our technology. In fact, he should be just in here."
The ponies entered the lab, where a number of doctors were already prepping the operating tables for their next two patients and the scientists were fiddling with some mechanical devices that resembled organs.
"Imagine!" one of them commented to another, "We get to create three cyberponies in a single day! I have never felt joy like this before!"
"Me neither old friend, we're making history here!"
Ancient Tome looked off to the side, and was shocked to see Captain Chain Mail there. The pony was chained by all four of his hooves to what looked like another operating table, only this one was turned on it's side so he was facing them, and it looked like he was standing on two legs like a human. He was covered up to his neck in black armour and had a control panel of some kind on his chest. He was looking around nervously at first, but then his eyes went wide when he recognised Iron Hoof, who unfortunately also recognised him.
"YOU!" the former guard screamed, "YOU'RE THE REASON I'M IN HERE!"
Chain Mail just looked disturbed.
"...Hello Private Iron Hoof," he replied, "I didn't expect to see you here of all places."
"Well I had to come here to get a cybernetic replacement for the hoof you cut off! You bastard! I ought to kill you right now!"
A stern looking tan pegasus stepped in his path.
"You do, and they'll need to replace more than just a hoof."
"Who the fuck are you?!"
"Bullseye. I'm Lord Second's bodyguard and head of security. I'm here to oversee the experiments being performed on Test Subject Chain Mail, in conjunction with Commander Throatfuck."
"Commander who?!"
"You heard me."
One of the doctors stepped in to interrupt the conversation.
"Now Mr. Hoof, if you would be so kind as to get on the operating table, we can get to work on fixing you."
The former royal guard sighed in resignation and jumped up onto the table.
***
"So...What do you think? Can I go?"
The old man just laughed.
"Hahaha! No way! I ain't gonna let no son of mine go do girly crap like singing and dancing! And you ain't gonna get anywhere by singing anyway. You know how many go out there trying to get into show business 'cause they think they can make it big, and they just end up having their hopes crushed when they don't get anywhere? That'll be you! No. You're going to learn a trade and get a proper career. I want you to do well. Besides, dancing is for fags anyway."
"But...But dad..."
"No buts Howie. I've decided. You aren't going to this performance arts thing or whatever the fuck this is, and that's my final say."
"But mom always said-"
"Mom's dead. I make the decisions around here now, and you aren't going to sway me. Now go find your brother for me. He borrowed the pickup last night, and I wanna know why."
"...Yes dad."
"Good boy Howie."
Second opened his eyes and looked across the crowds of applauding ponies. He smiled slightly. Not quite what he had envisioned all those years ago, but if anything proved him right, this was it. He looked up into the distance at the rest of his city. On a distant hilltop, he spotted a familiar looking group of ponies. Knowing what was next, he tried to remember his lines.
"Thank you everyone!" he said through the microphone, "It's truly an honour to perform for you all! And it is good to see such loyalty and patriotism in you all, in these most troubled times. Why, not hours ago there were terrorist attacks at my very palace!"
The crowd gasped.
"Not to worry friends!" he assured them, "My attacker was defeated, I assure you. A Captain Chain Mail of Equestria if I recall correctly."
The crowds booed the name.
"We also had a dragon attack, if you could believe! Nothing myself and the Knights of Man couldn't handle though!"
There was another round of cheering.
"In fact, even now Chain Mail is being held inside the Mages' Guild, awaiting trial for his crimes, and the dedicated unicorns of that same guild are maintaining a spell even as we speak to contain the dragon in a custom made prison that we hid inside the Secopolis Embassy. If you could, a round of applause for our dedicated members of the Mages' Guild."
As the ponies before him began to cheer and stomp their hooves again, Second looked up at the hill out of the corner of his eye. The ponies briefly conversed with one another and then walked back over the hill, disappearing from sight.
"Perfect," he thought, "It's all going according to plan."
***
Bullseye cantered towards the commander, who waited besides the door leading into brainwashing room. The much taller commander looked down at the pegasus.
"Did Lord Second give the order?" he asked.
"Yes," Bullseye replied, "The alicorn arrived moments ago. Second sent a message through her. We're to expect the Elements of Harmony to mount an attack on this building any minute now. He said that there is a good chance we won't survive. We are to lose the battle, but he said to try and win it regardless, because we will probably fail by natural means anyway."
The commander sighed.
"It's been an honour serving with you Bullseye."
He saluted. The pegasus responded in turn.
"You too sir."
***
The five ponies stood in a line just outside the Mages' Guild. The sun was setting now, and it was getting dark. They had waited a long time before finally mounting up the courage to show up here. They were expecting a fight. Lots of security. A veritable gauntlet of traps and security systems to make their way through in their quest to rescue their captured friend and the dragon.
Gold Coin gulped.
"Guys?" he asked, "I know I was all for this before, but...I'm scared."
Soft Spoken smiled sympathetically at the business pony.
"I'm scared too," he confessed, "But we can't just leave him in there. He fought one on one against a God to protect us."
"I know. I just...My nerves are a wreck. I don't know if we can do this."
Broad Sword patted him on the back.
"Hey, don't forget I'm a trained soldier too," he said, "You aren't going in alone. We're here to help."
"And me and Sliske have got your back too!" said the little blue colt next to him.
"I can explode and regenerate. That counts for something too, right?"
The yellow earth pony smiled.
"Thanks guys. Let's do it then. Let's go rescue the captain!"
***
In a dark chamber in the depths of the Mages' Guild, a mad scientist grinned evilly as the final touches were finished. The helmet lowered from the ceiling and attached to the rest of the armour on the test subject. There was a slight hissing and a whistle as it attached, and then the automatic breathing started. The operating table slowly rose, and the test subject stared across the room from behind his helmet.
"Lord Chain Mail, can you hear me?"
There was a pause, in which the only sound in the room was the automatic breathing.
"Yes, master," he answered in a deep voice.
The black armoured cyborg turned his head to look at the scientist.
"How do I look?" he asked, "Am I still handsome? Did I keep my good looks?"
The scientist answered apologetically.
"It seems...that because of the helmet and armour...we cannot see your face at all."
"No...No that can't be! I need to show off my cybernetic enhancements! I NEED TO!"
The operating table rattled and shook, and the pony broke through his shackles. Chain Mail ripped himself off the table and staggered forward past the scientist, who smiled darkly at his creation. The brainwashed captain looked upwards towards the ceiling and screamed.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
END
Author's notes:
Yeah, Chain Mail just became a Sith lord. What of it?
Woah, deja vu.
Anyway, here's your new chapter. A lot of people last time kept saying how much they thought I had improved since this story began, and to those people, you have my most sincerest thanks. It's always good to know I've been moving in the right direction, though I think some may feel I moved away from that with the song at the end there. Thing is though, it is actually a part of Second's character that he loves singing.
This chapter, I tried to give some minor insight into that, as a bit of explanation for it. In fact, this chapter focused on Second a lot more than I intended. Whether that's a good thing or a bad thing I think is too soon to call. I think I've begun to reach a point in this story where the people who support or are against Second are balancing out against each other, which really interests me honestly. I like seeing the wide range of opinions people seem to have about the character. I like that he sparks debate.
Now aside from Second, this chapter's big point is that's going to start tying together the subplots. The new EOH are going to start interacting more, and you'll see soon enough where we're going with Spike and Celestia's stories. This also brought the last few members of the Brotherhood of Man and the other minor villains back into the limelight. Yeah. Remember them? Don't worry, we're going to try and make them a bit more interesting this time. Now that most of their order is wiped out, I'm going to try and build some character for the survivors and give them something to do.
Also, on a partially related note, this story's word count just passed 100K. Hooray! Of course that's including the Deleted Scenes chapter and the HUGE authors notes section at the end of every chapter, but it still sort of counts. It's some kind of accomplishment, right?
At the rate we're going, this story is going to end up huge. I counted ahead. By story's end, we will have at LEAST thirty two chapters and three interludes, plus alternate endings if I'm in the mood. At eleven thousand words on average every full chapter and three thousand for interludes, I think we're looking at roughly 400K+ words. Be afraid people. Be very afraid.
That other project I mentioned last time is still ongoing. I'll talk more about it when I have more news and the other author gives me the go-ahead. Until then, keep watching these notes.
Thanks for reading, and I'll see you all later.
Stats
Page generated in 0.03 seconds
Total duration
1,028 users online
1,513,112 hits today, 2,054,621 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
FIRST.
Not that it really matters...........................
Luv that.
Also: Throatfuck. Because he swears a lot.
star wars sweet
Second....Secopolis.....I just got it!!
suddenly, Pony Vader out of nowhere, and it's ósom!
MOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR!
Mystic Chant's cutie mark was Sliske.
dl.dropbox.com/u/38493835/MLP/tumblr_lnydvwdyCl1qber9c.gif
By all rights, it was a violation, because he never asked for them,
swiftor.com/attachments/f35/7513d1318325607t-i-never-asked-game-4chan-1314973156535.jpg
Chain Mail never asked for this!
I am questioning whether it's all been written out or if there's an outline or if it's all spur-of-the-moment-write-whatever-and-re-edit-to-make-sense-kind-of-thing. Feels like the last, but it's written like the first two. Well, the wait starts now! Again.
230156
I have ideas about future chapters, but I decide the details when I get around to actually writing. If I have a spur of the moment idea, I'll write it in, but I don't make re-edits to accomodate it. If it doesn't fit with what I wrote previously, it has no place in the story to begin with. In my opinion, rewriting a story and making people read it again is just unreasonable. You should only have to read a story once for it to make sense. I just make sure to find a way that my spur-of-the-moment idea fits in. The entire concept of Secopolis was a spur-of-the-moment idea, as was killing Celestia and bringing back the First. Sometimes, inspiration strikes and I just think of a way to work in.
Oh yyeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaahhhhhhhh... This chapter absolutely KICKED ASS! Oh, and the Sith Lord part? Brilliant.
By all rights, it was a violation, because he never asked for them
Adam Jensen never asked to be referenced
throatfuck lololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololol
230223
Wow. I just looked up Adam Jensen, and that reference was completely unintentional. I had no idea that was a thing. I don't play Deus Ex.
Happy coincidence though, especially considering the similar circumstances.
AMERICA! FUCK YEAH!
I hate Second, but... I love him as a character.
He's insane, dedicated, and full of references. Funny, but dark. Evil, but tragic.
/end pseudophilosophy
I love Sliske's character development, I really do
230191
Don't ask for a response, and you shall receive one irregardless. Either way, thank you, old chap.
His face lit up with a huge smile, and he jumped out of his seat and began bouncing in circles around the table. "Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!"
Yup, he is totally related to Twilight.
awesome chapter. this is one of the best fics out there now,
So what happens if Second does break the story? What of it then? Its not like some giant fist will tear from the sky and smash him.... Right?
Other then that I love this story
pony vader...........THE FUN HAS BEEN DOUBLED!
I loved the references you've put in this fiction. Not too much to the point of being overdone, just enough to keep my mind in a trigger happy state
Personally, I enjoyed the focus on Second. He's my favorite character in this fic so far. Now that his intentions are cemented I feel his character has also become more definite. I think he's no longer a Gary Stu with these latest developments, and that's one major worry out of the way.
On a negative note, I believe two conversations felt very rushed, and could have used mmore details. One was the part with Throatfuck fucking (lol) around with Chain Mail, and the other I can't remember
And I've a question...have you already completed an outline for this story? Or were you really writing 4k words a day?
If it's the latter, well, I'm going to cross my fingers you can keep up this steam. If you're serious about 400k words that is one staggering goal if you haven't completed the story already.
Good luck, I'm watching you. i1.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/original/000/007/195/im%20watching%20you%20-%20copia.jpg
231527
He actually can't break the rules, even if he tried. The way the universe is composed, it is literally impossible for him to go against what was pre-determined by the story. He knows that he's part of a story and he has to act within the rules, but he doesn't really know the rules. He just does what he thinks he should do, and because he's as much of a puppet as everyone else, everything he does just happens to be within those rules. Even if he tried to openly defy the conventions of the story, he would still be comforming to those rules, because he can't go against them.
231718
I have ideas about the future chapters and JUST ideas which I write down on a document on my computer along with a list of characters divided into what groups they're in so I know where everyone is and a list of other objects or places with relevance to the story to keep track of. I don't write out anything ahead of time. I just go into the document, read it over, and then do all the scenes for that chapter in order, occasionally going back to re-do or remove scenes and change the order of them to keep the pacing right.
I usually don't start writing until about three days after my last chapter's completion to give myself a break, and then for the last four days of the week before my self imposed deadline I take a few hours out between Skyrim and reading other stories to write up a few thousand words for the chapter if inspiration comes.
So in conclusion, I'm basically just a fast writer. I probably have my mother to thank for that. She's a secretary.
231777
Jeez its like the illusion of free-will.... 0__0
considering how the story has gone so far.
I sorta had a feeling that was the case
By the way would there be any possible chance of a prequel after this? Based on First's and Second's interactions with the mane 6, cause by god those are the funniest parts (besides the whole american anthem XD).
231795
I am considering all possibilites at this point. Really, as far as a prequel goes, I'm not sure how much material I'll have to work with, because I plan on showing most of what they did over the course of this story. A sequel may be possible depending on which ending I ultimately decide to go with, and there's plenty of spinoff potential, but I think it will be harder to make an outright prequel all things considered. Not that it's an impossibility mind you. I'll have to see how the story goes first, but don't give up hope.
Question.
How can Sliske be an alien? The Equestrian universe is geocentric, what with Celestia raising the sun and all
232176
I am of the opinion that the MLP universe's cosmology is roughly the same as our own, and that Equestria and its sun are just a special case of the sun orbiting the planet instead of vice versa. I don't believe that that makes their planet centre of the universe, or the only planet in it. Sliske comes from a normal planet-orbits-the-sun system some ways away from whatever planet Equestria is on.
Either way, background on Sliske's race and home are going to be in future chapters anyway, so expect your questions to be given a more in-depth answer later in the story.
I never asked for this
I await more. Also, Second is the baws!
This fanfic IS THE BEST ONE I HAVE READ SO FAR. please Maestro, another masterpiece.
http://www.nooooooooooooooo.com/
HAD TO BE DONE.
230094
Wow, people actually saved that gif?
OT Human is awesome, update moar! Moar!
All I can say is YES! Excellent chapter. Though I sincerely doubt one event is going to make Celestia a MC. It usually takes two or three.
233397
Well...Dying...remaking the sun...and First has already confirmed she will be resurrected somehow.
I know I would give Celestia screen time for this. Wouldn't you?
You should add this link into the story
http://nooooooooooooooo.com/
"At the rate we're going, this story is going to end up huge. I counted ahead. By story's end, we will have at LEAST thirty two chapters and three interludes, plus alternate endings if I'm in the mood."
Mother of god... yes!
233434 So you are going for resurrection?
233890
Well yeah, I wasn't exactly subtle about it, was I? Celestia is being trained to combat Second, who is alive, so yes, resurrection time. Though the method and timing is yet to be revealed. You can expect her back soon, though not for another three chapters at least. And don't worry, this is in no way going to be a regular thing.
233962 And the Mane 6 have nothing to do with this resurrection?
The greatness of this story has doubled!!! Also we need more refrences! Now bring me muffins!!!!
The greatness of this story has doubled!!! Also we need more refrences! Now bring me muffins!!!!
Correction:
"I'm going to it princess." - I think you missed a word (and a comma)
Thoughts:
"The humans even called them the main six." - Don't you mean mane six?
"Were they counting on him to drown himself in all this liquid metal?" - Death by inhaling liquid metal sounds VERY painful...
"He was now what they referred to as a 'cyberpony'." - BLACKJACK IS BEST CYBERPONY. Also, DELETE! DELETE! DELETE!
"They had just given him a weird battery thing. He no longer needed to eat or drink, because he now ran on electricity. For that matter, he couldn't eat or drink anymore. Without a stomach, it was literally impossible. That pissed him off." - Blackjack is DEFINITELY best cyberpony. She gets to eat metal!
"My name is Commander Throatfuck." - I LOL'D
"I just love screwing with prisoners by doing that whole 'lock the door' bit." - screwing? Seems legit!
"FREDDIE MERCURY FROM QUEEN" - FUCK YEAH, DON'T STOP HIM NOW!
"America...America..." - I have a feeling that I know EXACTLY what this song will be... *continues reading* EEYUP, IT IS
"Commander who?!" - If he was a doctor, that would be "Doctor who?!"...
AMERICA FUCK YEAH!
no fear here my man, just excitement. i love the way you gave Second some depth in this chapter and i was amazed and surprised when Mystic's cutie mark was Sliske. I must say your writing just has a way of bringing constant, clever surprises. one of my favorite things about this fic is that it doesn't pull any punches, at all.
eagerly awaiting all this story has to offer!
Chain Mail became a Sith lord and Mystic got a cutie mark indicating his talent for hosting a magical alien... Seems legit, so why the fuck not?
Not that I'm complaining mind you 
32 chapters in all!? And here I was thinking we were reaching the end soon
-Glassed
Hate to be the voice of dissent, but... I don't know. I think Chain Mail becoming Darth Vader is just too cheesy. In all honesty I'm starting to lose interest in the story because it's becoming too silly.
On the upside, having Mystic's special talent be hosting Slyske was a brilliant stroke that simply must be applauded with enthusiasm. Maybe with Mystic's cooperation Slyske can figure out how to stop stretching his ssssssssssss so much. At least get it down to just three or four ssss? It'll make his dialogue a hell of a lot easier to read.
234557
Fixed.
235275
I'll see what I can do about Sliske. No promises though.
One thing I'd like to mention is your projected length of this story. I won't bang on about how freaking long 32 chapters at least is actually. However what I'm wondering about is story drag. Thanks to 1st and 2nd explaining everything in a story telling perspective even down to 1st telling Celestia how to down Second's Plot Shields. My point is this seems very much like the story is almost to it's climax to me. With everyone in Secopolis, I'm expecting them to have the big show down any chapter now and 2nd to be dead by chapter 13. What I'm wondering about is if you are planning on having 2nd die soon or are you planning on waiting till the end?...........Or is this were 3rd through 999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999th are going to come into play? I hear 999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,998th is very shy.
Basically I ask because waiting 32 chapters for a conclusion with Second seems a tad long especially where the story is now.
Hell we need a episode where it's just the princesses
Gonna be pretty unimpressed if his next song isn't Master Exploder!!
236228
I can't confim Second's fate one way or another, but that feeling you're getting of impending climax isn't unintentional. Things are coming to a head, but not in any traditional way. Screwing with story conventions is the point of this happy little tale, so just wait for the payoff. Will the story drag? I don't know. That's all opinion. But for now, just trust me to handle it as best I can and make a judgement when the time comes.